Stephen John Thorne (2 March 1935 – 26 May 2019) was a British actor of radio, film, stage, and television. He was best known for his regular

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

work and audiobook recordings, and for his portrayals of a few ''

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 ...

'' villains, including the

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Time Lords are so named for their command of time travel technology and their Nonli ...

Omega Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...

Early life

Thorne was born 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 ...

in 1935 and brought up in Hesketh Bank,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, by adoptive parents, Alan Thorne, a vicar, and his wife Betty (née Boulton). He went to school at

Liverpool College Liverpool College is a coeducational day and boarding school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, Headmasters' Conference. History Liverpool Coll ...

and then joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

for his national service. On demobilisation Thorne trained at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

(RADA), a

drama school A drama school, stage school, or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or Academic department, department at a college or university, or a free-standing institution (such as the drama section at the Juilliard School) that ...

situated in the

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

area of London, and graduated in 1957.

Career

He played several seasons with the Old Vic Company and the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

in Stratford and London including a tour to Russia. He worked extensively in radio with over 2000 broadcasts for 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 ...

including as Uncle Mort in the Radio 4 comedy series '' Uncle Mort's North Country''. His television credits included '' Z-Cars'', '' Crossroads'', and ''

''. In ''Doctor Who'', he played three major villains (

, Azal, and Eldrad), as well as an Ogron, before later playing the villainous Max in The Ghosts of N-Space, a Doctor Who BBC Radio story, in the mid 1990s. Also on radio, Thorne appeared as

Aslan Aslan () is a major character in C. S. Lewis's ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' series. Unlike any other character in the Narnian series, Aslan appears in all seven chronicles. Aslan is depicted as a Talking animals in fiction, talking lion and is ...

in '' The Magician's Nephew'', as Treebeard in the Radio 4 adaptation of ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'', and also in their adaptation of

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist, and Satire, satirist, best known for the ''Discworld'' series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the Apocalyp ...

's '' Guards! Guards!'' in which he portrayed Fred Colon (and also Death). He was also renowned for audio book narration. He also played the character of Lionheart in '' The Scarifyers'' following Nicholas Courtney's death. Other television work included '' Death of an Expert Witness'', ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...

'', and ''

Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom set in Yorkshire created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first seri ...

''. He voiced Aslan in the animated version of '' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe''. Thorne reprised the character on the BBC radio adaptation of the same name. He gave many poetry readings on radio, television, and tape and in venues from

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

to various pubs. He recorded over 300 unabridged audiobooks including children's stories which earned critical acclaim in both the UK and the US. Awards included a Talkies Award 1996 for '' Enigma'' by Robert Harris and several Golden Earphones Awards from Audiofile Magazine.

Personal life

While training at RADA Thorne met fellow student Barbara Sykes, and they married in 1958. On 26 May 2019, Thorne died, at the age of 84. At the time of his death he was married, and had two sons, Simon and Crispian.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, Stephen 1935 births 2019 deaths Audiobook narrators Royal Shakespeare Company members Male actors from Derby British male film actors British male television actors British male stage actors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Male actors from London People from the Borough of West Lancashire Military personnel from London 20th-century Royal Navy personnel Royal Navy sailors