Nicholas Courtney, passed on today, aged 81. The actor is best known for his appearances in the British sci-fi TV show Doctor Who, and has performed with more actors playing the Doctor than anyone else (William Hartnell as Space Security Agent Bret Vyon, Patrick Troughton as Colonel Lethbridge Stewart, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Pater Davison and Sylvester McCoy as Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, a role he reprised last year in the Sarah Jane Adventures. He also played the role in a number of audio plays from Big Finish, with Colin Baker and Paul McGann.

The character was steeped in a military upbringing and had an unflappable approach to the strangest visions Doctor Who could throw at him, from aliens to robots to dinosaurs, once dismissing a trip to another planet as being nothing more that being thrown to a nearby quarry, and insisted that the TARDIS being bigger on the inside was a trick with mirrors.

The actor carried this masterful stuff upper lip in teh face of adversity into other theatre and TV roles including Yes Prime Minister, Only Fools And Horses, French Fields and Rocky Horror Show. As honorary president of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, he was also a convention regular.