John Carson
John Carson (28 February 1927-5 November 2016[1]) played Ambril in the Doctor Who television story Snakedance.
He was also considered to play Johnny Ringo in The Gunfighters, (TCH 7) Dr Fendelman in Image of the Fendahl (INFO: Image of the Fendahl), Richard Mace in The Visitation (TCH 35), both Captain Stapley and Professor Hayter in Time-Flight (TCH 35), Lord Ravensworth in The Mark of the Rani and Orcini in Revelation of the Daleks (TCH 41) and Ratcliffe in Remembrance of the Daleks. (TCH 44)
Career[[edit] | [edit source]]
A familiar face on British television for almost five decades, Carson's looks led him to be cast as suave villains in various ITC series such as The Saint, The Baron, Man in a Suitcase, The Champions and Department S. He also appeared three times on The Avengers and later made a guest appearance in The New Avengers.
One his first notable roles was that of Donald Latimer in the popular medical soap opera Emergency Ward 10. He appeared twice in adaptations of Charles Dickens novels: he played Monks in a 1962 adaptation of Oliver Twist and later starred as Mr Dombey in Dombey and Son (1969). He later played Mr Knightley in Emma (1972), and appeared as R Daneel Olivaw opposite Peter Cushing's Elijah Bailey in an adaptation of Issac Asimov's "The Caves of Steel", broadcast as part of Story Parade in 1964.
He had regular roles playing Anthony Brand in detective series It's Dark Outside, William of Normandy in Hereward the Wake and James Langley in the final season of business drama The Troubleshooters. He also appeared in various popular BBC series such as Adam Adamant Lives!, Paul Temple and Out of the Unknown, and had two guest roles on ATV's Thriller. Later in his career he appeared in Agatha Christie's Poirot and Midsomer Murders.
Film roles included voicing Captain Foster in Thunderbird 6 and appearing in various supernatural and horror films such as The Plague of the Zombies, Taste the Blood of Dracula, The Man Who Haunted Himself and Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter.
His distinctive voice, which was sometimes compared to James Mason's, accompanied John Barry's music for an advertisement for Sunsilk shampoo[2].
Personal life[[edit] | [edit source]]
He was married to The Daleks' Master Plan guest actress Pamela Greer[1].
