Delta and the Bannermen

The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) ponders
on Doctor Who fandom's love/ hate
relationship with the story he's in

Three episodes (Part One, Part Two, Part Three)
First broadcast Nov 2 to 16 1987
Average audience for serial: 5.27m

REGULAR CAST

Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor) Born Aug 20 1943 Click here for Sylvester McCoy's entry on Time and the Rani

Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush) Born Jul 22 1964 Click here for Bonnie Langford's entry on The Trial of a Time Lord Parts 9-12

GUEST CAST

Clive Condon (Callon) Born 1962
This is Clive's only acting credit. He later became a primary school headteacher in Pembrokeshire.

Richard Davies (Burton) Jan 25 1926 to Oct 8 2015 (Alzheimer's disease)
Career highlights
Richard debuted uncredited in A Run for Your Money (1949), and went on to appear in The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Night My Number Came Up (1955), Medico (1959), The Secret Kingdom (1960), Some People (1962), The Plane Makers (1963), Zulu (1964), Gypsy Girl (1965), The Informer (1967), The Man in the Iron Mask (1968), Two in Clover (1970), The Fenn Street Gang (1971), Suspicion (1971), Under Milk Wood (1972), Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973), Robert's Robots (1973), The Mutations (1974), Rule Britannia! (1975), The Law Centre (1978), Fawlty Towers (1979), To Serve Them All My Days (1981), Hallelujah! (1983), In Loving Memory (1983), Bottle Boys (1984-85), Big Deal (1985), Making Out (1990), One Foot in the Grave (1992), And the Beat Goes On (1996) and 2Point4 Children (1992-93/98). He also had a regular role as Mr Price in the 55 episodes of the sitcom Please, Sir! (1968-72 and its 1971 film version), Idris Hopkins in 45 episodes of Coronation Street (1974-75), Clive in 21 episodes of Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt! (1976-77) and Max Johnson in 26 episodes of Taff Acre (1981).

Morgan Deare (Hawk) Born Nov 19 1945
Doctor Who credits
Played: Hawk in Delta and the Bannermen (1987)
Played: Arthur in Rosa (2018)
Career highlights
American Morgan made his debut in The Tumour Principle (1980), then Scream for Help (1984), Star Cops (1987), Small World (1988), Jeeves and Wooster (1992), Mission: Impossible (1996), Wing and a Prayer (1998), United 93 (2006), Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), The Callback Queen (2013), Wild Oats (2015), Harley and the Davidsons (2016), Deep State (2018), Soulmates (2020) and The Man Who Fell to Earth (2022). He also provided the voice of the Editor/ Gorilla in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), meaning that the partnership of Hawk and Weismuller were sort of reunited in this film!
Facts
His wife is actress Mary Healey, who appeared in The Happiness Patrol. Morgan is an accomplished voiceover artist, having provided voices for various animations and perhaps most obscurely, dubbing British TV presenter Melvyn Bragg's English tones into an American accent for the Stateside broadcasts of The South Bank Show. Here he is in a TV commercial for Ikea.

Johnny Dennis (Murray) Aug 13 1940 to Dec 3 2016
Career highlights
Johnny, an enthusiast and performer of live Victorian music hall routines, first appeared in The Devil's Crown (1978), then The Enigma Files (1980), Mitch (1984), Prospects (1986), Rude Health (1987), The Endless Game (1989), Surgical Spirit (1993) and The Bill (1995).
Facts
Cricket-mad Johnny was the PA announcer at Lord's Cricket Ground (known as The Voice of Lord's) for 37 years until he retired due to illness in 2014, after replacing fellow actor Alan Curtis (who appeared in The War Machines) when he was called away for a part in a Carry On film. In his time he presented at 136 Test matches and more than 250 one-day internationals, as well as fulfilling similar duties at Middlesex Cricket Club. Here he is interviewed about the role in 2013. Johnny was also a music hall enthusiast (look for him in the music hall special feature on The Talons of Weng-Chiang DVD) and once ran a theatre company specialising in corporate and music hall work with fellow music hall enthusiast Michael Kilgarriff (who appeared in Doctor Who as the Cyber-Controller and K1 Robot). Johnny was best man at Michael's wedding to his wife Sarah in 1968.
In 2015 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Johnny here.

Ken Dodd (Tollmaster) Nov 8 1927 to Mar 11 2018
Career highlights
Ken was one of the UK's most enduring and prolific live comedians, although his further acting credits include Hamlet (1996), Alice in Wonderland (1999) and The Canterbury Tales (2000). He appeared in many TV shows making people laugh, including Thank Your Lucky Stars (1962-66), Doddy's Music Box (1967-68), Funny You Should Say That (1972), World of Laughter (1974-76), The Ken Dodd Laughter Show (1979), The Good Old Days (1976-80), A Question of Entertainment (1988), Noel's House Party (1992), An Audience with Ken Dodd (1994) and Another Audience with Ken Dodd (2002). He also performed at several Royal Variety Performances.
Awards
1982: Officer of the order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to showbusiness and charity
1993: British Comedy Lifetime Achievement Award
2017: Knight Bachelor for services to showbusiness and charity
Facts
Ken was renowned for the length of his stand-up performances, and during the 1960s earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the world's longest ever joke-telling session: 1,500 jokes in three and a half hours (7.14 jokes per minute). Even in his eighties his live shows often lasted until well after 1am. Ken, whose trademarks were his buck teeth (caused by a bicycle accident as a child), tickling sticks and fictional Diddymen from Knotty Ash's jam butty mines, was also a seasoned singing star, first hitting the UK singles chart with Love is Like a Violin in 1960, and hitting the top spot in 1965 with the million-selling Tears, still one of the biggest selling singles in British history. Other hits include Happiness (1964), The River (1965), Promises (1966), Let Me Cry on Your Shoulder (1967) and Brokenhearted (1970). Ken was charged with tax evasion in 1989, and during the trial it was revealed he stashed most of his money (all £336,000 of it) in suitcases in his attic! He was acquitted three months later. In 2001, Ken and his partner Anne Jones were the victims of a stalker who sent the comedian nasty letters, and even a dead rat. She even attempted to burn down his house by pushing burning rags through his letterbox. She was eventually convicted of attempted arson and harassment. Ken married Anne, his partner of 40 years, two days before his death.
This is Your Life: Ken was the subject of Thames TV's 500th This is Your Life on May 7th, 1990, surprised by host Michael Aspel during a photoshoot at London's Palladium Theatre.

Martin Geraint (Vinny) Born Jun 30 1963
Career highlights
His only other acting credit is A Mind to Kill (1994).
Facts
Martyn (for that is the proper spelling of his name) is now one of the top children's entertainers in Wales, and has presented a number of programmes on Welsh language channel S4C since 1991. He is also a qualified referee in the Welsh football league, trained as a teacher in the early 1980s, and was a boy soprano with the Welsh National Opera a couple of times in the 1970s. In the 1980s he was one half of Welsh synth-pop band Windows. He has also written books for children, including Stars of the Night and From Another Angle.

Anita Graham (Bollitt) Born Feb 15 1948
Career highlights
Anita had previously appeared in Don't Just Lie There, Say Something! (1974), Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974), The New Avengers (1976), The Benny Hill Show (1977), The Cedar Tree (1977), Let There Be Love (1983), Dempsey and Makepeace (1986), EastEnders (1996), Last of the Summer Wine (2001), Hunted (2008) and Hangman (2018). She had recurring roles as Tina Pillbeam in the sitcom Terry and June (1979-80), Wilma in Keep It in the Family (1982-83) and Zelda Lee in Moon and Son (1992).

Sara Griffiths (Ray) Born Jul 12 1968
Career highlights
Sara's further acting credits include Late Expectations (1987), Emmerdale Farm (1988-89), Gentlemen and Players (1988-89), The Chief (1990-91), Rich Tea and Sympathy (1991), Chiller (1995), A Likeness in Stone (2000), Headless (2000), Holby City (2002/06) and Doctors (2003/14). She regularly played Anita Castle in the short-lived soap Castles (1995).
Facts
Sara dated film actor Joseph Fiennes for most of the 1990s (some reports say she was subsidising him until he found fame). In the 1980s, Sara was a can-can dancer at Paris's Moulin Rouge, but more recently has been a presenter on the QVC shopping channel. Here she is on Twitter!

Don Henderson (Gavrok) Nov 10 1931 to Jun 22 1997 (throat cancer)
Career highlights
Don's earliest role was in A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1968, followed by The Protectors (1972), Wessex Tales (1973), Callan (1974), Brannigan (1975), The Ghoul (1975), Poldark (1975), Voyage of the Damned (1976), Star Wars (1977), The Big Sleep (1978), Crossroads (1978), Dick Turpin (1979), Goodbye Darling (1981), The Baker Street Boys (1983), The Boy Who Won the Pools (1983), Spyship (1983), Annika (1984), Brazil (1985), Henry's Leg (1986), Knights of God (1987), Last of the Summer Wine (1988), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), The BFG (1989), Boon (1991), Merlin of the Crystal Cave (1991), Moon and Son (1992), Carry On Columbus (1992), Cracker (1993), Harry (1995), The Famous Five (1996), Red Dwarf (1997) and FairyTale: A True Story (1997). His first long-running role was as MAA Heron in Warship (1973-76), while he also played Frank Kane in The Paradise Club (1989-90), but his most memorable part was as George Bulman in 13 episodes of The XYY Man (1976-77), 30 episodes of Strangers (1978-82) and 20 episodes of Bulman (1985-87) - a total of 63 episodes over three series and 11 years.
Facts
His second wife was actress Shirley Stelfox, best known for her role as Edna Birch in soap Emmerdale. Initially working as both an army dental technician and a police officer, Don's acting career began when he accepted a dare from a friend to audition for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was accepted on the spot, and stayed with the RSC for six years, playing almost all of Shakespeare's lead characters. In 1980, Don underwent treatment for throat cancer which left him with burns that he often hid with a scarf. The cancer, which he overcame until it returned to claim his life in 1997, also meant he spoke in a distinctive hoarse whisper.

Brian Hibbard (Keillor) Nov 25 1946 to Jun 17 2012 (prostate cancer)
Career highlights
Brian's debut came in Brothers and Sisters (1980), then Thompson (1988), The Rainbow Thief (1990), Minder (1993), Blue Heaven (1994), And the Beat Goes On (1996), Satellite City (1996), Twin Town (1997), House of America (1997), The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1997), Rancid Aluminium (2000), Barbara (2001), Tales from the Pleasure Beach (2001), The Bench (2001), Emmerdale (2003), Revolver (2005), Funland (2005), Caught in the Act (2008), Flick (2008), EastEnders (2011) and Svengali (2013). Brian also had regular roles as Chunky in 17 episodes of Making Out (1989-91), mechanic Doug Murray in 62 episodes of Coronation Street (1992-93) and Sir John in Help! I'm a Teenage Outlaw (2004-06).
Awards
2006: BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actor (Little White Lies)
Facts
He was founder member and lead singer with the band the Flying Pickets, who had a UK number one with Only You in 1983, which was that year's Christmas chart topper and stayed at the top for five weeks. Brian left the band in 1986 to pursue an acting career, but not before the band scored another Top 10 hit with When You're Young and in Love (1984) and become almost as famous for supporting the miners' strikes of the mid-1980s. Brian tried to continue his musical success as part of a duo with fellow ex-Flying Picket Red Stripe, but their single Mr Blue didn't take off. The Flying Pickets are still going to this day, albeit with none of the original band members. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2000, he passed away 12 years later.

Stubby Kaye (Weismuller) Nov 11 1918 to Dec 14 1997 (lung cancer)
Career highlights
Doctor Who was one of New Yorker Stubby's last jobs, after a career which began with Hi-Ho Hollywood (1938, as Tiny Kaye), and taking in Taxi (1953), Guys and Dolls (1955), You Can't Run Away from It (1956), Hansel and Gretel (1958), Li'l Abner (1959), The Millionaire (1960), The Cool Mikado (1963), Burke's Law (1963), Sex and the Single Girl (1964), Cat Ballou (1965), The Way West (1967), The Monkees (1968), Sweet Charity (1969), It's Tommy Cooper (1970), The Dirtiest Girl I Ever Met (1970), Sixpack Annie (1975), Flying High (1978), Laverne and Shirley (1981), Ellis Island (1984), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and The Big Knife (1988). He found sitcom success playing Stubby Wilson in Love and Marriage (1959-60) and Marty Scott in My Sister Eileen (1960-61), and was a regular panellist on What's My Line? (1956-57) and Stump the Stars (1958-70).
Facts
Born Bernard Katzin on the final day of World War One, tenor Stubby kept his real name a secret until the day he died. He toured as a vaudeville comedian in the 1940s before hitting the big time on Broadway as Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls (1950), and then Marryin' Sam in Li'l Abner (1956). Stubby became prolific on the musical stage and US TV, and later moved to the UK and married Sunday Night at the London Palladium's Beat the Clock host Angela Bracewell. In the 1960s he had his own children's series called Stubby's Silver Star Show, and also hosted children's game show Shenanigans (1964-65 - here's a clip of him with Buster the chimp and Brenda the bear).

David Kinder (Billy) Born May 29 1964
Career highlights
David's other work includes Aldo! (1985), Killing American Style (1988), Casualty (1989), The Natural History of Parking Lots (1990) and The Wounded (2003). He also had a recurring role as John (Calley's boyfriend) in children's drama Grange Hill (1990).

Hugh Lloyd (Goronwy) Apr 22 1923 to Jul 14 2008
Career highlights
Hugh made his name playing various characters alongside Tony Hancock in Hancock's Half Hour (1957-60) and Hancock (1961), but also appeared in Great Scott, It's Maynard (1956-57), Mostly Maynard (1957), My Pal Bob (1958), Sykes and a... (1960-61), Citizen James (1961), Benny Hill (1962), Comedy Bandbox (1963), The Punch and Judy Man (1963), The Gnomes of Dulwich (1969), The Virgin Fellas (1972), Lollipop (1971-72), White Cargo (1973), Till Death Us Do Part (1975), Lord Tramp (1977, which he also created and wrote), Quadrophenia (1979), Last of the Summer Wine (1983), That's My Boy (1984), The Clairvoyant (1986), Victoria Wood As Seen on TV (1986), Mr Majeika (1988), Victoria Wood (1989), Woof! (1990), Blue Heaven (1994), Oh, Doctor Beeching! (1997), Alice in Wonderland (1999), Great Expectations (1999), Oliver Twist (1999), Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (2000), My Hero (2000), Foyle's War (2002), Doc Martin (2005) and My Family (2002/06). Hugh also appeared in a number of his own shows, such as Hugh and I (1962-67) and Hugh and I Spy (1968), and also had recurring roles as Gerald Sadler in Jury (1983), Mr Carey in In Sickness and in Health (1990-92) and Selfridge in You Rang, M'Lord? (1991/93).
Awards
2005: Member of the order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to drama and charity
Facts
Before becoming an actor Hugh spent three years as a reporter on the Chester Chronicle during World War Two. He was turned down with a job with the RAF as he suffered from hay fever, and turned down for a job with MI5 as he was too young at the time. Just five months after Hugh died (at the age of 85) his fourth wife, the journalist Shan Davies, died, aged 55.

Belinda Mayne (Delta) Born Oct 2 1954
Career highlights
Belinda debuted in When Mother Went on Strike in 1974, after which she took roles in Strangers (1974), Star Maidens (1976), The Upchat Connection (1978), Flashpoint Africa (1980), Hart to Hart (1980), Solo (1982), Krull (1983), Lassiter (1984), Fatal Beauty (1987), Peter Strohm (1991), Riders (1993), Der Bergdoktor (1997) and I'm Here (2016).
Facts
In 1977, Belinda was one of the assistants on the panel game Whose Baby?, in which celebrities met the child of another famous person and had to guess whose it was. She is named after the musical in which her parents met, Belinda Fair - her father being German actor Ferdy Mayne (who fled Germany in 1932 to settle in the UK, where he also acted as an informant for MI5).

Leslie Meadows (Adlon) Born Mar 29 1947
Doctor Who credits
Played: Adlon in Delta and the Bannermen (1987)
Played: The Creature in Dragonfire (1987)
Played: Cheetah Person in Survival (1989, uncredited)
Career highlights
Singer and dancer Leslie's further work includes Half a Sixpence (1967), Up the Junction (1968), Doomwatch (1970), Love Thy Neighbour (1972), The Apple (1980), Mack the Knife (1989) and Peak Practice (1995). He also played Alan Parker in Ours is a Nice House (1969-70).

Richard Mitchley (Arrex) Born Apr 29 1954
Career highlights
Further credits include The Black Adder (1983) and High Hopes (2007), as well as a wide range of Welsh language television; he also regularly played a German worker in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983).
Facts
Richard reads for audiobooks (including the Torchwood release Golden Age), has read continuity links for Channel 4, S4C and BBC2, has recited on stage at the Hay Literary Festival, and is also a choral singer.

Tim Scott (Chima)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Chima in Delta and the Bannermen (1987)
Played: Forum doorman in The Happiness Patrol (1988)
Tim has no other acting credits, but did later set up his own actors' management company.

The Lorells:

Robin Aspland Born Dec 6 1961
Pianist Robin also appears as a member of the Italian jazz band in The Talented Mr Ripley (1999). Robin is well known in British live jazz circles, having performed with Cleo Laine, Johnny Dankworth, Ronnie Scott, Van Morrison, Curtis Stigers, Georgie Fame and Jane Horrocks (on her 2000 album The Further Adventures of Little Voice).

Justin Myers
This is Justin's only credit.

Ralph Salmins Born Jun 4 1964
Drummer and percussionist Ralph's services can also be seen and heard in Evita (1996), My Son the Fanatic (1997), The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2000), Gosford Park (2001), The Mother (2003), De-Lovely (2004), Looking for Eric (2009), Fantastic Mr Fox (2009), Locke (2013) and A Dark Reflection (2015). Session musician Ralph has played live and in studio with a huge amount of people, including the Count Basie Orchestra, Bjork, Robbie Williams, Van Morrison, Tom Jones, Tori Amos, Madonna, Lulu, Everything But the Girl, the Spice Girls, Mariah Carey, Alanis Morissette, Josh Groban, the Waterboys and Elton John. In 1994, he was a member of the Guy Barker International Quintet, subsequently nominated for a Mercury Music Prize. In 1986, Ralph was awarded the Philip Jones Percussion Prize for his final recital and has three times since been nominated for the British Jazz Awards. In 2012, he acted as consultant for the London Olympics Opening Ceremony, coordinating 1,000 drummers with whom he performed to a worldwide audience of over one billion people. He now works as a professor at the Royal College of Music. Here he is on Twitter!

Jodie Wilson Born Aug 31 1964
Australian singer Jodie also performed in Memphis Belle (1990), and went on to become one of the hostesses on the game show Take Your Pick in 1992. She is now known as Jodie Brooke Wilson and has had several albums released; she also writes songs, most notably for the Scary Movie soundtrack (Show Me Now, 2000). In 2003 Jodie released her own album, Halfway to Paradise, which enjoyed success in the Far East. She also wrote the song I Want What She's Got for Eye Q, which was a hit in Denmark in 2002, and Higher Than Heaven for Bardot, which reached number one in Australia and was used as the theme for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Jodie has also written songs for the band Hear'Say (the 2001 B-side Look Inside Yourself) and Louise Redknapp's Love Will Bring You Back to My Heart. Her sister is Tracey Wilson (see below). Jodie was chat show star and singer Des O'Connor's partner since 1990; they met on Take Your Pick, got engaged in 2003, had a baby in 2004, and married in 2007. Des died in 2020.

Tracey Wilson Born Nov 15 1961
Australian Tracey has also appeared in Blue City Slammers (1988) and The Bill (1990). Vocalist and tap dancer Tracey has performed in countless stage musicals in these capacities, and for the film Stepping Out (1991) dubbed the tap sounds for Liza Minnelli and Julie Walters. She choreographed the Australian tour of Billy Elliott - The Musical, and produced and directed the short Step in Time, which was awarded Best Musical at the New York Film and Video Festival in 2005. Nowadays she teaches for the Sydney Dance Company. Her sister is Jodie Brooke Wilson (see above), widow of singer and chat show king Des O'Connor...

Credited for playing the various ages of the Chimeron princess were Jessica McGough, Amy Osborn, Laura Collins (born 1978 - she was reported by Doctor Who Magazine in 1990 as having died, but this is incorrect) and Carley Joseph (born Jul 1 1974).

CREW

Malcolm Kohll (writer) Born Nov 5 1953
Career highlights
Doctor Who was South African born Malcolm's first TV writing credit, which he followed with The Fourth Reich (1990), The Bone Snatcher (2003) and Triompf (2008). He has more recently become a producer, of The Fourth Reich and The Bone Snatcher, as well as Secret Society (2000), The 51st State (2001), Chemical Wedding (2008), Surviving Evil (2009) and SAF3 (2013).
Facts
Malcolm trained as a journalist in South Africa before moving to the UK in 1977 for political reasons. Together with his producing partner David Pupkewitz, Malcolm received the 2001 Scouseology Award for Film, bestowed by the City of Liverpool. In 1996, he was contacted by the makers of the Doctor Who TV movie to ask if he had an interest in being involved (he didn't).

Chris Clough (director) Born Mar 9 1951
Doctor Who credits
Directed: The Trial of a Time Lord Parts 9-14 (1986), Delta and the Bannermen (1987), Dragonfire (1987), The Happiness Patrol (1988), Silver Nemesis (1988)
Played: Voice of Fifi in The Happiness Patrol (1988, uncredited)
Played: Policeman in Silver Nemesis (1988, uncredited)
Career highlights
Further directing work includes Brookside (1982), EastEnders (1985-88), Casualty (1994-95), The Bill (1992-95), Ballykissangel (1996) and Skins (2007). Chris later went into production, handling The Bill (1995-97), Ballykissangel (1998-99), Black Cab (2000), Table 12 (2001), Born and Bred (2003-04), The Ghost Squad (2005), Skins (2007-13), Sirens (2011), Strike Back (2012), Lucan (2013), The Missing (2014), Stan Lee's Lucky Man (2016), Rellik (2017), Dark Heart (2018) and World on Fire (2019).
Awards
2019: BAFTA TV Award for Best Single Drama (Killed By My Debt) - with Joseph Bullman, Tahsin Guner and Aysha Rafaele.

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

Andrew Cartmel (script editor) Born Apr 6 1958 Click here for Andrew Cartmel's entry on Time and the Rani