Changes: Ian Marter

Revision as of 03:11, 6 July 2020

Ian Don Marter (28 October 1944^[1]^[2]-28 October 1986^[3]^[4]) played companion Harry Sullivan in Doctor Who from Robot to Terror of the Zygons and again in The Android Invasion.

He wrote several books for the Target novelisations, including two published posthumously.

He also played the minor role of Lieutenant John Andrews in the Doctor Who story Carnival of Monsters.

He sometimes wrote under the pen name Ian Don.

Biography

After graduating from Oxford University in 1969, Marter worked at the Bristol Old Vic theatre, where he was a stage manager and acted in various minor roles. To supplement his low actor's wages, he worked for a time as a milkman and a schoolteacher.

In 1971 he auditioned for the regular role of Captain Mike Yates in the eighth season of Doctor Who. Although he was offered the part, he was unable to accept due to other commitments. He sufficiently impressed the production team to be kept in mind however, and was cast in a supporting role in the 1973 story Carnival of Monsters, broadcast as part of the tenth season of the programme.

In 1974, he was cast as companion Harry Sullivan, a character developed by the production team when they thought the Fourth Doctor might be portrayed by an older actor who would be unable to handle the more physical action scenes. However, after Tom Baker, who was forty, was cast, this was no longer an issue. Harry was written out after just one season, despite being a popular character and gelling with Baker and other lead Elisabeth Sladen. Marter was the third Doctor Who regular to be cast following a guest appearance; the first two were Peter Purves and Nicholas Courtney.

Marter remained involved with Doctor Who after his departure from the cast. He co-wrote the script for a potential feature film version, provisionally titled Doctor Who Meets Scratchman in collaboration with Baker and film director James Hill, although this never came to pass. The intention was to have Baker's Doctor come face to face with Scratchman, an ancient British word for the devil. The finale of the film would have taken place on a giant pinball table, the holes in the table portals to other dimensions. The project fizzled out due to lack of funding and the dire state of the British film industry. However, much of the material written by Marter and Baker for that project would be adapted, by Baker himself with James Goss, for the 2019 novel Scratchman.

He also became involved with the writing of novelisations of Doctor Who stories for Target Books, penning nine adaptations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Marter's novelisations were controversial, most notably for his use of the word 'bastard' in his novelisation of The Enemy of the World.

The last of Marter's Doctor Who novelisations was The Rescue, which was completed by range editor Nigel Robinson after Marter's unexpected death. Marter is, to date, one of only six Doctor Who actors (the others being Colin Baker, David Banks, Glyn Jones, Mark Gatiss and Tom Baker; original series writer Victor Pemberton also appeared as an actor) to write licensed fiction based upon the series.

Marter also wrote an original spin-off novel for Target, Harry Sullivan's War, starring the character he had played on screen, published in 1986, only weeks before his death; this was the second original Doctor Who-related novel ever published, after Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma. Marter planned a sequel and an adaptation of the unused Doctor Who Meets Scratchman script at the time of his death.

In addition to his Doctor Who novelisations, he adapted several 1980s American films, such as Splash and Down and Out in Beverly Hills for Target and their Star Books imprint. Some of these books were published under the pen name Ian Don.

Marter's acting career outside of Doctor Who consisted mainly of guest roles in series such as the BBC's Bergerac (in 1985) and Granada Television's The Return of Sherlock Holmes (in 1986). He also had minor roles in films, such as The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and The Medusa Touch (1978).

Marter married Rosemary Heyland in 1968 and had two sons, Rupert and Toby. He died suddenly at his home in London on his forty-second birthday in 1986 (some sources erroneously give his date of death as being two days later, 30 October) after suffering a heart attack brought on by complications of type 1 diabetes. He has the sad distinction of being the first companion actor to pass away, and only the second major Doctor Who actor to die (the first was William Hartnell more than a decade earlier).

At the time of his death, Marter had completed work on two final novelisations, The Reign of Terror and The Rescue. Both were published posthumously.

Credits

Acting

Doctor Who

Carnival of Monsters - John Andrews

As Harry Sullivan

Writing

Target Novelisations

The Companions of Doctor Who

Harry Sullivan's War

Footnotes

↑ REF: Who-ology: The Official Miscellany
↑ Doctor Who Official (28 October 2012). Ian Marter (1944 –1986) was born on this day… We remember him fondly as Harry Sullivan.. Twitter. Retrieved on 13 December 2016.
↑ Whyte, Nicholas (19 March 2007). The Doctor Who novels of Ian Marter. Strange Horizons. Retrieved on 13 December 2016.
↑ Find a Grave

External links

[1] REF: Who-ology: The Official Miscellany

[2] Doctor Who Official (28 October 2012). Ian Marter (1944 –1986) was born on this day… We remember him fondly as Harry Sullivan.. Twitter. Retrieved on 13 December 2016.

[3] Whyte, Nicholas (19 March 2007). The Doctor Who novels of Ian Marter. Strange Horizons. Retrieved on 13 December 2016.

[4] Find a Grave

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{real world}}
+{{Infobox Person
-[[File:511px-IanMarter.jpg|right|200 px|Ian Marter speaking at a Doctor Who fan convention in 1983]]
+|image = 511px-IanMarter.jpg
-'''Ian Marter''' (born [[28 October]] [[1944]] in [[Wikipedia:Coventry|Coventry]], [[England]]; died 28 October [[1986]] in [[London]]) played [[companion]] [[Harry Sullivan]] in ''[[Doctor Who]]'' from ''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]'' to ''[[Terror of the Zygons]]'', and again in'' [[The Android Invasion]]''. He wrote several books for the [[Target novelisation]], including two published posthumously. He also played the minor role of [[John Andrews]] in the ''Doctor Who'' story ''[[Carnival of Monsters]]''.
+|birth date = [[28 October (people)|28 October]] [[1944 (people)|1944]]
+|death date = 28 October [[1986 (people)|1986]]
+|role = [[Harry Sullivan]]
+|job title = Actor, [[writer]]
+|time = 1974-1975
+|non dwu = ''Crown Court'', ''Fell Tiger'', ''[[Bergerac]]'', ''[[Sherlock Holmes|The Return of Sherlock Holmes]]''
+|imdb = 0551722
+|clip = Exclusive First Look On Target with Ian Marter Part 1 - Carnival of Monsters
+|clip2 = DVD Special Feature - On Target with Ian Marter Part 2 - Doctor Who Carnival of Monsters
+}}'''Ian Don Marter''' ([[28 October (people)|28 October]] [[1944 (people)|1944]]<ref>[[REF]]: ''[[Who-ology: The Official Miscellany]]''</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/659419393219305472|title=Ian Marter (1944 –1986) was born on this day… We remember him fondly as Harry Sullivan.|author=Doctor Who Official|website name=Twitter|date of source=28 October 2012|accessdate=13 December 2016}}</ref>-[[28 October (people)|28 October]] [[1986 (people)|1986]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/the-doctor-who-novels-of-ian-marter/|title=The ''Doctor Who'' novels of Ian Marter|author=Whyte, Nicholas|date of source=19 March 2007|website name=Strange Horizons|accessdate=13 December 2016}}</ref><ref>[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20747 Find a Grave]</ref>) played [[companion]] [[Harry Sullivan]] in ''[[Doctor Who]]'' from ''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]'' to ''[[Terror of the Zygons (TV story)|Terror of the Zygons]]'' and again in ''[[The Android Invasion (TV story)|The Android Invasion]]''.
+He wrote several books for the [[Target novelisation]]s, including two published posthumously.
-He sometimes wrote under the [[Wikipedia:pen name|pen name]] '''Ian Don'''.
+He also played the minor role of Lieutenant [[John Andrews]] in the ''Doctor Who'' story ''[[Carnival of Monsters (TV story)|Carnival of Monsters]]''.
+He sometimes wrote under the {{w|pen name}} Ian Don.
 == Biography ==
-After graduating from [[Oxford University]] in [[1969]], Marter initially worked at the [[Wikipedia:Bristol Old Vic|Bristol Old Vic]] theatre, where he was a stage manager and acting in various minor roles. To support his low actor's wages, he worked for a time as a milkman and a schoolteacher.
+After graduating from [[Oxford University]] in 1969, Marter worked at the {{w|Bristol Old Vic}} theatre, where he was a stage manager and acted in various minor roles. To supplement his low actor's wages, he worked for a time as a milkman and a schoolteacher.
-In [[1971]] he auditioned for the regular role of Captain [[Mike Yates]] in the eighth season of ''Doctor Who''. Although he did not win the part, he sufficiently impressed the production team to be kept in mind and cast in a supporting role in the [[1973]] story'' [[Carnival of Monsters]]'', broadcast as part of the tenth season of the programme.
+In 1971 he auditioned for the regular role of Captain [[Mike Yates]] in the eighth season of ''Doctor Who''. Although he was offered the part, he was unable to accept due to other commitments. He sufficiently impressed the production team to be kept in mind however, and was cast in a supporting role in the 1973 story'' [[Carnival of Monsters (TV story)|Carnival of Monsters]]'', broadcast as part of the tenth season of the programme.
-In [[1974]], he was cast in the role of Harry Sullivan, a character developed by the production team when they thought the incoming [[Fourth Doctor]] would be portrayed by an older actor and would not be able to handle the more physical action scenes. However, after [[Tom Baker]], who was forty, was cast, this was no longer an issue and Harry was written out after just one season, despite being a popular character and gelling with Baker and other lead [[Elisabeth Sladen]]. Marter was the third ''Doctor Who'' regular to be cast following a guest appearance (the first was [[Peter Purves]], and the second was [[Nicholas Courtney]]).
+In 1974, he was cast as companion Harry Sullivan, a character developed by the production team when they thought the [[Fourth Doctor]] might be portrayed by an older actor who would be unable to handle the more physical action scenes. However, after [[Tom Baker]], who was forty, was cast, this was no longer an issue. Harry was written out after just one season, despite being a popular character and gelling with Baker and other lead [[Elisabeth Sladen]]. Marter was the third ''Doctor Who'' regular to be cast following a guest appearance; the first two were [[Peter Purves]] and [[Nicholas Courtney]].
-Marter remained involved with ''Doctor Who'' after his departure from the cast. He co-wrote the script for a potential [[List of Doctor Who feature films|feature film]] version, provisionally titled ''[[Doctor Who Meets Scratchman]]'' in collaboration with Baker and film director [[James Hill]], although this never came to pass. The intention was to have Baker's Doctor come face to face with [[Scratchman]], an ancient British word for the devil. The finale of the film would have taken place on a giant pinball table, the holes in the table portals to other dimensions. The project fizzled out due to lack of funding and the dire state of the British film industry.
+Marter remained involved with ''Doctor Who'' after his departure from the cast. He co-wrote the script for a potential [[List of Doctor Who feature films|feature film]] version, provisionally titled ''[[Doctor Who Meets Scratchman]]'' in collaboration with Baker and film director {{w|James Hill (British director)|James Hill}}, although this never came to pass. The intention was to have Baker's Doctor come face to face with [[Scratchman]], an ancient British word for the devil. The finale of the film would have taken place on a giant pinball table, the holes in the table portals to other dimensions. The project fizzled out due to lack of funding and the dire state of the British film industry. However, much of the material written by Marter and Baker for that project would be adapted, by Baker himself with [[James Goss]], for the 2019 novel ''[[Scratchman (novelisation)|Scratchman]]''.
-He later became involved with the writing of novelisations of ''Doctor Who'' stories for [[Target Books]], penning nine adaptations in the late [[1970s]] and early [[1980s|80s]]. Marter's novelisations were controversial, most notably for his use of the word 'bastard' in his novelisation of the [[1967]] story ''[[The Enemy of the World]]''.
+He also became involved with the writing of novelisations of ''Doctor Who'' stories for [[Target Books]], penning nine adaptations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Marter's novelisations were controversial, most notably for his use of the word 'bastard' in his novelisation of ''[[Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World (novelisation)|The Enemy of the World]]''.
-The last of Marter's ''Doctor Who'' novelisations was ''[[The Rescue]]'', which was completed by range editor [[Nigel Robinson]] after Marter's unexpected death. Marter is, to date, one of only five ''Doctor Who'' actors (the others being [[Colin Baker]], [[David Banks]], [[Glyn Jones]] and [[Mark Gatiss]]; original series writer [[Victor Pemberton]] also appeared as an actor) to write licensed fiction based upon the series. He was the only actor of ongoing status on the series (the others being one-off or occasional guest stars).
+The last of Marter's ''Doctor Who'' novelisations was ''[[The Rescue (novelisation)|The Rescue]]'', which was completed by range editor [[Nigel Robinson]] after Marter's unexpected death. Marter is, to date, one of only six ''Doctor Who'' actors (the others being [[Colin Baker]], [[David Banks]], [[Glyn Jones]], [[Mark Gatiss]] and [[Tom Baker]]; original series writer [[Victor Pemberton]] also appeared as an actor) to write licensed fiction based upon the series.
-Marter also wrote an original spin-off novel for Target, ''[[Harry Sullivan's War]]'', starring the character he had played on screen, published in [[1986]], only weeks before his death; this was the second original ''Doctor Who''-related novel ever published, after ''[[Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma]]''. Marter planned a sequel and an adaptation of the unused ''Doctor Who Meets Scratchman'' script at the time of his death. In addition to his ''Doctor Who'' novelisations, he wrote adaptations of several [[1980s]] [[United States|American]] films, such as ''[[Wikipedia:Splash|Splash]]'' and ''[[Wikipedia:Down and Out in Beverly Hills|Down and Out in Beverly Hills]]'' for [[Target Books|Target]] and their [[Star Books]] imprint. Some of these books were published under the pen name 'Ian Don'.
+Marter also wrote an original spin-off novel for Target, ''[[Harry Sullivan's War (novel)|Harry Sullivan's War]]'', starring the character he had played on screen, published in 1986, only weeks before his death; this was the second original ''Doctor Who''-related novel ever published, after ''[[Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma (novel)|Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma]]''. Marter planned a sequel and an adaptation of the unused ''Doctor Who Meets Scratchman'' script at the time of his death.
+In addition to his ''Doctor Who'' novelisations, he adapted several 1980s [[United States|American]] films, such as {{wi|Splash (film)|Splash}} and {{wi|Down and Out in Beverly Hills}} for [[Target Books|Target]] and their [[Star Books]] imprint. Some of these books were published under the pen name Ian Don.
-Marter's acting career outside of ''Doctor Who'' consisted mainly of guest roles in series such as the [[BBC]]'s ''[[Wikipedia:Bergerac (television)|Bergerac]]'' (in [[1985]]) and [[Wikipedia:Granada Television|Granada Television]]'s ''[[Wikipedia:The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (television)|The Return of Sherlock Holmes]]'' (in [[1986]]). He also had minor roles in several films, such as ''[[Wikipedia:The Abominable Dr. Phibes|The Abominable Dr. Phibes]]'' ([[1971]]) and ''[[Wikipedia:The Medusa Touch (film)|The Medusa Touch]]'' ([[1978]]).
+Marter's acting career outside of ''Doctor Who'' consisted mainly of guest roles in series such as the [[BBC]]'s ''[[Bergerac]]'' (in 1985) and {{w|Granada Television}}'s {{wi|Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV series)|The Return of Sherlock Holmes}} (in 1986). He also had minor roles in films, such as {{wi|The Abominable Dr. Phibes}} (1971) and {{wi|The Medusa Touch (film)|The Medusa Touch}} (1978).
-Marter was married and had two sons. He died suddenly at his home in [[London]] on his forty-second birthday in [[1986]] (some sources erroneously give his date of death as being two days later, [[30 October]]) after suffering a heart attack brought on by complications of diabetes. He has the sad distinction of being the first companion actor to pass away, and only the second major ''Doctor Who'' actor to die (the first was [[William Hartnell]] more than a decade earlier).
+Marter married Rosemary Heyland in 1968 and had two sons, Rupert and Toby. He died suddenly at his home in [[London]] on his forty-second birthday in [[1986 (people)|1986]] (some sources erroneously give his date of death as being two days later, [[30 October (people)|30 October]]) after suffering a heart attack brought on by complications of type 1 diabetes. He has the sad distinction of being the first companion actor to pass away, and only the second major ''Doctor Who'' actor to die (the first was [[William Hartnell]] more than a decade earlier).
-At the time of his death, Marter had completed work on two final novelisations, ''[[The Reign of Terror (novelisation)|The Reign of Terror]]'' and ''[[The Rescue (novelisation)|The Rescue]]'', both of which were published posthumously.
+At the time of his death, Marter had completed work on two final novelisations, ''[[The Reign of Terror (novelisation)|The Reign of Terror]]'' and ''[[The Rescue (novelisation)|The Rescue]]''. Both were published posthumously.
-== Bibliography ==
-* ''[[Doctor Who and the Ark in Space]]''
+== Credits ==
-* ''[[Doctor Who and the Sontaran Experiment]]''
+=== Acting ===
-* ''[[Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation]]''
-* ''[[Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World]]''
+==== Doctor Who ====
+* ''[[Carnival of Monsters (TV story)|Carnival of Monsters]]'' - [[John Andrews]]
+As [[Harry Sullivan]]
+* ''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]''
+* ''[[The Ark in Space (TV story)|The Ark in Space]]''
+* ''[[The Sontaran Experiment (TV story)|The Sontaran Experiment]]''
+* ''[[Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)|Genesis of the Daleks]]''
+* ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen (TV story)|Revenge of the Cybermen]]''
+* ''[[Terror of the Zygons (TV story)|Terror of the Zygons]]''
+* ''[[The Android Invasion (TV story)|The Android Invasion]]''
+=== Writing ===
+==== Target Novelisations ====
+* ''[[Doctor Who and the Ark in Space (novelisation)|Doctor Who and the Ark in Space]]''
+* ''[[Doctor Who and the Sontaran Experiment (novelisation)|Doctor Who and the Sontaran Experiment]]''
+* ''[[Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation (novelisation)|Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation]]''
+* ''[[Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World (novelisation)|Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World]]''
 * ''[[Earthshock (novelisation)|Earthshock]]''
 * ''[[The Dominators (novelisation)|The Dominators]]''
 * ''[[The Invasion (novelisation)|The Invasion]]''
 * ''[[The Reign of Terror (novelisation)|The Reign of Terror]]''
-* ''[[The Rescue]]''
+* ''[[The Rescue (novelisation)|The Rescue]]''
-* ''[[Harry Sullivan's War]]''
+==== The Companions of Doctor Who ====
+* ''[[Harry Sullivan's War (novel)|Harry Sullivan's War]]''
+== Footnotes ==
+{{reflist}}
 == External links ==
+{{imdb name|id=0551722}}
+* [http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/the-doctor-who-novels-of-ian-marter/ An analysis of Ian Marter's novelisations]
 * [http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~ecl6nb/OnTarget/authors/mart/marter.htm Profile on the ''On Target'' Target Books fansite]
-{{imdb name|id=0551722|name=Ian Marter}}
-{{Wikipedia|Ian Marter}}
 {{NameSort}}
 [[Category:Articles that were originally Wikipedia forks]]
-[[Category:Novelisation writers]]
 [[Category:Doctor Who regular cast]]
-[[Category:Actors who appeared in Sherlock Holmes adaptations]]
+[[Category:Doctor Who novelisation writers]]
+[[Category:Actors who portrayed companions of the Doctor]]

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