`Doctor Who` producers abused young fans, claims book

London: After Jimmy Savile, the BBC is facing another sex scandal as a new book claims that two `Doctor Who` executives abused young fans in the 80s, prompting the public broadcaster to launch a probe. Former `Blue Peter` show boss Richard Marson has alleged one-time producer John Nathan-Turner and his partner Gary Downie of sexually abused young male fans, prompting BBC to launch a probe into the allegations, the Daily Mirror reported. The probe will be led by former Court of Appeal judge Dame Janet Smith, who is heading a review into the case against Savile. Marson claims in a new book that Nathan-Turner also made a pass at him while he was 17 and working on the `Doctor Who` magazine. Nathan-Turner produced `Doctor Who` from 1980 to 1989 and died in 2002 aged 54. He is said to have enjoyed a close relationship with his fans, something Marson feels brought him close to many victims. "What you had was a promiscuous gay bloke who had the opportunity to meet a lot of people and liked getting off with young guys. I don`t think he was predatory, particularly. I don`t think he forced himself on the unwilling," Marson says in his book `JN-T: the Life and Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner` which is due out in May. The BBC has confirmed that they are looking into the allegations. "We can`t comment on individual cases but allegations of this nature are extremely serious. We have set up the Dame Janet Smith review to help us understand how alleged incidents of this nature could have been committed. And so we can avoid them happening ever again," the Mirror quoted a spokesperson from BBC. PTI