Category: Obituary

RIP Dudley Simpson

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It is with sorrow that we report on the passing of Dudley Simpson.

Dudley worked on over 290 episodes of Doctor Who, writing the score to over sixty stories. His music provided the soundtrack to the majority of adventures of the first four Doctors. He also wrote title music for Blake’s 7 and The Tomorrow People.

Dudley was born in Australia on the 4th of October, 1922. He studied orchestration and composition at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. His entry into Television was meeting a BBC executive at a party. From there, it was his work on drama Moonstrike that bought him to the attention of Mervyn Pinfeld who recruited him to write music for the First Doctor Story – Planet of  Giants. He wrote scores to such memorable stories such as Fury from the Deep, Seeds of Death, Terror of the Autons, Genesis of the Daleks, and many many more.

In addition to being behind the scenes, he appeared on camera as the Conductor in episode 4 of The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

Dudley also appeared at Whovention 2013, where he was able to regale attendees with stories from his time working on the show.

Dudley passed away in Australia, he was 95

RIP Victor Pemberton

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It is with regret we report on the passing of Victor Pemberton.

Pemberton is one of a few people who has also written for Doctor Who (Fury from the Deep) and also acted in the show as well. (The Moonbase.)

Pemberton is also credited with creating the Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver, which first appeared in Fury from the Deep. He also contributed to the show by being a script editor on Tomb of the Cybermen. His other work for Doctor Who was the fourth Doctor audio adventure ‘Doctor Who and the Pescatons’. He also wrote the target novelisations for both Fury and The Pescatons.

Pemberton was 85.

RIP Rosemary Howe

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The DWCA is sad to report on the passing of Rosemary Howe, the mother of founder Antony Howe.

Rosemary was one of the driving forces behind the starting of the club.

Deepest condolences to the Howe family.

Rosemary was 96.

RIP Trevor Baxter

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It is with deep regret we have to report on the passing of Trevor Baxter.


Baxter who had a wide career, appearing in such shows as Z Cars, The New Avengers and George and Mildred.

To Doctor Who fans he is best known for playing Professor George Litefoot, pathologist and eventual comrade of impresario Henry Gordon Jago, from the Fourth Doctor story The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

He returned to this role in 2009 in the Big Finish audio drama The Mahogany Murderers, which would end up serving as the pilot for 2010’s Jago & Litefoot series box set. Thirteen box sets were produced over eight years, the most recent of which was released just a couple of months ago.

Baxter was 84.

RIP Sir John Hurt 1940-2017

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It is with deep regret that we report on the passing of Sir John Hurt.

war-doctor

Hurt was best known within Doctor Who circles playing the War Doctor in the 50th Anniversary special – The Day of the Doctor. He returned to the role in the Big Finish audio adventures in 2015.

He also has a number of iconic roles within pop culture, such as Kane in Alien, the voice’s of Hazel in Watership Down and, the horned king in The Black Cauldron and Mr. Ollivander in the Harry Potter Film Series.

Hurt, was 77. He is survived by wife of 12 years Anwen Rees-Myers.