BBC2 airs the 26th episode of Russell T. Davies’ science fiction series Torchwood, a more adult-themed spinoff of Doctor Who. James Marsters guest stars. This episode wraps up the show’s second season, and is the final appearance of two of Torchwood’s long-standing members, Toshiko Sato and Owen Harper. 
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 54th episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. This is the premiere of the show’s fourth and final season, though numerous factors – including a lengthy recent strike among members of the Writers’ Guild of America and Sci-Fi Channel’s scheduling decisions – will controversially spread the last season out over two years.
The 741st episode of Doctor Who (the 43rd since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Kicking off the fourth season of the revived series, this episode brings back Catherine Tate’s character from The Runaway Bride (2006’s Christmas special episode) as the Doctor’s new companion. The season’s running theme – the return of Rose – is also introduced in this episode with a cameo appearance by Billie Piper, though fan sites have already reported her presence at location filming.
Oscar-winning actor Charlton Heston dies at the age of 84. Renowned for a string of tough-guy roles in major big-screen epics that earned him an Academy Award for best actor in 1959’s Ben-Hur, Heston appeared in other blockbusters such as El Cid and The Ten Commandments; genre fans may know him best for two SF films, Soylent Green and the 1968 smash hit Planet Of The Apes. His outspoken political views were on display as much as his acting skills, ranging from marching to Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to serving as president of the National Rifle Association. He had also served as a past president of the Screen Actors’ Guild.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 55th episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Rick Worthy and Dean Stockwell guest star.
The 742nd episode of Doctor Who (the 44th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Peter Capaldi and Tracey Childs guest star, and future series star Karen Gillan makes an appearance (though not in the later role of Amy Pond).
Free Clyde Records releases Joel Goldsmith’s soundtrack from the TV movie Stargate: Ark Of Truth.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 56th episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Richard Hatch and Dean Stockwell guest star.
The 743rd episode of Doctor Who (the 45th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Tim McInnery (Blackadder) guest stars.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 57th episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Richard Hatch guest stars.
Big Finish Productions releases the 12th episode of the new Eighth Doctor Who audio dramas, starring Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith.
The 744th episode of Doctor Who (the 46th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Freema Agyeman, Bernard Cribbins and Christopher Ryan (The Young Ones) guest star in the first appearance of the Sontarans in Doctor Who since 1985. This is the first half of a two-part story.
Big Finish Productions releases the 107th Doctor Who audio drama in its main monthly range, starring Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 58th episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica.
The 745th episode of Doctor Who (the 47th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Freema Agyeman, Bernard Cribbins and Christopher Ryan (The Young Ones) guest star in the first appearance of the Sontarans in Doctor Who since 1985. This is the second half of a two-part story.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 59th episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Nana Visitor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) guest stars.
The 746th episode of Doctor Who (the 48th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Guest star Georgia Moffett really is the Doctor’s daughter (namely, the daughter of former series star Peter Davison).
Composer, arranger and orchestrator Alexander Courage, composer of the theme from the original Star Trek, dies at the age of 88. Courage was responsible for writing the iconic main theme as well as the scores for the show’s two pilot episodes. When Star Trek went to series, however, Roddenberry – ahead of the curve on almost every imaginable marketing angle – wrote and published lyrics to Courage’s theme, thereby earning 50% of the profit from any future use of that music, a move which alienated the composer. Due to Star Trek using a library approach to its music, however, Courage’s music resurfaced in almost every episode in some capacity. Courage began orchestrating and arranging for other composers, including John Williams (The Poseidon Adventure, Jurassic Park) and Jerry Goldsmith, who asked Courage to write a few pieces for 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture which utilized the original TV theme.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 60th episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Richard Hatch guest stars.
The 747th episode of Doctor Who (the 49th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Felicity Kendall guest stars.
Director and former actor Joseph Pevney, the man behind the camera for many of the original Star Trek‘s best-remembered segments, dies at the age of 96. A veteran of classic ’60s, ’70s and ’80s television, he also directed numerous episodes of Wagon Train, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Mission: Impossible, The Munsters, Bonanza, and The Incredible Hulk. Before embarking on his directing career in 1950, he also worked as an actor, with his first exposure to showbiz in a 1924 Vaudeville show.
Big Finish Productions releases the 108th Doctor Who audio drama in its main monthly range, starring Colin Baker and Maggie Stables.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 61st episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Richard Hatch and Mark Sheppard guest star.
The 748th episode of Doctor Who (the 50th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Alex Kingston guest stars as River Song, the character’s first appearance in the series (and her last adventure chronologically). This is the first part of a two-part story.
Big Finish Productions releases the 13th episode of the new Eighth Doctor Who audio dramas, starring Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith.
Robert Justman, who along with Gene Roddenberry shepherded the original Star Trek from an untried pilot to its three years on the air (and came along for the ride with the inception and first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation), dies at the age of 81 from complications associated with Parkinson’s Disease. Originally an assisant director on the rejected pilot episode The Cage, he stuck around to become a producer and one of Roddenberry’s right-hand men. While at Desilu Studios (the makers of the original Star Trek, later bought by Paramount) he also produced the pilot episode of Mission: Impossible; his pre-Trek credits included several episodes of The Outer Limits, numerous Disney Sunday Movies, and The Adventures Of Superman.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 62nd episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Dean Stockwell guest stars.
The 749th episode of Doctor Who (the 51st since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Alex Kingston guest stars as River Song, the character’s first appearance in the series (and her last adventure chronologically). This is the second part of a two-part story.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 63rd episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) guest stars. Numerous factors – including a lengthy recent strike among members of the Writers’ Guild of America and Sci-Fi Channel’s scheduling decisions – controversially spread the last season out over two years; the series goes on hiatus until 2009.
The 750th episode of Doctor Who (the 52nd since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. David Troughton and Lesley Sharp guest star.