The Space Pirates

"Zoe, I do wish you hadn't dropped
your contact lens on this mesh floor!"

Six episodes (Episode One, Episode Two, Episode Three, Episode Four, Episode Five, Episode Six)
First broadcast Mar 8 to Apr 12 1969
Average audience for serial: 5.93m

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

Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot) Born Dec 7 1947 Click here for Wendy Padbury's entry on The Wheel in Space

GUEST CAST

Lisa Daniely (Madeleine Issigri) Jun 4 1929 to Jan 24 2014
Career highlights
Born Elizabeth Bodington (which she reverted back to in 1978), Lisa debuted in The Case of Thomas Pyke in 1949, followed by the title role of Lilli Marlene in 1950. She had a prolific career in productions such as Hindle Wakes (1952), The Wedding of Lilli Marlene (1953), Sailor of Fortune (1956), Interpol Calling (1959), The Pursuers (1961), Jezebel ex UK (1963), Voodoo Blood Death (1965), Pardon the Expression (1966), The Saint (1966), Strange Report (1969), The First Churchills (1969), Fraud Squad (1970), The Protectors (1973), The Spencer Side (1978), The Enigma Files (1980), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984), Souvenir (1989) and Princess in Love (1996). She regularly played Diane Brady in the series Invisible Man (1958-59), alongside a very young Deborah Watling.
Facts
Lisa's one-woman show for the Edinburgh Fringe told the story of Theroigne de Mericourt, an avid supporter of the French Revolution, who spent the last 20 years of her life in a mental hospital. She was working on turning the script into a novel when she died.

Anthony Donovan (Space guard) Apr 14 1945 to Sep 10 2016
Career highlights
His CV also includes Cross Now (1977) and Knightmare (1993, as Grimaldine and the Brollachan), Utz (1992), Witchcraft (1992) and Vanity Fair (1998).

Dudley Foster (Caven) Aug 7 1924 to Jan 8 1973 (suicide)
Career highlights
Dudley's first appearance was in Six Characters in Search of an Author (1954), then Fast and Loose (1955), The Two-Headed Spy (1958), Police Surgeon (1960), Coronation Street (1961), Ricochet (1963), Crane (1964), A Study in Terror (1965), Bat Out of Hell (1966), The Avengers (1965/67/68), The Expert (1969), If It Moves, File It (1970), That's Your Funeral (1971), The Fenn Street Gang (1971), Catweazle (1971), Jason King (1972), It's Murder But Is It Art? (1972), Harriet's Back in Town (1972) and Mistress Pamela (1974). Dudley also had a regular role as Detective Inspector Dunn in Z Cars (1962/64), and in 1970 appeared in a 30-minute documentary called Two in a Tiger in which he learnt to fly a De Havilland Tiger Moth plane.
Facts
His wife was Eileen Kennally, best known for her roles in The Liver Birds (1975-76) and In Sickness and in Health (1986-87). Although unsubstantiated, there is one school of thought that believes Dudley killed himself due to terminal illness.

Donald Gee (Major Ian Warne) Sep 28 1937 to Jan 14 2022
Doctor Who credits
Played: Major Ian Warne in The Space Pirates (1969)
Played: Eckersley in The Monster of Peladon (1974)
Career highlights
Donald debuted in 1965's Ferry Cross the Mersey, and later went on to appear in Z Cars (1965, as PC Walker), The Forsyte Saga (1967), The Avengers (1968), The Expert (1971), Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973), If There Weren't Any Blacks You'd Have to Invent Them (1974), Churchill's People (1975), One-Upmanship (1976-78), 1990 (1977), The Olympian Way (1981), Driving Ambition (1984), Wish Me Luck (1989), Coronation Street (1994-95, as Roger Crompton), Oh, Doctor Beeching! (1996), Doctors (2001) and Killing Me Softly (2002). Donald also had a regular role as village shopkeeper Mr Boynton in Born and Bred (2002-05).
Facts
Donald was married to award-winning stage and radio playwright Shirley Gee (nee Thieman).

Gordon Gostelow (Milo Clancey) May 14 1925 to Jun 3 2007
Career highlights
New Zealander Gordon's career began with 1954's Rain Before Seven, followed by A Tale of Two Cities (1957), An Age of Kings (1960), Lorna Doone (1963), Second City Reports (1964), Cluff (1965), David Copperfield (1966), Mr Aitch (1967), Nicholas Nickleby (1968), The Railway Children (1968), Wuthering Heights (1970), Elizabeth R (1971), The Pallisers (1974), Dominic/ Boy Dominic (1976), Rooms (1977), The Day Christ Died (1980), County Hall (1981), Shelley (1982), Tripper's Day (1984), Capstick's Law (1989), How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989), Merlin of the Crystal Cave (1991) and Wives and Daughters (1999).
Facts
His wife was actress Vivian Pickles, and their son is actor Harry Gostelow. An attack of tuberculosis confined Gordon to a sanatorium for several months in 1955, aged 30.

Esmond Knight (Dom Issigri) May 4 1906 to Feb 23 1987 (heart attack)
Career highlights
Esmond - who suffered from terrible stage fright and a debilitating stutter - appeared in over 120 productions, starting with The Blue Peter (1928), followed by The Ringer (1931), Girls Will Be Boys (1934), Some Day (1935), Derby Day (1938), The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (1940), The Silver Fleet (1943), Uncle Silas (1947), Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948), The Wild Heart (1952), Richard III (1955), Helen of Troy (1956), The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), Nicholas Nickleby (1957), Invisible Man (1959), Peeping Tom (1960), A for Andromeda (1961), The Midnight Men (1964), Z Cars (1969), Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), Elizabeth R (1971), Cousin Bette (1971), The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972), Fall of Eagles (1974), I, Claudius (1976), Supernatural (1977), The Borgias (1981), The Invisible Man (1984), Blott on the Landscape (1985), Superman IV (1987) and Fortunes of War (1987).
Facts
While serving in the Second World War in 1941, Esmond lost an eye and was almost totally blinded in the other during an engagement aboard the Bismarck. This stood him in good stead for playing a Royal Navy officer in the film Sink the Bismarck! (1960). Esmond's daughter Rosalind may be best recognised as neighbour Beryl in the sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme. His second wife was actress Nora Swinburne, while his granddaughter is actress Su Elliott.
This is Your Life: Esmond was the subject of the BBC's This is Your Life on February 18th, 1957, surprised by host Eamonn Andrews at the King's Theatre, Hammersmith (Esmond was actually TiYL's earliest Doctor Who subject). Link to The Big Red Book entry.

George Layton (Technician Penn) Born Mar 2 1943
Career highlights
Multi-talented George made his debut as an actor and presenter playing Eustace Hadden in Swizzlewick (1964), followed by The Likely Lads (1965), United! (1965), Look and Read (1968), Jackanory (1969), Dixon of Dock Green (1969), The Liver Birds (1969/71), Coronation Street (1971), That's Life! (1973), The Sweeney (1975), Carry On Behind (1975), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976), Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977), Keep It in the Family (1980), The Kenny Everett Television Show (1986), Metropolis (2000), Holby City (2004), Einstein's Big Idea (2005), Heartbeat (2006) and One Candle One Man (2013). George became most famous for playing Dr Paul Collier in the Doctor... sitcom franchise - Doctor in the House (1969-70), Doctor At Large (1971), Doctor in Charge (1972-73) and Doctor at the Top (1991). He also found success as Bombardier Solomons in It Ain't Half Hot, Mum (1974-75), Brian Booth in My Brother's Keeper (1975-76), the narrator for children's animation Pigeon Street (1981), Vernon Potter in Robin's Nest (1979-81), Des in Minder (1979-82), Alan Brookes in Sunburn (1999-2000) and Norman Simmonds in EastEnders (2011-12). Interestingly, he played the Doctor in the never transmitted French and Saunders Doctor Who spoof later included on the VHS release of the Comic Relief skit The Curse of Fatal Death (1999). George has also written for many series, such as the various Doctor... series (1971-91), Nearest and Dearest (1972), On the Buses (1972-73), My Name is Harry Worth (1974), Don't Wait Up (1983-87), Me and My Girl (1985) and Executive Stress (1986). He has also written three books, once part of the National Curriculum reading list, concerning life in the north of England in the 1940s and 50s.
This is Your Life: George was the subject of BBC TV's This is Your Life on January 18th, 1999, surprised by host Michael Aspel during a photoshoot at Holborn Studios, London.

Jack May (General Hermack) Apr 23 1922 to Sep 19 1997
Career highlights
Jack's screen debut came in Give Me the Stars (1945), followed by The Oracle (1953), Cat Girl (1957), The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1957), An Age of Kings (1960), The Citadel (1960-61), A for Andromeda (1961), The Avengers (1964), Thorndyke (1964), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), Goodbye, Mr Chips (1969), Trog (1970), The Ten Commandments (1971), The Pathfinders (1972-73, as Squadron Leader Shanks), Poldark (1977), A Horseman Riding By (1978), Sammy's Super T-Shirt (1978), Ripping Yarns (1979), The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981), The Cleopatras (1983), Scarecrow and Mrs King (1984), The Doctor and the Devils (1985), Jeeves and Wooster (1990), The Mixer (1992) and The Ring (1996). Jack's more prominent roles were as William E Simms in Adam Adamant Lives! (1966-67) and the voice of Igor in Count Duckula (1988-93). He also provided the voice of Nelson Gabriel on BBC Radio 4's soap The Archers for over 45 years.
Facts
His wife was actress Petra Davies. Jack also ran an antiques dealership in London for many years.

Brian Peck (Dervish) Oct 24 1930 to Apr 3 2021
Career highlights
Debuting in the title role of The Voyage of Peter Joe in 1946, Brian's further credits include The Crime of the Century (1956), Nicholas Nickleby (1957), Follow That Man (1961), The Valiant (1962), What Every Woman Wants (1962), Mary Barton (1964), Cluff (1965), The Beverly Hillbillies (1968), Twisted Nerve (1968), Trial (1971), The Dragon's Opponent (1973), Survivors (1975), Rooms (1977), Shadows (1978), Rising Damp (1978, as Rigsby's brother Ron), Break in the Sun (1981), Open All Hours (1981), Minder (1984), Sorry! (1988), London's Burning (1989), Peak Practice (1997), Last of the Summer Wine (1988/2004), M.I High (2008), Merlin (2009), Rev (2011), A Touch of Cloth (2012), Boomers (2014), Coronation Street (1968/1979/2014) and Doctors (2004/07/09/14). He had regular roles as Culliford in Codename (1970) and Headmaster (1977), and Bowers in The Long Chase (1972).
Facts
He was married to actress Jennifer Wilson, best known as Jennifer Hammond in The Brothers. He passed away at his home in France.

Steve Peters (Pirate guard)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Extra in The Romans (1965, uncredited)
Played: Leader Roboman in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD (1966)
Played: Ice Warrior in The Seeds of Death (1969)
Played: Pirate guard in The Space Pirates (1969)
Played: Lefee/ Astronaut in The Ambassadors of Death (1970)
Career highlights
Steve's other appearances include The Mind of the Enemy (1965), Touch of Leather (1968), The Doctors (1969), Out of the Unknown (1969), The Onedin Line (1971), Virgin Witch (1972), Menace (1973) and Moonbase 3 (1973).

Nik Zaran (Lieutenant Sorba) Jan 19 1933 to Jan 3 2014
Career highlights
Nik's other credits include Man in a Suitcase (1968), Department S (1969), Jason King (1971), Hine (1971), The Regiment (1973), Shaft in Africa (1973) and It Ain't Half Hot, Mum (1974).
Facts
Nik's real name was Tracy Connell, and he was born in St Vincent and the Grenadines. He left there in 1952 and worked as an actor in the UK for the next 25 years before returned to his home country and working in performing arts. Here's a lovely tribute to him by his nephew Chester.

CREW

Robert Holmes (writer) Apr 2 1926 to May 24 1986 (chronic liver ailment) Click here to see Robert Holmes's entry on The Krotons

Michael Hart (director) Mar 31 1930 to Feb 21 2012
Career highlights
Michael's other directing work includes 20 episodes of Compact (1964-65), 199 Park Lane (1965), Softly Softly (1967-68), The Newcomers (1968), Boy Meets Girl (1969), The Doctors (1970), 22 editions of Thirty Minute Theatre (1966-71), Z Cars (1968-71), Raven (1977) and 90 episodes of soap Crossroads (1972-80).
Facts
Michael was the younger brother of British artist and children's TV presenter Tony Hart.

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