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On This Day (USA) - 12 December



The Dalek Invasion of Earth: The End of Tomorrow premiered on BBC One in 1964 at 5:40pm GMT, watched by 11.90 million viewers.

The Doctor, Barbara and Susan make their way out of London to the Daleks' mining operation in Bedfordshire whilst Ian faces the Black Dalek's pet Slyther.


 Birthdays
Matthew McNulty will be 42 - credited as Adam Long in Praxeus

MatthewMcNulty is an English actor.


Rhys Thomas will be 46 - 2 credits, including Self in The Women of Doctor Who(Factual)

Rhys Thomas is a British BAFTA nominated, Emmy and Rose D'Or winning director, producer, actor and writer. 

He is most famous for his roles in Star Stories, The Fast Show, Sirens and Nathan Barley. He is also the voice of Gary Bellamy on Radio 4's Down the Line. He was nominated for the Breakthrough Talent Award at the 2013 BAFTA Awards for producing and directing the acclaimed feature length documentary Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender and subsequently won Best Arts Documentary in both the 2013 Rose D'Or and International Emmy Awards.


Sarah Sutton will be 63 - 89 credits, including Nyssa in The Keeper of Traken

Sarah Sutton is a British actress best known for her role as Nyssa in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. Nyssa was a companion of Tom Baker and Peter Davison's Doctors from 1981 to 1983. She was the youngest female actor to play a companion in the series.

Sutton was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. She studied ballet as a little girl and went on as an actress to be the youngest British actress to have played Alice in a television or sound film production of Alice in Wonderland, Natalie Gregory being the youngest actress to have played Alice in an American television or sound film.

Since leaving Doctor Who she has done very little acting, instead focusing on raising her daughter, Hannah, with her GP husband. She has made appearances as Sarah Dryden in the BBC's medical soap opera Casualty (the 1989 episode "Charity"), and as Wendy in the serial Unnatural Pursuits (1991, written by Simon Gray and starring Alan Bates).

Sutton reprised the role of Nyssa in 1993, in the Doctor Who Children in Need special Dimensions in Time, and subsequently in several of the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who spin-off audio plays from 1999 onwards.


Sarah Douglas will be 72 - 9 credits, including Mrs Mevel in Killing Time

Sarah Douglas is an English actress. 

She is perhaps best known for playing the Kryptonian supervillain Ursa in the first two Superman films (1978 and 1980), and for her role as Pamela Lynch in the 1980s primetime drama series Falcon Crest (1983–85).


Bill Nighy will be 75 - credited as Dr Black in Vincent and the Doctor

William Francis "BillNighy  is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof. Mark Carleton, whose extra-marital affairs kept him "vital".

He became known around the world in 2003 for his critically acclaimed performance in Love Actually. Other notable roles in cinema include his portrayal of Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, as well as Viktor in the Underworld film series.

He is also known for his roles in the films Lawless HeartI Capture the CastleShaun of the DeadThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyHot FuzzValkyrieHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows � Part 1, and Rango. His performances were also acclaimed in the State of Play series and in the TV movies The Girl in the Caf�Gideon's Daughter and Page Eight, for which he earned Golden Globe nominations, winning one for Gideon's Daughter.

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


Leslie Schofield will be 86 - 2 credits, including Calib in The Face of Evil

Leslie Schofield (born  in OldhamLancashire) is an English actor who is most famous in the UK for his role as Jeff Healy in the popular soap operaEastEnders where he played Jeff from 1997 to 2000. His character was famous for unsuccessfully proposing to Pauline Fowler (played by Wendy Richard). He also appeared in EastEnders briefly in 1988 and 1989 playing a different character named Brian Wicks.

Schofield also appeared as Chief Bast, an Imperial Officer aboard the doomed Death Star in George Lucas' first released Star Wars film,Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in 1977. He also appeared in The Star Wars Holiday Special, as the producers used stock footagefrom A New Hope in some scenes.

Other sci-fi appearances include two Doctor Who stories, The War Games (1969) and The Face of Evil (1977), and as prison ship officer Raiker in the Blake's 7 episode "Spacefall" (1978). He appeared in an episode of Midsomer Murders entitled "Vixen�s Run" and an episode of Minder (TV series)You Lose Some, You Win Some. Schofield also played Reggie Perrin's son-in-law, Tom in the third series of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Len in The Smoking Room, the father in the BBC children's drama Jonny Briggs and cbbc comedy show Chucklevision.

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


Michael Leeston-Smith (died 2002 aged 85) would be 108 - credited as Director for The Myth Makers

Michael Leeston-Smith  is a British director. 

He first worked for the BBC in 1932 at Ealing Studios. In World War II he was a member of the Royal Horse Artillery. In 1953, he became sound engineer on the mini series The Quatermass Experiment. Two years later, he worked as production assistant on the sequel Quatermass II.

In the 1960s, Leeston-Smith started work as a director. He directed episodes of Z-Cars, R3 and the Doctor Who story The Myth Makers. 

In 1973, he moved to South Africa to work for the South African Broadcasting Corporation. 

He is the oldest living former director of Doctor Who.

Work includes ITV PlayhouseR3The Wednesday PlayZ CarsThorndykeCatch HandWitch WoodThe Small House at Allington


 Deaths

John Hearne (died 1994 aged 68) - credited as Costume Designer for The Trial of a Time Lord (Mindwarp)

John Hearne provided Costumes for the 1986 story Mindwarp.

Also worked on BreadMay to DecemberYes, Prime MinisterOpen All HoursMessiahTerry and JuneRentaghostGrange Hill


Howard Lang (died 1989 aged 78) - credited as Horg in An Unearthly Child

Howard Lang was a British actor best known for playing Captain William Baines in the BBC drama The Onedin Line. 

He served for seven years in the Royal Navy during World War II.

Lang's other parts included roles in The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), Z-Cars, Softly, Softly and The Vise.

He played caveman Horg in first Doctor Who story, An Unearthly Child.

He also played the role of Bert Hudd in the first production of Harold Pinter's first play,The Room.