Dursley McLinden
Dursley McLinden (29 May 1965-7 August 1995[1]) played Mike Smith in the Doctor Who television story Remembrance of the Daleks.
Career
He moved from Isle of Man to London when he was 16 to train as an actor at the Mountview Theatre School. During 1988, he also played his most-remembered part outside of Doctor Who in Just Ask For Diamond - the film adaptation of the first novel in Anthony Horowitz's Diamond Brothers book series.
Towards the end of 1988, McLinden fell ill from AIDS. After this, he devoted most of his time to raising money for AIDS-related charities and limited his acting roles. He did, however, reprise his role of Tim Diamond in 1991 for a TV adaptation of more of the Diamond Brothers books.
In the last four years of his life, his sole acting comment would be performing various roles (as his health would allow) in the long-running production of The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket.
Death and Legacy
His last performance in this production would be on 28 May 1995. He died of AIDS less than three months later at the age of 30.
Russell T Davies was a close friend to McLinden, having met through a mutual friend. In Davies’ show, It’s A Sin, a tribute for McLinden is included where main character, Richie while filming for an episode of Doctor Who, plays a character called Trooper Linden fighting Daleks. [2]
During the early 2021 lockdown as a result of COVID-19, the fan group Friends of Ace ran a fundraising tweetalong of Remembrance of the Daleks in memory of McLinden, with proceeds going to the HIV/AIDs charity Terrence Higgins Trust[3].
