31 October

31 October 4998 was the date on the patent application that Professor Marius took out on K9 Mark I. In a legal sense, then, it was effectively the "birthday" of that portable robot. (PROSE: The English Way of Death)

But 31 October was perhaps more widely known on Earth as Halloween. 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 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) Earlier that century, Celia Doras died at the age of three. (PROSE: Just War)

Behind the scenes

 * 1922 - Actor Talfryn Thomas was born.
 * 1934 - Actor Steve Emerson was born.
 * 1961 - Actor Moya Brady was born.
 * 1963 - Actor Sanjeev Bhaskar was born.
 * 1964 - "Planet of Giants" was first broadcast on BBC1.
 * 1979 - Issue three of Doctor Who Weekly was first published.
 * 2001 - Actor Jenny Laird died.
 * 2005 - Actor Mary Wimbush died.
 * 2006- Actor William Franklyn died.
 * 2007 - Actor Howard Attfield died halfway through the filming of Partners in Crime. He was subsequently replaced by Bernard Cribbins, who played Donna's grandfather, instead of father.
 * 2007 - Issue thirty of Doctor Who: Battles in Time, including comic story House Pests, was first released by GE Fabbri Ltd.
 * 2010 - The Newcastle Doctor Who Exhibition closed.
 * 2010 - AUDIO: A Death in the Family, Deimos, AUDIO: The Invasion of E-Space and AUDIO: Escaping the Future were first released.
 * 2011 - GAME: The Gunpowder Plot was first released.