On This Day... 20th May

The Doctor and Jamie were running around contemporary London today in 1967, which looked as odd as if they had been on some alien planet. This was in the opening instalment of The Evil of the Daleks. The Second Doctor spent so little time on present day Earth.

Another story which was getting under way today was 1972's The Time Monster - the last story of the 9th Season, and the final time that the full "UNIT Family" were together in studio at the same time - Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney, Roger Delgado, John Levene and Richard Franklin.

2006 witnessed the coming of The Age of Steel, the second half of the story which brought the Cybermen into the revived series, following a cameo by a Cyberman head in Dalek the year before.

Finally, in 2017 a blind Doctor encountered the Monks for the first time in Extremis - a story which turned out to have quite a twist in its tail.

Today we remember the star of one of those episodes - Jon Pertwee. He died in his sleep from heart failure whilst on holiday in the USA, following a convention appearance. This was on 20th May, 1996.

The Paul McGann-starring movie had yet to be shown on UK television, and when it was it was dedicated to Jon's memory.

Born into a theatrical family in July 1919, it was inevitable that young John Devon Roland Pertwee would find himself involved in show business. He was a great conversationalist, who loved to talk about himself in chat show or convention appearances. He liked to embellish his stories, and always managed to make them about himself. He claimed to have been expelled from a number of schools for outrageous behaviour, and not just as a child. He was also kicked out of RADA for refusing to mime a wind.

During WWII he served on HMS Hood and was taken off the ship not long before it was sunk by the Bismark, with very few survivors. The reason he wasn't on board was because he was recruited to work in security matters, and the Official Secrets Act meant little to him as he often talked about it. (Compare with Christopher Lee who always refused point blank to discuss his role in similar work).

He eventually found his way into radio, making great use of his ability to do funny voices. One series -The Navy Lark - lasted for nearly two decades.

On reading about the departure of Patrick Trougton from Doctor Who, his Navy Lark co-star Tenniel Evans suggested he put his name forward as a replacement. It transpired that Producer Peter Bryant already had him in mind. He was second choice after Ron Moody. Bryant had hoped that Pertwee would bring a lot of comedy to the role, and was disappointed to discover that the star - wanting to prove himself a serious actor - intended to play the part straight. Pertwee's arrival coincided with the Doctor's exile to Earth and the establishment of UNIT as a regular backdrop to the series. As mentioned above, a cosy "UNIT Family" developed. Pertwee was given a regular villain as his arch-enemy - the Master - and although he was great friends with Roger Delgado he was often jealous of his popularity.

This insecurity also manifested itself when he was called upon to star opposite his predecessor in the 10th Anniversary year story The Three Doctors.

Pertwee remained in the role for five years, his tenure characterised by UNIT and by his Doctor's love of gadgetry and unusual modes of transport, including the sprightly yellow roadster "Bessie" and the "Whomobile". 

Pertwee claimed that he left when a pay rise was refused, but really it was due to the break up of that "UNIT Family". Katy manning had decided to leave at the end of Season 10, realising that Pertwee was likely to go at the end of the following year and she did not want her departure overshadowed by his. Delgado was killed in a car accident in Turkey whilst on location for a movie. Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks - Producer and Script Editor - had both signalled their imminent departures. The lifting of the Doctor's exile also meant far fewer stories with Courtney, Levene and Franklin.

In 1974, Pertwee regenerated into Tom Baker. Pertwee returned to the role a few times - on TV in The Five Doctors; on stage in The Ultimate Adventure; and on radio in two stories written by Letts.

We should also note that today is the anniversary of the death, at age 49, of one of Pertwee's favourite directors - Lennie Mayne. He fell overboard during a yachting accident in the English Channel in 1977. His body was never found. Mayne directed The Three Doctors and both of the Peladon stories with Pertwee. He later directed Lis Sladen's swansong The Hand of Fear.