Statistics


On This Day (USA) - 4 April



Marco Polo: Assassin at Peking premiered on BBC One in 1964 at 5:30pm BST, watched by 10.40 million viewers.

Arriving at Kublai Khan's palace in Peking, the Doctor loses the TARDIS key to the Khan in a game of backgammon. Marco is now convinced of Tegana's treachery.


The Ambassadors of Death: Episode 3 premiered on BBC One in 1970 at 5:21pm BST, watched by 8.00 million viewers.

The recovery capsule is empty with the astronauts seemingly kidnapped. But Liz notices that the radiation count is high and the Doctor deduces that the occupants were not human.


Exit Wounds premiered on BBC2 in 2008 at 8:59pm BST, watched by 3.13 million viewers.

Torchwood Declassified Series Two: Episode 13 premiered on BBC2 in 2008 at 9:49pm BST, watched by 2.00 million viewers.

 Birthdays
James Buller was 54 - credited as Dad in The Time of the Doctor

James Buller was born in Burnley, Lancashire, and went to the Guildford School of Acting.

James Buller's roles have included appearances in Eastenders, CasualtyHolby City, The Bill, and Doctors, and series such as Sea Of Souls, Babes in the Woods, Sunburn and Jonathan Creek.


Karren Brady was 55 - credited as Herself in The Power Of Three

Karren Brady began her career aged 18 with LBC Radio before moving onto Saatchi & Saatchi as a Junior Account Handler. 

Known as the first woman of football, Karren was Managing Director of Birmingham City Football Club from 1993 to 2009, during which time she turned their fortunes around. In January 2010, she was appointed Vice Chairman of West Ham United FC.

On top of being a successful author of four books and a columnist for The Sun newspaper, Karren is also on the board of several organisations and charities, including Scope, Birmingham Women’s Aid and Channel 4 Television.

In 2007 Karren appeared on BBC One’s The Apprentice for Comic Relief. As the appointed Project Manager, she led her team to victory and raised over £750k for charity in the process.

Following appearances as one of Lord Sugar’s interrogators, Karren replaced Margaret Mountford as his right-hand woman in Junior Apprentice and continues the role in the current series of The Apprentice.



Derek Martinus (died 2014 aged 82) would have been 93 - 6 credits, including Director for Spearhead From Space

Derek Martinus was a BBC drama Director, responsible for 26 episodes of classic Doctor Who. He was born in Ilford, Essex in 1931, he attended Brentwood School, later winning a scholarship to study drama at Yale. At the age of 22 he directed a summer season in Connecticut before returning to England and the repertory theatre in 1956.

His early acting career included playing Orsino in Twelfth Night in 1957 alongside John Franklyn-Robbins and John Ringham. He joined the Arena Theatre company from Newcastle in 1958, which led to him directing his first play a year later, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. He also appeared in a minor role in the very first Carry On film, Carry on Sergeant, which starred the first Doctor William Hartnell and who Martinus was to direct in the actor's final story, The Tenth Planet. in 1966.

In 1965 he was appointed as associate director at the Salisbury Playhouse, and then moved into television whichled to him directing several episodes of Z-Cars as well as a number of BBC2's literary adaptations and BBC1's Sunday Classics. As well as The Tenth Planet, he also directed a number of Doctor Who stories through the latter 1960s, introducing several classic monsters to the series, such as Cyberman, Ice Warriors and the Autons - Spearhead From Space was to be his last, but also was the first story to feature Jon Pertwee, the first story to be made in colour, and the only classic story to be shot totally on film. In later years he directed episodes of series such as Blake's 7, Angels, and Crown Court.

A huge fan of Swedish theatre, he met his future wife Eivor in 1959 and they collaborated on a number of projects, such as a Scandinavian tour of Shakespeare in Love in 1978, and he directed the series Vargen.

In later years he regularly directed for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama before Alzeimer's took over.

He died in London in March, survived by his wife and two daughters.


Henry Gilbert (died 1973 aged 59) would have been 111 - credited as Torbis in The Curse of Peladon

Henry Gilbert was an English-born Australian actor who appeared in many popular 1960s and 1970s British TV programmes.

He played Tobis in the 1972 story The Curse of Peladon.


 Deaths
George Pastell (died 1976 aged 53) - credited as Eric Klieg in The Tomb of the Cybermen

George Pastell was a Cypriot character actor in British films and television programmes. 

He made his film debut in Give Us This Day (1949), under his real name of Nino Pastellides, and went onto carve out a career as villains in film and television. Although Greek, he was often cast by Hammer Film Productions as Eastern characters such as Mehemet Bey in The Mummy (1959); the High Priest of Kali in The Stranglers of Bombay (1960); and Hashmi Bey in The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964).

His exotic looks often saw him cast in spy movies of the sixties such as From Russia with Love (1963); Licensed to Kill (1965); A Man Could Get Killed (1966); That Riviera Touch (1966); andDeadlier Than the Male (1967).

As well as these film roles he could also be seen as the villain in numerous television series of the sixties including Danger ManThe AvengersDoctor WhoThe ChampionsThe Saint; and Department S.