Jean Marsh

 

Jean Marsh 

† July 31 1934 – April 13 2025

Well, yes, another not-so-unknown face. In fact, if you were watching television in the 1970s, the image at the top of this post will be very recognisable, almost iconic. 'Upstairs, Downstairs' was an award-winning television sensation, and Jean Marsh was its co-creator and star, in the role of put-upon housemaid, Rose Buck. A precursor to, and undoubted influence on, 'Downton Abbey' and other period social dramas, it was a massive hit in the UK and abroad, particularly on PBS in America. Although it helped lift her and many of her fellow cast-members to stardom, (Anthony Andrews, Pauline Collins and Jon Alderton for example), she was not a producer of the programme and received only a small residual payment for developing the original concept with fellow actress Eileen Atkins.

Just about recognisable in this press shot from the Laurence Olivier 
movie for television, 'The Moon & Sixpence' (1959)

Before 'Upstairs, Downstairs', Jean Marsh had been a successful actress as a child and starlet. Her elegant figure and pert, yet slightly disconcerting, good looks led to her appearing in several films in the '50s and early '60s, such as 'The Rebel' (1961) - as one of the Juliette Greco-clone beatniks, and as a South Seas beauty in 'The Moon & Sixpence (1959) with Lawrence Olivier. She also crossed the Atlantic to play a uncanny companion android in an excellent episode of 'The Twilight Zone', 'The Lonely'.            

As Alicia the realistic robot, a moral dilemma for Jack Warden
in a classic episode of 'The Twilight Zone' from 1959    

As the '60s progressed Marsh's sophisticated style was in demand for the new wave of slick spy and cop shows of the era, including 'Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre', 'Danger Man', 'The Saint', 'Department S', 'Adam Adamant Lives!' and another trip over the ocean to appear in NBC's 'I Spy'. She also appeared in the increasingly popular 'Doctor Who', first in the crusades adventure 'The Knight Of Jaffa', and later as quasi-companion Sara Kingdom. She would make a further return as sorceress Morgaine in the 1989 story, 'Battlefield'. (Trivia: In real life, she was married to the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, from 1955-1960.)    

As Sara Kingdom in mid-'60s 'Doctor Who',
she would return in another role in the '80s   

The '70s, we now know, was the decade of 'Upstairs, Downstairs' and it's enormous popularity and success. This parlayed into a plethora of higher profile roles for Jean Marsh. There's Hichcock's 'Frenzy' (1972) and she has a shrilly neurotic performance in the schlocker 'Dark Places' (1973) with its surprisingly starry cast of Joan Collins, Christopher Lee, Robert Hardy, Jane Birkin and Herbert Lom. And then there's 'The Eagle Has Landed' (1976), a proper star-studded wartime caper, with Michael Caine and Robert Duvall. 

In an episode of 'UFO'

By the '80s Jean Marsh was much in demand on both sides of the Atlantic. Hollywood beckoned with a run of evil-queen roles that begins with Mombi the Witch in 'Return To Oz' (1985), Bavmorda in 'Willow' (1988) and Morgana in 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' (1989), while the US small screen saw her in episodes of 'Hawaii 5-0', The Waltons' and 'The Love Boat', with a regular role in the TV '9 to 5'. 

More UK productions feature as we move into the '90s and 2000s: the villainous Dr Culex in the rebooted 'Tomorrow People'; a return to the Who-niverse in 'An Adventure In Space And Time'; classic serials 'The Mayor Of Casterbridge' and (the BBC 2008) 'Sense & Sensibility'; and as the portmanteau ghost of all Henry VIII's wives in 'Monarch' with TP McKenna.

As Mrs Ferrars in 'Sense & Sensibility'

Sadly, a mild stroke in 2011 affected her ability to work. Although not completely unable to act, she was only able to appear in a few scenes of the new 1930s-set 'Upstairs, Downstairs', which also had the misfortune to coincide with its mega-budget clone 'Downton Abbey'.         

Jean Marsh-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

Robin Hawdon

Robin Hawdon:

Robin Hawdon is probably much better known as a writer than as an actor, with his witty comedies - don't say farces - still widely performed all around the world. 'The Mating Game' was his first hit play, a smash in the West End with Terry Scott as the playboy with the gadget-packed apartment. 'Don't Dress for Dinner' is a later and even bigger success, set in a wealthy couple's French farmhouse retreat.

But I'd like to just give a little salute to Mr Hawdon's acting career before all that, a brief arc from uncredited obscurity to the lower stratosphere of sex symbol stardom.

An early uncredited role in the UK sci-fi classic 'The Day
The Earth Caught Fire' (1961) with Leo McKern

With his effortless good looks, there were a few lightweight parts on offer, such as the the breezy 'We Joined the Navy' (1962) with Kenneth More, brooding crime stuff like 'Human Jungle', 'Suspense' and 'Armchair Mystery Theatre', and the semi-successful soap opera 'Compact'.     

With a very physical Eleanor Bron and a rather frustrated
Dudley Moore in the magisterial 'Bedazzled' (1967)

He plays Randolph the harp teacher in the millionaire segment of the fab 'Bedazzled' (1967), with whom Stanley Moon's beloved Margaret Spencer gets 'hot and sticky and.. Randy, we must have a swim'...        

Getting the drop on Jason King (Perer Wyngarde)
in an episode of 'Department S'

Robin Hawdon in a UFO episode from 1970 'The Psychobombs',
seen here in classic string-vest Skydiver uniform

Television work around this time included 'Department S', 'The Adventurer' and 'Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)' with the added bonus (for TV cultists) of an appearance in Gerry Anderson's 'UFO' as a Skydiver pilot. The remainder of the 70s saw a mixture of comedy and drama, but by this time the playwright was enjoying more success than the actor. 

You can spot Robin Hawdon in dramas ranging from the BBC spy series 'The Man Who Was Hunting Himself'', to 'The Main Chance', the Victorian potboiler 'Wives & Daughters', and 'New Scotland Yard'. 

      

In the BBC spy drama 'The Man Who Was

H

unting Himself' (1972)

 

There was some comedy casting too, 'The Frankie Howerd Confessions', 'The Liver Birds', 'Robin's Nest', and a leading role in Alex Shearer's 'Spasms' and the ensuing slightly misfiring series 'Chalk and Cheese' with Michael Crawford, in which he played the straight man to Crawford's proto-slacker. Maybe audiences found it hard to buy into a cynical man-of-the-world who still sounded a bit like Frank Spencer.  It wasn't a big success and the series ended in 1979, with Hawdon soon to forsake acting to concentrate fully on his writing career.

'Robin's Nest' with Richard O'Sullivan

'Chalk and Cheese'

His later film career is also short but interesting. There was the shoddy and absurd 'sexy sci-fi' nonsense of 'Zeta One' (1969), with the unlikely mix of James Robertson-Justice and Charles Hawtrey and an invasion of alien pop-art dollybirds. Hawdon's turn as the male lead is workmanlike, given the circumstances, but also lacking in sparkle. The Hammer-produced prehistoric adventure 'When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970) is better, even with all its outrageous anachronisms, including immaculately coiffured and scantily furred cavewomen, never mind the Brontosauruses. At least there's Patrick Allen bellowing manfully and lots of primitive urges, even before you get to the stop-motion special effects of giant crabs and dinosaurs. These were good enough to see the film nominated for an Oscar, although it was beaten out in the end by 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' (1970). Who knew?      

As the perfectly groomed 60s/70s caveman, in the Hammer
stop-motion romp 'When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth (1970)

Although it's his writing that has made his name and his money, that's an interesting CV of enjoyable performances. So, a salute, then. And well deserved.    

Robin Hawdon-imdb

John Nettleton

John Nettleton: 

† Feb  5 1929 – July 12 2023

A stalwart interpreter for the viewing public of the blandly powerful faces of the establishment, John Nettleton is probably most associated with the role of Sir Arnold Robinson, the civil service grandee in 'Yes Minister', and he appeared as a Tory MP in the equally satirical (if rather broader) political comedy 'The New Statesman'. 

In 'The Avengers' episode, 'The See-Through Man'

Among his well-remembered roles in television are those in 'The Avengers' ('The See-Through Man', in the Diana Rigg era, and 'The Rotters' with Linda Thorson), and in several other cult adventure properties of the time such as 'The Champions', 'Department S' and later 'The Protectors'. 'Doctor Who' fans may remeber him as the Reverend Ernest Matthews in the 1989 story Ghost Light, while mystery TV obsessives might cite his turns in 'The Rivals Of Sherlock Holmes', 'Tales Of The Unexpected', 'Haunted', 'Shadows' and 'Out Of The Unknown. He also graced popular favourites from 'Minder' and 'The Professionals' to 'Rumpole Of The Bailey' and 'The Adventures Of Black Beauty'. And let us not forget the authoritative voiceovers for Valerie Singleton's 'Blue Peter: Special Assignment' historical and factual programmes.

With Celia Imrie in a religious skit on
'Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV' 

In middlebrow TV drama, he brought his patrician demeanour to the screen many times and can be seen as Francis Bacon in 'Elizabeth R', 'The Country Wife' , 'Brideshead Revisited', 'The Flame Trees of Thika', 'The Citadel', 'Martin Luther, Heretic', 'Longitude' and 'Kingdom'. Other smaller comedy turns, which rather pale beside his 'Yes, Minister' years, include 'Please Sir!', 'If It Moves File It', 'Doctor at Large' and 'Brass'. 

Production still from the ABC series 'Haunted' from 1968

Born in 1929, John Nettleton is now into his 90s and, I hope, enjoying a pleasant retirement.
[edit 12/7/23 - John Nettleton has sadly passed on since this salute was first uploaded. Guardian obit is here]
   

John Nettleton-imdb

David Wood

 

David Wood:

David Wood's innocent schoolboy looks, deployed so notably in Lindsay Anderson's remarkable 'If..' (1968), have stayed with him for his whole career. Which certainly isn't to say that he has been typecast, with an amazingly broad range of roles under his belt that show him hopping nimbly from outright menace to disarming sweetness with apparent ease.
  

With Malcolm McDowell in 'If..' (1968)

 In fact, it's in the field of children's drama and literature that he has made his most lasting impression: writing his own play for children, 'The Gingerbread Man', which he later adapted for television, and adapting a number of classic children's books for the stage. He proved a gifted storyteller on the much-loved BBC institution 'Jackanory' for  many years, and can be seen in episodes of schools programmes such as 'Watch' and 'Seeing & Doing' as well as tots' shows like 'Playaway'. He's also in the well-made children's serial, 'Huntingtower' from the late '70s.

Alongside Bernard Cribbins, Maurice Denham and
Jan Francis for 'Jackanory's' take on 'The Hobbit'.

While all this wholesome fare very much suited the David Wood who would later come to be dubbed Britain's Children's Dramatist, the darker side of '70s television drama also proved to be in search of his talents. He can be seen in the the Wednesday Play 'Mad Jack' about Siegfried Sassoon and the horrors of the trenches, in the feverish adventures of the Pre-Raphaelites in 'The Love School', and he's in episodes of those cult-favourite collections of the uncanny: 'Out Of The Unknown' and 'Menace'.  

 

With Ann Morrish and Patrick Troughton in
the 'Out Of The Unknown' episode 'The Chopper'

 On the movie front, David Wood crops up in a few interesting titles, starting with the aforementioned 'If..' (1968), and including the psychological portmanteau horror 'Tales That Witness Madness' (1973) with Donald Pleasance, Robert Powell and Joan Collins. He's reunited with Malcolm McDowell in the 'Journey's End' adaptation, 'Aces High' (1976), and plays one of the baddies in 'North Sea Hijack' (1980) pitted against a bearded Roger Moore, throwing the kitchen sink at escaping his Bond persona with more bizarre quirks than he can realistically manage to pull off.          

 'Tales That Witness Madness' (1973)

In the First World War flying movie, 'Aces High' (1976)

There's a smattering of period dramas, including Turgenev's 'Fathers And Sons' and Goldoni's 'The Venetian Twins' from the BBC, and the ambitious but slightly awkward 'Disraeli' with Ian McShane. He's in some old sepia-toned TV favourites such as 'Danger UXB', 'Enemy At The Door', and 'When The Boat Comes In'. A memorable moment for me is his tap-dancing martial arts duel with Purdey in 'The New Avengers', one of the few times when the series approached the surreal heights of its '60s ancestor.

In the ATV historical drama 'Disraeli' in which he portrayed
Lord Derby. Here with Ian McShane in the title role.

 His last listed performing role was in the star-studded TV movie 'Longitude' in 2000, but David Wood is still seemingly busy with his work in children's drama, adapting Roald Dahl and other writers for the stage, publishing plays and books, and lecturing school drama classes. An engaging actor and a dedicated educator, deserving of this little salute and more.   

David Wood-imdb

Anthony O'Donnell

Anthony O'Donnell:  

I thought I only knew Anthony O'Donnell as Ray, the camper unfortunate enough to pitch next to Keith and Candice-Marie in Mike Leigh's 'Nuts In May'. As is often the case, I came to realise that I had seen the compact Welsh actor in quite a lot more than that. And that's without taking into account his long and successful stage career with the National Theatre, the RSC and many other prestigious theatrical institutions, largely as I am not much of a theatre-goer. 

'Nuts In May' in 1976

'Nuts in May' in 1976 was, it seems, his first foray into television, and the remainder of the '70s saw only a few appearances, in 'The Onedin Line', 'Crown Court' and 'The Sweeney' for example, and you don't get much more '70s than that. There was also an attempt to launch him as a sitcom star in LWT's rather pedestrian 'Lovely Couple', penned by the screenwriter of the 'Confessions...' films, but I don't have any memory of seeing it, despite it reuniting him with 'Nuts In May' star Roger Sloman in several episodes. 

The short-lived 1979 sitcom that didn't quite
make Anthony O'Donnell a household name.

Into the '80s and '90s and he was balancing an increasingly successful theatre career with the odd TV role. Memorable among these was the small but sinister gangster Big Dai in 'Minder', and some others such as the revived 'Tomorrow People', the vet series 'Noah's Ark', the Higson and Whitehouse one-off 'Dead At Thirty', and 'A Very Peculiar Practice'.

As Big Dai in the 'Minder' episode 'The Cruel Canal'

Cinema roles from this period include 'Santa Claus The Movie' (1985), 'Robin Hood' (1991), and a reconnection with Mike Leigh for 'Secrets & Lies' (1996). 

With Brazilian star Joaquin De Almeida in
'Xango From Baker Street' (2001)

 With the arrival of the 21st century, and now in his fifties, he appeared in Kenneth Branagh's 'Love's Labours Lost' (2001), and as Watson in a Brazilian twist on Sherlock Holmes, 'Xango From Baker Street' (2001), 'Vera Drake' (2004), 'The Baker' (2005), 'Death Defying Acts' (2007) and 'Skyfall' (2012).

        

The menacing looking (but ultimately played-for-laughs) Sontaran,
Kaagh, in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures', a spin-off of 'Doctor Who'  

Meanwhile, back on the small screen, came appearances in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' as the humorously belligerent alien, Kaagh, and a turn in 'Gavin & Stacey', as well as Ruth Jones's 'Stella', the period drama 'Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky', 'The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher', and the Jeremy Thorpe drama 'A Very English Scandal'. All good stuff.  

In the supernatural comedy-drama, 'Being Human'

With Hugh Grant in 'A Very British Scandal'

Anthony O'Donnell-imdb

Malcolm Storry

 

Malcolm Storry:  

Craggy 6'2" actor Malcolm Storry is something of a stayer. Since the '70s he has loomed over the cast of an impressive collection of popular TV shows and appeared on the big screen in some big films, yet his is another of those names you might find harder to recall.   

With Lynn Redgrave in the 1985 BBC
drama 'Death Of A Son'

His height makes him an imposing casting for a policeman, and he has played them in a wide range of settings; from the gas-lit streets of the Jeremy Brett 'Return Of Sherlock Holmes', to the more recent cases of 'Rumpole Of The Bailey'. 'The Singing Detective',  'The Chief' (with Tim Piggott-Smith), 'Inspector Morse', and the Bill Murray spy-comedy film, 'The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997).  

As the comically ruthless Peterson in the 
excellent 1987 series 'The Biederbecke Tapes' 

His comedy performances are also splendidly varied. He crops up in various roles in the David Jason vehicle 'A Sharp Intake Of Breath', and is the conventionally intimidating agent Peterson in 'The Biederbecke Tapes', failing to intimidate the show's cynical teacher duo. There was also the David Nobbs farce 'Dogfood Dan & The Carmarthen Cowboy' about truck driving pals unknowingly having affairs with each other's wives.    

With Peter Blake in 'Dogfood Dan & The
Carmarthen Cowboy' 

In the world of drama, he impresses in 'The Death Of A Son', 'Bread Or Blood', 'The Shadow Line', and is memorable in green wig and beard in the 1991 'Gawain & The Green Knight'. A lot of decent middle-brow stuff is also in there: 'Wycliffe' and 'Doc Martin' for example, depending on your tastes, and a ton of popular/populist shows from 'Pie In The Sky', 'Ruth Rendell Mysteries' and 'Midsomer Murders' to 'Boon' and 'The Professionals'. On the whole it's all quality stuff, recent primetime hits having included 'Father Brown' and 'Doc Martin'     

In 'Father Brown'

The big box office films he's been in: 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Last Of The Mohicans' (1992) and 'Firefox' (1987), and 'The Scarlet Letter' (1995) are probably not the best benchmarks of his career, in my opinion, but a wander through some of his TV outings cannot fail to entertain.     

Malcolm Storry-imdb