The actress Elizabeth Spriggs, who guest starred as Tabby in the 1987 Seventh Doctor serial Paradise Towers, has died at the age of 78. She appeared in many roles on stage and television for over fifty years, including performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Spriggs was particularly well-known for her role as Nan in "Shine On Harvey Moon", and was well-loved by children for her starring role in the 1980s Children's BBC series "Simon and the Witch".

The Daily Telegraph has published an obituary.

Thanks to Chris Winwood and Matthew Kilburn

Posted By John Bowman

The actor David Brierley, who provided the voice of K-9 for four stories, has died of cancer, according to an announcement in the current edition ofThe Stage.

Born in 1935, he appeared in such shows as Z Cars, Arthur of the Britons, The Tripods and Howards' Way, as well as the 1984 BBC drama Threads. Brierley took over from John Leeson as K-9's voice during season 17, which originally aired between September 1979 and January 1980.

He also provided the robot dog's voice in an October 1979 edition of Blue Peter.

(With thanks to Chris Winwood.)

Actor Bruce Purchase has died at his home in London at the age of 69.

Bruce Purchase, who was born in Thames, New Zealand, was best known to Doctor Who viewers for his role as The Captain in the fourth Doctor story The Pirate Planet.

He was a founder member of Sir Laurence Olivier's National Theatre and a regular performer with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 2003 he gave the first performance of Johnson is Leaving, John Wain's adaptation of his 1974 biography of Dr Samuel Johnson, at The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. Wain wrote the drama especially for Purchase after the two men met in Oxford and Purchase subsequently performed the play around the world.

He appeared opposite Richard Chamberlain in a European tour of My Fair Lady and his television work included I, Claudius, Blakes 7 and Rumpole of the Bailey. His film performances included Richard III and All Quiet on the Western Front.

Purchase's autobiography Changing Skies was published shortly before he died and he was also an accomplished artist who exhibited in London and abroad.

He became seriously ill while touring in a production of The Last Confession last year which also starred David Suchet.

He lived in Putney with his partner, Sara Hebblethwaite.

Press Association

Thanks to David French

Classic series actor Bernard Archard has died at the age of 91.

Archard created two memorable roles in the series. In 1966 he played the role of Bragen, the security chief seeking complete control of a colony of humans on the planet Vulcan, in Patrick Troughton's first story, The Power of the Daleks.

He returned to the series in 1975 to create the classic role of Marcus Scarman in the Tom Baker story Pyramids of Mars a story highly rated by fans.

Bernard Archard had a long and distinguished career appearing in such series as No Hiding Place (1962), The Avengers (1968), The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1971) and Bergerac. A detailed obituary is available in the Independent.

Thanks to Trevor Smith

Classic Series composer Tristram Cary has died at the age of 82, at his home in Adelaide, South Australia.

Cary worked on many of the earliest stories of Doctor Who, providing incidental music for some of the most memorable episodes. He scored the very first appearance of the Daleks in 1963 and his last contribution for the programme was for The Mutants in 1972.

Cary holds a unique place in contemporary music. While serving as a wartime naval radar officer in 1945, he independently conceived the idea of electronic and tape music, and was a world pioneer in this field. His work ranged from concert and entertainment musical repertoire to pure electronic music and from instrumental solos to orchestral and choral works covers.

He provided the scores for many well known British films including the Ealing comedy The Ladykillers in 1955 and the Hammer productions of Quatermass and the Pit in 1967 and Blood from the Mummy's Tomb in 1971.

Cary was a citizen of both Australia and Britain, and in 1991 was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to Australian music. In 1999 he received the SA Great Music Award for the year, and in 2001 he gained the degree of Doctor of Music at Adelaide University.

Several sources are reporting the death yesterday (April 3) of Johnny Byrne. Byrne penned three stories for the classic Doctor Who series: The Keeper of Traken starring Tom Baker (in which the character Nyssa, played by Sarah Sutton, eventually became a companion), Arc of Infinity and Warriors of the Deep starring Peter Davison.

Byrne also penned a film script for the series which was not used. In addition, he wrote eleven episodes of "Space: 1999" as well as episodes of "All Creatures Great and Small", which co-starred Davison, and "Heartbeat" as well as other series and miniseries.

According to his entry on Wikipedia, Byrne "traveled extensively in his youth as a traveling poet. In the 1960s he worked as a literary editor and wrote poetry and short stories which was [sic] published in Science Fantasy Magazine.

"His other works include Groupie (1969), Season Of The Witch (1971). and the scripts for the films Adolf Hitler, My Part In His Downfall (1972), and Rosie Is My Relative (1976)."

Born in 1935, he died on April 3 due to undisclosed causes.

The schedule for BBC Four's tribute season to Verity Lambert has been revealed.

The evening of Saturday 5th April will look back at the work of Doctor Who's first producer and feature classic episodes from some of the major series for which she was responsible.

The first three episodes of the second Doctor Who story, The Daleks will be shown. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Christopher Barry andRichard Martin, the story was first shown in December 1963 and featured the debut of the Doctor's greatest foe.

The evening will feature a documentary, Verity Lambert: Drama Queen, in which friends and colleagues - including John Hurt, Alan Davies, Lynda La Plante and David Renwick - pay their respects to the woman who helped transform the face of popular television.

BBC Four - Saturday 5th April 2008
• 7.10pm The Naked Civil Servant
  Emmy award-winning film biography of Quentin Crisp
• 8.30pm Doctor Who: The Dead Planet
• 8.55pm Doctor Who: The Survivors
• 9.20pm Doctor Who: The Escape
• 9.50pm Verity Lambert: Drama Queen
  Tribute to the woman whose work ranged from the original Doctor Who to Jonathan Creek and included The Naked Civil Servant, Edward and Mrs Simpson, Minder, May To December and Eldorado.
• 10.50pm Minder
  Senior Citizen Caine
• 11.45pm Jonathan Creek
  The Scented Room

The season continues over the next week with the remaining four episodes of The Daleks as well as an episode of Adam Adamant Lives.

• Monday 7th - 7.35 pm Doctor Who: The Ambush
• Monday 7th - 11.20 pm The Cult of... Adam Adamant Lives!
• Monday 7th - 11.50 pm Adam Adamant Lives
  A Vintage Year for Scoundrels
• Tuesday 8th - 7.35 pm Doctor Who: The Expedition
• Wednesday 9th - 7.25 pm Doctor Who: The Ordeal
• Wednesday 9th - 7.55 pm Doctor Who: The Rescue

The Guardian has confirmed that BBC Four is planning a tribute night to Doctor Who's first producer, Verity Lambert, who died last year.

The evening, which is planned for April, will feature a new documentary looking back at Lambert's work, including her pivotal role in setting up Doctor Who.

Those who have already filmed interviews for the documentary include the former Channel 4 chief executive Jeremy Isaacs. Other figures who are thought to be in the frame to feature include the Doctor Who executive producer Russell T Davies and Jonathan Creek star Alan Davies.

Thanks to Luke McCullough

Posted By John Bowman


The highly acclaimed actor Kevin Stoney has died at the age of 86.

He made striking contributions to Doctor Who, playing the villains Mavic Chen in the epic story The Daleks' Master Plan (1965-66) and Tobias Vaughn inThe Invasion pictured (1968).

So impressive was Stoney's portrayal of Chen that the Daily Express named the character Villain of the Year.

His final contribution to the series came in 1975, when he played Tyrum inRevenge of the Cybermen.

Stoney also appeared in many other well-known series over the years, including I, Claudius, The Tomorrow People, Bergerac, All Creatures Great and Small and Blake's 7, which was created by Terry Nation.

There is a short obituary on Rogues and Vagabonds.

(With thanks to Tony Clark)

In a mark of her importance in the British broadcasting industry, most of the UK broadsheets have published full length obituaries looking back at the life of Verity Lambert who died last week.

Some of the most detailed include The Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian and The Independent which, as well as the article, contains a tribute from one of Lambert's closest friends, Janet Street Porter.

In addition, as a tribute, SFX have placed online the interview they conducted last year with Lambert and Russell T Davies.