Whoniversaries, 1 July

The first in what may be a series of daily posts on anniversaries in Doctor Who history, covering i) real-world anniversaries of the births and deaths of people important to the history of the programme; ii) anniversaries of the first broadcast of Who stories on TV and radio (which get a bit thin over the summer, so we are starting gently); and iii) dates which are specified in broadcast stories or spinoff literature (of which there are surprisingly few). 1 July is rather a good date to start with; I wonder how long I’ll be able to keep it up though…

i) Births and Deaths

1 July 1934: birth of Jean Marsh, who played the great Sara Kingdom in The Daleks’ Master Plan (1965-6). She also appeared as Princess Joanna in The Crusade (1965) and as Morgaine in Battlefield (1989). She has done two Companion Chronicle audios for Big Finish, and a third one, The Guardian of the Solar System, comes out this month; I for one am looking forward to it. (She was also married to Jon Pertwee, before either was on Doctor Who.)

Also born on 1 July: Daphne Dare (1929), costumer for much of the black and white era; Sonny Caldinez (1932), four-time Ice Warrior who appeared as Kemal the Turk in earlier episodes of Evil of the DaleksThe Movie (1996).

ii) broadcast anniversaries

1 July 1967: broadcast of the seventh and final episode of Evil of the Daleks, Skaro collapsing in flames as the malignant pepperpots battle each other in civil war, and the Second Doctor, Jamie and new companion Victoria flee the ruins as Season Four comes to an end. Sadly, one of the lost episodes.

1 July 2006: broadcast of Army of Ghosts, which starts with that creepy voiceover by Billie Piper about how she died, and then goes on to feature celebrity cameos and Jackie’s great line “If we end up on Mars, I’m gonna kill you.” Then we get into serious business with Torchwood and the Cybermen, and finally, in the best reveal in the whole of New Who, the Daleks emerge. from the Genesis Ark.

1 July 2009: broadcast of Torchwood: Asylum, the first of the three radio plays leading up to Children of Earthiii) dates specified in broadcast stories

1 July 2058: Date of establishment of Bowie Base One on Mars, as seen in The Waters of Mars (2009).

One thought on “Whoniversaries, 1 July

Comments are closed.