On This Day... 28th April

 

A Dalek day today. 

In 1973 the fourth instalment of Planet of the Daleks made its debut, whilst in 2007 Evolution of the Daleks brought the Series 3 Dalek two-parter to a close.

At first glance the two stories seem worlds apart, except for the inclusion of the Daleks, but closer inspection shows a couple of parallels. Both show the Daleks as scientists, engaged in experiments, and both have the Daleks exploiting the native species as slaves. Both stories also depict Daleks killing other Daleks.

Today we remember Australian writer Anthony Coburn, who passed away on this date in 1977 at the age of 49. Coburn was tasked with writing the very first Doctor Who story - An Unearthly Child - after plans for a story involving miniaturisation were dropped. It was his idea to make Susan the Doctor's granddaughter, as he was concerned about the propriety of a young girl travelling alone with an old man. He also claimed to have been the person who decided to make the TARDIS a Police Box, after driving past one on a foggy evening.

His tale of cavemen and the quest for fire was not how the production team wanted the series to launch, however, but no other scripts were ready. An Unearthly Child was to have been followed immediately by a sci-fi tale called "The Robots", AKA "The Masters of Luxor", involving a planet of robots, but there were elements of this which the team did not like. A staunch Catholic, Coburn had added certain religious themes, which the Producer and Story Editor were unhappy with. The story was dropped and replaced with another by Terry Nation. Coburn never wrote for the series again. 

He helped create BBC nautical dramas The Onedin Line and Warship, and was working as Producer on Poldark when he died of a heart attack.

On a brighter note, spacewoman Carol from The Sensorites has her birthday today. Ilona Rogers is 80.