John Carson

John Carson (28 February 1927 -5 November 2016 ) played Ambril in the Doctor Who television story Snakedance. He had earlier been considered for the role of Johnny Ringo in The Gunfighters. (TCH 7)

A familiar face on British television for almost five decades, Carson's looks led him to be cast as suave villains in various ITC series such as The Saint, The Baron, Man in a Suitcase, The Champions and Department S. He also appeared three times on The Avengers and later made a guest appearance in The New Avengers. Carson's notable roles included Monks in a 1962 adaptation of Oliver Twist, Mr Dombey in Dombey and Son (1969), Mr Knightley in Emma (1972) and playing R Daneel Olivaw opposite Peter Cushing's Elijah Bailey in an adaptation of Issac Asimov's "The Caves of Steel", broadcast as part of Story Parade in 1964.

He had regular roles playing Anthony Brand in detective series It's Dark Outside, William of Normandy in Hereward the Wake and James Langley in the final season of business drama The Troubleshooters. He also appeared in various popular series such as Adam Adamant Lives!, Paul Temple and Out of the Unknown, and had two guest roles on ATV's Thriller. Later in his career he appeared in Poirot and Midsomer Murders.

Film roles included voicing Captain Foster in Thunderbird 6 and appearing in various supernatural and horror films such as The Plague of The Zombies, Taste the Blood of Dracula and The Man Who Haunted Himself.