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On This Day (USA) - 12 May



Planet of the Daleks: Episode Six premiered on BBC One in 1973 at 5:50pm BST, watched by 8.50 million viewers.

A force of ten thousand Daleks is coming to life below the surface of Spiridon. The Doctor and the Thals must find a way to defeat the Daleks before they invade the galaxy.


The Doctor Dances premiered on SyFy (East Coast Feed) in 2006 at 9:00pm EDT

 Birthdays
William Hughes (died 2018 aged 20) would be 26 - 3 credits, including Young Master in The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords

William Hughes played the Master at a young age in the 2007 story The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords (footage of this performance was later included in DW: The End of Time). 

He also played Alex Grainger in Torchwood: Sleeper.


Guillaume Rivaud will be 51 - 3 credits, including Georgian Middle Class Gent in Thin Ice

Guillaume Rivaud is a French actor and artist, born in Chatellerault. He studied drama at the College Honore De Balzac in Nemours in the late 1980s, appearing on stage for a production of Revolution.

Having settled in the United Kingdom he has appeared in a number of television series since 2015, including Poldark, Forbidden History, The Coroner, The White Princess, Delicious, Broadchurch and Doctor Who, and appeared in films such as Viking Legacy, The Lost Viking, Mordred, Excalibur Rising and Last Weekend. He also narrated the theatrical trailer for the Bethany Pope novel Masque.


Catherine Tate will be 56 - 39 credits, including Donna Noble in The Runaway Bride

Catherine Tate is an English actress, writer, comedian and model who played Donna Noble alongside Tenth Doctor David Tennant.

Tate was born in Bloomsbury in central London. She never knew her father, as he left very early on in her life, and  was brought up in a female-dominated environment, being cared for by her mother, grandmother and her godparents. She attended St Joseph's, Macklin Street, Holborn, aand Notre Dame High School, Southwark, a South London convent secondary school for girls that was run by nuns. 

Tate began her television acting career with roles in serial dramas such as The Bill, and London's Burning. She started stand-up comedy in 1996, and has appeared in comedy series such as The Harry Hill Show, Barking and That Peter Kay Thing and a role in Men Behaving Badly. 

She acted the role of Smeraldina in a 2000 RSC production of A Servant to Two Masters, and another role in The Way of the World at the National Theatre.

Tate was given her own programme on BBC Two in 2004, which she co-wrote and starred in with Derren Litten, entitled The Catherine Tate Show, which ran for three seasons. Two of the show's well-known characters are teenager Lauren Cooper and Joannie "Nan" Taylor, the cockney grandmother. Tate's inspiration for the cockney grandmother came from visits to old people's homes when she was at drama college. Tate won a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Newcomer for her work on the first series of The Catherine Tate Show, and with the first series becoming a success, in March 2005, Tate made a guest appearance during the BBC's Comic Relief as the character of Lauren from The Catherine Tate Show, alongside boy-band McFly, which gained her further exposure.

The third series of The Catherine Tate Show aired in 2006, won the National Television Award for most popular comedy as voted for by the public, and Tate's catchphrase "bovvered", used by her character Lauren Cooper, became so influential in popular culture that it was named Word of the Year and was even poised to enter the Oxford English Dictionary. 

At the end of the second series of Doctor Who, in the episode Doomsday, Catherine Tate appeared in a surprise cameo role as a bride who suddenly appeared in the TARDIS. She went on to guest star in the Christmas 2006 special, where she played the role of The Runaway Bride, Donna Noble.

On 16 March 2007, Tate appeared for a second time on Comic Relief as some of her well-known characters from The Catherine Tate Show. She acted in sketches with David Tennant, Daniel Craig, Lenny Henry, and the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, who used the show's famous catchphrase, "Am I bovvered?"

Tate returned to Doctor Who in 2008  reprising the role of Donna Noble for the entire Season 30, which was shown on BBC One starting on 5 April for a 13-week run. Producer Russell T Davies said, "We are delighted that one of Britain's greatest talents has agreed to join us for the fourth series." Tate added, "I am delighted to be returning to Doctor Who. I had a blast last Christmas and look forward to travelling again through time and space with that nice man from Gallifrey." 

She left the series after the episode Journeys End, although made a cameo appearance in the final David Tennant story, The end of Time.

In 2008, she starred as Michelle, a 38-year-old promiscuous maths teacher, in David Eldridge's Under The Blue Sky at the Duke of York's Theatre, London, alongside Francesca Annis and Nigel Lindsay. 

In 2011 she will play Beatrice opposite David Tennant's  Benedict in the London production of  Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing



Christopher Good will be 68 - credited as Morgan in The Beast Below

Christopher Good is an English actor best known for his work on television.

he played Morgan in 2010 Doctor Who story The Beast Below.

Good has made many one-off or short-lived appearances in drama and comedy programmes, with Murder Most HorridRumpole Of The BaileyDanger UXBThe Choir and Pie In The Sky being among them. 

He is arguably best known for his role as Quentin Kirrin in the 1990s television adaptation of The Famous Five novels in which he appeared in eighteen episodes.


Royce Mills (died 2019 aged 77) would be 82 - 3 credits, including Dalek Voice in Resurrection of the Daleks

Royce Mills was born in Tetbury, Gloucestershire. Originally studying fine art he went on to train as a theatre designer at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, during which he decided upon acting as a career and graduated in 1967, receiving both the gold medal and the Shakespeare Prizeman Award.

Mills made his home in the theatre, starting his career at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford where he both acted and occasionally designed shows, notably for Sandy Wilson's The Boyfriend. He followed this production into the West End at the Comedy Theatre. Other theatrical appearances included The Bed Before Yesterday, Run For Your Wife, See How They Run, The Seven Year Itch, and The Phantom Of The Opera. After appearing in The Forest he became a regular with the D’Oyly Carte Company at the Savoy Theatre. He also appeared in a number of pantomimes for the festive season, making a name for himself as dame Widow Twankey, often back at the Yvonne Arnaud.

His television career began back in 1964 with an appearance in Crossroads; his first major role was as P.C. Dinkie Dinkworth in the 1971 comedy series Copper's End. Other notable roles included Uncle Peter in Come Back Lucy, Ken in Rings on Their Fingers and Andrew in Minder. He made numerous guest appearances in a variety of comedy shows in the 1970s starring the likes of Morecambe and Wise, Mike Yarwood in Persons andThe Les Dawson Show, and ensemble shows such as The Cut Price Comedy Show and the Kenny Everett Television Show.

His vocal talents could be heard on the radio, notaby on the satirical show Week Ending, and on many commercials. His voice is, of course, most recognisable as a voice of the Daleks during the 1980s.

He was a serving council member of Equity for a number of years.


Pam St. Clement will be 82 - credited as Pat Butcher in Dimensions In Time(Misc)

Pam St. Clement is best known for her character of Pat Butcher in Eastenders.


 Deaths
Robert Russell (died 2008 aged 71) - 2 credits, including The Caber in Terror of the Zygons

Robert Russell appeared in two Doctor Who stories: as a Guard in The Power of the Daleks and the Caber in Terror of the Zygons.

Also worked on Strange HorizonsBlack ArrowHammer House of Mystery and SuspenseThe Sign of FourThe Chinese DetectiveOliver TwistIvanhoePrisoners of ConscienceJuliet BravoScarf JackSorry!The Enigma FilesSilver Dream RacerThe Onedin LineQueen of the BluesDick TurpinThe Feathered SerpentBlakes 7Anna KareninaI Didn't Know You CaredPlay for TodayThe Prince and the PauperDouble ExposureSpace: 1999The Legend of Robin HoodChurchill's PeopleThe SweeneyPublic EyeThe Black ArrowSpring and AutumnMasqueradeHunter's WalkThe Fortunes of NigelThe ProtectorsSpy TrapArthur of the BritonsAdam SmithMan at the TopSitting TargetThe Persuaders!Z CarsMan in the WildernessThe GuardiansThe Breaking of BumboCarry on LovingEyewitnessManhuntRandall and Hopkirk (Deceased)The Spy KillerDepartment SThe ChampionsDixon of Dock GreenWitchfinder GeneralOrlandoThe AvengersInspector ClouseauThe GamblersBedazzledThe InformerRobberyThe WhisperersSoftly SoftlyThe Wednesday PlayThe SaintNo Hiding PlaceTheatre 625OthelloOut of the UnknownBlackmailArmchair Mystery TheatreShadow of FearSuspenseThe Edgar Wallace Mystery TheatreThe Sinister ManPolice Surgeon


John Hartshorn (died 2003 aged 62) - 2 credits, including Studio Sound for The Horns of Nimon

John Hartshorn, also known as John Stewart, was a well known and well respected sound supervisor at the British Broadcasting Corporation.

His credits included Blue PeterJackanory, Top of the Pops, Doctor Who, Wogan, The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeThe Duchess of Duke StreetIn Sickness and In HealthTill Death Us Do PartJuliet Bravo and Hancock

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


Norman Kay (died 2001 aged 72) - 3 credits, including Incidental Music for An Unearthly Child

Norman Forber Kay was a British composer and writer.

Kay, who was born in Bolton, was educated at Bolton School, the Royal Manchester College of Music and the Royal College of Music. Kay composed the score for many episodes of Doctor Who, including the very first serial, An Unearthly Child. He went on to contribute music for The Keys of Marinus and The Sensorites, two other stories of the programme's first season (starring William Hartnell).

Besides this work, he also provided the music for many of the Out of the Unknown stories and productions such as Late Night Horror in 1968, as well as many other television and film productions. Kay also worked as a music critic forThe Daily Telegraph.[3] He was the first British musician to write a study on Dmitri Shostakovich, a work that was well-received.[1][3]

Kay died in 2001 of Motor Neurone Disease aged 72.

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


Humphrey Searle (died 1982 aged 66) - credited as Incidental Music for The Myth Makers

Humphrey Searle  was a British composer.

He was born in Oxford where he was a classics scholar before studying - somewhat hesitantly - with John Ireland at the Royal College of Music in London, after which he went to Vienna on a six month scholarship to become a private pupil of Anton Webern, which became decisive in his composition career.

Searle was one of the foremost pioneers of serial music in the United Kingdom, and used his role as a producer at the BBC from 1946 to 1948 to promote it. He was General Secretary of the International Society for Contemporary Music from 1947 to 1949.

Works of note include a Poem for 22 Strings (1950), premiered at Darmstadt, a Gogol opera, The Diary of a Madman (1958, awarded the first prize at UNESCO's International Rostrum of Composers in 1960), and five symphonies (the first of which was commercially recorded by Sir Adrian Boult).

Searle wrote the monographs Twentieth Century Counterpoint and The Music of Franz Liszt. He also developed the most authoritative catalogue of Liszt's works, which are frequently identified using Searle's numbering system.

Searle also composed scores for film and television, including incidental music for the 1963 feature The Haunting and the 1965 Doctor Who story The Myth Makers. 

He died in London. Among his notable pupils were composers Hugh Davidson, Brian Elias,Michael Finnissy, Geoffrey King, and Graham Newcater.

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