David Banks
Encyclopedia
David Banks is a British
actor
.
As a theatre actor he has played many leading roles in London and throughout the UK. His numerous TV appearances include long-running portrayals in Brookside
, playing the wrongly convicted murderer Graeme Curtis, and 181 episodes of L!ve TV
’s drama series Canary Wharf
as Max Armstrong, head of news, who was finally abducted by aliens. During the Eighties he was the Cyberleader
in the science fiction
series Doctor Who
in all stories featuring the Cybermen: Earthshock
(1982), The Five Doctors
(1983), Attack of the Cybermen
(1985) and Silver Nemesis
(1988). In 1989 he played the part of Karl the Mercenary in the stage play Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure
, except for two performances when he appeared as The Doctor
, replacing Jon Pertwee
who had fallen ill.He also appeared in EastEnders
in 1992,playing gangster,Jason Cox,who was after Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp
).
He also writes and directs and has worked extensively as a voice artist, recording over 100 audiobooks – including an unabridged version of J. R. R. Tolkien
's The Lord of the Rings
(Talking Books, 2006). In 2007 he revived his portrayal of Karl the Mercenary in a Big Finish Productions
audio adaptation of Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure
with Colin Baker
as The Doctor
.
(Virgin, 1993) for the Virgin New Adventures
range of Doctor Who spin-off novels, which was set in 2006, when an inversion of the Earth's magnetic field is threatening to destroy human civilization, and featured the Cybermen and the investigative journalist Ruby Duvall. His play "Severance", about the 12th century lovers Abelard
and Heloise, was first performed in 2002. In 2008 he was invited to the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne, where he delivered a paper about cyber emotions, with reference to the recent television reappearance of Cybermen after a long absence. The paper was entitled "Life as an emotionless killing machine: Cybermen in a strange state".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
As a theatre actor he has played many leading roles in London and throughout the UK. His numerous TV appearances include long-running portrayals in Brookside
Brookside
Brookside is a defunct British soap opera set in Liverpool, England. The series began on the launch night of Channel 4 on 2 November 1982, and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003...
, playing the wrongly convicted murderer Graeme Curtis, and 181 episodes of L!ve TV
L!VE TV
L!VE TV was a British television station that was operated by MGN on cable television from 15 August 1995 - 31 October 1999. It was later revived for Sky Digital from 2003...
’s drama series Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...
as Max Armstrong, head of news, who was finally abducted by aliens. During the Eighties he was the Cyberleader
Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
in the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
in all stories featuring the Cybermen: Earthshock
Earthshock
Earthshock is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 8 March to 16 March 1982...
(1982), The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
(1983), Attack of the Cybermen
Attack of the Cybermen
Attack of the Cybermen is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts from 5 January to 12 January 1985. It opened Season 22 of the series...
(1985) and Silver Nemesis
Silver Nemesis
Silver Nemesis was the 25th anniversary serial of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast in the UK in three weekly parts from 23 November 1988, to 7 December 1988....
(1988). In 1989 he played the part of Karl the Mercenary in the stage play Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure
Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure
Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure was a 1989 stage play, written by Terrance Dicks based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
, except for two performances when he appeared as The Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
, replacing Jon Pertwee
Jon Pertwee
John Devon Roland Pertwee , was an English actor. Pertwee is best known for his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which he played the third incarnation of the Doctor from 1970 to 1974, and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge...
who had fallen ill.He also appeared in EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
in 1992,playing gangster,Jason Cox,who was after Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp
Ross Kemp
Ross James Kemp is a BAFTA award-winning British actor, author and journalist, who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders...
).
He also writes and directs and has worked extensively as a voice artist, recording over 100 audiobooks – including an unabridged version of J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
(Talking Books, 2006). In 2007 he revived his portrayal of Karl the Mercenary in a Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
audio adaptation of Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure
Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure
Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure was a 1989 stage play, written by Terrance Dicks based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
with Colin Baker
Colin Baker
Colin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
as The Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
.
Writing
David Banks is the author of several published books. In 1988 he wrote "Doctor Who – Cybermen", illustrated by Andrew Skilleter (Who Dares Publishing, 1988), which encompasses the history and conceptual origins of cybermen. He adapted the book into four audio cassettes, The ArcHive Tapes, which he also narrated. He later wrote the novel IcebergIceberg (Doctor Who)
Iceberg is an original novel written by David Banks and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was number 18 in the Virgin New Adventures range and featured the Cybermen, being a sequel to the serials The Invasion and The Tenth Planet. The events of the...
(Virgin, 1993) for the Virgin New Adventures
Virgin New Adventures
The Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
range of Doctor Who spin-off novels, which was set in 2006, when an inversion of the Earth's magnetic field is threatening to destroy human civilization, and featured the Cybermen and the investigative journalist Ruby Duvall. His play "Severance", about the 12th century lovers Abelard
Peter Abelard
Peter Abelard was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, theologian and preeminent logician. The story of his affair with and love for Héloïse has become legendary...
and Heloise, was first performed in 2002. In 2008 he was invited to the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne, where he delivered a paper about cyber emotions, with reference to the recent television reappearance of Cybermen after a long absence. The paper was entitled "Life as an emotionless killing machine: Cybermen in a strange state".