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On This Day (USA) - 16 November



The Invasion: Episode Three premiered on BBC One in 1968 at 5:15pm BST, watched by 7.10 million viewers.

The Doctor and Jamie are taken prisoner by Tobias Vaughn who denies abducting Zoe and Isobel. The Doctor suspects that there may be an even greater threat behind Vaughn.


Delta and the Bannermen: Part Three premiered on BBC One in 1987 at 7:35pm GMT, watched by 5.40 million viewers.

The Happiness Patrol: Part Three premiered on BBC One in 1988 at 7:35pm GMT, watched by 5.30 million viewers.

Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith: Episode Two premiered on CBBC in 2010 at 5:16pm GMT, watched by 0.81 million viewers.

The Great Detective premiered on BBC One in 2012 at 7:40pm GMT

The Night of the Doctor premiered on BBC Red Button in 2013 at 7:30pm GMT, watched by 0.89 million viewers.

Be a part of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary extravaganza and experience exclusive content on the Red Button. Coverage includes a special mini episode of Doctor Who written by Steven Moffat and music from the Doctor Who Prom.


 Birthdays
Alexa Havins will be 44 - 10 credits, including Esther Drummond in The New World(TW)

Alexa Carole Havins  is an American actress. 

In 2003 she became the originating actor in the role of Babe Carey Chandler on the soap opera All My Children. Her role as the flawed but good Babe Carey earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 2005 and recognition as being half of one of the show's most popular soap opera pairings.

Havins has made guest appearances in a number of television shows, as well as a number of independent films. 

In 2011, she joined the main cast for Torchwood's fourth series, Torchwood: Miracle Day.


Mark Benton will be 59 - 5 credits, including Clive in Rose

Mark Benton is an English actor, perhaps most famous for his roles as Eddie in Early Doors and Howard in Northern Lights.

Benton was born in Guisborough, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England.

He has a recurring role as Father McBride in the James Nesbitt series Murphy's Law. He has starred with Vic and Bob in the series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (remake), Catterick, and Monkey Trousers. He also appeared as an Earthly representative of the Devil in the 2003 ITV drama The Second Coming, and the 2004 ITV drama Planespotting. From 1995 to 2003 he played Martin Pond in sitcom Barbara. He has also starred in the BBC Three comedy I'm with Stupid. 

In late 2008 Benton starred in the ITV drama Britannia High. He is the co-star of Scoop, in which he plays Max de Lacey, and he co-starred in the Roman Mysteries episode "The Slave Girl from Jerusalem".

Film roles include Phil in the 2001 cult British independent movie Mr In-Between, and the British comedy Three and Out released on 25 April 2008.


Lorraine Heggessey will be 68 - 4 credits, including Self in Bringing Back the Doctor(Factual)

Lorraine Heggessey was the Controller of BBC1 from 2000 to 2005, and is widely acknowledged as the person responsible for the return of Doctor Who  in the 21st Century.

Graduating from Durham University with a degree in English Language and Literature, Lorraine Heggessey first worked for the Westminster Press Group working on local newspapers before being accepted as a trainee for BBC News in 1979. Proving her mettle, she became producer for current affairs programme Panorama in the early 1980s. Over the next few years she then joined Thames Television to work on This Week, and then for independent production company Clark Production working on Hard News and Dispatches, made for Channel 4.

Returning to the BBC, she founded the viewer feedback series Biteback and also worked on documentary series Underworld before moving to the science department, where she went on to become Editor for QED, and then executive producer for Animal Hospital and The Human Body.

In 1997 she was offered the role as Head of Children's BBC, which she accepted on behalf of her children as she explained to the Independent: "short of taking over Hamleys, this was the next best job for them." Then in 1999 she was promoted to Director of Programmes and Deputy Chief Executive for BBC Production, which was responsible for supervising the BBC's output across the channels.

Notable activities during her career to then had included working with director Ken Loach to investigate the practices used by journalist Roger Cook for Hard News, obtaining the first interview with 'Mad' Frankie Fraser for Underworld, and the high profile dismissal of Blue Peter presenter Richard Bacon in 1998 (in which she appeared on screen to present a special one minute explanation as to why this had occured).

It was on 1st November 2000 that she became Controller of BBC1, the first woman to achieve such a role in the organisation. Alongside the BBC's Controller of Drama Commissioning, Jane Tranter, she was responsible for the creation of a number of enduring BBC television series, including Spooks, Waking the Dead, and Strictly Come Dancing

A fan of the work of Russell T Davies and of Doctor Who, in September 2003 she commissioned a new full series of Doctor Who under his leadership after some thirteen years out of production at the BBC; considered a risky venture at the time, bringing about the return of the Doctor is now viewed as perhaps her most successful decision as the show enters its 50th Anniversary year in 2013. In 2005 BBC1 was named "Channel of the Year" at the Edinburgh Television Festival based on her reinvigoration of the channel, though Heggessey herself had moved on in April 2005, a couple of weeks after Doctor Who triumphantly returned to our screens.

Post-BBC, Heggessey worked at Talkback Thames, overseeing the production of high-profile series such as The Bill and The X Factor for ITV1, QI for BBC2, and Green Wing for Channel 4. During this time she also delivered the Stephen Poliakoff dramas Friends and Crocodiles and Gideon's Daughters - programmes she'd commissioned herself for the BBC whilst there!

In 2012 she become co-owner and Executive Chairman of Boom Pictures, a Cardiff-based independent production company.


Karl Zwicky will be 68 - 5 credits, including Director for Regeneration(K-9)

Karl Zwicky was born in Perth.

Other television series include popular soaps like Home and Away, Neighbours, Sons and Daughters and Heartbreak High, and series such as Beastmaster, Ship to Shore.


Kenneth Watson (died 1998 aged 66) would be 93 - 2 credits, including Bill Duggan in The Wheel In Space

Kenneth Watson  played the movie version of Jack Craddock in Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. 

He also played Bill Duggan in the Doctor Who story The Wheel in Space. Watson was booked to play the farmworker in the Doctor Who story The Time Monster, but was replaced by George Lee.

Appeared in over 100 TV dramas including The BillWycliffeHigh RoadAirlineSinglesVery Like a WhaleGrandadThe ProfessionalsOut of the PastBuccaneerITV PlayhouseThe Enigma FilesA Question of GuiltJukes of PiccadillyCoronation StreetBloomersMurder at the WeddingHazellThe Fall and Rise of Reginald PerrinBernieThe Voyage of Charles DarwinThe SandbaggersThe Morecambe & Wise ShowThe SweeneyZ CarsWithin These WallsThe New AvengersHorse in the HouseThree Piece SuiteHeadmasterThe Phoenix and the CarpetThe King's DragonBlind Man's BluffSky PiratesGeorge & MildredCrown CourtEmmerdaleMan About the HouseCentre PlayVillage HallChurchill's PeopleAnd Mother Makes FiveCloud BurstFunny Ha-HaSpecial BranchDixon of Dock GreenThe Adventures of Black BeautyUpstairs, DownstairsSome Mothers Do 'Ave 'EmThe Onedin LineSpy TrapWhodunnit?Pardon My GenieThe BrothersThe ProtectorsNothing But the NightThe PathfindersHollyFollyfootNew Scotland YardBudgieClochemerleThe Shadow of the TowerSoftly Softly: Task ForceJusticeOut of the UnknownHadleighNearest and DearestITV Sunday Night TheatreThe Flaxton BoysTimeslipNo, That's Me Over Here!A Stranger on the HillsTake Three GirlsDad's ArmyRandall and Hopkirk (Deceased)Public EyeThe First LadyThe Gold RobbersCastors Away!The Revenue MenArmchair ThrillerDr. Finlay's CasebookKing of the RiverThe Heart of MidlothianOrlandoR3ITV Play of the WeekFirst Men in the MoonTaxi!Man of the WorldOut of This WorldGalileoDoctor FaustusMill of SecretsFormula for DangerThe Gentle FlameEmergency-Ward 10Kidnapped


 Deaths
George A Cooper (died 2018 aged 93) - credited as Cherub in The Smugglers

George A. Cooper is an English actor.

One of his best-known roles was as the caretaker Mr. Griffiths in the long-running children's TV series Grange Hill. He also enjoyed acclaim as Geoffrey Fisher, the stern father of the eponymous antihero Billy Liar, in both the original West End stage version (1960) and the later sitcom (1973�74).

His other credits include Danger ManZ-CarsDixon of Dock GreenNo Hiding PlaceDoctor Who - The SmugglersSoftly, SoftlyThe AvengersThe SaintRandall and Hopkirk (Deceased)The TroubleshootersSteptoe and SonCoronation StreetDoomwatchPublic EyeBudgieBless This HouseSykesRising DampThe New AvengersSome Mothers Do 'Ave 'EmAll Creatures Great and SmallJuliet BravoWhen The Boat Comes InTerry and JuneTaggartCasualty and Heartbeat.

He had roles in various films including: Violent Playground (1958), Hell Is a City (1960), The Cracksman (1963), Nightmare (1964), Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) with Christopher Lee and the film version of Bless This House (1972) with Sid James.

 

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