Wednesday, 22 June 2022

On This Day... 22nd June


You may have noticed that there have been a few end-of-season episodes recently, so we are heading into the summer months when Doctor Who has rarely been shown (other than repeats). 
Thus, all we have to offer today is more Totally Doctor Who.
The 11th edition of Series 1, in 2006, covered Love & Monsters and had Russell T Davies as guest.
The 11th edition of Series 2, in 2007, covered Utopia. RTD was guesting again, alongside John Barrowman.


Today we remember director Pennant Roberts, who passed away on this date in 2010, aged 69. 
He first worked on the series directing Leela's first story The Face of Evil. He and Louise Jameson became life-long friends. They also worked together on Tenko. He next directed The Sun Makers and The Pirate Planet. His next project was the aborted Shada, which should have closed Season 17 and the Graham Williams era. Attempts to salvage this project led to Roberts becoming the only director to be retained by John Nathan Turner. No other director from before his time was ever employed by JNT.
For JNT he directed Warriors of the Deep and Timelash - two poorly regarded stories. Roberts agreed that they weren't terribly good. He only directed the latter story when he became unavailable to direct the Season 22 story he was originally pencilled in for - Attack of the Cybermen.
As well as Doctor Who, Roberts directed a number of Blake's 7, Survivors and Doomwatch episodes.

We also lost Don Henderson (Delta and the Bannermen) on this date in 1997, aged 64; Daphne Heard (Image of the Fendahl) in 1983 aged 78; and Victor Maddern (Fury from the Deep) in 1993, aged 65.

Birthdays today include Patterson Joseph (61) who featured in Bad Wolf / Parting of the Ways and who was often tipped as a potential Doctor himself. Joe Dempsie (The Doctor's Daughter) is 35; Laila Rouass (The Death of the Doctor) is 51; and Richard Hampton, who was the belligerent villager in The Visitation turns 85.
Ian Levine, the series' unofficial continuity adviser for most of the JNT era, and who is responsible for the saving of a great many B&W episodes, is 69.

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