Actress Kate O'Mara, forever known to Doctor Who fans as The Rani, died today at the age of 74.

O'Mara was one of the best-known actresses of her generation, famous for playing a succession of power-hungry and ruthless women in some of the most iconic television dramas of the 20th century.

Born in 1939, the daughter of actress Hazel Bainbridge and RAF flying instructor John F Carroll, she made her stage debut in 1963 in a performance of The Merchant of Venice. The following year she began her television career which led to guest roles in series such as Danger Man, Adam Adamant Lives!, The Saint, Z-Cars and The Avengers.

In 1975 she was cast as Jane Maxwell in the BBC's Sunday night drama The Brothers, playing alongside Colin Baker. Appearing in 30 episodes, her portrayal of the tough, uncompromising businesswoman would define the roles she would play throughout her career.

In 1982 she joined Triangle, the notorious early-evening soap opera, filmed on a North Sea ferry, playing Katherine Laker. Hollywood called in 1986 when she was cast as Caress Morrell, the younger sister of Joan Collins, in the American series Dynasty. Back in the UK, she starred in Howard's Way, Crossroads and Bad Girls.

Her fame led to guest appearances on such shows as Morecambe and Wise, The Two Ronnies and Absolutely Fabulous.

In 1985 John Nathan-Turner reunited O'Mara with Colin Baker, when he asked her to take on the role of The Rani in the Sixth Doctor story The Mark of the Rani. Her character was so successful she returned in 1987 in the first story of the Seventh Doctor, Time and the Rani, a script which required her to impersonate the Doctor's then companion Mel, played by Bonnie Langford. Her final appearance as The Rani came in 1993, when she appeared in the Children in Need spoof set in the world of EastEnders, Dimensions in Time.

Last year she spoke to Digital Spy about her work on Doctor Who: Stars have taken to Twitter to pay tribute. Colin Baker said: "Oh my goodness. Kate O'Mara is no longer with us. Sad sad news. A delightful, committed and talented lady and actress. We are the poorer", with Bonnie Langford adding: "So sad to hear that the wonderful Kate O'Mara has gone. Treasured memories xxx". Nicola Bryant said: "Such sad news:Kate O'Mara is no longer with us. A charismatic, courageous, & caring soul; a wonderful actor & a friend. May she finally RIP." while Dynasty co-star Joan Collins added: "Tragic news about Kate O'Mara , we had great fun on Dynasty when she played my sister Caress... RIP". Tracey Childs, who worked with O'Mara on Howards' Way, said: "Today the world lost a fine actress & dedicated producer & I lost a friend of 3 decades. Safe journey Kate O'Mara. You were an inspiration X".

O'Mara died in a Sussex nursing home following a short illness. She was married twice, both times to actors, firstly to Jeremy Young and then to Richard Willis, and leaves a sister, actress Belinda Carroll, and a son, Christopher Linde. Her first son, Dickon Young, died in 2012.

The actress last posted a message on Twitter on 17 March, to say:

Veteran Doctor Who director Derek Martinus has died at the age of 82.

Derek Martinus was a BBC drama Director, responsible for 26 episodes of Doctor Who.

His first story was the premier of the third season of the series, directing Willam Hartnell in the 1965 story Galaxy Four. He stayed on to look after the single episode story Mission to the Unknown, which is unique in the series for not featuring either The Doctor or any of his companions.

Martinus returned to the series the following year, looking after The Tenth Planet which not only saw the arrival of the first Cybermen, but the departure of the First Doctor, giving Martinus a chance to direct the first ever regeneration scene.

He directed Patrick Troughton in The Evil of the Daleks in 1967, the story which saw the introduction of a new companion in the form of Victoria Waterfield as played by Deborah Watling. Later in the year he got the chance to introduce the public to another iconic monster, this time The Ice Warriors .

Martinus's final story for Doctor Who was in 1970 when he took the series into colour with the first Third Doctor story, directing Jon Pertwee in Spearhead from Space, the only classic Doctor Who episode to be shot entirely on film.

Martinus started his career in the theatre, where he continued to work after meeting his Swedish wife Eivor, to whom he was married for 50 years. They worked together on many productions and she translated many of the stage plays he directed. His theatre credits include Ben Jonson's Volpone, Caryl Churchill's Mad Forest, Harold Pinter's The Homecoming and Stephen Lowe's The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists for different theatres in Sweden.

As a Director his other work included Crown Court, Angles, Z Cars Penmaric and two episodes of Blakes 7. He worked on several children's TV programmes including The Paper Lads and Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest, both of which won the Pye Award for best children's drama. He directed TV shows The Black Tulip, What Maisie Knew, A Legacy and A little Princess.

Martinus studied at Yale Drama School and worked as an actor, before turning his attentions to a career as a director. He had a minor role in the first Carry On film, Carry on Sergeant which starred William Hartnell.

Derek Martinus' family told the BBC he died on Thursday evening having suffered from Alzheimer's for many years. His daughter Charlotta Martinus, who later joined the BBC as a documentary maker, paid tribute to her father Martinus is survived by his wife, two daughters and three grandchildren.

The actor James Ellis has died at the age of 82.

Ellis played Peter Warmsly, the archaeologist in charge of the dig in the 1989 Doctor Who story Battlefield.

He was best known for the role of Bert Lynch in the hit Sixties BBC TV police series Z-Cars, appearing in 565 episodes between 1962 and 1978.

Born in Belfast, the actor began his career with the Ulster Group Theatre in 1952. He got his big break in television in 1961 when he was cast as Dandy Jordan in the BBC television production of Stewart Love's Randy Dandy. Subsequent roles included Philip in The Sugar Cube before winning the role of Bert Lynch, where his character rose from the rank of PC to Inspector over the series run. He also played Paddy Reilly in the 1984 zoo vet series One By One (created by Anthony Read who, coincidentally, wrote for Z-Cars in 1962). From 1982, he portrayed Norman Martin, the violent and troubled father in BBC Northern Ireland's series of Billy plays. Sir Kenneth Branagh, who was just out of drama school, played his son Billy.

Ellis also appeared in Eternal Law, Casualty, Heartbeat, Playing the Field, Sunburn, Ballykissangel, Big Bad World, Birds of a Feather, The Precious Blood, Oliver's Travels, The Detectives, Lovejoy, Perfect Scoundrels, In Sickness And In Health, So You Think You've Got Troubles, Woof!, All Creatures Great And Small, Hammer House Of Mystery And Suspense, Boys From The Blackstuff, ITV Playhouse, The Long March, Till Death Us Do Part and The Adventures Of Robin Hood.

As well as being an actor, Ellis was also a writer of poems and prose and a translator. The BBC broadcast a selection of his adaptations from French in 2007. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Queen's University in 2008 for services to the performing arts.

He died from a stroke in Lincoln Hospital early today. In line with his wishes, he will be buried in his home city of Belfast.

Veteran director Christopher Barry has died at the age of 88.

Christopher Barry was responsible for some of the most admired stories from the classic series of Doctor Who, where he was the longest serving director, responsible for 43 episodes spanning the years 1963-1979. He directed all of the first four Doctors - one of only three directors to do so.

He joined the Doctor Who team in the late summer of 1963, when he was assigned to direct the second story, The Daleks, replacing Rex Tucker who had left after artistic differences with producer Verity Lambert. The script he would bring to life would see the introduction of the Daleks and ensure the success of the fledgling series. Barry would end up directing episodes 1,2,4 and 5 of the story, creating the 'sink-plunger' cliff hanger at the end of episode 1 which would see the nation on the edge of their seats until the full revelation of the Dalek machine in episode 2. He was in the studio directing episode 2 when the news of President Kennedy's assassination broke.

Barry returned to the series a year later, directing The Rescue, the story which saw the introduction of the first new companion since the series start, Vicki, played by Maureen O'Brien. He stayed on to direct the next story The Romans, a historical romp which saw much more humour introduced to the series. Having introduced a companion, his next Doctor Who assignment was to see the departure of another, as his final story with William Hartnell, The Savages, was to be the last story to feature Steven Taylor, as played by Peter Purves.

In 1966, Barry masterminded the introduction of a new Doctor, when he directed Patrick Troughton's first story, The Power of the Daleks. The story, long missing from the archives, had the difficult job of introducing a new lead actor to the series and cementing the long term success of the series.

His next outing was with the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, when he directed the 1971 story The Dæmons. Long regarded as a classic, the story is often cited as a favourite by members of the cast and production team. Barry returned the following year to direct the six part story The Mutants.

Having overseen the debut of one Doctor in 1966, Barry was able to do so once again when, at the end of 1974, he directed Robot, introducing the world to the man who would become the longest-serving (continuous) on-screen Doctor - and arguably the most famous in the public eye from the 'classic' era - Tom Baker. The story was one of the first with all location work recorded direct onto video tape using a BBC OB unit. The following year he directed another classic, The Brain of Morbius, which saw the fourth Doctor encounter the eccentric surgeon Solon and his Time Lord secret. It was in this story Barry featured on screen alongside other production team members as one of the faces projected onto the screen during the Doctor's mind battle with Morbius.

Barry's final story for classic Doctor Who came in 1979 when he directed the four part story The Creature from the Pit, with the DVD release of that story containing a retrospective of his work. While the series was off air he also directed the 1995 story Downtime, a direct-to-video story produced by the independent production company Reeltime Pictures.

He began his film and TV career in the movies, working as an assistant director on star vehicles including Meet Mr. Lucifer (1953), The Love Lottery (1954) and The Ship That Died of Shame (1955). By 1958 he was directing, working on the BBC’s Starr and Company, the crime drama Private Investigator and the long-running soap opera Compact. He directed episodes of Paul Temple, Moonbase 3, Poldark, Angels, Nicholas Nickleby, The Onedin Line, Z Cars, All Creatures Great and Small, Nanny and Juliet Bravo. He also directed eleven episodes of the TV adaptation of John Christopher's The Tripods.

UPDATE - 16th FEBRUARY: It has emerged that Barry died on Friday 7th February after falling down an escalator at a shopping centre in Banbury, near his home in Oxfordshire, earlier that day. He was taken to hospital but while there he suddenly stopped breathing and doctors could not revive him. An inquest into his death will be held on Thursday 5th June.

Veteran BBC costume designer Ken Trew, the man who designed the Seventh Doctor's costume as well as revamping the Third Doctor's costume and creating the first costume for The Master, played by Roger Delgado, has died at the age of 77.

Kenneth Trew was born in Newport, South Wales and attended Newport College of Art. He left college and worked in repertory theatre as a set designer before moving to London. He joined The Festival Ballet for six months, which included a tour to Barcelona and Lisbon. It was during this tour that he applied to become a Costume Designer at the BBC. He joined the corporation in 1964 as a dresser and at the end of 1965 became an Assistant Designer working on such productions as Z Cars.

His first involvement with Doctor Who was on The Myth Makers (1965) with William Hartnell, which was recorded at Riverside Studios. He assisted Designer Bobi Bartlett on the Patrick Troughton, Cyberman story The Invasion (1968).

Trew designed the opening story of Jon Pertwee’s second season, Terror of the Autons (1971) introducing a more colourful version of Pertwee’s costume originally designed by Christine Rawlins.

Producer John Nathan-Turner used Trew regularly in the 1980s for the Peter Davison story Snakedance (1983) and the first part of Trial of A Time Lord – The Mysterious Planet (1986) with Colin Baker. He established the look of The Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy for Time and the Rani (1987), and then worked on Remembrance of the Daleks (1988), The Curse of Fenric (1989), Ghost Light (1989) and Survival (1989). He was also the designer for the Children in Need Special Dimensions in Time (1993).

Other design work included A Very Peculiar Practice, Bergerac, The Prisoner of Zenda, Strangers and Brothers, The Onedin Line and Anna Karenina.
The designer died on 11th January of Sporadic CJD, a very rare condition affecting only 1-2 in every million people each year in the UK.

Pam Trew, Ken’s wife said, I always knew that Ken was one in a million!

The actor Roger Lloyd Pack has died at the age of 69.

Lloyd Pack played John Lumic, the owner of Cybus Industries and the creator of the Cybermen, in the 2006 Doctor Who story Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel.

He was best known for playing Trigger in the long-running sitcom Only Fools and Horses as well as Owen Newitt in The Vicar of Dibley. In later years, he attained fame in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, where he played Barty Crouch.

The actor was born in Islington, north London, in 1944, the son of Hammer horror actor Charles Lloyd-Pack. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before making his stage debut in Northampton. He had small appearances in The Avengers and Virgin of the Secret Service before his big screen debut in 1968 when he played a small part in The Magus. Other TV roles included parts in Spyder's Web, Crown Court, Dixon of Dock Green and both versions of Terry Nation's Survivors, playing Wally in the original 1970s production and Billy Stringer in the second series of the remake, which aired in 2010 - as such, he was the only actor to appear in both versions. Lloyd Pack also appeared in Life of Shakespeare, Private Schulz, Moving, Byker Grove, Selling Hitler, The Bill and The Gravy Train Goes East. In later years he had roles in The Borgias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Old Guys.

He was a committed socialist, campaigned for nuclear disarmament and was a supporter of Left Unity.

Sir David Jason, who starred with Lloyd Pack in Only Fools and Horses, has spoken of his sadness at the news of the actor's death. Andrew Hayden-Smith, who played Jake in Rise of the Cybermen said While Tom MacRae who wrote the Cyberman adventure said The actor died of pancreatic cancer on Wednesday night. He is survived by his second wife Jehane Markham and his four children, the actress Emily Lloyd and his sons Spencer, Hartley & Louis.

The actor Barry Jackson has died at the age of 75.

Jackson played three roles in Doctor Who, appearing in six episodes of the series. In 1965 he played Ascaris in the William Hartnell story The Romans, a mute assassin who tried to kill the Doctor believing he was the lute player Maximus Pettulian. He returned to the series in Mission to the Unknown where he played Jeff Garvey, a member of the expedition to the planet Kembel.

His final appearance in the series was as Drax - a renegade Time Lord and previous friend of the Doctor on Gallifrey - in the 1979 story The Armageddon Factor.

Away from Doctor Who, Jackson was best known for playing pathologist Dr George Bullard in Midsomer Murders for more than 10 years. He appeared in the first episode of the detective drama, staying until 2011.

His long career on television began in 1960, with the role of the Earl of Surrey in the BBC series An Age of Kings. Countless roles followed in other shows, including Doctors, Heartbeat, The Bill, A Touch of Frost, Bernard's Watch, Three Seven Eleven, All Creatures Great and Small, Hard Cases, Coronation Street, The Onedin Line, Blake's 7, Crown Court, Secret Army, Poldark, Z Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, The Adventures of Black Beauty, Harriet's Back in Town, Spy Trap, Adam Adamant Lives! and A for Andromeda.

Films that he appeared in included Ryan's Daughter and Barry Lyndon.

Jackson's agent said the actor died at home in north London surrounded by his family.

Gerard Murphy 1948-2013

The actor and director Gerard Murphy has died at the age of 64.

Gerard Murphy played Richard Maynarde, the servant of Lady Peinforte, in the 1988 Doctor Who story Silver Nemesis.

Murphy was Born in Newry, County Down, and began his professional career with the Glasgow Citizens Theatre. He returned there last year for an acclaimed Krapp’s Last Tape. He was also and was an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing as Hal alongside Joss Ackland’s Falstaff in Henry IV, Part I in 1982.

For BBC Radio he narrated the 1981 adaptation of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Television work included roles in Spooks, Z Cars, Minder, Charters & Caldicott, Heartbeat, Father Ted, Dalziel and Pascoe and The Bill.

His agent Lynda Ronan said he died at home on Monday after “battling courageously with cancer for two and a half years”.

He was last seen in the West End in the 2010/11 revival of The Rivals at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.

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Christopher Burgess 1926-2013

The actor Christopher Burgess has died at the age of 86.

Christopher Burgess had three roles in Doctor Who, appearing in eleven episodes.

He played Swann in the 1967 story The Enemy of the World. Swann was the leader of Salamander's underground community of scientists. Burgess returned to Doctor Who in 1971 playing Professor George Philips, a scientist under the control of The Master, in Terror of the Autons.

His final appearance in Doctor Who was as Barnes, a resident of the meditation centre, in the 1974 story Planet of the Spiders.

He appeared in many British Television dramas including The Bill, Jossy's Giants, David Copperfield, Two People, Danger UXB, Les Miserables, Treasure Island, The Growing Pains of PC Penrose, Z Cars, Softly Softly: Task Force, Dixon of Dock Green, Sherlock Holmes, Deadline Midnight and Who Killed Menna Lorraine?

Kristopher Kum 1929 - 2013

The actor Kristopher Kum has died at the age of 84.

Kristopher Kum played Fu Peng, the Chinese delegate to the World Peace Conference, in the 1971 Doctor Who story The Mind of Evil.

Kum was not the original actor cast for Fu Peng, but stepped in after the original actor was dropped from the role. He ran Oriental Casting, a talent agency for actors of Southeast Asian descent. He appeared in many UK dramas including Rockliffe's Babies, Edge of Darkness, Tenko, The Professionals and Crossroads.

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Michael Goldie d 2013

The actor Michael Goldie has died.

Michael Goldie played Jack Craddock in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Craddock was imprisoned by Daleks, along with Ian Chesterton and the Doctor. He was converted into a Roboman. Goldie returned to Doctor Who in 1969 playing Elton Laleham, a member of the staff of Space Station W3, in The Wheel in Space.

He appeared in many TV roles including Coronation Street, Wycliffe, Inspector Morse and Z-Cars. His best known role though was in the 1991 feature film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in which he played Kenneth of Cowfell.

The actor David Spenser has died at the age of 79.

Spenser appeared in six episodes of Doctor Who, playing the young Tibetan Monk Thonmi, who helped the Second Doctor fight the Great Intelligence in the 1967 story The Abominable Snowmen.

Born in British Ceylon, Spenser began his acting career at the age of 11, working for BBC Radio on Children's Hour. He became a household name in the 1940s when author Richmal Crompton cast him as William Brown in the first radio adaptation of her series of short stories Just William. As a member of the BBC Drama Repertory Company, he went on to play some of the great Shakespearean and other classical roles on radio, including Romeo to Judi Dench's Juliet.

Spenser moved into television in 1950 and appeared in many well-known productions, including playing Hurree Jamset Ram Singh in Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School and Saint Mark in the 1960 production of Paul of Tarsus, which starred Patrick Troughton as Saint Paul. He played the Prince of Morocco in The Merchant of Venice, with Maggie Smith and Frank Finlay. Other roles included parts in Dixon of Dock Green, Play for Today and Z Cars.

In 1987 he formed Saffron Productions Ltd with his long-term partner Victor Pemberton, making a number of documentary films, including Gwen, A Juliet Remembered and Benny Hill: Clown Imperial for the BBC.

Spenser died yesterday in Spain.