The Myth Makers

Vicki aka Cressida (Maureen O'Brien)
with her new love interest Paris
(James Lynn)

Four episodes (Temple of Secrets, Small Prophet, Quick Return, Death of a Spy, Horse of Destruction)
First broadcast Oct 16 to Nov 6 1965
Average audience for serial: 8.35m

• A pictorial guide to the guest cast can be seen at the bottom of the entry. Read an episode-by-episode review of this story at Time Space Visualiser here.

REGULAR CAST

William Hartnell (The Doctor) Jan 8 1908 to Apr 23 1975 (heart failure after a series of strokes) For a full career biography for William Hartnell, click here.

Maureen O'Brien (Vicki) Born Jun 29 1943 For a full career biography of Maureen O'Brien, click here.

Peter Purves (Steven Taylor) Born Feb 10 1939 For a full career biography of Peter Purves, click here.

Adrienne Hill (Katarina) Jul 22 1937 to Oct 6 1997 (cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Katarina in The Myth Makers, The Daleks' Master Plan (1965)
Career highlights
Adrienne's other work includes Compact (1964) and 199 Park Lane (1965). She also regularly played Myrna Podmore on the BBC Radio series Waggoners' Walk between 1969-71, and appeared in a few other radio productions, including the role of Gloria Watt in the BBC Light Programme's The Dales in 1965, and a part in Radio 4's Midweek Theatre: Fatty (1970). It is also thought that Adrienne may have had a role as a library assistant in New Zealand drama City Life (broadcast in January 1998, three months after her death), but this is unconfirmed. She also appeared at Children in Need's 1985 celebration of Doctor Who.
Facts
Adrienne had worked in repertory theatre before Doctor Who, and originally auditioned for the role of Joanna in The Crusade (1965). She moved to Holland and then the USA in the 1970s, returning to England in the 1980s to become a drama teacher.

GUEST CAST

Max Adrian (King Priam) Nov 1 1903 to Jan 19 1973 (heart attack)
Career highlights
Northern Ireland born Max's long career stemmed from The Primrose Path (1934) and included appearances in A Touch of the Moon (1936), Kipps (1941), The Young Mr Pitt (1942), The Pickwick Papers (1952), The Show Parade (1956), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1959), Oliver Twist (1962), Dr Terror's House of Horrors (1965), Call My Bluff (1965), Adam Adamant Lives! (1966), The Baron (1967), Song of Summer: Frederick Delius (1968), The Music Lovers (1970), The Devils (1971) and The Boy Friend (1971). He also had a long-running role as Ludicrus Sextus in Up Pompeii (1969-70).
Facts
Before becoming principally a stage actor, Max was a singer and dancer during the intermissions at a silent film cinema. Max was a founding member of both the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. In the late 1960s, he toured as George Bernard Shaw in the one-man presentation By George, and originated the role of Pangloss in Leonard Bernstein's Candide on Broadway in 1956. In 1943, Max was imprisoned for three months for importuning in a lavatory, and was funded upon his release by actor Michael Redgrave. His longtime partner was television writer and director Laurier Lister (best known for devising Joyce Grenfell Requests the Pleasure for television in 1956). It is said he died at home of a heart attack after returning from a BBC TV studio recording of Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle. However, the cast list for this now lost BBC Play of the Month, broadcast on May 16th 1973, does not seem to include Max, so maybe he was rehearsing, and his part recast following his death? Laurence Olivier, Joyce Grenfell and Alec Guinness attended his memorial service.

Francis de Wolff (Agamemnon) Jan 7 1913 to Apr 18 1984
Doctor Who credits
Played: Vasor in The Keys of Marinus (1964)
Played: Agamemnon in The Myth Makers (1965)
Career highlights
Francis's long career began in Flame in the Heather (1935) and took in roles in Fire Over England (1937), Under Capricorn (1949), Treasure Island (1950), Tom Brown's Schooldays (1951), the Spirit of Christmas Present in Alistair Sims' Scrooge (1951), Moby Dick (1956), Corridors of Blood (1958), The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll (1960), From Russia with Love (1963), Carry On Cleo (1964), The Woman in White (1966), Paul Temple (1971), the villainous Jedikiah in The Tomorrow People (1973-75) and Jesus of Nazareth (1977).
Facts
Francis's first wife (he had three wives, and seven children by two of them) was Jean Fairlie, who worked in the wardrobe and costume department on productions such as Alfie (1966), UFO (1970-73), Supergirl (1984) and Brazil (1985). In 1970, Francis appeared in a TV commercial for Birds Eye chicken pie, alongside fellow Doctor Who alumni June Whitfield.

Alan Haywood (Hector) Nov 30 1929 to Mar 6 1995 (heart attack)
Career highlights
Alan's other credits include The Merry Wives of Windsor (1955), Emergency Ward 10 (1959), Barnaby Rudge (1960), The Avengers (1963/65), Smuggler's Bay (1964), Out of the Unknown (1965), The Saint (1967), The Love Factor (1969), UFO (1970), Colditz (1972), The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris (1979), On the Razzle (1983), Jemima Shore Investigates (1983) and Laura and Disorder (1989). He also played Sir Geoffrey in more than 20 episodes of Richard the Lionheart (1962-63).

Barrie Ingham (Paris) Feb 10 1932 to Jan 23 2015
Doctor Who credits
Played: Alydon in Doctor Who and the Daleks (film, 1965)
Played: Paris in The Myth Makers (1965)
Career highlights
Barrie enjoyed a long career, beginning in The Cheaters (1960) and taking in The Victorians (1963), Doctor Who and the Daleks (1965), The Avengers (1967), The Caesars (1968), The Power Game (1969), The Day of the Jackal (1973), The Sweeney (1978), Funny Man (1981), Voyagers! (1983), Remington Steele (1983), The Fall Guy (1984), Airwolf (1984), Street Hawk (1985), The A Team (1986), Star Trek: the Next Generation (1989), Josh Kirby: Time Warrior (1995-96) and The Triangle (2005). He also played the title character in Hine (1971) and voiced Basil in the animation Basil: The Great Mouse Detective (1986).
Facts
Barrie was also a prolific musical theatre actor, appearing in Gypsy (1974), Camelot (1982), Jekyll and Hyde (1997) and Anything Goes (2003). In a 2013 interview, he was asked to describe what he would do if he had just six months to live: "I would spend half the time with my dear wife, who has been very neglected for all the showbiz, and then I'd stand on stage at the Royal Shakespeare Company acting out every leading part in the 36 plays, and then die, on stage!"
In 2013 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Barrie here.

Cavan Kendall (Achilles) May 22 1942 to Oct 29 1999 (cancer)
Career highlights
Cavan's other credits include Cry Wolf! (1956), The Railway Children (1957, as Peter), Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School (1959, as Bob Cherry), Jo's Boys (1959), Three Golden Nobles (1959), The Roving Reasons (1960), The Human Jungle (1963), St Ives (1967), Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1968), The Way We Live Now (1969), John Macnab (1976), The Enchanted Castle (1979), Blood Money (1981), Eureka (1983), The Clandestine Marriage (1999) and Sexy Beast (2000). Between 1957-58, when he was still a teenager, Cavan had the regular role of Guy James in The Thompson Family. He also played PC Greenly in Softly Softly (1966).
Facts
Cavan, also an accomplished photographer, was acting legend Rex Harrison's brother-in-law between 1957-59, as actress Kay Kendall was his sister. His grandmother Marie was a music hall star, famous for her rendition of Just Like the Ivy, who used to tour Europe as a male impersonator and was on the bill for the 1932 Royal Variety Performance. Cavan got a part in a TV commercial for Calvin Klein's Obsession fragrance in the mid-1980s (I think this is it), and used the salary from that to fund a round-the-world trip photographing various flora and fauna.

Tutte Lemkow (Cyclops) Aug 28 1918 to Nov 10 1991
Doctor Who credits
Played: Kuiju in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Ibrahim in The Crusade (1965)
Played: Cyclops in The Myth Makers (1965)
Choreographed: The Celestial Toymaker (1966)
Career highlights
Norwegian born Tutte had a long career appearing in The Lost People (1949), Moulin Rouge (1952), Hancock's Half Hour (1957), The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Moon-Spinners (1964), The Wrong Box (1966), Fiddler on the Roof (1971, as the title character), Theatre of Blood (1973), Huntingtower (1978), Sphinx (1981), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Red Sonja (1985). He was also an experienced choreographer, including on Casino Royale (1967), and helped adapt Ibsen's The Wild Duck (1983) for film, for which he was nominated for an Australian Film Institute Award.
Facts
Tutte's first wife was Swedish actress Mai Zetterling.

Jon Luxton (Messenger)
Career highlights
He also appeared in The Gentle Assassin (1962), Dr Finlay's Casebook (1963) and An Enemy of the State (1965).

James Lynn (Troilus)
Career highlights
James's other work includes Heiress of Garth (1965), The Cabbage Tree Hat Boys (1965), The Golden Age (1967) and Children Playing (1967).

Jack Melford (Menelaus) Sep 5 1899 to Oct 22 1972
Career highlights
Jack's long career began in The Sport of Kings (1931), and he went on to appear in Honeymoon for Three (1935), Luck of the Turf (1936), Let's Make a Night of It (1937), Youth at the Helm (1938), Someone at the Door (1939), Theatre Royal (1943), The Dinner Was Deadly (1946), The Laughing Lady (1946), The October Man (1947), Rookery Nook (1947), A Song on the Wind (1948), Reggie Little at Large (1953), Dear Dotty (1954), Tales from Soho (1956), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1956/58/60), The Vise (1955-60), The Sky Larks (1958), The Army Game (1960), The Fourth Square (1961), The Sentimental Agent (1963), A Shot in the Dark (1964), Weavers Green (1966) and Lust for a Vampire (1971). Between 1957-58 Jack appeared as Detective Sergeant Miller in Educated Evans, played Mr Quelch in Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School (1960-61) and Dr Rospin in Emergency Ward 10 (1964-65).
Facts
Jack's brother was writer and director Austin Melford (who wrote many of the Old Mother Riley screenplays in the 1940s), while his daughter is actress Jill Melford (and between 1961-72 Jack was distinguished actor Sir John Standing's father-in-law, through his marriage to Jill). Jack's cousin Jackeydawra Melford was the second woman in Britain to direct a film (1914's The Inn on the Heath).

Ivor Salter (Odysseus) Aug 22 1925 to Jun 21 1991
Doctor Who credits
Played: Morok commander in The Space Museum (1965)
Played: Odysseus in The Myth Makers (1965)
Played: Sergeant Markham in Black Orchid (1982)
Career highlights
Ivor's career began in The Heart Within (1957) and went on to see roles in Police Surgeon (1960), The Six Proud Walkers (1962), Dog Eat Dog (1964), Adam Adamant Lives! (1966), Here Come the Double Deckers! (1970), In for a Penny (1972), Westway (1976), All Creatures Great and Small (1978), Crossroads (1979-80), The Invisible Man (1984), In Loving Memory (1986) and Executive Stress (1987).

Frances White (Cassandra) Born Nov 1 1938
Career highlights
Frances began acting in Winning Widows (1961) and went on to make appearances in The Pumpkin Eater (1964), Gazette (1968), Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), Thriller (1975), I, Claudius (1976), Prince Regent (1979), A Very Peculiar Practice (1986), Cluedo (1991), Harry's Mad (1996), Game On (1996), Tellystack (1997), Dangerfield (1998-99), The Courtroom (2004) and Doctors (2009). Frances also provided the voice of Granny Pig in the children's series Peppa Pig (2004-12), and memorably played Kate Hamilton in soap Crossroads (1977-78) and Vera Flood in the sitcom May to December (1989-94).
Facts
Frances's father was prolific movie art director Frank White. Frances was married for eight years to Anthony Hone, the brother of Camillus Hone, who in 1940 was adopted by Mary Poppins author P L Travers (Travers was offered both brothers, but opted for just the one). In 2013, Frances said of Anthony in an interview: "He was a Jekyll and Hyde when he was drinking. I never knew who would come through the door." You can read all about the P L Travers/ Hone family saga here.

CREW

Donald Cotton (writer) Apr 26 1928 to Dec 28 1999
Doctor Who credits
Wrote: The Myth Makers (1965), The Gunfighters (1966)
Career highlights
Experienced comedy writer Donald had previously adapted Greek tales for the BBC's Third Programme (starring Max Adrian and scored by Humphrey Searle, both involved in The Myth Makers), as well as written 1955's The Merry Christmas and the 1956 short film Five Guineas a Week. He went on to help create and write for Adam Adamant Lives! (1966), then turned his attentions to writing for the stage and being a columnist (this included the play My Dear Gilbert, with Jon Pertwee as W S Gilbert, performed in June 1969, just weeks after Pertwee had accepted the role of the Third Doctor). In 1966 he submitted an undeveloped storyline entitled The Herdsmen of Aquarius to the Doctor Who team, which boasted remarkable similarities to what later became Terror of the Zygons (1975). He also wrote lyrics for Tony Snell's 1973 album Medieval and Latter Day Lays, and in 1986 wrote the children's book The Bodkin Papers for Target Books, the fictional memoirs of a 150-year-old parrot.

Michael Leeston-Smith (director) Dec 12 1916 to Dec 5 2001 (septicaemia)
Career highlights
Starting out behind the scenes in TV and film in the 1930s - as well as being lighting engineer on The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and production assistant on Quatermass II (1955) - Michael's other directing duties include The Silver Box (1959), The Small House at Allington (1960), Witch Wood (1964), Thorndyke (1964), Z Cars (1962-65), Londoners (1965), R3 (1965) and A Most Unfortunate Accident (1968). As a producer he worked on The Freedom of the Prisoner (1958), The Withered Look of Summer (1959), The Silver Box and The Small House at Allington. He moved to South Africa in 1973 to work as a freelance director for the SABC when its colour TV broadcasts were in their infancy.

John Wiles (producer) Sep 20 1925 to Apr 5 1999
Doctor Who credits
Produced: The Myth Makers, The Daleks' Master Plan, The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, The Ark (1965-66)
Career highlights
South Africa born John also wrote for The Dancing Bear (1954), The Vise (1955), The Grove Family (1957), Your World (1961-62), This Man Craig (1966), The Newcomers (1966), Dixon of Dock Green (1967), Boy Meets Girl (1967-68), Judge Dee (1969), Menace (1970), Out of the Unknown (1971), The Regiment (1972), Warship (1973-74), Ballet Shoes (1975), Poldark (1977), A Horseman Riding By (1978) and Tycoon (1978), and script edited on Compact (1963), The Midnight Men (1964), A Man Called Harry Brent (1965), Contract to Kill (1965), The Mind of the Enemy (1965) and Dixon of Dock Green (1967-69).
Facts
John came to the UK in 1949 and worked for a time as a furniture porter. John had a fascination for the Greek myths, and often worked on productions of them in schools.

Donald Tosh (script editor) Mar 16 1935 to Dec 3 2019 Click here for Donald Tosh's entry on The Time Meddler

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