31 October

31 October was widely known on Earth as Halloween.

In 1913, Celia Doras died at the age of three. (PROSE: Just War)

In 1926, Harry Houdini died in Detroit. (PROSE: Who-Dini?)

In 1938, Orson Welles broadcast a radio play adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds, convincing certain members of the American population that Mars had really invaded. The Eighth Doctor and Charley were present for the broadcast. (AUDIO: Invaders from Mars)

The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa went to London in 1963 to watch the Beatles exiting a plane. Much to the Doctor's surprise, though, it wasn't the Beatles that emerged — but the Common Men, just returning from a tour in Sweden. When Nyssa pinned down a man with an impulse laser, he escaped by matter dematerialisation device, taking her with him.

At a meeting with the music group in a bar, they revealed that much of their success came from other groups being forced to attend national service. Confused since national service was supposed to end in 1960, the Doctor tried to bring Rita to 1957, but it was time-locked. He therefore returned her to this day, and they researched where the Beatles were in this altered timeline. (AUDIO: 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men)

In 2008, the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones attended an unusually creepy Halloween celebration in the New England town of Blackwood Falls, during which the Hervoken tried to take over the town. (PROSE: Forever Autumn) Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Torchwood Three were busy dealing with alien predators, as was true of most days. (PROSE: Pack Animals)

In 2021, food bank volunteer Dan Lewis was captured by Karvanista to save him from the Flux. He was subsequently saved by the Thirteenth Doctor and Yasmin Khan. (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse)

According to some accounts, Bernice Summerfield died on 31 October 2599, in the catacombs of a cathedral on Vremnya, and was buried there. However, as similar tombs were also seen on Mars and in the Kalkravian asteroid belt, Benny herself, undercover in the 46th century, questioned the validity of this version of history. (PROSE: Paydirt)