ANTHONY AINLEY: 1932-2004
Sunday, 9 May 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Anthony Ainley, the long-admired actor and fan favorite who took over the role of the Doctor's archnemesis, the Master, in 1980 and played him opposite Tom Baker (in his last two stories, "The Keeper of Traken" and "Logopolis"), Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy -- as well as with Jon Pertwee in "The Five Doctors" -- passed away on May 3 due to undisclosed causes, according to a surprise obituary in the Monday May 10 edition of the UK newspaper The Independent. Coming as a complete surprise to fandom, Outpost Gallifrey has learned that Mr. Ainley was in poor health for some time, having left the hospital for some medical treatment only days prior to the date of his passing as noted in the obituary. While the information had not been picked up yet by any other news media at press time, the official Doctor Who site is now reporting the information to be correct based on some queries put forth by the editors of Doctor Who Magazine.
Ainley was originally a featured guest star in the story "The Keeper of Traken," playing Nyssa's father Tremas, whose body was stolen by the Master (played in his decayed form by Geoffrey Beevers). Ainley took the role of the Master with flair and determination, resembling his predecessor Roger Delgado in appearance but also bringing his own theatrics and experience to the role. He appeared in numerous stories opposite later Doctors, including "Castrovalva," "Time Flight," "The King's Demons," "The Five Doctors," "Planet of Fire," "The Mark of the Rani" (opposite Kate O'Mara), "The Trial of a Time Lord" and "Survival." Ainley was also enlisted for the PC game "Destiny of the Doctors". He remained a fan favorite at conventions throughout the 1980's and 90's, and was constantly identified by fans and the public in the role of the moustache-twirling villain.
Read Read "Anthony Ainley: A Tribute", a special memorial article written exclusively for Outpost Gallifrey by Paul Hayes. Also, a tribute thread has developed in the Outpost Gallifrey Forum (you must be a member of the Forum to read.)
The following is the full obituary in the Independent, with his birthdate noted as 1932; however, the IMDb notes it as 1937, though we believe the 1932 date may be more accurate. As we were told, Mr. Ainley was a deeply private man, and so some confusion around his age and date of birth could be expected.
All of us at Outpost Gallifrey -- the editor, our contributors, and I'm sure our readers -- express our condolences and send our best wishes to his family and friends. Anthony Ainley will be deeply missed by Doctor Who fandom.
Ainley was originally a featured guest star in the story "The Keeper of Traken," playing Nyssa's father Tremas, whose body was stolen by the Master (played in his decayed form by Geoffrey Beevers). Ainley took the role of the Master with flair and determination, resembling his predecessor Roger Delgado in appearance but also bringing his own theatrics and experience to the role. He appeared in numerous stories opposite later Doctors, including "Castrovalva," "Time Flight," "The King's Demons," "The Five Doctors," "Planet of Fire," "The Mark of the Rani" (opposite Kate O'Mara), "The Trial of a Time Lord" and "Survival." Ainley was also enlisted for the PC game "Destiny of the Doctors". He remained a fan favorite at conventions throughout the 1980's and 90's, and was constantly identified by fans and the public in the role of the moustache-twirling villain.
Read Read "Anthony Ainley: A Tribute", a special memorial article written exclusively for Outpost Gallifrey by Paul Hayes. Also, a tribute thread has developed in the Outpost Gallifrey Forum (you must be a member of the Forum to read.)
The following is the full obituary in the Independent, with his birthdate noted as 1932; however, the IMDb notes it as 1937, though we believe the 1932 date may be more accurate. As we were told, Mr. Ainley was a deeply private man, and so some confusion around his age and date of birth could be expected.
All of us at Outpost Gallifrey -- the editor, our contributors, and I'm sure our readers -- express our condolences and send our best wishes to his family and friends. Anthony Ainley will be deeply missed by Doctor Who fandom.
Anthony Ainley, actor: born London 20 August 1932; died Harrow, Middlesex 3 May 2004.
To generations of Doctor Who fans, Anthony Ainley will be remembered as the Master, the extra-terrestrial who "killed" their television hero. This ushered in the Time Lord's fifth incarnation, played by Peter Davison, after the eccentric Tom Baker's flamboyant years, which were regarded by some viewers as the sci-fi serial's high point.
For this, many did not forgive Ainley. He was also unfortunate to follow in the footsteps of the highly regarded Roger Delgado, who originally played the Master in the early 1970s but died in a car accident.
The Master was Moriarty to Doctor Who's Sherlock Holmes, the nemesis and renegade Time Lord who was once a friend but turned into his arch-enemy. He used his evil genius and ability to hypnotise lesser minds with a gaze in pursuit of his villainous schemes to gain power and destroy his former Time Lord Academy classmate. Like the Doctor, he could regenerate himself and change his appearance.
In a convoluted plot twist typical of science fiction, Ainley first appeared in 1981 as the widower Tremas, whose body was taken over by the Master on the planet Traken. Ainley portrayed the character alongside four incarnations of the Doctor, played by Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, until the programme was dropped by the BBC in 1989.
Anthony Ainley was born in London, in 1932, into an acting dynasty. Anthony's father, Henry, was a star of note on the West End stage and in silent films, and his half-brother Richard was a stage and film star who appeared in Hollywood pictures. At the age of five, Anthony appeared uncredited as a boy in the wartime film drama The Foreman Went to France (1942), but he started his working life as an insurance clerk. When the pull of the stage was too much, he trained at Rada.
On screen, Ainley had small roles in films such as Naked Evil (1966), You Only Live Twice (1967), Inspector Clouseau (1968), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) and the horror picture Satan's Skin (1970), but he enjoyed greater success on television.
He played Detective Sergeant Hunter in It's Dark Outside (1965), the second in a trilogy of series featuring William Mervyn as the acidic Chief Inspector Rose. Ainley joined the cast for its second run, replacing Keith Barron, who had acted Detective Sergeant Swift. (The programme also gave the singer Jackie Trent a No 1 hit with its theme song, "Where Are You Now (My Love)".)
Ainley later stayed on the right side of the law by starring as Clive Hawksworth in the popular comedy thriller Spyder's Web (1972), about a mysterious organisation that handled problems outside the brief of the police and MI5.
He switched to period drama to play Henry Sidney in Elizabeth R (1971), Lord Charles Gilmour in three episodes of Upstairs Downstairs (1973), Sir Mulberry Hawk in Nicholas Nickleby (1977) and Lord Carrington in Lillie (1978).
It was his role as the villainous Reverend Emilius in The Pallisers (1974) that led to Ainley's joining Doctor Who (1981-89). John Nathan-Turner, who had worked as production manager on the series based on Anthony Trollope's novels, remembered Ainley on taking over as producer of the BBC's long-running science-fiction serial, when he sought to bring back and re-cast the Master, complete with false beard.
The actor continued, on and off, through 10 Doctor Who stories and the 20th-anniversary special, Doctor Who: The Five Doctors (1983). In "Survival", the last in the final series, the Master confronted the Doctor in a climactic duel after luring him to an alien planet where he was being enslaved by the Cheetah People and turning into one himself - unusually not able to control his own fate. Ainley subsequently appeared as the Master in the Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctors CD-Rom video game (1998) and was a regular at fan conventions.
For more than 30 years, the actor enjoyed playing for the London Theatres Cricket Club team, who knew him as an enigmatic opening batsman whose unstinting passion for the sport meant that he would even turn down jobs rather than miss a game. Ainley never married, saying he valued his independence too much. He once listed his unfulfilled ambition as "to play with Faye Dunaway".
To generations of Doctor Who fans, Anthony Ainley will be remembered as the Master, the extra-terrestrial who "killed" their television hero. This ushered in the Time Lord's fifth incarnation, played by Peter Davison, after the eccentric Tom Baker's flamboyant years, which were regarded by some viewers as the sci-fi serial's high point.
For this, many did not forgive Ainley. He was also unfortunate to follow in the footsteps of the highly regarded Roger Delgado, who originally played the Master in the early 1970s but died in a car accident.
The Master was Moriarty to Doctor Who's Sherlock Holmes, the nemesis and renegade Time Lord who was once a friend but turned into his arch-enemy. He used his evil genius and ability to hypnotise lesser minds with a gaze in pursuit of his villainous schemes to gain power and destroy his former Time Lord Academy classmate. Like the Doctor, he could regenerate himself and change his appearance.
In a convoluted plot twist typical of science fiction, Ainley first appeared in 1981 as the widower Tremas, whose body was taken over by the Master on the planet Traken. Ainley portrayed the character alongside four incarnations of the Doctor, played by Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, until the programme was dropped by the BBC in 1989.
Anthony Ainley was born in London, in 1932, into an acting dynasty. Anthony's father, Henry, was a star of note on the West End stage and in silent films, and his half-brother Richard was a stage and film star who appeared in Hollywood pictures. At the age of five, Anthony appeared uncredited as a boy in the wartime film drama The Foreman Went to France (1942), but he started his working life as an insurance clerk. When the pull of the stage was too much, he trained at Rada.
On screen, Ainley had small roles in films such as Naked Evil (1966), You Only Live Twice (1967), Inspector Clouseau (1968), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) and the horror picture Satan's Skin (1970), but he enjoyed greater success on television.
He played Detective Sergeant Hunter in It's Dark Outside (1965), the second in a trilogy of series featuring William Mervyn as the acidic Chief Inspector Rose. Ainley joined the cast for its second run, replacing Keith Barron, who had acted Detective Sergeant Swift. (The programme also gave the singer Jackie Trent a No 1 hit with its theme song, "Where Are You Now (My Love)".)
Ainley later stayed on the right side of the law by starring as Clive Hawksworth in the popular comedy thriller Spyder's Web (1972), about a mysterious organisation that handled problems outside the brief of the police and MI5.
He switched to period drama to play Henry Sidney in Elizabeth R (1971), Lord Charles Gilmour in three episodes of Upstairs Downstairs (1973), Sir Mulberry Hawk in Nicholas Nickleby (1977) and Lord Carrington in Lillie (1978).
It was his role as the villainous Reverend Emilius in The Pallisers (1974) that led to Ainley's joining Doctor Who (1981-89). John Nathan-Turner, who had worked as production manager on the series based on Anthony Trollope's novels, remembered Ainley on taking over as producer of the BBC's long-running science-fiction serial, when he sought to bring back and re-cast the Master, complete with false beard.
The actor continued, on and off, through 10 Doctor Who stories and the 20th-anniversary special, Doctor Who: The Five Doctors (1983). In "Survival", the last in the final series, the Master confronted the Doctor in a climactic duel after luring him to an alien planet where he was being enslaved by the Cheetah People and turning into one himself - unusually not able to control his own fate. Ainley subsequently appeared as the Master in the Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctors CD-Rom video game (1998) and was a regular at fan conventions.
For more than 30 years, the actor enjoyed playing for the London Theatres Cricket Club team, who knew him as an enigmatic opening batsman whose unstinting passion for the sport meant that he would even turn down jobs rather than miss a game. Ainley never married, saying he valued his independence too much. He once listed his unfulfilled ambition as "to play with Faye Dunaway".
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