Today in the 'Whoniverse'
Events
1938 - Peri Brown was abducted from Hollywood by the Threshold. (DWM: The Curse of the Scarab, Ground Zero)
Behind the scenes
1903 - Barbara Leake ((Mrs. Farrel in DW: Terror of the Autons) was born.
1925 - Tristram Cary, who composed the incidental music for select episodes of DW: The Daleks, The Rescue, and The Daleks' Master Plan, was born at Oxford, England.
1925 - Ysanne Churchman, who supplied the voice for Alpha Centauri in DW: The Curse of Peladon and The Monster of Peladon, and also for the Metebelis III Spiders in Planet of the Spiders, was born at Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England.
1925 - Gordon Gostelow, who played Milo Clancey in DW: The Space Pirates, was born in Australia.
1942 - Prentis Hancock, who played one of the reporters in DW: Spearhead from Space, Vaber in Planet of the Daleks, Salamar in Planet of Evil, and the head guard in The Ribos Operation, was born in Glasgow, Scotland.
1966 - "Johnny Ringo", Episode 3 of DW: The Gunfighters was first broadcast.
1996 - DW: The Doctor Who TV movie was first broadcast.
2005 - DW: Father's Day was first broadcast.
Today in History
1080 William Walcher, the Bishop of Durham and Earl of Northumberland, was murdered. As revenge, William the Conqueror ravaged the area and took the opportunity to invade Scotland and build the castle at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
1727 Thomas Gainsborough, English painter and founder of the English School of portrait and landscape painting, was born.
1779 The classic English horse race The Oaks was first run at the Epsom Racecourse in southern England.
1796 Edward Jenner became the first British physician to carry out a successful vaccination; on an eight year old boy against smallpox. His pioneering work laid the foundation for modern immunology techniques.
1847 HMS Driver completed the first circumnavigation of the world by a steamship when it arrived back at Spithead on the Hampshire coast.
1856 The trial of William Palmer, doctor and poisoner, began at the Old Bailey. Palmer’s victims were poisoned with strychnine. They included creditors, at least four of his 14 illegitimate children, his mother-in-law, his wife who had brought him a large dowry, and other relations. Palmer was found guilty and executed in his native Staffordshire.
1889 The children's charity the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, was launched in London. Liverpool businessman Thomas Agnew had visited the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and was so impressed that he returned to England determined to provide similar help. In 1895 Queen Victoria became its first Royal Patron but it did not change its title to 'Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children' or similar, as the acronym NSPCC was already well established.
1894 Blackpool Tower Circus first opened to the public and 30,000 people paid a 6d entrance fee.
1921 The British Legion was founded by Earl Haig (known as 'Butcher of the Somme').
1926 Eric Morecambe, comedian, was born.
1929 Yorkshire and England cricketer Wilfred Rhodes took his 4000th first-class wicket during a performance of 9 for 39 at Leyton. He is the only player in history to have reached that plateau. He was also the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches.
1940 The birth of the Scottish yachtsman Chay Blyth. He made the first solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the globe from east to west against the prevailing winds and currents aboard the 59 ft. British Steel.
1951 Trains ran on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales for the first time since preservation, making it the first railway in the world to be operated by volunteers.
1957 The lifting of restrictions on fuel consumption imposed during the Suez crisis.
1965 The field at Runnymede, the site of the signing of the Magna Carta, was dedicated by the Queen as a memorial to the late John F Kennedy, US President.
Todays UK TV and Radio
Torchwood
On: Watch
Date: Tuesday 15th May 2012
Time: 00:45 to 01:45 (1 hour long)
Out of Time. Series 1, episode 10.
When a plane from 1953 lands in present-day Cardiff there are painful consequences for all concerned.
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Dolby Digital 5.1, 2006, 4 Star)
Director: Alice Troughton
Starring: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori, Gareth David-Lloyd
Torchwood
On: Watch
Date: Tuesday 15th May 2012
Time: 01:45 to 03:00
The Ghost Machine. Series 1, episode 3.
An alien object reveals visions of the past, bringing a long-buried crime to the surface.
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Dolby Digital 5.1, Audio Described, 2006, 4 Star)
Director: Colin Teague
Starring: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori, Gareth David-Lloyd, Kai Owen
