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John Normington
Strange how sometimes odd little coincidences occur, isn’t it?
Today I learned of the death of John Normington, an actor who has had two parts in my second favourite series (Doctor Who, for the uninitiated). One was as Morgus in the last Peter Davison serial “The Caves of Androzani” - widely regarded as one of the best stories the series ever did. The other was as as Trevor Sigma in Sylvester McCoy’s “The Happiness Patrol” - which in turn is widely (and in my opinion unfairly) regarded as one of the worst.
Strange thing is that last night I watched “The Happiness Patrol” on a whim, enjoying the sheer camp and audacity of it enormously. And I was watching John’s performance and thinking how damn good he was and how wasted an actor of his calibre was in the part he was given. (He owned the screen in his scenes let’s just say that - even when standing up against Shiela Hancock’s eerie Maggie Thatcher impression.)
Today I find he’s died.
Rest in peace, John. I see from the What’s On Stage article you achieved no small recognition and from what little I’ve seen you certainly deserved it.
Posted on July 30, 2007 | Filed Under Film and Television, In Memoriam
Comments
Response left by Pandemonia on August 1st, 2007
It’s his containment I was drawn to. You felt there was something he was sheilding.
As - at least in Who - he was.
Season 25 is probably the one I am most drawn to. It’s my most early-Who phase.
Response left by Rob on August 1st, 2007
Got something to say?
Such a shame. It’s rare for an actor of such stature (as in height) to manage to dominate scenes so strongly and really draw you into the character. I was rather hoping he’d get a chance to appear in the new series at some point. He’ll be sadly missed.
So what is your favourite series?