Sarah Bullen

 

 Sarah Bullen: 

A member of a dynasty of prominent English equestrians - famous in show jumping and eventing circles - Sarah Bullen also had a brief but fascinating acting career, mostly during the 70s and 80s.   

The Bullens at home, Sarah at left.

In fact, she appears in many episodes of 'Space: 1999', sometimes as crew member Kate, but also often uncredited. This seems to have catapulted her into a number of roles, including the horsey drama 'International Velvet' (1978) with Tatum O'Neal and Christopher Plummer, for which she must have been a shoo-in.  The same year saw her in a couple of bigger parts, in the  spy dramas 'The XYY Man' with the great Don Henderson, and 'The Sandbaggers' with Roy Marsden.   

One of many 'Space:1999' appearances 

With Chris Jenkinston in 'The XYY Man' 

Publicity still as agent Jill Ferris in 'The Sandbaggers'

A sort of peak could have come with a starring role in the auction-room drama, 'The House Of Caradus', however, despite the impressive sounding title it turned out that drama in auction-rooms is thin on the ground, in Chester anyway, and the family wrangles were not sufficient to keep audiences tuning in.  Things taper off a little from here, with appearances in 'Dick Turpin', 'Solo', and 'A Perfect Spy' and a fleeting moment in 'The Fourth Protocol (1987).   

The wholesome face of '70s cigarette advertising

A charming presence through a period of excellent British TV, and well deserving of our salute.  

Bonus: Sarah Bullen was co-presenter of a PBS part-animated documentary based on David Macaulay's book 'Castle' which explores the design of medieval fortifications in a way which was apparently much admired by early Dungeons & Dragons enthusiasts. You can see the whole thing here.

Sarah Bullen-imdb

Arthur White

 

Arthur White: 

The elder brother of national treasure David Jason, Arthur has kept the family name and had his own long career in acting, albeit in a far less celebrated way than his little brother. His earliest forays into acting were while he was still in his teens, in a couple of budget post-war comedies 'Let's Have A Murder' (1950) with Jimmy Jewel, and 'It's A Grand Life' (1953) with Diana Dors and music hall veteran Harry Randle. He's also very briefly in 'The War Lover' (1962) a Yanks in England WWII potboiler with Steve McQueen and Robert Wagner, and the influential kitchen sink drama 'The L-Shaped Room' (1962). 
  
      

'The War Lover' (1962)  

Another news vendor role, this time in
'The Prisoner' episode 'It's Your Funeral'

Television roles take over from film in the '60s, when he appears in popular franchises such as 'The Plane Makers', 'Redcap', 'Emergency Ward 10' and 'No Hiding Place', as well as the Rediffusion sci-fi series 'Object Z' and 'Object Z Returns'. There's an episode of 'The Prisoner' with him in it, but he doesn't appear in any of the other big cult TV favourites, at least until a 'Space:1999' episode ten years later.       

Replacing Hugh Paddick in the second series
of the kids TV show 'Pardon My Genie'

The '70s saw his young brother rise to stardom, but Arthur's own star stayed relatively low in the entertainment firmament. He can be spotted in a fair bit of comedy; 'For The Love Of Ada', You're Only Young Once', 'Hark At Barker', 'The Squirrels', 'Bless This House' etc, and his younger sibling's own sitcom vehicle, 'A Sharp Intake Of Breath'.  

With the late Bernard Kay in an
episode of 'The Professionals'

Drama roles in the '70s and '80s would include a sprinkling across the likes of 'The Duchess Of Duke Street', 'The Professionals', 'Warship', 'Secret Army', the nuclear thriller 'The Brack Report' and the freaky BBC costume drama 'The Cleopatras'.  

With George Costigan in the opening scenes of the 
misfiring Miriam Carlin sitcom 'So Haunt Me'

The latter half of his 60-year career is a roll-call of the middle-brow entertainment of those decades, though, unusually, not dipping into the soaps. It's almost impossible for a character actor to avoid the multi-episode machines: the likes of 'Casualty', 'Holby City', The Bill', and the unending flow of 'Doctors'. Better things might include the 'Ruth Rendell Mysteries', 'Wycliffe' and 'The Darling Buds Of May' with little bruv. And of course, his best known role in recent years has probably been as PC Trigg, playing opposite David Jason again, as DI Frost's uniformed confidant and sounding board.

He must have been an inspiration to the young fella and I'm glad they've shared an obvious love of the business, so here's a salute to a big brother.  

Arthur White-imdb

Harry 'Aitch' Fielder

 

Harry 'Aitch' Fielder:

† April 26 1940 – February 6 2021

King of the Extras, Harry Fielder has died. A legendary supporting player in the British film and television industries, it's almost easier to list which classic productions he doesn't appear in. 

It's apparently something of a game among Brit film buffs to spot his fleeting appearances, particularly in horror films, Carry-Ons, classic TV (all the ITC cult shows, plenty of 'Dr Who'), every great sitcom, and beyond. A tough looking Londoner, he appears often as coppers and villains, but there aren't many bit-part roles he hasn't tackled. 

Trivia: He got paid £11 a day for his seven days work as one of Darth Vader's elite troopers.
  

Harry 'Aitch' Fielder-imdb

Michael Culver

Michael Culver: 

† Jun 16 1938– Feb 27 2024

Now here's a face of the seventies, a lean, shrewd-looking actor who carved his name into a swathe of memorable roles through the heyday of popular television, yet without quite becoming a star.   

As the caddish Danny, telling the world that he doesn't love Annabelle. Soon to be 

pushed off the Albert Bridge by that miffed lady and not, as it turns out, by

a lovelorn Rodney Bewes. All in a day's work for a 'Man In A Suitcase'.  
         

He's another of that dwindling band of actors whose careers straddle the cult TV years of the '60s and '70s, when he appeared in 'Maigret', 'The Avengers', 'The Plane Makers', 'Man In A Suitcase', and 'Space:1999', and more mature roles in dramas such as 'Within These Walls', 'Doomwatch', 'Churchill's People' and 'Warship'. Perhaps his highest-profile part was in the very popular 'Secret Army' as the comparatively sympathetic German officer Brandt who tempers some of the Nazi fervour of his Gestapo counterpart Kessler (played by Clifford Rose). Younger viewers at the time would probably associate him more with 'The Adventures Of Black Beauty'.

Hirsute's you. Culver plays the dastardly kidnapper Kurt with some

impressive mutton chops, alongside the late Ralph Bates at his glossiest

in 'Nuisance Value', an episode of 'The Persuaders' from 1972 

The later '70s and early '80s kept things nicely on the boil with appearances in favourites like 'The Sweeney', 'Minder', 'Squadron', 'Hammer House Of Horror', 'The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes', 'Boon', 'The Professionals' and 'Shoestring'.  

As Prior Robert in the medieval detective series 'Cadfael'

Then there's the cinema CV, which contains some pretty impressive titles, kicking off with (uncredited) roles in 'From Russia With Love' (1963) and 'Thunderball' (1965), and including 'A Passage To India' (1984), the Peter O'Toole 'Goodbye Mr Chips' (1969). As with many British character actors, though, he is known throughout geekdom for his brush with the Star Wars franchise, in this case as Captain Needa, another imperial officer who gets on the wrong side of Darth Vader. 

Still breathing in 'The Empire Strikes Back' (1980). But not for long. 

Michael Culver-imdb

Zienia Merton

Zienia Merton:

† Dec 11 1945 – Sep 14 2018

With her elegant gamine good looks and sophisticated demeanour, Anglo/French/Burmese actress Zienia Merton was cast in a number of 'vaguely exotic' roles in her early days, including the 'Marco Polo' story strand from the William Hartnell-era Doctor Who (now sadly wiped), a Kashmiri girl in 'Tales from Rudyard Kipling', and as the middle-eastern Zeba Hameed in an episode of the 'Strange Report'. On the big screen, she turns up as an Indian priestess in 'Help!' (1965 ), and as Maoist Mata Hari, Ting Ling, in the Gregory Peck spy romp, 'The Most Dangerous Man in the World', aka 'The Chairman' (1969).

    

In 'The Most Dangerous Man in the World' (1969) 

Dennis Potter's (very racy for the time) 'Casanova' in 1971 saw her playing Cristina to a world-weary Frank Finlay's eponymous libertine. Although the screenplay was intended to highlight the sadness, religious guilt and regrets behind his great romantic reputation (it is Dennis Potter, after all), most people, Mary Whitehouse included, tended to remark on the indulgent use of nudity (did I mention Dennis Potter?).      

In 'Casanova', the BBC's most talked-about drama of 1971

However, it was the Gerry Anderson sci-fi drama 'Space: 1999' which ran for two seasons of 48 episodes and gave her international exposure. Playing sensitive officer Sandra Benes, she featured in most of the show's heavy-handed plots, as the Andersons attempted to prove that it wasn't a children's show. Personal melodramas and cod-mystic astro-psychedelia vied for prominence, as the kids waited patiently for some explosions and spaceships. 

Since her Moonbase days, she has been in an interesting mix of mundane and fantasy fare, from 'EastEnders', 'Coronation Street', 'Casualty' and 'The Bill', to 'Hammer House of Mystery & Suspense', 'Dinotopia', 'Wizards vs Aliens' and 'The Sarah Jane Mysteries', which ties in nicely with her early adventures in 'Doctor Who'.       

Zienia Merton officiating at the wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (the late Elizabeth Sladen),
until the Doctor (in this case Tennant) arrives to stop her marrying Nigel Havers      

Zienia Merton-imdb

Roy Dotrice

Roy Dotrice

A venerable and serious actor, but for some reason, not quite a superstar, despite an acting CV that goes back to WWII and a who's who of co-stars. Although a member of the RSC since it was called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford, he is now probably better known in the US, after moving there in the late '70s. As a result, he can be seen cropping up in the likes of 'Remington Steele', 'Babylon 5', 'The A-Team', 'Hart to Hart', 'Magnum P.I.' and 'Murder She Wrote'. He was also in 'The Equalizer' with Edward Woodward - his real-life son-in-law, husband of his daughter Michelle Dotrice of 'Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em' fame. A recent boost has come through his portrayal of Hallyne in 'Game of Thrones'.

In 'Game of Thrones'

In earlier years, he was a regular on British screens, playing Charles Dickens in the much admired 1976 TV series 'Dickens of London' and appearing in quality stuff like 'Clochemerle', 'The Wars of the Roses' and 'The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes' as Guy Boothby's raffish burglar Simon Carne. As well as a steady stream of television plays, he also found time to appear in fluffier stuff like 'Sykes', 'Space:1999' and even 'Jackanory'.

As the irascible Commissioner Simmonds in 'Space:1999'

As Israel Tonge in the strange 1978 BBC2 Play of the Week,
'Stargazy on Zummerdown' with Toni Arthur

In the execrable 'Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers' (1984)

His film credits also fall into two periods, the Pinewood and the Hollywood. He appears in 'The Criminal' (1960), 'The Heroes of Telemark' (1965), Lionel Bart's 'Lock Up Your Daughters' (1969), and the groovy sci-fi romp 'Toomorrow' (1970), with a bubblegum pop soundtrack by Mark Barkan who wrote the Banana Splits theme. After heading to the states, he lends his gravitas to some big (but not always classy) productions ranging from 'Amadeus (1984) and 'The Scarlet Letter' (1996) to 'Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers' (1984), 'Hellboy II' (2008) and of course the Hulk Hogan classic, 'Suburban Commando' (1991).

Roy Dotrice - imdb