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Post by ChasWeazle on Dec 4, 2020 1:19:29 GMT
John Henry Ringham (10 February 1928 – 20 October 2008) was a British character actor of both television and stage who appeared in over a hundred screen appearances in a wide variety of roles. He is known for his role in the 1980s sitcom Just Good Friends as Norman Warrender.
He appeared throughout BBC Television's Shakespeare adaptation An Age of Kings in 1960, most prominently as Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, the brother of Henry the Fifth. Other appearances over the years include several parts in Z-Cars; Softly, Softly, and Barlow at Large; Flambards; Poldark; the War and Peace dramatisation in 1972; Birds of a Feather; The Bill; Bless Me Father; Taggart; Bergerac; The Tripods; Juliet Bravo; Minder; All Creatures Great and Small; Dixon of Dock Green; Are You Being Served?; Up Pompeii!; The Avengers; The Piglet Files, When the Boat Comes In, London's Burning and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.
Ringham played Inspector Lanner in the 1985 Sherlock Holmes adaptation of The Resident Patient.
In Dad's Army he played two different characters – Private Bracewell in the pilot (he was set to become a major recurring character, but this was later dropped), then Captain Bailey in four later episodes.
He appeared in the long-running show Doctor Who three times, first as the bloodthirsty priest Tlotoxl in the story The Aztecs (1964). He returned in the stories The Smugglers (1966) and Colony in Space (1971).
Ringham also appeared as the by-the-book Commander Tri-S in the unsold pilot of The Solarnauts, created by Roberta Leigh (1967).
John died of cancer in 2008 aged 80.
He, of course, was Oscars and Otto in the second series of Catweazle..
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Post by Alan Hayes on Dec 4, 2020 10:51:22 GMT
John Ringham is the great could-have-been of Dad's Army. Brought in in the first episode as one of the front line of the platoon, the character was dropped straight after and did not reappear. Writer Jimmy Perry later made it clear that the decision had been taken as he felt the character was too similar to Arnold Ridley's Pte Godfrey.
Ringham's first Doctor Who performance is one of the standout 'human villains' of the 1960s era of the programme. Such a pity that his second Doctor Who appearance is lost along with the story it features in.
As for Catweazle, his role as the twins Oscar and Otto is one of the highlights of the second series for me.
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Post by BomberCommand on Mar 21, 2021 11:31:23 GMT
I remember John doing a TV commercial back in the 80s for Terry's Chocolate Orange which was set on an Indiana Jones theme, possibly Raiders Of The Lost Ark.
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Post by Alan Hayes on Mar 21, 2021 16:41:56 GMT
Coincidentally, my wife and I are currently watching John's third Doctor Who serial, Colony in Space starring Jon Pertwee. Not convinced by his wig or beard!  |
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Post by BomberCommand on Mar 21, 2021 17:23:12 GMT
I've got to get all my DVDs and VHS cassettes out of storage as we moved into a smaller place back in December and the wife doesn't want rows and rows of cases resembling an old video rental shop! Most of my John Pertwee Doctor Who's are on VHS and am dying to go through them, preferably on a Saturday tea time and starting with Spearhead From Space. Can't really get the wife to watch Doctor Who unless it's an odd Tom Baker which, who have to say, was a bit of a dissapointment for me so only have maybe two stories with him. Loved doddery old William Hartnell fluffing the odd line as it's hilarious and Patrick Troughton with his recorder.
I just searched for that commercial and bang, there it was on YT.
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Post by Alan Hayes on Mar 21, 2021 17:42:36 GMT
Fortunately for me my wife is also a fan of Doctor Who and Catweazle.  |
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