Louis French

Dr. Louis French was director of a radio telescope project in Australia. He developed a radio wave accelerator in the hopes of making instantaneous contact with other planets. The Third Doctor and Sir Humphrey Picton came to Australia to observe this, where the Doctor realized that use of the accelerator would be extremely dangerous. His attempts at persuasion and at sabotage failed, and the test run went ahead as planned. The accelerated radio waves disrupted Earth's atmosphere, creating a huge storm that heavily damaged the research station. Dr. French succeeded in shutting down the accelerator, but was then crushed and killed by falling debris. (TVC: Is Anyone There?)