BBC,
Hello Everyone
Accessibility links
Skip to content Skip to local navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk search Help Accessibility Help
It's with enormous sadness we report that following a short illness, Nicholas Courtney - one of the greats of Doctor Who - has peacefully passed away, aged 81.
Nicholas Courtney
23rd Feb 2011
Steven Moffat, Doctor Who's Lead Writer and Executive Producer, echoed the feelings of many when he gave his reaction to this sad news:
'I only met Nicholas Courtney once and very briefly - but he was as kind and generous and funny as his reputation suggests. And on screen, his perfectly pitched performance as the Brigadier carved a very special place in the history of Doctor Who. Not just because he could be grave and funny at the same time, and wise and silly in the same moment, and not just because you could still love him when he was clearly in the wrong, or because he could point a gun at you and still somehow twinkle - but because out of all the people the Doctor has met, in all of space and time, Nicholas Courtney's Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart was the only one who was ever his boss.
Somewhere out there, the Doctor just got a little lonelier.'
Nicholas was best known for his portrayal of Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, a character he first played in the 1968 story, The Web of Fear. He returned several months later in The Invasion and became a regular character in 1970, forming a memorable partnership with Jon Pertwee, the Third Doctor.
From the mid-70s onwards he continued to appear sporadically, always bringing a touch of magic and charm to the stories he starred in. His final portrayal of 'the Brig' came in late 2008 in The Sarah Jane Adventures. In the two-part story, Enemy of the Bane, the old soldier he had played for so long was once again on hand to help save the world.
Nicholas Courtney first appeared in Doctor Who in the 1965 epic, The Daleks' Master Plan, playing Bret Vyon opposite the First Doctor, William Hartnell. Shortly after he got a call from director Douglas Camfield, offering him a new role in the show, playing Captain Knight. However, when the actor due to play Lethbridge-Stewart dropped out,
jordan air jordan, Nicholas was offered that part. He was immediately attracted to the character and later said he was 'secretly delighted' to win the part. Over the course of his debut adventure he made the military man a charismatic and believable figure and throughout the following decades Nicholas would ensure the Brigadier remained one of the best-loved characters in Doctor Who.
We'll be running a full tribute to Nicholas Courtney very soon, but in the meantime we've a clip of Nicholas in action as the Brigadier, from the 1971 story, Terror of the Autons,
the best shoes,
notable footwear Lai refused apt excite the antique repayment assaulting employe, showcasing the wonderful chemistry he shared with Jon Pertwee.