Richard Gibbon Hurndall (3 November 1910 – 13 April 1984) was an English actor. He is best remembered for replacing

William Hartnell William Henry Hartnell (; 8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor, who is best known for portraying the first incarnation of the Doctor, in the long-running British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1963 t ...

in the role of the

First Doctor The First Doctor is the original incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor William Hartnell in th ...

for '' Doctor Who's'' 20th anniversary special " The Five Doctors".

Career

BBC radio

Hurndall was born in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

and he attended Claremont Preparatory School, Darlington and Scarborough College, before training as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He then appeared in several plays at

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

. Hurndall acted with the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio drama repertory company from 1949 to 1952. In 1959, he played

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

in a five part adaptation of '' The Sign of Four''. He continued to play roles on BBC radio until about 1980, often as the leading man.

Radio Luxembourg

In 1958 he became the third host of the

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

program called '' This I Believe''. (This show had originally been hosted by

Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American Broadcast journalism, broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broa ...

on the U.S.

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

Radio Network from 1951 to 1955 and it was then edited in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

for rebroadcast on 208 with a British style of presentation at 9:30 PM on Sunday evenings.)

Television work

Hurndall appeared in numerous radio and stage plays, films and television series over the course of his lengthy career. He appeared in 'Someone at the Door', a 1949 live broadcast TV comedy/thriller, which also featured

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor. He became best known for his roles in television, most notably starring as the Second Doctor, second incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the lo ...

(with whom he was later to appear in

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

– see below). Other television shows of the era that he appeared in include '' The Avengers'', ''

The Persuaders! ''The Persuaders!'' is a British action comedy television series starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, produced by ITC Entertainment, and initially broadcast on ITV and ABC in 1971. The show has been called 'the last major entry in the c ...

'', ''

Blake's 7 ''Blake's 7'' is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Four series of thirteen 50-minute episodes were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also wrote the first series, prod ...

'', '' Whodunnit!'' and '' Bergerac''. He played the suave London gangster Mackelson in the gritty 1968 drama series ''

Spindoe ''Spindoe'' is a British television series shown on ITV in the spring of 1968. It was named after the lead character, Alec Spindoe, a South London gangster; the plot of the series showed how Spindoe re-established his gangland empire after he ...

'' and the following year had a recurring role as flawed senior civil servant Jason Fowler in the final series of '' The Power Game''. He appeared in the comedy series '' Steptoe and Son'' in 1970 as Timothy, a gay antique dealer who takes a shine to Harold Steptoe, in Any Old Iron (series 5 episode 3, 20 March 1970). He guest starred in the third series of '' Callan''. He appeared twice in the series '' Public 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). He was Lord Montdore in '' Love in a Cold Climate'' (1980).

''Doctor Who''

In 1983, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BBC

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series ''

'', producer

John Nathan-Turner John Turner (12 August 1947 – 1 May 2002), known professionally as John Nathan-Turner, was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and the final producer of the ...

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.

, the actor who originated the role, had died in 1975. 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 by Hartnell's widow, Heather. When

Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is best known for having played the Fourth Doctor, fourth and longest-serving incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television ...

, who played the

Fourth Doctor The Fourth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Tom Baker. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from ...

, declined to appear in the programme, Hurndall's role was expanded slightly to have the First Doctor take a greater part in the action. It was hoped Hurndall would reprise his portrayal of the First Doctor alongside the Doctor's granddaughter

Susan Foreman Susan Foreman (also known as Susan Campbell in spin-off media) is a fictional character in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The granddaughter of the Doctor and original Companion (Docto ...

, played by Carole Ann Ford, in the season 22 story ''

The Two Doctors ''The Two Doctors'' is the fourth serial of the Doctor Who (season 22), 22nd season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC One, BBC1 from 16 February to 2 March 198 ...

'', but Hurndall's death saw the storyline adjusted to feature the

Second Doctor The Second Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Patrick Troughton. Out of his 1 ...

played by

and

Jamie McCrimmon James Robert McCrimmon, usually simply called Jamie, is a fictional character played by Frazer Hines in the long-running British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. A Bagpipes, piper of the Clan Mac ...

played by

Frazer Hines Frazer Simpson Frederick Hines (born 22 September 1944) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor and appeared in ''A King in New York'' (1957) with Charlie Chaplin. He later played Jamie McCrimmon in ''Doctor Who'', appearing i ...

Films

His films included ''

Joanna Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from . Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice, Jean, and Jeanne. The earliest recorded occurrence of th ...

'' (1968), ''

Hostile Witness A hostile witness, also known as an adverse witness or an unfavorable witness, is a witness at trial whose testimony on direct examination is either openly antagonistic or appears to be contrary to the legal position of the party who called th ...

'' (1968), '' Some Girls Do'' (1969), ''

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155� ...

'' (1971), '' I, Monster'' (1971), '' Lady Caroline Lamb'' (1972), '' Royal Flash'' (1975), and '' Crossed Swords'' (1977).

Death

In April 1984, Hurndall died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at the age of 73 in

, less than five months after the first broadcast of "The Five Doctors". Many sources, including Elisabeth Sladen's autobiography, state that he died before being paid for the role. However, ''

Doctor Who Magazine ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the following year. In ...

'' writer Richard Bignell claims that this isn't 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."

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurndall, Richard Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English male radio actors English male stage actors English male film actors English male television actors English radio presenters Male actors from Darlington 1910 births 1984 deaths People educated at Scarborough College 20th-century English male actors