The actor Donald Pickering has died at the age of 76.

Donald Pickering was a well known British actor appearing in many classic television, film and radio roles. His television appearances included The Pallisers, The Avengers, The House of Eliott, All Creatures Great and Small, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, Yes, Prime Minister, The Bittas Empire and Executive Stress.

He is best known to Doctor Who fans for his three appearances in the Classic series. He fist played the role of Eyesen in the 1964 story The Keys of Marinus alongside William Hartnell. Eyesen was the Court Prosecutor, who has succeeded in persuading the Three Judges of Millennium to find Ian guilty of murder.

Pickering returned to the series in 1967, this time with Patrick Troughton, playing Captain Blade in The Faceless Ones. Blade was an airplane pilot at Gatwick Airport whose identity was taken over by a Chameleon.

His final appearance in the series was twenty years later in Sylvester McCoy's first story, Time and the Rani. In this story he played Beyus, the leader of the Lakertyan race, who was forced to serve the Rani alongside his daughter.

Donald Pickering died peacefully at home on 19th December 2009.

The actor Richard Todd has died at the age of ninety.

Arguably one of the most respected actors to appear in the classic series, Richard Todd was a British film star well known for his heroic roles in such films as The Dambusters, D-Day the Sixth of June, and The Longest Day.

Born in Ireland, he was a war hero in his own right, being one of the first soldiers to parachute into occupied France on D-Day in 1944. He had a long and distinguished career in British stage and film. He was Oscar-nominated for the 1949 film The Hasty Heart, appearing alongside future American President Ronald Reagan. He won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer for the same film. In 1957 he appeared in Yangtse Incident alongside William Hartnell.

He appeared in many Disney adventure movies such as The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, The Sword and the Rose and Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue. In 2002 he was made a Disney Legend.

Todd appeared in the 1982 Doctor Who story Kinda. Appearing with Fifth Doctor Peter Davison, Todd played Sanders, the leader of the Earth colonisation survey expedition to the jungle planet Deva Loka.

Todd, who was made an OBE in 1993, was last seen on screen in a 2007 episode of ITV drama Heartbeat.

He died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday at his home near Grantham in Lincolnshire.

BBC Obituary

Former Production Unit Manager Christopher D'Oyly John has died.

D'Oyly John worked on many stories from the classic era of Doctor Who. He was an Assistant Floor Manager on the William Hartnell story The Ark, before working as Production Assistant on several Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee stories.

As Production Unit Manager, he worked on six Tom Baker stories working with producer Philip Hinchcliffe on some of the most-loved stories in the series history, including The Robots of Death and The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

His work outside of Doctor Who included The Bill, Poldark, House of Elliot and EastEnders.

He died peacefully at his home in Eastbourne on 21st October.

Assistant Floor Manager
• The Ark

Production Assistant
• The Macra Terror
• The Invasion
• Doctor Who and the Silurians
• Inferno
• The Curse of Peladon
• The Mutants
• Carnival of Monsters
• Death to the Daleks

Production Unit Manager
• The Masque of Mandragora
• The Hand of Fear
• The Deadly Assassin
• The Face of Evil
• The Robots of Death
• The Talons of Weng-Chiang

The Guardian newspaper in the UK has published an obituary for actor Timothy Bateson, who died in September at the age of 83. Bateson enjoyed an acting career stretching from the 1940s to the present decade, and in 1955 appeared in the first London production of the play "Waiting for Godot". He appeared in Doctor Who only once, in the 1978 serial The Ribos Operation, where he portrayed Binro the Heretic. In this role he took part in the scene where Binro explains that be believes there are other planets and other stars; this is frequently regarded as one of the most memorable scenes from Doctor Who, most recently acclaimed as such in Doctor Who Magazine's "200 Golden Moments" special edition. The serial, along with the others in the 1978 "Key to Time" series, is due to be re-released on DVD next week, following its previous limited edition issue.



Image courtesy of the Doctor Who Image Archive

The actor and stuntman Alan Chuntz has died at the age of 81. Chuntz appeared in at least 15 stories from the classic series. He was a member of HAVOC, the team that provided much of the stunt work for the programme. He played Omega's champion in The Three Doctors and had a rare speaking role as the Chauffeur in The Seeds of Doom.

As well as his work on Doctor Who, Chuntz was a regular face on British Television in the seventies appearing in series such as Z Cars, Some Mothers Do Ave Em, The Avengers, The Persuaders, The Onedin Line, Hazel and Minder.

• The Invasion - Stuntman
• The Seeds Of Death -Technician
• The Ambassadors Of Death - Soldier
• Inferno - Soldier
• Terror Of The Autons - Stuntman
• The Mind Of Evil - Prisoner
• The Sea Devils - Stuntman
• The Three Doctors - Omega's Champion
• The Green Death - Security Guard
• Planet Of The Spiders - Stuntman
• Genesis Of The Daleks - Kaled Guard
• Revenge Of The Cybermen - Stuntman
• The Seeds Of Doom - Chauffeur
• The Face Of Evil - Stuntman
• The Talons Of Weng-Chiang - Stuntman
• State Of Decay - Guard
• The Visitation - Stuntman

"Barry always had a warm respect for the fans of Dr Who. As Barry’s family, we would like to thank everyone for their good wishes on the websites and forums following the news that Barry had died. We have been very touched that the many messages and tributes show such an appreciation and understanding, both of his work and of the very kind and wise man that Barry was."

Tom Baker - cast as the Doctor by Barry Letts - will be reading the obituary of the producer/director on BBC Radio Four's The Last Word from 4:00pm this afternoon; it should then be available on the BBC's iplayer service for the next seven days.
(with thanks to Simon Watkins)

Barry Letts, producer of Doctor Who through one of its most fondly-remembered periods with Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor from 1970 to 1974, has died at the age of eighty-four.

Previously an actor, Letts moved behind the camera in the 1960s, finding work as a director on several programmes for BBC television. He first worked on Doctor Who as director of the 1968 Patrick Troughton serial Enemy of the World, before accepting the job of producer during production Jon Pertwee's first season, in 1969. Working closely in association with script editor Terrance Dicks, Letts oversaw the creative direction and production of the programme for the following five seasons.

In addition to his producing role, Letts also directed several serials during his time in charge of the programme - Terror of the Autons, Carnival of Monsters and Planet of the Spiders. He also handled much of the direction for Inferno after Douglas Camfield was taken ill, and after leaving the series as producer he directed The Android Invasion for his successor, Philip Hinchcliffe. He also co-wrote The Daemons with Robert Sloman (under the pseudonym 'Guy Leopold') and worked closely with Sloman on the writer's other scripts for the programme.

Letts' legacy to the programme included the creation of the character Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen on the BBC to this day, and the decision to cast Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor. The latter was a decision for which Tom Baker was always ready to express immense gratitude, as when Letts appeared on his episode of "This is Your Life" in the year 2000.

Letts remained fond of and connected with the series right up until his death. When producer Graham Williams broke his leg during production of season 16 in 1978 Letts helped to keep an eye on the series, and more officially he served as Executive Producer in 1980, overseeing the inexperienced John Nathan-Turner's first season in charge of the programme. For many years thereafter Letts also penned novels, novelisations and radio serials connected to the programme. He also appeared on DVD commentaries and in various documentaries.

He also gained extensive credits outside of Doctor Who, most notably as producer of the BBC's "Classic Serial" strand during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In this role he produced many acclaimed and award-winning adaptations of classic novels, including "Great Expectations", "Alice in Wonderland" and "Jane Eyre". Later, he directed episodes for the soap opera "EastEnders".

Click here to read a 2004 interview with Letts on the BBC Doctor Who website.

Updated 13th October

The Guardian has published an obituary, describing Barry Letts' varied career and impact on Doctor Who.

The actor Iain Cuthbertson has died at the age of 79.

Cuthbertson appeared in the 1978 Fourth Doctor story The Ribos Operation, where he played Garron, a con man attempting to sell the entire planet of Ribos to the Graff Vynda-K, deposed ruler of Levithia.

He appeared in many roles on British television throughout the sixties and seventies, with his most memorable role that of the criminal and businessman Charlie Endell in Budgie, appearing alongside Adam Faith. He suffered a crippling stroke in January 1982, which forced him to give up theatre for fear of forgetting his lines. His first role following his stroke was as Scunner Campbell in SuperGran in 1985.

Cuthbertson's first marriage, to the actress Anne Kristen, was dissolved in 1988. His second wife was Janet Mary Smith. There were no children. He was born on January 4, 1930 and died on September 4, 2009.

Times Obituary

Thanks to Fiona Hall.

The actor Ray Barrett has died at the age of 82.

Barrett appeared in the 1965 William Hartnell story The Rescue, playing the roles of both Bennett and Koquillion. The story was released on DVD earlier this year.

Ray Barrett was a popular leading men on British television in the 1960s, appearing in such programmes as Emergency - Ward 10 and The Troubleshooters as well as providing some of the voices in the popular series Thunderbirds.

In later years, Barrett returned to his native Australia where he made a string of television appearances in series such as Something In The Air, All Saints and White Collar Blue.

His last film appearance was in Baz Luhrmann's Australia.

He died from a brain haemorrhage early Tuesday morning.