Keith Jayne (born 10 December 1960) is a British actor, known for playing the title role in the 1981

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

'' Stig of the Dump''. A slow growth rate, due to a

pituitary gland The pituitary gland or hypophysis is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans, the pituitary gland is located at the base of the human brain, brain, protruding off the bottom of the hypothalamus. The pituitary gland and the hypothalamus contr ...

problem, made Keith a target of bullies at

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

, To escape them, he enrolled with the Barbara Speake Stage School. Early roles were in ''

Rumpole of the Bailey ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, ...

'', '' Angels'' and a variety of

Children's Film Foundation The Children's Film Foundation (CFF) is a non-profit organisation which makes films and other media for children in the United Kingdom. Originally it made films to be shown as part of children's Saturday morning matinée cinema programming. Th ...

productions, including '' Robin Hood Junior'' (1975), '' The Glitterball'' (1977) and '' Sammy's Super T-Shirt'' (1978). In 1974, Keith appeared as Wilfred Schoenfeld in an episode of '' Upstairs, Downstairs'', entitled "The Beastly Hun". In 1975, he played Mick in '' Survivors''. However, his big break happened in 1979 when he was cast as Tom Arnold, a cabin boy, in '' The Onedin Line''. This was followed by the lead role in

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

’s, BAFTA award nominated, adaptation of '' Stig of the Dump'' - which 'is probably the part I am most remembered for'.
Not So Plain Jane Keith went on to play 'Boxer Reed' in all 54 episodes of ITV Central, Central TV's kid's drama, ''

Murphy's Mob ''Murphy's Mob'' is a British children's television series, created and written by Brian Finch which was produced and directed by David Foster for Central Independent Television, and screened in the UK on ITV for four series between 1 March 19 ...

''. His appearance as Will Chandler - 'one of the most convincing and memorable companions The Doctor never had'
Doctor Who:The Television Companion – 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 ...

'' serial '' The Awakening'', led producer John Nathan-Turner to briefly consider making Keith a series regular. Typecasting (often as a yokel) persuaded Keith to study for a certificate in

Finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

and

Investment Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

. This coincided with a dark period his life, when his earlier health problems came back to haunt him. 'As a result of the growth hormone treatment I received as a child, I received a letter from the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

saying I may have contracted CJD.' Keith's high-profile saw him interviewed on

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

, a broadcast that curtailed his acting career. 'The fact that it was reported that I was dying did not help me get any further work as no casting director is going to employ you if there is a chance you will keel over before episode two.' Beginning in the late 1980s, he ran a financial services business. In 2009 he appeared as a guest in the 'Blast From The Past' section of '' The Justin Lee Collins Show''.

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External links

* Living people British male television actors 1960 births Male actors from Carlisle, Cumbria {{UK-tv-actor-1960s-stub