Statistics


On This Day (USA) - 9 April



The Celestial Toymaker: The Hall of Dolls premiered on BBC One in 1966 at 5:50pm BST, watched by 8.00 million viewers.

The Doctor must solve the Trilogic puzzle whilst Dodo and Steven play a deadly game of musical chairs.


The Unquiet Dead premiered on BBC One in 2005 at 7:00pm BST, watched by 8.86 million viewers.

Cardiff, 1869: when the dead start walking and creatures made of gas are on the loose, Charles Dickens proves to be an unlikely ally for the Doctor and Rose when they try to find who is behind it all.

Doctor Who Confidential is 7.45pm on BBC3.


TARDIS Tales premiered on BBC Three in 2005 at 7:45pm BST

This episode goes behind the scenes of The Unquiet Dead

Where - or rather when - would the Doctor be without the Tardis? From its grainy debut in 1963, to its luxurious overhaul in 2005, the programme looks back over the 40-year history of the intergalactic time machine.

 


One Year On premiered on BBC Three in 2006 at 7:04pm BST, watched by 0.29 million viewers.

A fond look back at the return of Doctor Who and a look forward to the next series. What were the makers and actors expecting and where do we go from here? Includes exclusive footage from the upcoming series.


 Birthdays
Will Merrick will be 31 - credited as Brains in Nightmare in Silver

Will Merrick is best known for playing Alo in the E4 series Skins. He has also appeared in In With the Flynns, and in About Time.


Peter Messaline (died 2016 aged 72) would be 80 - credited as Dalek Voice in Day of the Daleks

Peter Messaline voiced the Daleks in the Doctor Who story Day of the Daleks.

 

He is a Canadian performer. He has not worked outside the entertainment industry in nearly forty years. He is proud to be one of those working actors, almost as rare as superstars, who make their living from performance. His North American theatre credits come from the Actor's Theatre Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse, Theatres in Canada from Montreal to Vancouver, and Niagara Falls to Fort McMurray.

He is a co-writer and editor. Twenty-five years of published writing, beginning with English-as-a-Second Language radio and television scripts for Holland and Denmark, and an Adult Functional Literacy project for Access Television, Alberta. He now boasts a total of six books and many newsletter articles about the performer's business. He is a co-writer of Tax Kit 2000+ and The Actor's Survival Kit, and founded and published, and for six years wrote, The Agents Book. Recently he was an original drafter on Making It, the 'Career Management Guide for Artists and Cultural Workers' of the Cultural Human Resources Council.

He is a tax preparer, a founding member of the Tax Caucus, a group of performers' tax preparers hosted by Equity and supported by ACTRA. Revenue Canada (now CRA) defined the Caucus to be an industry-specific advisory group, and it has published basic tax information for performers, and an auditor briefing for RevCan's approval and future use.

He is a teacher. With Miriam Newhouse, he presented the first curriculum-based Acting-As-A-Business course in Canada. Since that University of Alberta beginning, he has presented similar material in various formats privately and at Ryerson, George Brown, Randolph Academy, Canadian Opera Company, Langara College, and now at York University.

He is an activist, a founding volunteer with the Acting and Modelling Information Service. This is a group of industry volunteers dedicated to protecting newcomers against their own ignorance and the fraud of others, through a help Hotline, by lobbying, and by keeping the pressure on the unscrupulous.

He is Joe Ordinary. A successful performer, but still dealing with entry-level problems, through tax clients and students. His research continues, but his instincts are still those of the street-level performer.

 


Arsher Ali will be 40 - credited as Bennett in Under the Lake / Before The Flood

Arsher Ali is a British actor who rose to prominence after playing the role of Hassan Malik in the Chris Morris-directed comedy film Four Lions.

His other roles include Adil 'A-Rab' Hussein in the comedy dramaBeaver Falls, Waleed Ahmed in the Channel 4 drama Complicit, and Malik Suri in BBC drama The Missing.

He is also known for his theatre work, most notably as a regular lead performer at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.


Neve McIntosh will be 52 - 20 credits, including Madame Vastra in A Good Man Goes to War

Born in Paisley, Neve McIntosh grew up in Edinburgh, where she attended Boroughmuir High School. She was a member of Edinburgh Youth Theatre in the late eighties, appearing in Mother Goose and Doctor in the House. She moved to Glasgow to attend the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, after which she was in repertory companies at Perth and at The Little Theatre on the Isle of Mull.

She next played in a Glasgow stage production of The Trick is to Keep Breathing. She playing in the RSC production of Dickens' Great Expectations in Stratford, and starring as Portia in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice at the Lyceum in Edinburgh. In summer 2009, she performed in the Sylvia Plath play Three Women at the Edinburgh Festival. In February 2010 McIntosh appeared as the lead character 'Catherine' in the play Proof at Perth Theatre. She also played in "The Hound of the Baskervilles" as Miss Stapleton. In September 2011 she played Goneril in a production of King Lear at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

She also appeared in American director Mark L. Feinsod's first film, Love And Lung Cancer. Alongside her television work she has appeared in the films Gypsy Woman and One Last Chance. 2008-9 saw McIntosh starring in several new films including SalvageSpring 1941 (with costar Joseph Fiennes) and the award-winning Be All and End All.

McIntosh is probably best known for her portrayals of Fuchsia in the 2000 BBC and WGBH Boston production of Gormenghast, a lavish miniseries based on the first two books of the trilogy by Mervyn Peake, and Beryl Stapleton in the 2002 BBC version of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

In 2004, McIntosh starred in Bodies, a medical drama produced by BBC Three and based on the book Bodies by Jed Mercurio. She has also appeared in several other television dramas, including PsychosGhost SquadMarpleMurder CityBodies-2 and Low Winter Sun. It was during the production of Psychos that she met her cameraman husband Xandy Sahla from whom she was divorced in 2009. She also recorded an episode of Law & Order:UK.

In May 2010, McIntosh appeared in two episodes of the 2010 series of Doctor Who beside new Doctor played by Matt Smith. She plays two Silurian sisters who have been disturbed under the earth and appeared in the following series. In October 2010, she starred alongside former Doctor Who star, David Tennant, in Single Father, a BBC drama. She portrayed the part of Anna, the sister of the dead wife of Tennant's character (Dave).

McIntosh returned as a new Silurian character, Madame Vastra, in the Doctor Who Series 6 mid-series finale episode "A Good Man Goes to War", which aired in the UK on 4 June 2011. The character is a sword-wielding, human-eating late Victorian crime fighter, and an old friend of The Doctor.

McIntosh appeared in the BBC One series Case Histories as Joanna Hunter which aired in June 2011. She also starred in Season 2 of the BBC Three drama, Lip Service, as a love interest of one of the main characters, Sadie.


Hannah Gordon will be 83 - 3 credits, including Kirsty in The Highlanders

Hannah Gordon is a Scottish actress who is well known in the United Kingdom for her television work, including Upstairs, DownstairsTelford's ChangeMy Wife Next DoorJoint Account and an appearance in the final episode of One Foot in the Grave.

She played Kirsty in the 1966 Doctor Who story The Highlanders

She had early television appearances in the mid-1960s in programmes such as Out of the UnknownThe Wednesday PlayDavid Copperfield and Thirty-Minute Theatre. In 1969 she made appearances on Jackanory. In 1967, she appeared in the stage play Spring and Port Wine, and in 1970 took the same role in the film version. In 1972, Hannah Gordon had her first lead role, alongside John Alderton in the sitcom My Wife Next Door.

In 1974 she played Virginia Hamilton who later married Lord Bellamy in the fourth and fifth series of the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. In 1979, she appeared in Telford's Change, another drama. During the 1970s, Gordon also appeared in Play for TodayThe Persuaders! and the 1973 Christmas Edition of The Morecambe & Wise Show. In the 1980s she starred opposite Peter Egan in the BBC sitcomJoint Account. She voiced a character in Watership Down and starred in Alfie Darling.

In 1980, she appeared in the film The Elephant Man, and in 1981 starred in Miss Morrison's Ghosts (with Wendy Hiller). More recently, she has appeared on television in Goodbye, Mr KentMy Family and Other AnimalsTaggart andJonathan Creek. Since 2000, she has made guest appearances in Midsomer MurdersMonarch of the Glen and Heartbeat. In 2000, Gordon played Glynis, the woman who kills Victor Meldrew in "Things Aren't Simple Any More", the final episode of the sitcom One Foot in the Grave.

From 1998 to 2002 she hosted the Channel 4 programme Watercolour Challenge.


Jon Rollason (died 2016 aged 84) would be 93 - credited as Harold Chorley in The Web of Fear

Jon Rollason was born in Birmingham, England. His introduction on television came with Children of the New Forest, and then later took on the role of Dr. Martin King in The Avengers. He later played teacher David Robbins in Coronation Street, and also undertook a number of roles in Z-Cars and later Softly, Softly, as well as appearances in  several shows over the course of his career, such as Dangerman, The Baron, Crossroads and Robin's Nest.

He leaves his wife Shirley, children Kate and Saul, and grandchildren.

Aubrey Woods (died 2013 aged 85) would be 96 - credited as Controller in Day of the Daleks

Aubrey Woods was an English actor. 

His television credits included: Z-Cars, Up Pompeii!, Blake's 7, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Ever Decreasing Circles. He also played a notable role in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, playing Bill the Candy Store Owner where he sang the song "The Candy Man" during some of the film's first scenes.

His first film role was as Smike in the 1947 film Nicholas Nickleby. On stage he played the role of Fagin in Lionel Bart's production of Oliver! at the New Theatre, St Martins Lane in the 1960s alongside Nicolette Roeg and Robert Bridges. He also appeared as Jacob and Potiphar in the 1991 production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at The London Palladium - the soundtrack to which topped the British Albums Chart in August 1991.



 Deaths
Jeremy Young (died 2022 aged 88) - 2 credits, including Kal in An Unearthly Child

Jeremy Young is a British actor.

He is the last surviving cast member (excluding the original regulars) from the very first story (An Unearthly Child) of Doctor Who. 

He was married to Kate O'Mara from 1961 to 1976;

He has numerous television credits, including the first story of Doctor Who, No Hiding Place, Adam Adamant Lives!, The Avengers, The Saint, Department S, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars, Softly, Softly, Up Pompeii!, Doomwatch, The Sweeney, Space: 1999, The New Avengers, The Onedin Line, Minder, The Tripods, Rockliffe's Babies, Taggart, Cadfael, The Bill and Coronation Street.


Arthur Cox (died 2021 aged 87) - 2 credits, including Cully in The Dominators

Arthur Cox was a British actor of television and film.

His most regular role was as George, the driver of Jim Hacker in the comedy Yes Minister. His other television credits include The Avengers,Terry and June, and Harbour Lights

His roles of Cully and Mr Henderson in the Doctor Who stories The Dominators and The Eleventh Hour make him the record holder for longest gap between appearances on the series.

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


Yolande Palfrey (died 2011 aged 54) - credited as Janet in The Trial of a Time Lord (Terror of the Vervoids)

Yolande Palfrey was a British actress who appeared in many BBC programmes including Pennies from Heaven, Measure for Measure, Elizabeth Alone, Wings, Blake's 7 , Crime and Punishment and Nanny.

In Doctor Who she played Janet, a stewardess on the Hyperion III, in the 1986 Sixth Doctor story,  Terror of the Vervoids.

She appeared in The Finishing Line, Love in a Cold Climate for Thames Television, Dragonslayer for The Walt Disney Company and Paramount Pictures, and The Breadwinner for Yorkshire Television.

Stage performances included Murder, Dear Watson at The Mill at Sonning and Great Expectations at the Old Vic.

Yolande Palfrey died of a brain tumour.


Richard Shaw (died 2010 aged 90) - 4 credits, including Lobos in The Space Museum

Richard Shaw had three appearances in Doctor Who. In 1965 he played the role of Lobos, the Morok governor of Xeros, in the William Hartnell story The Space Museum. He returned to the series in 1973 working with Jon Pertwee on the story Frontier in Space where he played Cross the leader of a section of the prisoners at the Lunar Penal Colony. His final role in the series was in the 1978 story Underworld, where he played Lakh, a Seer on the planet which coalesced around the P7E.

Away from Doctor Who, Shaw had an extensive career in British television spanning over 40 years. He played Sladden in the 1959 classic Quatermass and the Pit, appeared in many classic plays on BBC and ITV and appeared in such series as Crossroads, Freewheelers, Dixon of Dock Green and the film Carry On Don't Lose Your Head.