David Collings (4 June 1940 – 23 March 2020) was an English actor. In an extensive career he appeared in many roles on stage, television, film and radio, as well as various audio books, voiceovers, concert readings and other work. He garnered a following through his numerous appearances in cult sci-fi series such as ''

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 ...

'', ''

Sapphire & Steel ''Sapphire & Steel'' is a British television supernatural sci-fi/fantasy series starring David McCallum as Steel and Joanna Lumley as Sapphire. Produced by ATV, it ran from 1979 to 1982 on the ITV network. The series was created by Peter J. ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'', as well as voicing the titular character in the series ''

Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

'' and Legolas in the classic

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' ...

adaptation of Tolkien's ''

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 ...

''.

Biography

Collings was born in

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 ...

on 4 June 1940.

Film and television

Collings's screen breakthrough came playing the protagonist Raskolnikov in

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

's ''Crime & Punishment'' (1964 with

Associated-Rediffusion Television Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, a ...

). The production was broadcast live. He has played historical characters such as

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...

in Ken Russell's ''

Song of Summer ''Song of Summer'' is a 1968 black-and-white television film co-written, produced, and directed by Ken Russell for the BBC's '' Omnibus'' series which was first broadcast on 15 September 1968. It portrays the final six years of Frederick Deliu ...

'' (1968), Richard Simmons in The Shadow of the Tower (1972),

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

in ''

The Love School ''The Love School'' (broadcast in the U.S. as ''The Brotherhood'') is a BBC television drama series originally broadcast in 1975 about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, written by John Hale, Ray Lawler, Robin Chapman and John Prebble. It was direc ...

'' (1975), a BBC series about the Pre-Raphaelites, and Sir

Anthony Babington Anthony Babington (24 October 156120 September 1586) was an English gentleman convicted of plotting the assassination of Elizabeth I of England and conspiring with the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots, for which he was hanged, drawn and quartere ...

in '' Elizabeth R''. In 1975, he portrayed

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

in '' The Fight Against Slavery'', and he starred as William Pitt in ''

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...

'' in 1979. Collings also appeared as Deva in the final episode of ''

'' and as the character of 'Silver' in several of the popular ''

'' TV adventures. He appeared in the TV series ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again b ...

'', ''

Mystery and Imagination ''Mystery and Imagination'' is a British television anthology series of classic horror and supernatural dramas. Five series were broadcast from 1966 to 1970 by the ITV network and produced by ABC and (later) Thames Television. Outline The se ...

'', ''

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

'' (episode "

The Psychobombs "The Psychobombs" is the twelfth episode aired of the first series of ''UFO'', a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written by Tony Barwick and the director was Jeremy Summers. The ...

") and ''

Gideon's Way ''Gideon's Way'' is a British television crime series made by ITC Entertainment and broadcast by ITV in 1964–1966, based on novels by John Creasey (writing as 'J. J. Marric'). The series was made at Elstree Studios in twin production with ' ...

''; in the latter, he played an emotionally disturbed man attacking young women in the episode ''The Prowler''. Collings played the character of

Bob Cratchit Bob Cratchit is a fictional character in the Charles Dickens 1843 novel ''A Christmas Carol''. The abused, underpaid clerk of Ebenezer Scrooge (and possibly Jacob Marley, when he was alive), Cratchit has come to symbolize the poor working condi ...

in the classic 1970 film musical, '' Scrooge'', starring alongside Albert Finney, Dame Edith Evans, Sir Alec Guinness, Kenneth More, Anton Rodgers and others. In 1981 he played the dual roles of Lord Dark and The Friendly Ghost in the perennial school-children's favourite ''

Dark Towers Dark Towers is a 1981 educational production by the BBC in the ''Look and Read'' series. The series remains highly popular in primary schools to this day. Parts of the film were shot at Sutton Court, Somerset. The show involves two main charac ...

'', part of the Look and Read series. He voiced the eponymous lead for the long-running hit Japanese television series ''Journey to the West'', released in English-speaking countries as ''

.'' The show was a popular hit and had a mass following, particularly with young people. He is also noted for his children's television appearances including the role of Julian Oakapple in '' Midnight is a Place'' (1977). In 1989 he played Charn (the villain) in '' Through The Dragon's Eye'', and had a recurring role as the headmaster in ''

Press Gang ''Press Gang'' is a British children's television comedy drama consisting of 43 episodes across five series that were broadcast from 1989 to 1993. It was produced by Richmond Film & Television for Central, and screened on the ITV network in i ...

'' from 1989 to 1993.

''Doctor Who''

He has appeared a number of times in the long-running British science fiction television series ''

'', including Vorus in ''

Revenge of the Cybermen ''Revenge of the Cybermen'' is the fifth and final serial of the 12th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 19 April to 10 May 1975. It was the first ...

'', Poul in ''

The Robots of Death ''The Robots of Death'' is the fifth serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 29 January to 19 February 1977. In the serial, the Fou ...

'' and Mawdryn in the serial ''

Mawdryn Undead ''Mawdryn Undead'' is the third serial of the 20th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was originally broadcast in four twice weekly parts on BBC1 from 1 to 9 February 1983. The serial is set in an Engl ...

''. He has also played an alternate Doctor in the

audio plays Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

by Big Finish Productions in the ''

Doctor Who Unbound ''Doctor Who Unbound'' is a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions. Free from the constraints of continuity, the ''Doctor Who Unbound'' audios present a series of "What if...?" scenarios, and cast new actors in the role of ...

'' series, '' Full Fathom Five'', alongside other Doctor Who audio credits. Collings returned to the role of Poul- now named Paulus- in the episode ''Hidden Persuaders'' of the audio drama series ''

Kaldor City ''Kaldor City'' is a series of audio plays using elements from the British TV series ''Doctor Who'' and ''Blake's 7''. Many of the elements borrowed from these series for use in ''Kaldor City'' were originated by Chris Boucher, who wrote for '' ...

''.

Radio

On radio, he portrayed

Legolas Legolas (pronounced ) is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm and one of the nine members of the Fellowship who set out to destroy the One Ring. He and the Dwarf Gimli ...

in the classic BBC Radio 4 adaptation of ''

''. He was Mr Carlyle in Radio 4's 7-episode serial dramatisation of East Lynne by Mrs Henry Wood, first broadcast in June 1987. In 2006, Collings was the reader of the critically acclaimed recordings of ''The Complete Ghost Stories of M. R. James''.

Theatre

Collings was described by ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

'' as a "stalwart of the

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and

RSC RSC may refer to: Arts * Royal Shakespeare Company, a British theatre company * Reduced Shakespeare Company, a touring American acting troupe * Richmondshire Subscription Concerts, a music society in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England * Rock Ste ...

". His career on stage began with seasons at the Liverpool Rep and subsequently took him all over the world with leading companies including

Cheek by Jowl Cheek by Jowl is an international theatre company founded in the United Kingdom by director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod in 1981. Donnellan and Ormerod are Cheek by Jowl's artistic directors and together direct and design all of ...

, as well as BAM and the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

in New York. He has had a long theatre career appearing in various productions in the UK, US and globally, ranging from Shakespeare and his contemporaries, classical works,

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

dramas and farce, through to contemporary classics and new plays. He played the parts of Mortimer the Elder and Matrevis in a production of '' Edward II'' at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, which also featured his son, the actor Samuel Collings. He also appeared as the King of France in ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...

'', and most recently Giles Corey in ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as a ...

'' at the same venue.

Personal life

Collings had three children, Samuel, Eliza and Kate. He died aged 79, on 23 March 2020.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collings, David 1940 births 2020 deaths English male film actors English male Shakespearean actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male voice actors People from Brighton Place of death missing Royal Shakespeare Company members