Geoffrey Bayldon (7 January 1924-10 May 2017[1]) played Organon in the Doctor Who television story The Creature from the Pit. He also voiced an alternate version of the First Doctor in the Big Finish Doctor Who Unbound audio stories Auld Mortality and A Storm of Angels.
Aged eighty years when the latter was recorded, he was the oldest actor to play the Doctor in any medium up to that time. His record was broken in 2013 when 88-year-old William Russell voiced the First Doctor in The Light at the End.
During the 1960s, he was considered for the roles of both the First and Second Doctors.[2] He was considered to replace William Hartnell in The Five Doctors, but John Nathan-Turner felt that he was too recognisable as Catweazle. Subsequently, he was considered to play The Monitor in Logopolis, Sir Robert Muir in Black Orchid, Professor Hayter in Time-Flight (TCH 35), Ambril in Snakedance, (TCH 31) Azmael in The Twin Dilemma (TCH 40), Lord Ravensworth in The Mark of the Rani (TCH 41) and Peter Warmsly in Battlefield.
He shared his memories of The Creature from the Pit on the 117th edition of Big Finish's charity podcast series Toby Hadoke's Who's Round. He also contributed to the documentary A Dandy and a Clown: The Life of Jon Pertwee.
Career[]
He is perhaps best remembered as the title character in the ITV series Catweazle (1970-71), and as the Crowman opposite Jon Pertwee in Worzel Gummidge (1979-1981).
Personal life[]
He was the long-time partner of fellow Doctor Who guest star Alan Rowe.[3]
