Stuart Fell is a professional

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

. Prior to this career, Fell served in the Parachute Regiment. He has appeared on British television many times, with his earliest role being in the

LWT London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

comedy series '' Hark at Barker'', in which he plays the driver of a car that crashes when he's distracted by

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as '' Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and ''Open All Hours''. ...

carrying a mannequin. In 1971, he appeared as an uncredited extra in the ''

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 ...

'' serial ''

Terror of the Autons ''Terror of the Autons'' is the first serial of the eighth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 January 1971. The serial is set in various locations ...

'', and his last role came in 1998, as a stuntman in ''

Duck Patrol ''Duck Patrol'' was a short-lived British television comedy series that originally aired in 1998. Produced by LWT for the ITV network, it centred on a river police station by the River Thames. The series consisted of seven episodes: Flying C ...

''. He worked in over twenty ''

'' stories in all, from 1971 to 1983, most often as a stuntman or actor, though he served once as a fight arranger in 1981. He was Dennis Moore on horseback in Monty Pythons Flying Circus, literally sitting in for John Cleese. His small size made him ideal for a number of roles. He was able to get inside a number of small, cramped costumes and even doubled for

Katy Manning Catherine Ann "Katy" Manning (born 14 October 1946) is an English-Australian actress, television presenter, voice artist and former model. Although she has made many appearances on both screen and stage, Manning is best known for her part as th ...

and

Louise Jameson Louise Jameson (born 20 April 1951) is an English actress with a wide variety of television and theatre credits. Her roles on television have included playing Leela in ''Doctor Who'' (1977–1978), Anne Reynolds in ''The Omega Factor'' (1979), ...

(wearing their costumes on both occasions!). His large range of varied skills also earned him considerable praise. In several DVD commentaries, a number of people have remarked that "he could do anything" from juggling, fire-breathing, acrobatics, stilt-walking and ride a motorcycle. As a relatively young newcomer to stunt work, he was eager to prove himself. One example was 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, ...

'', where he is shot and then flipped backwards on a wire rig. He became well known within the series for a number of instances, one being a stunt in which he performed an (unpaid) back flip when he "died" in ''

The Sea Devils ''The Sea Devils'' is the third serial of the ninth season of the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 26 February to 1 April 1972. It was written by Ma ...

''. He also had to stand in for

Kevin Lindsay Kevin Lindsay (17 April 1924 – 26 April 1975) was an Australian actor, born in Bendigo, Victoria. He came to Britain in 1959 and is best known for his appearances in the '' Doctor Who'' series. He appeared as Cho-Je in ''Planet of the Spi ...

in ''

The Sontaran Experiment ''The Sontaran Experiment'' is the third serial of the 12th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was originally broadcast on BBC1 on 22 February and 1 March 1975. The serial is set on Earth more than 10 ...

'' when Lindsay's heart condition made it too difficult for him to complete his lengthy fight scene. Another notable instance was in ''

The Invasion of Time ''The Invasion of Time'' is the sixth and final serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 February to 11 March 1978. It features the fin ...

'', in which he improvised a jump (in full costume) and almost fell down as he landed on a folding chair. He then fell over a chair thrown at him to only narrowly stop himself from rolling into location's swimming pool. The whole sequence ended up being used in the final version. Stuart Fell explained, in a 2004 documentary, that he was encouraged to improvise and it was felt that these trips made the scenes more interesting. He played minor parts in three episodes of ''

Blake's 7 ''Blake's 7'' (sometimes styled ''Blakes7'') is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Four 13-episode series were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also wrote the first ...

''. He appeared in television adaptations of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'', ''

The Mayor of Casterbridge ''The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character'' is an 1886 novel by the English author Thomas Hardy. One of Hardy's Wessex novels, it is set in a fictional rural England with Casterbridge standing in for Dorchester in ...

'' and ''

The Old Curiosity Shop ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' is one of two novels (the other being ''Barnaby Rudge'') which Charles Dickens published along with short stories in his weekly serial ''Master Humphrey's Clock'', from 1840 to 1841. It was so popular that New York r ...

''. He has appeared in ''

The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...

'', the first two ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

'' films, three

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

films, ''

Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...

'' and ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 1 ...

''. Most of his film work was as a stunt man. Fell is currently a professional juggler, is a member of The Magic Circle, and appeared on the

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people (g ...

as an unnamed member of the public demonstrating his collection of yo-yos, diablos and other conjuring toys. He appeared in the Time Quest 2009

convention, where he took part in signings, panels and photo shoots with attendees. He also dressed as a jester and attracted very large queues. His panel was the most visited of the day just behind

Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the Fourth Doctor, fourth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Wh ...

Appearances in Doctor Who

* 1971: Terror of the Autons: Stuntman * 1971: The Mind of Evil: Stuntman, various characters * 1971: The Claws of Axos: stuntman, British Soldier * 1972: The Sea Devils: Stuntman, 'Junior' Sea Devil * 1972: The Curse of Peladon: the body of

Alpha Centauri Alpha Centauri ( Latinized from α Centauri and often abbreviated Alpha Cen or α Cen) is a triple star system in the constellation of Centaurus. It consists of 3 stars: Alpha Centauri A (officially Rigil Kentaurus), Alpha Centaur ...

* 1973: Carnival of Monsters: Functionary * 1974: The Monster of Peladon: the body of Alpha Centauri * 1974: Planet of the Spiders: Stuntman, Tramp * 1975: The Ark in Space: Operated various creature costumes * 1975: The Sontaran Experiment: Doubled for Kevin Lindsay in the Styre costume * 1975: The Android Invasion: Unnamed Kraal * 1976: The Brain of Morbius: The body of Morbius * 1976: The Masque of Mandragora: Stuntman, various characters * 1977: The Face of Evil : Tesh guard * 1977: The Talons of Weng-Chiang: Giant Rat, stuntwork * 1977: The Sun Makers: Guard * 1978: The Invasion of Time: Lead Sontaran Trooper * 1978: The Ribos Operation: Played the 'Shrivenzale' * 1981: State of Decay: Roga, stuntman and fight Arranger * 1982: The Visitation: Stuntman * 1983: The Five Doctors: Stuntman

References

External links

*
Audio interview with Stuart Fell
on th
Goodies Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fell, Stuart British male television actors English stunt performers Living people 1942 births