Age: 89
male
Brian Blessed OBE (born 9 October 1936) is an English actor. He is known for his distinctive bushy beard, booming voice, and exuberant personality and performances. He portrayed PC "Fancy" Smith in Z-Cars; Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of I, Claudius; King Richard IV in the first series of Blackadder; Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon; Bustopher Jones and Old Deuteronomy in the 1981 original London production of Cats at the New London Theatre; Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, in Henry V; Boss Nass in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace; and the voice of Clayton and the Tarzan yell in Disney's Tarzan. In 2016, Blessed was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the arts and charity. Blessed was born on 9 October 1936 at Montagu Hospital in Mexborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of William Blessed, a socialist coal miner at Hickleton Main Colliery (and himself the son of a coal miner) and cricketer for the Yorkshire second team, and Hilda (née Wall). He had a brother Alan, seven years younger, and the pair "went everywhere together" when they were growing up. Alan Blessed died from leukaemia aged 52; their mother died aged 87, and their father died aged 99. Blessed's great-great-grandfather, Jabez Blessed, was the father of 13 children and worked as a china and glass dealer in Brigg, Lincolnshire; many of Blessed's relatives hail from Brigg. Blessed went to Bolton on Dearne Secondary Modern School, and completed his national service in the RAF, in Bicester, before enrolling at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 1956.
Brian Blessed
Ale
for Ale in What If Doctor Who Wasn't Axed? - Panopticon (2012)
Suggested by optimistic_writer
Due to the large vocal minority against the controversial subplot of last series, this series goes for a bit lighter in tone, but still remains darker than the first three series. It focuses on the war between the Time Lords and the Vex, as well as Lord President Gregori turning Gallifrey into a police state. Zenla (one of the Thirteenth Doctor's companions) becomes part of the main cast as the Chief of Staff. It also has Gregori having nightmares of guilt over what he did to Cordale last series. As well as Will Adams and Kendara joining the war effort. The stories featured this series are: The Condemned, The Eternal Unseen, Useful Occupations and Deceptions, Resurrections, This We'll Defend, Folly and Shame, Vengeance is Mine, The Hal, The Stale Alliance, and The Eye of the Storm.
