richard leech

Friday, 2 April 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Richard Leech, the Irish-born character actor who played Gatherer Hade in "The Sun Makers," has died of undisclosed causes. He passed away on March 24 at age 81. Among his many roles were parts in the films "Gandhi," "A Handful of Dust," "The Red Dress," "A Night to Remember" and "The Shooting Party" and guest appearances on TV in "North and South," "David Copperfield," "A Woman of Substance," "Barchester Chronicles," "Smiley's Poeple" and "The Duchess of Duke Street". An obituary can be found at the Telegraph paper's website. (Thanks to Andrew Green, Matthew Kilburn)




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

peter diamond

Thursday, 1 April 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Peter Diamond, who was both a guest actor as well as fight arranger for several early Doctor Who stories, died on Saturday, March 27, due to a stroke. Diamond was the fight arranger for "The Dalek Invasion of Earth," "The Romans," "The Space Museum," "The Chase," "The Highlanders," "The Evil of the Daleks," "The War Games" and "The Daemons"; he also played Delos in "The Romans," a Morok in "The Space Museum," a sailor in "The Highlanders" and Davis in "The Ice Warriors". Diamond also made a mark in another SF production; he was the Tusken Raider who attacked Luke in the original "Star Wars" film. (Thanks to Ben Jolly)




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

Sheila Dunn

Friday, 12 March 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Sheila Dunn, the lovely actress whose Doctor Who roles included smaller parts as Blossom LeFavre ("The Daleks' Master Plan") and a phone operator ("The Invasion") before taking the guest star role as assistant/scientist Petra Williams in the Jon Pertwee classic "Inferno", died on March 3. Dunn had been married to the late director Douglas Camfield, who died in 1984 and had directed all three stories. (Thanks to Ben Jolly, Phillip Madeley)




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

Russell Hunter

Thursday, 26 February 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Russell Hunter, the Scottish born actor best known to Doctor Who fans as Commander Uvanov in the classic serial "The Robots of Death," died today, February 26, from complications due to leukemia. Born in Glasgow in 1925, Russell Hunter was a shipyard apprentice before taking up acting, appearing in the very first Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1947. His best-known role was his character Lonely in the TV thriller series "Callan" opposite Edward Woodward; he also appeared in "Casualty," "Ace of Wands," "A Touch of Frost," "Up Pompeii," "Sweeney Todd" and "Born and Bred" (his last TV role, last June). Hunter reprised his Doctor Who role as Uvanov the past two years for Magic Bullet Productions' series of audio spinoff adventures, "Kaldor City". Hunter, who is survived by his wife, actress Una MacLean, was 79. (Thanks to Ben Morris; some details from Scotland Today; photo courtesy Magic Bullet Productions)




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

Dinsdale Landen Tribute

Sunday, 25 January 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
January 18th's BBC Radio Five Live's "Brief Lives" show (an obituary programme) featured a segment on Dinsdale Landen ("The Curse of Fenric"), featuring an interview with his wife discussing his work on Fenric. (Thanks to Chris Patient)




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

In Memoriam

Saturday, 10 January 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Iain Truskett, co-moderator of the Jade Pagoda books discussion list, passed away suddenly on December 29 after suffering cardiac arrest. Our deepest sympathies to all his friends online and his family & friends in Australia.




FILTER: - Obituary

Dinsdale Landen

Monday, 29 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Dinsdale Landen, who played Dr. Judson in "The Curse of Fenric" and was a veteran of British stage, TV and film, died this weekend from cancer at his home in Norfolk. His TV roles, besides Doctor Who, included "All Creatures Great and Small," "The Avengers" and "Lovejoy"; he also claimed a huge repetoire on the stage, where he was nominated for a prestigious Olivier Award for his role in the West End play "Alphabetical Order". He was 71. Read the BBC news article about his passing here. (Thanks to Steve Freestone, Paul Hayes)




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

Alfred Lynch

Tuesday, 23 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Alfred Lynch (Commander Millington in "The Curse of Fenric") passed away due to cancer December 16; read the obithere. (Thanks to Bill Spiby, Matthew Kilburn)




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

Malcolm Clarke

Friday, 12 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Composer Malcolm Clarke passed away yesterday, December 11. Says Mark Ayres, himself a Doctor Who composer and current member of the Restoration Team: "Malcolm was undoubtedly one of the most colourful characters ever to work at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, joining in 1969. Fuelled by his keen interest in the visual arts, his music - always anarchic, never boring - holds a special place in my affections." Clarke composed the incidental music for seven Doctor Who stories, including the very haunting and memorable score for "The Sea Devils," the ghastly cybernetic tones of "Earthshock" and the high-seas-adventure movements of "Enlightenment," as well as "Resurrection of the Daleks," "The Twin Dilemma," "Attack of the Cybermen" and "Trial of a Time Lord: Terror of the Vervoids." "His work for ... 'The Sea Devils,'" says Ayres, "is a benchmark in 'doing it your own way and hang the consequences' and made a deep impression on at least one young would-be composer. His award-winning 'August 4th 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains' (1976) is a beat-perfect lesson in pure radio." Clarke was one of the last to leave the BBC Radiophonic Workshop when it was dismantled in the mid 1990's and had been studying for a PhD in music ("at last he would be qualified to do what he had spent his life successfully doing," Ayres joked). Selections from his work were made available on a variety of CDs from Silva Screen and the BBC Radio Collection. (Thanks to Mark Ayres)




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

Gordon Reid

Friday, 5 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Gordon Reid, who played Phillips in episode 1 of "Invasion of the Dinosaurs," died on stage in London on November 27. (Thanks to Ben Jolly)




FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series