Stephen John Thorne (2 March 1935 – 26 May 2019) was a British actor of radio, film, stage, and television. He was best known for his regular

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

work and audiobook recordings, and for his portrayals of several ''

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 ...

'' villains, including the

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, is a memb ...

Omega Omega (; capital: Ω, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value of 800. The wo ...

Early life

Thorne was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1935 and brought up in Hesketh Bank,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, by adoptive parents, Alan Thorne, a vicar, and his wife Betty (née Boulton). He went to school at Liverpool College and then joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

for his national service. On demobilisation Thorne trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), a

drama school A drama school, stage school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution (such as the Drama section at the Juilliard School); which specializes in the pr ...

situated in the

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

area of London, and graduated in 1957.

Career

He played several seasons with the

Old Vic Company The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit organization, not-for-profit producing house, producing theatre in Waterloo, London, Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Th ...

and the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

in Stratford and London including a tour to Russia. He worked extensively in radio with over 2000 broadcasts for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

including as Uncle Mort in the Radio 4 comedy series ''

I Didn't Know You Cared ''I Didn't Know You Cared'' is a British television comedy set in a working-class household in South Yorkshire in the 1970s, written by Peter Tinniswood loosely based upon his books ''A Touch of Daniel'', ''I Didn't Know You Cared'' and ''Except ...

''. His television credits included ''

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 ...

'', ''

Crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...

'', and ''

''. In ''Doctor Who'', he played three major villains (

, Azal, and Eldrad), as well as an

Ogron Ogrons are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Ogrons are low-intelligence, ape-like hominids who live in scattered communities on the rocky planet Ograviss, on the outer fringes ...

, before later playing the villainous Max in

The Ghosts of N-Space ''The Ghosts of N-Space'' is a radio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was recorded in 1994 and finally broadcast in six parts on BBC Radio 2 from 20 January to 24 February 1996. This wa ...

, a Doctor Who BBC Radio story, in the mid 1990s. Also on radio, Thorne appeared as Aslan in ''

The Magician's Nephew ''The Magician's Nephew'' is a fantasy children's novel by C. S. Lewis, published in 1955 by The Bodley Head. It is the sixth published of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956). In recent editions, which sequence the books ...

'', as Treebeard in the Radio 4 adaptation of ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

'', and also in their adaptation of Terry Pratchett's '' Guards! Guards!'' in which he portrayed

Fred Colon The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is the police force of the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork in the ''Discworld'' series by the English writer Terry Pratchett. The Watch, its growth and development, and its inner workings are explored through a series ...

(and also Death). He was also renowned for audio book narration. He also played the character of Lionheart in ''

The Scarifyers ''The Scarifyers'' is an audio adventure and comic book series produced by Bafflegab Productions (formerly Cosmic Hobo Productions) and based on stories written by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris. Set in 1936 and 1937, it originally followed the ...

'' following Nicholas Courtney's death. Other television work included '' Death of an Expert Witness'', '' David Copperfield'', and '' Last of the Summer Wine''. He voiced Aslan in the animated version of ''

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950. It is the first published and best known of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956). Among all the ...

''. Thorne reprised the character on the BBC radio adaptation of the same name. He gave many poetry readings on radio, television, and tape and in venues from

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

to various pubs. He recorded over 300 unabridged audiobooks including children's stories which earned critical acclaim in both the UK and the US. Awards included a Talkies Award 1996 for '' Enigma'' by Robert Harris and several Golden Earphones Awards from Audiofile Magazine.

Personal life

While training at RADA Thorne met fellow student Barbara Sykes, and they married in 1958. On 26 May 2019, Thorne died, at the age of 84. He is survived by his wife, and their two sons, Simon and Crispian.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, Stephen 1935 births 2019 deaths Audiobook narrators Royal Shakespeare Company members Male actors from Derbyshire People from Derby British male film actors British male television actors British male stage actors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Male actors from London