On This Day... 11th April

 

Today in 1964 the TARDIS materialised beside The Sea of Death - the opening episode of The Keys of Marinus. This story introduced the Voord, who had a longer afterlife away from the programme - where they only featured in two episodes.

The Ambassadors of Death moved on to its fourth instalment in 1970.

In 2009, the programme gave us its first ever Easter Special - Planet of the Dead. The Easter element was confined to the Doctor eating a chocolate egg on the bus in the pre-credit sequence, and wishing fellow passenger Lady Christina a Happy Easter.

Today we remember the actor John Bennett, who featured in two prominent villainous roles in the series. The first was as General Finch, one of the Golden Age conspirators in Invasion of the Dinosaurs.

The second was as Chinese magician Li H'sen Chang in The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

He passed away in 2005, aged 76.

Today's birthday of note is that of Derek Martin. He was a member of the HAVOC stunt team, appearing in the series throughout the 1960's and '70's. He got a speaking role in the story Image of the Fendahl, as the security guard Mitchell. His first appearance was as a crowd extra in The Romans, but he is seen more often playing UNIT soldiers (Inferno and The Claws of Axos) or villains (The Ambassadors of Death). He later became a regular on BBC soap EastEnders. 

Martin turns 89 today.