It’s easy to forget just how many great performances there were in Doctor Who – familiarity often dulls the wonderful in that way. The 60s were something of an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the regulars’ – and guest actors’ performances – the audio of Marco Polo convinced me of that some time ago.
Among the wonderful actors the shows was blessed with was William Russell, aka Ian Chesterton. His readings of Target novelisations are probably the best, for my money, and he again shows here quite how wonderful he is, in a short recorded for the DVD release of The Crusades.
The headline for this vid is ‘William Russell Returns to the Role of Ian Chesterton after 34 Years’. By my money, given that it was recorded a couple of years ago, that should read something like 47 years unless I’m missing something.
Anyway, here’s Russell, looking incredible for a man in his mid-80s.
Happy birthday, Chesterfield.