On This Day... 3rd April

Today in 2010 Matt Smith made an impressive debut as the Eleventh Doctor in The Eleventh Hour. Not only was this the beginning of a new Doctor and a new series, but it was also the dawn of a new production era, as Steven Moffat took over from Russell T Davies as show-runner. For the first time since Rose we had no connections with previous episodes. Moffat introduced a new companion - Amy Pond - and there was no-one from the RTD / Tennant era around to bridge the seasons.

Back in 1965, The Knight of Jaffa featured in The Crusade. This was the title of the second episode, and referred to Ian Chesterton who is knighted by King Richard.

In 1971 The Claws of Axos came to an end with its fourth instalment.

The day following the conclusion of Season 14 saw the broadcast of the Lively Arts documentary Whose Doctor Who. This concentrated on the people who watched the series, rather than a straightforward overview, but it also included a lot of behind the scenes material on The Talons of Weng-Chiang. You can watch it as a DVD / Blu-ray extra accompanying that story.

A number of significant figures in the history of Doctor Who shared a birthday today.

First of all we have Peter Hawkins, the Nick Briggs of his day. Unlike Briggs, Hawkins' various characters actually sounded different. As well as being the voice of the Daleks throughout the Hartnell and Troughton eras, he also voiced the Cybermen in their first four stories. He passed away in 2006.

He shares his birthday with composer Peter Howell, of the Radiophonic Workshop, who was responsible for the arrangement of the theme music when JNT took over. He turns 74.

Another birthday of note is that of Michael Hayes (director of The Androids of Tara, The Armageddon Factor and City of Death) who died in 2014.

The following actors all have a birthday today: Edward Highmore (Malkon in Planet of Fire) turns 61; and William Gaunt (Orcini in Revelation of the Daleks) turns 85. 

No longer with us are Hugh Burden (Channing in Spearhead from Space), Timothy Bateson (Binro in The Ribos Operation) and Andrew Keir (Tyler in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD).