Creator / Talfryn Thomas

Talfryn Thomas, born John Talfryn Thomas, (31 October 1922 — 4 November 1982), was a Welsh actor best known for playing Private Cheeseman in Dad's Army. He was nicknamed "Talf the Teeth" for his distinctive front teeth.

His first interest in acting came when he joined his local amateur dramatic society. He joined the RAF in World War II, and was the sole survivor of a crash where the rest of his crew was killed. After the war, he went back into acting as a sort of therapy to cope with his trauma and trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Thomas acted in the theatre until the late '50s, when he started to appear on TV. In The '60s, he appeared in many espionage, crime, and action series, including The Avengers (1960s), The Saint, The Champions (1968), and The Persuaders!. In The '70s, he appeared in Doctor Who twice, in an episode of Worzel Gummidge, and in Dad's Army.

At first, he played a One-Shot Character in Series 6, but after James Beck's tragic passing, he was made a member of the platoon. Thomas' character, Private Cheeseman, was unpopular with cast and crew alike and was dropped from the series following Series 7.

In 1975, he appeared in the first few episodes of Survivors (BBC) as Tom Price, who was Killed Off for Real in the tenth episode. He also had a small but memorable role in the Awful British Sex Comedy Come Play with Me. One of his final acting roles was in the Hi-de-Hi! episode "Stripes", playing Gareth Davies, the half-brother of Chief Yellowcoat Gladys Pugh.

He died of a heart attack at the age of 60.

---

Works on TV Tropes he appeared in:

Series

• Z Cars, 7 episodes:
  • "Somebody Said..." (1964) — Carpenter
  • 3 episodes^{show list} "It's Been a Long Time: Part 1", "Give a Dog a Bad Name: Part 1", "Give a Dog a Bad Name: Part 2" (1969) — McCall
  • 2 episodes^{show list} "I Wouldn't Give You Tuppence for Your Old Watch Chain: Part 1", "I Wouldn't Give You Tuppence for Your Old Watch Chain: Part 2" (1970) — Greenough
  • "Two Hundred Tartan Teddy Bears" (1974) — Jake Morris
• The Avengers, 2 episodes:
  • "A Surfeit of H₂O" (1965) — Eli Barker
  • "Look - (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) But There Were These Two Fellers..." (1968) — Fiery Frederick
• Crossroads, 3 episodes:
  • 2 episodes (1966) — Mr. Wagstaffe
  • 1 episode (1967) — Vicar
• Adam Adamant Lives!, episode "The Doomsday Plan" (1966) — Man with Parcel
• The Saint, episode "The House on Dragon's Rock" (1966) — Owen Thomas
• The Champions, episode "The Body Snatchers" (1968) — Garage Mechanic (Uncredited Role)
• Dixon of Dock Green, episode "Breaking Point" (1969) — Hospital Porter
• Doctor Who, 4 episodes:
  • 1 episode of 4-episode story "Spearhead from Space" (1970) — Fred Mullins
  • 3 episodes of 6-episode story "The Green Death" (1973) — Dave
• Doomwatch, 2 episodes:
  • "The Human Time Bomb" (1971) — Mr. Hetherington
  • "Fire and Brimstone" (1972) — Prisoner Warren
• Coronation Street, 6 episodes (1971-72) — Dirty Dick
• Play for Today, episode "Edna, the Inebriate Woman" (1971) — Tramp
• The Persuaders!, episode "A Home of One's Own" (1971) — Poacher
• The Onedin Line, episode "Survivor" (1972) — Thomas
• Dad's Army, 6 episodes^{show list} "My British Buddy", "A Man of Action", "Gorilla Warfare", "The Godiva Affair", "The Captain's Car", "Turkey Dinner" (1973-74) — Private Cheeseman
• Survivors, 7 episodes^{show list} "The Fourth Horseman", "Genesis", "Gone Away", "Starvation", "Spoil of War", "Law and Order", "The Future Hour" (1975) — Tom Price
• Get Some In!, episode "Call-Up" (1975) — Corporal White
• Worzel Gummidge, episode "The Scarecrow Wedding" (1980) — Soggy Boggart
• Hi-de-Hi!, episode "Stripes" (1982) — Gareth Davies

---