On This Day... 15th May

There was a cliff-hanger surprise at the conclusion of The Final Phase today in 1965 - the fourth and final episode of The Space Museum. A Dalek had featured earlier in the story as an exhibit, but in the closing moments of this instalment we see another Dalek, helping to set up The Chase which would get underway the following week. 

This Dalek looked a little different to those previously seen, having vertical slats around the middle. This would be the design which has pretty much lasted until the present day.

Another story which reached its conclusion today was 1971's Colony In Space.

Matt Smith's first series continued with Amy's Choice in 2010. This marked the first of many Rory Williams deaths.

Today we remember Peter Grimwade, who passed away on this day in 1990, aged only 47. 

Grimwade first worked on the programme as a Production Assistant on Spearhead From Space, then carried out the same duties on The Daemons, Robot, Pyramids of Mars, The Robots of Death and Horror of Fang Rock. 

In The Robots of Death, Tom Baker changed the scripted "Grimwold's Syndrome" - the proper name for Robophobia - to "Grimwade's Syndrome", after hearing him complain how he always had to deal with robots on his episodes.

After passing the BBC directors course, JNT offered him Full Circle to direct. This was followed by Tom Baker's swansong Logopolis and Kinda. 

His final directing job was the highly regarded Earthshock. That story was followed by one written by him - Time-Flight. Made at the end of the season when the money had run out, this is thought one of the worst ever stories. Grimwade would naturally have preferred to direct his own stories.

He next wrote Mawdryn Undead, and was due to direct the Dalek story that would conclude the 20th Anniversary season. Industrial action led to that story being cancelled. Grimwade took his team out for lunch to thank them, intending to have a separate evening meal with JNT later, to discuss reviving the story for a later season. However, JNT was upset at not being invited to the lunch, and fell out with Grimwade over it. He had one final story in the pipeline as a writer - Planet of Fire - but never worked on the series again after this. A further story with a historical background was rejected.

In 1986 Grimwade wrote and directed an episode of ITV's children's series Dramarama, entitled "The Come-Uppance of Captain Katt". This was about a low budget science fiction show, whose lead actor is a monster to work with. This was based on his experiences of working on Doctor Who, and especially his time with Tom Baker in his final year on the show.

Grimwade was regarded as a very good technical director, great on action sequences, but was disliked by regular cast members who felt that he had little rapport with actors.

Another director celebrates his birthday today. Darrol Blake (The Stones of Blood) turns 85. We also wish Paul Shelley - Persuasion in Four to Doomsday - a happy 80th birthday.