Whoniversaries 24 July
i) births and deaths
24 July 2009: death of Harry Towb, a few days before his 84th birthday. He played Osgood, the lunar controller in episode 1 of The Seeds of Death (Second Doctor, 1969) and McDermott, the old-school plastics factory man in episode 2 of Terror of the Autons (Third Doctor, 1971). Both get killed off early on. Here's a small tribute:
The Seeds of Death
Osgood bids his farewell as he heads up to the moon...
...disappearing in the T-Mat booth...
...to find that his management problems...
...have been made worse by...
...the unseen intruders...
...(actually the Ice Warriors)...
...who shoot him. And he dies.
Terror of the Autons
McDermott is puzzled by the plastics factory...
...and the new advisor with the natty beard...
...who wants to show him a new invention...
...the chair you can just sink into...
...this is the forerunner of the bin that eats Mickey in Rose...
...and so McDermott dies.
Towb also returned rather bizarrely to play the Brigadier's aged Italian Uncle in The Ghosts of N-Space, Jon Pertwee's last outing as the Doctor, a 1996 audio. There are no pictures from The Ghosts of N-Space, but perhaps that is just as well.
ii) broadcast anniversaries
24 July 1965 - broadcast of 'Checkmate', the fourth and last episode of the story we now call The Time Meddler, ending the original second season. The Monk reveals his plans to equip Harold Godwinsson's army with atomic bazookas to change history. The Doctor outwits him and sabotages his Tardis. Closing titles play over arty shots of the Doctor, Steven and Vicki against a starry background.
iii) date specified in Who literature
24 July 1989: the Sixth Doctor meets Mel Bush for the first time, in Gary Russell's 1997 novel Business Unusual (which I haven't read myself).
On 24 July 6012, the Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones and Donna Noble arrived on Messaline, the TARDIS having brought them there against their will. Upon their arrival, the Doctor "gave birth" to Jenny, a generated anomaly grown from a sample of his DNA. With the Doctor's new "daughter", the TARDIS crew together ended the Human-Hath War, which had started only seven days earlier. Jenny was shot by General Cobb, but was revived by energy from "the Source" after the Doctor and his companions left, escaping in a rocket to lead a new life. (TV: The Doctor's Daughter)
In 1764, a road works overseer asked the First Doctor for his papers on the Time Lord's way to Paris. When he had none to present, he was forced into slave labour. Meanwhile, his companions - Susan Foreman, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton - were to be guillotined the following day. They were placed in cells at the Conciergerie, but all three had an idea of how to escape. Barbara and Susan abandoned their plan of digging their way out when the hole caused their cell to be infested with rats. The Doctor, however, did manage to get out of his predicament by distracting and knocking out the road works overseer. Ian too managed to get saved - he was crossed off the execution list when his captors thought he knew something of value. (TV: "Guests of Madame Guillotine")
24 July 2009: death of Harry Towb, a few days before his 84th birthday. He played Osgood, the lunar controller in episode 1 of The Seeds of Death (Second Doctor, 1969) and McDermott, the old-school plastics factory man in episode 2 of Terror of the Autons (Third Doctor, 1971). Both get killed off early on. Here's a small tribute:
The Seeds of Death
Osgood bids his farewell as he heads up to the moon...
...disappearing in the T-Mat booth...
...to find that his management problems...
...have been made worse by...
...the unseen intruders...
...(actually the Ice Warriors)...
...who shoot him. And he dies.
Terror of the Autons
McDermott is puzzled by the plastics factory...
...and the new advisor with the natty beard...
...who wants to show him a new invention...
...the chair you can just sink into...
...this is the forerunner of the bin that eats Mickey in Rose...
...and so McDermott dies.
Towb also returned rather bizarrely to play the Brigadier's aged Italian Uncle in The Ghosts of N-Space, Jon Pertwee's last outing as the Doctor, a 1996 audio. There are no pictures from The Ghosts of N-Space, but perhaps that is just as well.
ii) broadcast anniversaries
24 July 1965 - broadcast of 'Checkmate', the fourth and last episode of the story we now call The Time Meddler, ending the original second season. The Monk reveals his plans to equip Harold Godwinsson's army with atomic bazookas to change history. The Doctor outwits him and sabotages his Tardis. Closing titles play over arty shots of the Doctor, Steven and Vicki against a starry background.
iii) date specified in Who literature
24 July 1989: the Sixth Doctor meets Mel Bush for the first time, in Gary Russell's 1997 novel Business Unusual (which I haven't read myself).
On 24 July 6012, the Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones and Donna Noble arrived on Messaline, the TARDIS having brought them there against their will. Upon their arrival, the Doctor "gave birth" to Jenny, a generated anomaly grown from a sample of his DNA. With the Doctor's new "daughter", the TARDIS crew together ended the Human-Hath War, which had started only seven days earlier. Jenny was shot by General Cobb, but was revived by energy from "the Source" after the Doctor and his companions left, escaping in a rocket to lead a new life. (TV: The Doctor's Daughter)
In 1764, a road works overseer asked the First Doctor for his papers on the Time Lord's way to Paris. When he had none to present, he was forced into slave labour. Meanwhile, his companions - Susan Foreman, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton - were to be guillotined the following day. They were placed in cells at the Conciergerie, but all three had an idea of how to escape. Barbara and Susan abandoned their plan of digging their way out when the hole caused their cell to be infested with rats. The Doctor, however, did manage to get out of his predicament by distracting and knocking out the road works overseer. Ian too managed to get saved - he was crossed off the execution list when his captors thought he knew something of value. (TV: "Guests of Madame Guillotine")