William Russell

Overview

Born
November 19, 1924 · Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, UK
Died
June 3, 2024 · UK
Birth name
William Russell Enoch
Height
6′ 0½″ (1.84 m)

Biography

Family

Spouses
Children

Trivia

After he left Doctor Who, he was replaced by Peter Purves in the "male companion" role.
Of the four original cast members of Doctor Who (1963), he was the only one who did not make a reappearance in the original series prior to its cancellation in 1989. Writer Peter Grimwade originally envisaged Russell as returning to star opposite Peter Davison as the teacher in Mawdryn Undead: Part One (1983), but he proved unavailable due to theatre commitments. The story was then changed to bring back Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Russell eventually returned to the series in the BBC's centenary special The Power of the Doctor (2022).
He was portrayed in An Adventure in Space and Time (2013) by Jamie Glover. Jamie's father, Julian Glover, is also a Doctor Who (1963) veteran, having played Richard the Lionheart in The Lion (1965) and Count Scarlioni/Scaroth in City of Death: Part One (1979). The elder Glover also appeared in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) with Russell's son, Alfred Enoch.
He is listed in the Guinness Book Of Records for the longest gap between TV appearances, playing the character of Ian Chesterton on Doctor Who. His last regular appearance was on 26th June 1965 before his cameo in The Power of the Doctor (2022), a gap of 57 years and 120 days.
He was going to be the star of the 1956 TV series of The Buccaneers (1956) but the part went to Robert Shaw.

Quotes

Acting was something I enjoyed doing as a young boy. I found myself drawn towards it. I kept it up when was in the Air Force and organised entertainments for other people. Then, after I left university, I went into rep and continued from there. I think I was rather typecast at first as the dashing young lieutenant or RAF officer, who always seemed to get killed.
We formed a very happy little group. I was very impressed with Billy (Hartnell), he was a true professional. He had all the switches in the TARDIS marked out exactly in his mind. He had the idea of the Doctor always getting my name wrong. Billy wasn't at all like the Doctor off set, he was just a very professional actor who did his job in his own way.
We were pushed around a lot sometimes. One of the things we'd always argue about on the studio floor was that certain writers were making us say things that we felt our characters would not say. Eventually we got a script editor, Dennis Spooner, who co-ordinated with the writers and kept an eye on things. We liked to talk a lot about how our characters would develop.
I remember 'Marco Polo' going on for quite a long while, and being under quite a lot of pressure. Despite that, we all enjoyed it tremendously - in fact, we rather enjoyed all the historical stories. Dressing up in the appropriate costumes was always great fun and it looked very splendid. The script was very good, and that contributed to the all-round enjoyment; it concentrated more on the characters, their development and the narrative and so, I think, the story was told in a believable way.
I thought the convention was all rather strange and I must admit I found it curious, to have such a passion for something I'd done so many years ago, but I soon discovered the fans are as sane as anyone else. It's strange to me, because my life has moved on and I'm constantly doing other things. I often find myself at a loss of what to say to people, because they know more about the programme than I do. I'm astonished and very flattered. Even now, people still write to me saying they enjoyed the show very much, and asking for a signed photo. If you think about it, a lot of people are seeing it for the first time and so it has the same effect on them as it did all those years ago. It's very wonderful to have played a part in that.