Michael Wisher
Encyclopedia
Michael Wisher was a British
actor.
He is probably best remembered for having played Davros
, the wheelchair-using scientific mastermind and creator of the Dalek
s, in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who
. The serial in which the character was first seen, Genesis of the Daleks
, was originally transmitted in 1975.
A regular character actor in television drama from the 1960s onwards, he appeared in programmes such as Z-Cars
, Dixon of Dock Green
, Moonbase 3
and Colditz
. His theatre work was also extensive (and included a lengthy tour of New Zealand
).
A sudden heart attack resulted in his death in 1995. His son, Andrew Wisher, is also an actor and his daughter in law Amanda Wisher is a drama teacher in the east of England.
began with uncredited voice work in the Second Doctor
serial The Seeds of Death
(1969).
The director of that story, Michael Ferguson, later asked Wisher to play a reporter in the Third Doctor
serial "The Ambassadors of Death
" (1970). The following season, he appeared in the Robert Holmes
classic "Terror of the Autons
" (1971), playing Rex Farrell. During the later years of the Pertwee era, Wisher provided Dalek voices in stories including "Frontier in Space
" (1973), "Planet of the Daleks
" (1973) and "Death to the Daleks
" (1974) and acted as the villainous Commissioner Kalik in "Carnival of Monsters
" (1973).
He continued to be associated with the series through the early Fourth Doctor
years where he voiced unseen characters in both "Revenge of the Cybermen
" (1975) and "Planet of Evil
" (1975); he also acted on-screen in both serials, as Magrik in "Revenge of the Cybermen
" and Morelli in "Planet of Evil
".
Wisher was the first actor to portray Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who spoke with an electronically aided voice. Although the character would be revived in further series, commitments to long-running theatre work prevented him from repeating his role when asked to appear in later stories. He reprised the role in 1993 for The Trial of Davros
, however, an amateur theatrical production staged for charity which he also co-wrote.
series, works that started the audio production careers of some of the figures currently associated with the licensed Big Finish Productions
.
In 1987 the first video based spinoff, Wartime
, was released by Reeltime Pictures
, starring John Levene
in his television role as Sergeant Benton
. Wisher played the ghost of Benton's father.
He followed this by playing a villain with several faces in Summoned by Shadows, produced by BBV
in 1991 and as a Minister in The Airzone Solution
in 1993. That production included performances by four of the actors who had played the lead character in Doctor Who. Finally, he played a spaceship engineer in Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
in 1994.
One of his final acting roles was as an evil theatre commissionaire in Dalekmania
, a documentary about the production of the Dalek movies of the 1960s.
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.
He is probably best remembered for having played Davros
Davros
Davros is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Davros is an archenemy of the Doctor and is the creator of the Doctor's deadliest enemies, the Daleks...
, the wheelchair-using scientific mastermind and creator of the Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
s, in the British science fiction television 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...
. The serial in which the character was first seen, Genesis of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was originally broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975. It marks the first appearance of Davros, the creator of the Daleks.-Plot:...
, was originally transmitted in 1975.
A regular character actor in television drama from the 1960s onwards, he appeared in programmes such as Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
, Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
, Moonbase 3
Moonbase 3
Moonbase 3 is a British science fiction television programme that ran for six episodes in 1973. It was a co-production between the BBC, 20th Century Fox and the American ABC network...
and Colditz
Colditz (TV series)
Colditz is a British television series co-produced by the BBC and Universal Studios and screened between 1972 and 1974.The series deals with Allied prisoners of war imprisoned at the supposedly escape-proof Colditz Castle when designated Oflag IV-C during World War II, and their many attempts to...
. His theatre work was also extensive (and included a lengthy tour of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
).
A sudden heart attack resulted in his death in 1995. His son, Andrew Wisher, is also an actor and his daughter in law Amanda Wisher is a drama teacher in the east of England.
Doctor Who roles
Wisher's contributions to Doctor WhoDoctor 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...
began with uncredited voice work in the Second Doctor
Second Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....
serial The Seeds of Death
The Seeds of Death
The Seeds of Death is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 25 January to 1 March 1969...
(1969).
The director of that story, Michael Ferguson, later asked Wisher to play a reporter in the Third Doctor
Third Doctor
The Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....
serial "The Ambassadors of Death
The Ambassadors of Death
The Ambassadors of Death is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in seven weekly parts from March 21 to May 2, 1970.-Plot:...
" (1970). The following season, he appeared in the Robert Holmes
Robert Holmes (scriptwriter)
This entry is about the television scriptwriter. For other people with the same name, see Robert Holmes .Robert Colin Holmes was an English television scriptwriter, who for over twenty-five years contributed to some of the most popular programmes screened in the UK...
classic "Terror of the Autons
Terror of the Autons
Terror of the Autons is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, broadcast in four weekly parts from 2 to 23 January 1971...
" (1971), playing Rex Farrell. During the later years of the Pertwee era, Wisher provided Dalek voices in stories including "Frontier in Space
Frontier in Space
Frontier in Space is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from February 24 to March 31, 1973...
" (1973), "Planet of the Daleks
Planet of the Daleks
Planet of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from April 7 to May 12, 1973.-Synopsis:...
" (1973) and "Death to the Daleks
Death to the Daleks
Death to the Daleks is a four-part serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. First broadcast from February 23 to March 16, 1974, it comprises four 25-minute episodes. The narrative begins as the TARDIS suffers an energy drain and crash-lands on the planet Exxilon...
" (1974) and acted as the villainous Commissioner Kalik in "Carnival of Monsters
Carnival of Monsters
Carnival of Monsters is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 27 January to 17 February 1973....
" (1973).
He continued to be associated with the series through the early Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
years where he voiced unseen characters in both "Revenge of the Cybermen
Revenge of the Cybermen
Revenge of the Cybermen is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 19 April to 10 May 1975.-Synopsis:...
" (1975) and "Planet of Evil
Planet of Evil
The plot was deliberately conceived by Philip Hinchcliffe, Robert Holmes and Louis Marks as a mixture of the film Forbidden Planet and the novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In addition, Marks had been reading science magazine articles about antimatter, and decided to write a...
" (1975); he also acted on-screen in both serials, as Magrik in "Revenge of the Cybermen
Revenge of the Cybermen
Revenge of the Cybermen is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 19 April to 10 May 1975.-Synopsis:...
" and Morelli in "Planet of Evil
Planet of Evil
The plot was deliberately conceived by Philip Hinchcliffe, Robert Holmes and Louis Marks as a mixture of the film Forbidden Planet and the novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In addition, Marks had been reading science magazine articles about antimatter, and decided to write a...
".
Wisher was the first actor to portray Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who spoke with an electronically aided voice. Although the character would be revived in further series, commitments to long-running theatre work prevented him from repeating his role when asked to appear in later stories. He reprised the role in 1993 for The Trial of Davros
The Trial of Davros
The Trial of Davros was an amateur theatrical production based on the long-running British BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and the character of Davros created by screenwriter Terry Nation...
, however, an amateur theatrical production staged for charity which he also co-wrote.
Doctor Who spin-offs
In the period from 1984 to 1987 he created several characters in the Audio VisualsAudio Visuals
The Audio Visuals were an unlicensed series of Doctor Who audio dramas made by British fans in the 1980s.Featuring Nicholas Briggs as the Doctor, twenty-six audio plays were recorded and distributed on audio cassette between 1985 and 1991 .The first three seasons were produced by...
series, works that started the audio production careers of some of the figures currently associated with the licensed 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...
.
In 1987 the first video based spinoff, Wartime
Wartime (Doctor Who)
Wartime is the title of a short science fiction film, produced direct-to-video in 1987 by Reeltime Pictures. It was the first professionally produced, authorised independent spin-off of the long-running TV series Doctor Who, and the only such production to be made while the originating TV series...
, was released by Reeltime Pictures
Reeltime Pictures
Reeltime Pictures is a British multimedia film and video production company founded in 1984 by Keith Barnfather.It is known for its many documentaries about the long-running television series Doctor Who and in particular for The Myth Makers, a series of interviews with people associated with the...
, starring John Levene
John Levene
John Levene is an English actor. His most famous role was that of Sergeant Benton of UNIT on the television series Doctor Who.He was born John Anthony Woods in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England....
in his television role as Sergeant Benton
Sergeant Benton
Sergeant Benton is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by John Levene. He was the senior NCO of the British contingent of UNIT , an international organisation that defends the Earth...
. Wisher played the ghost of Benton's father.
He followed this by playing a villain with several faces in Summoned by Shadows, produced by BBV
BBV
BBV is a video and audio production company specialising in science fiction drama, known for its links with the British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
in 1991 and as a Minister in The Airzone Solution
The Airzone Solution
The Airzone Solution is a 1993 British science-fiction film, produced and released direct-to-video by BBV...
in 1993. That production included performances by four of the actors who had played the lead character in Doctor Who. Finally, he played a spaceship engineer in Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans is a film spin-off of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was released direct-to-video in 1995 and was produced by the independent production company Dreamwatch Media, a division of Dreamwatch magazine...
in 1994.
One of his final acting roles was as an evil theatre commissionaire in Dalekmania
Dalekmania
Dalekmania is a 1995 direct-to-video documentary released in the United Kingdom. "Dalekmania" is the name given to the craze or "mania" among children in the United Kingdom in the 1960s for all things associated with writer Terry Nation's creations, the Daleks, who were then regularly appearing in...
, a documentary about the production of the Dalek movies of the 1960s.