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Richard Hurndall | |
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| Born | Richard Gibbon Hurndall (1910-11-03)3 November 1910 Darlington,County Durham, England |
| Died | 13 April 1984(1984-04-13) (aged 73) London, England |
| Education | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Known for | ReplacingWilliam Hartnell as theFirst Doctor inThe Five Doctors |
Richard Gibbon Hurndall (3 November 1910 – 13 April 1984) was an English actor.[1][2][3] He is best remembered for replacingWilliam Hartnell in the role of theFirst Doctor forDoctor Who's 20th anniversary special "The Five Doctors".
Hurndall was born inDarlington and he attended Claremont Preparatory School, Darlington andScarborough College,[4] before training as an actor at theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Arts.[5] He then appeared in several plays atStratford-upon-Avon.[3] Hurndall acted with theBBC radio drama repertory company from 1949 to 1952.[5] In 1959, he playedSherlock Holmes in a five part adaptation ofThe Sign of Four.[1] He continued to play roles on BBC radio until about 1980, often as the leading man.[6]
In 1958 he became the third host of theRadio Luxembourg program calledThis I Believe. (This show had originally been hosted byEdward R. Murrow on the U.S.CBS Radio Network from 1951 to 1955 and it was then edited inLondon for rebroadcast on208 with a British style of presentation at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday evenings.)[citation needed]
Hurndall appeared in numerous radio and stage plays, films and television series over the course of his lengthy career. He appeared inSomeone at the Door, a 1949 live-broadcast TV comedy/thriller, which also featuredPatrick Troughton (with whom he was later to appear inDoctor Who – see below).[7] Other television shows of the era that he appeared in includeThe Avengers,The Persuaders!,Blake's 7,Whodunnit! andBergerac.[8] He played the suave London gangster Mackelson in the gritty 1968 drama seriesSpindoe and the following year had a recurring role as flawed senior civil servant Jason Fowler in the final series ofThe Power Game.[9] He appeared in the comedy seriesSteptoe and Son in 1970[10] as Timothy, a gay antique dealer who takes a shine to Harold Steptoe. He also guest-starred in the third series ofCallan.[11] He appeared twice in the drama seriesPublic Eye, first playing a distinguished entomologist who is unwilling to trace his missing son in "The Golden Boy" (10 January 1973), and later a priest in "How About a Cup of Tea?" (13 January 1975).[12][13] He was Lord Montdore inLove in a Cold Climate (1980).[14]
In 1983, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BBCscience fiction television seriesDoctor Who, producerJohn Nathan-Turner planned a special event, "The Five Doctors", a 90-minute episode to feature four of the five actors who had at that point played the role of the Doctor.[15]William Hartnell, the actor whooriginated the role, had died in 1975.[16] Hurndall eventually won the role of the First Doctor, playing him as "acerbic and temperamental but in some ways wiser than his successors." His casting in the role was approved[clarification needed] by Hartnell's widow, Heather.[17][better source needed] WhenTom Baker, who played theFourth Doctor, declined to appear in the programme, Hurndall's role was expanded slightly to have the First Doctor take a greater part in the action.[18] It was hoped Hurndall would reprise his portrayal of the First Doctor alongside the Doctor's granddaughterSusan Foreman, played byCarole Ann Ford, in the 22nd-season storyThe Two Doctors, but Hurndall's death saw the storyline adjusted to feature theSecond Doctor played byPatrick Troughton andJamie McCrimmon played byFrazer Hines.[19]
His films includedJoanna (1968),Hostile Witness (1968),Some Girls Do (1969),Zeppelin (1971),I, Monster (1971),[20]Lady Caroline Lamb (1972),Royal Flash (1975) andCrossed Swords (1977).[2]
In April 1984, Hurndall died of aheart attack at the age of 73 inLondon, less than five months after the first broadcast of "The Five Doctors".[5] Many sources,[who?] includingElisabeth Sladen's autobiography, state that he died before being paid for the role.[21] However,Doctor Who Magazine writer Richard Bignell claims that this is not true, saying "Hurndall had five different payments made out to him ... (four contractual, one expenses) and all were paid in 1982 and 1983, way before his death."[22]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Deadlier Than the Male | Suited Man at Judo Club | Uncredited |
| 1968 | Joanna | Butler | Uncredited |
| Hostile Witness | Supt. Eley | ||
| The Avengers | Farrer | Episode:Legacy of Death | |
| 1969 | Some Girls Do | President of Aircraft Co. | |
| 1970 | Steptoe and Son | Timothy Stanhope | Episode:Any Old Iron? |
| 1971 | Zeppelin | Blinker Hall | |
| I, Monster | Lanyon | ||
| The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes | Lord Faber | Episode:The Ripening Rubies | |
| 1972 | Lady Caroline Lamb | Radical | |
| 1972–1973 | War and Peace | Count Rostopchin | 3 episodes |
| 1972–1977 | Van der Valk | Picard/Magistrate | 2 episodes |
| 1973 | Gawain and the Green Knight | Bearded Man | |
| 1974 | The Brothers | Clifton | Episode:A Bad Mistake |
| Father Brown | Father Superior | Episode:The Arrow of Heaven | |
| 1975 | Royal Flash | Detchard | |
| 1977 | The Prince and the Pauper | Archbishop Cranmer | |
| Just William | Great Uncle George | Episode:William's Worst Christmas | |
| 1981 | Blake's 7 | Nebrox | Episode:Assassin |
| 1983 | Blue Peter | First Doctor | |
| Doctor Who | Episode: "The Five Doctors" |
