1963 (people)

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1963 in

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the DWU • production history • vital statistics • releases

In 1963, a number of people important to the production of Doctor Who and its spin-offs either died or were born.

• 11 January - Actor Jason Connery was born.
• 30 January - Actor Daphne Ashbrook was born.
• 11 March - Actor Alex Kingston was born.
• 29 March - C. E. Webber submitted to Donald Wilson an outline for a proposed family-oriented science fiction series to be called The Troubleshooters. Some of the earliest concepts of what was to become Doctor Who appeared in the document, which exists in the BBC Archives with notations from Sydney Newman.
• 17 April - Property master Terry Weaver was born.
• 27 April - Writer Russell T Davies was born.
• 2 May - Actor Esther Freud was born.
• 16 May - A document, prepared by Donald Wilson and C. E. Webber and Sydney Newman, was submitted to Donald Baverstock which outlined the concept of a proposed programme called Dr. Who.
• 20 May - Actor Jenny Funnell was born.
• 30 May - Actor Tracey Childs was born.
• 20 August - Production of Doctor Who began with a filming session at Ealing Studios for the first episode of TV: An Unearthly Child; the session involved the creation of the opening credits. This version of the first episode was beset by technical problems, and the BBC subsequently rejected it for broadcast, authorising a rare "do-over" for later in the year. This version, dubbed The Pilot Episode later, would be finally broadcast in the 1990s. This is the earliest known production session related to Doctor Who.
• 31 August - A filming session was held at the BBC for TV: An Unearthly Child (aka The Pilot Episode).
• 18 September - Script editor Gary Russell was born.
• 19 September - A one-day filming session at Ealing Studios was held for episode one of TV: An Unearthly Child (aka The Pilot Episode).
• 26 September - Actor Lysette Anthony was born.
• 27 September - The formal studio recording session for the later-rejected version of the first episode of TV: An Unearthly Child, aka The Pilot Episode, was conducted at Lime Grove Studios.
• 30 September - After viewing the pilot episode, Sydney Newman officially rejected The Pilot Episode in a lunch meeting with Verity Lambert and Waris Hussein and authorisesd a remounting of the episode. According to Howe and Walker, this was a contingency that had been planned for. Over the next couple of weeks numerous revisions to the script and changes to costuming and characterisation were undertaken.
• 9 October - Filming resumed at Ealing Studios for TV: An Unearthly Child, as Episode 1 was re-mounted following September's false start.
• 11 October - Filming ended at Ealing for TV: An Unearthly Child
• 18 October - One day studio recording at Lime Grove Studio D for the remounted first episode of TV: An Unearthly Child (also entitled "An Unearthly Child") took place.
• 25 October - One day studio recording at Lime Grove Studio D for TV: An Unearthly Child episode 2, "The Cave of Skulls" took place. Margot Maxine, an extra hired as a member of the tribe, walked out at 3:00 after refusing to have her teeth blackened.
• 26 October - Writer Keith Topping was born.
• 28 October - Initial filming began at Ealing Studios for elements to be used in the upcoming TV: The Daleks.
• 31 October - Actor Sanjeev Bhaskar was born.
• 1 November - One day studio recording at Lime Grove Studio D for TV: An Unearthly Child episode 3, "The Forest of Fear" took place.
• 8 November - One day studio recording at Lime Grove Studio D for TV: An Unearthly Child episode 4, "The Firemaker" took place, concluding the first Doctor Who serial.
• 11 November - One day studio recording at Lime Grove Studio D for TV: The Daleks episode 1, "The Dead Planet" took place. According to Howe and Walker's The Television Companion, this version was not transmitted and was remounted a month later.
• 22 November - Recording of "The Survivors", episode 2 of TV: The Daleks, was interrupted by the news of the Kennedy assassination, but resumed later the same day.
• 23 November - Doctor Who debuted on UK television with the first broadcast of episode 1 of TV: An Unearthly Child (which was also entitled "An Unearthly Child"). A few parts of the UK were unable to view the episode due to a power cut. Due to the events of the previous day, however, a franchise legend later emerged suggesting that news coverage of the assassination of Kennedy and/or subsequent killing of suspect Lee Harvey Oswald was the reason for the broadcast disruption; this was not the case. The first episode aired between a sports broadcast and a puppet series called The Telegoons. "The Medicine Men", an episode of The Avengers – also created by Sydney Newman – aired the same day.
• 23 November - Likely the earliest Radio Times reference to the series occurred in the issue dated 23 November.
• 23 November - Director Joe Ahearne was born.
• 30 November - "An Unearthly Child" (TV: An Unearthly Child Episode 1) was broadcast for the second time as many viewers had missed the original screening as a result of a power cut; this was the first and for many years the only rebroadcast of a Doctor Who episode. The rebroadcast was followed by the first broadcast of "The Cave of Skulls". (TV: An Unearthly Child Episode 2)
• 6 December - Recording of Episode 1 of TV: The Daleks, "The Dead Planet", was remounted following a false start in November.
• 7 December - "The Forest of Fear" (TV: An Unearthly Child Episode 3) was first broadcast.
• 14 December - "The Firemaker" (TV: An Unearthly Child Episode 4) was first broadcast, concluding the series' first serial.
• 21 December - "The Dead Planet" (TV: The Daleks Episode 1) was first broadcast. The episode ended with the series' first great cliffhanger, featuring the first-ever glimpse of a Dalek.
• 28 December - "The Survivors" (TV: The Daleks Episode 2) was first broadcast.
• 30 December - Audience Research Report on the first episode of Doctor Who was filed with the BBC.