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On This Day (USA) - 27 April



The Wheel In Space: Episode 1 premiered on BBC One in 1968 at 5:15pm BST, watched by 7.20 million viewers.

The Doctor and Jamie are forced to abandon the TARDIS when the mercury fluid link explodes, finding themselves aboard a spacecraft called the Silver Carrier.


The Monster of Peladon: Part Six premiered on BBC One in 1974 at 5:31pm BST, watched by 8.10 million viewers.

The Doctor and the miners take the upper hand in the fight to reclaim Peladon from the Ice Warriors. But Eckersley is unwilling to give up and takes Queen Thalira hostage


Totally Doctor Who (#1.3) premiered on BBC One in 2006 at 5:00pm BST, watched by 0.80 million viewers.
Barney Harwood and Liz Barker present a show celebrating the the latest adventures of the last living Time Lord. Noel Clarke, aka Mickey Smith, returns to reveal more set gossip. The Totally team go on a ghost hunt in a haunted Doctor Who location, and get seriously airborne with some kung fu monks.

Totally Doctor Who (#2.4) premiered on BBC One in 2007 at 4:00pm BST, watched by 0.55 million viewers.
Barney Harwood and Kirsten O'Brien look at everything Doctor Who with exclusive behind-the-scenes clips, and the next instalment of exclusive Doctor Who animation, The Infinite Quest. There are chats with Miranda Raison, who plays dancing girl Tallulah, and writer Helen Raynor, whilst Team Totally take on a choreography challenge.

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS premiered on BBC One in 2013 at 6:29pm BST, watched by 6.52 million viewers.
The TARDIS has crashed, Clara is lost inside, and the Doctor has 30 minutes before his ship explodes!

 Birthdays
Jenna Coleman will be 38 - 61 credits, including Clara in The Bells of Saint John (as Jenna-Louise Coleman)
Born in Blackpool, Lancashire, Jenna-Louise Coleman started acting at an early age when, at Arnold School, she joined the theatre group In Yer Space, with during which she performed in the play Crystal Clear at the Edinburgh Festival, winning an award for her performance.

It was when auditioning for drama schools that she first entered the public eye, as she landed the role of Jasmine Thomas in long-running soap Emmerdale. This led to her being nominated for the Most Popular Newcomer award at the 2006 National Television Awards, and in 2009 she was nominated for the Best Actress, Sexiest Female, and Best Dramatic Performance awards at the British Soap Awards, and also a nomination for the Best Actress award in the TV Choice Awards.

In 2009 she joined the cast of the Waterloo Road, playing the role of school-girl Lindsay James, and then played Susan Brown in a BBC Four television adaptation of the John Braine novel Room at the Top. Other roles prior to Doctor Who included Annie Desmond in Julian Fellowes' four part mini-series Titanic, and Rosie in Stephen Poliakoff's original drama series Dancing on the Edge. She also provided the voice for the character Melia in the English dub of the 2011 video game Xenoblade Chronicles, and made her feature film debut in Captain America: The First Avenger.

On 21 March 2012, producer Steven Moffat confirmed at a press conference that Jenna Coleman would be the next regular in Doctor Who, saying he chose her for the role because she worked the best alongside Matt Smith and could talk faster than him! As with previous casting, auditions had been shrouded in secrecy, with the series being referred to as Men on Waves (an anagram for "Woman Seven").

Although announced to be joining in that year's Christmas Special, Coleman made a surprise first appearance in Series Seven's opener Asylum of the Daleks as Oswin Oswald, thus creating a thread about "The Impossible Girl" that would be taken up with her first full story The Snowmen through to the series finale The Name of the Doctor.

She continued in the role of Clara as new Doctor Peter Capaldi arrived, and remained the series for a further two years before bowing out in the Series Nine finale Hell Bent.

In 2013 she altered her Equity-registered name to be simply Jenna Coleman (her first credit under this name being on Doctor Who Live which introduced Capaldi to the nation as the new Doctor. In 2014 her role as Clara saw her win the Glamour Award for UK TV Actress.

During her stint in Doctor Who she also appeared as Lydia Wickham in the BBC drama Death Comes to Pemberley, and upon leaving the show she took on the role as the young queen Victoria for the 2016 ITV series of that name. She has also provided the voice of Baines in animated series Thunderbirds Are Go.

Outside of television, Coleman has been involved with charity work in South Africa raising awareness of HIV, and is ambassador to the One To One Children's Fund.

She has been in a relationship with Richard Madden since late 2011.

 

Adapted from the wikipedia article, licensed under CC-BY-SA


Christine Bottomley will be 45 - credited as Margaret Hopley in A Day in the Death(TW)

Christine Bottomley  is a British actress. She is best known for her regular roles as Melanie in the BBC comedy series Early Doors and Susie Ward in Heartbeat.

Born in Rochdale, she went on to study at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, before taking her first role in an episode of EastEnders.

Other film and television work has included Holby CityShameless and as Yvonne O'Neill in The Street.

Bottomley recently appeared in the eighth episode of the second series of Torchwood, "A Day in the Death". She appears in comedy series Massive on BBC Three and the BBC One drama Hope Springs and also a BBC drama: Land Girls.

She has starred in a 2009 film, entitled Hush.

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


Joseph Millson will be 50 - 7 credits, including Alan Jackson in Invasion of the Bane(SJA)

Joseph Millson  is an English actor and singer. 

He trained at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Sidcup, Kent.

JHe played Alan Jackson in The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Also appeared in Dead of the NiteDisaffectedHolby CityMourning RulesStar Wars: The Old RepublicDevil's BridgeMount PleasantThe RomanticsCampusFable IIIDevil's BridgeS.N.U.B!Comedy ShowcaseEnidAshes to AshesSurvivorsAbraham's PointQuantum of SolaceTelstar: The Joe Meek StoryHarley StreetMidsomer MurdersTalk to MeCasino RoyaleNew TricksThe Ghost SquadShakespeaRe-ToldDoctorsEastEndersPeak PracticeIn ExileLa Belle Dame Sans Merci by John Keats


Russell T Davies will be 61 - 222 credits, including Executive Producer for Rose

Stephen Russell Davies, OBE, better known by his pen name Russell T Davies, is a Welsh television producer and screenwriter whose works include Queer as Folk, Bob & Rose, The Second Coming, Casanova, the 2005 revival of the classic British science fiction series Doctor Who, and the trilogy Cucumber, Tofu, and Banana.

Born in Swansea, Davies aspired to work as a comic artist in his adult life, until a careers advisor at Olchfa School suggested that he study English literature; he consequently focused on a career of play- and screen-writing. After he graduated from Oxford University, Davies joined the BBC's children's department in 1985 on a part-time basis and worked in varying positions, including writing and producing two series, Dark Season and Century Falls. He left the BBC in the early 1990s to work for Granada Television and later became a freelance writer.

Davies moved into writing adult television dramas in 1994. His early scripts generally explored concepts of religion and sexuality among various backdrops: Revelations was a soap opera about organised religion and featured a lesbian vicar; Springhill was a soap drama about a Catholic family in contemporary Liverpool; The Grand explored society's opinion of subjects such as prostitution, abortion and homosexuality during the interwar period; and Queer as Folk, his first prolific series, recreated his experiences in the Manchester gay scene. His later series include Bob & Rose, which portrayed a gay man who fell in love with a woman; The Second Coming, which focused on the second coming and deicide of Jesus Christ from a mostly non-religious point of view; Mine All Mine, a comedy about a family who discover they own the entire city of Swansea; and Casanova, an adaptation of the Venetian lover's complete memoirs.

He revived and ran Doctor Who after a sixteen-year hiatus, with Christopher Eccleston, and later David Tennant, in the title role. Davies's tenure as executive producer of the show oversaw a surge in popularity that led to the production of two spin-off series, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, and the revival of the Saturday prime-time dramas as a profitable venture for production companies. Davies was awarded an OBE in 2008 for services to drama, which coincided with his announcement that he would step down from Doctor Who as the show's executive producer with his final script, The End of Time (2009–10). Davies moved to Los Angeles, California in 2009, where he oversaw production of Torchwood: Miracle Day and the fifth and final series of The Sarah Jane Adventures.

After his partner developed cancer in late 2011, Davies returned to the UK, and co-created a new drama for CBBC, Wizards vs Aliens. His current projects are Cucumber, a Channel 4 series about middle-aged gay men in the Manchester gay scene; Banana, an E4 series about young LGBT people in the Cucumber universe; and Tofu, an online documentary series available on 4oD discussing issues which have arisen in the sister series, modern sex and sexuality with the cast and public.

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



Kevin McNally will be 68 - 6 credits, including Hugo Lang in The Twin Dilemma

Kevin McNally is an English actor who has worked in theatre and radio extensively as well as in film and television.

He played Hugo Lang in the Doctor Who serial The Twin Dilemma.

Born in Bristol, McNally spent his early years in Birmingham, attending Redhill Junior School on Redhill Road in Hay Mills and Mapledene Junior School (now Mapledene Primary School) on Mapledene Road in Sheldon. He went to Central Grammar School for Boys on Gressel Lane in Tile Cross. His first professional job, at the age of 16, was at the Birmingham Rep. In 1973 he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where, in 1975, he won the Best Actor Bancroft Gold Medal.

His most famous role is Joshamee Gibbs in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. He is also one of the three actors who starred in all four films.


Glyn Jones (died 2014 aged 82) would be 93 - 2 credits, including Writer for The Space Museum

Glyn Jones was a South African actor, writer and director. His writing credits included A King's Story (1965), The Magnificent Six and ½ (1968) Script editor for the childrens TV series Here Come the Double Deckers (1970) and The Gold Robbers (1969), also a number of stage plays produced in England and America, Thriller of the year and Beautiful Forever published by Samuel French Ltd, London and Red in the Morning by Samuel French New York. In 2006 he created a new private eye by name Thornton King; charming, urbane and a little bit accident prone and in 2007 the first Thornton King book, Dead on Time' was published by Raider International. That same year he wrote a sequel Just in Case and a follow up Target of Death both awaiting publication.

He died peacefully in his sleep, after having an ongoing heart condition.

You can read an obituary from his official blog.


Ann Chegwidden (died 2007 aged 86) would be 103 - credited as Film Editor for Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.(Aaru)

Ann Chegwidden was the editor of the 1966 feature film Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D..


Zohra Sehgal (died 2014 aged 102) would be 112 - 2 credits, including Attendent on Ping-Cho in Marco Polo

Zohra Sehgal is an Indian stage and film actress, who started her career as dancer with dancer Uday Shankar in 1935 and worked with him for the next eight years. 

She appeared in two Hartnell Doctor Who stories, playing an Attendent in the 1964 story Marco Polo and Sheyrah in the 1965 story The Crusade.

She has appeared in many Bollywood films as well as English language films and television series. She is most known for her appearances in Bhaji on the Beach (1992), The Mystic Masseur (2001),Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Dil Se.. (1998) and Cheeni Kum (2007); and the TV series, The Jewel in the Crown (1984), Tandoori Nights (1985�87), Amma and Family (1996). Considered the doyenne of Indian theatre, she acted with Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and Prithviraj Kapoor's Prithvi Theatre for fourteen years, during the period traveled over India, with the troupe.

She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998, Kalidas Samman in 2001, and in 2004, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, presented her with its highest award, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime achievement. She received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honor, in 2010.


Colin Gordon (died 1972 aged 61) would be 113 - credited as Commandant in The Faceless Ones

Colin Gordon was a British actor born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a production of “Toad of Toad Hall”. From 1936 to 1939 he was a director with the Fred Melville Repertory Company at Brixton. He served in the army during WWII for six years. His performance in 1948 as Rupert Billings in “The Happiest Days of Your Life” won the Clarence Derwent award.

Gordon had a long career in British cinema and television from the 1940s to the 1970s, often playing government officials. His films include The Pink Panther and Casino Royale although he is probably best known for his portrayal of Number Two in the ITC classic series The Prisoner. Along with Leo McKern, he was one of only two actors to play Number Two more than once. He first played the character in "The General" and later reprised his role in "A. B. and C.". In fact, the episodes were subsequently broadcast in reverse order: when "The General" was in production, "A. B. and C" had not yet been cast.

Gordon was a regular in another ITC production, The Baron playing civil servant Templeton-Green opposite Steve Forrest. He also played the host and occasional narrator of the 1969 London Weekend Television series The Complete and Utter History of Britain, which arose from a pre-Monty Python collaboration between Michael Palin and Terry Jones; and was the Airport Commandant in the 1967 Doctor Who story The Faceless Ones. He was also in Bachelor Fatherand made a notable guest appearance in The Holiday episode of Steptoe and Son.

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