The Wheel in Space

Jamie (Frazer Hines) in a space
suit familiar to viewers of The
Tenth Planet...

Six episodes (Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6)
First broadcast Apr 27 to Jun 1 1968
Average audience for serial: 7.25m

An episode by episode review of this story can be read at Time Space Visualiser here.

REGULAR CAST

Patrick Troughton (The Doctor) Mar 25 1920 to Mar 28 1987 (heart attack) See Patrick Troughton's entry on The Power of the Daleks

Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon) Born Sep 22 1944 Click here for Frazer Hines's entry on The Highlanders

Deborah Watling (Victoria Waterfield) Jan 2 1948 to Jul 21 2017 (lung cancer) Click here for Deborah Watling's entry on The Evil of the Daleks

Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot) Born Dec 7 1947
Doctor Who credits
Played: Zoe Heriot in The Wheel in Space, The Dominators, The Mind Robber, The Invasion, The Krotons, The Seeds of Death, The Space Pirates, The War Games (1966-69). Return appearances in The Five Doctors (1983) and Tales of the TARDIS (2023); archive footage in Resurrection of the Daleks (1984).
Played: Jenny in Doctor Who and the Daleks in The Seven Keys to Doomsday (stage, 1974)
Career highlights
Coming second in the December 1964 talent series Search for a Star (the winner was Judi Johnson, who appeared uncredited in two Carry On films, then disappeared back into obscurity), Wendy then secured a regular role in the soap Crossroads as Stevie Harris, Meg Mortimer's foster daughter, and also appeared in Stand By Your Bedouin (1967), Charlie Bubbles (1967), Aladdin (1967) and The Dickie Henderson Show (1968) before getting the role of Zoe. After leaving Doctor Who she found work as a co-presenter on the second series of the musical game show Score with the Scaffold (1970), as well as acting roles in The Blood on Satan's Claw (1970), Z Cars (1971), Seasons of the Year (1971), Crown Court (1974), The Many Wives of Patrick (1976), Emmerdale Farm (1987) and The Bill (1991). She also had a regular role as Sue Craig in 39 episodes of Freewheelers (1971-73), and took presenting roles on You and Me (1976) and Merry-Go-Round (1977).
Facts
Wendy stopped acting in the early 1990s to become a theatrical agent, and counted Doctor Who luminaries Nicholas Courtney, Mark Strickson, Colin Baker and Matt Smith among her clients. Wendy was, between 1974-87, married to actor Melvyn Hayes. Her daughter is actress Charley Hayes.

GUEST CAST

Eric Flynn (Leo Ryan) Dec 13 1939 to Mar 4 2002 (cancer)
Career highlights
China-born Eric's debut came with Skyport (1959), then The Voodoo Factor (1959), The Silent Invasion (1962), As You Like It (1963), Dr Syn, Alias the Scarecrow (1963), Miss Adventure (1964), Weavers Green (1966), Glamour (1966), A Challenge for Robin Hood (1967), The Avengers (1967), The Caesars (1968), Ivanhoe (1970), Freewheelers (1971), The Black Arrow (1972-73), Maggie and Her (1978), Deadly Passion (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), An Actor's Life for Me (1991), The All New Alexei Sayle Show (1995) and Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1999).
Facts
His children are actors Jerome and Daniel Flynn, and singer songwriter Johnny Flynn (of Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit - he sang the theme song for the BBC4 comedy Detectorists (2014)), while his daughter-in-law is actress Serena Evans (best remembered as Sergeant Dawkins in the sitcom The Thin Blue Line). Born in China as his father was a customs officer for the Hong Kong government, Eric and his family spent some of World War Two in a Japanese concentration camp following the invasion of China by Japan.

Freddie Foote (Servo robot) Aug 7 1952 to Feb 18 2022
Career highlights
Freddie made his debut in King of the River (1966), after which he found roles in Blandings Castle (1967), The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (1967), Nicholas Nickleby (1968), Orlando (1968), The Dick Emery Show (1970), Catweazle (1970), Mr Digby Darling (1970), Jamie (1971), Whack-O! (1972), Crossroads (1972-73) and My Old Man (1975).
Facts
As an adult he quit acting to work for Royal Mail.

Derrick Gilbert (Armand Vallance) Born May 26 1937
Career highlights
Derrick's CV also includes work on Parade's End (1964), Turn Out the Lights (1967), Haunted (1967), The Borderers (1970), The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine (1971), A Traveller in Time (1978), A Horse Called Jester (1979), Grandad (1979) and In Suspicious Circumstances (1991).
Facts
Derrick's third wife was actress Xanthi Gardner, who also presented children's show You and Me for a time in the 1970s.

Michael Goldie (Elton Laleham) Feb 26 1932 to Jun 17 2013
Doctor Who credits
Played: Craddock in The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964)
Played: Elton Laleham in The Wheel in Space (1968)
Career highlights
Having previously appeared in The Avengers (1963), Michael later appeared in The Children of the New Forest (1964), Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969), Smith (1970), The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1973), Secret Army (1978), Matilda's England (1979), Get Lost! (1981), Fighting Back (1986), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) and Wycliffe (1996). Michael also played Bob Statham, owner of the Weatherfield Recorder, in soap Coronation Street (1983 & 1987-88).
Facts
Coincidentally, Michael's character in The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964) was played by his Wheel in Space co-star Kenneth Watson in the movie version, Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD (1966).

Peter Hawkins (Cyberman voice) Apr 3 1924 to Jul 8 2006 Click here for Peter Hawkins's entry on The Daleks

Jerry Holmes (Cyberman)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Parisian man in The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (1966, uncredited)
Played: Cyberman in The Wheel in Space (1968)
Career highlights
Other work includes Hancock (1967) and Mooney and His Caravans (1968).

Clare Jenkins (Tanya Lernov)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Nanina in The Savages (1966)
Played: Tanya Lernov in The Wheel in Space (1968), The War Games (1969)
Career highlights
Clare's other credits include Crossroads (1964), Weavers Green (1966), The Revenue Men (1967), Z Cars (1968), Ivanhoe (1970) and The Death of Adolf Hitler (1973).

Peter Laird (Chang) Born 1936
Career highlights
Debuting in Crane (1964), Peter's further work includes Vanity Fair (1969), George and the Dragon (1968), Take Three Girls (1969), Sense and Sensibility (1971), The Edwardians (1972), The Cedar Tree (1978), The Sandbaggers (1980), Sapphire and Steel (1981), Stay With Me Til Morning (1981), The Glory Boys (1984), The Man Who Cried (1993), Doctors (2000) and Dream Team (2002).

Kevork Malikyan (Kemel Rudkin) Born Jun 2 1943
Career highlights
Prolific Turkish-born Kevork made his debut in The Portrait of a Lady (1968), then took roles in Virgin of the Secret Service (1968), The Avengers (1969), The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970), Jason King (1972), Little Big Time (1973), Midnight Express (1978), Sphinx (1981), Duty Free (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Press Gang (1992), The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1993), Birds of a Feather (1994), The Final Cut (1995), The Commissioner (1998), Spooks (2002), Judge John Deed (2002), Saddam's Tribe (2007), Taken 2 (2012), Strike Back (2013), Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), The Promise (2016) and Silent Witness (2008/2017). He also had a long-running role as Maximillian Papandrious in the sitcom Mind Your Language (1977-79).

James Mellor (Sean Flannigan) Feb 4 1933 to Jan 28 1976
Doctor Who credits
Played: Sean Flannigan in The Wheel in Space (1968)
Played: Varan in The Mutants (1972)
Career highlights
James' debut was in Eugene O'Neill: Three Plays of the Sea (1960), followed by The Madhouse on Castle Street (1963), The Man in Room 17 (1965), Marat/ Sade (1967), The Oblong Box (1969), The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), Doomwatch (1972), The Edwardians (1972), The Regiment (1973), Last of the Summer Wine (1973), On the Game (1974), Churchill's People (1975) and Moll Flanders (1975).
Facts
James died at the age of just 42. His friend Peter O'Toole organised his funeral and wake, as well as a memorial event at the Old Vic in aid of his young family.

Anne Ridler (Dr Gemma Corwyn) Feb 8 1930 to Feb 2 2011 (throat cancer)
Career highlights
Chinese-born Anne debuted in Portrait of Alison (1955), then made appearances in My Friend Charles (1956), A Time of Day (1957), The Camp on Blood Island (1958), Suspense (1962), The Scarlet and the Black (1965), Thursday's Child (1973), Moonbase 3 (1973), Harriet's Back in Town (1973), Whodunnit? (1974), The Tomorrow People (1975), Kizzy (1976), Tenko (1981), Tucker's Luck (1984), Strike It Rich! (1986), Wyatt's Watchdogs (1988), The Bill (1998) and Up at the Villa (2000). She also had a long-running role as Sergeant Chris Freeman in Dixon of Dock Green (1962-64) and will forever be immortalised as the voice of Kate Kestrel and Cy-Star in the children's puppet series Terrahawks (1983-86).
Facts
She was for a time married to actor Emrys Jones, who appeared in the Doctor Who story The Mind Robber (1968).

Roy Skelton (Cyberman voice) Jul 20 1931 to Jun 8 2011 (pneumonia following a stroke) Click here for Roy Skelton's entry on The Ark

Gordon Stothard (Cyberman) Born Jan 31 1933
Doctor Who credits
Played: Yeti in The Web of Fear (1968)
Played: Cyberman in The Wheel in Space (1968)
Played: Man carrying caskets in The Invasion (1968, uncredited)
Played: Prison officer in The Mind of Evil (1971, uncredited)
Played: Grun in The Curse of Peladon (1972, as Gordon St Clair)
Career highlights
Gordon's only other credited role was in Paul Temple (1970).

Donald Sumpter (Enrico Casali) Born Feb 13 1943
Doctor Who credits
Played: Enrico Casali in The Wheel in Space (1968)
Played: Commander Ridgeway in The Sea Devils (1972)
Played: Erasmus Darkening in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Eternity Trap (2009)
Played: Rassilon in Hell Bent (2015)
Career highlights
Prolific Donald debuted in Softly Softly (1967), then found work in Gazette (1968), Groupie Girl (1970), Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), Hadleigh (1973), Sadie, It's Cold Outside (1975), Jesus of Nazareth (1977), The Black Panther (1977), Antony and Cleopatra (1981), The Brack Report (1982), Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), Bleak House (1985), Boon (1986), Big Deal (1985-86), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1990), Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1990), The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), Between the Lines (1994), Our Friends in the North (1996), Cold Lazarus (1996), Bombay Blue (1997), Great Expectations (1999), The Queen's Nose (1995-2000), The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (2001), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), The Last Detective (2004), Dracula (2006), New Tricks (2008), Einstein and Eddington (2008), Being Human (2009-2010), Spooks (2010), Merlin (2010), The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (2011), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Game of Thrones (2011-12), Wallander (2012), The Mill (2013), Atlantis (2013), Quirke (2014), New Worlds (2014), Jekyll and Hyde (2015), The Knackerman (2016), Peaky Blinders (2017), 12 Monkeys (2018), Les Miserables (2018-19), Chernobyl (2019) and The Cleaner (2021).
Facts
In 1978, Donald turned down the role of Blake in sci-fi show Blake's 7. The gap of 43 years between his second and third appearances in Doctor Who makes him the record holder for biggest period of time between appearances in the programme.

Michael Turner (Jarvis Bennett) Jul 19 1921 to Jul 14 2012
Career highlights
South African born Michael made his debut in The Black Arrow (1951), after which he popped up in many productions, such as Sherlock Holmes (1955), The Moonstone (1959), Crosstrap (1962), Othello (1965), Emergency Ward 10 (1967), The Gamblers (1967), The Avengers (1968), Big Breadwinner Hog (1969), Strange Report (1969), Cranford (1972), The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1973), The Brothers (1974), Public Eye (1975), The New Avengers (1977), A Question of Guilt (1980), To Serve Them All My Days (1980), Mr Pye (1986), Cry Freedom (1987), Lady Chatterley (1993), Pie in the Sky (1996) and The Bill (1998).

Kenneth Watson (Bill Duggan) Nov 16 1931 to Jul 21 1998 (pancreatic cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Craddock in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD (1966)
Played: Bill Duggan in The Wheel in Space (1968)
Career highlights
Debuted in Kidnapped (1956), then Formula for Danger (1960), Mill of Secrets (1960), Man of the World (1962), Taxi! (1963), The Liars (1966), The Revenue Men (1968), Public Eye (1969), Dad's Army (1969), Timeslip (1970), Budgie (1972), Holly (1972), The Brothers (1973), Funny Ha-Ha (1974), Crown Court (1974-76), Horse in the House (1977), The New Avengers (1977), Murder at the Wedding (1979), Coronation Street (1975/79/80), Grandad (1980), Wycliffe (1994) and The Bill (1996). He had a long-running role as Brian Blair in Scottish soap High Road (1987-90).
Facts
Coincidentally, Kenneth's character in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD (1966) was played by his Wheel in Space co-star Michael Goldie in the TV version, The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964).

CREW

David Whitaker (writer) Apr 18 1928 to Feb 4 1980 (cancer) Click here for David Whitaker's entry on An Unearthly Child

Kit Pedler (story idea) Jun 11 1927 to May 27 1981 (heart attack) Click here for Kit Pedler's entry on The War Machines

Tristan de Vere Cole (director) Born Mar 16 1935

Doctor Who credits
Production assistant: The Gunfighters (1966, uncredited)
Directed: The Wheel in Space (1968)
Career highlights
Tristan's directing work includes United! (1966-67), Kenilworth (1967), Take Three Girls (1969-70), The Doctors (1971), Spy Trap (1972), Emmerdale Farm (1972-73, including its first episode), seven episodes of Thirty Minute Theatre (1968-73), Owen, MD (1971-73), Marked Personal (1974), Trinity Tales (1975), Warship (1974/76), Survivors (1977), Angels (1976-78), Z Cars (1967-78), Secret Army (1979), Buccaneer (1980), The Spoils of War (1981), Kessler (1981), Squadron (1982), The Odd Job Man (1984), Howards' Way (1985-88), Bergerac (1988-91) and Trainer (1991-92). He also directed and produced the series Sally Ann in 1979.
Facts
Tristan believes himself to be the last surviving illegitimate child of infamously amorous bohemian Welsh painter Augustus John, who is said to have fathered more than 100 children in his 83-year lifetime.

Peter Bryant (producer) Oct 27 1923 to May 19 2006 (cancer) Click here for Peter Bryant's entry on The Faceless Ones

Derrick Sherwin (script editor) Apr 16 1936 to Oct 17 2018 Click here for Derrick Sherwin's entry on The Web of Fear