Doctor Who actor William Russell has died aged 99, it was announced on Tuesday.
Best known for playing school teacher Ian Chesterton in the long-running BBC sci-fi series, he passed away on Monday, with his death confirmed by The Guardian a day later.
A cause of death for the actor is yet to be confirmed. The father-of-four is survived by his wife, Etheline and their son Alfred Enoch – who starred as Dean Thomas in the Harry Potter films.
William appeared in the first Doctor Who story, An Unearthly Child, alongside William Hartnell who played the initial Time Lord.
It also starred Carole Ann Ford, who played companion Susan, and Jacqueline Hill who was Ian’s fellow teacher Barbara Wright.
William was in nearly every episode of the first two Doctor Who seasons, and after leaving the show in 1965 went on to narrate audio stories in the franchise.
Doctor Who actor William Russell has died aged 99, it was announced on Tuesday
The father-of-four is survived by his wife, Etheline (right) and their son Alfred Enoch (left) – who starred as Dean Thomas in the Harry Potter films
He was awarded a Guinness World Record for the longest gap between TV appearances when he reprised his role as Ian 57 years after he first finished playing the teacher, in Time Lord actress Jodie Whittaker’s final episode as the Doctor, titled’The Power of the Doctor.
William’s film roles include parts in 1956’s The Man Who Never Was, war favourite The Great Escape from 1963 and Superman in 1978.
He also played Ted Sullivan on ITV’s Coronation Street in 1992.
Along with his second wife Etheline Lewis, who he married in 1984 – 31 years after he got hitched to his first wife Balbina Guiterrez – William is survived by his and Etheline’s son Alfred.
He has followed in his dad’s acting footsteps and starred as Dean Thomas in the Harry Potter films.
William also had children Vanessa, Laetitia and Robert from his first marriage, and had four grandchildren.
Doctor Who’s Russell T Davies shared a tribute on Instagram alongside a photo of him with William after learning the sad news of his death.
He wrote: ‘William Russell (1924-2024). What a sad loss, William played the Doctor’s very first companion, Ian Chesterton, back in 1963. A schoolteacher, trapped on the Tardis by a wily old Doctor, unable to get home, whisked off to the Stone Age, Skaro, the Crusades, planet of the Zarbi..!
He also played Ted Sullivan on ITV’s Coronation Street in 1992
‘Wonderful! A fine, nimble, witty, heartfelt actor who absolutely sold the truth of those early years. Before that, he’d been Sir Lancelot on the BBC; it’s often undersold what a star booking he was for Doctor Who.
‘He later went on to marry Rita Fairclough as Ted Sullivan on Coronation Street. In the photo, I bumped into him on a train in 2018! I was star-struck! He spoke with so much pride and joy about his son, Alfred Enoch, who I’d seen in King Lear at the Royal Exchange. Absolutely lovely man. A fine, long life. Well done, sir, well played.’
Elsewhere Doctor Who actress Nicola Bryant, 63, paid tribute to William.
The actress, who played Doctor Who companion Peri Brown from 1984 to 1986, said online: ‘What sad news to say farewell to William Russell.
‘What a wonderful man with a delightful family an extraordinary life and career.’
Actor and writer Nicholas Pegg added: ‘Raising a glass to William Russell, who has left us just a few months shy of his 100th birthday.
‘Already a star when he became a crucial part of Doctor Who’s genesis, his long and remarkable career embraced everything from Shakespeare to Blackadder. A fine actor and a lovely man.’
Artist Stuart Humphryes shared: ‘R.I.P. The late and legendary actor William Russell (1924-2024). He was the first and the greatest of all the many companions who starred in Doctor Who. He first played Ian Chesterton in 1963 and last returned to the series to play him in 2022, earning him a Guiness Book of Records award. A wonderful innings, yet still immensely sad – It is the passing of an era and also of a hero. Sleep well, Sir Ian, Knight of Jaffa. I was one of your biggest fans.’
Russell would have marked his 100th birthday in November, having been born in Sunderland in 1924.
