The actor Reg Whitehead has died, aged 83.

He was best known in Doctor Who for having played the first Cyberman to be seen on screen, during their invasion of the Antarctic base in The Tenth Planet; he went on to inhabit the insides of Cybermen for their successive stories The Moonbase and The Tomb of The Cybermen, and then as a Yeti in their debut story The Abominable Snowmen.

Outside of Doctor Who, he appeared in a number of television shows during the 1960s and early 1970s, including Z Cars, The Power Game, The Avengers, The Saint, and Counterstrike. In later life he was an enthusiastic racehorse owner, and often involved in projects at his local stables in Newbury.

Reg Whitehead, 11th Dec 1932 - 11 Mar 2016

The actor/comedian Ronnie Corbett has died, aged 85.

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he started his acting career after National Service, initially playing a number of schoolchild roles owing to his height, before migrating into comedy on television with the likes of Dickie Henderson and Jimmy Tarbuck However, it was in during The Frost Report in 1966 where he was to first meet and work alongside Ronnie Barker, leading to their successful partnership in The Two Ronnies, running between 1971 and 1987 plus specials, and the show that made him a household name.

His other major television role was as Timothy Lumsden in Sorry!, which ran from 1981-1988. In later years he appeared in films including Fierce Creatures and Burke and Hare, and on television in shows like The Ronnie Corbett Show, game show Small Talk and Ronnie's Animal Crackers, and also made appearance as 'himself' in both Extras and Little Britain.

Though not directly related to Doctor Who, he "inherits" the TARDIS from a 'Doctor' of sorts played by Ronnie Barker in their 1983 Christmas Special sketch, The Adventures of Archie. He was later to appear in The Sarah Jane Adventures universe, playing an ambassador that later turned out to be a Slitheen in the 2009 Comic Relief segment From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love.

Outside of his career, Corbett was a keen golfer, and was also president of the Lord's Taverners cricketing charity in 1982 and 1987. He received an OBE in 1978 and then a CBE in 2012 for services to entertainment and charity.

He was married to actress and dancer Anne Hart, with two daughters who also act, Emma and Sophie.


Ronald Balfour Corbett, 4th Dec 1930 - 31 Mar 2016

The actress Adrienne Corri has died at the age of 85

Adrienne Corri played Mena in 1980 story The Leisure Hive, the first story of Tom Baker's last Doctor Who season.

Cori appeared in a number of film roles, and is probably best known for playing Mrs. Alexander in the 1971 Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange. She played Lara's mother in David Lean's 1965 film Dr. Zhivago and appeared in the Otto Preminger thriller Bunny Lake is missing .

Other films include Devil Girl from Mars, The Tell-Tale Heart, A Study in Terror and Vampire Circus. She played Therese Duval in Revenge of the Pink Panther.

Her television credits include playing Angelica in Sword of Freedom, Grace Gould in A Family at War, and Lady Rebecca in Lovejoy.

The actress Adrienne Corri has died at the age of 85

Adrienne Corri played Mena in 1980 story The Leisure Hive, the first story of Tom Baker's last Doctor Who season.

Cori appeared in a number so film roles, and is probably best known for playing Mrs. Alexander in the 1971 Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange. She played Lara's mother in David Lean's 1965 film Dr. Zhivago and appeared in the Otto Preminger thriller Bunny Lake is missing .

Other films include Devil Girl from Mars, The Tell-Tale Heart, A Study in Terror and Vampire Circus. She played Therese Duval in Revenge of the Pink Panther.

Her television credits include playing Angelica in Sword of Freedom, Grace Gould in A Family at War, and Lady Rebecca in Lovejoy.

The actor Jon Rollason has died at the age of 84.

Jon Rollason is best known in Doctor Who, for playing Harold Chorley, the television journalist who covered the attacks on the London Underground in the 1968 story The Web of Fear. The recovery of the story in 2013 gave a new generation of fans the chance for to appreciate his contribution to the story.

Jon Rollason was born in Birmingham, where he began his acting career working in the Birmingham Rep.

In 1955 he got his first role on television, appearing in The Children of the New Forest. In 1962 he played Dr. Martin King in three episodes of The Avengers. He had recuring roles in Swizzlewick, Z Cars and Softly Softly before joining Coronation Street in 1966 as Dave Robbins, a teaching colleague of Ken Barlow.

He wrote two episodes of Crossroads and in 1969 created a two-part series Special Project Air for the BBC, starring Peter Barkworth, produced by Doctor Who's Peter Bryant and with music by Dudley Simpson.

Jon Rollason died in hospital on the morning of February 20th and is survived by his second wife, Janet, and three children.

Television and radio host Sir Terry Wogan has died at the age of 77.

Terry Wogan was for many years the face and voice of the BBC. The success of his his Radio Two morning show led to a television contract and for most of the 1980's he presented a live interview show on BBC One three times a week.

Over the years he interviewed many of the stars of Doctor Who, including Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison and Colin Baker.

For over thirty years he hosted the annual charity telethon, Children In Need, which featured many elements based on Doctor Who, including the 1993 Doctor Who/EastEnders mashup Dimensions in Time, the 2007 meeting between the Fifth and Tenth Doctor, Time Crash, and the entire 20th Anniversary story The Five Doctors.

In 1985 twenty stars of the series, past and present appeared on the show to present a donation to the charity raised by proceeds of the BBC exhibition in Blackpool.

The writer and producer Robert Banks Stewart has died at the age of 84.

Robert Banks Stewart is best known to Doctor Who fans as the creator of the Zygons, but his body of work encompassed far more than the shape shifting body snatchers, creating some of the most loved series on British Television.

Born in Edinburgh, Banks Stewart started his profession life as a journalist, but his interests always lay in television scripts. In the 1950's he worked for both Pinewood Studios and Thames Television providing scripts for series such as Danger Man, The Human Jungle, Top Secret, The Sweeney and The Avengers. He wrote 5 episodes of Arthur of the Britons for HTV.

In 1975 he was asked to write for Doctor Who and came up Terror of the Zygons, as story that went on to be one of the most fondly remembered of the original series. The Zygons would return for the show's 50th Anniversary special in 2013, their success ensuring a full return in the most recent series of the show.

Due to the triumph of Zygon script he was asked to write the six part conclusion to the series, coming up with The Seeds of Doom, introducing the Krynoid and the deranged horticulturist Harrison Chase.

In 1979 he created the detective series Shoestring. Set in Bristol the series was a major success for the BBC, toping the ratings and running for two series. When leading actor Trevor Eve declined to stay with the show, Bank Stewart created another series, Bergerac, set this time on the island of Jersey and starring John Nettles as the eponymous detective and recovering alcoholic who liked to drive his vintage sports car while solving crimes. The series would run for 9 years and would feature Louise Jameson as Jim Bergerac's girlfriend Susan Young.

In the 1980's he became a producer, working on the first series of Lovejoy. In 1991 he produced and adapted, H. E. Bates' novel The Darling Buds of May for ITV, which gained one of the highest ratings for a new series in the history of British Television. Banks Stewart was instrumental in casting the unknown Catherine Zeta Jones in the role of Mariette.

Robert Banks Stewart died at home on Thursday after suffering from cancer. He is survived by three sons from his second marriage and a daughter from his first.

Actor, comedian, presenter, and all-round Doctor Who aficionado Toby Hadoke has produced a video in remembrance of those cast and crew who have been lost to the Doctor Who universe in 2015.

As 2015 draws to a close, actor and writer Toby Hadoke has put together a memorial tape marking the lives those members of the Doctor Who universe who sadly died during the year.

Actor Nicholas Smith has died at the age of 81

 Nicholas Smith's first television appearance was as the camp leader Wells in 3 episodes of the 1964 story The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

 He had roles in many other UK drama series including The Saint, The Avengers, The Champions and Ace of Wands. He worked on radio, including an 18 month stint playing music and reading poems in a show called Poetry Corner. He played PC Yates in the police drama Z Cars. In 1979, he appeared in Worzel Gummidge alongside Jon Pertwee, playing Mr Foster, the headmaster of the school. In 2005 He played the Reverend Clement Hedges in the animated film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

 However he will be best remembered as playing the hapless manager, and holder of the key to the executive washroom, Cuthbert Rumbold, in the classic British comedy series Are You Being Served. Smith was in the entire run of the original series as well as appearing in the sequel Grace and Favour. 

Smith died in hospital on Sunday following a fall at home. His daughter is the actress Catherine Russell, who plays Serena Campbell in Holby City.