David Spenser ('' né'' De Saram; 12 March 1934 – 20 July 2013) John Tydemanbr>David Spenser obituary
''The Guardian'', 1 August 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013 was a British actor, director, producer and writer. Spenser played the title role in a 1948 radio production of Richmal Crompton's '' Just William'', and also appeared in popular films and TV series including ''

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 ...

''.BFI.org
/ref> His documentary about Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies won an International

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

. He was the elder brother of actor Jeremy Spenser. Aged 11 he appeared in plays on BBC radio's ''

Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childre ...

''. He was cast in ''Just William'' by the author of the books, Richmal Crompton. He played Harry in the first production of

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

's opera ''

Albert Herring ''Albert Herring'', Op. 39, is a chamber opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten. Composed in the winter of 1946 and the spring of 1947, this comic opera was a successor to his serious opera '' The Rape of Lucretia''. The libretto, by Eric Cro ...

''. Spenser was a regular on television, with appearances in episodes of '' Z-Cars'', ''

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' is a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 1955 ...

'', and '' The Saint''. In 1967 Spenser appeared as Thonmi in the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''

The Abominable Snowmen ''The Abominable Snowmen'' is the mostly missing second serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which originally aired in six weekly parts from 30 September to 4 November 1967. In this se ...

'' alongside

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 ...

. Spenser later worked as a radio producer for the BBC. He produced several radio plays including

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...

's '' The Way We Live Now'' in 1988, and Christopher Isherwood's '' Mr Norris Changes Trains'' in 1984. Spenser wrote a historical drama about the Egyptian pharaoh Akhnaton, ''The City of the Horizon''. It was broadcast in 1972 and 1976. Spenser subsequently produced documentaries about figures such as

Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 18 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor and scriptwriter. He is best remembered for his television programme, ''The Benny Hill Show'', a comedy-variety show whose amalgam of slapstick, bu ...

, Angus Wilson, Dodie Smith and Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies. He was survived by his brother, and by his partner Victor Pemberton.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Radio Memories
David Spenser's radio work {{DEFAULTSORT:Spenser, David 1934 births 2013 deaths 20th-century English male actors British expatriates in Spain British male child actors British male film actors British male television actors English radio producers English television producers English television writers English gay actors British gay writers British LGBTQ screenwriters English LGBTQ writers People from Colombo British male television writers 21st-century British screenwriters 20th-century British businesspeople 21st-century British LGBTQ people