Wednesday, September 03, 2014

State of Decay

Zargo (William Lindsay), Aukon (Emrys
James) and Camilla (Rachel Davies)
smile for the camera
Four episodes (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four)
First broadcast Nov 22 to Dec 13 1980
Average audience for serial: 5.23m

REGULAR CAST

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

Lalla Ward (Romana) Born Jun 28 1951 Click here for Lalla Ward's entry on The Armageddon Factor

John Leeson (Voice of K-9) Born Mar 16 1943 Click here for John Leeson's entry on The Invisible Enemy

Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) Born Dec 19 1961 Click here for Matthew Waterhouse's entry on Full Circle

GUEST CAST

Dean Allen (Karl)
Career highlights
Dean also had roles in The Mystery of the Disappearing Schoolgirls (1980), The Wicked Lady (1983), Waters of the Moon (1983) and played Georgie Porgie in the series Jane (1982-84).

Thane Bettany (Tarak) May 28 1929 to Nov 7 2015
Career highlights
Accomplished stage actor Thane's other screen credits include Love from Judy (1953), The Granville Melodramas (1955-56), Hamlet (1961), No Hiding Place (1963), Ffolkes (1979), The Talisman (1980-81) and Maelstrom (1985).
Facts
Malaysia-born Thane's godmother was the American writer Agnes Newton Keith. His son was film actor Paul Bettany, who is married to Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Connelly; a second son, Matthew, died following a fall at the age of eight. Thane was also the godfather of Sophie Rhys-Jones, Countess of Wessex and wife of Prince Edward (Thane's widowed father married Margaret Rhys-Jones, Sophie's grandmother). Thane divorced his wife Anne Kettle in 1993 and moved in with his new partner, Andy Little. He considered having gender reassignment surgery, but being too old for NHS treatment considered private treatment instead. He dropped the idea on grounds of cost and his career. After Little's death, Thane "went back into the closet" (son Paul's words) out of difficulties reconciling his sexuality and his Catholic faith. Most of Thane's acting career was spent on the stage, after he trained as a ballet dancer and mime artist, but he had to give up ballet when he injured his back on stage.

Stuart Blake (Zoldaz) Born Sep 2 1950
Doctor Who credits
Played: Zoldaz in State of Decay (1980)
Played: Commander in The Five Doctors (1983)
Played: Scibus in Warriors of the Deep (1984)
Career highlights
Other work includes A Bridge Too Far (1977), Flash Gordon (1980), King Lear (1982), Metal Mickey (1982), The Fourth Arm (1983) and Amy (1984).
Facts
Stuart gave up acting in 1987 and is now a "communications designer", principally for social media and live events. Stuart has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London for his part in the 800th anniversary celebrations of the London Mayoralty.

Rachel Davies (Camilla)
Career highlights
Rachel's earliest credit was in The Troubleshooters (1971), and later Harriet's Back in Town (1973), Thriller (1975), The Cuckoo Waltz (1975), Coronation Street (1975-76), The Sweeney (1978), Yanks (1979), The Professionals (1980), Strangers (1980/82), Grange Hill (1983-84), A Private Function (1984), Crossroads (1985), The Manageress (1990), Telltale (1993), Cracker (1994), Hillsborough (1996), Harbour Lights (2000), The Last Detective (2003), Fat Friends (2004), Bodies (2004), Best Friends (2004), Cutting It (2005), Dalziel and Pascoe (2006), Midsomer Murders (2007), Waterloo Road (2011), Doctors (2004/09/11/13) and Holby City (2003/17). Her regular roles include Doreen Evans in Boon (1986), Pauline in Making Out (1989-91), Shirley Turner in Emmerdale (1993-94), Joyce Webster in Band of Gold (1995-96), Iris Green in Linda Green (2001-02) and Margaret Wright in The Chase (2006-07).

Stacy Davies (Veros) Jul 13 1936 to Jul 7 2019
Doctor Who credits
Played: Private Perkins in The Invasion (1968)
Played: Veros in State of Decay (1980)
Career highlights
Stacy's earliest credit was on 1963's The Human Jungle, and subsequently King of the River (1966), The Revenue Men (1967), Sex and the Other Woman (1972), Barlow (1975), Clayhanger (1976), The Flockton Flyer (1977), 1990 (1977), A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (1979), Terry and June (1982), Eh Brian! It's a Whopper (1984), The Magnificent Evans (1984), Scene: Your Place or Mine (1985), Rockcliffe's Folly (1988), Bernard and the Genie (1991), Virtual Murder (1992), Backup (1997), Big Women (1998), Lady Audley's Secret (2000) and London's Burning (2001). He had a recurring role as Dick Willoughby in medical drama Angels (1981-83).

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

Clinton Greyn (Ivo) Sep 29 1933 to Mar 19 2019
Doctor Who credits
Played: Ivo in State of Decay (1980)
Played: Stike in The Two Doctors (1985)
Clinton also played Group Marshal Nathan in the Jim'll Fix It sketch A Fix with Sontarans (1985)
Career highlights
Clinton debuted in The Dark Pits of War (1960), then Off Centre (1961), soap Compact (1962-63, as Mike McClusky), The Newcomers (1966), Robbery (1967), The Ugliest Girl in Town (1969), The Champions (1969), Raid on Rommel (1971), The Love Machine (1971), Swedish Fly Girls (1971), Jason King (1971), The Zoo Gang (1974), Shine On Harvey Moon (1985), Howards' Way (1987) and The Chef's Apprentice (1989). Clinton also played the lead role of Captain Robert Virgin in the action series Virgin of the Secret Service (1968).
Facts
In the early 1970s Clinton bought a plot of land between a row of 19th century houses in Notting Hill, London, the last vacant bombsite left over from the Blitz. There he had built a minimalist house, inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's house Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, USA, which was almost never completed due to protests from English Heritage. It is now regarded as a masterful piece of architecture which may well become listed in years to come. Clinton comes in for some unfortunate criticism from acting legend Richard Burton in his diaries during the filming of Raid on Rommel in July 1970: "Clinton Greyn is not a very good actor I'm afraid. He's tall and good-looking in a kind of weak way with a voice that threatens to become prissy when he presses... It's odd that I cannot define what a good actor has, what quality or style, but I can tell a bad actor immediately and Clinton Greyn is bad... He is a typically mediocre Rep actor and there's nowt one can do about that. He should never have been cast in the first place."
In 2018 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Clinton here.

Arthur Hewlett (Kalmar) Mar 12 1907 to Feb 25 1997
Doctor Who credits
Played: Kalmar in State of Decay (1980)
Played: Kimber in The Trial of a Time Lord (1986)
Career highlights
Arthur made his debut in Buoyant Billions (1949), then Jonah (1950), Calling Bulldog Drummond (1951), Quatermass and the Pit (1958), Harpers West One (1961-62), The Third Alibi (1961), Hugh and I (1962), The Avengers (1962), HMS Paradise (1964), The Valiant Varneys (1964-65), Three Bites of the Apple (1967), A Dandy in Aspic (1968), Sinister Street (1969), Castle Haven (1969), The Unpleasantness of the Bellona Club (1972), Emmerdale Farm (1973), The Kids from 47A (1974), Man About the House (1974), The Changes (1975), Dickens of London (1976), Blake's 7 (1979), The Black Adder (1983), That's My Boy (1985-86), Lost Empires (1986), Personal Services (1987), Moondial (1988), Great Expectations (1989), Memento Mori (1992) and Class Act (1994).

Emrys James (Aukon) Sep 1 1928 to Feb 5 1989 (brain tumour)
Career highlights
Welshman Emrys first gained a credit in 1946's The Corn is Green, followed by A Man for All Seasons (1957), Nick of the River (1959), How Green Was My Valley (1960), The House Under the Water (1961), Z Cars (1963), It's Dark Outside (1964), The Portsmouth Defence (1966), Wuthering Heights (1967), Seeing and Believing (1965-70), The Main Chance (1972), Seven of One (1973), Fall of Eagles (1974), Brecht and Co (1979), Testament of Youth (1979), Escape (1980), Hammer House of Horror (1980), Open All Hours (1981), Dragonslayer (1981), Dombey and Son (1983), Eureka (1984), The Diary of Anne Frank (1987), Home to Roost (1987) and Out of Love (1988).
Facts
Emrys was an experienced and respected Shakespearean actor between 1968-84. Emrys was married to Welsh author Sian James.

Rhoda Lewis (Marta) Born Jun 25 1933
Career highlights
Rhoda debuted in Last Day in Dreamland (1959), then appeared in Word Game (1962), The Avengers (1963), Mr Aitch (1967), The War of Darkie Pilbeam (1968), Coronation Street (1963/69), Conceptions of Murder (1970), Doomwatch (1971), Under Milk Wood (1972), The Perils of Pendragon (1974), Rooms (1975), Lorna Doone (1976), Kilvert's Diary (1977-78), Taff Acre (1981), Number 10 (1983), Dombey and Son (1983), The Magnificent Evans (1984), Langley Bottom (1986), The Bretts (1987), EastEnders (1989), August (1996), Rhinoceros (1999), Sunburn (2000), Life Begins (2004), Casualty (2005), Hustle (2010) and Florence Foster Jenkins (2016).
Facts
It was Rhoda, her son Peter and her late actor husband Norman Florence who founded the successful Hay on Wye Festival of Literature in 1988.

William Lindsay (Zargo) Aug 15 1945 to May 14 1986 (Aids-related illness)
Career highlights
Further credits include Colditz (1972), Enemy at the Door (1980), Angels (1980, as Dr Peter Drew), Blake's 7 (1981), Keep It in the Family (1982) and Lifeforce (1985).

Iain Rattray (Habris)
Career highlights
Iain made his debut in Grandad (1979), followed by roles in Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (1979), It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1980), Grange Hill (1982), 'Allo 'Allo (1984), Dempsey and Makepeace (1985), Jenny's War (1985), Rockcliffe's Babies (1987), Jack the Ripper (1988), Capital City (1990), Between the Lines (1992), Inspector Morse (1993) and Wild Justice (1994).

CREW

Terrance Dicks (writer) Apr 14 1935 to Aug 29 2019 Click here for Terrance Dicks's entry on The Invasion

Peter Moffatt (director) Aug 15 1922 to Oct 21 2007
Doctor Who credits
Directed: State of Decay (1980), The Visitation (1982), Mawdryn Undead (1983), The Five Doctors (1983), The Twin Dilemma (1984), The Two Doctors (1985)
Played: Man outside restaurant in The Two Doctors (1985, uncredited)
Played: Tourist in Silver Nemesis (1988, uncredited)
Career highlights
His training to become an actor was disturbed by the outbreak of World War Two, during which he became a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft 3 in Germany. After the war he went back into acting in programmes such as Emil and the Detectives (1952) and Tales from Soho (1956), but then turned to directing, working on Small Time (1960), Tales of Mystery (1961), It Happened Like This (1963), Crane (1963-64), Seven Deadly Sins (1966-67), Sexton Blake (1968), Hadleigh (1969), Big Brother (1970), Crime of Passion (1971-72), New Scotland Yard (1972), Melissa (1974), Rooms (1974-77), The Camerons (1979), The Gentle Touch (1980), Juliet Bravo (1980/82), EastEnders (1986) and All Creatures Great and Small (1978-88).
Facts
He was married to actress/ director/ producer Joan Kemp-Welch.

John Nathan-Turner (producer) Aug 12 1947 to May 1 2002 (liver failure) Click here for John Nathan-Turner's entry on The Leisure Hive

Barry Letts (executive producer) Mar 26 1925 to Oct 9 2009 (cancer) Click here for Barry Letts's entry on The Enemy of the World

Christopher H Bidmead (script editor) Born Jan 18 1941 Click here for Christopher H Bidmead's entry on The Leisure Hive

3 comments:

  1. Wonder what the cause of death was for William Lindsay? (Zargo) He died at only age 40 in 1986. Haven't seen any info on any other sites yet.

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    Replies
    1. Some illness? I've seen some sources say he died before Lifeforce was released in British cinemas in 1985 (see the trivia page for the film at US IMDb). However, I can't find anyone with that name young enough to have died over 1984/5 (unless his birth name was different).

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    2. Well, I suppose it could have been AIDS, since it was the mid-1980's, and that was a disease that hit a lot of people at that time. And yes, I've noticed that a lot of actors pick a stage name that's different from their birth name, so it can complicate matters for a researcher. ;)

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