18 April

On 18 April 1906, the Earth city of San Francisco was ravaged by an earthquake and then consumed by fire. Thanks to the Seventh Doctor's interference, the gateway through which the creature Azathoth and her rakshassi army hoped to invade Earth opened not in the India of 1887 but in the lobby of the Palace Hotel. Azathoth and her followers were consumed in the fire, while the Doctor, Ace, Bernice Summerfield, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson escaped. The Doctor departed for England to retrieve his TARDIS, materialising in San Francisco mere moments after he left his companions, although the trip to England took three months. Holmes and Watson rejected the Doctor's offer to join him in his travels. He returned them to Baker Street in 1887. (PROSE: All-Consuming Fire)

Behind the scenes

 * 1928 - Writer David Whitaker was born.
 * 1935 - Actor Harold Innocent was born.
 * 1956 - Actor Eric Roberts was born.
 * 1964 - "The Velvet Web" was first broadcast on BBC1.
 * 1965 - Actress Camille Coduri was born.
 * 1970 - Episode 5 of The Ambassadors of Death was first broadcast on BBC1.
 * 1971 - David Tennant, who portrayed the Tenth Doctor, was born.
 * 1992 - Actor James Bate died.
 * 1993 - Actor Alan Wells died.