Creator / William Russell

William Russell (born 19 November 1924) is an English actor. He starred as the title character in The Adventures Of Sir Lancelot (1956-57), in Doctor Who as Ian Chesterton, one of the First Doctor's three original companions, from 1963 to 1965, and had a small role in The Great Escape.

He has maintained a lifelong association with Doctor Who, regularly appearing at conventions and narrating audiobooks to many Target Novelisations of television stories he appeared in, and, from 2009 onwards, reprising his role as Ian Chesterton in audio form for Big Finish Productions. He has continued to do all of this well into his 90s. He even made a cameo appearance as a security guard in the 50th anniversary docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time, in which Russell himself was played by Jamie Glover.

In 2022, at age 97, he returned to the role of Ian Chesterton in televised Doctor Who, in a one-line speaking cameo in the BBC Centenary Special "The Power of the Doctor". At over 57 years, this set as Guinness World Record for the longest gap in between televised appearances as the same character.

His son, Alfred Enoch, is also an actor.

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His acting roles include:

Film

• The Great Escape (1963) as Sorren
• Superman: The Movie (1978) as the 8th Elder

Television

• The Adventures Of Sir Lancelot (1956-57) as Sir Lancelot
• Doctor Who, 78 episodes / 17 stories^{show list} "An Unearthly Child", "The Daleks", "The Edge of Destruction", "Marco Polo", "The Keys of Marinus", "The Aztecs", "The Sensorites", "The Reign of Terror", "Planet of Giants", "The Dalek Invasion of Earth", "The Rescue", "The Romans", "The Web Planet", "The Crusade", "The Space Museum", "The Chase", "The Power of the Doctor" (1963-65, 2022) as Ian Chesterton
• The Black Adder, episode "The Archbishop" (1983) as The Duke of Winchester
• Robin of Sherwood, episode "The Pretender" (1986) as The Duke of Gloucester
• Coronation Street, 47 episodes (1992) as Ted Sullivan
• Casualty, episode "Halfway House" (1995) as Mo Meredrew
• Poirot, episode "After the Funeral" (2005) as Lanscombe
• An Adventure in Space and Time (2013) as Harry

Audio Play

• Big Finish Doctor Who:
  • Main Range: "The Game" (2005) — Lord Darzil Carlisle
  • Companion Chronicles: 8 releases^{show list} "The Transit of Venus", "The Rocket Men", "The Wanderer", "The Revenants", "The Time Museum", "The Flames Of Cadiz", "The Library of Alexandria", "The Sleeping City" (2009-14) — Ian Chesterton
  • Short Trips: 4 releases^{show list} "Rise and Fall", "1963", "Seven to One", "A Star is Born" (2010-11) — Narrator
  • The Lost Stories: 4 releases^{show list} "Farewell Great Macedon", "The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance", "The Masters of Luxor", "The Dark Planet" (2010-13) — Ian Chesterton, Narrator & various other characters
  • Special Releases: 2 releases^{show list} "The Five Companions", "The Light At The End" (2011-13) — Ian Chesterton & the First Doctor
  • The Early Adventures: 4 releases^{show list} "Domain of The Voord", "The Doctor’s Tale", "The Age of Endurance", "The Fifth Traveller" (2014-16) — Ian Chesterton & the First Doctor
  • Susan's War: "Sphere of Influence" (2020) — Ian Chesterton

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