1938

Events

Doctor Who universe

May

• 14 - Peri Brown was abducted from Hollywood by the Threshold. (DWM: The Curse of the Scarab, Ground Zero)

October

• 30 - Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre performed an adaptation of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds on CBS Radio. The broadcast caused nationwide panic across the United States of America. Although calm soon settled as America realised it was only a play, unknown to the public some elements of the production were based on actual events. (BFA: Invaders from Mars)

December

• 25 - Madge Arwell meets the Spaceman Angel, really the Doctor stuck in a space suit. (DW: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe)

Unknown dates

• Adolf Hitler obtained the Validium Arrow, one of the key components of the Nemesis statue. Around the same time, the Nemesis statue passed Earth, heralding Hitler's annexation of Austria and the coming outbreak of World War II. (DW: Silver Nemesis)
• In what became known as "the Cambridge University Fiasco," an archaeological team attempted and failed to open the Devil's Hump. (DW: The Dæmons)
• Mr. Bayles began working as a butcher in Crook Marsham. (NA: Nightshade)
• Joe Louis beat German heavyweight challenger Max Schmeling in a New York boxing match. Cody McBride was amongst the spectators. (PDA: Illegal Alien)
• The TARDIS, damaged by Mels' gun, crash-landed in Hitler's study in Berlin, inadvertently stopping the torture of Hitler by the Teselecta. Hitler was punched by Rory Williams and forced into a closet. In the confusion, Hitler shot Mels, causing her to regenerate, revealing herself as Melody Pond. Melody poisoned the Eleventh Doctor, shutting down his regenerative abilities. Having later captured Melody, one of the biggest war criminals in history, the Tesselecta computer told the Doctor that a religious order called the Silence wanted him dead. Amy Pond caused the crew to evacuate from ship to escape from the antibodies, releasing her daughter. After the Doctor succumbed to the poison, Melody used up her remaining regenerations to revive him, once she learnt that she would become his closest friend River Song one day. The Doctor then took River away to the Sisters of the Infinite Schism to recover. (DW: Let's Kill Hitler)

Behind the scenes

January

• 4 - Jim Norton was born.
• 12 - Lewis Fiander was born.
• 14 - Spencer Chapman was born.
• 21 - John Savident was born.
• 28 - Christopher Coll was born.

February

• 18 - Jon Pertwee made his film debut in a bit part in the Robert Taylor film A Yank at Oxford.
• 25 - Malcolm Tierney was born.
• 26 - Tony Selby was born.

March

• 13 - David McKail was born.

April

• 13 - Julian Fox was born.

May

• 13 - Milton Johns was born.
• 29 - Barry Jackson, who played Drax and several other guest characters on Doctor Who, was born in Birmingham, England.
• 30 - Christopher Robbie was born.

June

• 18 - Michael Sheard, who portrayed many memorable characters in one-off roles on Doctor Who, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland.
• 28 - John Tillinger, who played Simon Duval in DW: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, was born in Tabriz, Iran.

July

• 28 - David Weston, who played Nicholas Muss in DW: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve and Biroc in DW: Warriors' Gate, was born.

August

• 5 - Tim Preece was born.
• 18 - Roy Boyd was born.

September

• 3 - Tom Adams was born.
• 8 - Louis Mahoney was born.
• 17 - Richard Kane, who played Valmar in DW: The Power of the Daleks, was born in Birmingham.
• 28 - Tina Packer was born.
• 30 - Lawrence Harrington was born.

October

• 2 - Bruce Purchase was born.
• 22 - Derek Jacobi was born.
• 30 - Orson Welles' real-life radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds occurred. It inspired the Big Finish Productions audio story BFA: Invaders from Mars.

November

• 1 - Frances White, who played Cassandra in DW: The Myth Makers, was born in Leeds.
• 19 - Nicholas Pennell was born.
• 27 - Rodney Bewes was born.

December

• 5 - Elaine Ives-Cameron was born.
• 9 - Director Waris Hussein was born. In 1963 he directed the first-ever Doctor Who story, DW: An Unearthly Child.
• 12 - Leslie Schofield was born.
• 17 - Del Henney was born.
• 23 - George Gallaccio was born.