Olaf Pooley 1914-2015

Wednesday, 15 July 2015 - Reported by Marcus
Olaf Pooley, the man who was the oldest surviving actor to have worked on Doctor Who, has died at the age of 101.

Olaf Pooley was one of a small group of actors to have appeared in both the Doctor Who and Star Trek franchises. He appeared in Doctor Who in 1970, playing both Professor Stahlman and his parallel-Earth counterpart Director Stahlman in the seven-part story Inferno. His appearance in Star Trek came thirty years later when he appeared in the Voyager episode Blink Of An Eye playing Cleric.

Pooley was born in the Parkstone area of Poole in Dorset to an English father and Danish mother, he studied architecture at the Architectural Association in London and painting at the Chelsea School of Art. Until his death he was still an exhibiting painter.

His first full-time job was with Pinewood Film Studios' design department, and he then became a member of the BBC Radio Drama Repertory Company, with his prolific acting career also seeing him appearing in the West End, on film and on TV

During his career, he wrote and appeared in the film The Corpse - entitled Crucible of Horror in the USA - which starred Michael Gough, and wrote, directed and appeared in The Johnstown Monster. He also wrote the screenplay for a film version of Bernard Taylor's The Godsend, which was directed by his future second wife Gabrielle Beaumont. Pooley's other writing credits include the 1982 TV film Falcon's Gold, while he was an uncredited writer on the 1985 sci-fi horror movie Lifeforce.

His TV guest appearances since the 1950s included roles in Dixon of Dock Green, Paul Temple, Jason King and MacGyver, as well as playing Lars Torvik in the first episode of The Sandbaggers.

In 1958, Pooley took part in the BBC radio play Ambrose In Paris, and he played Sebastian in a 1956 film production of The Tempest. Pooley had a major career in West End theatre, appearing in notable productions such as Noël Coward's Peace In Our Time as well as The Tempest and Othello, and he counted Sir Alec Guinness among his close friends.

He emigrated to the United States in 1986, where he continued his acting, also becoming a respected artist both there and abroad. In an interview, he said: "It is a privilege to be an artist and I am fortunate in this respect."

He celebrated his 100th birthday in 2014 with a special exhibition of his paintings at the Santa Monica Art Studios

Olaf Pooley died on Tuesday.
Additional reporting by John Bowman




FILTER: - Classic Series - Obituary

Edward Burnham 1916-2015

Thursday, 2 July 2015 - Reported by Marcus

The actor Edward Burnham has died at the age of 98.

Edward Burnham had two major roles in Doctor Who. In 1968 he played Professor Watkins, the uncle of Isobel, in 4 episodes of the second Doctor story The Invasion. He returned to the series at the end of 1974 in Tom Baker's début story Robot, playing Professor Kettlewell, the creator of the Experimental Prototype Robot K1.

Edward Burnham was an actor for over 60 years, appearing on Television as early as 1938 in productions of The Marvellous History of St. Bernard and The Swiss Family Robinson. In 1959 he appeared in the science fiction series Quatermass and the Pit. Other roles followed in productions such as The Citadel, Z Cars, The Plane Makers, To Sir, with Love, The Pallisers, The Search for the Nile, Churchill's People, All Creatures Great and Small, Nightingales and Nicholas Nickleby.

In the early 1960's he played Dr. Dorking and Dr. Danvers White in Emergency-Ward 10 and in 1985 he played Mr. Grimwig in Terrance Dicks's production of Oliver Twist. He also appeared in the feature films 10 Rillington Place, Young Winston and The Hiding Place.

Edward Burnham died peacefully at home last Tuesday, 30th June.
Thanks to Mark Donovan




FILTER: - Obituary

Obituary

Tuesday, 2 June 2015 - Reported by Marcus
Bob Hornery 1931-2015 The actor Bob Hornery has died at the age of 83.

Bob Hornery appeared in the 1979 Fourth Doctor story The Horns of Nimon where he played the Pilot.

The Australian actor was best known for playing Tom Kennedy in long-running soap Neighbours. He was a long standing member of the Melbourne Theatre Company, first appearing in a 1961 touring production of Sweeney Todd. His last appearance for the company was in 2011 in The Importance of Being Earnest. His 60 year long career included TV roles in Sapphire & Steel, Orlando, Nicholas Nickleby, The Glynn Nicholas Show and Thunderstone. Movie parts include roles in Crackerjack and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

The actor died last Tuesday, just two days before his 84th birthday.


Peter Howell 1919-2015

The actor Peter Howell has died at the age of 96.

Peter Howell played the Investigator in the last episode of the 1972 story The Mutants.

He was best known for his role in the 1960's medical drama Emergency Ward 10, playing Dr. Peter Harrison in well over 100 episodes. He had roles in Dr. Finlay's Casebook, The Ten Commandments, Freewheelers, Edward VII, The Mill on the Floss, Pride and Prejudice, The Prisoner Love in a Cold Climate, Death of an Expert Witness, Crown Court, A Sort of Innocence, Our Mutual Friend and Perfect Strangers. He played the Governor in the TV movie Scum. His many radio roles included the Right Reverend Cyril Hood in The Archers and playing Saruman in the 1981 BBC production of The Lord of the Rings.

Howell died on 20 April 2015 after a short illness.
With thanks to Tim Brown and Steven Ricks




FILTER: - Classic Series - Obituary

Nigel Terry 1945-2015

Monday, 4 May 2015 - Reported by Marcus

The actor Nigel Terry has died at the age of 69.

Nigel Terry played General Cobb in the 2008 Tenth Doctor story The Doctor's Daughter.

Terry has a long career both on stage and screen and worked extensively for both the National Theatre and theRoyal Shakespeare Company.

He is best known for playing King Arthur in John Boorman’s 1981 film Excalibur. Other movie roles include playing Prince John in Anthony Harvey’s The Lion in Winter and playing the title role of Caravaggio in the Derek Jarman film. On television he appeared in Agatha Christie's Marple, MI-5, Foyle's War, Holby City, Mortimer's Law, Resort to Murder, Highlander, The Orchid House, Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Denys Villiers, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Sherlock Holmes and Kenilworth.

Nigel Terry died last Thursday after contracting emphysema.





FILTER: - Doctor Who - Obituary - People

Rex Robinson 1926-2015

Friday, 24 April 2015 - Reported by Marcus

The actor Rex Robinson has died at the age of 89.

He appeared in three Doctor Who stories, all directed by Australian Lennie Mayne.

In 1972 he played Dr. Tyler in the 10th anniversary story The Three Doctors, playing the scientist who joined forces with The Doctor and UNIT to help defeat Omega. He returned the following year in The Monster of Peladon, to play Gebek, a Peladonian trisilicate miner. His final appearance in Doctor Who came in 1976 when he played another Doctor, Dr Carter in the Tom Baker story The Hand of Fear.

Away from Doctor Who Robinson appeared in a number of classic British Television programmes including Gems, Bread, One by One, Only Fools and Horses...., Just Good Friends, Are You Being Served?, Terry and June, The Onedin Line, Softly Softly: Task Force, Warship, Upstairs, Downstairs, Callan, The Plane Makers, Ghost Squad and Champion Road.

Rex Robinson is survived by his wife Patricia Pryor, who also appeared in The Three Doctors.




FILTER: - Classic Series - Obituary

Hugh Walters 1939-2015

Saturday, 7 March 2015 - Reported by Marcus

The actor Hugh Walters has died at the age of 75.

Hugh Walters had three roles in Doctor Who. In 1965 he first made a cameo appearance as William Shakespeare in the First Doctor story The Chase, appearing on the Doctor's newly acquired Time and Space Visualiser.

He returned to the series in 1976 playing Commentator Runcible alongside Tom Baker, in two episodes of The Deadly Assassin. His final performance in the series came in 1985 when he played Vogal, the secretary and assistant to Eleanor Bron's Kara, in the Colin Baker story Revelation of the Daleks.

Walters had a long career in British television. His first major role was as Georgie in the fifth series of the ATV situation comedy The Larkins, appearing alongside David Kossoff and Peggy Mount. He played Smike in the 1968 BBC production of Nicholas Nickleby which starred Martin Jarvis in the title role.

In 1970 he played Wamba in the mini series Ivanhoe as well as regular roles in Sentimental Education and Never Say Die. He played Mr Winters in The Fenn Street Gang and Peter Pringle in The Train Now Standing. He played Vic Thatcher in two episodes of the original production of Terry Nation's Survivors.

In 1976 he took the role of Stifford in the ATV adaptation of Arnold Bennett's Clayhanger. He played Mr Little in the Channel 4 comedy drama Chance in a Million and Theo in Gems. In 2000 he portrayed Charles Hawtrey in the Carry On Docu-Drama Cor Blimey.

Other credits included Heartbeat, Rumpole of the Bailey, Z Cars, The Brittas Empire, The House of Eliott and regular appearances in The Russ Abbot Show.

Hugh Walters was born in 1939 in Mexborough in Yorkshire. He died in London last month.
Thanks to Chris Winwood




FILTER: - Classic Series - Obituary

Barry Newbery 1927-2015

Wednesday, 25 February 2015 - Reported by Marcus
Barry Newbery. Credit: BBC WorldwideVeteran Doctor Who designer Barry Newbery has died at the age of 88.

Barry Newbery was one of the most prolific designers of Doctor Who, working on more episodes of the classic series than any other designer in its 26 year history. His contribution ranged from the very first story An Unearthly Child in 1963 through to The Awakening in 1984, a total of 62 episodes across 14 stories.

Barry Newbery joined the BBC in the late 1950's after working as a freelance designer in London, overseeing window displays and designing exhibitions. Early work for the Corporation included Comedy Playhouse and The Last Man Out, a 1962 period drama starring Barry Letts.

In 1963 he found himself attached to the new science fiction programme, planned by the BBC, Doctor Who. He was one of two designers drafted in to replace original designer Peter Brachacki, who had left the series following disagreements with the series producer Verity Lambert. Brachacki had designed the sets for the original pilot, but had left the show by the time the first episode was reshot, leaving Newbery to recreate the original Junkyard and School set, which had been destroyed following completion of the pilot.

For the majority of Doctor Who's first two years Newbery would share the design work with Raymond Cusick, with Cusick taking the Science fiction stories, while Newbery worked on the historical adventures. After creating a stone age settlement for An Unearthly Child, he was tasked with creating the court of Kubla Khan in Marco Polo, the city of Tenochtitlan in The Aztecs, the cities and deserts around Jaffa in The Crusade and Saxon England in The Time Meddler

In 1965 he worked on the first Doctor Who Christmas episode, The Feast of Steven, before completing the remaining 5 episodes of the The Daleks' Master Plan. He voyged into the future with The Ark before returning to the historicals, recreating the town of Tombstone, Arizona in the story The Gunfighters.

In 1968 he worked on his one Second Doctor story, The Dominators and in 1970 his one Third Doctor story The Silurians. He completed three Fourth Doctor stories, The Brain of Morbius and The Masque of Mandragora in 1976, followed by The Invisible Enemy in 1977.

His final credit for Doctor Who came in 1984 when he designed the Fifth Doctor story The Awakening.

Outside of Doctor Who Newbery worked on vast range of projects, being involved in some of the most iconic television series of the time. He wroked on historical dramas including The Onedin Line, Prince Regent, The Citadel and The Shadow of the Tower as well as more modern dramas such as Z Cars, Softly Softly and The Expert. He ventured into comedy with shows such as Dad’s Army and Sykes.

In 1979 Newbery won an RTS Television Award for his work on The Lost Boys and the following year he received a BAFTA nomination for Prince Regent.

Newbery took a great many behind-the-scenes photographs during his time on Doctor Who and a large selection were published in The Barry Newbery Signature Collection, published by Telos Publishing Ltd. in 2013.

Barry Newbery died peacefully in his sleep Wednesday morning.




FILTER: - Classic Series - Obituary

Barrie Ingham 1932-2015

Sunday, 25 January 2015 - Reported by Marcus
The actor Barrie Ingham has died at the age of 82.

Barrie Ingham played Paris in the 1965 Doctor Who story The Myth Makers.

He is perhaps better known for his appearance in the first Dalek feature film, also released in 1965, where he played Alydon, the Thal who discovered the Doctor's TARDIS in the Petrified Forest and who left a case of the Thals' anti-radiation drug for the TARDIS crew.

In his long career Ingham has been featured in over 200 British and American films and TV productions. After playing Sejanus in Granada TV's The Caesars (1968), he had a short spell as an ambitious government minister in The Power Game in 1969. In 1971 took the leading role in the series Hine, as an unscrupulous arms dealer.

He is one of a select group of actors to appear in both the "Star Trek" and "Doctor Who" franchises, playing Danilo O'Dell in Star Trek: The Next Generation: Up the Long Ladder.

On stage he played with many leading production companies including the Royal Shakespeare Company, Mermaid Theatre Company and Royal National Theatre.

Sir John Gielgud gave him his Broadway debut and he subsequently played in many Broadway musicals, including Copperfield on Broadway, and opposite Angela Lansbury in the London production of Gypsy: A Musical Fable in 1973.





FILTER: - Obituary

Fiona Cumming 1937-2015

Monday, 5 January 2015 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who director Fiona Cumming has died at the age of 77

Fiona Cumming had a long and illustrious career, working on over 34 episodes of the original Doctor Who series.

She began as an actress, working at the Royal Scottish Academy before going on to a variety of theatre and television work, including a spell at Border Television in the dual role of announcer and features interviewer. She appeared in Dr. Finlay's Casebook and Suspense.

Deciding that she would prefer production work, in 1964 gained a post as an assistant floor manager at the BBC. She first worked on Doctor Who on the season three story The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve.

By 1966 she had won promotion to the role of Production Assistant and in this capacity she worked on the second Doctor story The Highlanders, Patrick Troughton's second story and the one which saw the introduction of the character Jamie. She worked alongside the second Doctor again in 1969 on The Seeds of Death. In 1972 she worked with Jon Pertwee on the story The Mutants.

In 1974 she become a BBC Staff Director and in the 1980's she was asked to direct four stories featuring the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison. She directed his first story Castrovalva as well as the Mara sequel Snakedance, Enlightenment and the story which saw the introduction of Peri and the departure of Turlough, Planet of Fire. In 1988 she made an uncredited cameo appearance as a tourist at Windsor Castle in the 25th anniversary story Silver Nemesis.

Other productions on which she worked included two episodes of Blakes 7, Sarcophagus and Rumours of Death, as well as Emmerdale, The Walls of Jericho, God's Wonderful Railway, The Omega Factor, Play for Today, Angels, Jackanory Playhouse, Z Cars and the ill fated Eldorado.

After leaving the BBC she remained active as a freelance director while also pursuing a number of other projects, including some with John Nathan-Turner in their Teynham Productions organisation.

Fiona Cumming died on the 1st January.
With thanks to Margot Hayhoe




FILTER: - Classic Series - Obituary

Bernard Kay 1928-2014

Thursday, 1 January 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Bernard Kay (Credit: Chuck Foster)The actor Bernard Kay has died, aged 86.

Born in Bolton, Kay began his working life as a reporter on Bolton Evening News, and a stringer for The Manchester Guardian. He was conscripted in 1946 and started acting in the army. Gaining a scholarship to study at the Old Vic Theatre School, he became a professional in 1950 as a member of the company which reopened the Old Vic after the Second World War. In 1952, for the Nottingham Rep, he learned, rehearsed, and played Macbeth in less than 24 hours. In 1984, he played Shylock in The Merchant of Venice during a British Council tour of Asia, ending in Baghdad, in the middle of the Iraq/Iran war. Other theatre includes An Inspector Calls (Garrick Theatre), Macbeth (Nottingham Playhouse), Titus Andronicus (European Tour), A Man for all Seasons (International Tour), The Merchant of Venice (International Tour), Galileo (Young Vic), Death of a Salesman (Lyric Theatre, Belfast) and Halpern and Johnson (New End Theatre). He twice appeared at the Finborough Theatre, London - in 2006 in After Haggerty and in 2010 in Dream of the Dog.

Over the course of his career he appeared in a large number of TV productions, including South Riding, Dick Barton Special Agent, Emmerdale Farm, The Avengers, The Champions, The Cellar and The Almond Tree, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe (1967), Clayhanger, A Very British Coup, Century Falls, Casualty, Casualty 1909, Doctors, Coronation Street and Foyle's War. He also appeared in the very first episode of Z Cars.

He portrayed Captain Stanley Lord of the SS Californian in the BBC dramatisation Trial by Inquiry: Titanic in 1967; and he played the bandit leader Cordova in Zorro television episode Alejandro Rides Again in 1991 which was filmed in Madrid, Spain. Kay also gave a sympathetic performance as Korporal Hartwig in an early episode of Colditz.

His film career kicked off with Carry on Sergeant, during which he encountered the indomitable star, William Hartnell. They would work together again in Doctor Who, with Kay appearing in two of the first Doctor's stories, as Tyler in the second Dalek adventure The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964), and as Saladin a few months later in The Crusade; he later worked alongside Patrick Troughton in The Faceless Ones (1967) and Jon Pertwee in Colony In Space (1971). In 2006, he also guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio adventure Night Thoughts alongide seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy.

Other film roles included They Came From Beyond Space, The Shuttered Room, Witchfinder General, The Hunting Party, Sweeney!, Sinbad and the Eye of The Tiger, and most recently as the Reverend Swan on Psychosis. His most famous film appearance is perhaps his appearance as a Bolshevik leader in Doctor Zhivago in 1965.

(Bernard Kay, 23rd February 1928 - 29 December 2014)




FILTER: - Obituary