Ghost Light

Mrs Pritchard (Sylvia Syms) and her
6pm cohorts

Three episodes (Part One, Part Two, Part Three)
First broadcast Oct 4 to 18 1989
Average audience for serial: 4.07m

REGULAR CAST

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

Sophie Aldred (Ace) Born Aug 20 1962 Click here for Sophie Aldred's entry on Dragonfire

GUEST CAST

Michael Cochrane (Redvers Fenn-Cooper) Born May 19 1947
Doctor Who credits
Played: Lord Cranleigh in Black Orchid (1982)
Played: Redvers Fenn-Cooper in Ghost Light (1989)
Career highlights
Michael's earliest role was in Bonny! (1974), followed by The Pallisers (1974), Love Thy Neighbour (1975), Love in a Cold Climate (1980), The Citadel (1983), The Far Pavilions (1984), Frankenstein (1984), The Detective (1985), The Collectors (1986), Fortunes of War (1987), Number One Gun (1990), No Job for a Lady (1990), Keeping Up Appearances (1993), The Saint (1997), Coronation Street (1998), Big Bad World (1999), Perfect World (2000-01), Rosemary and Thyme (2003), Spooks (2003), Murphy's Law (2004), The Government Inspector (2005), Suez: A Very British Crisis (2006), To the Manor Born (2007), Criminal Justice (2009), Holy Flying Circus (2011), The Iron Lady (2011), Titanic: Blood and Steel (2012), Downton Abbey (2011-15), The Musketeers (2014), Vicious (2015), Agatha Raisin (2016), The Crown (2016), Man Down (2015/17) and 10 episodes of Doctors between 2005-19). He regularly played Charles Gaylion in Wings (1977-78), Nigel Crimmond in The Chief (1990-95) and Sir Henry Simmerson in the Sharpe franchise (1993-2008). He also plays Oliver Sterling in radio soap The Archers.
Facts
He is married to actress Belinda Carroll, sister of Rani actress Kate O'Mara.

Sharon Duce (Control) Born Jan 17 1950
Career highlights
Debuting in Parkin's Patch (1970), Sharon's CV includes roles in The Moonlighters (1971), Villains (1972), Helen: A Woman of Today (1973), The Tamarind Seed (1974), Dawson's Weekly (1975), The House That Jack Built (1977), Send in the Girls (1978), Coming Home (1980-81), Outland (1981), Funny Man (1981), The Hard Word (1983), The Bounder (1983), First Born (1988), Rockcliffe's Folly (1988), Singles (1989), Buddy's Song (1990), Press Gang (1992), Natural Lies (1992), The Tomorrow People (1975), Wycliffe (1997), Maisie Raine (1998), Where the Heart Is (2000), The Royle Family (2000), Clocking Off (2002), Grease Monkeys (2003), Emmerdale (2003), Missing (2006), The Royal (2006), Sorted (2006), Moving On (2009), Coronation Street (2009), Midsomer Murders (2012), Black Work (2015), Vera (2016) and Doctors (2001/15/19). Her regular roles include WPC Cameron in Z Cars (1971-72), Jan Oliver in Big Deal (1984-86) and Pat Hollingsworth in Growing Pains (1992-93).
Facts
Her husbands include actor Dominic Guard (who was in Terminus (1983)) and actor and documentary maker David Munro. Sharon is also an acting and public speaking coach, as well as a trained celebrant, neuro-linguistic programming practitioner and Scaravelli yoga teacher.

Carl Forgione (Nimrod) May 3 1944 to Sep 10 1998 (cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Land in Planet of the Spiders (1974)
Played: Nimrod in Ghost Light (1989)
Career highlights
Cricket fan Carl's earliest role was in The Wars of the Roses (1965), followed by Dixon of Dock Green (1972), Big Zapper (1973), Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Blake's 7 (1978), Don't Forget to Write! (1979), The Borgias (1981), Sorry! (1986), Star Cops (1987), South of the Border (1990), Coronation Street (1991), The Day Today (1994), Fist of Fun (1995), Knowing Me, Knowing You (1994-95) and The Moonstone (1996).
Facts
Carl (real name Carlo, due to his Italian father) was first diagnosed with cancer in 1995. There is a lovely tribute site to Carl by his school friend Harper John here.

John Hallam (Light) Oct 28 1941 to Nov 14 2006 (testicular cancer)
Career highlights
Northern Ireland born John's first credit came in Much Ado About Nothing (1967), after which he found roles in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1970), Villain (1971), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), The Regiment (1972), Moonbase 3 (1973), The Wicker Man (1973), Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973), The Pallisers (1974), Dominic (1976), Raffles (1977), The Four Feathers (1977), The Devil's Crown (1978), Dick Turpin (1979), The Mallens (1979), Flash Gordon (1980), Dragonslayer (1981), The Black Adder (1983), Under Capricorn (1983), Lifeforce (1985), Santa Claus: The Movie (1985), Prospects (1986), Knights of God (1987), White Peak Farm (1988), Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989), Emmerdale (1990), Bergerac (1991), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Zorro (1992), Grange Hill (1993), 99-1 (1994), Kull the Conqueror (1997), All Quiet on the Preston Front (1997), The 10th Kingdom (2000) and Arabian Nights (2000). He also played Harry Farmer in Wings (1976-78) and Den Watts's cellmate Barnsey in EastEnders (1988-90).
Facts
John's cousin is actor Clive Mantle.

Ian Hogg (Josiah Smith) Born Aug 1 1937
Career highlights
Ian debuted in Marat/ Sade (1967), then took roles in Tell Me Lies (1968), King Lear (1971), Total Eclipse (1973), The Hireling (1973), Dead Cert (1974), David Copperfield (1974-75), Lorna Doone (1976), The Devil's Crown (1978), Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979), Minder (1982), Red Monarch (1983), A Family Man (1984), Bleak House (1985), The December Rose (1986), Boogie Outlaws (1987), The Pleasure Principle (1992), Covington Cross (1992), Riders (1993), Rasputin (1996), Forgotten (1999), EastEnders (1999), Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003), Waking the Dead (2003), The Miserables (2010), New Tricks (2014), The Miniaturist (2017) and Sink (2018). He made his name playing Alan Rockliffe in Rockliffe's Babies (1987-88) and Rockliffe's Folly (1988).
In 2017 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Ian here.

Brenda Kempner (Mrs Grose) 1939 to Jul 17 2013
Career highlights
Debuting in Ann Veronica (1964), Brenda's further work includes Marat/ Sade (1967), The Saint (1968), Jane Eyre (1973), Within These Walls (1974/76), Secret Army (1977), The Elephant Man (1980), Never Say Never Again (1983), Dempsey and Makepeace (1985), Screamtime (1986), Grange Hill (1987), Back Home (1990), Runaway Bay (1992), Jeeves and Wooster (1992), Rides (1993), The Great Kandinsky (1995), Last of the Summer Wine (1997-98), Daylight Robbery (1999) and Peak Practice (2001).

John Nettleton (Reverend Ernest Matthews) Feb 5 1929 to Jul 12 2023
Career highlights
After debuting in 1956's The Black Tulip, John's extensive career included Walk a Crooked Mile (1961), A for Andromeda (1961), Haunted (1967), Gazette (1968), The Avengers (1967/68), Fraud Squad (1969), The Last Shot You Hear (1969), Some Will, Some Won't (1970), The Culture Vultures (1970), If It Moves, File It (1970), Elizabeth R (1971), Out of the Unknown (1971), The Adventures of Black Beauty (1972), Justice (1973), A Pin to See the Peepshow (1973), All Creatures Great and Small (1975), Feet First (1979), The Flame Trees of Thika (1981), Only When I Laugh (1982), The Happy Apple (1983), Crown Court (1981/84), Brass (1984), Fairly Secret Army (1986), The Russ Abbot Show (1988), Bomber Harris (1989), Gentlemen and Players (1989), Victoria Wood (1989), American Friends (1991), Degrees of Error (1995), Longitude (2000), Dad (2005), Foyle's War (2007) and Kingdom (2008). He regularly played Sir Arnold Robinson in Yes, Minister (1980-84) and Yes, Prime Minister (1986-88), and Sir Stephen Baxter in The New Statesman (1987-89). During the 1960s and 70s, John's voice was used on the children's series Blue Peter, reading factual stories about history.
In 2017 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with John here.

Katharine Schlesinger (Gwendoline) Born Apr 29 1963
Career highlights
Katharine debuted in a 1987 adaptation of Northanger Abbey, then had roles in The Diary of Anne Frank (1987, in the title role), No Frills (1988), Young Catherine (1991), Rides (1992-93), Silent Witness (1998), Simon Magus (1999), In the Beginning (2000) and Doctors (2002).
Facts
Katharine is the niece of film director John Schlesinger and great-niece of veteran actress Dame Peggy Ashcroft. She now works as an acting tutor for children and young people.

Sylvia Syms (Mrs Pritchard) Jan 6 1934 to Jan 27 2023
Career highlights
Sylvia was one of Britain's brightest movie stars in her youth, debuting aged 21 in The Romantic Young Lady (1955), then Teenage Bad Girl (1956), Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957), The Birthday Present (1957), The Moonraker (1958), Ice Cold in Alex (1958), Ferry to Hong Kong (1959), Expresso Bongo (1960), Flame in the Streets (1961), Victim (1961), The Quare Fellow (1962), The World Ten Times Over (1963), The Big Job (1965), Hostile Witness (1968), The Desperados (1969), Strange Report (1969), Asylum (1972), My Good Woman (1972), Give Us Tomorrow (1978), Nancy Astor (1982), Absolute Beginners (1986), Intimate Contact (1987), Rockcliffe's Folly (1988), Shirley Valentine (1989), May to December (1990), Thatcher: The Final Days (1991), Natural Lies (1992), Dirty Weekend (1993), Staggered (1994), Ghosts (1995), Half the Picture (1996), Original Sin (1997), Neville's Island (1998), The Jury (2002), Doctor Zhivago (2002), What a Girl Wants (2003), Born and Bred (2004), The Poseidon Adventure (2005), The Queen (2006), Blue Murder (2009), Collision (2009), Missing (2010), Bouquet of Barbed Wire (2010), Rev (2011), Timeless (2014), Together (2018) and Gentleman Jack (2019). She also played Isabel de Gines in Peak Practice (1993-95), Marion Riley in At Home with the Braithwaites (2000-03) and Olive Woodhouse in EastEnders (2007/09/10).
Awards
2007: Officer of the order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama
Facts
Sylvia was nominated for a BAFTA three times, but never won one (Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957), No Trees in the Street (1959) and The Tamarind Seed (1974)). Her daughter is actress Beatie Edney, while her nephews are jazz musicians Alex Webb and his late brother Nick.

Frank Windsor (Inspector Mackenzie) Jul 12 1928 to Sep 30 2020
Doctor Who credits
Played: Ranulf in The King's Demons (1983)
Played: Inspector Mackenzie in Ghost Light (1989)
Career highlights
Debuting in A Man for All Seasons in 1957, Frank's CV includes roles in Hilda Lessways (1959), An Age of Kings (1960), A for Andromeda (1961), This Sporting Life (1963), The Avengers (1968), Spring and Port Wine (1970), Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), Barry Mackenzie Holds His Own (1974), Headmaster (1977), Middlemen (1977), The Goodies (1977), Kidnapped (1978), The Plank (1979), The London Connection (1979), Charlie (1984), Revolution (1985), Dear John (1987), The Real Eddy English (1989), Chancer (1990), EastEnders (1992), September Song (1995), The Famous Five (1996), Sunburn (2000), Judge John Deed (2002-03) and Between Two Women (2004). Frank will be forever remembered as Detective Sergeant John Watt in over 120 episodes of Z Cars (1962-65/78), as well as its numerous spin-offs, including over 200 episodes of Softly Softly (1966-76), Jack the Ripper (1973) and Second Verdict (1976). In all, Frank appeared in over 340 productions as Watt. In later years he might be recognised as Harry Bradley in Flying Lady (1987-89), the Chief Superintendent in comedy The Detectives (1993-96), Kenneth Samuels in Casualty (2003-04), or even advertising Sun Life insurance for the over-50s in TV commercials (2002-03). He also advertised holiday/ property magazine Dalton's Weekly in a number of TV ads, as well as Players cigars.
Facts
Frank was a founding member of the Oxford and Cambridge Players, later the Elizabethan Players. In June 1997, Frank's 29-year-old son David and his married lover Denise Rothwell were both killed when they left a hotel in Wester Ross, Scotland, without paying their £100 bill and their car plunged 15ft off the road into the River Grudie, drowning them.
This is Your Life: Frank was the subject of Thames TV's This is Your Life on December 3rd, 1975, surprised by host Eamonn Andrews during a special dinner at the Metropolitan Police Sports Club. Unfortunately, by the stage in the evening that Frank was surprised, he was somewhat inebriated, and flummoxed Eamonn Andrews by telling off-colour jokes, visibly sliding down in his chair, and ending the show by repeatedly shouting "Rubbish!". The number of edits the show required before transmission apparently set a record. One of the guests at the tribute was fellow Doctor Who actor James Ellis.

CREW

Marc Platt (writer) Born 1953
Career highlights
Marc, who in the 1980s worked in the BBC cataloguing its radio output, submitted many script ideas to Doctor Who before Ghost Light was picked up. After Ghost Light, Marc wrote several Doctor Who novels and Big Finish audio adventures, one of which - Spare Parts - inspired the TV story Rise of the Cybermen/ The Age of Steel (2006). Marc's Doctor Who books include Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible (1992), Downtime (1996, the novelisation of the 1995 spin-off video adventure that he also wrote) and Lungbarrow (1997). His audio stories include Loups-Garoux (2001), Valhalla (2007), The Cradle of the Snake (2010), The Butcher of Brisbane (2012), as well as several Blake's 7, Dan Dare and Timeslip productions.

Alan Wareing (director) Born Aug 16 1943
Doctor Who credits
Production assistant: The Keeper of Traken (1981)
Production manager: Timelash (1985)
Directed: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (1988-89), Ghost Light (1989), Survival (1989)
Played: Voice of Child Ragnarok in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (1988-89)
Career highlights
Alan started as assistant floor manager on Survivors, Blake's 7 and The Onedin Line in the 1970s. He also performed production manager duties on Juliet Bravo (1981-82), Tenko (1982), Miss Marple (1985), Lovejoy (1986) and EastEnders (1986), before graduating to director on Rockcliffe's Folly (1988), The Bill (1989-90), London's Burning (1995-96), Wycliffe (1997-98), Casualty (1987-2001), The Royal (2006), 109 episodes of Coronation Street (2001-18) and over 300 episodes of Emmerdale (1993-2019).

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