Richard Hurndall

Hurndall was born in Darlington and he attended Claremont Preparatory School, Darlington and Scarborough College,{{Cite news |title=Of Escomb, Eden and the Darlo Doctor Who |url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/8161596.Of_Escomb__Eden_and_the_Darlo_Doctor_Who/ |author=Chris Lloyd |date=12 May 2010}} before training as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.{{cite news |title=Richard Hurndall obituary (1984) |url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Richard_Hurndall_obituary |date=14 April 1984 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}} He then appeared in several plays at Stratford-upon-Avon. Hurndall acted with the BBC radio drama repertory company from 1949 to 1952. In 1959, he played Sherlock Holmes in a five part adaptation of The Sign of Four.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RaI8KcaUdCsC&pg=PA39|title=Who-Ology: The Official Miscellany|first1=Cavan|last1=Scott|first2=Mark|last2=Wright|date=2017|publisher=BBC Books|isbn=978-1-84990-619-7|page=39}} He continued to play roles on BBC radio until about 1980, often as the leading man.{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio Times Archive – Richard Hurndall |url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?adv=0&q=Richard+Hurndall&media=all&yf=1923&yt=2009&mf=1&mt=12&tf=00%3A00&tt=00%3A00}}

In 1958 he became the third host of the Radio Luxembourg program called This I Believe. (This show had originally been hosted by Edward R. Murrow on the U.S. CBS Radio Network from 1951 to 1955 and it was then edited in London for rebroadcast on 208 with a British style of presentation at 9:30 PM on Sunday evenings.){{citation needed|date=October 2017}}

Hurndall appeared in numerous radio and stage plays, films and television series over the course of his lengthy career. He appeared in 'Someone at the Door', a 1949 live broadcast TV comedy/thriller, which also featured Patrick Troughton (with whom he was later to appear in Doctor Who – see below).{{cite web|url=http://bufvc.ac.uk/screenplays/index.php/prog/1615|title=Someone at the Door · British Universities Film & Video Council|website=bufvc.ac.uk}} Other television shows of the era that he appeared in include The Avengers, The Persuaders!, Blake's 7, Whodunnit! and Bergerac.{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/people/richard-hurndall-1/|title=Richard Hurndall|last=T.V.com|website=TV.com}} He played the suave London gangster Mackelson in the gritty 1968 drama series Spindoe and the following year had a recurring role as flawed senior civil servant Jason Fowler in the final series of The Power Game.{{cite web|url=http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=8427|title=Richard Hurndall|website=www.aveleyman.com}} He appeared in the comedy series Steptoe and Son in 1970 as Timothy, a gay antique dealer who takes a shine to Harold Steptoe, in Any Old Iron (series 5 episode 3, 20 March 1970).{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7d7095ca|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918210227/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7d7095ca|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 September 2017|title=Any Old Iron? (1970)}} He guest starred in the third series of Callan.{{cite web|url=https://archivetvmusings.blog/2015/03/24/callan-the-same-twick-twice/|title=The Same Trick Twice (1970)|date=24 March 2015 }} He appeared twice in the series Public Eye, first playing a distinguished entomologist who is unwilling to trace his missing son in "The Golden Boy" (10 January 1973) and later a priest in "How About a Cup of Tea?" (13 January 1975).{{cite web|url=http://www.aveleyman.com/TVEpisode.aspx?FilmID=1604&Episode=19730110|title=Public Eye: S|website=www.aveleyman.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b821c4d3d|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918204713/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b821c4d3d|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 September 2017|title=How about a Cup of Tea? (1975)}} He was Lord Montdore in Love in a Cold Climate (1980).{{cite web | url=https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Richard_Hurndall | title=Richard Hurndall - the Doctor Who Cuttings Archive }}

In 1983, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, producer John Nathan-Turner planned a special event, "The Five Doctors", a 90-minute episode to feature four of the five actors who had at that point played the role of the Doctor.{{cite web|url=http://www.doctorwho.tv/whats-new/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-five-doctors/|title=Errors 500 – Doctor Who|website=Doctor Who}} William Hartnell, the actor who originated the role, had died in 1975.{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/544973/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Hartnell, William (1908–1975) Biography|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}} Hurndall eventually won the role of the First Doctor, playing him as "acerbic and temperamental but in some ways wiser than his successors." His casting in the role was approved{{clarify|reason=Did she have to sign off on her late husband's role being recast? That seems unlikely, but that's what the wording implies. If it means she thought his performance was good, or just that she DID sign off (even though that wasn't a requirement), we should say so.|date=February 2018}} by Hartnell's widow, Heather.{{Cite web |title=Richard Hurndall (1980's) |date=19 October 2009 |url=http://drwhointerviews.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/richard-hurndall/}}{{better source needed|date=September 2021}} When Tom Baker, who played the Fourth Doctor, declined to appear in the programme, Hurndall's role was expanded slightly to have the First Doctor take a greater part in the action.{{cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-02-21/the-five-doctors/|title=The Five Doctors ★★★★}} It was hoped Hurndall would reprise his portrayal of the First Doctor alongside the Doctor's granddaughter Susan Foreman, played by Carole Ann Ford, in the season 22 story The Two Doctors, but Hurndall's death saw the storyline adjusted to feature the Second Doctor played by Patrick Troughton and Jamie McCrimmon played by Frazer Hines.Doctor Who - The Complete History, Stories 139-141. Panini UK Ltd., 2016

His films included Joanna (1968), Hostile Witness (1968), Some Girls Do (1969), Zeppelin (1971), I, Monster (1971),{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/v96173|title=I, Monster (1971) – Stephen Weeks – Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related – AllMovie|website=AllMovie}} Lady Caroline Lamb (1972), Royal Flash (1975), and Crossed Swords (1977).

In April 1984, Hurndall died of a heart attack at the age of 73 in London, less than five months after the first broadcast of "The Five Doctors". Many sources,{{Who|date=March 2024}} including Elisabeth Sladen's autobiography, state that he died before being paid for the role.{{Cite web |title=Doctor Who: The Five Doctors Special Edition DVD review |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319085518/http://www.denofgeek.com/dvd-bluray/7526/doctor-who-the-five-doctors-special-edition-dvd-review |author=Simon Brew |author-link=Simon Brew |date=18 February 2008}} However, Doctor Who Magazine writer Richard Bignell claims that this isn't true, saying "Hurndall had five different payments made out to him ... (four contractual, one expenses) and all were paid in 1982 and 1983, way before his death."{{Cite web |date=2021-12-15 |title=Richard Bignell on Twitter: "No, it's all absolute tosh. Hurndall had five different payments made out to him with regards to The Five Doctors (four contractual, one expenses) and all were paid in 1982 and 1983, way before his death.|url=https://twitter.com/NothingLane/status/1271845398404116482 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215153738/https://twitter.com/NothingLane/status/1271845398404116482 |archive-date=2021-12-15 |access-date=2022-06-28 }}

• This I Believe – 1957 second season on Radio Luxembourg

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Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

Category:English male radio actors

Category:English male stage actors

Category:English male film actors

Category:English male television actors

Category:English radio presenters

Category:Male actors from Darlington

Category:1910 births

Category:1984 deaths

Category:People educated at Scarborough College

Category:20th-century English male actors