On This Day... 6th January

 

What used to be regarded as one of the worst episodes of Doctor Who ever broadcast was first shown today in 1968 - Part Three of The Enemy of the World. For many years it was an orphan episode, which consisted mainly of an argument in a kitchen, and a corridor being used as a prison. The Doctor hid in a box, and the villains smashed crockery. The only good thing about it was Patrick Troughton's dual performance as the Doctor and as the villainous Salamander.

Everything changed when the missing five episodes were discovered back in 2013. Suddenly we saw the episode in context and, despite still being the weakest instalment, it benefited from the whole story being positively re-evaluated.

In 1973, The Three Doctors reached its second episode, and The Power of Kroll its third episode in 1979.

The second instalment of Warriors of the Deep followed just the day after the first, today in 1984.

Today we remember actor John Scott Martin, who passed away on this day in 2009, at the age of 82. His first involvement with Doctor Who came when he was cast as a Zarbi operator in The Web Planet in 1965. The director was Richard Martin, and he used him again as a Dalek in The Chase a few weeks later. He also operated one of the Mechonoids. After this, he was to be found inside a Dalek casing in every one of their stories apart from Destiny of the Daleks. He quickly became the principal Dalek operator - the real Dalek Supreme.

Other parts in which he couldn't be seen included a Solonian Mutant (in both The Mutants and The Brain of Morbius), the IMC Mining Robot, a Gellguard, and the Nucleus of the Swarm.

He also got to appear as himself in a couple of stories - as one of the villagers in The Daemons, a miner in The Green Death, and a security guard in Robot.

He was acting in a production of Fiddler on the Roof with Sophie Aldred when she was offered the part of Ace. On hearing of this, he told her "Welcome to the family".

One of his final screen roles was as Griff Rhys Jones' father in Mine All Mine, written by Russell T Davies.