Statistics


On This Day (USA) - 14 November



Planet of Giants: Crisis premiered on BBC One in 1964 at 5:15pm GMT, watched by 8.90 million viewers.

Barbara has been infected by the deadly insecticide but keeps her condition secret. Despite their small size, the travellers attempt to alert the authorities to Farrow's murder.


The Night of the Doctor premiered on BBC Online in 2013 at 1:00pm GMT

The Science Of Doctor Who premiered on BBC2 in 2013 at 9:00pm GMT, watched by 3.19 million viewers.
The adventures of the Time Lord have enthralled viewers for over 50 years, but they have also inspired generations to ponder what it would really be like to follow in the footsteps of the Doctor. Joined by celebrity guests, Professor Brian Cox draws on the latest theories as well as 200 years on scientific discoveries to tackle some of the big questions raised by the long-running show. Will it ever be possible to travel in time? Does extraterrestrial life exist in our galaxy? And how do you build something as fantastic as the Tardis?

Children in Need: 2014 premiered on BBC One in 2014 at 7:30pm GMT
A dazzling array of stars are standing by to play their part as this year's marathon fundraising event gets under way. Terry Wogan is joined by co-host Tess Daly to launch the extravaganza in aid of disadvantaged children, which begins with an excerpt from West End hit Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There's a Doctor Who exclusive, plus the cast of Eastenders and their Albert Square homes are all transformed as part of a special musical treat.

Sleep No More premiered on BBC One in 2015 at 8:14pm GMT, watched by 5.61 million viewers.

When footage is found that throws light on what happened on a space rescue mission, the Doctor and Clara are caught up in a terrifying story.


Sleep No More premiered on BBC America in 2015 at 9:00pm EST, watched by 0.65 million viewers.

This terrifying story is assembled from footage discovered in the wreckage of Le Verrier Space Station.


The Power of the Daleks (animation): theater presentation premiered on US Venues in 2016 at 7:00pm EST

Fathom Events and BBC Worldwide are thrilled to bring Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks to cinemas nationwide for an exclusive event on Monday, November 14. Thought to be lost forever, The Power of the Daleks is the missing third serial of the fourth season of Doctor Who. No complete film recordings or master negatives of The Power of the Daleks are known to have survived an archive purge in 1974. This brand new animation is recreated from original audio, photographs, and surviving film clips. The six-part adventure, presented in its entirety here as a single, feature-length event, includes the regeneration of First Doctor (William Hartnell) into Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton). The Time Lord and his companions do battle with the Daleks on the planet Vulcan. If that is not enough, the event will feature bonus content including interviews with members of the original cast! So gather your friends and join your fellow Whovians for this exclusive cinemas event, 50 years in the making!


Once, Upon Time: Flux: Chapter Three premiered on BBC One in 2021 at 6:30pm GMT, watched by 4.70 million viewers.

 Birthdays
Dimitri Leonidas will be 37 - credited as Howie Spragg in The God Complex

Dimitri Leonidas is a British actor. 

For most of his childhood career including the years he was in the BBC television series Grange Hill, where he was credited as Shane Leonidas. From 2008 he started going by his birthname Dimitri Leonidas. 

Leonidas first appeared on television in 2001. He appeared in a single episode of Casualty portraying the character of Ross. The episodes title was Heroes and Villains. In the same year shortly after appearing in Casualty he got the role of Josh Irvine in the BBC series Grange Hill. He played the role of Josh for four years finishing in 2004. Leonidas also appeared in The Bill twice but as two different characters. He played the role of Josh Harvey in 2002 and then returned in 2005 to portray a completely new character called Ryan Greaves. In 2007 he appeared in Doctors as Mike Andreus in the episode Chemistry as well as Holby City that same year. In 2008 he played the role of Scott White in the TV series/documentary Banged Up Abroad.

His most recent role was in the 2009 horror/slasher Tormented starred alongside Alex Pettyfer, Georgia King and former Skins stars April Pearson and Larissa Wilson. His character, Alexis, is one of the most popular boys in school, who, along with his sadistic friends, bullied a classmate to suicide.


Brendan Patricks will be 40 - credited as Jeremiah in The Crimson Horror (as Mr Thursday)

Brendan Patricks is a British actor and magician.

Patricks attended the University of Hull before training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Besides acting, he is in a magic double act with comedian Nick Mohammed.

After graduating from drama school he has worked in theatre and made his TV debut in The Curse of King Tut's Tomb.

He will appear in the 2013 series of Doctor Who


Letitia Dean will be 57 - credited as Sharon Mitchell in Dimensions In Time(Misc)

Letitia Dean is best known for her character of Sharon Watts/Mitchell in Eastenders.


Russell Tovey will be 43 - 19 credits, including Midshipman Alonso Frame in Voyage of the Damned

Russell Tovey is the adopted son of actor George Tovey, and began his career as a child actor in 1994, when he was cast in Mud, a children's series broadcast on CBBC.

He left high school at the age of 16, and started a Btec in performing arts at Barking College. He acted in plays in Chichester under the direction of Debra Gillett, wife of Patrick Marber. He met Marber through Gillett, and Marber cast him in the play Howard Katz at the National Theatre. He also performed in His Girl Friday and His Dark Materials there as well.

In 2004 he took the role of Rudge in Alan Bennett's play The History Boys at the Royal National Theatre as well as touring to Broadway, Sydney, Wellington and Hong Kong and playing the role in the radio and film adaptation. He originally auditioned for the role of Crowther but agreed to act the part of Rudge after Bennett promised to beef up the role.

In spring 2007, Tovey had a recurring role in BBC Three comedy Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive, playing Rob's gay producer, Ben. In the same year he made guest appearances in BBC Three comedy Gavin & Stacey playing Budgie, a friend of Gavin and Smithy's, in four episodes, and then in the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas Special "Voyage of the Damned"

Tovey plays werewolf George Sands, one of three supernatural housemates in the drama Being Human. The pilot premiered on BBC Three on 18 February 2008.

In March 2009, the actor played a leading role in A Miracle at the Royal Court Theatre as Gary Trudgill, a British soldier returning to Norfolk from abroad.

In 2009, Tovey worked on the film Huge and starred in two television pilots: Young, Unemployed and Lazy (a BBC Three sitcom), renamed to Him & Her in 2010, and The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, a Channel 4 comedy with Spike Jonze and Will Arnett, written by David Cross and Shaun Pye.


Paul McGann will be 65 - 106 credits, including The Doctor in The TV Movie

Paul McGann was born in Liverpool, England, the third of six children He attended grammar school in Liverpool. Before entering the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. 

McGann's breakthrough role was Give us a Break where he played a good snooker player who got into scrapes with Robert Lindsay, who played his wideboy manager. In 1986 he played the infamous British deserter and criminal Percy Toplis in the 1986 BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer as well as being cast as the eponymous "I" in Bruce Robinson's cult film comedy, Withnail and I. He also starred as Anton Skrebensky in Ken Russell's 1989 adaptation of D. H. Lawrence's The Rainbow. Other early film appearances include The Monk, Dealers, Tree of Hands and the epic war film Empire of the Sun. 

Since 1989, McGann has concentrated primarily on television work, including Nice Town and Nature Boy for the BBC, and The One That Got Away and the second series of Hornblower for ITV. 

Paul McGann played the eighth incarnation of the Doctor in the Doctor Who 1996 television movie a joint venture between the BBC, Universal Studios and the Fox Broadcasting Network. McGann had signed a contract to appear as the Eighth Doctor in a new Doctor Who series, if Fox or Universal exercised their option. Although it earned 9.08 million viewers and was very successful in the UK, ratings were very low in the United States and as a consequence, Fox did not exercise its option to pick up the series so the movie became McGann's only televised appearance, so far, as the Eighth Doctor.

 McGann has reprised the role of the Eighth Doctor in an extensive series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions. Following his appearance as the Doctor, Paul McGann appeared as a concerned father in the film FairyTale: A True Story and later that same year as Rob in Downtime. Other film roles include My Kingdom (2001), Listening (2003) and Gypo (2005). The Vampire Chronicles, Queen of the Damned. In 2006, he appeared in the television drama Tripping Over and in 2007 in BBC One drama True Dare Kiss. In 2010, McGann played a major role in a feature-length episode of long-running BBC mystery series Jonathan Creek, as well as appearing as a regular in the crime drama Luther.


Keith Drinkel will be 80 - 3 credits, including Flight Engineeer Scobie in Time-Flight

Keith Drinkel is a British actor, born in York on 14 November 1944. He was educated at St Michael's College, Leeds and is now based in Brighton.

His notable appearances in film and television include A Family at War (1970), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Gandhi (1982) and the Doctor Who story Time-Flight (1982). He co-starred in series three and four of Peter Tinniswood's long-running comedy I Didn't Know You Cared, and appeared as Mark Gaskell in the 1984 TV episode of Miss Marple entitled The Body in the Library. Drinkel has appeared twice in Coronation Street, in 2001 and 2002 as Maurice Gregory, father of Rovers Return barmaid Geena, and most recently in 2005 as Bob, who dated Liz McDonaldfor a short time.

In 2006 he starred in Thin-King Productions 'Rock-A-Hula Rest Home' as Jesse Garon, an elderly man who believes he is Elvis Presley. He guest-starred in the Big Finish Productions audio adventures Doctor WhoCatch-1782Sapphire and Steel: The School and Professor Bernice Summerfield: Timeless Passages.


Ron Tarr (died 1997 aged 60) would be 88 - 2 credits, including Slave in Destiny of the Daleks

Ron Tarr appeared as an extra in a number of television shows, but it is best known for his frequent appearances as a background character in Eastenders (and was the first actor to appear in the show for its premiere in 1985).


Michael Robbins (died 1992 aged 62) would be 94 - credited as Richard Mace in The Visitation

Michael Robbins was a British actor known for his television work, including his role as Arthur Rudge in sitcom On the Buses (1969-72).

Born in London, Robbins was a bank clerk who became an actor after appearing in amateur dramatic performances in HitchinHertfordshire, where he and his family lived at the time. Robbins made his television debut as the cockney soldier in Roll-on Bloomin' Death. Primarily a comedy actor, he is best remembered for the role of Arthur Rudge, the persistently sarcastic husband of Olive (Anna Karen), in the popular sitcom On the Buses (1969-73). Robbins and Karen provided the secondary comic storyline to Reg Varney's comedy capers at the bus depot. Robbins also appeared in the series film spin-offs, On the BusesMutiny on the Buses, and Holiday on the Buses. His other comedy credits include non-recurring roles in Man About the HouseThe Good LifeOne Foot in the GraveThe New StatesmanGeorge and MildredThe Pink Panther Strikes Again and You Rang, M'Lord?. He appeared as a rather humorously portrayed police sergeant in the TV adaptation of Brendon Chase.

As well as these comic roles, he assumed various straight roles in some of the major British television shows of the 1960s and 1970s: including MinderThe SweeneyZ-CarsReturn of the SaintMurder Most EnglishThe Avengers,Dixon of Dock Green and the Doctor Who story The Visitation.

Robbins's film credits included The WhisperersUp The JunctionThe Looking Glass WarZeppelin and Blake Edwards' film Victor/Victoria and Just Ask For Diamond.

Robbins was an indefatigable worker for charity. He was active in the Grand Order of Water Rats (being elected 'Rat of the Year' in 1978) and the Catholic Stage Guild; and received a Papal Award for his services in 1987. In one of his last television appearances, in A Little Bit of Heaven Robbins recalled his childhood visits to Norfolk and spoke of his faith and love of the Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham.

In the mid-1970s he also directed a film: How Are You?.

Robbins was married to actress Hal Dyer until he died from cancer in CaterhamSurrey, aged 62. Robbins is survived by his 2 children Ben and Sarah and his 4 grandchildren Daniel, Max, Lucy and Joe.

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


Don McKillop (died 2005 aged 76) would be 95 - credited as Bert the Landlord in The Dæmons

Actor who appeared in The Deamons.



 Deaths
John Hallam (died 2006 aged 65) - credited as Light in Ghost Light

John Hallam was a Northern Irish character actor.

He appeared in many film and television roles including Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), Murphy's War (1971), The Pallisers (1974), The Mallens (1979), Flash Gordon (1980), Dragonslayer (1981), the BBC television adaptations of Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989) and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). He also appears in the director's cut of the 1973 film The Wicker Man as McTaggart.

In 1973 he played the troubled Dr. Peter Conway in the science fiction series Moonbase 3.

He appeared in  Doctor Who as the memorable alien "Light" in the serial Ghost Light (1989). He was also known as Barnsey, the prison cell mate of Den Watts in EastEnders.

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


Peter Brachacki (died 1980 aged 54) - credited as Designer for An Unearthly Child

Peter Brachacki was a production designer who worked for BBC Television in the 1960s. Although he worked on several programmes, he is best remembered as the first production designer for Doctor Who in 1963, making him responsible for the iconic design of the TARDIS interior.

The Peter Brachaki-designed TARDIS interior

Brachacki was production designer for the very first episode of Doctor WhoAn Unearthly Child, shot and broadcast in 1963. Despite the success of his design for the TARDIS interior set, he was not enthusiastic about working on the programme and did so under duress. He worked only on the very first episode and its re-mount, thereafter being replaced on the opening serial by Barry Newbery and never working on the series again. Director Waris Hussein recalled in later interviews that he was never happy with Brachacki's contribution and only kept him on as designer out of necessity, as there was not the time to request a replacement.

Also worked on The Innes Book of RecordsBlakes 7When the Boat Comes InIt's ChildsplayBattle of the SexesTill Death Us Do PartFall of EaglesPlay for TodayThe Black and White Minstrel ShowComedy PlayhouseThe Harry Secombe ShowThe Onedin LineThe Liver BirdsThe Witch's DaughterThe Silver SwordPaul TempleThe ExpertBBC Show of the WeekThe Gnomes of DulwichSoftly SoftlyHarry WorthNot in Front of the ChildrenThirty-Minute TheatreGaslight TheatreThe Valiant Varneys

He is played by David Annen in the 50th Anniversary drama An Adventure In Space And Time


Jean Conroy (died 1964 aged 29) - credited as Woman in the Wood in The Dalek Invasion of Earth

Jean Conroy played one of the Women in the Wood in the 1964 Doctor Who serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

Conroy died in a street accident, about a month after filming her sequence in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, and before the episode was transmitted.

Her death is believed to be the first death of an actor who has appeared in Doctor Who

Other work includes The Children of the New ForestSergeant CorkComedy PlayhouseITV Television PlayhouseThe Plane MakersNo Hiding PlaceSakiSuspenseBoyd Q.C.