Who Is Jon Pertwee?

Before Who

Born in 1919, Jon Pertwee was the son of Roland Pertwee – a playwright who became well-known in the 1930s. His father's success in the theatre prompted Pertwee to become an actor himself, but he was also a bit of a rebel and was actually expelled from the famous drama college RADA because he refused to play a role he disliked. Later on, the then-famous actor Charles Lawton met Pertwee and said "I understand you were thrown out of RADA. You're bound to do well – so was I."

It was while working for a naval broadcasting station during World War Two that Pertwee's talents as a comedian began to shine through, and he became one of the BBC's top radio stars on comedy shows like The Navy Lark. Pertwee also starred in several Carry On films, and was so established as a comic actor that he was rather shocked when he was invited to play the Third Doctor.

His Who

Pertwee's Doctor – who took command of the TARDIS from 1970 to 1974 – couldn't have been more different to his predecessor. While the Second Doctor was playful and humble, the Third was a stern and commanding presence with the air of a military officer. A military officer with a strange fondness for frills and capes, that is.

The Third Doctor was an action man with a love of gadgets, gobbledygook and a penchant for "reversing the polarity" of things. He also loved fast vehicles, from cars to motorbikes to the somewhat less suave "Whomobile" (a sort of sci-fi hovercraft). Oh yes, and it was Pertwee's Doctor who first came up against the Master – who was to dog every successor except the Ninth Doctor.

After Who

While Doctor Who is the role Pertwee will always be best remembered for, he had another surge of popularity in 1979 when he donned a pointy false nose and a straw wig to play Worzel Gummidge – the walking, talking scarecrow.

Pertwee had to spend six hours in make-up before every shoot, but he relished playing the tragicomic children's character and actually referred to it as his favourite role. Still, the lure of Doctor Who was always there, and he jumped at the chance to play the Third incarnation again in The Five Doctors. Indeed, the Doctor was one of the very last roles he played – briefly appearing as the time traveller for a TV ad broadcast shortly before his death in 1996.

Who knew?

Here's a fact Pertwee fans might not want to know: in 1972 he released a record titled "Who is the Doctor?" which consisted of the theme music with some extremely dodgy lyrics added, intoned by Pertwee himself. Example lines include "Through cosmic waste the TARDIS flies to taste the secret source of life" and "As fingers move to end mankind, metallic teeth begin to grind". Dear oh dear.

Who says...

Pertwee, a comic actor, saw Doctor Who as an opportunity to play himself for a change. As he said: "I'd always used another identity in every part I'd played, whether it be by the use of a funny voice or by hiding behind a pair of spectacles. So, for helping me to realise who Jon Pertwee is, I owe a lot to Doctor Who."