He was born in Whitechapel, in the East End of London — Delgado often remarked to Doctor Who actor Jon Pertwee, a close friend, that this made him a true Cockney, as he was born within the sound of the Bow bells — although his mother was Belgian and his father Spanish.

Scenes frequently featured a string of eccentric characters, often played by Ronnie Barker or Jon Pertwee.

Dicks had feared that he would have to remove it, but Pertwee stated that he liked it, and wanted to see it more often.

There were parodies of popular British TV entertainers such as Eamonn Andrews (" Seamus Android ", played by Pertwee ), Simon Dee, Wilfred Pickles ( both played by Williams ), and " Daphne Whitethigh ", presumably based on journalist Katharine Whitehorn and played by Marsden, a development of Fanny Haddock, her Fanny Cradock take-off from Beyond Our Ken.

Historical raids and alien contacts also feature in several stories, such as the Jon Pertwee episode The Time Warrior, in which a lone alien makes a forced landing in mediaeval England, the Tom Baker episode Pyramids of Mars ( in which the culture of ancient Egypt is shown to have been the result of the infuence of visiting aliens ), and the Peter Davison episode The Visitation in which crashed alien criminals are revealed to be indirectly responsible for the Great Fire of London.

He was also a strong character actor in series such as Z-Cars, was misguided scientist Doctor Quinn in the 1970 Doctor Who story Doctor Who and the Silurians, was later in the running to play the Doctor himself when Jon Pertwee gave up the role.

The Ghosts of N-Space, a second radio serial featuring Jon Pertwee produced in the mid-1990s was novelised, as were several non BBC spin-off video productions such as Shakedown ( as one section of a larger original novel ) and Downtime, adding an air of official sanction to them.

Having been educated locally at Alcester Grammar School, she then trained with the National Youth Theatre and the Rose Bruford College, before turning professional by working on several productions alongside well-known British actors such as Roy Dotrice and Jon Pertwee.

The show ran until 1973 and showcased many other stars, such as Leslie Phillips, Ian Carmichael, Tony Britton, Jeremy Child, Joyce Carey, Ursula Howells, Terence Alexander, Donald Sinden, Eric Barker, Rodney Bewes, June Whitfield, Richard O ' Sullivan, Bill Fraser, Dandy Nichols, Bill Pertwee, Peter Jones, Joan Sims, Richard Wattis, Jack Hulbert, Hugh Paddick, Roy Kinnear and Beryl Reid.

According to Elisabeth Sladen in an interview on the DVD release of Invasion of the Dinosaurs Pertwee asked for a substantially increased fee for another year on the series, that he was turned down and subsequently resigned from the role.

This show was written by Eric Merriman and, for the first two series, Barry Took ; Horne's supporting players were Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Ron Moody ( soon succeeded by Bill Pertwee ).

Pertwee is best known for a series of famous roles, firstly his 18-year stint on BBC Radio as Chief Petty Officer Pertwee in The Navy Lark, secondly his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which he played the third incarnation of the Doctor from 1970 to 1974 and thirdly as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge.

Born in Chelsea, London, to a family descended from Huguenots ( the name was an Anglicisation of " Perthuis "; his full surname being " de Perthuis de Laillevault "), he was the son of noted screenwriter and actor Roland Pertwee and distant cousin of actor Bill Pertwee, who played Chief Warden Hodges in the comedy Dad's Army ( coincidentally, Jon Pertwee was the writers ' first choice for the role of Captain George Mainwaring in Dad's Army ).

Pertwee had asked his agent to apply for the role for him and was surprised to find he was already on the shortlist for the role.

In a departure from the Doctor's first two incarnations, Pertwee played the character as an active crusader with a penchant for action and fancy clothes, even while the character was exiled on Earth and serving with UNIT.

In early 1974, Pertwee announced he would step down as the Doctor in order to resume his stage career in The Bedwinner, also citing typecasting in the role as the reason for leaving, though later he would say that the catalyst for his departure was the death of his good friend and co-star Roger Delgado and the departures of co-star Katy Manning and producer Barry Letts.

Keen to continue beyond this, Pertwee campaigned for the series and it was picked up by a New Zealand network in 1987.

In 1995, Pertwee played the role one last time in a one-off special for ITV, which celebrated 40 years of the channel.

Ultimately, Pertwee was successful in seeing the Third Doctor return to the airwaves with two audio productions for BBC Radio, The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space.

At the date of his death, Pertwee was regularly being seen at the tail end of an enigmatic UK TV commercial for mobile phone operator Vodafone: dressed somewhat in his flamboyant ' Doctor ' manner, his character walked wordlessly across an alleyway in sight of a Liverpool landmark, and entered a garage evidently containing some kind of ' time machine '.

Bill Pertwee left school during the Second World War and worked for a company that made parts for Spitfire cannons.

* In several 1963 episodes of The Navy Lark, the robbery was referred to via expressions of surprise – by various characters – of seeing Chief Petty Officer Pertwee free, and not in police custody for committing the robbery.

Actor Peter Davison, for example, who formerly played The Doctor on Doctor Who, was asked which other Doctor Who actor ( from Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee and Sylvester McCoy ) he would most like to have sex with.

The books were adapted for radio and television a number of times, most successfully with former Doctor Who actor Jon Pertwee taking the lead role from 1979 to 1981 on ITV ; originally produced in the UK, but later in New Zealand

Southern Television's production for ITV was written by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, and starred Jon Pertwee as Worzel, with Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally, a life-size fairground doll and Worzel's femme fatale.

Television New Zealand and Channel 4 ( UK ) co-funded a follow-up series that ran for two seasons in 1987 and 1989, with Worzel Gummidge and Aunt Sally, still played by Pertwee and Stubbs, relocated to New Zealand.

In 1969, Pertwee was selected by producer Peter Bryant to take over as the Doctor from Patrick Troughton in the television series Doctor Who.

First aired in 1979 on ITV, the series saw Pertwee as a scarecrow, as well as utilising several comedic voices.

Pertwee also voiced the character of " Spotty " in the 1980s cartoon series SuperTed and in 1985 he starred in Do You Know The Milkyway ?, a television adaptation of Karl Wittlinger's stage play in which he played Dr. Neuross and another nine characters.

Pertwee wrote two autobiographies: Moon Boots and Dinner Suits ( published in 1984 ), which primarily covers his life and career prior to Doctor Who, and the posthumously published Doctor Who: I Am the Doctor – Jon Pertwee ’ s Final Memoir ( published in 1996 by Virgin Publishing Ltd and co-written with David J. Howe ), which covered his life during and after the series.

The series was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, with others contributing to later series after Feldman returned to performing, and starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee.

Pertwee appeared in the radio comedy series Beyond Our Ken ( 1959 – 64 ) and Round the Horne ( 1965 – 67 ).

Notable programmes produced by Southern Television over the years included the flagship regional news magazine Day by Day presented by an able team of presenters including Barry Westwood, Peter Clark, and long-serving weatherman Trevor Baker ; Out of Town, a countryside programme introduced by Jack Hargreaves, who would later join Southern's board of directors ; How, a children's science programme also featuring Hargreaves along with Fred Dinenage, Bunty James ( later replaced by Marian Davies ) and Jon Miller ; Freewheelers, a children's spy series ; Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years and Worzel Gummidge, starring Jon Pertwee as the eponymous walking scarecrow.

He had been a radio scriptwriter and performer since 1975, when he wrote and starred in a BBC radio comedy series called The Worst Show On The Wireless, produced by James Casey, which featured Bill Pertwee, Eli Woods, David Casey ( James Casey's son ), and Alison Steadman.

All these various series were spiritual successors to BBC radio's earlier comedy success, ' Round the Horne ' ( 1964 – 68 ), in which Bill Pertwee had previously appeared, each being a similar style of comedy sketch show.

There were three series produced, which featured guest stars including David Seaman, Jude Law, Sean Pertwee, Jonny Lee Miller, gangster " Mad Frankie " Fraser, ex Spandau Ballet star Martin Kemp, Denise van Outen and Donna Air.

Barry Letts, former producer of the series during the Jon Pertwee era, contributed to the Missing Adventures line.

* Doctor Who at the BBC, a series of Doctor Who releases, which included an audio adventure entitled Glorious Goodwood, set at a Goodwood race, featuring Elisabeth Sladen and Jon Pertwee.

He also presented the Doctor Who video releases The Troughton Years ( showcasing selected surviving episodes of missing stories ) and The Pertwee Years ( a lookback at his time on the show, with his three selected episodes ) in the early 1990s.

Pertwee continued on the convention circuit and with his voice and television acting until his death from a heart attack in Connecticut on 20 May 1996, two months before his 77th birthday.

His death had a profound effect on Pertwee.

After the series ended in 1989, he would go on to produce and write several Doctor Who videotape documentary releases during the early 1990s: The Hartnell Years, The Troughton Years, The Pertwee Years, The Tom Baker Years, The Colin Baker Years, Daleks: The Early Years, Cybermen: The Early Years, and a special release of the unfinished story Shada, and co-writing the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time, and co-presenting the BSB 31 Who programmes during their 1990 Doctor Who Weekend, until shortly before his death.

Before his death, Pertwee played the role on screen one last time in the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time.

However, due to his death before recording, an agreement was reached with his widow, Ingeborg Pertwee, to represent him in the game using audio clips from the television series.