Terence Sewards

Terence Sewards: 

Here's an actor that hasn't been seen on our screens for for a while. According to imdb, his last appearance was as long ago as 1984. His petulantly boyish looks led to a series of roles of the edgier villain or unstable henchman type, perhaps something in the manner of a Ronald Lacey.      

As a hippy would-be assassin in 'The Persuaders'

His movie credits include 'Where The Bullets Fly' (1966), Hammer horror 'The Mummy's Shroud' (1967), with Oliver Reed and Orson Welles in Michael Winner's star-studded oddity 'I'll Never Forget What's-'Is-Name' (1967), watchable favourites 'Hannibal Brooks' (1969), 'The Man Who Haunted Himself' (1970), and cultish fun 'Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (1974).  He's also in the grindingly feeble sex-comedy 'The Bawdy Adventures Of Tom Jones' (1976), surely marking a low point for a cast including Trevor Howard, Geraldine McEwan, Terry-Thomas, Murray Melvin, Arthur Lowe and Michael Bates, although Nicky Henson and Joan Collins seem more at home.                    

About to hit the floor after receiving a mortal injury from
'Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter' (1974)

Television appearances include some ever-popular '60s and '70s franchises: 'The Avengers', 'Hadleigh', 'The Persuaders', 'Warship', 'Z-Cars' and 'The Sweeney'. He's also in the acclaimed Dennis Potter BBC Wednesday, Play 'The Beast With Two Backs'. For some reason he seemed to fade away from our screens in the '80s, and although he was describing himself as an actor/writer to Companies House in 1995, there's not much in the way of internet clues as to his later work. Still, let's salute him here.   

Trying to impress upon gentleman thief Giles (Shane Briant) the
consequences of failing to repay his debts, in 'The Sweeney'

Terence Sewards-imdb

John Cairney

John Cairney:

† Feb 16 1930 – Sep 7 2023

Dark, broodingly handsome Scots actor, largely associated with his memorable portrayals of the poet Robert Burns. His lasting association with Burns began in 1965 with Tom Wright's solo play "There Was A Man" at the Traverse, Edinburgh, and at the Arts Theatre, London. From Burns, he moved on to other solo pieces on William McGonagall, Robert Service and Robert Louis Stevenson.

In the full Rabbie Burns get-up.

Though his movie career began in the mid '50s, it appears that his TV heyday was probably the mid '60s to late '70s, after which he moved to New Zealand. His many television parts include other literary figures, like Branwell Bronte and Edgar Allan Poe, and other famous Scots, like Robert the Bruce. He has featured in programmes as varied as 'Dr. Finlay's Casebook', 'Secret Agent', 'The Avengers', 'Man In A Suitcase', 'Jackanory', 'The Persuaders', 'Elizabeth R', and 'Taggart'. He'd probably be better known if the BBC hadn't wiped his starring role in the 1966 Scottish drama series 'This Man Craig' in which he played an idealistic teacher. (Incidentally, his son in the programme was played by the young Brian Pettifer, saluted here earlier.) 

With Glenda Jackson in the acclaimed 1971 BBC series 'Elizabeth R'

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In 'Jason & The Argonauts' (1963), second from right, just
over Laurence Naismith's shoulder

Feature film appearances include 'Lucky Jim' (1957), the Titanic story 'A Night To Remember' (1958), 'Victim' (1961), 'Jason & The Argonauts' (1963), Cleopatra' (1963), and the Sherlock Holmes meets the Ripper movie 'Study In Terror' (1965).

In the low-budget British sci-fi adventure 'Spaceflight IC-1' (1965)

He made some TV movies in New Zealand during the '80s and '90s as well as writing a number of books on Burns and other great Scottish figures Robert L Stephenson and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.  

John Cairney-imdb

Derren Nesbitt

Derren Nesbitt:


'Oooh, he's a bad devil', as my late grandmother would say. The broad, leering, insinuating face of Derren Nesbitt was once an invariable cipher for cunning and villainy on the screen. He's had a long, if patchy career in the movies, with his most famous role being the strangely stylised Nazi Major von Hapen in 'Where Eagles Dare' (1968). Part of that patchiness is down to a notorious real-life attack on his wife in 1972. The papers widely reported the details of the assault which included a vicious thrashing with a leather strap.

Not surprisingly, film work dropped off after that. Pre-'72 highlights include 'A Night To Remember' (1958), a fight scene in 'Room At The Top' (1959), the tense, heist-gone-wrong, B-movie 'The Man In The Back Seat' (1961), 'The Blue Max' (1966), the Sinatra spy-thriller 'The Naked Runner' (1967), 'Monte Carlo Or Bust' (1969) and 'Burke & Hare (1972). After the court case, he spent some time in Australia, but also appeared in a string of smutty low-budget movies, including Dick Emery's 'Ooh You Are Awful' (1972), and his self-penned confessions-style effort 'The Amorous Milkman' (1975), possibly one of the dreariest sex comedies ever made, which is saying something. He was later partly rehabilitated by the alternative Comic Strip crowd, and appears in 'Eat The Rich' (1987), while maverick of mediocrity Michael Winner had him in 'Bullseye!' (1990) with Michael Caine and Roger Moore.        
 
  

'Burke & Hare' (1972)

On TV, it was a similar story, with appearances in old favourites like 'Danger Man', 'Doctor Who', 'The Saint', Man In A Suitcase', 'The Prisoner' and 'UFO' followed by a long period in the wilderness. By the early '80s there was a bit more on offer for him, including 'The Comic Strip Presents' and villain roles in a few detective series.  






As Number Two in 'The Prisoner'

As a SHADO astronaut in 'UFO'

He's still around, in Sussex it seems, catch up with his story here.

Derren Nesbitt - imdb  

Peter Sallis

Peter Sallis: 

† Feb 1 1921 – Jun 2 2017

A national treasure and the perfect incarnation of elderly timidity, but in my opinion, sadly wasted as Clegg in 30-odd years of 'Last Of The Summer Wine', which would probably be nostalgically admired if they'd stopped after three or four series. Wallace in 'Wallace & Gromit' and Ratty in 'Wind In The Willows...' seem to be his only other parts since the mid-'70s, but before that he was a useful and adaptable actor in a mixed bag of interesting roles. He appeared in 'Callan', 'Doctor Who', 'Danger Man', 'The Capone Investment', 'Catweazle' and 'The Pallisers', and in films like 'Mouse On The Moon', 'Charlie Bubbles', 'Taste The Blood Of Dracula' and 'Scream And Scream Again'. Rather than one of him wearing a flat cap or sitting in a wheelbarrow, here's a picture of him with a gun, from 'The Persuaders'

Peter Sallis - imdb profile