The actress Ysanne Churchman has died at the age of 99.

Ysanne Churchman worked on 11 episodes of Doctor Who providing the voice of Alpha Centauri, the hermaphrodite hexapod who appeared alongside Jon Pertwee's third Doctor in the two Peladon stories in the early 1970s. She returned to the character in 2017 alongside the Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi in Empress of Mars.

Ysanne Churchman was best known as one of the earliest soap stars, playing Grace Archer in the BBC Radio series The Archers. She made history in 1955 when 20 million people tuned in as her character was killed in a fire, a spoiler to draw the audience away from the launch on the UK's second television channel, ITV. 

Born in Sutton Coldfield in the English Midlands, Churchman was a performer by the age of 13 with regular appearances in BBC Radio's Children's Hour.  

Radio was her main medium but she regularly appeared on British Television in series such as Z-Cars, Crossroads, The Railway Children, Sherlock Holmes and Softly Softly. 

Churchman was married to BBC engineer Tony Pilgrim from 1951 until he died in 2015.

She died on the 4th July, 2024. 

William Russell, the actor and one of the original stars of Doctor Who has died at the age of 99.

William Russell played Ian Chesterton in the very first episode of Doctor Who, the teacher who investigated the mysterious pupil at Coal Hill School and who was spirited away in the TARDIS by the first Doctor. 

As one of the original stars of Doctor Who, Russell was a huge part of the initial success of the show, who, along with Jacqueline Hill playing Barbara Wright, often bore the weight of keeping a long-running weekly show on the straight and narrow. 

Russell stayed with Doctor Who for its first two years, appearing in 78 episodes. His last appearance was in The Planet of Decision, the final episode of The Chase, broadcast on the 26th June 1965.

He recreated the character of Ian for the Big Finish audio series. In 2022 he brought the character back to the Television series with a cameo in the final thirteenth Doctor story The Power of the Doctor. He holds the Guinness World Record for the longest gap between TV appearances of an actor playing a television character. 

William Russell was born as William Russell Enoch on the 19th of November 1924.  He studied at Wolverhampton Grammar School and Oxford University before doing his National Service in the Royal Air Force where he became involved in organising entertainment. 

After university, he gained a place in a repertory company and thus began a 70-year career as a successful actor.  He began his career with the stage name Russell Enoch, later changing it to William Russell at the request of Norman Wisdom when they made a film together in 1955. He was known to his fellow artists as Russ. 

His real success was in television where he was a presence in so many well known British dramas. His first credited appearance was in Gift Horse in 1952, a time when all television drama was transmitted live.

By 1956 he was a leading man, playing a swashbuckling knight, the title character in ITV series The Adventures of Sir Lancelot. When the series was sold to the US, the first British TV import to be shot in colour for an American audience, Russell rode down Fifth Avenue on a horse in full regalia. 

A year later he was on BBC Television playing Dickens Nicholas Nickleby in a ten-part series. 

Movie work including a role in the war movie The Great Escape where he played Soren. He met his first wife, the French model and actor Balbina Gutierrez on a location shoot in Malta for the film 1954 They Who Dare

By the time he was offered the role of Ian Chesterton, he was established as a reliable character actor. His experience was vital in the series which was recorded as live with one episode produced each week. With William Hartnell sometimes struggling to remember his lines, the onus of keeping the show running often fell on Russell with improvisation and adlibbing needed to ensure plot points were explained and the episode was recorded successfully.

After he left Doctor Who Russell was a constant presence on British television with roles in series such as Dr. Finlay's Casebook, Harriet's Back in Town, Crown Court, Van Der Valk, Strangers, Disraeli, Shoestring Testament of Youth, The Professionals, The Black Adder, Robin of Sherwood, Coronation Street, Casualty, Poirot, and Heartbeat. 

William Russell was present at many conventions and was always very proud of his work on Doctor Who. 

Russell is survived by his second wife, Etheline Lewis, a doctor, whom he married in 1984, and their son, the actor Alfred Enoch, and by his children, Vanessa, Laetitia and Robert, from his marriage to Balbina, which ended in divorce, and four grandchildren, James, Elise, Amy and Ayo.

The actress Pamela Salem has died at the age of 80.

Pamela Salem appeared in three Doctor Who stories. In 1977 she played Toos in the acclaimed Fourth Doctor story The Robots of Death. Her voice was used as one of the voices of Xoanon in the previous story, The Face of Evil.   She returned to the series in 1988 playing Rachel Jensen alongside the Seventh Doctor in Remembrance of the Daleks. She later reprised her role as Jensen in the Big Finish audio spin-off series Counter-Measures and 1963: The Assassination Games. 

Pamela Salem was born in Bombay, India, and educated at Heidelberg University in Germany and later at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England.

Film work included the role of Miss Moneypenny in the 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again, starring Sean Connery. 

Other television appearances included parts in EastEnders, where she played mafia affiliate Joanne Francis, and as the evil witch Belor in ITV's Into the Labyrinth.

Other television guest appearances have included roles in the third episode of  Blake's 7, The Onedin Line, The Professionals, Howards' Way, Ever Decreasing Circles, Tripods and All Creatures Great and Small

She later moved to the United States where she continued her career in series such as Magnum, P.I., Party of Five, ER and The West Wing where she played a British prime minister.

The actor Michael Jayston has died at the age of 88.

Michael Jayston is best known to Doctor Who fans for playing the Valeyard in all fourteen episodes of the 23rd season The Trial of a Timelord. The script describes the character as an amalgamation of the Doctor's darker sides between his twelfth and final incarnations.

Jayston played the character opposite the Sixth Doctor as played by Colin Baker in the series that aired in the autumn of 1986. He later recreated the character in many Big Finish audios. 

Colin Baker today paid tribute to his old colleague

Michael Jayston was born in the town of West Bridgeford in the English Midlands. He trained as an accountant before switching careers and enrolling in the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

One of his best-known movie appearances was as Tzar Nicholas II in the film Nicholas and Alexander, the film that featured an unknown Tom Baker as the monk Rasputin, a role that helped Baker to win the role of The Doctor. 

He was a familiar face on television throughout the last 60 years. His first appearance was in 1962 in the series Suspence.  By 1970 he was taking leading roles playing Macbeth alongside Barbara Leigh-Hunt. He played Mr Rochester in the 1973 version of Jane Eyre and Peter Guillam in the acclaimed 1979 version of the spy novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

In 1975 he headed the cast of a detective series playing the title character Quiller. 

He has appeared in a number of long-running series including Coronation Street, EastEnders, Only Fools and Horses, The Bill, Heartbeat Casualty and Midsomer Murders. 

Michael Jayston's death was announced earlier today. A statement on behalf of his family said:

Toby Hadoke has published his annual memoriam of those who have delighted us both in front of and behind the scenes of Doctor Who and its extended worlds, who sadly passed away in 2023.

Doctor Who In Memoriam 2023
Remembering those whom we lost from the worlds of Doctor Who this year. Includes a small number from before 2023 whose deaths only came to light this year.

The actor Richard Franklin, who played Captain Mike Yates in 43 episodes of Doctor Who, has died at the age of 87.

As one of the UNIT personnel, Franklin was a key character in the team which developed in the third Doctor era, led by Jon Pertwee, as a sidekick to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and a love interest for Jo Grant. 

Richard Franklin made his debut as Mike Yates in the eighth series of Doctor Who, appearing in four of the series' five stories, Terror of the Autons, The Mind of Evil, The Claws of Axos and the story often designated as a favourite by members of the cast The Dæmons. 

The character was back in the following year appearing in Day of the Daleks and The Time Monster before returning in the last three episodes of series 10, The Green Death

In Pertwee's final season, the character of Yates found himself on the opposite side to the Doctor in Invasion of the Dinosaurs believing in a project to return the earth to a golden age. His final appearance in Planet of the Spiders saw the characters' redemption.

Richard Franklin died early on Christmas morning after a long illness. His death was announced by family friend Liam Rudden on Social Media

Richard Franklin was born in Marylebone, London, on 15 January 1936. He was educated at Westminster School and Oxford University before training as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. 

His early work was in the theatre where he spent six years in repertory theatre. His break into television came in 1969 when he was cast as Joe Townsend in the soap opera Crossroads, appearing in thirty-six episodes. 

Other roles included parts in Dixon of Dock Green, The Saint, Little Women, The Borgias and Blake's 7

He returned to Doctor Who in audio productions for BBC Audio and Big Finish and made a cameo in the 20th Anniversary story The Five Doctors.

Katy Manning, who played Jo Grant in the series was a good friend and collogue of Franklin, paid tribute on x.

The actor John Nettleton has died at the age of 94.

In 1989 John Nettleton played the Reverend Ernest Matthews in the Seventh Doctor story Ghost Light.

He was best known for his portrayal of the Whitehall Mandarin Sir Arnold Robinson in the comedy series Yes Minister and its successor Yes, Prime Minister. 

Born in South London in 1929, John Nettleton graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1951, the same year as Joan Collins and Jacqueline Hill. 

As a successful character actor, he had a 40-year career in British Television appearing in some of the best-known series of the time such as Softly Softly, Armchair Theatre, The Avengers, Please Sir!, Elizabeth R, Black Beauty, Upstairs Downstairs, The Pallisers, All Creatures Large and Small, The Professionals, Tales of the Unexpected, Brideshead Revisited, Crown Court, Minder, Rumpole of the Bailey, Midsomer Murders, and The Bill. 

Nettleton’s film work included A Man for All Seasons in the 1960s  and a 2005 adaptation of Oliver Twist

His voice is very familiar to a generation who grew up in the 1970s thanks to his frequent use as a narrator for illustrated stories told on the BBC Children's programme Blue Peter, 

His work at the National Theatre included Alan Bennett’s adaptation of The Wind in the Willows in 1990 and The Voysey Inheritance in 2006. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and London's Old Vic. 

A statement from the theatrical agency Scott Marshall Partners said:

He is survived by his wife the actress Deirdre Doone, who he married in 1954, their three children and five grandchildren. 

The British actress Sylvia Syms has died at the age of 89.

Sylvia Syms was a star of British cinema. She appeared in a number of iconic movies including Ice Cold in Alex, No Trees in the Street, Victim, and The Tamarind Seed.

She appeared in Doctor Who in 1989 playing Mrs. Pritchard in the Seventh Doctor story Ghost Light. 

Sylvia Syms was born in South East London in 1934.  At the age of five World War II broke out and she became one of the thousands of children who were evacuated from London, moving first to Kent and then, in 1940, to Monmouthshire in Wales. She later recalled the trauma of being separated from her mother, who was to die of a brain tumour when Syms was just 12.

At 16, she suffered a nervous breakdown and contemplated suicide but, at the insistence of her stepmother, had psychotherapy which helped her through the crisis.She trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

After graduating she quickly moved into filmmaking earning plaudits with her second role, playing the delinquent daughter of  Anna Neagle in My Teenage Daughter. The following year she had a key supporting role in the kitchen-sink drama Woman in a Dressing Gown, for which she was nominated for the Bafta for best British actress

A couple of years later she was appearing alongside John Mills in the war movie Ice Cold with Alex. She later played the wannabe singer Maisie in Expresso Bongo. By 1960 had worked with Flora Robson, Orson Welles, Stanley Holloway, Lilli Palmer and William Holden.

In 1961 she played the wife of Dirk Bogarde in the film Victim. The movie dealt with homosexual activity, then unlawful in the United Kingdom, and the movie is thought to have helped change the law. In 1963 she played Tony Hancock's wife in The Punch and Judy Man. Another comedy followed with The Big Job alongside Sid James, Dick Emery, and Joan Sims.

She was again nominated for a British Film Academy award for the 1974 film The Tamarind Seed where she starred with Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif. In 2006 she played The Queen Mother in the Stephen Frears film The Queen

From the mid-seventies onwards her main work was on Television appearing in many supporting roles. In 1991 she portrayed Margaret Thatcher in Thatcher: The Final Days for Granada.  She played Marion Riley in the ITV comedy-drama series At Home with the Braithwaites and in 2007 joined EastEnders for a short run playing dressmaker Olive Woodhouse.

Her last role was in the 2019 series Gentleman Jack, where she played Mrs Rawlinson

Sylvia Syms died peacefully on Friday at Denville Hall, a care home in London for those in the entertainment industry.

She is survived by her two children, Beatie and Ben Edney who said

The writer Chris Boucher has died at the age of 79.

Chris Boucher contributed three stories to Doctor Who, all of which were transmitted in 1977 and starred the Fourth Doctor played by Tom Baker.

His first contribution was the story which saw the introduction of a new companion Leela played by Louise Jameson. The Face of Evil.  Leela was conceived as an intelligent but uneducated savage who would be educated by the Doctor. 

This story was followed by one of the most acclaimed stories in Doctor Who's cannon, The Robots of Death a 'whodunnit' set on a futuristic mining machine. Later in the year, his final story was Image of the Fendhal. 

Although Chris Boucher never wrote for Doctor Who again his contribution to British Television is impressive. Immediately after Doctor Who he became the Script Editor for the BBC's new science fiction series Blake's 7. It was a role he was recommended for by the Doctor Who script editor Robert Holmes. 

Boucher served as Script editor for the entire run of Blake's 7 and also wrote several stories including the dramatic final story which saw the deaths of all the main characters. 

He was the Script Editor for the second series of the detective series Shoestring show in 1980 before he moved on to the police series Juliet Bravo. Staying with police series he script edited the series set on the island of Jersey, Bergerac from 1983 until 1987.

In 1987 he created his own series combining his knowledge of both Police series and Science Fiction with Star Cops, seen by some as a replacement for Doctor Who. Nine episodes were made with a tenth being canceled due to industrial relations problems. 

Other work included episodes of The Bill for Thames Television and the Jim Davidson comedy Home James. He also wrote a number of Doctor Who books featuring the character of Leela. 

The death of Chris Boucher means that no writers for Doctor Who from the 1960s or 1970s now survive. 

Shirley Coward, the woman responsible for creating the first regeneration effect in Doctor Who, has died at the age of 88.

Shirley Coward was a Vision Mixer for BBC Television for over 30 years. She worked for the Corporation in the days when most programmes were either transmitted live or recorded 'as live'. 

At the time, the role of the Vision Mixer was vital as they were the person who operated the Vision Mixing desk, the piece of equipment which controlled which camera or video source was fed to the recording machine or transmitter. It's a role that has almost disappeared in TV drama but is still vital in live television programmes, such as Strictly Come Dancing and News programmes. 

Following a Camera script written the director, it was the Vision Mixer that set much of the pace of the programme, a job that demanded absolute accuracy. Many mistakes made in live television recordings could be glossed over but it was difficult to hide a cut to the wrong camera.  

Shirley Coward worked on many productions for the BBC including many episodes of Doctor Who, and in October 1966 she found herself rostered to work in the BBC studios at Riverside on the final episode of the first Doctor's final story The Tenth Planet. 

At the end of the story, William Hartnell collapsed before regenerating into Patrick Troughton.  No clear plan had been made as to how to achieve this transformation, with one thought being that Hartnell could just cover his face with a cloak before it was removed to reveal Troughton's face. 

Coward suggested to Director Derek Martinus, that they could take advantage of a fault on the second bank of her vision mixing desk, which was causing the incoming image to break up. By using this distorted effect, and mixing between banks of the Vision Mixer,  Coward could produce a much more spectacular regeneration effect.

In an interview for the BBC DVD release of The Tenth Planet Shirley Coward explained how the effect was achieved. 

Shirley Coward worked on at least 44 episodes of Doctor Who. As the woman who created the first regeneration, it was fitting she Vision Mixed the 25th-anniversary story, The Five Doctors, which saw the return of the First Doctor, albeit played by a different actor. 

Other productions she worked on include Bomber Harris, EastEnders, The River,  All Creatures Great and Small , Talking Heads, In Sickness and in Health, Three Up Two Down, Galloping Galaxies!, Dear John, )Tenko, Juliet Bravo, Titus Andronicus, Only Fools and Horses, Last of the Summer Wine, By the Sword Divided, The Two Ronnies, Rentaghost, Ever Decreasing Circles,  Aladdin and the Forty Thieve, Don't Wait Up, Just Good Friends, Butterflies, Dombey & Son, Yes Minister, Terry and June, To the Manor Born, To Serve Them All My Days, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, The Enigma Files, Blake's 7, Secret Army, Rings on Their Fingers, Pennies from Heaven, Survivors, Blue Peter, The Tragedy of King Richard II, The Six Wives of Henry VIII and The Canterbury Tales

First Doctor Regenerates | William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton