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| If only this actually happened in 1972! Picture from Whopix blog |
First broadcast Dec 30 1972 to Jan 20 1973
Average audience for serial: 10.28m
An episode by episode review of this story can be read at Time Space Visualiser.
REGULAR CAST
Jon Pertwee (The Doctor) Jul 7 1919 to May 20 1996 (heart attack) Click here to see Jon Pertwee's entry on Spearhead from Space
Katy Manning (Jo Grant) Born Oct 14 1946 Click here for Katy Manning's entry on Terror of the Autons
Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart) Dec 16 1929 to Feb 22 2011 (cancer) Click here for Nicholas Courtney's entry on The Daleks' Master Plan
John Levene (Benton) Born Dec 24 1941 Click here for John Levene's entry on The Web of Fear
GUEST 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
Graham Leaman (Time Lord) Aug 9 1920 to Jun 14 1985 (multiple sclerosis)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Controller in The Macra Terror (1967)
Played: Price in Fury from the Deep (1968)
Played: Grand Marshall in The Seeds of Death (1969)
Played: Time Lord in Colony in Space (1971), The Three Doctors (1972-73)
Career highlights
His earliest credit was in Where's Charley? (1952), then Before Your Very Eyes (1956), Hancock's Half Hour (1956-59), The Strange World of Gurney Slade (1960), Deadline Midnight (1961), Kenilworth (1967), The First Churchills (1969), Dead of Night (1972) and Father Brown (1974).
Facts
In 1943 Graham was on the selection panel for the formation of an entertainment troupe for 2 AGRA (Army Group Royal Artillery) in North Africa. Among those selected was comedian Spike Milligan. When the Battery Band held a reunion in 1983, Milligan noticed Graham's absence (due to him suffering from multiple sclerosis) and went to his home to transport him to the reunion. His brother John (Jack) was also an amateur actor.
Denys Palmer (Corporal Palmer) Oct 8 1928 to Sep 2 1991
Career highlights
Denys's other acting credits include The Gypsy Thief (1956) and The World of Beachcomber (1968), but he has plenty of credits working as a choreographer, including on The 1959 Show (1959), Life is a Circus (1960), The Ghost Goes Gear (1966), The Witches (1966), Slave Girls (1967), The Corbett Follies (1969), Doctor in the House (1970), Sez Les (1971), The Two Ronnies (1972), Mantovani and His Concert Orchestra (1973-74) and Napoleon and Love (1974). He also appeared as himself in shows such as This is Show Business (1954), The Eamonn Andrews Show (1965), The Good Old Days (1966) and The Leslie Crowther Show (1971).
Clyde Pollitt (Time Lord Chancellor) Apr 17 1924 to Nov 10 1989
Doctor Who credits
Played: Time Lord in The War Games (1969), The Three Doctors (1972-73)
Career highlights
Clyde's work began with How Green Was My Valley (1960), after which he popped up in Scotland Yard (1960), Sherlock Holmes (1968), Ivanhoe (1970), Soap Opera in Stockwell (1973), Moll Flanders (1975), Clayhanger (1976), Lady Jane (1986) and The War of the Roses (1990).
Facts
His brother was actor Derek Pollitt, who appeared in Doctor Who three times himself. With Derek and second brother Brian, the siblings ran theatre companies in Clacton-on-Sea and North Wales in the 1950s and 60s, after which Clyde worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company and English Shakespeare Company.
Patricia Prior (Mrs Ollis) 1929 to Jun 12 2023
Career highlights
Patricia's other work includes Mickey Dunne (1967), The Troubleshooters (1969), Warship (1973), The Brothers (1975), Strong Medicine (1986), One By One (1987), You Must Be the Husband (1988) and Shadow of the Noose (1989). She also regularly played Mrs Gibson in The Onedin Line (1977-80).
Facts
Patricia was married to her The Three Doctors co-star Rex Robinson.
In 2014 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Patricia, and her husband Rex Robinson, here.
Roy Purcell (President of the Council) Jan 26 1919 to Jul 31 2000 (complications from an operation)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Chief prison officer Powers in The Mind of Evil (1971)
Played: President of the Council in The Three Doctors (1972-73)
Career highlights
Roy made his first appearance in The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By (1952), then The Secret of the Forest (1956), Beyond Mombasa (1956), William Tell (1958), House of Mystery (1961), Emergency Ward 10 (1961), The Avengers (1963), R3 (1965), The Three Musketeers (1966), That's Your Funeral (1971), Doomwatch (1971), The Dragon's Opponent (1973), I, Claudius (1976), The New Avengers (1977), Angels (1979), The Cleopatras (1983), The Collectors (1986) and Casualty (1987). He also had various roles in 23 episodes of The Buccaneers (1956-57).
Rex Robinson (Dr Tyler) Jun 26 1926 to Apr 13 2015
Doctor Who credits
Played: Dr Tyler in The Three Doctors (1972-73)
Played: Gebek in The Monster of Peladon (1974)
Played: Dr Carter in The Hand of Fear (1976)
Career highlights
Debuting in The Merry Wives of Windsor (1955), Rex's other work includes Champion Road (1958), The Big Pull (1962), The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne (1965), Mrs Thursday (1967), Brett (1971), Warship (1973), Six Days of Justice (1973-75), Within These Walls (1978), Terry and June (1980), Just Good Friends (1984), Superman IV (1987), Bread (1987) and Shadow of the Noose (1989).
Facts
Rex was married to his The Three Doctors co-star Patricia Prior.
In 2014 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Rex, and his wife Patricia Prior, here.
Stephen Thorne (Omega) Mar 2 1935 to May 26 2019
Doctor Who credits
Played: Azal in The Daemons (1971)
Played: Omega in The Three Doctors (1972-73)
Played: Ogron in Frontier in Space (1973)
Played: Eldrad (Kastrian version) in The Hand of Fear (1976)
Career highlights
Stephen's earliest role was in Jezebel ex UK (1963), followed by Z Cars (1971), Sexton Blake and the Demon God (1978), Crossroads (1978-79), Death of an Expert Witness (1983), David Copperfield (1986), EastEnders (1991), Madison (1993), Shakespeare: the Animated Tales (1992/94) and Last of the Summer Wine (2006). Stephen's voice was also heard narrating numerous Fred Dibnah documentary series (1987-96), and playing Aslan in the 1979 animation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He was a prolific radio actor and audiobook narrator.
In 2016 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Stephen here.
Laurie Webb (Mr Ollis) Born May 6 1924 DOCTOR WHO CENTENARIAN!
Career highlights
Laurie debuted in Sid Caesar Invites You (1958), then popped up in The Eustace Diamonds (1959), Hancock's Half Hour (1958-60), Paul Temple (1971), Brett (1971), Warship (1973), Softly Softly (1975) and The Clairvoyant (1986)
In 2016 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Laurie here.
CREW
Lennie Mayne (director) Nov 8 1927 to May 20 1977 (drowned)
Doctor Who credits
Directed: The Curse of Peladon (1972), The Three Doctors (1972-73), The Monster of Peladon (1974), The Hand of Fear (1976)
Career highlights
Lennie also directed series such as Mickey Dunne (1967), Vendetta (1968), The First Lady (1969), The Borderers (1970), The Troubleshooters (1969-70), Brett (1971), Doomwatch (1971-72), Warship (1973), The Brothers (1974-75) and The Onedin Line (1976-77). He also choreographed for shows such as Rush Hour (1958), Cribbins (1965) and Call It What You Like (1965), and was credited as a dancer performing on 1960's Dial for Music.
Facts
Australian Lennie, who was married to actress Frances Pidgeon (who appeared in The Hand of Fear), was tragically drowned in a boating accident soon after finishing The Hand of Fear, when a dinghy he was using on the English Channel with two other yachtsmen (one of whom was actor Ian McCulloch, who was in Warriors of the Deep (1984)) was capsized by a freak wave, and the search-and-rescue team were unable to find him. It is his whistling you can hear in Sarah Jane actress Elisabeth Sladen's final scene in The Hand of Fear, as Sladen couldn't whistle.
Barry Letts (producer) Mar 26 1925 to Oct 9 2009 (cancer) Click here for Barry Letts's entry on The Enemy of the World
Terrance Dicks (script editor) Apr 14 1935 to Aug 29 2019 Click here for Terrance Dicks's entry on The Invasion
Career highlights
Laurie debuted in Sid Caesar Invites You (1958), then popped up in The Eustace Diamonds (1959), Hancock's Half Hour (1958-60), Paul Temple (1971), Brett (1971), Warship (1973), Softly Softly (1975) and The Clairvoyant (1986)
In 2016 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Laurie here.
CREW
Bob Baker (writer) Jul 26 1939 to Nov 3 2021 Click here for Bob Baker's entry on The Claws of Axos
Dave Martin (writer) Jan 1 1935 to Mar 30 2007 (lung cancer) Click here for Dave Martin's entry on The Claws of Axos
Dave Martin (writer) Jan 1 1935 to Mar 30 2007 (lung cancer) Click here for Dave Martin's entry on The Claws of Axos
Lennie Mayne (director) Nov 8 1927 to May 20 1977 (drowned)
Doctor Who credits
Directed: The Curse of Peladon (1972), The Three Doctors (1972-73), The Monster of Peladon (1974), The Hand of Fear (1976)
Career highlights
Lennie also directed series such as Mickey Dunne (1967), Vendetta (1968), The First Lady (1969), The Borderers (1970), The Troubleshooters (1969-70), Brett (1971), Doomwatch (1971-72), Warship (1973), The Brothers (1974-75) and The Onedin Line (1976-77). He also choreographed for shows such as Rush Hour (1958), Cribbins (1965) and Call It What You Like (1965), and was credited as a dancer performing on 1960's Dial for Music.
Facts
Australian Lennie, who was married to actress Frances Pidgeon (who appeared in The Hand of Fear), was tragically drowned in a boating accident soon after finishing The Hand of Fear, when a dinghy he was using on the English Channel with two other yachtsmen (one of whom was actor Ian McCulloch, who was in Warriors of the Deep (1984)) was capsized by a freak wave, and the search-and-rescue team were unable to find him. It is his whistling you can hear in Sarah Jane actress Elisabeth Sladen's final scene in The Hand of Fear, as Sladen couldn't whistle.
Barry Letts (producer) Mar 26 1925 to Oct 9 2009 (cancer) Click here for Barry Letts's entry on The Enemy of the World
Terrance Dicks (script editor) Apr 14 1935 to Aug 29 2019 Click here for Terrance Dicks's entry on The Invasion
Superman IV is actually titled Superman IV: The Quest for Peace {REX ROBINSON}.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to read that Patricia Prior is married to co-star Rex Robinson. I didn't know that. I guess that means she is still with us. Wonder what happened to Laurie Webb who played Mr. Ollis? His credits seem to stop in the mid-70's. Presumably no longer alive.
ReplyDeleteActually, his last credit was in The Clairvoyent in 1986. I think I also remember him doing a signing for the original release of The Three Doctors DVD in 2003 so he was alive until at least then.
DeleteLaurie Webb is still alive and lives just 10 minutes away from Patricia Prior and Rex Robinson (source: https://twitter.com/tobyhadoke/status/570209196970516480)
DeleteInteresting. Thanks for the information. I would assume that Laurie Webb is in his 80's now.
DeleteDidn't know that he lived near Patricia & Rex (RIP).