Statistics

On This Day (USA) - 28 December

The Daleks: The Survivors premiered on BBC One in 1963 at 5:15pm GMT, watched by 6.40 million viewers.

Looking for Barbara, the Doctor, Ian and Susan discover that they have been exposed to lethal doses of radiation. The travellers are confronted by the city's inhabitants - the Daleks!

The Krotons: Episode One premiered on BBC One in 1968 at 5:15pm BST, watched by 9.00 million viewers.

The Tardis materialises in a bleak wasteland. The Doctor and his friends encounter the primitive Gonds and hear of their mysterious unseen rulers, the dreaded Krotons. The Kroton seem benevolent - but the Doctor makes a terrifying discovery . . .

Robot: Part One premiered on BBC One in 1974 at 5:35pm GMT, watched by 10.80 million viewers.

UNIT are called in when top secret plans and valuable equipment is stolen from high security establishments. The newly regenerated Doctor suggests that the thief may not be human.

A Girl's Best Friend premiered on BBC One in 1981 at 5:45pm GMT, watched by 8.40 million viewers.

Christmas at Moreton Harwood. All is peaceful. Or is it?

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy: Part Three premiered on BBC One in 1988 at 7:39pm GMT, watched by 4.80 million viewers.

Birthdays

Marty Ryan will be 65 - credited as Older Guard in The Middle Men(TW)

Marty Ryan grew up in Tigard Oregon outside of Portland and attended Central Catholic High School. He graduated from Santa Clara University and from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. In addition to his work in television and film, Marty is an accomplished stage actor and a member of the Actors Studio. He is the son of Jack Ryan and Beverly Ryan.

Rhys McConnochie will be 88 - credited as Rod in The Enemy of the World

Rhys McConnochie played Rod in the Doctor Who story The Enemy of the World.

Also wrked on Howzat! Kerry Packer's War, Australia on Trial, The Cup, Missing the Boat, City Homicide, Romulus, My Father, MDA, Stingers, After the Deluge, Bootleg, Black and White, Mother and Son, Hunting, Brides of Christ, Ring of Scorpio, Come in Spinner, Darlings of the Gods, Brotherhood of the Rose, The Man from Snowy River II, A Country Practice, Captain James Cook, Bullseye, Short Changed, Charly's Web, Land of Hope, Whose Baby, Anzacs, The Empty Beach, Flight Into Hell, Winners, Robbery, Special Squad, The Last Bastion, The Wild Duck, Bodyline, The Amorous Dentist, Play for Today, Collision Course, Coronation Street, Churchill's People, The Wars of the Roses

Noel Johnson (died 1999 aged 82) would be 108 - 2 credits, including Charles Grover M.P. in Invasion of the Dinosaurs

Noel Johnson was anEnglish actor.

He appeared in the 1967 story The Underwater Menace and the 1974 story Invasion of the Dinosaurs

He was the radio voice of Dick Barton special agent on BBCradio and Dan Dare on Radio Luxembourg.

His assured upper class voice cadence made him ideal for characters of that type, notably in the BBC Radio 4 dramatic adaptation of A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell. This was broadcast as 26 1-hour episodes between 1978 and 1981; Johnson played the novel sequence's narrator Nicholas Jenkins, while the younger Nicholas was played by Gareth Johnson in the first 18 episodes. In the last quarter of the series - in which Jenkins is in late middle-age - Johnson plays Jenkins alone.

His movie career included small roles in Defence of the Realm, Withnail & I, andFor Your Eyes Only, and numerous television dramas, including Dixon of Dock Green, Coronation Street, Out of the Unknown, Doomwatch, Death of an Expert Witness, Colditz, Rumpole of the Bailey, Inspector Morse and A Touch of Frost, amongst many others.

Dennis Edwards (died 2009 aged 92) would be 108 - 2 credits, including Lord Gomer in The Invasion of Time

Dennis Edwards is an actor who appeared in two roles in Doctor Who.

He also appeared in Grange Hill, Z Cars and Nicholas Nickleby.

Deaths

Donald Cotton (died 1999 aged 71) - 2 credits, including Writer for The Myth Makers

Donald Cotton was a writer for radio and television during the black and white era. He also wrote numerous musical comedys for the stage.
Cotton's scripts for the BBC Third Programme include Echo and Narcissus (1959), The Golden Fleece and Stereologue (both 1962) and The Tragedy of Phaethon (1965, described as a comedy despite the name). In 1960, he introduced Voices in the Air, a programme whose script included work not only by Cotton but also by other notable contributors including Harold Pinter, John Betjeman, Michael Flanders, Antony Hopkins, N. F. Simpson, Donald Swann, and Sandy Wilson.After helping to create Adam Adamant Lives!, Donald Cotton mainly confined his attention to writing and performing for the stage, although he would also become a novelist and columnist. He helped Tony Snell write the satirical 1968 album Medieval & Latter Day Lays, also known as Englishman Abroad. In the Eighties, Cotton novelised both his Doctor Who serials as well as The Romans for Target Books. All three rank as the most comedic and possibly the most unusual in the book range, being told in the first person and from a broadly humorous standpoint. He also wrote a novel called Bodkin Papers in 1986.

Edward Brayshaw (died 1990 aged 57) - 2 credits, including War Chief in The War Games

As well as appearing in Doctor Who, Edward Brayshaw's television roles included the part of Rochefort in the 1966 serial The Three Musketeers and 1967's The Further Adventures of the Three Musketeers. He also had a role in the cult ITV drama The Avengers and ITC series including The Saint and The Champions. However, Brayshaw is probably best known for playing Harold Meaker in the BBC1 children's comedy series Rentaghost, which ran from 1976 to 1984.