Visit the official Doctor Who website

Visit the official Doctor Who website
Look to the future

Asylum seekers...

Asylum seekers...
Refuge of the Daleks

Doctor Who picture resource

Doctor Who picture resource
Roam the space lanes!

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website
Step back in time

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood
Armed and extremely dangerous

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures
Fearless in the face of adversity

Call on Dani’s House

Call on Dani’s House
Harmer’s a charmer

Intercept the UFO fabsite

Intercept the UFO fabsite
Defending the Earth against alien invaders!

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse
Programmable agent Echo exposed!

Hell’s belles

Hell’s belles
Naughty but nice

Love Exposure

Love Exposure
Flash photography!

Primeval portal

Primeval portal
Dressed to kill or damsels in distress?

Charmed, to be sure!

Charmed, to be sure!
The witches of San Francisco

Take on t.A.T.u.

Take on t.A.T.u.
All the way from Moscow

Proceed to the Luther website

Proceed to the Luther website
John and Jenny discuss their next move

DCI Banks is on the case

DCI Banks is on the case
You can bet on it!

On The Grid with Spooks

On The Grid with Spooks
Secret agents of Section D

Bridge to Hustle

Bridge to Hustle
Shady characters

Life on Ashes To Ashes

Life on Ashes To Ashes
Coppers with a chequered past

Claire’s no Exile

Claire’s no Exile
Goose steps

Vexed is back on the beat!

Vexed is back on the beat!
Mismatched DI Armstrong and bright fast-tracker Georgina Dixon

Medium, both super and natural

Medium, both super and natural
Open the door to your dreams

Who’s that girl? (350-picture Slideshow)

Friday 16 March 2007

The Night of the Hunter


Sad news regarding the death of actor Gareth Hunt, born Alan Leonard Hunt, at the relatively young age of 64. To most genre fans, he was undoubtedly best known for his role as Mike Gambit in “The New Avengers” alongside Joanna Lumley as Purdey and Patrick Macnee as erstwhile-agent John Steed, from 1976 to 1977. Others will know him from shaking a handful of coffee beans in the popular and long-running Nescafe commercials! He made his name, though, as footman Frederick Norton in eleven episodes of the early-Seventies’ costume drama “Upstairs, Downstairs”, co-devised by ex-“Doctor Who” companion Jean Marsh. And speaking of the Time Lord, Gareth will no doubt be best-remembered by “Doctor Who” fans as Arak in Jon Pertwee’s regeneration story “Planet of the Spiders”, broadcast in 1974.

It’s interesting that most tributes dwell on his contribution to the Seventies’ “Avengers” revival. It may well have been popular but, like many revivals, was, in truth, a far cry from the original series. It was much more action-oriented, as was the vogue of the time, whereas, during its heyday of the two Diana Rigg seasons, “The Avengers” was more about witty word play while, admittedly, nearly always culminating in a fight sequence. Hunt’s character did help retain some of that humour, notably in his tongue-in-cheek pursuit of the lovely Lumley. Gambit was there, though, primarily for the same reason as Ian Marter had been cast as Harry Sullivan in “Doctor Who”, to provide the muscle which Macnee had been more capable of a decade earlier. In Marter’s case, it turned out that the casting of Tom Baker, as the fourth Doctor, meant that, unfortunately, Harry was surplus to requirements.

Gareth popped up in many other series over the years including an appearance in “Minder” in the early-Eighties, opposite original regulars George Cole and Dennis Waterman, and, more recently and briefly, as a hit man in “EastEnders”. I remember him in the “Space: 1999” episode “Guardian of Piri” although his role in that episode was due to be larger but, after a disagreement with “A Fish Called Wanda” director Charles Crichton, he left before the episode was finished and was replaced by Michael Culver. The BBC’s news site are carrying a nice little eight-picture gallery of the late actor including a black and white still from his “Doctor Who” episode as well as one of “The New Avengers” team reunited during the mid-Nineties, I believe for the launch of the series on VHS! So, to complement those images, I thought I’d pay respect by posting a still from his uncredited and all-too-brief appearance as Pete Irvine in the aforementioned episode of the live-action Gerry Anderson series.

4 comments:

Steve said...

I shall imbibe a cup of coffee today in Gareth's honour. I may even shake a bean or two in my sweaty palms...

Karen said...

Such a shame. I saw the series of the Avengers with Joanna Lumley before I saw any of the others so I very much liked it. Also Planet of The Spiders was one of my favourite Dr Who storylines.

Old Cheeser said...

Yes, that is a very young age to go. Doesn't seem fair atall.

Funnily enough I watched that Space 1999 episode recently and saw his cameo. All to brief really.

Like Steve I too remember those Nescafe adverts with Una Stubbs - hilarious! And he was rather dashing in the New Avengers.

RIP Gareth.

TimeWarden said...

Now you come to mention it, Karen, I think I saw “The New Avengers” before any of “The Avengers” as well. I watched the odd episode of the original when Channel 4 repeated them in the mid-80s but gave it the attention it richly deserves when the same channel showed them again a decade later. I still haven’t seen the sixth season story “My Wildest Dream”, the showing of which was cancelled around the time of Princess Diana’s death and never rescheduled due to the rights expiring.

All the press reports stated Gareth was 65 but, by my calculations, I believe he turned 64 last month. I think the coffee ads worked, like so many of his roles, because of his wry, cheeky, smile and that certain twinkle in his eye which suggested he didn’t really take any of it too seriously!