William Russell

William Russell (born William Russell Enoch on 19 November 1924 in Sunderland, England) played Ian Chesterton in Doctor Who from "The Pilot Episode" to The Chase. As one of Susan Foreman's teachers, he was one of the first of the Doctor's companions to appear in the series.

Prior to Doctor Who
Russell appeared in British films from 1950 onwards, appearing in well-known productions such as The Man Who Never Was (1956) and The Great Escape (1963). He later had a minor role in Superman (1978) as a member of the Kryptonian Council.

After starring in several short-lived TV series, including playing the lead in a 1955 series entitled St. Ives, his big break was the title role in The Adventures of Sir Lancelot on ITV in 1956, the sale of which to the NBC network in the USA made it possible for it to be the first British televisionseries to be shot in colour.

Work on Doctor Who
In 1963 he was cast in Doctor Who as the Doctor's first male companion, science teacher Ian Chesterton, appearing in most episodes of the first two seasons of the programme.

Russell was one of the four original cast members of Doctor Who, starring opposite William Hartnell as the Doctor, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright, Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman and later Maureen O'Brien as Vicki. His first involvement in the series took the form of the untransmitted pilot episode, which was eventually reshot and broadcast as "An Unearthly Child". He eventually departed, alongside Hill, in the penultimate story of the second season, The Chase.

Russell has continued his association with Doctor Who, recording readings for some of the CD audio adaptations of Doctor Who story novelisations originally published by Target Books. He made a small cameo as Ian in the first movie.

After Doctor Who
Russel continued to have a successful career after Doctor Who, appearing in many movies and TV shows. He had minor roles in Terror (1978), Superman (1978) and Death Watch (1979) with Harvey Keitel and Harry Dean Stanton.

Russell has acted in many plays and TV series including Disraeli, Testament of Youth and the part of Ted Sullivan, the short-lived second husband of Rita Sullivan in Coronation Street. He also had a small part in an episode of The Black Adder, as a late replacement for Wilfrid Brambell, who had become impatient with delays to his scene and left the set before shooting it, and appeared as the Duke of Gloucester in the Robin of Sherwood episode "The Pretender". Other roles include Lanscombe in an episode of the 2005 series of Agatha Christie's Poirot("After the Funeral").

Russell has played a number of roles in theatre with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and in the opening season of the Globe Theatre. In the 1980s, while a member of the Actors' Touring Company, he used the stage name Russell Enoch; on leaving the company he reverted to the name William Russell.

Personal Life
On 2 December 1988, Russell and his second wife, Etheline Margareth Lewis, had their first child Alfred Enoch, when he was 64 years old. Alfred is now an actor, known for portraying Dean Thomas in the Harry Potter film series and Wes Gibbins in the ABC legal drama How to Get Away with Murder.

Selected Credits
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As Ian Chesterton

 * An Unearthly Child
 * Marco Polo
 * Planet of Giants
 * The Aztecs
 * The Chase
 * The Crusade
 * The Daleks
 * The Dalek Invasion of Earth
 * The Edge of Destruction
 * The Keys of Marinus
 * The Name's Shakespeare, William Shakespeare (archive footage)
 * The Reign of Terror
 * The Rescue
 * The Romans
 * The Sensorites
 * The Space Museum
 * The Web Planet
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2003

 * Doctor Who
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