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On This Day (USA) - 19 June



The Chase: The Death of Doctor Who premiered on BBC One in 1965 at 5:41pm BST, watched by 9.00 million viewers.

The Daleks follow the TARDIS to the jungle world of Mechanus which is infested with lethal plants. There the Daleks release a robot double of the Doctor that is programmed to kill.


The Dæmons: Episode Five premiered on BBC One in 1971 at 6:10pm BST, watched by 8.30 million viewers.

UNIT have penetrated the heat barrier and launch an attack on the gargoyle, Bok. In the cavern, the Daemon Azal confronts the Doctor and the Master to decide the fate of mankind.


The Pandorica Opens premiered on BBC One in 2010 at 6:39pm BST, watched by 7.58 million viewers.

Alien Abduction premiered on BBC Three in 2010 at 7:30pm BST

Redacted: Salvation premiered on BBC Online in 2022 at 8:00pm BST

 Birthdays
Millie Gibson will be 20 - 9 credits, including Ruby Sunday in The Devil's Chord

Amelia Eve Gibson was born on 19 June 2004 in Greater Manchester. From the Tameside village of Broadbottom, she attended the Blue Coat School in Oldham. She took drama classes at Oldham Theatre Workshop, where she was spotted by Manchester Media City talent agency Scream Management, who began representing her.
She made her acting debut as Indira in the CBBC television series Jamie Johnson. Gibson went on to star in the second and third series, appearing in a total of 17 episodes. In November 2017, she appeared as Mia in the third episode of the BBC One drama series Love, Lies and Records. In October 2018, she appeared in the three-part ITV drama series Butterfly as Lily Duffy, the older sister of character Maxine (Callum Booth-Ford) who realises she is a transgender girl.

In June 2019, Gibson joined the cast of the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as Kelly Neelan.Her character was introduced as the daughter of established character Rick Neelan (Greg Wood) and she originally appeared in five episodes,[14] before returning as a regular character in April 2020. During Gibson's time on the show, her character's storylines have included being found guilty of murder, dealing with the death of her mother Laura Neelan (Kel Allen) from cancer and being kidnapped. For her portrayal of Kelly, she won the award for Best Young Actor at the 2022 British Soap Awards. She was also nominated for Best Actress at the Inside Soap Awards later that year. In August 2022, it was announced Gibson had decided to leave the soap and that she would depart later in the year.

On 18 November 2022 it was announced during the BBC's annual Children in Need telethon that she would join the cast of Doctor Who in 2023 as Ruby Sunday, companion to the Doctor, as played by Ncuti Gatwa.

 

Biography from the wikipedia article, licensed under CC-BY-SA


Philip Bosworth will be 50 - credited as Doctor Who Event Organiser in Eastenders (Valentines 2008)(Related)

Philip Bosworth is a stage performer, appearing in a number of theatrical productions since the late 1990s. 


Chris Larkin will be 57 - credited as Lynley in The Shakespeare Code

Chris Larkin  is an English actor.

He was born in the Middlesex Hospital in London and trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He is the elder sons of Dame Maggie Smith, and the late Sir Robert Stephens

His brother is the actor Toby Stephens, and his stepmother is the actress Patricia Quinn, (Lady Stephens).

He is best known for playing Hermann Göring in the TV Series Hitler: The Rise of Evil, but also played the Abolitionist William Wilberforce in the radio production of 'Grace Victorious', the story of Wilberforce's fight to abolish the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

He appeared in an episode of 2007's Doctor Who entitled "The Shakespeare Code".

Larkin is set to play the role of Dr. Mansell in Vertigo FilmsGuinea Pigs, an atmospheric, micro-budget horror film about volunteers fighting for their lives after a drug trial goes wrong. The film also stars Aneurin BarnardAlex ReidOliver ColemanSteve EvetsNia RobertsSkye Lourie, Jack Doolan and Amit Shah and is scheduled for release in 2012 in the UK.


Sam West will be 58 - credited as Cyrian in Dimensions In Time(Misc)

Samuel West is the son of Timothy West and Prunella Scales, and is an actor and director. He is best known for playing Leonard Bast in Howard's End, and also appeared in films such as Notting Hill, and Van Helsing. Television appearances include Cambridge Spies.


Derren Nesbitt will be 89 - 3 credits, including Tegana in Marco Polo

Derren Nesbitt is an English actor. Possibly his best known role was as SS Major von Hapen in Where Eagles Dare.

He played Tegana in the Doctor Who story Marco Polo. He also voiced Thomas Dodd in the Big Finish Doctor Who audio story Spare Parts and Quences in the Doctor Who Unbound audio Auld Mortality.

Nesbitt's many television credits date back to the 1950s, including roles in The Invisible ManMan of the WorldDanger ManThe PrisonerUFO and The Saint. He has also appeared in ongoing roles in a few series, including Special Branch and The Courtroom.


Thelma Barlow will be 95 - credited as Lady Thaw in The Lazarus Experiment

helma Barlow is an English television actress and writer, most famous for her roles as Mavis Wilton in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street and as Dolly Bellfield in the sitcom Dinnerladies.

Thelma Barlow was born in MiddlesbroughNorth Riding of Yorkshire in 1929, the younger of two daughters.Her father Tommy, a cabinet maker, died of pneumonia five weeks before her birth, so Barlow was brought up by her mother Margaret. During her childhood, the family moved to Huddersfield and Thelma Barlow left school at 15 and went to Huddersfield Technical College to study shorthand and typing. Her first job, as a secretary, she held for eight years and at the same time belonged to an amateur dramatics group. In 1960, Barlow joined the West of England Theatre Company followed by the Bristol Old Vic Theatre Company In Bristol, she ran a boarding house for fellow actors. In 1956 she married set designer Graham Barlow, and they had two children, Clive and James. They later divorced.

Thelma Barlow's first television appearance was in 1970 in A Stranger on the Hill The following year while performing in Liverpool, she was asked to audition for the soap opera Coronation Street for the role of Mavis Riley. She was successful and her first episode was transmitted on 14 August 1971 though the character only appeared regularly from 1973, when she joined the staff of "The Kabin". Barlow remained in the series for 26 years, and nearly 2,000 episodes, until she left after the departure of her on-screen husband Derek. Her final episode went out on 10 October 1997 when Mavis moved to the Lake District.[4] During her time on Coronation Street Barlow shared a flat with co-starHelen Worth and later moved to Settle, where she later did a TV show from her garden

Barlow's next major role was that of Dolly Bellfield in Victoria Wood's sitcom dinnerladies. This comedy lasted for two series in 1998 to 2000. Around the same time she appeared in Murder Most Horrid (1999) and David Copperfield (also 1999). Since then Thelma Barlow has appeared as one-off characters in several television shows, including Fat Friends (2000), Doctors (2002), The Royal (2004), Where the Heart Is (1997), My Dad's the Prime Minister (also 2004), Marple(2006) and the Midsomer Murders episode "Last Year's Model" (also 2006). In 2005 she appeared in her first film Mrs Henderson Presents and in 2007 she played Lady Thaw in the Doctor Who episode "The Lazarus Experiment". She also appeared in a 2008 episode of Doc Martin For her role in Mrs Henderson Presents she was nominated for "Most Promising Newcomer" in the British Independent Film Awards 2005.[7] Since her departure from Coronation Street Barlow has also made stage appearances, with roles such as Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, Mam in Alan Bennett's Enjoy and as Abby Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace in 2003 on the West End stage. Barlow has also acted on radio. In 2003, she moved to the Isle of Purbeck.

Biography from the Wikipedia article, licensed under CC-BY-SA


Ken Barker (died 1998 aged 70) would be 96 - 3 credits, including Stunt Man in Attack of the Cybermen

Started out working under the name Ken Haward, but in 1976 started working as Ken Barker instead, not only as an actor but also a stuntman and magician who toured the country performing magic.


George Pravda (died 1985 aged 68) would be 108 - 3 credits, including Jaeger in The Mutants

George Pravda was a Czechoslovakian film and television actor.

He began his career in Czechoslovakia under his own name, and then emigrated to the United Kingdom and anglicised his name to George.

He then appeared in numerous British films and television series.

His film credits include: Operation Amsterdam (1959), The Password Is Courage(1962), Thunderball (1965), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), Hanover Street (1979) and Firefox (1982).

As well as his three appearances in Doctor Who, other TV appearances include: No Hiding PlaceThe AvengersThe SaintThe Baron,The PrisonerSpecial BranchDepartment SCallanSoftly, Softly, DoomwatchCodenamePublic EyeSpy TrapMoonbase 3ColditzI, Claudius,The Duchess of Duke Street1990The ProfessionalsThe Onedin LineTinker, Tailor, Soldier, SpyChessgame and Bulman.

His wife Hana Maria was also an actor.

 Deaths
Brian Cant (died 2017 aged 83) - 2 credits, including Tensa in The Dominators

Brian Cant  is an English actor,television presenter and writer best know for his work on BBC children's programmes from the 1960s to the 1980s, including Play School, Play Away, Trumpton, Chigley, Camberwick Green and Bric-A-Brac. 

He appeared in two Doctor Who stories playing Kurt Gantry in The Nightmare Begins and Tensa in The Dominators

Born in Ipswich, he was performing in drama-based BBC TV Schools Programmes about the Romans when he heard that auditions were being held for Play School. He was cast as a presenter and first appeared on the third week in May 1964, and stayed with the programme for twenty-one years and appearing on the weekend spin off Play Away.

Aside from his work on children's television, Cant is also an established actor. He was one of the guest presenters used in the 1982 series of the game show It's a Knockout after Eddie Waring retired.

On 28 November 2010 Cant received the special award at the Children's BAFTAs for his work in children's television.


Colin McCormack (died 2004 aged 62) - credited as Commander in The Sun Makers

Colin McCormack was a professional Welsh actor who enjoyed considerable success in classical stage performances and television shows over a career approaching fifty years from his debut as a child actor in a BBC TV's Dixon of Dock Green episode, a show he returned to twenty years later when he played a police constable. Later his presence and bearing as a stage actor and member of the Royal Court Theatre and Bristol Old Vic companies and the Royal Shakespeare Company was admired by audiences and fellow performers alike. McCormack also appeared in several feature films during his career.

As a celebrity, McCormack was probably little known to the public who may well have recognised his face but been unable to place a name to it, but as a character actor he was part of that high-quality and essential fabric that binds the elements of any production or a company together. McCormack was probably best known to a whole generation of British teenagers for his recurring role as Alan in the 1984 science fiction series Chocky. Older viewers may remember him better from his 1991 stint playing Kevin Masters in EastEnders.

In his close to fifty TV roles McCormack's electric presence and square jaw coupled with his imposing athletic build usually placed him in roles like soldiers, policemen or criminal types. However, he could also demonstrate a light and sympathetic capability that fitted equally into comedy roles in programmes like Man About the HouseThe Good Life and Yes, Minister. He was generous with his skills as an actor and was always keen to nurture budding talent, as shown by his regular time spent tutoring and coaching at the Guildhall School of Music and Dramawhere his students included Ewan McGregorDaniel Craig and Damien Lewis.

McCormack died of cancer aged 62 after a short illness, following a tour of the RSC's Romeo and Juliet in Hong Kong.

Biography from the Wikipedia article, licensed under CC-BY-SA


Julia Smith (died 1997 aged 70) - 2 credits, including Director for The Smugglers

Julia Smith was an English television director and producer. She is best known as a writer and co-creator of the BBC soap opera EastEnders..

London-born Smith became involved in television production when she directed the series Suspense in 1962. Soon, she was directing popular BBC shows such as Z Cars (in 1962); and Doctor Who (in 1966), where she directed the stories "The Smugglers" and "The Underwater Menace". In 1967 she directed an adaptation of The Railway Children with Jenny Agutter that was successful enough for it to lead to the fondly remembered 1970 film in which Agutter reprised her role of Roberta.

Whilst working on Z Cars she had met Tony Holland who was a writer for the show. The two of them became an established producer/script-editor team and went on to work for the BBC's long-running hospital drama, Angels (1975) from 1979 to 1983.

In 1983 the BBC contacted Smith and Holland to create a new popular bi-weekly serial drama. Two ideas were given to them, one about a caravan site, the other about a shopping arcade. Neither of them liked either of the ideas, and demanded to be able to create something about what they knew - in the words of Smith - "London - today!"

Together they came up with the idea of a serial set in the East End of London in a Victorian Square. When casting for the show, Smith had the guideline 'Only genuine Eastenders need apply'; it was this that gave her the idea for the name of the show, which would be called EastEnders after other names were rejected.

After the success of EastEnders, Smith and Holland collaborated again on the ill-fated BBC soap opera Eldorado. Holland created the series � based on an original idea by Verity Lambert � and Smith was producer. Eldorado was produced by Lambert through her own company Cinema Verity Productions

She died of cancer in Kensington and Chelsea, London, in 1997