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On This Day (USA) - 12 October



Desert Island Discs: Jon Pertwee (12 Oct 1964) premiered on Radio 4 in 1964 at 1:40pm BST

Jon Pertwee discusses with Roy PLOMLET in a recorded programme the gramophone records he would take to a desert island


The Mind Robber: Episode 5 premiered on BBC One in 1968 at 5:20pm BST, watched by 6.70 million viewers.

The Doctor engages in a battle with the Master, both summoning characters from fiction to fight each other. If the Doctor loses, he will be trapped in the Land of Fiction forever.


Paradise Towers: Part Two premiered on BBC One in 1987 at 7:37pm BST, watched by 5.20 million viewers.

Remembrance of the Daleks: Part Two premiered on BBC One in 1988 at 7:35pm BST, watched by 5.80 million viewers.

The Nightmare Man: Episode Two premiered on CBBC in 2010 at 5:17pm BST, watched by 0.67 million viewers.

Doctor Who Explained premiered on Watch in 2013 at 5:30pm BST
Fascinating in depth documentary which takes a closer look at everything you need to know about the Doctor, providing information from key members of the cast and crew.

 Birthdays
Dan Abnett  will be 59 - 2 credits, including Writer for The Harvest(BF)

Dan Abnett is a British comic book writer and novelist.

He has been a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and is known for his work on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, since the 1990s, and also 2000 AD. He has also contributed to DC Comics titles, and his Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 novels and graphic novels for Games Workshop's Black Library now run to several dozen titles and have sold over two million copies.

In 2009 he released his first original fiction novels through Angry Robot books.


Gawn Grainger will be 87 - credited as George Stephenson in The Mark of the Rani

Gawn Grainger  is a British stage and screen actor, and husband of actress Zoë Wanamaker.

He is the son of Charles Neil Grainger and his wife Elizabeth (née Gall). Educated at Westminster City school in Victoria, London, he later trained for the stage at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.

Grainger made his first London appearance as a boy in 1950, when he played the Boy King in Ivor Novello's King's Rhapsody at the Palace Theatre.

He began his professional career at the Dundee Rep in 1961, followed by two years at Ipswich, 1962-64. He joined Laurence Olivier's National Theatre at the Old Vic company in 1972.

Among his notable television credits are the Apostle Andrew in Son of Man (play) by Dennis Potter (1969) and George Stephenson in the Doctor Who serial The Mark of the Rani (1985). American fans of game shows may remember Gawn Grainger as an occasional panelist on the syndicated, New York-based What's My Line? series in 1968.

Grainger authored the following plays: Four to One (1976), Vamp Till Ready (1978), Lies in Plastic Smiles (1979) and Paradise Lost (1980).


Brian Cobby (died 2012 aged 83) would be 95 - credited as The Oroog in The Creed of the Kromon(BF)

Brian Cobby was an English actor who, between 1985 and 2007  was the voice of the British speaking clock.

Cobby attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. During the 1950s, he acted in repertory theatre and toured with productions of Ladies for Hire,Intimate Relations, Peter Pan, Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 and Macbeth.

He appeared, in the film version of Evita (1996), standing next to Madonna in the balcony scene. In 2004, he guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio drama The Creed of the Kromon.

In December 1984 Cobby was working as an assistant supervisor at a telephone exchange in Withdean, Brighton. He entered a competition to become the new voice of the British Telecom speaking clock.  He was the only male out of twelve finalists. Cobby won the competition and became the first male voice of the clock.

 

 


 Deaths
David Kincaid (died 2010 aged 70) - credited as Lane in Warriors' Gate

Actor who appeared in the 1981 story Warriors' Gate.

Also appeared in Taggart and The Bill.


Noel Coleman (died 2007 aged 87) - credited as General Smythe in The War Games

Noel Coleman was an English actor who appeared in many television roles. 

He appeared in the 1969 Doctor Who serial The War Games as General Smythe and he appeared in Red Dwarf as the Cat Priest in the episode Waiting for God. Coleman played General Webb in the British Broadcasting Corporation's eight episode series, "The Last of the Mohicans" in 1971. Other television appearances included: Emergency Ward 10The Adventures of Robin HoodZ-CarsDixon of Dock GreenThe AvengersPlay for TodayDoctor at LargeThe Fenn Street GangSykesEmmerdale FarmThe Adventures of Black BeautyHappy Ever AfterThe Duchess of Duke StreetMind Your LanguageTerry and JuneThe New StatesmanChancer,Lovejoy and The Detectives.

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