The Five Doctors

The Five Doctors in an alternative
universe perhaps? Pic: Whopix blog

One episode (The Five Doctors)
First broadcast Nov 23 1983 - on PBS in the USA; two days later in the UK
Average audience for serial: 7.7m

REGULAR CAST

Peter Davison (The Doctor) Born Apr 13 1951 Click here for Peter Davison's entry on Logopolis

Janet Fielding (Tegan) Born Sep 9 1953 Click here for Janet Fielding's entry on Logopolis

Mark Strickson (Turlough) Born Apr 6 1959 Click here for Mark Strickson's entry on Mawdryn Undead

GUEST CAST

Anthony Ainley (The Master) Aug 20 1932 to May 3 2004 (cancer) Click here for Anthony Ainley's entry on The Keeper of Traken

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

David Banks (Cyber Leader) Born Sep 24 1951
Doctor Who credits
Played: Cyber Leader in Earthshock (1982), The Five Doctors (1983), Attack of the Cybermen (1985), Silver Nemesis (1988)
Career highlights
David, 6ft 3in, made his acting debut in Keep It in the Family (1980), then made appearances in Bret Maverick (1981/82), The Bill (1991), A Time to Dance (1992), EastEnders (1994), Canary Wharf (1996) and Doctors (2006). Between 1991-92 he had a regular role in soap Brookside as Graeme Curtis.
Facts
In 1989 he played Karl the mercenary in the stage play Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure (a role he reprised for an audio adaptation in 2007). On April 29th 1989, Pertwee fell ill and was replaced for two performances by David, who wore a white suit, t-shirt and Panama hat as the Doctor. In the late 1980s David got involved with Cyber-lore, writing the biographical work Doctor Who - Cybermen in 1988, which he adapted into audio cassettes and narrated as Origins of the Cybermen (1989-90). In 1984 David submitted a script to the Doctor Who production team called FlipBack which was steeped in Cyber-continuity, and was ultimately developed into his New Adventure novel Iceberg in 1993. David would have been cast as the Auton leader if the aborted Season 23 Doctor Who story Yellow Fever and How to Cure It had been filmed.

Stuart Blake (Commander) 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.

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

Ray Float (UNIT Sergeant) Born 1949
Career highlights
Ray's further credits include How We Used to Live (1981), All for Love (1982), Juliet Bravo (1983), 'Allo 'Allo! (1984) and By the Sword Divided (1985).

Carole Ann Ford (Susan) Born Jun 16 1940 For a full career biography for Carole Ann Ford, click here.

Richard Franklin ("Mike Yates") Jan 15 1936 to Dec 25 2023 Click here for Richard Franklin's entry on Terror of the Autons

Mark Hardy (Cyber Lieutenant)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Cyber Lieutenant in Earthshock (1982), The Five Doctors (1983), Silver Nemesis (1988)
Career highlights
Mark's other credits include A Coming-Out Party (1961), Carry On Cleo (1964), The Corridor People (1966), The Orchard End Murder (1980), Personal Services (1987), Who's the Boss? (1987), Friendships Field (1995) and Bright Young Things (2003). It is unclear whether these are all the same actor (it's a common name!).

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.

Frazer Hines ("Jamie McCrimmon") Born Sep 22 1944 Click here for Frazer Hines's entry on The Highlanders

Keith Hodiak (Raston robot) June 16th 1950 to September 3rd 2025
Career highlights
Trained dancer Keith's other credits include Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978), Fox (1980), Wood and Walters (1981), The Chinese Detective (1981), An American Werewolf in London (1981), Are You Being Served? (1983-85, as semi-regular Seymour), Full Metal Jacket (1987), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1988) and EastEnders (1992).

Facts

Guyanese Keith was one of the first black dancers to perform with a UK national dance company, Rambert, between 1972-75. His birthname was Hodiak Hampden Sears. Toward the end of his career he taught adult ballet classes, yoga and tai chi.
In 2015 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Keith here.

Richard Hurndall (The Doctor) Nov 3 1910 to Apr 13 1984 (heart attack)
Career highlights
Richard began acting on the stage in 1930, but his first screen appearance was in Adventure Story (1946), followed by parts in 1066 and All That (1947), The Middle Watch (1948), Emma (1948), The Good Companions (1949), Two of Everything (1953), Portrait of Man (1960), The Last Man Out (1962), No Hiding Place (1964), Take It or Leave It (1964-65), United! (1966), Breaking Point (1966), Haunted (1967), The Paradise Makers (1967), Spindoe (1968), The Avengers (1968), Some Girls Do (1969), The Power Game (1969), Manhunt (1970), Steptoe and Son (1970), Zeppelin (1971), I, Monster (1971), It's Murder But Is It Art (1972), Doctor in Charge (1972), War and Peace (1972-73), Gawain and the Green Knight (1973), The Inheritors (1974), The Brothers (1974), The Rough with the Smooth (1975), Oil Strike North (1975), Philby, Burgess and Maclean (1977), Running Blind (1979), Ripping Yarns (1979), Love in a Cold Climate (1980), Blake's 7 (1981), Rep (1982), Nanny (1983) and Bergerac (1983).
Facts
Richard's middle name was Gibbon. Richard was a member of the BBC Radio repertory company between 1949-52 and in the late 1950s worked for both Radio Luxembourg and the BBC (playing Sherlock Holmes). His third wife was actress Margaret Ward. Sadly, Richard died just four and a half months after The Five Doctors aired - reportedly before he'd even been paid for playing the role of the First Doctor.

Paul Jerricho (Castellan) Born Nov 18 1948
Doctor Who credits
Played: Castellan in Arc of Infinity, The Five Doctors (both 1983)

Played: Alfie in Lucky Day (2025)
Career highlights
Paul, who was brought up in the Caribbean, debuted in Clayhanger in 1976, followed by roles in Space: 1999 (1977), Force 10 from Navarone (1978), Grange Hill (1981), The Biko Inquest (1984), Knights of God (1987), Cry Freedom (1987), Howards' Way (1990), Love Hurts (1993), The Ice House (1997), Mosley (1998), A Likeness in Stone (2000), Footballers' Wives (2004), Look Around You (2005), Jericho (2005), EastEnders (2009), The Whistleblower (2010), Lewis (2012) and Casualty (2014). He also had a regular role as Charles Woodhouse in 78 episodes of the soap Triangle (1981-83).
Facts
Until 1984, Paul was married to actress Barbara Kinghorn, the only guest star to survive the Doctor Who story The Caves of Androzani (1984). His current partner is actress Helena Little.

Caroline John ("Liz Shaw") Sep 19 1940 to Jun 5 2012 (cancer) Click here to see Caroline John's entry on Spearhead from Space

William Kenton (Cyber scout) Jun 9 1944 to Nov 2 2021

Career highlights

His CV also includes Russian Roulette (1973), By the Sword Divided (1983) and Big Deal (1984). He was also credited as a poker advisor on Big Deal (1984-86; William also worked as a croupier) and a boat wrangler on Rosie & Jim (1991; he was also a merchant seaman).

Facts

His parents were actors Godfrey and Mary Kenton (incidentally, Godfrey's third wife, after Mary, was Vivienne Bennett, who played Queen Elizabeth I in The Chase).

Philip Latham (Lord President Borusa) Jan 17 1929 to Jun 20 2020
Career highlights
Philip's first credit was in A Rubovian Legend (1955), followed by Huntingtower (1957), The Moonstone (1959), The Army Game (1959), The Treasure Seekers (1961), The Andromeda Breakthrough (1962), Harpers West One (1962), The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964), The Secret of Blood Island (1964), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), Middlemarch (1968), UFO (1971), No Exit (1972), Seeing and Believing (1961-75), Force 10 from Navarone (1978), From a Far Country (1981), The Fourth Arm (1983), Leaving (1985), Murder of a Moderate Man (1985) and The Man from the Pru (1990). Philip's most famous roles were as Willy Izard in 110 episodes of The Troubleshooters (1965-72), Plantagenet in 26 episodes of The Pallisers (1974) and Arthur Bourne in 75 episodes of The Cedar Tree (1976-77).

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

John Scott Martin (Dalek operator) Apr 1 1926 to Jan 6 2009 (Parkinson's Disease) Click here for John Scott Martin's entry on The Web Planet

Richard Mathews (Rassilon) Dec 11 1914 to Oct 15 1992
Career highlights
Richard's earliest credit was in No Medals (1948), after which he secured roles in ...And Humanity (1958), Emergency Ward 10 (1961), Thorndyke (1964), The Baron (1966), The Caesars (1968), Z Cars (1967/70), Crown Court (1972), The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973), The Adams Chronicles (1976), Children of the Stones (1977), Beryl's Lot (1977), The Walls of Jericho (1981), The Forgotten Story (1983) and Harnessing Peacocks (1992). He also narrated the 1976 paranormal series Beyond Belief.

Stephen Meredith (Technician)
Career highlights
Stephen's other work includes The Enchanted Castle (1979) and A Little Silver Trumpet (1980).

Wendy Padbury ("Zoe Heriot") Born Dec 7 1947 Click here for Wendy Padbury's entry on The Wheel in Space

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

David Savile (Crichton) Born Nov 3 1936
Doctor Who credits
Played: Lieutenant Carstairs in The War Games (1969)
Played: Winser in The Claws of Axos (1971)
Played: Crichton in The Five Doctors (1983)
Career highlights
David's career has been busy since he made his first appearance in a 1965 episode of Out of the Unknown, including Pride and Prejudice (1967), The Power Game (1969), Hell Boats (1970), The Man Who Was Hunting Himself (1972), The Big Sleep (1978), Out (1978), Kinvig (1981), Dempsey and Makepeace (1985), Shine On Harvey Moon (1985), Howards' Way (1988), Anglo Saxon Attitudes (1992), The Young Poisoner's Handbook (1995), Peak Practice (1999), Cambridge Spies (2003), New Tricks (2004) and Tan Lines (2005). He also regularly played Lieutenant Commander Beaumont in over 30 episodes of Warship (1973-76) and Max Barker in Kinsey (1991-92).
Facts
He was once married to actress Lois Baxter, who appeared in The Androids of Tara (1978).

Dinah Sheridan (Chancellor Flavia) Sep 17 1920 to Nov 25 2012
Career highlights
Debuted at the age of 17 in Landslide (1937), followed by roles in Irish and Proud of It (1938), Full Speed Ahead (1940), Get Cracking (1943), Murder in Reverse (1945), The Hills of Donegal (1947), Dark Secret (1949), Ivory Hunter (1951), Breaking the Sound Barrier (1952), Genevieve (1953), The Contact (1968), The Railway Children (1970), Call My Bluff (1969-71), Ooh La La! (1973), Zodiac (1974), Marked Personal (1974), Village Hall (1975), Whodunnit? (1977), Sykes (1979), Sink or Swim (1981), All for Love (1983), The Winning Streak (1985), Blankety Blank (1981-87), Cross Wits (1990), Keeping Up Appearances (1991), Just Us (1992), Lovejoy (1992), Countdown (1988-93), All Night Long (1994) and Jonathan Creek (1999). Dinah found early recognition playing Paul Temple's wife Steve in the late 1940s, and found renewed fame as Angela Latimer in 38 episodes of the sitcom Don't Wait Up (1983-90).
Facts
Dinah was one of the first actresses to appear on BBC Television in 1936 when she was interviewed for Picture Page. Dinah's parents were photographers to the Royal family, by appointment to the Queen and Queen Mother. Dinah retired from acting in 1954 after marrying second husband Sir John Davis, president of the Rank Organisation (it was his condition she gave up acting if they wed), but returned following their divorce. Dinah's first husband was actor Jimmy Hanley, with whom she had three children - one died in infancy, while the other two are Jenny Hanley, best remembered as presenter of children's show Magpie in the 1970s, and Sir Jeremy Hanley, former Conservative MP and British foreign minister and Conservative Party chairman in the 1990s. Her third (of four) husband was Canadian actor John Merivale, who in 1970 was given 10 years to live due to a previously undiagnosed hereditary kidney condition. When he married Dinah in 1986 she learnt how to administer kidney dialysis at home, until he passed away in 1990.
This is Your Life: Dinah was the subject of Thames TV's This is Your Life on March 28th, 1979, surprised by host Eamonn Andrews dressed as a porter at Heathrow Airport. Link to The Big Red Book entry.

Roy Skelton (Dalek voice) July 20th 1931 to June 8th 2011 (pneumonia following a stroke) Click here for Roy Skelton's entry on The Ark

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

John Tallents (Guard) Born Jan 11 1947
Career highlights
Further credits include Nancy Astor (1982), The Fourth Arm (1983), Diana (1984) and Island at War (2004).
Facts
John started out studying law, as he comes from a continuous line of solicitors dating back to 1780, but changed his career when he got a job at auctioneers Sotheby's specialising in ceramics. He didn't decide to go into acting until the late 1970s. Nowadays he performs as Charles Dickens on reading tours around the UK and beyond, much like we see Dickens doing in The Unquiet Dead.

Patrick Troughton (The Doctor) Mar 25 1920 to Mar 28 1987 (heart attack) See Patrick Troughton's entry on The Power of the Daleks

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

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

Eric Saward (script editor) Born Dec 9 1944 Click here for Eric Saward's entry on Castrovalva

The Three Doctors

If only this actually happened in 1972!
Picture from Whopix blog

Four episodes (Episode One, Episode Two, Episode Three, Episode Four)
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) Feb 9 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.

Patrick Troughton (The Doctor) Mar 25 1920 to Mar 28 1987 (heart attack) See Patrick Troughton's entry on The Power of the Daleks

Laurie Webb (Mr Ollis) May 6th 1924 to March 29th 2026 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

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

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

The Tenth Planet

Farewell to the original...

First broadcast Oct 8 to 29 1966

Episode 1 (5.5m)

Episode 2 (6.4m)

Episode 3 (7.6m)

Episode 4 (7.5m)
Average audience for serial: 6.75m

• A pictorial guide to the guest cast is at the bottom of this entry. An episode-by-episode review of this story is on Time Space Visualiser here.

REGULAR CAST

William Hartnell (The Doctor) January 8th 1908 to April 23rd 1975 (heart failure after a series of strokes) For a full career biography for William Hartnell, click here.

Anneke Wills (Polly) Born October 20th 1941 For a full career biography for Anneke Wills, click here.

Michael Craze (Ben Jackson) November 29th 1942 to December 8th 1998 (heart attack) For a full career biography for Michael Craze, click here.

CREDITED GUEST CAST

Callen Angelo (Terry Cutler) October 24th 1939 to April 10th 2000
Career highlights
Canadian Callen's other work includes The Pistol (1965), Court Martial (1966), The Troubleshooters (1966) and the regular role of American GI Gary Strauss in soap Coronation Street (1967-70).

Robert Beatty (General Cutler) October 19th 1909 to March 3rd 1992 (pneumonia)
Career highlights
Highly prolific Robert first appeared in Murder in Soho (1939), then One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942), It Happened One Sunday (1944), Odd Man Out (1947), Portrait from Life (1949), Captain Horatio Hornblower RN (1951), Man on a Tightrope (1953), The Square Ring (1953), The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships (1954), Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957), The Flying Doctor (1959), The Amorous Prawn (1962), The Human Jungle (1964), Bikini Paradise (1967), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Where Eagles Dare (1968), Man at the Top (1972), The Gathering Storm (1974), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Blake's 7 (1978), The Martian Chronicles (1980), Superman III (1983), Labyrinth (1986), Superman IV (1987) and The Return of Sam McCloud (1989). He also had a regular role as DI Mike Maguire in Dial 999 (1958-59).
Facts
Canadian Robert's very early career began on BBC Radio, famously reporting eyewitness accounts of the London Blitz for the Overseas News Service during the war. He also provided the voice for private eye Philip Odell in a long-running series for the BBC Light Programme between 1947-61, and in the 1960s and 70s provided the voiceover for various film trailers, including Where Eagles Dare, Doctor Zhivago and Zulu. In 1978, Robert was declared bankrupt.

Glenn Beck (TV announcer) Born June 1st 1935
Career highlights
Canadian Glenn's other work includes The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll (1960), Man of the World (1962), Dr Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), The White Rabbit (1967), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Spy Trap (1973), Sex Play (1974), Snow Blind (1978), The Littlest Hobo (1980), Strange Brew (1983), The Gunfighters (1987), Coppermine (1992), Dark Corners (2006), National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007), Hit the Big Time (2011), The Confirmation (2016), Little Pink House (2017), Hit the Road (2017), Travelers (2017) and Boundaries (2018).
In 2017 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Glenn here.

John Brandon (American sergeant) June 21st 1929 to August 25th 2014
Career highlights
Debuted in The Liberators (1960), then The Dakotas (1963), The Troubleshooters (1965), Battle Beneath the Earth (1967), Billion Dollar Brain (1967), Isadora (1968), Gunsmoke (1969), The Interns (1971), Serpico (1973), Wonder Woman (1976), Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), Little House on the Prairie (1977), All in the Family (1977), The Bionic Woman (1977), Fantasy Island (1980), Archie Bunker's Place (1981), Knots Landing (1981), Knight Rider (1982), Voyagers! (1982), Scarface (1983), Murder, She Wrote (1985), Tales from the Darkside (1986), The Bold and the Beautiful (1990), The Wonder Years (1991), Frasier (1993), The Client (1996), Melrose Place (1998), Charmed (2005), Drake and Josh (2006) and Private Practice (2007). John may be best recognised from playing Detective Walsh in Hill Street Blues (1981-82), Zeus in Airwolf (1984-86) and Captain William Handler in Dynasty (1988-89).
Facts
John was a veteran of the Korean War, serving in the US Army between 1952-54. He was the first ever victim of the Cybermen seen on TV.

Harry Brooks (Talon and Krang) February 16th 1936 to October 25th 2008 (cancer)
Career highlights
Debuted in Quatermass II (1955), then Danger Man (1965), The Spies (1966), The Quiller Memorandum (1966), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Underground (1970), Eyeless in Gaza (1971), Colditz (1972), Dial M for Murder (1974), Hanover Street (1979) and Turtle's Progress (1980).

Facts

Harry's daughter is actor Milanka Brooks, best recognised as Elena Tulaska in the Black Mirror USS Callister franchise.

Earl Cameron (Williams) August 8th 1917 to July 3rd 2020 DOCTOR WHO CENTENARIAN!
Career highlights
Bermuda-born Earl made his screen debut in Pool of London (1951), then took roles in There is Another Sun (1951), Simba (1955), Safari (1956), Odongo (1956), White Hunter (1957), Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959), Danger Man (1960), The Andromeda Breakthrough (1962), Emergency Ward 10 (1962), Guns at Batasi (1964), Thunderball (1965), Battle Beneath the Earth (1967), Dixon of Dock Green (1968), Jackanory (1971), Spyder's Web (1972), The Frighteners (1972), The Zoo Gang (1974), Cuba (1979), Lovejoy (1994), Neverwhere (1996), Maisie Raine (1998), EastEnders (2001), Waking the Dead (2003), The Interpreter (2005), The Queen (2006), Casualty (2008), Inception (2010) and Up on the Roof (2013).
Awards
2009: Commander of the order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to drama
Facts
Earl was one of the first black actors to break the colour bar in acting. The 15-year gap in his acting CV is down to the fact he took his family to live in the Solomon Islands and ran an ice cream shop called Mr B Kool, and also helped establish a Baha'i community there. In 2012, Earl had a theatre named in his honour in Hamilton, Bermuda, and in 2013 was awarded the degree of Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Warwick. He became Doctor Who's third centenarian when he turned 100 years old in 2017.

Ellen Cullen (Geneva technician)
Ellen's only other credit on IMDb is In Suspicious Circumstances (1993), but this may not be the same actor.

David Dodimead (Barclay) April 8th 1919 to November 1st 1996
Career highlights
David debuted in The Comedy of Errors (1956), followed by roles in Hamlet (1959), Paul of Tarsus (1960), We Shall See (1964), The Girl Who Loved Robots (1965), Mystery and Imagination: Lost Hearts (1966), Not in Front of the Children (1967), The Beast in the Cellar (1970), Hurt Hawks (1974), Fall of Eagles (1974), Z Cars (1977), Penmarric (1979) and Jane Eyre (1983). He was also the presenter of a series of Gilbert and Sullivan musical TV presentations in 1972, including The Yeomen of the Guard, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado.

Christopher Dunham (R/T technician) Born January 16th 1938
Career highlights
After debuting in Doctor Who, Christopher's other work included The Power Game (1969), Hine (1971) and The Protectors (1973).
Facts
Christopher gave up acting and in 1975 became artistic director of the Palace Theatre in Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex. However, his 24-year connection with the theatre was to end badly when he and 40 other staff lost their jobs when the cash-strapped venue closed in March 1999. In November 1999, Christopher won an employment tribunal after he claimed he had been unfairly dismissed. He then became an acting teacher. The theatre re-opened in December 1999, with actor Roy Marsden as artistic director. Christopher's wife is actress June Watson.

Peter Hawkins (Cyberman voice) April 3rd 1924 to July 8th 2006 (pneumonia) Click here for Peter Hawkins's entry on The Daleks

Dudley Jones (Dyson) December 26th 1914 to November 10th 1990
Career highlights
Dudley's earliest acting credit was in The Policeman's Serenade (1937), followed by The Wooing of Anne Hathaway (1938), Once a Jolly Swagman (1949), Robin Hood (1953, playing Much), Treasure Island (1957), Friends and Neighbours (1959), Undermind (1965), The Virgin Soldiers (1969), The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm (1969), Doomwatch (1970), Coronation Street (1971), The Hole in the Wall (1972), Robert's Robots (1973), How Green Was My Valley (1975), Rentaghost (1976), Dickens of London (1976), Yes, Honestly (1977), Rosie (1978), The Borgias (1981), Shine on Harvey Moon (1982), The Citadel (1983) and Summer Season (1985).
Facts
Dudley was a tenor as well as an actor.

Christopher Matthews (Radar technician)
Career highlights
After debuting in Festival: Stephen D (1963), Christopher's further work included Mr John Jorrocks (1966), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1967), Dr Robert Duncan in Freewheelers (1968), Some Like It Sexy (1969), Scream and Scream Again (1970), Scars of Dracula (1970), Blind Terror (1971), Moody and Pegg (1975), Alien Attack (1976), Minder (1984), Countdown to War (1989), The Bill (1991), Dead Romantic (1993), All in the Game (1993), Casualty (1995), Invasion: Earth (1998) and Rosemary and Thyme (2006).

Gregg Palmer (Shav and Gern) December 11th 1940 to October 14th 2025
Doctor Who credits
Played: Shav in The Tenth Planet (1966)
Played: Gern in The Tenth Planet (1966)
Played: Lieutenant Lucke in The War Games (1969)
Facts
Gregg had roles in the final stories of both the First and Second Doctors, which puts him in a very small club of people who appear in two different Doctors' regeneration stories. Gregg - born Donald van der Maaten - is often confused with the American actor of the same stage name, but they are different performers. In later years he was artistic director of the Acting Studio in the Hague.

Steve Plytas (Wigner) January 9th 1913 to December 27th 1994
Career highlights
Born in Turkey, Steve made his earliest appearance on screen in The Schirmer Inheritance (1957), followed by roles in Passport to Shame (1958), Interpol Calling (1960), Biggles (1960), The World of Tim Frazer (1960), Coronation Street (1961), Richard the Lionheart (1962), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), The Avengers (1963/66), The Forsyte Saga (1967), Theatre of Death (1967), And Mother Makes Three (1971), Ooh... You Are Awful (1972), Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width (1973), Sex Play (1974), Fawlty Towers (1975), Devenish (1977), Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978), Carry On Emmannuelle (1978), The Bitch (1979), The History Man (1981), The Dark Side of the Sun (1983), Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense (1984), The Practice (1985), Superman IV (1987), Batman (1989), Goldeneye (1989) and The Gravy Train (1990).

Facts

His birth name was Phokion Stavros Plytas. He passed away on the 46th anniversary of his marriage to wife Amy.

Shane Shelton (Tito) c.1944 to February 15th 2015
Career highlights
Shane's further work includes Coronation Street (1965), Orlando (1966), Z Cars (1967), The Newcomers (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Under Milk Wood (1971), The Protectors (1974) and Marked Personal (1974).
Facts
There's a remarkable video on YouTube of an inebriated Shane arguing with British comic Vic Reeves at the Gumball 3000 rally in 2012.

Roy Skelton (Cyberman voice) July 20th 1931 to June 8th 2011 (pneumonia following a stroke) Click here for Roy Skelton's entry on The Ark

Alan White (Schultz) January 3rd 1925 to October 4th 2013
Career highlights
Australian Alan debuted in Into the Straight (1949), then Juniper Hall (1956), No Time for Tears (1957), Shake Hands with the Devil (1959), Sierra Nine (1963), The World Ten Times Over (1963), Girl in the Headlines (1963), The Prisoner (1967), The Troubleshooters (1969), Hine (1971), The Hanged Man (1975) and Tumbledown (1988). He also enjoyed regular roles as Charley Wood in The Flying Doctor (1959) and Leading Seaman White in Tell It to the Marines (1959-60).

Facts

Here's a short biography of Alan's life and work.

Reg Whitehead (Krail and Jarl) December 11th 1932 to March 11th 2016
Doctor Who credits
Played: Krail in The Tenth Planet (1966)
Played: Jarl in The Tenth Planet (1966)
Played: Cyberman in The Moonbase (1967), The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967)
Played: Yeti in The Abominable Snowmen (1967)
Career highlights
After debuting in Z Cars (1963), Reg went on to appear in The Power Game (1966), Counterstrike (1969), Hardy Heating Company (1970) and Bachelor Father (1971).
Facts
In The Tomb of the Cybermen, a character mentions "Whitehead logic", which could refer to computer logic pioneer Alfred North Whitehead, or indeed Reg! In the 1970s, Reg invested in the manufacture of executive toys such as the Newton's Cradle, and made a good living from it, especially when they sold to America. In later years he helped found the Finders Keepers Partnership, which owns and breeds race horses.

CREW

Gerry Davis (writer and script editor) February 23rd 1930 to August 31st 1991 (stomach cancer) Click here for Gerry Davis's entry on The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve

Kit Pedler (writer) June 11th 1927 to May 27th 1981 (heart attack) Click here for Kit Pedler's entry on The War Machines

Derek Martinus (director) April 4th 1931 to March 27th 2014 (Alzheimer's Disease) Click here for Derek Martinus's entry on Galaxy 4

Innes Lloyd (producer) December 24th 1925 to August 23rd 1991 Click here for Innes Lloyd's entry on The Celestial Toymaker

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

The Smugglers

Polly (Anneke Wills) and the Doctor
(William Hartnell) try not to notice
Ben (Michael Craze) showing off his pecs

First broadcast Sep 10 to Oct 1 1966

Episode 1 (5.4m)

Episode 2 (4.7m)

Episode 3 (5.3m)

Episode 4 (5.5m)
Average audience for serial: 5.23m

• A guide to the guest cast is at the bottom of this entry. An episode-by-episode review of this story is on Time Space Visualiser here.

REGULAR CAST

William Hartnell (The Doctor) January 8th 1908 to April 23rd 1975 (heart failure after a series of strokes) For a full career biography for William Hartnell, click here.

Anneke Wills (Polly) Born October 20th 1941 For a full career biography for Anneke Wills, click here.

Michael Craze (Ben Jackson) November 29th 1942 to December 8th 1998 (heart attack) For a full career biography for Michael Craze, click here.

CREDITED GUEST CAST

Jack Bligh (Gaptooth) December 31st 1889 to September 25th 1967
Career highlights
Jack's earliest known credit is Brothers in Law (1962), then The Victorians (1963), First Night (1963), Taxi! (1964), The Horror of It All (1964), Danger Man (1965), Blackmail (1966), Man in a Suitcase (1967), Night of the Big Heat (1967) and Death of a Private (1967).
Facts
Sadly, Jack died within a year of his appearance in The Smugglers. After turning down an offer to play soccer for Arsenal, Somerset-born Jack became a member of the stock company at the British and Colonial Kinematograph Company. At one stage he was a stuntman in the US. It's believed Jack's earliest television appearance was in 1929. In the 1930s, he and his wife (the actor Mary Holder) settled in South Africa and established a theatre company in Johannesburg, also working in TV and radio in South Africa and Australasia in the 1930s and 40s.

George A Cooper (Cherub) March 7th 1925 to November 16th 2018
Career highlights
George will be best remembered by a certain generation for playing school caretaker Mr Griffiths in more than 100 episodes of Grange Hill between 1985-92. His CV began with 1946's Men of Two Worlds, followed by The Passing Stranger (1954), Othello (1955), Sword of Freedom (1957), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1958), Hell is a City (1960), An Age of Kings (1960), Tom Jones (1963), Ferry Cross the Mersey (1965), King of the River (1966), Man in a Suitcase (1967), The Morecambe and Wise Show (1970), Steptoe and Son (1965/72), Budgie (1972), Son of the Bride (1973), Rising Damp (1975), The New Avengers (1976), Wonder Woman (1977), The Light Princess (1978), Metal Mickey (1982), Alleyn Mysteries (1993) and Casualty (1995). George also had a regular role as Geoffrey Fisher in Billy Liar (1973-74), a role he originated on stage in 1960.
Facts
In 1957, George's son Adam was brain damaged at birth. The A in George's name stood for Alphonsus, after the 18th century patron saint of confessors!

Terence de Marney (Churchwarden Joseph Longfoot) March 1st 1908 to May 25th 1971 (fall in front of train)
Career highlights
Terence's career began in 1931's The Eternal Feminine, after which he had roles in Eyes of Fate (1933), The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (1935), Born That Way (1936), I Killed the Count (1939), They Met in the Dark (1943), Dual Alibi (1947), The Silver Chalice (1954), 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956), Pharaoh's Curse (1957), Bonanza (1959), Tightrope (1960), Whispering Smith (1961), Twilight Zone (1962), Lorna Doone (1963), The Spies (1966), Sexton Blake (1967), The Ugliest Girl in Town (1968), All Neat in Black Stockings (1969) and Follyfoot (1971). He also had a long-running role as Case Thomas in Johnny Ringo (1959-60). He co-wrote the stage play Wanted for Murder, which was adapted into the film A Voice in the Night in 1946, starring Eric Portman. Other screenwriting credits include No Way Back (1949) and The Crime of Margaret Foley (1957).
Facts
In 1932, Terence co-founded the Independent Theatre Club (formerly the Kingsway Theatre) with his actor brother Derrick de Marney as an outlet for works banned for various reasons by the Lord Chamberlain. Terence - whose grandfather Alfred Concanen was a noted Victorian lithographer - was also the first actor to portray Simon "The Saint" Templar, on Radio Athlone in 1940. Terence's second wife was the actor Beryl Measor, who died at the age of 56 in 1965. Terence died after accidentally falling onto the tracks of the westbound District line at Kensington High Street tube station, London, on his way to perform in a play. In the 1997 book Television Western Players of the Fifties 1949-1959, author Everett Aaker claims Terence had been plagued by ill-health for years, and actually jumped in front of the train, although there is no source for this assertion (contemporary newspaper reports refer to it as an accident).

Michael Godfrey (Captain Pike) August 20th 1918 to September 19th 1977
Career highlights
Debuted uncredited in The Third Man (1949), then took roles in Cairo Road (1950), The March of the Peasants (1952), Little Red Monkey (1953), Colonel March of Scotland Yard (1955), The Sentimental Agent (1963), Sykes and a... (1964), Emergency Ward 10 (1963-64), Witch Wood (1964), The Baron (1966), The Champions (1968), Department S (1970), The Persuaders! (1971), Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), Yellow Dog (1973), Rogue's Rock (1976) and Devenish (1977).
Facts
Michael's real name was Michael Godfrey Collins. Michael was understudy to Orson Welles in a production of Othello in London in 1951; co-star Maxine Audley said Welles bullied Michael remorselessly.

Elroy Josephs (Jamaica) February 23rd 1939* to February 8th 1997
Career highlights
Elroy debuted in Ebb Tide (1959) followed by Probation Officer (1960), Londoners (1965), Dixon of Dock Green (1966), House of Character (1968), The Alf Garnett Saga (1972), Love Thy Neighbour (1972) and Brideshead Revisited (1981). He also appeared as a guest on a 1975 edition of This is Your Life dedicated to Nina Baden-Semper.
Facts
Actor and dancer Elroy moved from Jamaica to the UK in 1950 and, as the first black dance teacher in a British university, developed an innovative fusion of Afro-Caribbean and European jazz dance styles that was highly influential on future choreographers. In October 2012, as part of Black History Month, the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool and Enterprise South Liverpool Academy staged a tribute show to Elroy to spotlight his often overlooked influence on black dance culture.

* This may not be his birth year. Elroy's friend Bill Harpe stated in a book about the history of black British dance that when he took up a position as lecturer at what is now called Liverpool John Moores University, Elroy cut approximately ten years from his age to meet expectations for retirement age. However, there is no source to corroborate this claim.

David Blake Kelly (Jacob Kewper) February 17th 1916 to January 21st 1993
Doctor Who credits
Played: Captain Benjamin Briggs in The Chase (1965)
Played: Jacob Kewper in The Smugglers (1966)
Career highlights
He started his acting career as Diarmuid Kelly, debuting in I Killed the Count (1948), followed by Someone at the Door (1949), Treasure Island (1950), The Anatomist (1956) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1957), after which he anglicised his name and appeared in William Tell (1959), Sergeant Cork (1964), Adam Adamant Lives! (1967), Spy Trap (1975), The Cherry Orchard (1981), Miss Marple: Nemesis (1987), Jeeves and Wooster (1990) and House of Cards (1990).
Facts
Often mistaken for another actor called David Kelly, who often played stereotypical Irish characters (such as in Fawlty Towers and Robin's Nest), but they are different actors. David was married to Royal Ballet dancer Jill Gregory.

Mike Lucas (Tom) Born May 29th 1941
Career highlights
Mike's other work includes Frankie Howerd (1966), You Can't Win (1966), The Dick Emery Show (1967), Crossroads (1965/67), The Expert (1968), Beggar My Neighbour (1968), Thicker Than Water (1969), Carry On Camping (1969), The Liver Birds (1971, as Gerry), Pardon My Genie (1973) and Funny Ha-Ha (1974).

Facts
Mike was a founding member of the Mikron Theatre Company in 1963, which still tours theatre aboard a canal boat (Turlough actor Mark Strickson was a member of this company for a time). Mike ran the company until 2005.

John Ringham (Josiah Blake) February 10th 1928 to October 20th 2008 (cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Tlotoxl in The Aztecs (1964)
Played: Josiah Blake in The Smugglers (1966)
Played: Ashe in Colony in Space (1971)
Career highlights
John's acting career stretches as far back as Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans in 1957, and took in Very Important Person (1961), The Plane Makers (1963), The Forsyte Saga (1967), The Railway Children (1968), Up Pompeii (1970), The Pallisers (1974), Poldark (1975-76), Pennies from Heaven (1978), Maybury (1981) The Tripods (1985), Terry and June (1987), And There's More (1988), The Darling Buds of May (1991), The Governor (1995), Out of Sight (1997), The Secret of Eel Island (2005-07), V for Vendetta (2005) and Wallander (2008). He also played Captain Bailey in Dad's Army (1969-70), Superintendent Lake in Juliet Bravo (1980), Norman Warrender in Just Good Friends (1983-86) and Mr Blocker in Woof! (1989-93).
Facts
John was a member of the ensemble cast in the pilot episode of sitcom Dad's Army, but his character was dropped for the series as he was considered too similar to the bumbling Private Godfrey. He starred in TV adverts for Terry's Chocolate Orange spoofing the Indiana Jones films. He also wrote a couple of stage plays which were both premiered at the Edinburgh Festival, in 1991 and 1999. John's first wife was actress Elizabeth Shepherd (1959-62).

Derek Ware (Spaniard) February 27th 1938 to September 22nd 2015 (cancer) Click here for Derek Ware's entry on The Crusade

Paul Whitsun-Jones (Squire) April 25th 1923 to January 14th 1974 (appendicitis)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Squire in The Smugglers (1966)
Played: Marshal in The Mutants (1972)
Career highlights
Paul's familiar face (and figure!) first graced our screens when he played James Fullalove in The Quatermass Experiment (1953), but viewers might also recognise him from The Passing Stranger (1954), Huntingtower (1957), The Moonraker (1958), Bonehead (1957-62, as the Boss), Better Late! (1958), Tunes of Glory (1960), Doctor in Distress (1963), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), United! (1965), Mr Rose (1967), Wild, Wild Women (1969), Up Pompeii (1970), Elephant's Eggs in a Rhubarb Tree (1971), Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971), Jason King (1972), Follyfoot (1973) and Keep It Up, Jack (1975). Paul played Porthos in The Three Musketeers (1954), and was the original Mr Bumble in the stage musical Oliver! in 1960.

Facts

Paul's daughter Henrietta had a brief acting career in the early 1990s. Sadly, Paul died when she was only six years old. As an adult, Henrietta had two children - grandchildren Paul never met.

CREW

Brian Hayles (writer) March 7th 1931 to October 30th 1978 Click here for Brian Hayles's entry on The Celestial Toymaker

Julia Smith (director) May 26th 1927 to June 19th 1997 (cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Directed: The Smugglers (1966), The Underwater Menace (1967)
Career highlights
Julia's directing career began with Suspense in 1963, followed by Swizzlewick (1964), the soap Compact (1965), The Railway Children (1968), Dr Finlay's Casebook (1963-69), The Newcomers (1966-69), Z Cars (1971-74), Angels (1975-76), Katy (1976), EastEnders (1985-89) and Civvy Street (1988). While becoming a respected director she also worked as producer on many of the same shows, as well as The District Nurse (1984/87) and Medics (1990). Along with Tony Holland, she also helped create the BBC soaps EastEnders in 1985 (which she also produced 1985-89) and Eldorado (1992-93).

Facts

Julia's cousin is cinematographer Chris Menges, who won Oscars for his work on The Killing Fields (1984) and The Mission (1986). Julia was the real owner of Roly the poodle, a popular fixture in the early years of EastEnders.

Innes Lloyd (producer) December 24th 1925 to August 23rd 1991 Click here for Innes Lloyd's entry on The Celestial Toymaker

Gerry Davis (script editor) February 23rd 1930 to August 31st 1991 (stomach cancer) Click here for Gerry Davis's entry on The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve

Click to enlarge

The War Machines

Ding ding! It was Round 1 to the
War Machine in the Covent Garden
 Big Fight

First broadcast Jun 25 to Jul 16 1966

Episode 1 (5.4m)

Episode 2 (4.7m)

Episode 3 (5.3m)

Episode 4 (5.5m)
Average audience for serial: 5.23m

• A pictorial guide to the guest cast is at the bottom of this entry. An episode-by-episode review of this story is on Time Space Visualiser here.

REGULAR CAST

William Hartnell (The Doctor) January 8th 1908 to April 23rd 1975 (heart failure after a series of strokes) For a full career biography for William Hartnell, click here.

Jackie Lane (Dodo Chaplet) July 10th 1941 to June 7th 2021 For a full career biography for Jackie Lane, click here.

Anneke Wills (Polly) Born October 20th 1941 For a full career biography for Anneke Wills, click here.

Michael Craze (Ben Jackson) November 29th 1942 to December 8th 1998 (heart attack) For a full career biography for Michael Craze, click here.

CREDITED GUEST CAST

John Boyd-Brent (Sergeant) May 5th 1919 to December 15th 2005
Career highlights
Further acting credits include Rumpelstiltskin (1951), Lines of Communication (1952), Call for Mr Ariman (1961), Top Secret (1962), Ghost Squad (1962/64), The Caves of Steel (1964), Compact (1965) and King of the River (1966). He regularly played George in The Flying Swan (1965), and also wrote two TV plays, Tom's Goblin (1953) and Simon's Treasure (1955).

Facts

John's wife was fellow actor Janet Butler.

Sandra Bryant (Kitty) Born September 30th 1945
Doctor Who credits
Played: Kitty in The War Machines (1966)
Played: Chicki in The Macra Terror (1967)
Career highlights
After starting out with an uncredited role as a schoolgirl in Carry On Teacher (1959), Sandra's other credits include Suspense (1963), Z Cars (1964), Emergency Ward 10 (1966/67), Sat'day While Sunday (1967), Mr Rose (1968), Coronation Street (1969/75), Rogues' Gallery (1969), Special Branch (1969-70), Wuthering Heights (1970), Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973), On the Buses (1973), Billy Liar (1974), Not on Your Nellie (1975) and Breakaway (1980).
Facts
She played Chicki in episode 1 of The Macra Terror, but was released from her contract before the character's reappearance in episode 4, and replaced by Karol Keyes. In 1970, she married TV production designer, and later film art director, Terry Gough. This Sandra Bryant is not the same Sandra Bryant who released two pop records in 1967.

John Cater (Professor Krimpton) January 17th 1932 to March 21st 2009 (liver cancer)
Career highlights
John appeared in well over 150 productions including 1958's The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, The Terrible Choice (1960), Hancock (1963), The Plane Makers (1964), Take a Pair of Private Eyes (1966), Virgin of the Secret Service (1968, as Fred Doublett), Dad's Army (1970), The Abominable Dr Phibes (1971), Dr Phibes Rises Again (1972), Alcock and Gander (1972), Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (1974), South Riding (1974), I, Claudius (1976), Rosie (1978), The Setbacks (1980-81, as Larry), Rising Damp (1980), The Other 'Arf (1980-81), Chance in a Million (1986), Home to Roost (1987), The Woman in Black (1989), Ruth Rendell Mysteries: The Best Man to Die (1990, as Mr Pertwee!) Sitting Pretty (1992), Lipstick on Your Collar (1993), 2point4 Children (1991/94), Bramwell (1996), Goodnight Mr Tom (1999), Crossroads (2001-02, as Arthur Williams), Down to Earth (2001-03), Bad Girls (2005), Alien Autopsy (2006) and Bonekickers (2008). John also regularly played Starr in The Duchess of Duke Street (1976-77).
Facts
Throughout his life John suffered from the blood disorder haemochromatosis, which did not affect him too much until he developed arthritis in later life. His wife was fellow actor Wendy Gifford, who appeared in The Ice Warriors (1967), while his daughter is actor Emma Cater (making his son-in-law the actor Simon Thorp). In July 1989, Wendy and John wrote a letter to Mark Fisher MP to be read out as part of his speech during a parliamentary debate about the taxation of actors, who invariably find themselves unemployed for erratic periods during a tax year.

Edward Colliver (Garage mechanic) 1928 to October 24th 2013
Career highlights
Edward's other work included Suspense (1963), First Night (1963), The Newcomers (1965), Quick Before They Catch Us (1966), The Gentle Libertine (1967) and Z Cars (1968).

Carl Conway (US correspondent) February 6th 1922 to February 10th 2017
Doctor Who credits
Played: US correspondent in The War Machines (1966)
Played: Control room assistant in The Ambassadors of Death (1970)
Career highlights
Carl's acting CV takes in The Counterfeit Plan (1957), White Hunter (1957), The Safecracker (1958), Nudist Paradise (1959), Man from Interpol (1960), Watch Your Stern (1961), My Bare Lady (1963), Espionage (1964), The Saint (1966), Pegasus (1969) and Out of the Unknown (1969). In 1964, Carl joined the unlicensed off-shore Radio Caroline at its launch, but did not care for life at sea and mainly took part in the advertisements and interviews conducted on dry land (the pirate radio station transmitted from a former passenger ferry anchored off Felixstowe). In the 1980s, Carl worked for BBC Radio Kent, and later kept himself busy organising film shows in old people's homes and community centres.

George Cross (Minister) February 12th 1902 to September 1987
Career highlights
Other work includes Down Under (1933), Street Song (1935), Under Suspicion (1939), We Dive at Dawn (1943), Dulcimer Street (1948), The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953), The Smallest Show on Earth (1957), Thorndyke (1964), The Newcomers (1966), The Spies (1966) and Life with Cooper (1968).

Facts

George's wife was fellow actor Eileen Dale.

Desmond Cullum-Jones (Worker) December 1st 1924 to June 6th 2002

Doctor Who credits

Played: Citizen of Millennius in The Keys of Marinus (1964, uncredited)

Played: Worker in The War Machines (1966)
Career highlights
Seattle-born Desmond's career began in The Great Armoured Car Swindle (1961) and saw roles in The Big Pull (1962), A Man Called Harry Brent (1965), Danger Man (1965), The Big Switch (1968), Doomwatch (1971), Brett (1971), Fall of Eagles (1974), The Good Life (1976), Penmarric (1979), Shoestring (1979), The Day of the Triffids (1981), Nancy Astor (1982), Dempsey and Makepeace (1985), Blott on the Landscape (1985), Me and My Girl (1988) and The Rag Nymph (1997). He also regularly played a platoon member (occasionally known as Private Desmond) in Dad's Army (1969-77, uncredited).

Alan Curtis (Major Green) July 30th 1930 to February 18th 2021
Career highlights
Alan's career on the screen began with The Black Brigand (1956), followed by roles in The Railway Children (1957), The Avengers (1962), The Plane Makers (1964), The Corridor People (1966), Horne Aplenty (1968-69), The Good Old Days (1968), The Morecambe and Wise Show (1969-71), Up Pompeii (1970), Carry On Henry (1971), Four Dimensions of Greta (1972), Carry On Abroad (1972), Whoops Baghdad! (1973), Professor Popper's Problem (1974), Crackerjack! (1975), The Howerd Confessions (1976), The Bounder (1982), Jemima Shore Investigates (1983), 3-2-1 (1983-84), Duty Free (1984), The Vision (1987), Small World (1988) and Footballers' Wives (2003). He also regularly played Philip Rogers in soap Crossroads (1980).
Facts
Alan also acted as announcer for Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's. He suffered a stroke in the early 2000s, leaving him without the use of one arm. In the 1960s he was married to singer Yana (aka Pamela Guard).
In 2016 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Alan here.

Eddie Davis (Worker)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Parisian in The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (1966, uncredited)
Played: Worker in The War Machines (1966)
Career highlights
American-born Eddie's other credits include Softly Softly (1966) and The Goodies (1977). He may also have played one of the inventors in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), but this Eddie Davis (born in the US in 1895) may be a different man.

Robin Dawson (Soldier)
Robin also appeared in an episode of Z Cars (1969), uncredited.

John Doye (Interviewer) February 16th 1918 to March 10th 1995
Doctor Who credits
Played: Freedom fighter in The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964, uncredited)
Played: Cowboy in The Gunfighters (1966, uncredited)
Played: Interviewer in The War Machines (1966)
Played: Redcoat in The Highlanders (1966-67, uncredited)
Career highlights
Other credits include The Strong are Lonely (1956), The Kentish Robin (1957), Sykes and a... (1964), The Rat Catchers (1966), The Informer (1967) and The Gamblers (1967), as well as uncredited roles in The Prisoner (1967), Doctor in Trouble (1970), Carry On Henry (1971), The Sweeney (1976) and The Mirror Crack'd (1980).
Facts
On January 30th 1954, John was performing in a production of Wish You Were Here at London's Casino Theatre when, during the first half, comedian Chris Hewitt struck his head on the side of a pool which he was routinely pushed into to form the climax of Act 1. John and a fellow actor dived into the pool to rescue the unconscious Hewitt, who went on with the show after receiving treatment.

Ric Felgate (American journalist) June 4th 1933 to July 31st 1999 (prostate cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Played: American journalist in The War Machines (1966)
Played: Brent in The Seeds of Death (1969)
Played: Van Lyden in The Ambassadors of Death (1970)
Career highlights
Ric's other credits include Quick Before They Catch Us (1966), Jackanory (1969), Softly Softly (1968-70), The Passenger (1971) and The Sweeney (1976). He also wrote several episodes of children's animation Bertha (1985-86, as Eric Charles).
Facts
He was married to Cynthia Felgate (nee Harris, 1935-91), co-creator and producer of children's programmes Play School and Playdays. Ric was also brother-in-law of Doctor Who director Michael Ferguson, who often cast him in his programmes.

Roy Godfrey (Tramp) August 20th 1921 to May 3rd 2005
Career highlights
Other credits include Paint Your Wagon (1954), The Water Gipsies (1955), William Tell (1959), Looking for Frankie (1961), Diary of a Young Man (1964), Dixon of Dock Green (1965/66), The Newcomers (1966), Torture Garden (1967) and Uncle Silas (1968).
Facts
In October 2008, Bonhams held an auction in which one of the lots was a pen and ink sketch by Ronald Searle of Roy Godfrey playing Sweeney Todd in a Punch Theatre production of The Demon Barber, duelling with fellow Doctor Who alumnus James Maxwell's barber.

John Harvey (Professor Brett) September 27th 1911 to July 19th 1982
Doctor Who credits
Played: Professor Brett in The War Machines (1966)
Played: Officia in The Macra Terror (1967)
Career highlights
With a career starting in Moscow Nights (1934), John was prolific, and had roles in On the Spot (1948), Dick Barton Strikes Back (1949), Stage Fright (1950), The Kate Smith Evening Hour (1951), Castle in the Air (1952), X: The Unknown (1956), Ivanhoe (1958), Meeting Point (1958), Invisible Man (1959), Two Way Stretch (1960), Tunes of Glory (1960), The Phantom of the Opera (1962), The Old Dark House (1963), The Plane Makers (1964-65), They Came from Beyond Space (1967), A Challenge for Robin Hood (1967), The Deadly Bees (1967), Man in a Suitcase (1968), The Inside Man (1969), The Borderers (1970), Sykes (1972), The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973), Legend of the Werewolf (1975), Rollerball (1975), Man About the House (1976), George and Mildred (1976), Rentaghost (1976), Edward and Mrs Simpson (1978), Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1978) and The Racing Game (1980).
Facts
John was married to prolific sitcom actress Diana King.

Frank Jarvis (Corporal) May 13th 1941 to September 15th 2010
Doctor Who credits
Played: Corporal in The War Machines (1966)
Played: Ankh in Underworld (1978)
Played: Skart in The Power of Kroll (1978-79)
Career highlights
Frank's extensive career began in 1962's Mix Me a Person, then That Kind of Girl (1963), Adam Adamant Lives! (1966), Z Cars (1967), The Italian Job (1969), Manhunt (1970), Callan (1972), The Brothers (1974), Poldark (1975), Warship (1976-77, as Burnett), The Professionals (1978/79), Juliet Bravo (1981), Jenny's War (1985), Grange Hill (1985), Lovejoy (1992), Madson (1996), EastEnders (1998/ 2000), Catterick (2004), The Penalty King (2006) and Dear Father (2009).

Facts
The theme tune to The Italian Job, Self Preservation Society aka Get a Bloomin' Move On, was played at Frank's funeral.

Kenneth Kendall (Television newsreader) August 7th 1924 to December 14th 2012 (stroke)
Career highlights
Kenneth was a schoolmaster before joining the BBC as a radio announcer in 1948, and in 1955 became the first person to appear on British TV reading the news, as opposed to just a newsreader's voice being heard. In the 1960s he worked as a freelance newsreader, often for ITN, and then worked for the BBC (1969-81). He might be best known as the host of Treasure Hunt (1982-89), or as the BBC-12 announcer in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). He also appeared as a newscaster in Scotland Yard (1960), The Brain (1962), Adam Adamant Lives! (1966), They Came from Outer Space (1967), Dead of Night (1972) and The Dark Side of the Sun (1983). His voice was also used as that of the BBC Micro Acorn Computers hardware speech synthesis system.
Facts
In 2010, Kenneth took part in BBC1's The Young Ones, in which six celebrities in their 70s and 80s attempt to overcome some of the problems of ageing by harking back to the 1970s. In retirement Kenneth lived on the Isle of Wight with his civil partner Mark Fear, where he owned a marine art gallery and was a keen beekeeper. Sadly, in April 2013, four months after Kenneth's death, Mark Fear - his partner of 23 years - was found hanged. He had killed himself, unable to continue without the love of his life. A note found next to Mark's body read: "I am sorry to land you in all this. I simply cannot face the future without Kenneth."

William Mervyn (Sir Charles Summer) January 3rd 1912 to August 6th 1976 (heart attack)
Career highlights
Beginning in 1947's The Loves of Joanna Godden, Nairobi-born William's extensive career saw roles in The Good Companions (1949), The Blue Lamp (1950), Parent-Craft (1951), Fabian of the Yard (1955), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1957), Hancock's Half Hour (1959), Circus of Horrors (1960), Oliver Twist (1962), Saki (1962), Murder Ahoy (1964), The Liars (1966), Carry On Follow That Camel (1967), The Railway Children (1970), Follyfoot (1971), Tottering Towers (1971-72), The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1973), Pardon My Genie (1973), The Ghosts of Motley Hall (1976) and Raffles (1977). Regular roles include Chief Inspector Rose in The Odd Man (1963), It's Dark Outside (1964-65) and Mr Rose (1967-68), Rev Cuthbert Hever in All Gas and Gaiters (1966-71) and Justice Campbell in Crown Court (1973-76).
Facts
William's son Michael Pickwoad was production designer on Doctor Who between 2010-17, and Michael's daughter - William's granddaughter - Amy Pickwoad worked in the art department of Doctor Who between 2011-14. Another son, Professor Nicholas Pickwoad, became a world expert in bookbinding, advising the National Trust in the UK on book preservation, while third son Richard became a TV director and aerial cameraman.

Ewan Proctor (Flash) Born October 28th 1944
This is Ewan's sole credit. However, Ewan did appear at a signing event for the release of The War Machines DVD in August 2008 (click here for a picture). He later became a ceramicist.

Michael Rathborne (Taxi driver) April 6th 1923 to January 22nd 1971 (liver disease)
Career highlights
Doctor Who was Michael's final credit after a brief career appearing in Lines of Communication (1952), Quatermass II (1955), The Buccaneers (1956), Private Investigator (1958), Conflict in the Sun (1961), Call the Gun Expert (1964), The Mini-Affair (1967) and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969).

Facts

Michael was married to actor Diana van Proosdy, and their daughter is the actor Pippa Rathborne. Michael contracted liver disease from contaminated water while serving as a captain in the Burmese campaign of 1944-45.

John Rolfe (Captain) March 25th 1935 to August 12th 2020
Doctor Who credits
Played: Captain in The War Machines (1966)
Played: Sam Becket in The Moonbase (1967)
Played: Fell in The Green Death (1973)
Career highlights
John's long career began in Agib and Agab (1953), then Seagulls Over Sorrento (1954), The River Flows East (1962), Cluff (1964, as Detective Constable Barker), Adam Adamant Lives! (1967), Out of the Unknown (1971), The Brothers (1974), The Chinese Puzzle (1974), Hadleigh (1976), Blake's 7 (1978), Thomas and Sarah (1979), To Serve Them All My Days (1980), Kessler (1981), Jemima Shore Investigates (1983), One By One (1985), Howard's Way (1985-86, as James Sinclair), Wish Me Luck (1988), Moon and Son (1992), Mr Bean (1992), The World of Lee Evans (1995) and Joking Apart (1995).
Facts
John was apparently named after the English colonist who married Pocahontas in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1614.

John Slavid (Man in telephone box) October 28th 1931 to December 30th 2002
Doctor Who credits
Played: Officer in The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (1966)
Played: Man in telephone box in The War Machines (1966)
Career highlights
John's other credits include A Hundred Years Old (1952), Blood Wedding (1959), Danger Man (1960), The Big Spender (1965), The Gambler (1967), The Root of All Evil? (1968), Codename (1970), Madame Sin (1972), Upstairs, Downstairs (1972), Spy Trap (1973), Zodiac (1974), Life and Death of Penelope (1976), Turtle's Progress (1979), When the Boat Comes In (1981) and Executive Stress (1987). John specialised in playing croupiers, a credit he had on 22 different productions.

Gerald Taylor (War Machine/ Voice of WOTAN) October 11th 1940 to December 4th 1994 Click here for Gerald Taylor's entry on The Daleks

Dwight Whylie (Radio announcer) June 7th 1936 to September 15th 2002 (heart attack)
Career highlights
Jamaica-born Dwight was the first black radio announcer hired by the BBC, in 1965. In 1973, he became the general manager of the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation, and four years later joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as director of its national radio news, until 1997.
Facts
Dwight died in Barbados while visiting as chief judge at the Caribbean Broadcasting Union's media awards. His sister was Jamaican jazz and traditional musician Marjorie Whylie.

WOTAN (WOTAN)
The super-computer was credited as playing itself in The War Machines episodes 1-3. It is WOTAN's only known professional acting credit

CREW

Ian Stuart Black (writer) March 21st 1915 to October 13th 1997 Click here for Ian Stuart Black's entry on The Savages

Kit Pedler (provided idea for story) June 11th 1927 to May 27th 1981 (heart attack)
Doctor Who credits
Wrote: The War Machines (1966, story idea), The Tenth Planet (1966), The Moonbase (1967), The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967), The Wheel in Space (1968, story idea), The Invasion (1968, story idea)
Career highlights
Kit also also c-devised and wrote the BBC series Doomwatch (1970) and its 1972 big screen spin-off. Kit trained as a doctor and surgeon, and was awarded a PhD for his research into the causes of infant blindness and became a senior lecturer at the Institute of Ophthalmology, part of the University of London, where he studied the function of the retina and was one of the pioneers in electron microscopy. In the mid-1960s Kit became Doctor Who's scientific advisor, helping add factual weight to the sci-fi ideas in the series, and was also a contributor to science series Horizon and Tomorrow's World.
Facts
In the 1970s, Kit became an advocate for alternative technology and energy supplies which did not create irreversible or damaging pollution; he rejected harmful or wasteful products generated by modern industrial society. This led to his 1979 book The Quest for Gaia. The day after the third episode of Mind Over Matter - his documentary series on psychics and the paranormal - was transmitted, Kit was found dead in the conservatory of his home in Kent. His daughter is novelist Carol Topolski, writer of Monster Love and Do No Harm.
Note: This biog has been put together with the kind personal involvement of Kit's biographer, Michael Seely, who was determined to dispel some common myths about Dr Pedler. He says: "One of the reasons I wrote his life story was because of the misinformation out there about his life and achievements." Thanks Michael!

Michael Ferguson (director) June 14th 1937 to October 4th 2021
Doctor Who credits
Assistant floor manager: The Daleks (1963-64)
Directed: The War Machines (1966), The Seeds of Death (1969), The Ambassadors of Death (1970), The Claws of Axos (1971)
Career highlights
Other directing work included Compact (1964-65), The Newcomers (1965-66), The Gambler (1968), Triton (1968), Z Cars (1967-68), The Doctors (1969-70), Out of the Unknown (1969-71), Paul Temple (1970-71), Colditz (1972-73), Beryl's Lot (1974), Ski-Boy (1974), Dickens of London (1976), Flambards (1979), The Sandbaggers (1978-80), Airline (1982), The Glory Boys (1984), Lytton's Diary (1986), EastEnders (1990), The Bill (1985-2002) and Night & Day (2003). He also produced The Sandbaggers (1978-80), The Bill (1988-89), EastEnders (1990-91) and Casualty (1993-94). He also wrote and directed the ITV Playhouse Too Close to the Edge in 1980.

Facts
Michael had the honour of being the very first Dalek seen on TV, operating the sink plunger seen in the cliffhanger to The Dead Planet in 1963! Michael's second wife was actor Jana Shelden, who had a regular role in The Sandbaggers and also played Catastrophe Kate in Rentaghost. In 1992, Michael was at the centre of a court action brought by EastEnders script writer David Yallop, who was dismissed when his storyline - in which key characters were killed in an IRA bomb attack - was vetoed. The BBC paid £68,195 in damages and an estimated £250,000 in costs to the writer.
In 2016 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Michael here.

Innes Lloyd (producer) December 24th 1925 to August 23rd 1991 Click here for Innes Lloyd's entry on The Celestial Toymaker

Gerry Davis (script editor) February 23rd 1930 to August 31st 1991 (stomach cancer) Click here for Gerry Davis's entry on The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve

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