Class Episode Five, Brave-ish Heart had an audience of 0.66 million viewers for its debut on BBC One, according the unofficial overnight figures, a share of 7% of the total TV audience.

The rating is down on the overnight figures for last week’s episode and the programme was outrated by both Newsnight on BBC Two, which had 0.73 million watching, and by Through the Keyhole on ITV, which had 0.70 million.

Episode Six, Detained, which followed at 11.35pm had an audience of 0.21 million, a share of 3.5%. This episode was beaten by Hospital on BBC Two, 0.33 million, by The Chase on ITV with 0.26 million.

Consolidated ratings are now available for the first two episodes of Class, shown on BBC One two weeks ago, which include those who recorded the programme and watched it within a week.

Episode 1, For Tonight We May Die, which was broadcast at 10.46pm, had a confirmed audience of 1.06 million viewers, a 10.7% share of the total TV audience. The channel average for the timeslot is of 1.85 million. The figure is about 12% higher than the initial overnight figures. An additional 0.66 million have accessed the episode on iPlayer since its release on BBC Three last October.

Episode 2, The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo, followed immediately afterward, starting at 11.40pm, and had a consolidated audience of 0.55 million watching, a share 9.5% of the audience. The channel average for the timeslot is 0.64 million. Episode 2 increased its audience by 40% over the initial figure, implying many decided to goto to bed and watch the episode later. Around 300,000 have accessed the episode on iPlayer.

Peter Thomas – actor from missing William Hartnell story The Savages – dies.

Peter Thomas, who played Captain Edal in The Savages, has died at the age of 80. He had worked with Christopher Barry prior to the making of the story and so was in the director’s mind when it came to casting the chief of the security forces on the unnamed planet where all is not what it seems. With Frederick Jaegar, ostensibly the story’s lead villain, spending much of the action impersonating William Hartnell’s Doctor it is Thomas  who provides most of the thuggishness. He’s the enforcer and easily the story’s most unpleasant character – and unusually, he survives at the end, in a story which has no fatalities. Thomas had to undergo golden facial make-up but that wasn’t his biggest problem on the show: “Bill Hartnell and I did not get on that well in The Army Game – I fell out with him during rehearsals. He used to shout, and if you forgot a line or miscued him he would tell you! Literally in our last episode of Doctor Who I think he forgave me: in the final scene, owing to the pressure of work instead of “Grab him and strap him to the trolley”  I said “Strab him and grap him to the trolley” – but it did get a laugh even from Bill Hartnell.” The finished result wss good though – the audience research report for The Savages finds the viewers singling out the performances of Hartnell and Thomas for the most praise.

Thomas trained at LAMDA from 1952 and upon graduation did a short stint in rep at Lancaster before National Service (the RAF) intervened. Having done his duty (and performed onstage in RAF variety shows and stage productions while he was doing so) he returned to the theatre and then broke into television where he made something of a career of playing bad guys. His TV roles included Probation Officer (1959), Walk A Crooked Mile (1961), Z-Cars (1962),  No Hiding Place (4 different characters 1962/65), The Plane Makers (1963), No Cloak, No Dagger (1963), The Avengers (three times – 1966/67/68) and Big Breadwinner Hog (1969) with Peter Egan, whom he had encouraged to become an actor when Egan was a young lad. In this excellent but very violent series Thomas is unmissable as a leather clad thug with a teddy boy quiff and a flick knife.

After the film Tales From The Crypt (1972) and an episode of Crown Court (1976) he disappeared from the acting profession for about thirty years due to the unfortunate illness of his wife. Having established himself as an onstage comedy stooge (he worked with Hancock, Benny Hill, Graham Stark and Jimmy Jewel) he had to turn down 35 weeks touring alongside Bob Monkhouse – such a commitment was impractical with two young children and a terminally ill partner and so he made the difficult decision  to sever ties with his agent and accept no more offers.

In the early 80s he started a production company, and he kept his hand in the performance side of things when he provided the voice overs and the occasional presentation spot for the corporate videos that they made. Approaching the age at which most people retire, and with his children now grown up, he began to work professionally as an actor again and was very proactive in getting his own work – doing short films and modelling shoots whenever he could, and creating a character called Mr Grumpy.

In 2013 his face adorned the London underground as part of the Turn2US charity campaign, one of many posters he featured on in recent years (he also showed up for the NHS carers recruitment  campaign and the Oxford Hearing Centre). He also contributed to advertising campaigns for Heineken (a James Bond/Skyfall tie in) and French Netflix. This sort of work was a callback to the 60s when he had a high old time appearing in adverts for all sorts including Don Carlos Cigars, Remington Razors, Rich Tea Biscuits, Black & Greens Tea, Guinness and Bilslands Bread. He was also an able guitarist and folk singer.

He was happy to be associated with Doctor Who, and kept up with it over the years: “It was caught the atmosphere of the 60s – and when they brought it back years later it was an instant success. One of my favourite Doctor Whos was Jon Pertwee and in the newer versions it has to be David Tennant. It was a good show”. Peter recently joined me and Kay Patrick to discuss The Savages for one of Fantom Films’ forthcoming Who Talk releases: he was sprightly and full of memories so the news of his passing was as surprising as it was saddening..

With thanks to Toby Hadoke and Paul Dann

You can tell Doctor Who is a Time Lord – ­because he knew about the “alternative facts” phenomenon exactly 40 years before it hit the headlines.

A clip of classic episode The Face of Evil Part 4 featuring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor has surfaced, in which he warns about the “very powerful and the very stupid” who “alter the facts to fit their views.”

That quote dates from 22nd January 1977. But fast-forward four decades and you’ll find Donald Trump’s “Counselor” Kellyanne Conway declaring that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was NOT lying when he (falsely) insisted the new President’s inauguration was the most-attended in history.

No, no – Spicer was simply announcing “alternative facts”.

But the Doctor, being a little smarter and well-versed in the politics of all the different planets and societies in the universe, had something very prescient to say as he tried to make peace between two warring tribes, the Sevateem and the Tesh.

“You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common,” the Doctor tells his soon-to-be companion, Leela (Louise Jameson).

“They don’t alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit their views.”

The episode was part of the first story written for the series by Chris Boucher, and was directed by Pennant Roberts.

One of the Doctor’s finest moments – from an episode shown 40 years ago today. Fancy that. pic.twitter.com/neU9Et3d0B

— Nicholas Pegg (@NicholasPegg) January 22, 2017

She’s travelled through space on the star ship Enterprise with Captain Jean Luc Picard but Whoopi Goldberg is still eager to make a voyage through space and time in the Tardis with the Doctor

“I always hope when I come to England the BBC will say, ‘Hey we want you to do something.’ I would love that”, she told The Sun, while speaking about her love of British TV.

“You have a different quality now on television. The way you guys have always done shows has always been the smartest and we’ve finally just figured it out”, the actress explained.

“I like the idea of doing things the way y’all do them, you do some really fun stuff like Black Mirror or, you know, I’m still dying to do Doctor Who.”

And The Doctor has been dying for her to come travelling too – or at least Matt Smith was back in 2011.

‘Whoopi Goldberg would be a great companion, wouldn’t she? Yeah, she’d be great” he told Bang Showbiz back in the day.

Would Peter Capaldi agree? We’ll have to wait and see.

Philip Bond appeared in five episodes of the second Doctor Who story, The Daleks, first shown in 1963/4. He played the role of Ganatus, a member of the Thal expedition who traveled with Ian and Barbara on their expedition to enter the city via the mountains. During the journey, Ganatus witnessed the death of his brother, an experience which brought him closer to Barbara.

Bond was second choice for the role, cast when the original choice Dinsdale Landen became unavailable. He accepted immediately, being friends with both producer Verity Lambert and fellow actor William Russell.

Philip Bond had a prolific career in British Television, appearing in over 70 series over a 50 year period.

His best-known role was probably playing Albert Frazer in the 1970s BBC drama The Onedin Line, where he appeared in 24 episodes. Other roles included parts in Walk a Crooked Mile, 199 Park Lane, No Hiding Place, Sherlock Holmes, The Avengers, Justice, Z Cars, The Main Chance, The Children of the New Forest, An Englishman’s Castle, Shoestring, Only Fools and Horses…., The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Casualty and Midsomer Murders.

Bond’s was the father of the actress Samantha Bond who played Mrs Wormwood in The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Philip Bond died suddenly last Tuesday while on holiday on the island of Madeira. He is survived by his long-standing partner Elizabeth, his children Matthew, Samantha and Abigail and his Grandchildren.

Today’s planned Women’s March took place in cities around the world a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the United States’ 45th President on Friday (January 20).

Among the men, women and children who turned out to show their support for women everywhere, there were more than a few famous faces.

The main march took place in Washington DC, with protestors filling Independence Avenue, and among those in DC included Supergirl herself Melissa Benoist, who had a very clear message for President Trump.

“Hey Donald, don’t try to grab my pussy – it’s made of steel,” read the actress’ placard, referencing her Girl of Steel character and standing up for herself and women everywhere with a true superhero message.

And she wasn’t alone in speaking up either, with everyone from Demi Lovato, Beyoncé, John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Peter Capaldi lending their voices and presence to the protests.

Here is our man Peter Capaldi complete with banner and sonic shades!

Met Peter Capaldi at #womensmarchlondon. He said he liked my sign. No biggie. pic.twitter.com/7kcy1EDblN

— kitty justice (@thehmmmingbird) January 21, 2017

womensmarch #sisterhood #sunisshining #womensmarchlondon #marchon @ Green Park https://t.co/8uiPH890uI

— Jenna Coleman (@Jenna_Coleman_) January 21, 2017

https://twitter.com/Team_Barrowman/status/822856303731216385