MICHAEL SHEARD

Born on 18 June 1938, Michael Sheard is a Doctor Who legend, who appeared in some six serial across his acting career, where he worked with five of the first incarnations of the Doctor. He missed out on working with Patrick Troughton and Colin Baker, but his Doctor Who CV is an impressive contribution to the show.

Michael Sheard began his acting career in the early 1960s where he picked up one-off roles in many popular television shows of the time. He was a regular face on Dr. Finlay’s Casebook (1965-67) picking up four individual roles, and Crossroads (1966-67) where he played three different characters all for individual episodes. Impressively he played 13 different one-off roles in the popular cop show Dixon of Dock Green (1963-74). His career throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s, again saw Sheard picking up many one-off roles in many television shows of the time, making him one of the most memorable faces on British Television. He did however, manage to pick up some regular parts as well.

He was Number Two in Look and Read (1974) a show which helped improved children’s literacy skills through fun adventures and stories, and he was Herr Grunwald in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983-84). Sheard became a hero for a whole generation of children when he took the part of in the high popular children/teen soap opera Grange Hill (1985-89). He played the French Teacher, Mr. Bronson, a surprising feat since Sheard himself reportedly couldn’t speak the language. According to sources, his wife wrote out his lines phonetically for him so he was able to pronounce words correctly. He was then Arthur Dabner for a number of episodes in Coronation Street (1989).

Another impressive addition to his CV was that he played the infamous Adolf Hitler some five times throughout his career. He first played Hitler in the TV Movie Rogue Mole (1976) and then two episodes of The Tomorrow People (1978). Next came the TV Movie The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985). Dire hard fans of the Indiana Jones franchise can see Sheard play Hitler in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Although he went uncredited for his work, Sheard got the change to work with famous and beloved film director Steven Spielberg. Sheard finally played Hitler in an episode of Secret History (2003).

As Rhos in The Ark

Turning now to his Doctor Who career, Michael Sheard made his first appearance on the show as Rhos in The Ark. He helped the First Doctor discover a cure for the common cold which was killing humans and Monoids alike. He only appeared in the first episode of the four-part serial and many would have presumed Sheard would have becomes an oddity in the history of the programme. They would be proved wrong. Sheard later returned for The Mind of Evil where he played Dr. Summers at Stangmoor Prison where the Keller Machine was

being operated from. He examined the bodies of Linwood and Professor Kettering, and was astonied that both men died from the irrational fears that both men suffered from.

As Laurence Scarman in Pyramids of Mars

For Pyramids of Mars, Sheard played Laurence Scarman, an amateur scientist who invited a ‘primitive’ telescope, which he called a Marconiscope. Scarman got the chance to travel in the TARDIS; but not to a desirable location. He along with Sarah Jane stared out at the bleak, dead Earth in the 1980s (a version of Earth that would exist if Sutekh wasn’t stopped in 1911). Throughout the serial he refused to believe his brother, Marcus Scarman was ‘dead’. He remained loyal to keeping the memories of his brother alive and tried several times to stop The Doctor from totally killing Marcus. Laurence Scarman unfortunately met his end at his hands of his dead brother (who had been reanimated by Sutekh for his own doing). His body was then discovered by The Doctor and Sarah Jane. A couple of years later, Michael Sheard returned for The Invisible Enemy as Lowe, who fell victim to the Nucleus. Although an ally at first, Lowe became a threat to The Doctor and Leela, before being killed by K9 before he could do any more damage.

As the doomed Mergrave, a figment of The Master's imagination in Castrovalva

His fifth Doctor Who credit saw him appear as Mergrave in Castrovalva. Mergrave appeared to be flesh and blood Castrovalvan, but he was actually a block transfer computation creation of The Master. Mergrave helped The Doctor unravel the mystery of Castrovalva, and eventually sacrificed himself to keep The Master trapped within his own creation, that was collapsing in on itself. It was some six years until Michael Sheard made his sixth and final appearance in Doctor Who, this time as the Headmaster of Coal Hill School in Remembrance of the Daleks. The Headmaster became a pawn of the Imperial Daleks, and he became an undercover agent for them whilst they searched for the Hand of Omega. Like many other characters, Sheard played, The Master was eventually ‘terminated’ by the Imperial Daleks who feared he would be a security risk, and having failed to apprehend Mike Smith who was working for the Renegade Daleks. Sheard’s final Doctor Who appearance would have delighted children who watched Grange Hill at time, since they could say ‘Mr Bronson’ is a Dalek agent. A nice little connection to say the least.

Aside for the roles he landed, Michael Sheard was considered for the a further FIVE parts in his history of Doctor Who. He could have been Dugeen in The Power of Kroll, Dexeter in Fuill Circle, the Detective Inspector in Logopolis and/or Brunner/Kendron in Timelash. His Doctor Who CV had the potential of stretching up to 10 serials!

Sheard’s acting career also stretched into films as well: he was Admiral Ozzel in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and he was the U-Boat in another Indian Jones film, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) although he would go uncredited for his appearance. Other film credits included: High Road to China (1983) and Another Life (2001).

Sheard later returned to the world of Doctor Who providing an audio commentary for DVD release of Pyramids of Mars. Sheard sadly died on August 31 2005 aged just 67 following a short battle of illness. He remains as one of the top-billed guest stars to have appeared in Doctor Who due to his impressive 17 episode appearances, and six very different roles he played.