Stuntman and stunt arranger Alf Joint died on July 25. He worked on two Doctor Who stories, "The Ambassadors of Death" and "Battlefield," the latter where he was a stunt arranger.

The official site is promoting the Blue Peter screening of parts of the Blue Peter Prom, including the Who theme and the Daleks. It will air on Wednesday, 31 August.

The BBC's CBeebies digital channel is re-running the 'Bedtime Hour' stories read by Christopher Eccleston this at about 6.30pm from Monday 29 August to Friday 2 September, according to theirwebsite.

The Blue Peter site's regular poll on viewers' favourite bits of the show currently stands as follows: What has been your favourite item on the show recently? VJ day special (26 votes) (12%), Doctor Who competition and David Tennant (116 votes) (52%), McFly (83 votes) (37%).

Doctor Who maintains its lead on the CBBC site in the favourite TV programme poll, which asks "What's your favourite TV programme?" Doctor Who has 16.43% of the vote, followed by 14.48% for The Simpsons, 12.40% for Charmed, 11.37% for Lost, 10.22% for Friends.

Finally... a curiosity. Many fans have noticed that, in this month's issue of Doctor Who Magazine, Russell T. Davies may have put a code in his Production Notes column. The information says, if you put together the first letter of every paragraph, it spells 'Tim is gay'. We have no idea what that refers to, if anything, though stranger things have happened...

(Thanks to Steve Tribe, Neil Marsh, Sam Watt)

David Jackson, who starred as Olag Gan in the Terry Nation serial "Blake's 7" and in such series as "Z Cars," "The Music Shoppe" and "The Avengers", as well as an appearance as The Squire in "Sarah Jane Smith: Comeback" for Big Finish, died on Monday 25 July of a heart attack. He was 71. The officialBlake's 7 Fan Club has posted a tribute page, including comments from his many co-stars including Paul Darrow, Michael Keating, Gareth Thomas and Brian Croucher.

Ed Bishop, who starred as SHADO commander Ed Straker in the series "UFO," was also featured in "Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons" and played General Flint in the Doctor Who audio "Full Fathom Five" for Big Finish, died June 8 from a fatal chest infection.

Geoffrey Toone, who played Temnossus in the film "Dr Who and the Daleks" and Hepesh in "The Curse of Peladon", passed away on June 1. He was 94. One of "the last surviving members of the glorious company venture of John Gielgud's 1934-35 season at the New Theatre," Toone was acting by the 1930's on stage, interrupted by wartime service, according to an obituary in yesterday's "The Independent". He worked in both Britain and America and his films included "The King and I," "Zero Hour" and "Once More With Feeling," as well as appearances in "Jeeves and Wooster" and "War and Remembrance". (Thanks to Ben Jolly, William Duffy)

Actor John Bennett passed away on April 11, 2005; he was 76. Bennett played General Finch in the Jon Pertwee serial "Invasion of the Dinosaurs," but was perhaps best known to Doctor Who fans for his role as Li H'sen Chang, servant of the god Weng-Chiang, in "The Talons of Weng Chiang" opposite Tom Baker. Bennett was a popular guest actor whose many series appearances including "Z Cars," "Casualty," "Softly Softly," "Survivors," "The Saint," "The Avengers," "Dixon of Dock Green" and "Blake's 7" as well as many film roles spanning nearly five decades. (Thanks to Neil Marsh)

Peter Hamilton, a long-time film cameraman with the BBC who worked on a variety of Doctor Who serials, died on March 1, due to unspecified reasons. Hamilton worked on many stories including "The Reign of Terror," "The Dalek Invasion of Earth," "The Web Planet," "The Crusade," "The Myth Makers," "The Daleks' Master Plan," "The Moonbase," "The Macra Terror," "The Tomb of the Cybermen," "The Dominators," "The Time Monster" and "Carnival of Monsters." Funeral services are planned for March 9 in Brixham. Also, Leonard Trolley, who played Superintendent Reynolds in the Patrick Troughton story "The Faceless Ones," died at the end of February; he was 87. (Thanks to Kevin Lyons, Neil Marsh)

Further to our report on January 25 about the death of BBC effects legend Jack Kine, the Times Online today ran a detailed obituary. (Thanks to Chris Winwood, "ABT 2004")

Jack Kine, who was instrumental in the creation of the BBC Visual Effects department during the 1950's, died yesterday at age 83 according to the Bucks Herald. He and his effects partner, the late Bernard Wilkie, only worked on one story together, "The Mind Robber," but both were involved behind the scenes in the many innovations which came before and led to the show's success. An interview with Kine from a 1967 edition of "Late Night Lineup" was included on the Tomb of the Cybermen DVD. (Thanks to Paul Engelberg)

Glyn Owen, who played Rohm-Dutt in the Fourth Doctor story "The Power of Kroll" and returned many years later to play Commander Harlon in the Big Finish audio "Nekromanteia," died Friday from complications due to cancer. Owen's career spanned 50 years, including roles on "Emergency Ward 10," one of the first "big soap operas" on British television; as Jack Rolfe in "Howard's Way," perhaps his best known role; and on "Casualty," "The Saint," "Thorndyke," "Heartbeat," "Survivors," "Peak Practice," "Juliet Bravo," "The Professionals," "All Creatures Great and Small" and in two episodes of "Blake's 7" (in "Cygnus Alpha" and "Space Fall" early in the show's first season). Owen is survived by his wife Carrie, daughter Cathy, and son, actor Lloyd Owen ("Monarch of the Glen," "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles"). He was 76. At right is a photo of Owen from a recent autograph signing at the Tenth Planet store.

The Guardian has run an obituary about the death of Frederick Jaeger ("The Invisible Enemy") which Outpost Gallifrey reported last week.