Nicholas Courtney

  1. Ralph Watson, Doctor Who #41: The Web of Fear TV, 1968.       The actor booked for Captain Knight (opposite Doc2 Patrick Troughton) was suddenly promoted to Colonel (later Brigadier) Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart when first choice David Langton quit even before rehearsals began. Langton lost much more than a six-episode arc as Courtney continued playing the UNIT chief… for 107 more episodes across 24 years, working with six Doctors on TV and three more on radio. By adventure #229, The Power of Three, in 2012, UNIT had a new chief… the Brigadier’s daughter, played by Jemma Redgrave.
  2. Patrick Newell, Doctor Who #83: The Android Invasion, TV, 1975.       This time it was Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart who turned into Colonel Faraday when Courtney was unavailable and his recurring role was re-tuned for Newell opposite Doc4 Tom Baker. (Courtney was previously Bret Vyon in #21: The Daleks’ Master Plan, with Doc1 William Hartnell in 1965).
  3. Mike Barry, Worzel Gummidge, TV, 1979-1981.       Although friends with Doc3, Courtney preferred not to join Jon Pertwee’s scarecrow series as Mr Peters. He co-starred with Pertwee, indeed with some six other versions of Doctor Who, as Lethbridge-Stewart.
  4. Nigel Hawthorne, Jenny’s War, 1984.       Inevitable first choice for The Colonel – having played Colonel Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in more than 100 Doctor Who episodes, 1965-1998.
  5. Julian Glover, Doctor Who #14: The Crusade, TV, 1965.         Courtney lost King Richard the Lionheart to Glover – who played him again in the Ivanhoe series, 1982, Both shows were directed by Douglas Camfield… who never forget Courtney, either, choosing him for Brett Vyon in #21: The Daleks’ Master Plan, 1965-1966, and then again, and of course, as (the then Colonel) Lethbridge-Stewart in #41: The Web of Fear, 1968. He portrayed the future Brigadier from 1965-2008 – longer than anyone played The Doctor.
  6. Patrick Stewart, Lifeforce, 1984.
  7. Aubrey Morris, Lifeforce, 1984.
  8.  Jerome Willis, Lifeforce, 1984.

 

 Birth year: 1929Death year: 2011Other name: Casting Calls:  8