Statistics


On This Day (USA) - 29 October



The Tenth Planet: Episode 4 premiered on BBC One in 1966 at 5:50pm GMT, watched by 7.50 million viewers.

Image of the Fendahl: Part One premiered on BBC One in 1977 at 6:11pm GMT, watched by 6.70 million viewers.

Ghost Machine premiered on BBC Three in 2006 at 10:00pm GMT, watched by 1.77 million viewers.

Gwen is haunted by the vision of a lonely boy when she retrieves an alien object from a fleeing hoodie.


Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?: Part One premiered on CBBC in 2007 at 5:30pm GMT

Science fiction drama. Maria wakes one morning to discover Sarah Jane has disappeared - and she is the only person in the world who remembers her.


The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith: Episode One premiered on BBC One in 2009 at 4:34pm GMT, watched by 1.59 million viewers.

Nightvisiting premiered on BBC Three in 2016 at 10:00am BST

London is infiltrated by an eerie alien with the ability to morph into the shape of lost loved ones.

Tanya has an unexpected visitor come to her window in the dead of night - and she's not the only one, as Ram and Miss Quill face their own startling visitors.

Confronted with these emotional encounters, the team must overcome the persuasion of this strange new threat, and battle through the streets to stop Tanya from being lost forever.


 Birthdays
Dillon Casey was 41 - credited as Brad in Dead of Night(TW)

Dillon Casey is a Canadian-American actor and producer. He is best known for his role as Trevor Lemonde in the television series MVP. He has appeared in The Best Years and 11 Cameras, among other works in televisionfilm and on stage.

Casey was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and raised in Oakville, Ontario. His father, Richard, is an urologist, and his mother, Patrice, is an image consultant. After graduating from Oakville Trafalgar High School, Casey attended McGill University in Montreal to study science. He moved to Toronto "just to return to his roots" where he was chosen to play the role of "Trevor Lemonde" in a short running CBC show called "MVP". The show garnered attention for the actor, putting him on a giant billboard in his underwear in Times Square.[2]Casey relocated to Los Angeles, California in January, 2009.

In July 2011, Casey appeared as Brad in "Dead of Night", the third episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day.

After a lot of appearances as guest star in shows like The Vampire Diaries and Being Erica, he was cast as Sean Pierce, a Navy Seal, in the action show Nikita as a regular character. The show was renewed for a third season that will air in October 2012.

He obtained his first lead role for the movie Creature which was released in September 2011. The movie was unsuccessful with both the box office and most critics, but was cast in the 2012 Valentine movie The Vow. The movie was successful at the box office and is currently the fourth-highest weekend debut of 2012.

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


Nina Toussaint-White was 39 - 3 credits, including Mels in Let's Kill Hitler

Nina Toussaint-White is an English actress, best known for playing nurse Syd Chambers in the soap opera EastEnders.

Raised in Streatham, she trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in Clapham. She made her professional debut in a 2007 episode of Casualty, followed by an appearance in The Bill a year later.

Toussaint-White was offered the part of Syd Chambers in EastEnders as a new love interest for Bradley Branning, making her first screen appearance in February 2009. She played this character until her departure in October 2009. She has also appeared in Primeval and acted in several stage productions, including A Midsummer Night's Dream.


Stephen Marzella was 65 - 2 credits, including Police Officer in Fear Her

Stephen Marzella played a Police Constable in the Doctor Who story Fear Her and David Penn in the Torchwood story From Out of the Rain.

Also worked on Da Vinci's DemonsWalking with the EnemyMr. NiceCaerdyddA Bit of Tom Jones?BelongingMistressesY PrisHigh HopesHollyoaksOutside the RulesThe BenchEastEndersGame OnThe BillHarry Enfield and ChumsScreenplaySorry!Chariots of Fire


Glen MacPherson was 67 - credited as Director of Photography for The TV Movie (as Glen MacPherson, C.S.C.)

Director of Photography on the 1996 TV Movie

Glen MacPherson, CSC/ASC is a Canadian cinematographer based in Montreal, Quebec, where he was born. MacPherson's cinematography career dates to the mid-1980s. MacPherson is fluent in English and French.

MacPherson started work as a focus puller for the 1981 movie Gas, becoming promoted as a camera operator the next year. In 1983 MacPherson made his debut as a cinematographer with the movie 20th Century Chocolate Cake. For the remainder of the 1980s, MacPherson held down a variety of jobs, including camera assistant, camera operator and a director of photography. In 1989, he worked on an episode of The Hitchhiker (title: "Coach"), which opened the door for work in the United States and beyond. He has since been honored with BAFTA, Emmy Award, Gemini Award and Genie Award nominations.

Other works include PompeiiResident Evil: RetributionThe Three MusketeersGlee: The 3D Concert MovieResident Evil: AfterlifeKeep Your Head Up, Kid: The Don Cherry StoryThe Final DestinationRamboOne Missed CallTrick 'r Treat16 BlocksReboundWalking TallMy Baby's DaddySilver LakeAlaskaFriday After NextAll About the BenjaminsExit WoundsCamouflageThe DivisionRomeo Must DieMax Q: Emergency LandingThe Real Howard SpitzWrongfully AccusedRegenerationCalm at SunsetCaptains CourageousToe TagsBye Bye BirdieFirst DegreeJohnny's GirlSlidersServing in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer StoryShock Treatment , FlinchVoices from WithinFor the Love of AaronDying to RememberThe SubstituteCadillac GirlsThe Sea WolfMiracle on Interstate 880The Amy Fisher StoryLip GlossMiles from NowhereConspiracy of SilenceDeadly Betrayal: The Bruce Curtis StoryDeadly SurveillanceSnake Eater II: The Drug BusterC.B.C.'s Magic HourDeadly NightmaresSnake EaterBetrayal of SilenceA 20th Century Chocolate Cake 


Angela Douglas was 84 - credited as Doris in Battlefield

Angela Douglas is an English actress.

She was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire

Douglas started acting as a teenager, joining the WorthingWest Sussex repertory company, before making her West End theatre debut in 1958. She made her film debut in 1959 with Donald Pleasence in The Shakedown, and then appeared with Tommy Steele in It's All Happening.

She is best remembered for her roles in several Carry On Films in the 1960s, including Carry On Cowboy (1965) as an all-singing and trigger-happy version of Annie Oakley. She then appeared in Carry On Screaming (1966), Follow That Camel(1967) and Carry On Up the Khyber (1968). She has, by virtue of this association, appeared on many retrospective and spin-off programmes. Douglas made an appearance in North Wales in September 2005 to unveil a plaque dedicated to the filming of Carry On... Up the Khyber, as part of the movie had been shot in Llanberis.

Her other films have included The Comedy Man (1964), Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World (1973) and The Four Feathers (2002).

Her television credits have included The AvengersThe SaintZ-CarsDixon of Dock GreenJason King and Coronation Street, and Doctor at Large.

After husband Kenneth More was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease, she put her career on hold after 11 episodes of Oil Strike North. After More's death, she returned in various roles, including Doris Lethbridge-Stewart in Doctor Who (1989) and Peak Practice.

She has since concentrated on a career in journalism and writing, having completed two books.

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


Hugh Futcher was 87 - credited as Hickman in The Sea Devils

Hugh Futcher  is an English actor in theatre, television, and film. 

He appeared in the 1972 story The Sea Devils

In 1886  he was considered for the role of theSeventh Doctor, but accepted other work that precluded taking the part.

He was a member of the stock company of the Carry On films, with notable parts in Carry On SpyingCarry On At Your Convenience, and Carry On Behind. Other films include Roman Polanski's Repulsion(as Colin's pubmate Reggie), Quatermass and the Pit, and the Herman's Hermits musical Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter.

In television, Futcher had a recurring role in the adventure series Orlando as "Hedgehog." He has also appeared on The SaintZ-CarsThe SweeneyMinder, and Casualty. In 2011 he appeared in episode 5 of series 5 of MI High as George.

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


Michael Jayston (died 2024 aged 88) would have been 89 - 9 credits, including The Valeyard in The Trial of a Time Lord (The Mysterious Planet)

Michael Jayston  was a Nottingham-born English actor.

He played The Valeyard in the Fourteen part storyTrial of a Time-Lord

He attended the Becket Grammar School in West Bridgford, then worked briefly as a trainee accountant at the offices of the National Coal Board before obtaining a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to train as an actor. He made his professional debut, aged 27, in a production ofThe Amorous Prawn, going on to work on the stage at the Salisbury Repertory, Bristol Old Vic and with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

He enjoyed success as a classical stage actor, then played roles on British television.Shakespearean roles on TV include Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968), Gratiano inThe Merchant of Venice (1973) and Edmund in King Lear (1975). An early recurring television role was as civil servant Dowling in the final series of boardroom drama The Power Game in 1969.

In 1970 he played Henry Ireton in Cromwell. In 1971, he starred as Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in the film Nicholas and Alexandra, then in 1973 took the lead role of Mr Rochester in a BBC adaptation ofJane Eyre opposite Sorcha Cusack. He appeared as Gratiano opposite Laurence Olivier as Shylockin the National Theatre's film The Merchant of Venice (1974). He made two appearances in the anthology series Thriller in 1974 and in 1975 played Quiller, a spy who never used a gun, in the British TV series of the same name. He appeared as Dornford Yates' gentleman hero Jonathan Mansel in the 1977 BBC adaptation of She Fell Among Thieves. In 1979 he played Peter Guillam opposite Alec Guinness in the serial Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. He also played Mr Spooner in series Tracy Beaker Returns in 2010.

Jayston played Neville Badger in the 1989 television adaptation of David Nobbs's comedy of mannersA Bit of a Do. He portrayed James Bond in a radio adaptation of You Only Live Twice in 1990. In 1991 he appeared as Colonel Mustard in the television series Cluedo and a year later made a guest appearance in the Press Gang episode "UnXpected". Other TV appearances include in EastEnders,Coronation StreetOnly Fools and HorsesThe Darling Buds of MayTales of the UnexpectedThe Bill and the character of Donald De Souza in Emmerdale. He also was on Holby City and Tracy Beaker Returns

For several years in the 1970s and '80s, Jayston's voice was heard in the TV commercial for the aspirin product Anadin. The script (beginning with the words "Tense, nervous headache...?") became so well known that comedians worked it into sketches and routines.

He has also narrated many audio books, including works by P. D. James and John le Carr�. He provided the voices for the Wind in the Willows Story Teller group of tapes from 1983 to 1985.

In 2004 he narrated a radio version of Geoffrey Household's thriller Rogue Male for digital radio stationBBC Radio 7. From 2 February 2009 he read a new abridged recording of Geoffrey Household's sequel Rogue Justice, also on BBC Radio 7.

He also provided a "voice" for "Finisterre" (2002), an album by the British group Saint Etienne. He didvoiceovers for British television adverts. In 2010 he also lent his voice to a series of vocal interludes on an album celebrating the Giro d'Italia, released in May by British cycling clothing company Rapha.

Since 2001 he has been the male station voice on BBC Essex. Jayston was President of the Brighton Little Theatre as of 2010.

Jayston's first wife was actress Lynn Farleigh whom he married in 1965. He married Heather Sneddon in 1970, then Elizabeth Smithson in 1979.

He has played competitive cricket for Rottingdean (Sussex), opening the bowling as a leg spinner.

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


 Deaths
Godfrey James (died 2019 aged 88) - credited as Tarn in Underworld

Godfrey James is an English actor.

His film appearances include: Witchfinder General, Blood on Satan's Claw, The Oblong Box, The Land That Time Forgot, S�ance on a Wet Afternoon and At the Earth's Core.

Television credits include: The Avengers, Dixon of Dock Green, Department S, Z-Cars, UFO, The Onedin Line, Space: 1999, The Lotus Eaters, The Carnforth Practice, The Sweeney, Doctor Who (in the serial Underworld), Return of the Saint, The Aphrodite Inheritance, The Standard, Minder, The Professionals, Bergerac, The Dark Side of the Sun, The Bill, Dempsey & Makepeace, Emmerdale Farm, A Very Peculiar Practice, and Crime Traveller.


Kenneth Gilbert (died 2015 aged 84) - credited as Richard Dunbar in The Seeds of Doom

Kenneth Gilbert was born in Plymouth in 1931.

He began his television career in the 1950s, appearing in diverse shows such as The Heir of Skipton, The Three Musketeers, The Granville Melodramas and Hamlet. He continued to play parts on television, with more notable roles including Marshall in Ivanhoe, Harold Earle in House of Cards and To Play A King, Vic Mallinson in Buccaneer, as well as Dunbar in The Seeds of Doom. His last role was as Benesh in the Hustle episode The Delivery.

 

Obituary: Toby Hadoke


Mervyn Haisman (died 2010 aged 82) - 4 credits, including Writer for The Abominable Snowmen

Mervyn Haisman was a television and film script writer.

He also worked as an actor and managed a theatre.

An early television credit was an episode of Doctor Finlay�s Casebook (1967) called The Forgotten Enemy. At about the same time he formed a writing partnership with Henry Lincoln, and together they were the authors of three Doctor Who stories. Together they created the Yeti and the Quarks.

Haisman also wrote for many British television shows including The Onedin Line (on which he also worked as script editor), Howards' Way, and Swallows and Amazons Forever!; and on the horror movie Curse of the Crimson Altar, also known as The Crimson Cult (1968), again with Henry Lincoln.

He provided script for the popular BBC series Jane (1982) , starring Glynis Barber as the wartime comic strip pin up. He was to also write the second series Jane in the Desert (1984). The success of the TV series lead to Haisman writing for the movie Jane and the Lost City (1987). This time featuring Kirsten Hughes in the lead role.


Cavan Kendall (died 1999 aged 57) - credited as Achilles in The Myth Makers

Cavan Kendall was a British actor. He acted in many television series and in films Eureka and Sexy Beast.

Kendall was the paternal half-brother of actress Kay Kendall. He was born to Terry Kendall and Dora Spencer  in ClaphamLondon and died of cancer in Gloucestershire aged 57.

He played Achilles in the Doctor Who story The Myth Makers.

Also worked on Sexy BeastThe Clandestine MarriageEurekaBadger by Owl-LightBlood MoneyThe Enchanted CastleThrillerJohn MacnabITV PlayhouseThe Way We Live NowThirty-Minute TheatreThe Spanish FarmThe Portrait of a LadyHere We Go Round the Mulberry BushLes MisérablesSt. IvesSoftly SoftlyITV Play of the WeekBoyd Q.C.Jezebel ex UKThe Human JungleSakiITV Television PlayhouseThe Roving ReasonsThree Golden NoblesBilly Bunter of Greyfriars SchoolJo's BoysThe Machine BreakersThe Railway Children


Buster Ambler (died 1979 aged 74) - 2 credits, including Sound Recordist for Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.(Aaru)

Alec Ambler was born in India in 1905 before coming to the United Kingdom with his mother and two sisters, arriving 25 July 1920 on the City of Calcutta. The family came c/o Thomas Cook and Sons of Ludgate Circus, where he was staying when studying electrical engineering in London, later becoming a sound recordist.

He married Vivienne Phillipps in 1931, and at the time of filming Dr Who and the Daleks they lived in Wokingham. He died in Winkfield, Berkshire in 1979.