Whoniversaries 3 January

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i) births and deaths

3 January 1920: birth of Peter Stephens, who played Cyril, the Kitchen Boy, and the Knave of Hearts in The Celestial Toymaker (First Doctor, 1966), and Lolem the high priest in The Underwater Menace (Second Doctor, 1967)

3 January 2017: death of Rodney Bennett, director of three Fourth Doctor stories – The Ark in Space (1975), The Sontaran Experiment (also 1975) and The Masque of Mandragora (1976).

ii) broadcast anniversaries

3 January 1970: broadcast of first episode of Spearhead from Space

3 January 1976: broadcast of first episode of The Brain of Morbius. The Doctor and Sarah land on the desolate planet of Karn. The sinister brain surgeon Solon drugs the Doctor and the mysterious Sisterhood take the Tardis.

3 January 1981: broadcast of first episode of Warrior's Gate. Biroc the Tharil escapes from Rorvik's ship; the Doctor, Romana, Adric and K9 arrive at the intersection between N-Space and E-Space.

3 January 1983: broadcast of first episode of Arc of Infinity, starting Season 20. Two backpackers in Amsterdam are terrorised by the Ergon; the Doctor is attacked by a strange being in the Tardis, goes to Gallifrey and is shot by his own future self's twin.

3 January 2009: Matt Smith is announced as the Eleventh Doctor.