Originally envisaged as an ongoing serial, the first three years of Doctor Who rolled on from episode to episode, each individually titled with no 'umbrella' name to associate discrete stories, just an overall theme that changed every few episodes or so, and often linked through cliff-hangers (quite literally in the case of Desperate Measures) or where a plot might suddenly catch the audience by surprise (such as at the end of The Plague).

However, after some 118 episodes new producer Innes Lloyd decided to revitalise the series, seeing the following episode to be broadcast adopt an overall name, and supporting cast disbanded over the next several weeks (not to mention a Doctor himself not that long thereafter!). And so, fifty years ago today saw the transmission of The O.K. Corral, the end of individual episode titles and the beginning of a controversy that fans still argue about today:

What should we call these discrete adventures of Doctor Who?

It wasn't until the 1970s that an emerging organised fandom would start to discuss their memories of long-since unseen adventures, and what they should be called - a common name would of course make sense so we would know we're talking about the same thing (would "the one with the Daleks invading Earth" or "the one with Napoleon in" ever catch on?). The Tenth Anniversary special edition of the Radio Times gave a first stab at this, though that tended to use the first episode of the serial as the name. Then, the revised The Making of Doctor Who book by Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke published by Target provided another list of the stories, with many more familiar titles but some still a little different to what sits on DVD shelves of fans today (anyone watching The French Revolution tonight?). However, it was the publication by Target of the first edition of The Doctor Who Programme Guide by Jean and Randy L'Officier in 1981 that solidified a naming scheme that became 'universal' in fan usage and is still recognisable across the BBC brand to this day.

By the 1990s, however, the established names were beginning to be challenged by researchers who now had access to BBC records, uncovering a wealth of documentation that were to reveal titles used by the contemporary production teams and BBC Enterprises for promotion overseas. Some were quite trivial amendments - The Dalek Masterplan is now considered The Daleks' Master Plan (even within the BBC's online Doctor Who section), and The Massacre has become a rather more wordy The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve. Others aren't generally used - "Doctor Who and ..."  has never taken on (except in the cast of a certain early Pertwee serial!), and only the 'hardened fan' ever refers to Mission to the Unknown as Dalek Cutaway! It's the naming of the first three serials, however, that remains the most hotly contested ...

The Radio Times Tenth Anniversary special and The Making of Doctor Who originally used An Unearthly Child, The Dead Planet and The Edge of Destruction; then the Doctor Who Programme Guide and the Radio Times Twentieth Anniversary special utilised The Daleks for the second serial; when The Sixties was published in 1992, the first three serials were now referred to as 100,000BC, The Daleks, and Inside the Spaceship, but by the time the same authors published The First Doctor Handbook in 1994 the second serial had become The Mutants. These last three names are the ones adopted by the official Doctor Who Magazine (and also used on the covers of The Complete History series of books) - though the names often include an "aka" to the "common name" that everybody is more familiar with!

(Interestingly, narration scripts for the fourth serial referred to it as Journey to Cathay - this might have ended up as another debate, but fortunately director Waris Hussein re-iterated in Doctor Who Magazine last year that the production team considered it as obscure a title to viewers as the one they ultimately decided to use, Marco Polo!)

Does the name used really matter, though?** In the case of the second serial this is certainly an issue as, without context, the person mentioning it might mean the Jon Pertwee story that happens to officially hold that name on-screen. So perhaps The Daleks makes more sense - until one thinks of the episode that officially holds that name within The Dalek Invasion of Earth! In the latter case, however, most will accept the story name as the main identifier (another example of a name clash occurs between Inferno the episode and Inferno the story!)

At least Innes Lloyd's team alleviated fans' heated naming debates by introducing serial names ... unless you count the title of the aforementioned Pertwee ending in Silurians (though that isn't too disimilar to the original Next Episode caption for The Savages), or the on-screen title of the first episode of Invasion of the Dinosaurs. [Doctor Who and The Silurian title][Invasion of the Dinosaurs Part One title]

Of course this isn't the end of the debate, as the 'father' of modern Doctor Who, Russell T Davies fully knew when he re-ignited such discourse through his first two-parter of the returning series, the individually named Aliens of London and World War Three.

The composition of what constitutes a story itself is also something that isn't without debate. Colin Baker's last season is one such example: is it one long story or four individual, connected adventures? Again, the modern series offers up such conundrums, with one often-cited example series three's Utopia, The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords: a three-parter or a single/two-parter? It isn't too surprising that the two latter examples have been interpreted differently depending on which story milestone is being marked! Can this be taken too far, however: the very first serial is sometimes described as being two stories, the An Unearthly Child introduction and then a three-part 100,000BC (or The Tribe of Gum as the Doctor Who Programme Guide indicated), with the rolling series cited as a valid reason for such an interpretation.

Ultimately, of course, it is entirely up our readers as to whether they prefer one title to another - indeed, searching the Internet can often find alternatively titled covers to those used by the BBC in order to grace those DVD shelves!


Little did Verity Lambert and team know what they would be unleashing upon fandom when those originals serials went out 'nameless', but at least after the closing credits of The O.K. Corral we would have a - fairly - consistent naming scheme for the rest of the Doctor's 20th Century adventures!




** The answer is "of course it matters", otherwise we wouldn't be the fans we are!

It was twenty years ago today, on Monday 20th May 1996, that we lost the irrepressible, the inspirational, the uniquely talented man that was Jon Pertwee.

John Devon Roland Pertwee was born in July 1919 in London, a few months after the end of World War One. He joined a long established theatrical family, the son of the actor and playwright Roland.

Pertwee had a varied education after being expelled from a number of minor public schools. From the start his firm convictions and refusal to bow to authority, created friction with those in power and forced his premature departure. The same happened when he trained as an actor where, at RADA, despite rave reviews from a visiting Noel Coward, he was eventually dismissed for refusing to play a Greek wind.

In 1939 war broke out and Pertwee joined the Royal Navy. He was a member of the crew of HMS Hood, escorting Russian Convoys, transferring off the ship just three days before it was sunk with the loss of all but 3 hands. Joining Navel Intelligence he was thrust into the world of espionage, working alongside James Bond creator Ian Fleming and reporting directly to the Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The full extent of his top secret work was not revealed until an interview was published long after his death. Post war he began making a career as a jobbing stage actor and Radio Comedian. His talent for accents gained him a role in Waterlogged Spa playing an ancient postman. His success was rapid and by 1948 he was being billed as The Most Versatile Voice in Radio. His longest running role was as Chief Petty Officer Pertwee in The Navy Lark, which he played from 1959-1977.

Small roles in feature films followed, including parts in four Carry On films, as well as a burgeoning stage career. He appeared in the 1963 London production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and on Broadway in There's a Girl in My Soup

In 1967 he was offered the role of Captain Mainwaring in the BBC Comedy Dad's Army, a role he turned down.

The role that would define him came in 1970 when he was offered the role of the Third Doctor. He was second choice for the role, behind Oliver! actor Ron Moody, but it was a role he embraced and made his own. Initially unsure how to play the role he was advised to play it as himself. "Who the hell is that?" he exclaimed.

Pertwee's era redefined the show, with the inclusion of UNIT as a regular part of the narrative. The bond formed between the main players was obvious on screen and for many it would be regarded as the golden age of the drama. The team chemistry between Pertwee, Manning, Courtney, Franklin, Levene and Delgado, led by the production team of Letts and Dicks, created a warm family feeling to the programme and ratings grew after declining towards the end of the second Doctor's era.

The team began to break up towards the end of 1973. Katy Manning decided to move on and was replaced by actress April Walker. Pertwee objected, feeling the chemistry was wrong and Walker was replaced by the more acceptable Elisabeth Sladen who developed a strong bond with Pertwee. By far the biggest loss was the death of Roger Delgado, who was killed in a car crash while filming in Turkey. The loss of his friend affected Pertwee deeply and when producer Barry Letts and Scripts Editor Terrance Dicks announced they were also leaving, he decided to call it a day. He had appeared in 128 episodes of the series, over 52 hours of television.

Post Who Pertwee charmed a new audience, playing the scarecrow Worzel Gummidge in the Southern TV series as well as educating a nations youth in the correct way to cross the road as the voice of the Green Cross Code.

In 1983 he returned to the role of the Doctor in the 20th Anniversary special The Five Doctors. In 1989 he toured the UK in the stage play Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure and three years later performed in two BBC Radio Drama's, The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space.

Jon Pertwee was active on the early convention scene, appearing at events on both sides of the Atlantic. He persuaded his old friend Patrick Troughton to attend and their mock feud entertained fans around the world, although it left Terry Wogan perplexed when he tried in on Children In Need. He was the first Honorary President of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society.

Pertwee died in the USA in 1996 at the age of 76. His death was shocking as he was so full of life, so irrepressible, so irreplaceable. He was survived by his wife Ingeborg Rhoesa, his son Sean Pertwee, and his daughter Dariel Pertwee.

The mark Jon Pertwee made on the series can never be over estimated and his legacy will live on as long as Doctor Who is remembered. Twenty years on we marvel at the wonderful, inspirational, immense talent that was Jon Pertwee and thank him for being part of our lives.

Just under a fortnight later, Doctor Who was to make a return to its ancestral home - but how would fans there find the fresh interpretation of a very British legacy ...

It was on Saturday 4th December 1965, exactly fifty years ago today, that Katarina sacrificed her life to save the Doctor, and became the first companion to die as a result of their travels with the Doctor.

It had been a very short stay in the TARDIS for the character, who only joined the team four weeks previously. Katarina had been a handmaiden of the prophetess Cassandra in the ancient city of Troy, when she met the Doctor. The character was intended as a replacement for Vicki, however it was soon realised that Katarina was so uneducated, so naive, that it was almost impossible to write for the character.

The decision was taken therefore, to write her out in the most spectacular way possible, and Katarina was destined to die in an airlock, sacrificing her life to stop the Doctor being blackmailed, and forced to return to the Daleks.

The character of Katarina was played by Devon born actress Adrienne Hill, in her first role for Television.

In 1986 she gave an interview to Doctor Who Magazine and talked about what it was like to join the series Hill also described filming her departure Following her appearance in Doctor Who, Hill acted in several small roles, before moving to the Netherlands, and then America. She later returned to England where she retrained to be a drama teacher.

In 1985 she appeared alongside many other Doctor Who actors in the BBC Children in Need programme.

Adrienne Hill died of Cancer in 1997 at the age of 60.

On Saturday 6th November 1965, exactly fifty years ago today, we said goodbye to space orphan Vicki, when actress Maureen O'Brien appeared in Doctor Who for the very last time.

Vicki had joined the Doctor, Ian and Barbara in the story The Rescue, shown at the start of the year, filling the void left by the departure of the Doctor's granddaughter Susan. Together the crew had voyaged through space and time, from ancient Rome to medieval England, from mysterious Vortis to the deserts of Aridius and from the barren planet Xeros to the jungles of Mechanus. The four had fled from Daleks and Drahvins, battled Zarbi and Mechanoids and befriended Kings and peasants.

In the end it was love that saw Vicki leave the Doctor in the story The Myth Makers. When the TARDIS landed near Troy, she fell in love with Troilus, the son of the trojan King Priam, who changed her name to Cressida, She left the Doctor to forge a life with the trojan prince, thus earning a place in history and in time, becoming a character in a Shakespearian tragedy, based on events taking place some 3000 years before her birth.

While Vicki's departure was a concious decision for the character, it was a shock to the actor portraying her. Maureen O'Brien had returned from the summer break to attend rehearsals for the new series at the North Kensington Community centre, only to discover the character was being dropped at the end of the first story. Believing that O'Brien wished to leave the series, new producer John Wiles had decided to replace the character of Vicki, with a new character, Katarina, who would be introduced towards the end of the story. However nobody had thought to tell O'Brien. Script editor Donald Tosh took up the story Like many departing Doctor Who companions O'Brien found that staring in a weekly TV series, watched by up to 13 million viewers each week, was no guarantee of further work. Typecasting was a real problem and roles sparse. Before taking on the role she was became a founding member of the Everyman Theatre in her native Liverpool. Upon leaving the series worked as a supply teacher at a girl's school in Kennington, before returning to the theatre. Small TV roles followed in series such as Emergency-Ward 10 and Z Cars.

In 1979 O'Brien played Morgan le Fay in the BBC adaptation of The Legend of King Arthur and she later won the role of Elizabeth Straker in the medical drama Casualty. Other roles included appearances in Cracker, Bergerac, Jonathan Creek, The Bill, Heartbeat and A Touch of Frost.

In addition to televison work O'Brien has had an extensive career in the theatre both as a performer and a director. In 1986 she was awarded the Time Out's Critic's Choice for her production of Mike English's Getting In . She has twice won the Sony Best Actress award for her work on radio and also has awards for audiobooks of which she continues to record a huge range.

In 1989 she had her first novel published, Close-Up on Death featuring the character of Detective Inspector John Bright. Six more novels featuring the character followed. She is also a playwright with her play The Cutting nominated Best Play in the London Fringe Awards and Best Newcomer in the Evening Standard Drama Awards.

Maureen O'Brien has returned to the role of Vicki in the Companion Chronicles produced by Big Finish. In 2013 she appeared at the 50th Anniversary Festival in London talking about her time with the series and her affection for the first Doctor.

It was on Saturday 9th October 1965, fifty years ago today, that the last ever Doctor Who to be produced by the series first producer, Verity Lambert, was broadcast.

Verity Lambert had decided to move on from the series at the end of the second year of recording. She had been with the series since June 1963, when BBC Head of Drama Sydney Newman recruited her to produce his new science fiction series.

As the BBC's youngest, and sole female drama producer, she had faced many battles within the Corporation and had steered the programme from its very uncertain beginnings to a point where it was attracting audiences of up to 13 million viewers to BBC One in the early evening.

Against the odds she had created a series which would run and run and, 50 years later, is one of the biggest global brands the BBC possesses.

Sydney Newman had no doubt where the success of the series lay, as he told Doctor Who Magazine in 1993 Lambert's final story, Mission to the Unknown is unique in the history of Doctor Who in that it features neither The Doctor, or any of his current companions, who at the time were Steven and Vicki.

The idea for the story was conceived early in 1965 when Terry Nation had been discussing ideas with the production team for the third production block of the series. Such was the success of the Daleks than another story involving them would be needed. A six part story, later to be expanded to twelve episodes, was commissioned from their creator along with a special 'trailer' episode for the story that would feature none of the regular cast and would be known as Dalek Cutaway.

The extra episode was to be scheduled at the end of the second year of recording. The absence of the regular cast would allow them all to have an extra week's holiday in the gap between the recording blocks for season two and three. Despite missing from the episode, William Hartnell would still be credited as his contract specified he would be credited for all episodes, a stipulation that did not apply to his companions Peter Purves and Maureen O'Brien.

Verity Lambert had effectively left the series by the time Mission to the Unknown was recorded, but her official contract with the series ended with the recording of the episode, in Television Centre Studio 3, on Friday 18th August. Her successor would be John Wiles, a BBC staff writer who had recently been promoted to producer. Script Editor Dennis Spooner was also moving on from the series, where he was replaced by Donald Tosh.

To help ease the transition, Lambert and Spooner wrote a document headed The History of Doctor Who, giving an introduction to the series. They were very keen to keep the internal history of the show intact and avoid conflicts in the story arc. When Lambert left Doctor Who she was offered the producer role on a new BBC series Adam Adamant Lives! , as well as launching a new soap opera The Newcomers. Other productions for the BBC included a season of the crime drama Detective and a 26-part series of adaptations of the stories of William Somerset Maugham.

She left the BBC in 1969 to join London Weekend Television, where she produced Budgie and Between the Wars, before returning to the BBC to produce Shoulder to Shoulder, a series of six 75-minute plays about the suffragette movement of the early 20th century. In the 1970's she became Head of Drama at Thames Television, and was responsible for overseeing the work of Euston Films, Thames' subsidiary film production company, where she enjoyed the most sustained period of critical and popular success of her career. Her work included The Naked Civil Servant, with John Hurt, Rock Follies, Rumpole of the Bailey, The Sweeney, and Edward and Mrs Simpson. In 1979 she transferred to Euston films full time overseeing productions such as Quatermass, Minder and Widows.

In 1985 she established her own independent production company, Cinema Verity, producing the feature film A Cry in the Dark and the Channel 4 commissioned drama G.B.H. A less successful Cinema Verity production, was the soap opera Eldorado which was cancelled after a year. In the early 1990s, Lambert attempted to win the rights to produce Doctor Who independently for the BBC; however, this effort was unsuccessful because the Corporation was already in negotiations with producer Philip Segal in the United States.

Her work continued into the 21st Centurary, producing Jonathan Creek and The Cazalets for the BBC. Her last production was the comedy-drama, Love Soup.

Verity Lambert died on the 22 November 2007, the day before Doctor Who's 44th Birthday. A blue heritage plaque in her honour was unveiled by the Doctor Who Appreciation Society and the Riverside Trust, at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, London in 2014.

Today marks the fortieth anniversary of Terror of the Zygons by Robert Banks Stewart. The Zygons returned to Doctor Who in The Day of the Doctor and are set to make another appearance in this year's Invasion Of The Zygons / Inversion Of The Zygons by Peter Harness.

The Radio Times issue for 28 August 1975 covered the story with a feature on Loch Ness by Anthony Haden-Guest with artwork from Frank Bellamy. You can read more on the Radio Times story guide by Mark Braxton.

In article about Doctor Who in The Listener for 2nd October 1975, Jack Waterman wrote:

Today marks fifty years since the first Peter Cushing Dalek film was released in UK cinemas. Dr Who and the Daleks was based on Terry Nation's 1964 serial The Daleks, with the story being adapted to the big screen by Milton Subotsky. The film was directed by Gordon Flemyng who had previously directed William Hartnell in episodes of The Army Game.


Although initial reviews of the film were not too kind, they didn't deter the British public from parting with their hard-earned money. The film was twentieth biggest British box office moneymaker in 1965. In August 1965 BFI's Monthly Film Bulletin posted their review of the film:
Peter Cushing himself later revealed in a 1986 interview that he was offered the role of the Doctor in the TV series but said he couldn't accept the offer as he was "otherwise engaged" but went on to say even if he was available he wasn't sure he would take the role. His reasons for this was because he "didn't really care for the Doctor Who television series", stating that "they weren't my cups of tea". He added that "the Daleks did rather get on my nerves".

On 2012's DVD release of Death to the Daleks, an extra was included entitled Cushing and Castle which looked at the casting of Peter Cushing and Roy Castle in Dr Who and the Daleks.

In 2013 Studio Canal released a new digitally restored version of the film on DVD and Blu-ray to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who. A screening for Dr Who and the Daleks and the follow-up Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. was organised by The Doctor Who Appreciation Society and held at Riverside Studios. The event was held on 26 May 2013, which would have been Cushing's 100th birthday.

Competition

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Dr Who and the Daleks, Doctor Who News is offering readers the chance to win a copy of the film on either DVD or Blu-ray, courtesy of Studio Canal.

To be in with a chance of wining simply answer the following question:
Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-DrWhoDaleksFilm@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Technicolor Daleks". The competition is open to UK residents only, closing date: 31st August 2015. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Artwork

One again artist Deborah Taylor has created us a piece of artwork to go with the anniversary. The design is based on Chris Achilleos's cover of David Whitaker's Target novelisation of The Daleks.

Author and activist Alan Wakeman has died at the age of 79.

In 1963 Alan Wakeman was commissioned to write a story for the first series of the new science fiction programme Doctor Who.

His script, The Living Planet, saw the Doctor and his companions land on a planet that was a living creature. Wakeman produced a full story synopsis and a script for Airfish, the first of four episodes.

Although Wakeman received positive feedback on his script, the production team thought some of the ideas in the script were "far too adult" for a serial being broadcast on Saturday tea time. Wakeman was paid a half fee for £75 for the work he had done, and the idea was abandoned.

In 2005 Wakeman wrote to Russell T Davies, offering the script for development for the revived series of Doctor Who, but the offer was not taken up.

His ideas finally saw publication in January 2012, when the magazine Nothing at the End of the Lane published the synopsis and scripts. As one of the earliest scripts written for Doctor Who, it provided a rare glimpse into the genesis of the series and the path it could have taken.

Alan Wakeman was a gifted linguist. He wrote a course, called English Fast, teaching English as a foreign language. In 1995 wrote an English translation of The Little Prince children’s story.

He was a key activist in the early movement for gay rights. His homosexuality was not accepted by his father and he attempted suicide at 21. In the 1970's he became a leading activist in the Gay Liberation Front, leading marches and taking the cause of gay rights across the country. He became a Vegan and in 1986 wrote The Vegan Cookbook one of the earliest books of its kind in the UK

Wakeman lived most of his life around Soho in London. Wearing bright green trousers and yellow sweaters, with hair half way down his back, he was a regular attraction spotted by many visitors to the capital.

Shortly before his death, Wakemnan produced an autobiography, Fragments of Joy and Sorrow, which was published in June this year.

Website

As the series progressed the relationship between the kidnapper and the kidnapped changed. Circumstances had thrown them together, into danger, into life threatening situations. Over the months, respect, trust and friendship had developed. The two teachers had educated the Doctor, taught him to care and to have responsibility, and in return they had learned to trust the old man. But underneath the narrative was always the premise that Ian and Barbara longed to return home. Back to the world they knew and to friends and family. Instead they had been flung around the universe, visited alien planets such as Skaro, Vortis and Marinus, and times far distant from their own, meeting Aztecs, Romans and Crusaders. There had been hopeful moments, when they thought they might be back, but moments dashed when realisation set in and the couple resigned themselves to more adventures..

It is ironic that the travellers final return, the solution to their predicament, came not from the Doctor, but from his greatest enemy. It was the Daleks time ship that finally allowed the couple to return home. Returning to London in the 1960's. The Doctor was left with his companion Vicki. No more would the series be the constant endeavour to get the pair home. Doctor Who would now become the Doctor, travelling with his companions in Space and Time.

The loss of Ian and Barbara came about with the decision of William Russell and Jacqueline Hill to leave the series at the end of their second year contract. The series had by now run to 77 episodes, produced on a weekly basis in an almost continuous production run. It was a gruelling schedule that left the actors totally tied to the series. It was William Russell who decided to leave first, telling producer Verity Lambert in Feburary that he wouldn't be continuing for a third year. As a result Terry Nation was asked to write in an new character into the final episode of The Chase. An astronaut who would become the new male companion to the Doctor. Jacqueline Hill was more unsure about leaving, but by May has also taken the decision to go. On May 6th the couple travelled around London with a photographer taking pictures for the montage of their arrival back in London. The couple recorded their final episode on 4th June 1965 in Riverside Studio 1.

The departure of the two actors was deeply felt by William Hartnell. For an actor who like having people around whom he knew and who knew him, the loss of the two stalwarts of the series would be difficult to handle. It came after Carole Ann Ford had departed from the series and amid changes in the production team, with producer Verity Lambert planning to move on. William Russell takes up the story. On her departure from the series Jacqueline Hill took a break from acting to raise a family. She had been married to director Alvin Rakoff since 1958, a year after appearing in his BBC adaptation of Rod Serling's American TV play Requiem For A Heavyweight. Together they had two children, Sasha and John. She returned to acting the 1970's, appearing as Lady Capulet in her husbands production of Romeo & Juliet for the BBC. Other roles included appearances in Angels, Tales of the Unexpected and Paradise Postponed. In 1980 she became to first Doctor Who companion to return to the series playing a different role, when she appeared as Lexa in the 1980 Fourth Doctor story Meglos. In 1993 she died of breast cancer at the tragically young age of 63.

William Russell was the best known of the original companions, famous for his roles in series such as The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, long before he joined the TARDIS crew. As a result he quickly won a part in a new spy series Breaking Point following his departure from Doctor Who. Other roles followed including a long run in Harriet's Back in Town for Thames Television, and appearances in Van der Valk, Whodunnit?, Disraeli: Portrait of a Romantic, Shoestring, The Black Adder, Casualty and Heartbeat. In 1992 he played Ted Sullivan in ten episodes of Coronation Street. Russell has reprised the role of Ian Chesterton in various audio adventures. In 2013 he had a cameo in the drama detailing the origins of Doctor Who, playing Harry, the Security Guard, in An Adventure in Space and Time, the drama that saw Jamie Glover play a younger version of himself. In 1988 his second wife, Balbina Gutierrez, gave birth to a son. Alfred Enoch is now an actor, well known for playing Wes Gibbins in the ABC legal drama How to Get Away with Murder. Meanwhile William Russell himself celebrated his ninetieth birthday last year, and still regularly attends Doctor Who conventions.

And what of Ian and Barbara, what happened to them following their departure from the Doctor. The characters have flourished in various novels and fan fiction. In 2013 they met the eleventh Doctor in Hunters of the Burning Stone , a comic story in Doctor Who Magazine written to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the show. In the Television series itself the Chairman of the Governors of Coal Hill School, as shown in The Day of the Doctor, is one I Chesterton.

But the real clue to their future came in Russell T Davies's episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures, The Death of the Doctor. According to Sarah Jane The actors, and the characters they portrayed, left an indelible mark on the series. The Doctor was left clearly hurt and upset by their departure. At the end of the episode he spoke for us all. .

Ian and Barbara leave the Doctor:
Having come into possession of a Dalek time travel machine, Barbara and Ian sense an opportunity to go home, but the Doctor is hesitant to let them go. There are no guarantees that the machine will work, but maybe Vicki can change the Doctor's mind?