Stephen Thorne
Acting
Biography
Stephen John Thorne (2 March 1935 – 26 May 2019) was a British actor of radio, film, stage, and television. He was best known for his regular BBC Radio 4 work and audiobook recordings, and for his portrayals of a few Doctor Who villains, including the Time Lord Omega. He played several seasons with the Old Vic Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford and London, including a tour to Russia. He worked extensively in radio with over 2000 broadcasts for the BBC, including as Uncle Mort in the Radio 4 comedy series Uncle Mort's North Country. His television credits included Z-Cars, Crossroads, and Doctor Who. In Doctor Who, he played three major villains (Omega, Azal, and Eldrad), as well as an Ogron, before later playing the villainous Max in The Ghosts of N-Space, a Doctor Who BBC Radio story, in the mid-1990s. Also on the radio, Thorne appeared as Aslan in The Magician's Nephew, as Treebeard in the Radio 4 adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, and also in their adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards! in which he portrayed Fred Colon (and also Death). Other television work included Death of an Expert Witness, David Copperfield, and Last of the Summer Wine. He voiced Aslan in the animated version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Thorne reprised the character on the BBC radio adaptation of the same name. He gave many poetry readings on radio, television, tape and in venues from Westminster Abbey to various pubs.
Known For
The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, The Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right many wrongs.
Doctor Who
Centred on the cases of P. D. James' gentleman detective Adam Dalgliesh. In addition to his career as a policeman, Dalgliesh is also a published poet and an intensely private man.
Dalgliesh
An animated adaptation of twelve of Shakespeare's best-known plays. The series was produced by S4C for the BBC, but animated by some of the foremost artists of Soyuzmultfilm, the former Soviet Union's main animation studio. Each 26-minute play is directed by a different animator, in a wide variety of styles: cel animation for Macbeth, stop-motion puppets in Twelfth Night, and paint on glass for Hamlet.
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales
Classic Doctor Who duos are reunited as they board a very special TARDIS on a nostalgic voyage through space and time.
Tales of the Tardis
A nine-part series of Old Testament stories for younger viewers using various animation techniques, including stop-motion, cel animation and computer animation.
Testament: The Bible in Animation
A young man journeys from a difficult childhood to maturity, exploring social injustice, personal development, and the complexities of human relationships.
David Copperfield
This Emmy Award winner for Best Animated Special is based on the first book of C.S. Lewis' acclaimed series, "The Chronicles of Narnia." Four children pass through a mystic portal in a wardrobe and discover the magical kingdom of Narnia, a land of talking animals and mythical creatures. There, an evil witch's spell has cast the land into eternal winter. Fearing that an ancient prophecy is coming to fruition, and that the children are Narnia's rightful rulers, the White Witch tricks their youngest brother into betraying his family, enacting an ancient magic that she can use to halt the fulfillment of the prophecy. Now, only Aslan, noble lion and High King above all kings in Narnia, can help them defeat the witch, restore springtime to Narnia, and claim their rightful places on the throne.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
A warp ellipse draws the TARDIS off course. The Fifth Doctor's companions are separated from him not in space, but in time, and he has to deal with a treacherous schoolboy named Turlough. But why does the Doctor's old friend, the Brigadier, not remember him at all?
Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead
A look at the subtle (and not so subtle!) links to the show's past and future contained within the story of The Five Doctors.
The Ties That Bind Us
Time itself is in peril! The Time Lords and UNIT find themselves besieged by a mythic figure from the Time Lords' past hell-bent on destruction. The only way to defeat him is to break the First Law of Time and let the Doctor help himself — literally...
Doctor Who: The Three Doctors
When the TARDIS lands in a quarry on Earth, Sarah unearths what appears to be a fossilised hand, buried in one-hundred-fifty-million-year-old strata. Analysis shows the hand to be silicon-based and inert, but when Sarah begins to act as if possessed, the Doctor suspects that it may still be alive...
Doctor Who: The Hand of Fear
In Lollipop Dragon: The Magic Lollipop Adventure, the Lollipop Dragon and friends must save the day by confronting Baron Bad Blood.
Lollipop Dragon: The Magic Lollipop Adventure
On the eve of May Day, dark elemental forces begin to disturb the village of Devil's End as the Master summons the demon Azal: unexplained murders, a stone gargoyle come to life, and a nigh-impenetrable infernal energy dome. With the Master fully prepared to destroy the Earth, the Doctor and UNIT - aided by a benevolent practitioner of witchcraft - battle the wicked rites of a secret science wielded by an alien from another world.
Doctor Who: The Dæmons
A man encounters all sorts of strange places and people when he goes out for cigarettes.
The Inn Way Out
Biographical series chronicling the life of Bolton steeplejack Fred Dibnah.
The Fred Dibnah Story
In the 26th century, the Doctor and Jo uncover a plot by the Master to provoke an interplanetary war between Earth and Draconia.
Doctor Who: Frontier in Space
To coincide with a new era for Doctor Who we take a nostalgic look back at the glory days of the programme in a tribute to its unsigned heroes. Ever wondered what it’s like inside a Dalek? How, exactly, of you portray a Fish Person? What was it like recording Doctor Who during its 26 year run? And just how do you get to be a Doctor Who monster? Now you can find out as, for the very first time, we speak to the men and women who ensured we spend out Saturday nights behind the sofa. Their stories are funny, moving, unbelievable and sometimes tragic. Presented by the seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, and containing unique film and newly discovered photographs, this all adds up to an entertaining trip down memory lane – go on treat yourself to a slice of nostalgia!
I Was a Doctor Who Monster!
Shaw Taylor warns viewers to be on the lookout for a dangerous individual known as the Master.
Police 5: The Master
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales, Season 1, Episode 2. Exiled Prospero lives on a desolate island with his daughter, Miranda. When Prospero's usurping brother sails by the island, Prospero conjures a storm that wrecks the ship and changes all of their lives.
The Tempest
When unmarried mother Maggie takes her son Terry on holiday to the Welsh fishing village of Gorbay, they meet Gareth, a member of the local lifeboat crew. But Terry's admiration of Gareth leads to tragedy.