Peter Hawkins has passed away:
From Outpost Gallifrey:
"Peter Hawkins
July 18, 2006
Actor Peter Hawkins, a long-time voice of the Daleks and Cybermen in the early years of Doctor Who, died on 8 July. Hawkins was one of the original Dalek voices in the serial "The Daleks" that introduced them, and gave his voice to the role in "The Dalek Invasion of Earth," "The Space Museum," "The Chase," "Mission to the Unknown," "The Daleks' Master Plan," "The Power of the Daleks" and "The Evil of the Daleks"; he also voiced one of the original Cybermen in "The Tenth Planet" and reprised the vocal role in "The Moonbase," "The Tomb of the Cybermen" and "The Wheel in Space". Hawkins was also well known as the voice of Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men and Captain Pugwash, as well as appearances in many children's programmes including Rainbow and SuperTed, and was one of the voices heard during the first radio series of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". He was 82. An obituary can be found in The Independent with reports in The Stage, UPI. (Thanks to Nick Mellish, Peter Weaver, Paul Hayes, Paul Engelberg, Fred Scoggins)"
It is weird that I am finding out this sad news today because in a book that I have it is an encyclopaedia of daytime television in the States and the entry I read today was Tomfoolery which is one of the children's programmes that he did and which have a vague memory of.
It was almost two weeks ago but I only just found out that Gary Russell has stepped down as producer of Big Finish:
http://www.bigfinish.com/news/news_060709_allchange.shtml
"All Change at Big Finish
09.07.06: Gary Russell is to step down from his role as Producer of Doctor Who at Big Finish. Nicholas Briggs will assume creative responsibility for the Doctor Who range as Executive Producer and Sharon Gosling has been appointed as Producer with administrative and organisational responsibility for the entire output of Big Finish.
Gary has been producing for Big Finish since 1998 and has been responsible as producer, director and script-editor for the vast majority of the company's output to date. Of Gary's contribution to Big Finish, Company Director, Jason Haigh-Ellery said 'Gary's hard work and tireless dedication to Big Finish has enabled the company to develop and grow over the last eight years to the point where we are now releasing over forty productions a year.' Gary has chosen to move on from Big Finish to take advantage of an exciting new opportunity. However, Gary will still be on-hand to ensure an 'orderly transition' and he will also continue to direct several Big Finish productions each year. 'Obviously we are sorry to see Gary go,' said Jason, 'But we're very pleased that he will still be able to work with us as a Director.'
As a result of Gary's departure, Big Finish has undergone a process of restructuring and redefining of roles. In effect, the job of Producer, as it previously was, will no longer exist and the responsibilities have been reassigned. Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery are to take on the roles of Executive Producers. With assistance from Script-Editor Alan Barnes, Nick will have full creative responsibility for the Doctor Who range. This will extend to the commissioning of scripts, the appointment of Directors and overseeing post-production.
The redefined position of Producer will now be an organisational and administrative one with responsibility for co-ordinating the entire output of Big Finish and ensuring that all production deadlines are met. This new role has been taken by Sharon Gosling. Sharon comes to Big Finish from Titan Publishing where she was editor for the official Stargate and Battlestar Galactica magazines. Jason Haigh-Ellery said, 'Sharon's experience and strong organisational and editing skills will make a major contribution to the smooth running and continued development of Big Finish in the future. We are delighted to have her on board and are looking forward to working with her.' "