1979

1979 in

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the DWU • production history • vital statistics • releases

While the Fourth Doctor described 1979 as a "table wine year", at least in regards to Paris, (TV: City of Death) his tenth incarnation later referred to it as "a hell of a year". The Tenth Doctor elaborated that China invaded Vietnam, and the Muppet Movie came out. During this year, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and an unspecified incarnation of the Doctor helped Skylab fall to Earth — he claimed that it "nearly took off [his] thumb." (TV: Tooth and Claw)

At some point in this year, the Fourth Doctor and Romana visited Paris, and Count Scarlioni stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. (TV: City of Death)

Events

January

• 4 - Phil Tyson was born at 3:50pm. The Vandosians believed that Shogalath had reincarnated in his body. (COMIC: Mr Nobody)

August

• 16 - Edward Grainger and his granddaughter Linda helped the First Doctor and Susan Foreman stop several Slarvian eggs from gestating near the English Channel. (PROSE: Childhood Living)

October

• Skagra went to Earth in search of Salyavin. (HOMEVID: Shada)
• A Kaftakkrofakian called Cecil transformed everyone at a Halloween party into zombies, leaving only one survivor. (PROSE: Zombie Motel)
• 12 - Izzy Sinclair was born. (COMIC: TV Action!)

November

• 21 - Ian Dury and the Blockheads performed in concert at Sheffield, England. The Tenth Doctor attempted to take Rose Tyler to this concert. They instead ended up in Scotland in 1879. (TV: Tooth and Claw)

Unknown dates

• Dr Lavinia Smith moved from South Croydon to Moreton Harwood. (TV: A Girl's Best Friend)
• John Benton left the army and UNIT. He took a job selling second-hand cars. (TV: Mawdryn Undead)
• Paul Brown, the father of Peri Brown, died in a boating accident. (PROSE: Synthespians™)
• James Callaghan was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. (AUDIO: The Oseidon Adventure) Later in the year, he was succeeded by Margaret Thatcher of the Conservative Party (TV: Tooth and Claw, AUDIO: Rat Trap), who held that office until at least 1987 (TV: Father's Day).
• The last surviving members of the Luron attempted to invade Earth but their plan was thwarted by the Fourth Doctor and Leela. (AUDIO: The Valley of Death)
• Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and a team from the British division of UNIT travelled to Canada where they investigated sentient electricity pylons which were stalking the Canadian countryside. (AUDIO: The Oseidon Adventure)
• Patricia Ryder met her future husband Trevor, in actuality the Zygon Warlord Haygoth, at a Folk Festival in Kendal. (AUDIO: The Zygon Who Fell to Earth)
• Eugene Jones was born to Shaun and Bronwen Jones. (TV: Random Shoes)
• The nine-year-old Dorothy "Ace" McShane was given an ABBA record as a reward for being a brave girl when she went to the dentist. (PROSE: Tragedy Day)
• Tegan Jovanka went on holiday to Hong Kong. (PROSE: Cold Fusion)

Parallel universe

• 12 October - Beep the Meep travelled to a parallel universe, in which the Doctor's universe existed only as part of a BBC science fiction television series called Doctor Who, and took control of the BBC Television Centre. The Eighth Doctor and his companion Izzy Sinclair defeated Beep with the help of the actor Tom Baker, who infuriated him with his endless rambling. Strangely, Baker both physically resembled the Fourth Doctor and played him on the television series. The Doctor learned the truth when he discovered the first issue of Doctor Who Weekly. (COMIC: TV Action!)

Behind the scenes

January

• 06 - TV: The Power of Kroll Part 3 was first broadcast.
• 13 -TV: The Power of Kroll Part 4 was first broadcast.
• 16 - Actor Peter Butterworth died from an apparent heart attack in Coventry.
• 18 - PROSE: Doctor Who and the Hand of Fear was first published.
• 20 - TV: The Armageddon Factor Part 1 was first broadcast. Lalla Ward made her first appearance on Doctor Who, playing Princess Astra. This part was promoted as the five hundredth episode of Doctor Who.
• 21 - Actor Kevin Wickenden was born.
• 27 - TV: The Armageddon Factor Part 2 was first broadcast.

February

• 03 - TV: The Armageddon Factor Part 3 was first broadcast.
• 10 - TV: The Armageddon Factor Part 4 was first broadcast.
• 17 - TV: The Armageddon Factor Part 5 was first broadcast. Twenty-three minutes into transmission, the episode went off the air for approximately twenty seconds due to a technical fault on the playback equipment. BBC continuity apologised to the viewers for the breakdown in transmission, displaying a TEMPORARY FAULT caption slide and playing music, "Gotcha" by Tom Scott, until the fault was rectified. When the episode restarted, the videotape had been slightly rewound so there was a repeat of the action immediately prior to the break.
• 24 - TV: The Armageddon Factor Part 6 was first broadcast, concluding Season 16 and the Key to Time arc. Mary Tamm left the series after this episode as did, temporarily, John Leeson. (Another actor took over the voiceovers for K9 for Season 17, although the character didn't appear on screen again until TV: The Creature from the Pit. Leeson returned for Season 18.)

March

• 02 - Actress Jocelyn Jee Esien was born.
• 20 - Actress Freema Agyeman was born.
• 29 - PROSE: Doctor Who and the Invisible Enemy was first published.

April

• American editions of PROSE: Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks and PROSE: Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon were published by Pinnacle Books. Over the next year, Pinnacle published US editions of ten Target Books novelisations, most slightly reedited for American readers, with some of the more British terms (such as "jelly baby") replaced with American terms. Each book included an introduction by SF author Harlan Ellison, as well as a brief primer on the Doctor and his companions.

April/May

• 30 April to 3 May - Filming for TV: City of Death took place in Paris, marking the first time Doctor Who was filmed outside the United Kingdom.

May

• 24 - PROSE: Doctor Who and the Robots of Death was first published.
• 24 - PROSE: Junior Doctor Who and the Giant Robot was first published. It was the first of two attempts by Terrance Dicks at releasing versions of his novelisations for young readers.
• American editions of PROSE: Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion and PROSE: Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks were published by Pinnacle Books.
• 31 - Cinematographer John Wilcox died.

June

• American editions of PROSE: Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster and PROSE: Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen were published by Pinnacle Books.

July

• 06 - Writer Malcolm Hulke died.
• 26 - PROSE: Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl was first published.
• 31 - Actress Beatrix Lehmann died.

August

• 3 - Actor Jason May was born.
• 8 - Actress Rosanna Lavelle was born.
• 22 - Actress Megan Duffy was born.

September

• The Doctor Who Annual 1980 was published.
• 01 - TV: Destiny of the Daleks Part 1 was first broadcast, marking the debut of Season 17. Lalla Ward returned to the series as the newly regenerated Romana. Although a new voice actor for K9 had been cast, the character did not appear in the serial.
• 2 - Actor Derek Seaton died.
• 08 - TV: Destiny of the Daleks Part 2 was first broadcast.
• 09 - REF: The Adventures of K9 and Other Mechanical Creatures by Terrance Dicks was published.
• 15 - TV: Destiny of the Daleks Part 3 was first broadcast.
• 22 - TV: Destiny of the Daleks Part 4 was first broadcast. It was the last Doctor Who episode written by Terry Nation.
• 25 - PROSE: Doctor Who and the War Games was first published.
• 29 - TV: City of Death Part 1 was first broadcast. Partially filmed in Paris, it was the first Doctor Who episode to be produced outside the UK.
• The American edition of PROSE: Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang was published by Pinnacle Books.
• Prior to October, the Doctor Who comic strip in TV Comic was discontinued to make way for the strip to be featured in the new Doctor Who Weekly.

October

• A (vinyl) story record version of TV: Genesis of the Daleks, with original TV dialogue, sound effects and newly recorded narration by Tom Baker, was released.
• 06 - TV: City of Death Part 2 was first broadcast.
• 12 - In the midst of his TV script for City of Death being broadcast, Douglas Adams' first novel, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, was first published.
• 13 - TV: City of Death Part 3 was first broadcast.
• 17 - Actor John Stuart died in London.
• 17 - The first issue of Doctor Who Weekly (later Doctor Who Monthly and Doctor Who Magazine) was released; the long-running DWM comic strip also made its debut. Both were still published more than thirty years later.
• 20 - TV: City of Death Part 4 was first broadcast. This episode received the highest viewing figures ever for a Doctor Who episode, with 16.1 million viewers. The increase in ratings was due to the ITV networks being blacked out by industrial action at the time.
• 24 - DWM 2 was released.
• 27 - TV: The Creature from the Pit Part 1 was first broadcast. David Brierley debuted as the new voice of K9, the character having been absent since the end of TV: The Armageddon Factor.
• 30 - Actor Graham Ashley died.

November

• Early November - John Nathan-Turner officially began his ten-year stint as producer of Doctor Who (he was not involved in the production of the season then underway). Among the changes he implemented for the coming season were the introduction of a new arrangement of the theme song by Peter Howell, an updated opening credits sequence, and the announcement that the 1980-81 season would be Tom Baker's last as the Doctor.
• 03 - TV: The Creature from the Pit Part 2 was first broadcast.
• 07 - Totally Doctor Who presenter Barney Harwood was born.
• 10 - TV: The Creature from the Pit Part 3 was first broadcast.
• 17 - TV: The Creature from the Pit Part 4 was first broadcast.
• 20 - PROSE: Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks was first published.
• 24 - TV: Nightmare of Eden Part 1 was first broadcast.
• The American edition of PROSE: Doctor Who and the Masque of Mandragora was published by Pinnacle Books.

December

• 01 - TV: Nightmare of Eden Part 2 was first broadcast.
• 07 - Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released. It was the first in a series of Star Trek films and the first of six to feature the cast of the original series.
• 08 - TV: Nightmare of Eden Part 3 was first broadcast.
• 11 - PROSE: Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation was first published.
• 15 - TV: Nightmare of Eden Part 4 was first broadcast.
• 22 - TV: The Horns of Nimon Part 1 was first broadcast.
• 29 - TV: The Horns of Nimon Part 2 was first broadcast.
  • Lalla Ward appeared on Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.

Unknown dates

• Labour action forced production to be halted on the six-part serial HOMEVID: Shada. Ultimately, it was decided to abandon the serial, which signalled a premature end for the 1979-80 season with TV: The Horns of Nimon.
• REF: Terry Nation's Dalek Special was first published. This Target Books trade paperback release, edited by Terrance Dicks, included the novella Daleks: The Secret Invasion, written by Terry Nation, which was the first piece of original Doctor Who-related fiction to be published by Target, as well as Nation's only fiction writing for the company. As the book included a synopsis of TV: Destiny of the Daleks, it can be surmised it was probably published after that serial was broadcast.