William Russell (English actor)


William Russell Enoch is an English actor. He played the role of companion Ian Chesterton in Doctor Who, from the show's first episode in 1963 until 1965.
He came to national fame in 1956 when he took the title role in The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, a weekly series on British television.

''Doctor Who''

In 1963 he was cast in Doctor Who as the Doctor's first male companion, science teacher Ian Chesterton, appearing in most episodes of the first two seasons of the programme.
Russell was one of the four original cast members of Doctor Who, starring opposite William Hartnell as the Doctor, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright, Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman and later Maureen O'Brien as Vicki. His first involvement in the series took the form of the untransmitted pilot episode, which was eventually reshot and broadcast as "An Unearthly Child". He eventually departed, alongside Hill, in the penultimate story of the second season, The Chase.
Russell has continued his association with Doctor Who, having lent his voice as a narrator to several of the audiobook releases of the lost 1960s episodes. He appeared in The Game, one of the continuing Doctor Who audio stories produced by Big Finish. He has also recorded readings for some of the CD audio adaptations of Doctor Who story novelisations originally published by Target Books.
In the late 1990s Russell returned to the role of Ian for the VHS release of the story The Crusade, of which the second and fourth episodes are lost. He recorded several in-character scenes to camera, which helped to bridge the gap between the existing episodes.
Russell has also contributed to the Doctor Who DVD range, having participated in several audio commentaries and on-screen interviews since 2002.
In 2013, the BBC produced An Adventure in Space and Time, a docudrama depicting the creation and early days of Doctor Who, as part of the programme's fiftieth anniversary celebrations. Russell appeared as a character in the drama, portrayed by actor Jamie Glover. Russell also had a cameo role in An Adventure in Space and Time playing a BBC Commissionaire named Harry.
The same year, Russell portrayed both Ian and the First Doctor in the Big Finish audio play The Light at the End, produced to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who making him the oldest actor ever to portray The Doctor.

Personal life

On 2 December 1988, Russell and his second wife, Etheline Margareth Lewis, had their first child Alfred Enoch, when he was 64 years old. Alfred is now an actor, known for portraying Dean Thomas in the Harry Potter film series and Wes Gibbins in the ABC legal drama How to Get Away with Murder.

Filmography

Film

Russell appeared in British films from 1950 onwards, appearing in well-known productions such as They Who Dare, One Good Turn, The Man Who Never Was and The Great Escape. Later, he had minor roles in Terror, Superman and Death Watch with Harvey Keitel and Harry Dean Stanton.
YearTitleRoleNotes
1952Gift HorseCrewmanAs Russell Enoch
1953Appointment in LondonRAF OfficerUncredited
1953Intimate RelationsMichaelAs Enoch Russell
1953Malta StoryOfficer in PrisonUncredited
1953The Saint's ReturnKeith MertonAs Russell Enoch
1954They Who DareLieut. Tom PooleAs Russell Enoch
1954The Gay DogLeslie GowlandAs Russell Enoch
1955One Good TurnAlec Bigley
1955Above Us the WavesRamsey
1956The Man Who Never WasJoe
1957The Big ChanceBill Anderson
1958The Adventures of Hal 5The Vicar
1962The Share OutMike Stafford
1963Return to SenderMike Cochrane
1963The Great EscapeSorren
1978TerrorLord Garrick
1978Superman8th Elder
1980Death WatchDr MasonAs William Russel
1981Roger Fry
1989The Kill-OffRags
1990Deadly ManorAlfred
1998Mob QueenSwede Carlson

Television

His big break was the title role in The Adventures of Sir Lancelot on ITV in 1956. Russell has acted in many plays and TV series including Disraeli, Testament of Youth and the part of Ted Sullivan, the short-lived second husband of Rita Sullivan in Coronation Street. He also had a small part in an episode of The Black Adder, as a late replacement for Wilfrid Brambell, who had become impatient with delays to his scene and left the set before shooting it, and appeared as the Duke of Gloucester in the Robin of Sherwood episode "The Pretender". Other roles include Lanscombe in an episode of the 2005 series of Agatha Christie's Poirot.
YearTitleRoleNotes
1955, 1960St. IvesSt. Ives6 episodes
1956Theatre RoyalBoyEpisode: "The Assassin"
1956Assignment Foreign LegionGerry BrookeEpisode: "The Ghost"
1956The Adventures of AggieTed JordanEpisode: "Hypertension"
1956–1957The Adventures of Sir LancelotSir Lancelot du lac / Sir Blaint30 episodes
1957Nicholas NicklebyNicholas Nickleby10 episodes
1957Sword of FreedomCount Rene D'AlbertEpisode: "The Strange Intruder"
1959Armchair TheatreEpisode: "The Girl on the Beach"
1959Tales From DickensDavid Copperfield3 episodes
1960BBC Sunday-Night PlayCol. Friedrich Eilers
Charles Hemington
Oliver Farrant
John Freeman		Summer Theatre: The Devil's General
Twentieth Century Theatre: The Elder Statesman
Twentieth Century Theatre: I Have Been Here Before
Twentieth Century Theatre: The Fanatics
1961Hamlet Hamlet5 episodes
1961TritonCaptain Belwether
1962–1963The Edgar Wallace Mystery TheatreMike Stafford / Mike Cochrane2 episodes
1963Drama 61-67Mick LambertEpisode: "Drama 63: Somebody's Dying"
1963Jane EyreSt. John Rivers2 episodes
1963SuspenseJohn RichardsEpisode: "The Patch Card"
1963–1965Doctor WhoIan Chesterton77 episodes
1966Breaking PointMartin Kennedy5 episodes
1966–1967This Man CraigPeter Rogers / Peter Woodburn / Avis3 episodes
1967Dr. Finlay's CasebookNevilleEpisode: "Who Made You?"
1969DetectiveBill CartwrightEpisode: "And So to Murder"
1969Parkin's PatchWilkinsEpisode: "No Friendship For Coppers"
1972Buggins' ErmineFrank
1972–1973Harriet's Back in TownTom Preston90 episodes
1972–1981ITV PlayhouseDaddy / Dr. Crane / Frank3 episodes
1974JusticeDr. Victor AshworthEpisode: "Point of Death"
1974Father BrownReverend Wilfred BohunEpisode: "The Hammer of God"
1974Whodunnit?Captain Alexander AndersonEpisode: "A Piece of Cake: Christmas Special"
1975The Hanged ManPeter KrogerEpisode: "Knave of Coins"
1975The Main ChanceArnold GalbraithEpisode: "We're the Bosses Now"
1975Against The CrowdArthur PenwarrenEpisode: "Bread and Circuses"
1975The DollJulian OsborneEpisode: "#1.2"
1975Three Men in a BoatDoctorTV Movie
1975–1977Crown CourtEdward Birkland /Robert Aldrich2 episodes
1977Van der ValkKees RokinAccidental
1978BBC2 Play of the WeekLord Folkstone
Chapman
Headmaster		Fearless Frank
1978DisraeliWyndham Lewis2 episodes
1978ParablesPeter VernonEpisode: "A Gental Rain"
1978StrangersBamford HarkerEpisode: "Accidental Death"
1979Testament of YouthMarriottEpisode: "Buxton 1913"
1979ShoestringDavid CarnPrivate Ear
1979SpearheadMr. Dickson B.F.SEpisode: "Repercussions"
1980MackenzieFrancis Hammond2 episodes
1980Armchair ThrillerSenior OfficerEpisode: "Dead Man's Kit: Part 1"
1980Play for TodayDonEpisode: "Instant Enlightenment Including V.A.T."
1980The ProfessionalsCharles HollyEpisode: "Involvement"
1983The Black AdderThe Duke of WinchesterEpisode: "The Archbishop"
1986Robin of SherwoodThe Duke of GloucesterEpisode: "The Pretender"
1988The Four Minute MileAAA Official
1990BoonJohn LoseleyEpisode: "Tales from the River Bank"
1992Coronation StreetTed Sullivan46 episodes
1995The AffairDr. HastingsTV Film
1995CasualtyMo MeredrewEpisode: "Halfway House"
1997Great PerformancesHenry V
2000HeartbeatGabriel FirthEpisode: "Gabriel's Last Stand"
2005Agatha Christie: PoirotLanscombeEpisode: "After the Funeral"
2013An Adventure in Space and TimeHarry - Security Guard

Theatre

Russell has played a number of roles in theatre with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and in the opening season of the Globe Theatre. In the 1980s, while a member of the Actors' Touring Company, he used the stage name Russell Enoch; on leaving the company he reverted to the name William Russell.