Stephen Thorne 1935-2019

The actor Stephen Thorne has died at the age of 84.

In the 1970s Stephen Thorne created three of the greatest adversaries of the Doctor, characters whose influence endures in the programme today.

His towering presence and deep melodious voice were first witnessed in the 1971 story The Dæmons, where he portrayed Azal, the last living Dæmon on Earth, in a story often cited as one of the most appreciated of the third Doctor's era and story emblematic of the close-knit UNIT team of the time.

He returned to the series in 1972 playing Omega, the renegade Time Lord fighting The Three Doctors, a character that would return to confront the Doctor in later years. In 1976 he opposed the Fourth Doctor playing the male form of Eldred, last of the Kastrians in the story The Hand of Fear.

Stephen Thorn was born in London in 1935. He trained as an actor at RADA and spent several seasons with the Old Vic Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Television credits were many and included roles in Z Cars, Crossroads, Sexton Blake, David Copperfield and Last of the Summer Wine.

His voice was suited to Radio work where roles included Aslan in The Magicians Nephew, Treebeard in The Lord of the Rings, and Colon in Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards!. He has played many characters for Big Finish Audio productions including reprising the roles of Omega and Eldred.

Thorne recorded over 300 unabridged audiobooks including children's stories and often gave readings at events in places such as Westminster Abbey. His awards include a Talkies Award 1996 for Enigma by Robert Harris and several Golden Earphones Awards from Audiofile Magazine.

The death of Stephen Thorne was announced on Twitter by Lisa Bowerman on behalf of one of his great friends.