William Russell, the actor who first uttered the words: “Doctor Who?”, has died aged 99.
In a statement to The Independent, Russell’s representatives confirmed he passed away peacefully at home on 3 June 2024, and his cause of death was pneumonia.
Russell was best known for his role as schoolteacher Ian Chesterton in the long-running BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who.
He appeared in the show’s first episode, “An Unearthly Child”, in 1963, greeting William Hartnell, who introduced himself as “the Doctor”, with the famous question: “Doctor Who?”
As Chesterton, Russell appeared in Doctor Who’s first two seasons before leaving in 1965.
He reprised his role as Chesterton in 2022 when he appeared in a cameo as part of the “companion support group” in Jodie Whittaker’s final episode, “The Power of the Doctor”.
That marks the longest interval between television appearances as the same character in history, with Guinness World Records stating: “The longest gap between TV appearances is 57 years 120 days, and was achieved by William Russell (UK) as the Doctor Who character Ian Chesterton in ‘The Power of the Doctor’ episode, which aired on 23 October 2022.”
Russell was born in Sunderland on 19 November 1924. He was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School and Oxford University, showing an interest in acting from an early age. During his national service in the Royal Air Force, he was involved in organizing entertainment and later went into repertory theatre.
Prior to landing his celebrated role in Doctor Who, Russell had played the lead role in ITV’s The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, which ran from 1956 to 1957. The series was massively successful in the United States, where it aired on NBC, which meant the series became the first British television series to have entire episodes filmed in color.
He made his film debut in 1952, playing a crewman in the Second World War film Gift Horse, and he went on to appear in several more war films including 1954’s They Who Dare and 1956’s The Man Who Never Was. His other big screen credits include a role as a British officer in 1963’s The Great Escape with Steve McQueen and a small role as an Elder in 1978’s Superman with Christopher Reeve.
Russell is survived by his second wife Etheline Lewis, who he married in 1984, and their son, Alfred Enoch. He is also survived by his children, Vanessa, Laetitia and Robert, from his first marriage to Balbina Gutierrez, which ended in divorce, and four grandchildren, James, Elise, Amy and Ayo.
