Requiescat in Pace, John

I was saddened to hear that actor John Normington has passed away at the age of 70. He was one of those actors I was always pleased to see on television. His death will no doubt go unmentioned on the television news, which says more about what society reveres than it does the brilliance of John’s acting. Only last week, my Mum was watching an episode of “Agatha Christie’s Poirot” and I pointed him out to her. He was playing Colonel Clapperton in a story called “Problem at Sea”! By coincidence, I found a really nice picture of him yesterday evening in the role for which I, and every other fan of “Doctor Who”, will always remember him. He appeared in the series twice, as Trevor Sigma in the first episode of “The Happiness Patrol” supporting Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor, but it was as Trau Morgus, in the earlier Peter Davison story “The Caves of Androzani”, that he really stunned audiences in what is a truly superlative piece of work. As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, in the Robert Holmes-written, Graeme Harper-directed, Roger Limb-composed masterpiece, John’s character is the embodiment of an ambitious, ruthless, corrupt politician best-remembered for turning to camera and exclaiming, “The spineless cretins”!

It was a pleasant surprise, last year, when John Normington popped up on our screens again playing a character called Tom Flanagan in “Ghost Machine”, the third episode of the “Doctor Who” spin-off “Torchwood”. Yes, it was only a small cameo, as a mild-mannered ageing evacuee gently interrogated by Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper, but he stole the episode, even from the excellent Gareth Thomas! Not only that, the warmth with which he imbued his scene made his one of the standout performances of the entire series. I’ve subsequently seen him as a District Judge in Lynda La Plante’s “Trial and Retribution XIV: Mirror Image” in which he was also excellent. One of his best-known film appearances was as Frank Lockwood the Solicitor in the 1984 adaptation of Alan Bennett’s “A Private Function” alongside a galaxy of fine actors including Michael Palin, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, Richard Griffiths, Bill Paterson, Liz Smith, Alison Steadman, Jim Carter and Pete Postlethwaite. Ten years earlier, he appeared in my all-time favourite rock movie “Stardust” together with David Essex and Adam Faith. Although it may sound clichéd, I’ve never seen him give a bad performance even in a sub-standard production. I’ve only touched on his screen work and yet John was probably even more highly-regarded as a stage actor. Kevin Spacey, artistic director of the Old Vic, endearingly paid tribute in saying “They don’t make them like him anymore”! I agree. Mr Normington was an actor of rare quality.

Who will kill Blake?

Episode three of “Torchwood”, “Ghost Machine” by Helen Raynor, was an improvement on the first couple of stories shown last week. It wasn’t perfect but held the attention more readily. The plot was reasonably involved, concerning an alien device which can initially enable its handler to relive past events but latterly to foresee the future. But just how complete a picture does it give of the shape of things to come? Will Jimmy White look-a-like Owen Harper (Burn Gorman) really avenge a past crime or will a certain leading lady, by the name of Eve Myles, be the one to accidentally twist the knife in?!

The direction seemed to move at a faster pace than previously (which isn’t necessarily a good thing), especially in the way the teaser was edited. Best of all, “Ghost Machine” featured a superb cameo from John (“The Caves of Androzani” and “The Happiness Patrol”) Normington and a star turn from a cigarette smoking, haggard looking, Gareth (“Blake’s 7”) Thomas as a guilt-ridden ex-teddy boy! The scene in which Owen exposes the terror of Gareth’s ways was terrific, a lot more fun than the chase through the back gardens of suburban Cardiff that was the focus of the following “Confidential”-like documentary “Torchwood Declassified”.

In “Ghost Machine”, John Normington played against expectations, a mild-mannered ageing evacuee, the complete opposite of the Trau Morgus character from his first “Doctor Who” - the embodiment of an ambitious, ruthless, corrupt politician best remembered for turning to camera and exclaiming, “The spineless cretins”. I also recall him in a play, made shortly after “Caves”, in which he co-starred with Patrick Troughton, about a jazz musician, played by the ex-Doctor, who loses his memory and goes missing only to end up at a pub called, appropriately enough, The Northern Star. It was on BBC2 but, unfortunately, brief research on both IMDb and Google has failed to reveal its title.

Gareth Thomas, on the other hand, as well as his most famous role, I remember in BBC dramas “The Citadel” and “Morgan’s Boy” as well as an ITV Sunday afternoon children’s serial, also co-starring Patrick Troughton (in his final role), entitled “Knights of God”. I still have a copy of the latter on a couple of Betamax tapes, which also featured Don Henderson, John Woodvine, Michael Sheard and Julian Fellowes, amongst others, and was directed by Michael (“Battlefield”) Kerrigan and Andrew (“Time and the Rani” and “Remembrance of the Daleks”) Morgan. Though it’s a long time since I watched it, I do remember it contained some plot inconsistencies but was nevertheless a fun, if undemanding, watch.

Returning to the present, it was good to see both Gareth Thomas and John Normington again, and on such fine form, and a bonus that it was in an SF drama. I didn’t notice any direct references to parent show “Doctor Who”, this week, but next week’s episode couldn’t be more connected if it tried, the eagerly awaited “Cyberwoman”. I’m ever-optimistic!