On This Day... 24th July

Season 2 drew to a close today with the fourth and final instalment of The Time Meddler. Checkmate saw the Doctor defeat the Monk's plan to help King Harold win the Battle of Hastings. He left his foe trapped in soon-to-be Norman England after removing the dimensional control from his TARDIS, shrinking it to the same size as the exterior.

As it was the end of the season, the closing credits played over the faces of the Doctor, Steven and Vicki, superimposed over a starfield.

The 2010 Doctor Who Prom was broadcast today on BBC Radio 3. Like the 2013 one it included some popular classics which had a sci-fi link, alongside Murray Gold's music. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill helped present.

Today we remember the Northern Irish actor Harry Towb, who appeared twice in the series. He was technician Osgood in The Seeds of Death, in which he was killed by an Ice Warrior before the first set of end credits had rolled. He met another, more memorable, demise in Terror of the Autons. As McDermott, he was suffocated by a sinister looking black plastic chair.

One further Doctor Who connection was a role in the radio serial The Ghosts of N-Space, a Third Doctor story written by Barry Letts.

He died on this date in 2009, aged 83.

We also lost veteran actor Maurice Denham OBE, who played Edgeworth / Azmael in The Twin Dilemma (aged 92 in 2002), and Brian Glover, who portrayed Griffiths in Attack of the Cybermen (in 1997, aged 63).

A couple of birthdays of note: Julie Graham (Ruby White in Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith and Ravio in Ascension of the Cybermen / The Timeless Children) turns 57 today. 

Also featuring in Series 12 was Laura Fraser, who played Kane in Orphan 55. She is 46.

Jack Tarlton, who played Tom, the news reporter covering the crash of the Slitheen spaceship in Aliens of London / World War Three, is 46.