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On This Day (USA) - 8 October



The Tenth Planet: Episode 1 premiered on BBC One in 1966 at 5:52pm BST, watched by 5.50 million viewers.

Landing at the South Pole, the travellers find that Earth's twin planet is disrupting a space mission. The Doctor predicts that they will soon receive visitors from the new planet.


The Invisible Enemy: Part Two premiered on BBC One in 1977 at 6:04pm BST, watched by 7.30 million viewers.

Eye of the Gorgon: Part Two premiered on CBBC in 2007 at 5:30pm BST

Sam & Mark's TMi Friday - Series 5 Episode 5 (featuring the SJA cast) premiered on CBBC in 2010 at 5:30pm BST

Sam and Mark's unmissable show promises to kick the weekend off in the best possible way: with great games, all the latest music, and celebrity guests, including Scouting For Girls, Hollywood superstar Justin Long, and the cast of the Sarah Jane Adventures.


 Birthdays

Michael Obiora was 38 - credited as Billy Shipton in Blink

Michael Obiora (born North LondonEngland) is an English actor and writer.

Michael Obiora was born on 8 October 1986 in North-West London to Nigerian-Igbo parents.

At age 9, he became the youngest actor to have appeared in Grange Hill; he played Max Abassi on the programme for five years.

Just before his eighteenth birthday Obirora landed a role playing the part of Gunner Jackson Clarke, a soldier in ITV’s eight-part series Bombshell, starring opposite Footballers Wives star Zöe Lucker. Shortly after filming Bombshell, Obirora started a seven-month run in the play Elmina’s Kitchen written by Kwame Kwei-Armah, at the Garrick Theatre. He also had a role in the stage playExclude Me, completing a successful 11-week run on stage at The Chelsea Theatre and lead roles in the play Fallout at the Royal Court Theatre and Badnuff at The Soho Theatre.

Obiora has had television roles in My FamilyJudge John DeedMisfitsSea of SoulsITV1’s Afterlife , Doctor WhoDoctorsPowersThe Bill and Holby City. He was in four episodes ofEastEnders, the first episode of which aired on 11 June 2009, in which he played playboy footballer, Ellis Prince.

Obiora played receptionist Ben Trueman in the BBC One drama series Hotel Babylon, which was cancelled after its fourth series. He will join the cast of the long-running medical drama Casualtyfor its 26th season playing the part of Lloyd, a nurse.

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


Ardal O'Hanlon was 59 - 2 credits, including Thomas Kincade Brannigan in Gridlock

Ardal O'Hanlon  is an Irish comedian and actor, best known for his roles in television sitcoms as Father Dougal McGuire in Father Ted and George Sunday in My Hero.

O'Hanlon was born in Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan, Ireland. He was  schooled in Blackrock College in Dublin and graduated, in 1987, from the National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin (now Dublin City University) with a degree in Communications Studies.

Together with Kevin Gildea and Barry Murphy, Ardal O'Hanlon founded the International Comedy Cellar, upstairs in the International Bar on Dublin's South Wicklow Street. He was spotted by Graham Linehan, who was to cast him as Father Dougal McGuire in Father Ted (1995-98). 

O'Hanlon moved into straight acting alongside Emma Fielding and Beth Goddard in the ITV comedy-drama Big Bad World, which aired for two series in summer 1999 and winter 2001. He also played a minor role in The Butcher Boy as Joe's (Francie's best friend) father, and appeared in an episode of the original Whose Line is it Anyway?.

In 2000, O'Hanlon starred in the comedy series My Hero, in which he played a superhero from the planet Ultron. His character juggled world-saving heroics with life in suburbia. He stayed in the role until early 2005 and was replaced by James Dreyfus for series 6 in 2006. He provided the voice of the lead character in two Christmas television cartoon specials of Robbie the Reindeer. He appeared in the 2005 BBC One sitcom Blessed, written by Ben Elton. Towards the end of 2005, he played an eccentric Scottish character, Coconut Tam, in the family-based film, The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby. 

In 2006, O'Hanlon wrote and presented an RTE television series called Leagues Apart, which saw him investigate the biggest and most passionate football rivalries in a number of European countries. Included were Roma vs Lazio in Italy, Barcelona vs Real Madrid in Spain, and Galatasaray vs Fenerbahce in Turkey. He followed this with another RTÉ show, So You Want To Be Taoiseach? in 2007. It was a political series where O'Hanlon gave tongue-in-cheek advice on how to go about becoming Taoiseach of Ireland. Both programmes went some way towards freeing O'Hanlon from his association with the character of Dougal in the minds of Irish audiences.

He appeared in the Doctor Who episode "Gridlock", broadcast on 14 April 2007, in which he played a feline alien named Thomas Kincade Brannigan. 

O'Hanlon appears in Series 3 of the TV show Skins, playing Naomi Campbell's Politics teacher named Kieran, who attempted to kiss her. He then went on to form a relationship with Naomi's mother. O'Hanlon plays the lead role in Irish comedy television programme Val Falvey, TD on RTE One. 

In February 2011, O'Hanlon returned to the Gate Theatre, Dublin starring in the Irish premiere of Christopher Hampton's God of Carnage along side Maura Tierney.

O'Hanlon has written a novel, The Talk of the Town (known in the United States as Knick Knack Paddy Whack), which was published in 1998. The novel is about a teenage boy, Patrick Scully, and his friends.



James Coombes was 68 - 2 credits, including Voice of the Krargs in Shada

James Coombes (born in NewportMonmouthshire) is a British actor with a number of television and theatre credits to his name. He was educated at Glasllwch Primary School and then Duffryn High School. He trained as an actor at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama from 1975–78. He is known for his role as Pierre Challon during the final series of the BBC drama Howards' Way, and Grendel in HTV's Robin of Sherwood

He also appeared as Paroli in the 1984 Doctor Who serial Warriors of the Deep. Previously, he was to have provided the voice of the Krargs in the story Shada but his voice-overs were never recorded as the story was halted by industrial action at the BBC. 

He has appeared in many films including Murder with Mirrors co-starring with Bette Davis and Helen Hayes and played Richard Gere's son, Amnon, in the Bible epic, King David. He also played Sir Lancelot in the Disney film, A Knight in Camelot with Whoopi Goldberg. Other films include, Monarch, with T. P. McKenna and Jean Marsh. He has worked extensively in the theatre including seasons at Chichester Festival, Pitlochry Festival, Bristol Old Vic, London Young Vic, Ludlow Festival, Chapter Arts in Cardiff with Sgript Cymru, and Scarborough for Sir Alan Ayckbourn Other credits include: Minder on the Orient ExpressBoonDrop the Dead DonkeyHeartbeatBugsHolby CityThe Bill,My Family and Dinosapien He also appeared as the iconic Milk Tray Man in the eighties. He is currently appearing in a UK tour of "Dirty Dancing", playing Dr. Jake Houseman. As well as acting, he tutors regularly at the Academy of Creative Training in Brighton.

James Coombes is married to the actress, Cathy Finlay, daughter of actor Frank Finlay. His eldest son, Josh Coombes, is drummer for pop/punk band, The Hype Theory.

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


Eileen Essell (died 2015 aged 92) would have been 102 - credited as Christina in From Out of the Rain(TW)

Eileen Essell is an English actress noted in part for the age at which she began her screen acting career.

Although she acted on the stage for 13 years in the 1940s and 50s, her first screen performance was in her late 70s, in an episode of Doctors. She has since appeared in many other TV programmes, including The BillDoc MartinHolby CityHustleCasualtyIdeal and Sensitive Skin.

On film she appeared in Duplex (2003), Finding Neverland (2004), Ali G Indahouse (2002), The Producers (2005), and as Grandma Josephine in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).


 Deaths
Philip Anthony (died 2020 aged 91) - 2 credits, including Roald in The Daleks' Master Plan

Actor who appeared in the 1965 story The Daleks' Master Plan


Richard Davies (died 2015 aged 89) - credited as Burton in Delta and the Bannermen

Richard Davies was a Welsh actor whose film and TV work covers many years but was probably best known for his performance as the exasperated schoolmaster Mr Price in the LWT popular situation comedy Please Sir!.

Davies, who came from Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, used a broad Welsh accent for much of his work, but also occasionally used received pronunciation and other accents. This has led to his playing a diversity of characters, (in addition to several Welsh stereotypes). In Please Sir he frequently used the word "boyo" when addressing a fellow member of staff.

Davies played Idris Hopkins in Coronation Street between 1974 and 1975, and appeared in several science-fiction series, among them Robert's RobotsOut of the Unknown, and a well-received performance as Burton in the 1987 Doctor Who story Delta and the Bannermen.

He played Mr White in the Fawlty Towers episode The Kipper and the Corpse and also appeared in Yes MinisterWyatt's WatchdogsMay to DecemberWhoops Apocalypse2point4 Children, and One Foot in the Grave. In 1970 he appeared alongside Sid James in the third episode of series two of Two In Clover playing Victor Spinetti's character's brother when Spinetti was indisposed.

He appeared in several police television series, with a recurring role as Jim Sloan in Z-Cars between 1962 and 1965, returning to the series playing different characters in 1968 and in its sequel Softly, Softly. He also appeared in Dixon of Dock Green several times, The Sweeney, and Van der Valk. He also appeared in a sketch on Not the Nine O'Clock News, impersonating the Welsh trade union leader Clive Jenkins in a spoof edition of Question Time (TV series). He also appeared in the ' Please Sir!' spin off series 'The Fenn Street Gang'.

Films Davies has appeared in include Zulu (1964), Under Milk Wood (1972), and the movie adaptation of Please Sir! (1971). In 1951 he made an unaccredited appearance in the Ealing Studios comedy The Lavender Hill Mob. In 1988 he played the schoolteacher in Queen Sacrifice.

 

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

 

Obituary: Toby Hadoke