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On This Day (USA) - 11 December



The Daleks' Master Plan: Counter Plot premiered on BBC One in 1965 at 5:51pm GMT, watched by 9.90 million viewers.

The Doctor and Steven, along with Space Security Service agent Sara Kingdom are transported to the planet Mira. There, unseen creatures stalk the jungle and the Daleks close in.


Dead Man Walking premiered on BBC Three in 2006 at 2:05am GMT

 Birthdays
Ben Browder will be 62 - credited as Isaac in A Town Called Mercy

Ben Browder is an American actor and writer, best known for his roles as John Crichton in Farscape and Cameron Mitchell in Stargate SG-1.

He played Issac in the 2012 Doctor Who story A Town Called Mercy

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Browder grew up in CharlotteNorth Carolina. His parents were race car owners and operators.

Browder appeared as a recurring guest on the U.S. television show Party of Five as Sam Brody in its 3rd season in 1997. Browder and Buller moved with their two children to Australia during the production of Farscape (1999–2003), on which Browder starred as American astronaut John Crichton. Buller played several guest roles on the show. The two returned to the United States in 2003 following the cancellation of Farscape. He has received two Saturn Awards for Best Actor In A Television Role for his acting in Farscape. He appeared in the 2004 movie A Killer Within, co-starring C. Thomas Howell and Sean Young. Also in 2004, he portrayed fellow actor Lee Majors in the made-for-TV film Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels.

He returned to play John Crichton in the 2004 SciFi Channel mini-series Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars. The mini-series wrapped up the remaining plotlines of Farscape, while leaving open the possibility of future adventures.

October 2003 marked the audiobook release of Interlopers, a novel written by Alan Dean Foster and narrated by Browder.

In January 2005, Browder voiced the character Bartholomew Aloysius "Bat" Lash in an episode of the animated series Justice League Unlimited entitled "The Once and Future Thing, Part 1: Weird Western Tales".

Browder returned to the SciFi Channel as he joined the cast of Stargate SG-1 for its ninth season in 2005. He played the character of Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell, the new commanding officer of SG-1. Browder's formerFarscape co-star Claudia Black appeared on SG-1 in the eighth season episode entitled "Prometheus Unbound" and again during the first episodes of the ninth season before becoming a regular cast member on the series at the beginning of its tenth season in 2006. Several episodes of Stargate SG-1, most notably "200", comically alluded to Farscape during Browder and Black's time on the series.

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


Zienia Merton (died 2018 aged 72) would be 79 - 2 credits, including Ping-Cho in Marco Polo

Zienia Merton is a British actress born in Burma

Her mother was Burmese, and her father half-English, half-French. She was raised in SingaporeBorneo,Portugal, and England. She is probably best known for playing Sandra Benes in Space: 1999.

She played Ping-Cho in the 1964 Doctor Who serial Marco Polo and the Registrar in 2009 The Sarah Jane Adventures story The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith. 

Other early television appearances included Strange Report (1968), The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) and Jason King (1971). She was a lead actress as Christina in the Dennis Potter TV adaptation of Casanova with Frank Finlay, and appeared on The Benny Hill Show in 1972, playing the wife of Hill's Chow Mein character. Zienia Merton also featured as Ting Ling in the film The Chairman (1969) with Gregory Peck.

Probably her most memorable role is that of Sandra Benes in Space: 1999, the science fiction series produced by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson between 1973 and 1976, with Martin LandauBarbara BainBarry Morse andCatherine Schell. In 1999 Merton reprised this role in the professionally produced short film Message from Moonbase Alpha, written by series writer Johnny Byrne. This short episode surprised everyone on its debut at the closing ceremony of the Breakaway 1999 convention in Los AngelesCalifornia on September 13, 1999 - the date on which the moon is blasted out of Earth orbit in the pilot episode of the original series. Regarded by many fans as the 49th and final episode, and providing a closure to the series, "Message from Moonbase Alpha" is included as a special feature on the "UFO and Space: 1999 Documentaries" DVD, available exclusively from Fanderson.

Following Space: 1999, Merton appeared in many popular television series including Grange HillReturn of the Saint (1979), Bergerac (1983), Angels (1983), Tenko (1984), Dempsey & Makepeace (1985), Lovejoy (1986), Crime Traveller(1997), Doctors (2001), Dinotopia (2002), Casualty (1986 � 2002), EastEnders (1998 � 2003), The Bill (1999 � 2005), Judge John Deed (2006), Coronation Street (2008) and Wire in the Blood (2008). Merton re-joined fellow Space: 1999star Ian McShane for the 1986 Lovejoy episode "The Axeman Cometh".

In December 2008, Zienia Merton filmed a guest role for the eighth episode ("Samaritan") of the ITV drama Law & Order: UK. Although the series premiered on 23 February 2009, some episodes were held over for broadcast as "Series Two". "Samaritan" was first transmitted on ITV1 on 11 January 2010.


Tony Adams will be 84 - credited as Elgin in The Green Death

Tony Adams is a Welsh actor, best known for his performances in two British television soap operas.

Adams was born in Anglesey, Wales, and he trained as an actor at the Italia Conti Stage School. After some stage appearances, including a starring role opposite Cheryl Kennedy in aWest End revival of The Boy Friend, he made his name as Dr Neville Bywaters in the 1970s soap, General Hospital. He also appeared in the 1973 Doctor Who story The Green Death as Elgin.

In November 1978 he moved on to a major role in Crossroads, as mustachioed Adam Chance. It is for this role that he is primarily remembered. In September 1987, Adams decided to leave the programme. The announcement was made that the series would end in April 1988, and Adams stayed to the end. He was one of the cast members who returned in the 2001 revival of the series, though his character was later killed off in a fire after becoming obsessed with religion.

In late 2004, Adams appeared in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium theatre where he played Grandpa Potts.

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



Stephen Moore (died 2019 aged 81) would be 87 - 3 credits, including Eldane in The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood

Stephen Moore is an English actor, known for his work on British television.

Moore was born in Brixton, London

He is known for his appearances in Rock Follies and other TV series such as The Last Place on Earth, the children's series The Queen's Nose and the drama Mersey Beat and the British TV comedy series Solo, as well as numerous appearances on stage at The Royal National Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company and London's West End.

He played Eldane in the Series 5 Doctor Who episode "Cold Blood".


Reg Whitehead (died 2016 aged 83) would be 92 - 5 credits, including Yeti in The Abominable Snowmen

Reg Whitehead appeared in a number of television programmes over the course of his career, including Z Cars, The Power Game, The Avengers, The Saint, and Counterstrike. In Doctor Who, he is attributed with the first appearance of a Cyberman in the series, appearing at the cliff-hanger to The Tenth Planet: Episode 1; he played Cybermen in subsequent stories The Moonbase and The Tomb of the Cybermen, and also a Yeti in The Abominable Snowmen.

Outside of acting he was an avid horse lover, and owned several racehorses.


Bill McGuffie (died 1987 aged 59) would be 97 - credited as Composer for Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.(Aaru)

Bill McGuffie was a highly experienced pianist who went on to become a film composer and conductor. He also made several television appearances before this, most notably in Softly, Softly as a pub pianist.

When he was about 16 years old Billy came down from Scotland to London to join the Teddy Foster Band which was playing in London. It was his first professional job.

As well as conducting many film scores he also wrote several of his own and is most remembered for his music for the movie Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD, based on the television series Doctor Who and starring Peter Cushing. He also provided the music for the cult horror film The Asphyx in 1973.

Bill performed on many occasions with Benny Goodman outfits when Benny toured in Europe. He can be heard playing with the Benny Goodman Sextet recorded live in Copenhagen in 1972. His playing added much to the Goodman bands and small groups and continued the tradition of musical and inventive pianists playing alongside Benny.

Bill McGuffie was voted Britain's top pianist in 1953, 1954 and 1955. He won an Ivor Novello Award in 1960 for his composition 'Sweet September' and a Song Writers' Guild Badge of Merit in 1980. Bill McGuffie started a charity in aid of autistic children called The Niner Club, relating to his lost finger.

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


Richard Mathews (died 1992 aged 77) would be 110 - credited as Rassilon in The Five Doctors

Richard Mathews played Rassilon in the 1983 Doctor Who story The Five Doctors.

Other credits include Harnessing PeacocksLadykillersThe Walls of JerichoSquare Mile of MurderBeryl's LotChildren of the StonesChurchill's PeopleCrown CourtZ CarsDixon of Dock GreenW. Somerset MaughamCallanMr. RoseR3Emergency-Ward 10


 Deaths
Malcolm Clarke (died 2003 aged 60) - 7 credits, including Incidental Music for The Sea Devils

Malcolm Clarke was a British composer and a member of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop for 25 years from 1969 to 1994.

He composed the incidental music for the 1972 Doctor Who serial The Sea Devils; only the second score that the workshop provided for the series. 

The Radiophonic Workshop was not commissioned to produce music again for Doctor Who until 1980. Clarke returned to the series to compose the music for the 1982 serial Earthshock, and continued to work on the series on a regular basis until 1986, composing the music for Enlightenment, Resurrection of the Daleks, The Twin Dilemma, Attack of the Cybermen and Terror of the Vervoids.

His most critically acclaimed work was probably 1976's radio piece August 4th 2026, based on a short story by Ray Bradbury.


Michael Robbins (died 1992 aged 62) - 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