Wednesday, June 18, 2014

The Ark in Space

Wirrn, Wirrn, Wirrn...
Four episodes (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four)
First broadcast Jan 25 to Feb 15 1975
Average audience for serial: 11.10m

REGULAR CAST

Tom Baker (The Doctor) Born Jan 20 1934 Click here for Tom Baker's entry on Robot

Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) Feb 1 1946 to Apr 19 2011 (pancreatic cancer) Click here for Elisabeth Sladen's entry on The Time Warrior

Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan) Oct 28 1944 to Oct 28 1986 (diabetes-related heart attack) Click here for Ian Marter's entry on Carnival of Monsters

GUEST CAST

Stuart Fell (Wirrn operator) Born 1942 Click here for Stuart Fell's entry on The Curse of Peladon

John Gregg (Lycett) Jan 12 1939 to May 29 2021
Career highlights
Tasmanian born John debuted in Consider Your Verdict (1964), and then appeared in Wandjina! (1966), Riptide (1968), Paul Temple (1971), Harriet's Back in Town (1972), Within These Walls (1974), The Glittering Prizes (1976), Rooms (1977), Disraeli (1978), Charlie Muffin (1979), The Gentle Touch (1980), A Country Practice (1984), Bodyline (1984), Bootleg (1985), Two Brothers Running (1988), Captain James Cook (1988), The Flying Doctors (1990), Cluedo (1992), One of Us (1995), Emmerdale: The Dingles Down Under (1997), The Ripper (1997), Adrenaline Junkies (1998), Medivac (1998), All Saints (2001), Farscape (2001), Blue Heelers (2002), Young Lions (2002), Grass Roots (2000-03), Home and Away (1989/2004/2006), Rogue Nation (2009), Spirited (2010), Power Games: The Packer-Murdoch Story (2013), Old School (2014), House of Bond (2017), Fighting Season (2018) and Operation Buffalo (2020). John's regular roles included Charles Keally in Contrabandits (1967-68), Jeff Mallow in Delta (1969-70) and Principal Alan Carson in Heartbreak High (1999).
Facts
John was on the board of the Actors' Benevolent Fund of New South Wales, Australia.

Nick Hobbs (Wirrn operator) Click here for Nick Hobbs's entry on The Curse of Peladon

Christopher Masters (Libri) Born Jan 8 1945
Career highlights
Christopher's other credits include Frontier (1968), Trial (1971), The Regiment (1972), The Protectors (1974) and Dickens of London (1976).
Facts
Christopher quit acting to become a theatre director, setting up the Millstream Theatre Company. More recently he has moved to France to become an author and also runs residential drama workshops.

Kenton Moore (Noah) Born Mar 31 1932
Doctor Who credits
Played: Suicidal Roboman in The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964, uncredited)
Played: Noah in The Ark in Space (1975)
Career highlights
Kenton made his debut appearance in The Pot Carriers (1960), then appeared in Looking About (1961), The Big Spender (1965), The Expert (1971), Elizabeth R (1971), Spy Trap (1973), Churchill's People (1975), Target (1977), Dombey and Son (1983) and Rumpole of the Bailey (1983/87/88). He also regularly played Chief Inspector Logie in Z Cars (1972-74).

Richardson Morgan (Rogin)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Corporal Blake in The Web of Fear (1968)
Played: Rogin in The Ark in Space (1975)
Career highlights
Debuting in Vendetta (1967), Detective (1968), Richardson's career took in Tales of Unease (1970), New Scotland Yard (1972), Van der Valk (1973), The Adventurer (1973), Holding On (1977), Rebecca (1979), Two People (1979), Shine on Harvey Moon (1984), Inspector Morse (1987), EastEnders (1994) and A Respectable Trade (1998). He also wrote an episode of the anthology series Tales of Unease in 1970.
Facts
From the 1980s he went by the professional name of Ric Morgan.

Gladys Spencer (Voices) Nov 27 1894 to Dec 10 1992
Career highlights
American-born Gladys's first credit is The Pleasure Garden (1953), followed by St Ives (1955), The Silver Sword (1957), No Hiding Place (1960), Psyche 59 (1964), Gordon of Khartoum (1966), Fraud Squad (1969), One More Time (1970), Crime of Passion (1972), Dead of Night (1972), The Protectors (1973), Crown Court (1975), The Ice House (1978), Tales of the Unexpected (1979/82) and Objects of Affection (1982).
Facts
She was a prolific voice artiste and radio actor, who came to prominence in the 1930s as part of the BBC's radio repertory company.

Peter Tuddenham (Computer voice) Nov 27 1918 to Jul 9 2007
Doctor Who credits
Played: Computer voice in The Ark in Space (1975)
Played: Mandragora Helix Titan voice in The Masque of Mandragora (1976)
Played: Brain voice in Time and the Rani (1987)
Career highlights
Peter's earliest role was in An English Summer (1949), followed by roles in Our Marie (1953), The Granville Melodramas (1955), followed by roles in Musical Playhouse (1959), The Valiant Varneys (1965), Weavers Green (1966), Nearest and Dearest (1968), The Nine Tailors (1974), Quiller (1975), The Expert (1976), Backs to the Land (1977-78), The Onedin Line (1980), Nanny (1981-82), Maelstrom (1985), Only Fools and Horses (1986), Campion (1989), The Camomile Lawn (1992), Waiting for God (1993), One Foot in the Grave (1995) and The Bill (1995). Peter's most famous role was voicing ship computers Zen and Slave, as well as the mobile computer Orac, in 49 episodes of sci-fi series Blake's 7 (1978-81) - and he reprised the role of Orac in 2004 for the Blake's 7 spoof Blake's 7 Junction.
Facts
Prolific voice actor Peter was an authority on the East Anglian dialect, and coached performers in the Suffolk accent for Glyndebourne operas.

Wendy Williams (Vira) Nov 7 1934 to Oct 17 2019
Career highlights
Wendy made her debut in A Party for Christmas (1954), then The Woman for Joe (1955), The Vise (1959), Crash Drive (1959), The Eustace Diamonds (1959), The Cheaters (1961), No Hiding Place (1964), The Further Adventures of the Musketeers (1967), Trial (1971), The Regiment (1972), Jack the Ripper (1973), Dominic (1974), Survivors (1976), Poldark (1977), Wuthering Heights (1978), Butterflies (1979), The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (1981), Tenko (1981), Late Starter (1985), The District Nurse (1987), Saracen (1989), The Black Velvet Gown (1991), The Darling Buds of May (1991) and The Bill (1993). Wendy also had a regular role as Frances Graham in Knight Errant (1960-61).
Facts
Wendy was married to former Doctor Who director Hugh David until he died in 1987.

CREW

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

Rodney Bennett (director) Mar 24 1935 to Jan 3 2017
Doctor Who credits
Directed: The Ark in Space (1975), The Sontaran Experiment (1975), The Masque of Mandragora (1976)
Career highlights
Rodney started out as a child psychologist, then a BBC radio producer, before moving into TV with the advent of BBC2. Some examples of the series he directed are nine Thirty Minute Theatres (1969-73), 13 episodes of Z Cars (1969-74), Trial (1971), The Regiment (1972), Mistress of Hardwick (1972), Madame Bovary (1975), North and South (1975), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1978), The Lost Boys (1978), Sense and Sensibility (1981), Stalky & Co (1982), Dombey and Son (1983), Rumpole of the Bailey (1987), The Darling Buds of May (1991-93), The House of Eliott (1991), Soldier Soldier (1993-94) and Doctor Finlay (1996).
Facts
Rodney wrote three books for children called Eagle Boy (1986), Abbots Way (1994) and Angel Voice (1997).
In 2015 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Rodney here.

Philip Hinchcliffe (producer) Born Oct 1 1944
Doctor Who credits
Produced: The Ark in Space, The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks, Revenge of the Cybermen, Terror of the Zygons, Planet of Evil, Pyramids of Mars, The Android Invasion, The Brain of Morbius, The Seeds of Doom, The Masque of Mandragora, The Hand of Fear, The Deadly Assassin, The Face of Evil, The Robots of Death, The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1975-77)
Career highlights
Doctor Who was one of Philip's first TV jobs, after being script editor on Alexander the Greatest (1971), You're Only Young Twice (1971), The Jensen Code (1973) and The Kids from 47A (1973-74). After leaving Doctor Who, Philip became producer on Target (1977-78), Private Schulz (1981), Nancy Astor (1982), Strangers and Brothers (1984), Knockback (1984), The Charmer (1987), Bust (1987-88), And a Nightingale Sang (1989), The Gravy Train (1990), The Gravy Train Goes East (1991), Friday On My Mind (1992), Downwardly Mobile (1994), An Awfully Big Adventure (1995), Total Eclipse (1995), Seesaw (1998), McCallum (1998), The Last Musketeer (2000), Rebus (2000), Taggart (1999-2001) and Take Me (2001). Philip has also written scripts for Crossroads (1970), Target (1977) and Bust (1987-88), and novelised three Doctor Who stories for Target Books.
Facts
Philip won the 1990 Prix Europa Fiction Prize for And a Nightingale Sang, a film adapted from C P Taylor's play by screenwriter Jack Rosenthal. In 1977 he was nominated for a BAFTA for his work on Doctor Who, and received a further nomination for Private Schulz. There was also an Emmy nomination for Nancy Astor, a mini-series he produced in 1982. His daughter Celina Hinchcliffe is a British TV sports presenter, including for SkySports. His brother-in-law is actor Geoffrey Whitehead. In 2014 Philip returned to the world of Doctor Who by writing two new audio serials for the Fourth Doctor and Leela for Big Finish Productions.

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