I’ve been so busy I’ve neglected this blog, so at least I can start doing monthly updates with general info. I hope some of what is below is useful: I’m delighted to announce that I have been commissioned to dramatise Nigel Kneale’s famous lost television play, The Road, for Radio 4. Transmission is not until late…
JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED After a few months off during which I have slept and stuff, Who’s Round is back… and it’s about time (etc etc). It’s certainly about time we had a Doctor. Most Doctors have been interviewed loads, so of course I have gone for one with a unique claim to the…
It’s tricky being an amateur researcher. I don’t kick doors in, nor do I follow up if someone forgets to email me back. So I do leave stones unturned, largely because I don’t want to annoy anyone. The ridiculous thing, of course, is that without exception all of the actors and production personnel I have…
Peter Thomas – actor from missing William Hartnell story The Savages – dies. Peter Thomas as Captain Edal in The Savages Peter Thomas, who played Captain Edal in The Savages, has died at the age of 80. He had worked with Christopher Barry prior to the making of the story and so was in the director’s mind…
EARLY DOCTOR WHO GUEST STAR DIES. Philip Bond as Ganatus in The Daleks The actor Philip Bond has died suddenly whilst on holiday on the island of Madeira. He was 82. He will be known to Doctor Who fans for his important guest role in the second ever story, The Daleks (1963/4). He played Ganatus,…
RODNEY BENNETT, classic Doctor Who director, has died. The director Rodney Bennett, who was behind three memorable early Tom Baker stories and whose work outside of the show included many classic dramas has died peacefully aged 81. Rodney Bennett at home in Bath in 2013 Bennett was brought on board at a time during which the…
Doctor Who In Memoriam Video 2016 At the end of the year I always do a video tribute to those people from the Doctor Who universe who have left us. I had trouble uploading this so it didn’t go up on New Year’s Eve as hoped. Anyway, it is here now, and I hope it…
TERENCE BAYLER I was very saddened to learn of the death of Terence Bayler. He was a fine actor: tall, handsome, with soulful eyes and a slight warble to his voice which could suggest plummy aristocracy or a hint of melancholy. He often played upper class toffs or British officers so I was shocked to discover,…
I’m up to all sorts during this year’s Psoriasis Shout Out. I’ll be giving short talks at a couple of seminars in Manchester and London where people far more qualified than I will be on hand to provide credible testimony and scientific insight. I’ll be giving the patient perspective which is basically “Ow. Itch. Bloody…
It’s been very actor heavy of late so it’s time to delve behind-the-scenes to an era rather under-represented in the Who’s Round lexicon : the 7th Doctor’s.So there are plenty of stories about that turbulent time on the show, the regular cast who were extremely popular with the crew, and making space and time against…
REG WHITEHEAD RIP – The First Cyberman dies, but his legacy encompasses more than his Doctor Who milestone… Reg Whitehead Reg Whitehead, the actor who played Krail, the Cyberman who explains their origins during episode two of The Tenth Planet (1966), has died at the age of 83. He played another Cyberman – Jarl – later…
This one was a long time coming, as I had already visited the gentleman once. On that occasion he asked not to be recorded as he felt his voice was weak. We then chatted for 3 hours after which he said “Oh, we should have recorded that!” Still, it meant I got to visit him…
Because having each individual podcast listed is making my podcast page way too big I’m dismantling it but retaining the info here on my blog. There is a much better resource for this info, including links to all the charities, on Bog Finish’s page here. Thanks to Ian Atkins for doing such a sterling job…
SONIA MARKHAM RIP Sonia Markham Sonia Markham, who was the make-up supervisor of Doctor Who for the majority of the Hartnell era has died at the age of 78. Her connection with the show began early on when she was a make-up artist on The Sensorites (1964), assisting Jill Summers, and she continued in that…
A key contributor to a story who didn’t appear on its DVD release, this villainous fellow turns out to be charming, chatty and slightly eccentric – and all the more interesting for it. My friend Peter and I drove to the coast in order to spend a windswept afternoon over a pint or two with…
Jon Rollason, who played Harold Chorley in the recently recovered Doctor Who story The Web of Fear, has died at the age of 84. Born in Birmingham in 1931, he enrolled at the Old Vic theatre school in London after completing his National Service. In interviews he claimed that his early work in the theatre…
TOBY HADOKE’S WHO’S ROUND – EPISODE 158 In ghostlier times in a different science fiction classic. My latest Who’s Rounder as he is now. I was very excited about this one because I have always been very intrigued by the story of a guy who plays three very small roles (respectively Guard, Guard and Second…
The Dad Who Fell Onto A Shortlist… The Dad Who Fell To Earth has been nominated for a prestigious BBC Audio Drama Award. It made the initial shortlist of six, which was to be boiled down to three on January 5th 2016. Rather delightfully, it stayed on, alongside the acclaimed Cabin Pressure by John Finnemore…
Frances Pidgeon photographed by Ken Russell in 1956, the year she married Doctor Who director Lennie Mayne (© Topfoto) The actress Frances Pidgeon who appeared twice in Doctor Who has died at the age of 84. Her first role was an uncredited one, as the non speaking handmaiden of Queen Thalira in The Monster Of…
A new podcast… at last! The latest Who’s Round was actually conducted at the request of the interviewee. He has a special charity he would like to make you aware of. He has a heartfelt and moving story and highlights something most of us know nothing about but some of us could help with :…
WHO’S ROUND HITS A LANDMARK Russell T Davies It’s actually passed the landmark as I type this but I couldn’t not have a mention on my blog that we’ve arrived at edition 150 of my podcast of interviews with Doctor Who luminaries . It’s the last of my chats with the marvel that is Russell T Davies…
Here is how it works – if I haven’t been asked to do an obituary of someone for a paper I will try to do a good one here. Even if I have been asked, I still might blog about them, but giving a more personal or Doctor Who flavoured slant to the piece. I…
RTD I think I had planned to end the who run of releases of Toby Hadoke’s Who’s Round with the extremely popular Russell T Davies interviews but they have been in the can for nearly two years and the timings meant that if give them to you now then Mr Davies would take us all the way…
Talking about on the hoof. Thanks to a good friend of mine who is in Emmerdale I had managed to line up an interview with the marvellous Lesley Dunlop (who is also in it). Great – Frontios, one of the last remaining stories on my list, was taken care of. Unfortunately, she suddenly got a truck…
Oh, I’m a bit behind (I’ve been posting about Psoriasis a lot instead as it has been Psoriasis Awareness Week so I hope you are now sufficiently aware!). Anyway, two new Who’s Rounds have come out. The first was recorded immediately after I had performed a Christmas comedy show with this particular fellow (with whom…
KENNETH GILBERT DIES AGED 84 Kenneth Gilbert as Richard Dunbar in The Seeds Of Doom. Kenneth Gilbert, who played World Ecology Bureau official Richard Dunbar in the Tom Baker classic The Seeds Of Doom (1976) has died at the age of 84. Prematurely grey and with distinguished granite features, he often played authority figures, although the…
I am a bit pleased with myself about this one. I had done a DVD documentary about this particular story which brought me into contact with many of its first cast. It would have been easy for me to call one of them. But the thing is, the interviews I had done were already in…
Neville Jason, the actor who played Prince Reynart in the 1978 Tom Baker story The Androids Of Tara has died. His good looks and bearing had an old fashioned and regal quality that made him perfect casting for the prince, a part that also required him to perform as an occasionally malfunctioning android. The serial is…
This is a really good one. Someone who has never given an interview about Doctor Who before but who has had a hell of a career behind the camera on some of the most well known television programmes there have ever been. He is candid, enthusiastic and keeps insisting that he was very, very lucky.…
The accomplished and much loved Welsh character actor Richard Davies has died at the age of 89. Balding, with a gap tooth and distinctive accent he was best known for his appearances as Mr Price in the ITV sitcom Please Sir! (starring John Alderton). That said, and despite an ever detectable twinkle, he was an actor of…