Statistics


On This Day (USA) - 22 September



Destiny of the Daleks: Episode Four premiered on BBC One in 1979 at 6:17pm BST, watched by 14.40 million viewers.

TV's Greatest Hits premiered on BBC One in 1999 at 7:00pm BST
This special included a feature on the Daleks, and may have had K9 as a live guest.

The Power Of Three premiered on BBC One in 2012 at 7:31pm BST, watched by 7.67 million viewers.

 Birthdays
MyAnna Buring will be 40 - 3 credits, including Scooti Manista in The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit

MyAnna Buring is a Swedish actress best known for appearing in the 2005 horror film The Descent.

Buring was born in Sweden but grew up in the Middle East. When she turned 16, she moved to England. She attended high school at the American British Academy in MuscatOmanwith prolific horror filmmaker and character actor Stegath Dorr, who was a childhood friend. Buring graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 2004. She is also the associate director of the MahWaff Theatre Company.

In 2006, Buring guest-starred in "The Impossible Planet", the first episode of a two-episode Doctor Who story. Her character, Scooti, perished in the vacuum of space; the scenes of her body floating towards a black hole were filmed in an underwater tank in Pinewood Studios, to create the effect of weightlessness.

Also in 2006, Buring played Olivia in a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night by Exeter's Northcott Theatre Company, alongside Sara Weymouth and David Gwillim, and appeared in a new play, Seduced by Michael Kingsbury at London's Finborough Theatre. In 2008, Buring starred as Alice in the independent film Credo, also known as The Devil's Curse.

Buring also starred as Debbie in Much Ado About Nothing (BBC1), Midsomer Murders (ITV), Casualty (BBC1) and Murder Prevention (Channel 5). For MahWaff Theatre Company, she starred in GuardiansMonologue For An Ensemble and An Inspector Calls.

Buring played the role of CND peace activist and student Adrianna Doyle in series three, episode two of Inspector George Gently, which was screened in the UK on BBC1 on October 2010.

In her first film role Buring starred in a leading role in the 2005 horror film The Descent by director Neil Marshall. Her character, Sam, was one of the main characters among the women who ventured down into an uncharted cave system. Buring also appeared in the films sequel, The Descent Part 2, in the form of flashbacks.

She also starred in Doomsday in 2008, linking her again with director Neil Marshall.

In 2009, Buring appeared as the female lead in the film Lesbian Vampire Killers opposite James Corden and Mathew Horne, which was released to UK cinemas 20 March 2009.

In May 2010 she appeared as Jozefa in Witchville for SyFy in the U.S. alongside Sarah Douglas.

Buring plays the role of Tanya of the Denali Coven in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I and II.

In 2011 Buring appeared in the horror film Kill List, in which she acted the part of the protagonist's wife.

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


Billie Piper will be 42 - 61 credits, including Rose Tyler in Rose

Billie Piper is an English singer and actress, born in Swindon, Wiltshire, UK.

Studying at the Sylvia Young theatre school, her career kicked off in the 1990s as a pop singer. Offered a record deal at the age of fifteen she was the youngest artist ever to debut at number one in the UK singles chart with Because We Want To, released under the stage mononym "Billie". Her follow-up single Girlfriend also debuted at number one.

Her debut album Honey to the B was released immediately afterwards, and debuted and peaked at Number 14 in the UK album charts, gaining a Platinum certification in the UK, and a 2x Platinum certification in New Zealand, where it reached #3.

At the 1998 Smash Hits Poll Winners' party, she was runner up to B*Witched as Best New Act. In 1999, Piper was nominated for two BRIT Awards and won 2 awards at the 1999 Smash Hits Poll Winners' party.

In 2000 she recorded her second album under her full name, Billie Piper. She hit the Number 1 spot with Day & Night

In May 2001 Piper married businessman, DJ and television presenter Chris Evans in a secret ceremony in Las Vegas. Their marriage attracted much comment due to the sixteen-year age gap between the two. The couple separated in 2004 and later divorced in May 2007.

In May 2004, Piper was cast as Rose Tyler, a travelling companion to The Doctor in the revised series returning to BBC Television for a full series after a break of 15 years. 

Piper won the Most Popular Actress category at the 2005 and 2006 National Television Awards for her work on Doctor Who and BBC News named Piper as one of its "Faces of the Year" for 2005, primarily due to her success in Doctor Who.

At The South Bank Show Awards on 27 January 2006 Piper was awarded The Times Breakthrough Award for her successful transition from singing to acting. In March 2006, the Television and Radio Industries Club named Piper as best new TV talent at their annual awards ceremony. In September 2006, Piper was named Best Actress at the TV Quick and TV Choice Awards.

On 15 June 2006, the BBC announced that she was to depart in the final episode of the second series, Doomsday. Piper's decision to leave had been taken a year previously, but remained a secret until news of her departure became public.

She reprised her role as Rose in the fourth Doctor Who series for three episodes. Later, it was confirmed by Russell T Davies in Doctor Who Magazine that this return had been planned since she left. She returned for the show's 50th Anniversary special The Day of The Doctor playing the Moment, who took the form of "Bad Wolf" from the Doctor's future memories.

Immediately after Doctor Who she starred as Sally Lockhart in Philip Pullman's The Ruby in th Smoke and the following year's The Shadow in the North - her co-star was future Doctor Matt Smith. She also starred as Hannah Baxter/Belle de Jour in The Secret Diary of a Call Girl, an ITV2 adaptation of Belle de Jour's The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl, a memoir detailing the life of a high-class prostitute. More recently she has appeared in Penny Dreadful as Brona Croft/Lily.

In 2007 Piper married actor Laurence Fox, son of actor James Fox at St Mary's Church in Easebourne, West Sussex. Their first child, Winston James, was born in October 2008 and their second, Eugene Pip, was born in April 2012.


Ruth Jones will be 58 - credited as Nikki Bevan in Adrift(TW)

Ruth Jones is a Welsh TV actress and writer. 

She co-starred in and co-wrote the award-winning British TV comedy Gavin & Stacey (2007-2010), and has appeared in many television comedies and dramas, such as Jimmy McGovern's The Street with Timothy Spall (2009), and starring as Hattie Jacques in Hattie for BBC4 (2011) and as Stella in Stella forSky 1 (2012).

She was co-founder of Tidy Productions (2008), which she runs with her husband and TV producer, David Peet.


Frazer Hines will be 80 - 65 credits, including Jamie in The Highlanders

Frazer Hines is an English actor best known for his roles as Jamie McCrimmon, companion of the Second Doctor Patrick Troughton. 

Hines attended Corona Theatre School. By the age of 10, he had appeared in numerous feature films as minor characters. In 1957, he performed the role of a boy called Napoleon in a six-part television adaptation of John Buchan's 1922 novel Huntingtower. From 1957 throughout the 1960s, he performed a steady stream of roles in various television series, such as Jan in The Silver Sword (1957-8), Tim Birch in Emergency Ward 10 (1963-4), and Roger Wain in Coronation Street (1965). With a well-established career in television, Hines appeared in feature films less frequently.

Hines' Doctor Who debut came in 1966, after he was cast to play the part of Jamie McCrimmon, a companion of the Second Doctor (played by Patrick Troughton). Hines maintained his role from 1966 to 1969; he reprised it in the 20th anniversary serial The Five Doctors (1983), and again in The Two Doctors (1985).

In all, Hines performed in more episodes than any other "companion" actor in the history of the series. The only actors appearing in more episodes are those who played the first four Doctors.

In 1968, his third year on the show, Hines released with Major Minor Records a novelty record titled Who's Doctor Who. Esteemed songwriters Barry Mason and Les Reed composed the music and lyrics, but the record was a commercial failure. Hines later called it the only flop Mason and Reed ever wrote.

After his three-year stint as Jamie in Doctor Who, Hines resumed the life of a jobbing actor until 1972, when he was cast in the soap opera Emmerdale Farm as Joe Sugden, a role he played until 1994. In between making episodes of Emmerdale, as it was renamed in 1989, he has continued a career in the theatre and made occasional appearances in other TV shows.

Hines has been twice married, first to Irish actress Gemma Craven from 1981 to 1984, and second to waterskiing champion Liz Hobbs from 1994 to 2003.

Boxtree, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, published Hines' autobiography in 1996. This work, titled Films, Farms and Fillies, first appeared in a paperback edition. 13 years later, in December of 2009, Telos Publishing released a revised hardcover edition, titled Hines Sight.

In July 2010, Hines disclosed that he suffered from colorectal cancer for eleven years, explaining that he kept his illness a secret for fear of professional alienation. Since his recovery, Hines has openly promoted cancer awareness through Cancer Research and the Bobby Moore Cancer Foundation. 


Tony Caunter will be 87 - 3 credits, including Morgan in Colony In Space

Tony Caunter  is a British actor well known for his many roles in British TV drama.

Caunter attended Worthing and Westcliff High Schools, before service in the RAF and training as an actor at LAMDA. 

His numerous television credits include Z-Cars, The Avengers, London's Burning, Queenie's Castle, The Saint, The Champions, Dixon of Dock Green, Catweazle, The Main Chance, The Professionals, The Sweeney, Minder, Pennies From Heaven, Westbeach, Howards' Way, Lovejoy, May to December, Boon, Heartbeat, Juliet Bravo, and The Scarlet Pimpernel. 

He played Titanic's chief officer Henry Wilde in S.O.S. Titanic. In The Chief, he played Deputy Chief Constable Arthur Quine from 1990 to 1994. 

Caunter has been cast in Doctor Who on three occasions and has also featured on Blake's 7.

He appeared as a credited player in the 1965 film The Hill alongside other well known British actors such as Michael Redgrave, Harry Andrews, Sean Connery and Ian Hendry.

He played Jack Shepherd in the Yorkshire TV sitcom Queenie's Castle and Roy Evans in EastEnders from 1994-2003.


Alf Joint (died 2005 aged 77) would be 97 - 3 credits, including Stunt Man in Colony In Space

Alf Joint was a British movie and television stunt performer, stunt coordinator and arranger.

He was notable for his contributions in numerous films over a 30 year period including: The Heroes of Telemark (1965), Kelly's Heroes (1970), The Omen (1976), A Bridge too Far (1977), Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) and the James Bond films Goldfinger (1964) and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). He also had small acting roles in some films.

As a stuntman he specialised in high falls and fight scenes. He doubled for Sean Connery in the film Goldfinger and for Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood in Where Eagles Dare (1968). Memorable appearances include his fight with Connery as the Mexican thug Capungo in Goldfinger. The fight ends with the character's electrocution in a bath when a sunlamp is thrown in by Bond, followed by his famous quip “Shocking…Positively shocking”. Joint also took part in the fight scene on the top of a cable car in Where Eagles Dare and performed a jump from one cable car to another doubling for Richard Burton. On television he appeared in Doctor Who, Dick Turpin, Return to Treasure Island, Danger Man, The Prisoner, The Avengers, Space: 1999, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, (for which he plunged 430ft into the Reichenbach Falls doubling for Eric Porter) and London's Burning. He also performed a memorable stunt for aCadbury Milk Tray television commercial in which the hero was seen diving off a cliff into the sea.


Stratford Johns (died 2002 aged 76) would be 99 - credited as Monarch in Four To Doomsday

Stratford Johns, was a popular British stage, film and television actor who is best remembered for his starring role as Detective Inspector Charlie Barlow in the long-running BBC police series Z-Cars.

He played Monach in the 1982 story Four to Doomsday.

Johns was born in Pietermaritzburg and grew up in South Africa, where his parents had emigrated. After serving in the South African navy during World War II, Johns worked for a time in accountancy, but soon became involved in amateur theatre.

In 1948, he bought a one-way ticket to Britain and learned his craft working in repertory theatre at Southend-on-Sea for almost five years. He began to appear in British films from the mid-1950s, including a role in the classic Ealing comedy The Ladykillers (1955).

He ran a small hotel in London during the 1950s, and was a member of the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre during the Angry Young Men period when new playwrights, including John Osborne, introduced new themes to British theatre. His most famous character, Barlow, was noted for his hard edges, owing much to the changes in characterisation pioneered at the Royal Court.

In 1962 he won the part of Barlow in Z-Cars and soon became one of the most familiar and popular faces on British television. During the long run (1962–1965) of Z-Cars, he transferred his character to the spin-off series, Softly, Softly (1966–1969), and later Softly, Softly: Taskforce (1969–1972). He also played the voice of the mysterious "Guvner" in The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery (1966).

In the 1970s he starred in a third spin-off series, Barlow at Large (1971,1973), which saw the character transferred to British Intelligence: it was later retitled simply Barlow (1974–1975). Although the Barlow character remained popular (and appeared in another spin-off, in which he investigated the Jack The Ripper murders), ratings for these solo spin-offs declined, and the final series ended in 1975. Barlow was seen once more in 1976, in the series Second Verdict.

Johns appeared as President of the Council Bradshaw in the 1970 award-winning film "Cromwell" with Richard Harris in the role of Cromwell and Sir Alec Guinness as King Charles 1st.

In 1973 Johns was named BBC TV Personality of the Year by the Variety Club of Great Britain. He also landed a cameo role as the apartheid-supporting Namib mine superintendent Zimmerman in the mini-series Master of the Game, although he went uncredited for the role.

Johns later appeared in the much-maligned Ken Russell films Salome's Last Dance and The Lair of the White Worm (both 1988), followed by the title-character in the mid-1980s Channel 4 series Brond.

His many stage credits include Daddy Warbucks in the original West End run of Annie - he can be heard on the original London cast album - and the Ghost of Christmas Present in the original Birmingham cast of the stage adaptation of the film musical Scrooge (1970), on the recording of which he can also be heard. His guest appearances on TV include The Avengers, Department S, Neverwhere, the Doctor Who serial Four to Doomsday (1982) and the Blake's 7 episode "Games". He had a prominent role as Calpurnius Piso in the BBC's acclaimed adaptation of Robert Graves' I, Claudius (1976); he played Magwich in the BBC's 1981 adaptation of Dickens' Great Expectations, and the jailer in The Secret Life of Albie Sachs. In 1993, Johns appeared in the BBC period drama Scarlet and Black alongside a young Ewan McGregor and Rachel Weisz.

He was also the author of the children's book Gumphlumph; in the mid-1960s, at the height of his fame as Barlow, he read it on the children's television series Jackanory. Gumphlumph would be revived, again with Johns narrating, for the TV-am children's programme Rub-A-Dub-Tub in the 1980s.


Edward Dentith (died 1999 aged 81) would be 107 - credited as Major General Rutlidge in The Invasion

Edward Dentith  played Major-General Rutlidge in the 1968 story The Invasion.


Emrys Jones (died 1972 aged 56) would be 109 - credited as The Master in The Mind Robber

Emrys Jones was an English actor wo appeared in the 1969 Doctor Who story The Mind Robber.

He made his film debut in One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942). He was often cast as young innocents in films such as: The Wicked Lady (1945); The Rake's Progress (1945); Nicholas Nickleby (1947); Holiday Camp (1947); and Powell and Pressburger's The Small Back Room (1949).

On television he appeared in such programmes as Softly, Softly; Out of the Unknown; Dixon of Dock Green; Doomwatch; Z-Cars.


 Deaths
Stephanie Bidmead (died 1974 aged 45) - credited as Maaga in Galaxy 4

Stephanie Bidmead was an English actress from Birmingham.

She was active in the 60's and 70' appearing in roles in The Onedin Line, Public Eye , Little Women and Play of the Month.

She had an extensive Television and stage Career before dying at the early age of 45.