ALAN CHUNTZ
Born on April 21, 1927, Alan Chuntz is another Doctor Who legend with many uncredited appearances, and only a single credited role on his Doctor Who filmography. His commitment to the role spanned an impressive fourteen years. He acted alongside four Doctors, several companions and under many production offices. Keep an eye out for him in the background in many beloved serials of all time.
Amongst playing many different roles on Doctor Who, he was most commonly used as a UNIT Soldier in The Invasion, The Ambassadors of Death, Inferno and Terror of the Autons. Like many other Doctor Who veteran extras employed to be UNIT Soldiers, Chuntz found himself playing everything from guards to technicians and everything in-between. He was one of the many Prisoners seen during The Mind of Evil – most likely used in the many action-based sequences - , a Marine for The Sea Devils – again probably used for scenes when the aquatic diving Sea Devils emerged on dry land, a Coolie for The Talons of Weng-Chiang, and a Villager for The Visitation, his final commitment to the show. Other background roles came with The Green Death, Planet of the Spiders, Genesis of the Daleks, The Face of Evil and State of Decay.
He can be seen very briefly as Harvey, the technician blasted by an Ice Warrior during The Seeds of Death, the Technician cruelly murdered by the mutating Slocum during Inferno, Omega’s Champion who fought against the Third Doctor in Omega’s antimatter world during The Three Doctors and even found himself behind a Vogan mask for Revenge of the Cybermen. He was also possibly the Vogan Radio Operator who is discovered by a Cybermen and blasted to death, but there is the possibility the role was actually played by Terry Walsh, another legend in Doctor Who stuntwork and extra acting.
If Chuntz’s face is difficult to spot in the background, then perhaps the Chauffeur seen during The Seeds of Doom will put everything in perspective. Employed for just a single episode of the epic six-part narrative and hired to kill the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith, Chuntz’s skills as a stuntman and expertise were put to good use, for the fight sequence captured on screen. With minimal lines and barely any minutes of screentime, his only credited Doctor Who role is certainly memorable. As a stuntman himself, no stunt double was required for the role, meaning every minute of his sole credited part was entirely his own. How he should have been given more roles.
Despite a successful Doctor Who career, Alan Chuntz sadly suffered a slight injury to his leg during location filming for Inferno. Whilst driving Bessie, Jon Pertwee accidentally collided with Chuntz’s leg causing a nasty gash to open up. Fellow actor John Levene saw the wound and commented on the incident. Pertwee later learned about the accident and took full responsibility for the incident. Apparently Pertwee bought a gift and presented it to Chuntz’s wife as an apology.
Aside from his Doctor Who career, Chuntz was constantly employed within British Television. He was a regular background artist on The Saint (1965-69), The Baron (1966), The Champions (1968), Wings (1977-78) and Secret Army (1977-79); most other background roles within British Television mostly came as single episode assignments.
He was also an extra on many films: The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966), Casino Royale (1967), The Dirty Dozen (1967) and Brannigan (1975). He was also a part of the stunt team on some high-budget films: You Only Live Twice (1967) and The Italian Job (1969); he was also the stunt double for Edward Woodward for Callan (1974) whilst he was the stunt coordinator for Goldenrod (1976). Throughout his career, Chuntz was a member of the stunt team HAVOC, a team often employed on several Doctor Who serials.
Alan Chuntz later recorded material for the behind-the-scenes featurette Can You Hear the Earth Scream? for the DVD release of Inferno. Alan Chuntz died on August 8 2009 aged 82.
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