April Fools' Day

April Fools' Day was a holiday celebrated on 1 April. On this day it was customary for people to play practical jokes and hoaxes on one another.

On 1 April 1963, Ian Chesterton sent one of his Coal Hill School students, Little Titch Critchley, to the supplies cupboard for "a left-handed blackboard rubber". Later that morning, Ian started a snowball fight with Mr Okehurst, shouting, "April fool!" That afternoon, when John Brent tried to tell his father about the snowmen which had been animated by the Cold, Captain Brent thought his son was playing an April Fools' joke. (PROSE: Time and Relative)

When Harold sent a distress call warning Deimos Moonbase about a group of Ice Warriors taking over the tourist shuttle, Gregson Grenville responded, "Yeah, yeah. Very funny, Luigi. Happy April Fools to you too." (AUDIO: Deimos)

April Fools' jokes in the real world

 * An issue of the Doctor Who fanzine Dream Watch Bulletin said there was a sixth episode of The Dæmons planned which would feature escaping UNIT.
 * In issue 76 of Doctor Who Magazine there was a feature about rushes for an incomplete William Hartnell story being discovered and used to create a new Hartnell/Davison story to be made in B&W so that the Hartnell footage would match seamlessly with the Davison material.
 * In issue 88 of Doctor Who Magazine it was reported that not only had about 65% of part 4 of The Tenth Planet been found, but it was being colourised for broadcast on Canadian TV.
 * In 2009, as an April Fool's joke, word circulated around the Doctor Who set that Michael Jackson was paying a visit. (REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter)