Bernard John Holley (9 August 1940 – 22 November 2021) was a British actor whose career spanned more than six decades.

Life and career

Holley was born in

Eastcote Eastcote is a suburban area in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in northwest London. In the Middle Ages, Eastcote was one of the three areas that made up the parish of Ruislip, under the name of Ascot. The name came from its position to the e ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. He attended

Kilburn Grammar School Kilburn Grammar School was an English grammar school which opened in 1898 in Kilburn, north-west London. The school ceased to exist in 1967. History The school's history is detailed in a book by Richard E Brock. It was founded by the Rev. Dr. H ...

and the Rose Bruford Drama School, and made his first professional stage appearance at the Theatre Royal, Lincoln, in 1963. Holley came to notice in the long-running UK police drama series ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debuted ...

'' as PC Newcombe, a character he played for four years. He also appeared in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'', first as Peter Haydon in ''

The Tomb of the Cybermen ''The Tomb of the Cybermen'' is the first serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was originally broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 September 1967. In the serial, the ...

'' (1967), starring

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor who was classically trained for the stage but became known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction ...

as the Doctor, and later as the Axon Man in ''

The Claws of Axos ''The Claws of Axos'' is the third serial of the eighth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 13 March to 3 April 1971. In the serial, set in Britain, ...

'' (1971), starring

Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland "Jon" Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996) was an English actor, comedian, entertainer, cabaret performer and TV presenter. Born into a theatrical family, he served in the Royal Navy and the Naval Intelligence Division during ...

. Holley reprised his role as Axos in a new Doctor Who audio drama, ''

The Feast of Axos ''Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures'', formerly titled the ''Main Range'', is a series that consists of full-cast audio dramas based on the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', produced by Nicholas Briggs and Big Finis ...

'', opposite

Colin Baker Colin Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor who played Paul Merroney in the BBC drama series '' The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series '' Doctor ...

, which was released on CD in February 2011. Other regular roles included Detective Inspector Mike Turnbull in ''

The Gentle Touch ''The Gentle Touch'' is a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television for ITV which began on 11 April 1980 and ran until 1984. The series is notable for being the first British series to feature a female police off ...

'' (1982–84), a character he also played in the follow-up series '' C.A.T.S. Eyes'' in 1985. He later played Richard in two seasons of '' Birds of a Feather'' in 1998. He also appeared as the Chief Constable in the popular drama series ''

A Touch of Frost A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

'', in 1999 and returned to play the role in 2003. His later television appearances included roles in ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...

'', ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'', ''

Doctors Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

'' and ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...

''. Holley also voiced hundreds of television commercials, including the campaign for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

game ''

LittleBigPlanet ''LittleBigPlanet'' (stylized as ''LittleBIGPlanet''; abbreviated ''LBP'') is a puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in the series ...

'', and presented many corporate videos. His film roles included appearances in ''

Travels with My Aunt ''Travels with My Aunt'' (1969) is a novel written by English author Graham Greene. The novel follows the travels of Henry Pulling, a retired bank manager, and his eccentric Aunt Augusta as they find their way across Europe, and eventually ev ...

'' (1972) and the film '' The Deadly Females'' (1976). Holley also worked consistently on the stage in theatres across the UK, including Farnham,

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

and

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. One of his last stage roles was in Allan Monkhouse's ''Mary Broome'' at the

Orange Tree Theatre The Orange Tree Theatre is a 180-seat theatre at 1 Clarence Street, Richmond in south-west London, which was built specifically as a theatre in the round. It is housed within a disused 1867 primary school, built in Victorian Gothic style. T ...

, Richmond, in 2011. Holley died after a long illness on 22 November 2021, at the age of 81. He was survived by his wife, Jean and their son, Michael.

References

External links

*Bernard Holley's Showreel
- YouTube
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holley, Bernard 1940 births 2021 deaths English male stage actors English male television actors People educated at Kilburn Grammar School People from Eastcote 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors