Statistics


On This Day (USA) - 27 September



Planet of Evil: Part One premiered on BBC One in 1975 at 5:45pm BST, watched by 10.40 million viewers.

The TARDIS takes the Doctor and Sarah to the planet Zeta Minor on the edge of the universe. An unseen menace has wiped out a Morestran expedition and haunts the alien jungle...


Meglos: Part One premiered on BBC One in 1980 at 6:16pm BST, watched by 5.00 million viewers.

The Trial of a Time Lord (The Mysterious Planet): Part Four premiered on BBC One in 1986 at 5:46pm BST, watched by 3.70 million viewers.

Battlefield: Part Four premiered on BBC One in 1989 at 7:34pm BST, watched by 4.00 million viewers.

The Caretaker premiered on BBC One in 2014 at 8:29pm BST, watched by 6.82 million viewers.

6/12. When terrifying events threaten Coal Hill school, the Time Lord goes under cover, little knowing that a meeting with Danny Pink is around the corner.


Doctor Who Extra: The Caretaker premiered on BBC Red Button in 2014 at 9:10pm BST
It’s an episode with everything from robots to romance and a new job for the Doctor… Now, Peter Capaldi and the team share the secrets behind it!

 Birthdays
Dominic Glynn will be 64 - 7 credits, including Incidental Music for The Trial of a Time Lord (The Mysterious Planet)

Glynn is a prolific composer of production music for television and film. As a regular writer for Universal Music Publishing Group, his music has featured in episodes of The Simpsons, Red Dwarf and Eerie Indiana, and the feature films Holy Man and Kevin & Perry Go Large.

In 2005/2006 his composition "Dangerous Beauty" was used as the theme to the hit Dutch television thriller series Vuurzee. A number of his production music tracks have been aired on the famous Adult Swim TV channel "bumps".

Glynn has also been active in the alternative electronica field, running the left field record label No Bones Records and recording under the names Fluid and Cybajaz and with Justin Mackay as Syzygy. He also co-composed the score of the video games Forsaken (performing as The Swarm) and (partially) Re-Volt. In 2007 Glynn wrote and performed the score for the British crime thriller "Bad Day", starring Claire Goose and Donna Air.

In 2009/10 Glynn wrote soundtrack music for many of B7 Productions's audio plays based on the BBC TV series Blake's 7


Garrick Hagon will be 85 - 3 credits, including Ky in The Mutants

Official Site

Garrick Hagon is a film, stage, television and radio actor best known for his role as Biggs Darklighter in Star Wars: A New Hope. His many films include Batman, Spy Game, Me and Orson Welles and The Message.

Hagon was born in London, England and raised in Toronto, Canada. 

He acted with Alec Guinness in Richard III at the Stratford Festival of Canada where he played for 7 seasons and won the Tyrone Guthrie Award in 1963. After studying for a spell with the Royal Court Theatre Studio, London, Hagon then acted with Prospect Productions, in many repertory theatres, on the West End in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons 

As a voice actor he has been heard in the UK dub of many films and tv series including Starfleet/X-Bomber (as Capt.Carter), the Manga titles, The Secret of Mamo and Goodbye Lady Liberty and Akira Kurosawa’s Ran. His voice is featured in the video game, Divinity II: Ego Draconis and he has recorded over 150 audiobooks for major UK publishers. Garrick has also directed over 100 audiobook recordings including Michelle Paver’s Wolf Brother read by Ian McKellen and the Audie Award-winning, full cast, unabridged His Dark Materials by Philip Pullma.

Hagon’s many films include: Dad in Tim Burton’s Batman, the role of Ammar in Mustapha Akkad's The Message, CIA Director Wilson in Tony Scott's Spy Game, Dr. Mewling in Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles, Fr.Loughton in Xie Jin's The Opium War, James Halgate III in Philip Stolzl's The Expatriate, Lt.Rafferty in Richard Attenborough's A Bridge Too Far, the British General in Paul Verhoeven's Black Book, Eros in Charlton Heston’s Antony and Cleopatra and the American doctor in Olivier Dahan's La Vie En Rose.


Frank Wylie (died 1994 aged 58) would be 89 - credited as Ruther in Castrovalva

Actor active from 1959-1992

Had roles in The Camerons, Sutherlands Law and The Fortunes of Nigel


Kismet Delgado (died 2017 aged 87) would be 95 - credited as Spider Voice in Planet of the Spiders

Kismet Delgado voiced a Spider in the Doctor Who serial Planet of the Spiders. 

She was the widow of Roger Delgado, and later married William Marlowe.


Barbara Murray (died 2014 aged 84) would be 95 - credited as Lady Cranleigh in Black Orchid

Barbara Murray is an English actress. She was married to the actor John Justin and had three daughters, but they divorced in 1964

She played Lady Madge Cranleigh in the 1982 Doctor Who story Black Orchid.

Murray had a very busy career in the 1940s and '50s as a fresh-faced leading lady in many British films such as Passport to Pimlico (1949) and Meet Mr. Lucifer (1953). Film work continued into the 1960s (including a role in the Tony Hancock film The Punch and Judy Man) but she was to appear more frequently on television, and is possibly best known for her role as Lady Pamela Wilder in the 1960s drama series The Plane Makers (and the sequel, The Power Game).

Her other TV credits include: The Escape of R.D.7Danger ManThe SaintDepartment SStrange ReportThe PallisersThe MackinnonsAlbert and Victoria and The Bretts.

Obituary: The Guardian


Milton Subotsky (died 1991 aged 69) would be 103 - 2 credits, including Screenplay for Dr Who and the Daleks(Aaru)

Milton Subotsky was born in New York in 1921, and honed his production skills during World War II by editing technical training films. After the war, he worked on a number of television shows in the US before emigrating to the UK in 1960, where he worked at Shepperton Studios.

Meeting up with Max J Rosenburg, they formed Amicus Productions in 1964 and went on to produce a number of cult sci-fi and horror classics like Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, The House That Drips Blood, and The Land That Time Forgot. He and Rosenburg also produced the two Dalek films starring Peter Cushing under the Aaru Productions name.

Post-Amicus, Subotsky continued to produce with titles as the mini-series The Martian Chronicles, based on Ray Bradbury's The Silver Locusts, and other productions based on Stephen King novels such as Cat's Eye, The Lawnmower Man and Sometimes They Come Back. He also produced the horror cult film The Monster Club.

Subotsky died in 1991 from heart disease.


David Harcourt (died 2013 aged 97) would be 109 - 2 credits, including Camera Operator for Dr Who and the Daleks(Aaru)

Camera Operator on the feature films Dr Who and the Daleks and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.

The son of actor James Harcourt and the father of film technician Jamie Harcourt.

Telegraph Obituary


John Harvey (died 1982 aged 70) would be 113 - 2 credits, including Professor Brett in The War Machines

John Harvey appeared in two Doctor Who stories: as Professor Brett in The War Machines and Officia in The Macra Terror.

Other roles include The Dick Francis Thriller: The Racing GameRings on Their FingerMalice Aforethought, House of CaradusLe PetomaneEdward & Mrs. SimpsonSome Mothers Do 'Ave 'EmRachel and the Beelzebub BombadiersThe Galton & Simpson PlayhouseThe ExpertGeorge & MildredRentaghosMan About the HouseZ CarsLegend of the WerewolfThe Growing Pains of PC PenroseDawson's WeeklyRollerballSutherland's LawBarlowJennie: Lady Randolph ChurchillCrown CourtThe Black WindmillThe Satanic Rites of DraculaThirty Minutes WorthThe Dick Emery ShowSoftly Softly: Task ForceDixon of Dock GreenSykesThe Strauss FamilyThe Onedin LineWhodunnit?The BefriendersSpyder's WebJusticeFather Dear FatherThe Mind of Mr. J.G. ReederDoctor at LargeSacco and VanzettiThe Main ChanceThe BorderersRandall and Hopkirk (Deceased)DetectiveThe Gold RobbersITV Sunday Night TheatreBBC Play of the MonthMan in a SuitcaseThirty-Minute TheatreA Challenge for Robin HoodThey Came from Beyond SpaceThe Deadly BeesArmchair TheatreA Game of MurderThe PsychopathTheatre 625Pity About the AbbeyFront Page StoryJoey BoyThe Plane MakersCurtain of FearSergeant CorkOur Man at St. Mark'sThe Scarlet BladeNo Hiding PlaceThe Old Dark HouseThe Kiss of the VampireLove StoryHeavens Above!The Human JungleComedy PlayhouseThe Wrong Arm of the LawIt Happened Like ThisDoomsday at ElevenDr. Finlay's CasebookThe Phantom of the OperaITV Play of the WeekThe Six Proud WalkersDrama 61-67Double BunkJangoArthur Clears the AirTunes of GloryHell Is a CityTwo Way StretchThe Stranglers of BombayH.G.Wells' Invisible ManThe Ugly DucklingHorrors of the Black MuseumThe 39 StepsDial 999The Flying DoctorIncident at Echo SixMurder BagEdge of FuryThe Adventures of Robin HoodIvanhoeThe ViseThe Man Who Wouldn't TalkNight of the DemonThe Long Haul, Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!Motive for MurderThe BuccaneersITV Television PlayhouseTrue as a TurtleThe New Adventures of Martin KaneAssignment Foreign LegionX: The UnknownThe Adventures of the Big ManPrivate's ProgressAll Square AftThe Lost HoursCastle in the AirAngels One FiveBBC Sunday-Night TheatreMilestonesHigh TreasonFour DaysLady Godiva Rides AgainThe Black WidowThe Man with My FaceThe Dark LightThe Smart AleckFiles from Scotland YardCairo RoadChance of a LifetimeStage FrightPrivate AngeloDick Barton Strikes BackNooseOn the SpotA Gunman Has EscapedMoscow Nights


 Deaths
Michael Gambon (died 2023 aged 82) - 2 credits, including Kazran Sardick in A Christmas Carol

Sir Michael John GambonCBE  is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serialThe Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as Professor Albus Dumbledore in the last six Harry Potter films (following the death of actor Richard Harris).

He played Kazran in the 2010 Christmas Special, A Christmas Carol.

Gambon was born in Cabra, Dublin, during World War II. His father, Edward Gambon, was an engineer, and his mother, Mary (n�e Hoare), was a seamstress.

Brought up as a strict Roman Catholic, he attended St Aloysius Boys' School in Somers Town and served at the altar. He then moved to St Aloysius' College in Hornsey Lane, Highgate, London

At the age of 18, Gambon went off to attend drama school at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London and studied classical acting for 3 years, eventually receiving a BA in Classical Acting. 

Gambon made his professional stage d�but in the Gate Theatre Dublin's 1962 production of Othello, playing "Second Gentleman", followed by a European tour. A year later, cheekily auditioning with the opening soliloquy from Richard III, he caught the eye of star-maker Laurence Olivier who was recruiting promising spear carriers for his new National Theatre Company

His rise to stardom began in 1974 when Eric Thompson cast him as the melancholy vet in Alan Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests at Greenwich. Back at the National, now on the South Bank, his next turning point was Peter Hall's premiere staging of Harold Pinter's Betrayal.

In 2001 he played what he described as "a physically repulsive" Davies in Patrick Marber's revival of Pinter's The Caretaker, but he found the rehearsal period an unhappy experience, and felt that he had let down the author. A year later, playing opposite Daniel Craig, he portrayed the father of a series of cloned sons in Caryl Churchill's A Number at the Royal Court, notable for a recumbent moment when he smoked a cigarette, the brightly lit spiral of smoke rising against a black backdrop, an effect which he dreamed up during rehearsals.

In 2004, Gambon played the lead role (Hamm) in Samuel Beckett's post-apocalyptic play Endgame at the Albery Theatre, London. In 2004 he finally achieved a life-long ambition to play Falstaff, in Nicholas Hytner's National production of Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, co-starring with Matthew Macfadyen as Prince Hal.

He made his film debut in the Laurence Olivier Othello in 1965. He then played romantic leads, notably in the early 1970s BBC television series, The Borderers, in which he was swashbuckling Gavin Ker. As a result, Gambon was asked by James Bondproducer Cubby Broccoli to audition for the role in 1970, to replace George Lazenby. His craggy looks soon made him into acharacter actor, although he won critical acclaim as Galileo in John Dexter's production of The Life of Galileo by Brecht at the National Theatre in 1980. But it was not until Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective (1986) that he became a household name. After this success, for which he won a BAFTA, his work includes such controversial films as The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, which also starred Helen Mirren.

In 1992 he played a psychotic general in the Barry Levinson film Toys and he also starred as Georges Simenon's detective Inspector Jules Maigret in an ITV adaptation of Simenon's series of books. He starred as Fyodor Dostoyevsky in the Hungarian director K�roly Makk's movie The Gambler (1997) about the writing of Dostoyevsky's novella The Gambler. In recent years, films such as Dancing at Lughnasa (1998), Plunkett & Macleane (1998), and Sleepy Hollow (1999), as well as television appearances in series such as Wives and Daughters (1999) (for which he won another BAFTA), a made-for-TV adaptation of Samuel Beckett'sEndgame (2001) and Perfect Strangers (2001) have revealed a talent for comedy. Gambon played President Lyndon B. Johnson in the television film Path to War. For this performance, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Mini-series or Movie and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture made for Television.

In 2004, he appeared in five films, including Wes Anderson's quirky comedy The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou; the British gangster flick Layer Cake; theatrical drama Being Julia; and CGI action fantasy Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

In 2004, he began playing Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts's headmaster in the third installment of J. K. Rowling's franchise, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, taking over from the late Richard Harris. (Harris had also played Maigret on television four years before Gambon took that role.) Gambon reprised the role of Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which was released in November 2005 in the United Kingdom and the United States. He returned to the role again in the fifth film, 2007's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and the sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. He appeared in the seventh film;Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts I and II, released in two parts in 2010 and 2011. 

In 1990 he played Jerry in Harold Pinter's Betrayal for BBC Radio 3. In 2006 he played Henry in Stephen Rea's play about Samuel Beckett's Embers for Radio 3. In 2007 he was Sam in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming for Radio 3.

He performed as Joe in Beckett's Eh Joe, giving two performances a night at the Duke of York's Theatre in London. He currently does the voice over to the new Guinness ads with the penguins.[12] In 2007 he played major roles in Stephen Poliakoff's Joe's Palace, and the five-part adaptation of Mrs Gaskell's Cranford novels, both for BBC TV.

In 2008 Gambon appeared in the role of Hirst in No Man's Land by Harold Pinter in the Gate Theatre, Dublin, opposite David Bradley as Spooner, in a production directed by Rupert Goold, which transferred to the London West End's Duke of York's Theatre, for which roles each received nominations for the 2009 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor. He also appeared as the Narrator in the British version of Kr�d M�ndoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire.

After Pinter's death on 24 December 2008, Gambon read Hirst's monologue selected by the playwright for Gambon to read at his funeral, held on 31 December 2008, during the cast's memorial remarks from the stage as well as at the funeral and also in Words and Music, transmitted on the BBC Radio 3 on 22 February 2009.[13]

In late 2009 he had to withdraw from his role of W. H. Auden in The Habit of Art (being replaced by Richard Griffiths) because of ill health. That same year he played his role as Mr. Woodhouse in a television adaptation of Jane Austen's famously irrepressibleEmma, a four-hour miniseries that premiered on BBC One in October 2009, co-starring Jonny Lee Miller and Romola Garai.[14]Gambon received a 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie nomination for his performance.

In April 2010, Gambon returned once again to the Gate Theatre Dublin to appear in Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape, which transferred to London's Duchess Theatre in October 2010.

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


Daphne Dare (died 2000 aged 71) - 30 credits, including Costume Designer for The Crusade

Costume Designer who worked on 126 episodes of early Doctor Who making her the most prolific costume designer on the programme.

The Ohio State University Libraries' Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute includes costume and scene designs from more than fifty productions by Daphne Dare. 

Dare designed for major theatres on both sides of the Atlantic as well as for television and film. Throughout her career, she had a part in over sixty productions, serving in such roles as art director, costume designer, production designer, and set designer. Dare designed at the Bristol Old Vic from 1958 until 1963. 

She worked as a costume designer for BBC TV from 1964-1968, designing the first two years of costumes and monsters for Doctor. Who. In 1967-1968 she became the Head of Design at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter. In the early 1970s Dare worked with Robin Phillips on a number of acclaimed productions including Two Gentlemen of Verona (Royal Shakespeare Company, 1970) with a young Patrick Stewart, Abelard and Heloise (Wyndham's, 1970) with Diana Rigg, Dear Antoine (Chichester and Piccadilly, 1971), and Miss Julie (Royal Shakespeare Company, 1971). 1973 was a very productive year for Daphne Dare and Robin Phillips with a season at Greenwich, a company including Jeremy Brett, Mia Farrow, Elisabeth Bergner, Penelope Keith, and Lynn Redgrave, in productions such as The House of Bernarda Alba, Three Sisters, Born Yesterday, Cats Play, and Zorba. In 1975, Dare became the Head of Design at the Stratford Festival, Ontario, under artistic director Robin Phillips. She designed over thirty-five productions, and was responsible, along with Phillips, for the renovation of the stages and auditoriums for the Avon and Third Stages, while also instituting a "Designer in training" program for young Canadian designers. In 1989, Daphne Dare designed Dion Boucicault's London Assurance (at Chichester and Theatre Royal Haymarket), with the director Sam Mendez. During the 1990s Dare focused primarily on film, working frequently with Ken Loach, including on his film Carla's Song (1996).