Actors - Richard Hurndall

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	Actors - Richard Hurndall

Richard Gibbon Hurndall (November 3 1910 – April 13 1984) was an English stage, radio, film, and television actor. Though he performed in a variety of roles, he is known to science fiction fans as the second actor to play the first incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who.

Hurndall was born in Darlington. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he appeared in several plays at Stratford-upon-Avon. Hurndall acted with the BBC radio drama repertory company from 1949 to 1952 before turning to television.

In 1983, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, producer John Nathan-Turner planned a special event, The Five Doctors, a 90-minute episode to feature all of the actors to play the role of the Doctor up through and including the fifth and current occupant, Peter Davison.

However, the actor who played the First Doctor, William Hartnell, had passed away in 1975. The show's unofficial fan consultant, Ian Levine, had seen Hurndall in Blake's 7, another BBC science fiction series, and suggested him to the producers as a possible replacement. Hurndall eventually won the role of the recast First Doctor, playing him as acerbic and temperamental but in some ways wiser than his successors. When the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, decided not to appear in the program, Hurndall's role was beefed up slightly so the First Doctor took a greater part in the action.

Hurndall had appeared in numerous radio and stage plays, films and television series over the course of his lengthy career, including The Avengers, The Protectors, Whodunnit (with another Doctor, Jon Pertwee), and Bergerac.

Richard Hurndall died at the age of 73 in London.

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