Russell played Ian Chesterton, one of the Doctor’s first ever companions.
Tributes have flooded in following the news of William Russell’s death, with the world of Doctor Who paying tribute to the actor who famously played companion Ian Chesterton.
One of those paying tribute to the fan favourite, who died at the age of 99 on 3rd June 2024, was Russell T Davies, Doctor Who’s current showrunner.
In a heartfelt post on Instagram, Davies said: “What a sad loss, William played the Doctor’s very first companion, Ian Chesterton, back in 1963.
“A schoolteacher, trapped on the TARDIS by a wily old Doctor, unable to get home, whisked off to the Stone Age, Skaro, the Crusades, planet of the Zarbi… Wonderful!
“A fine, nimble, witty, heartfelt actor who absolutely sold the truth of those early years. Before that, he’d been Sir Lancelot on the BBC; it’s often undersold what a star booking he was for Doctor Who. He later went on to marry Rita Fairclough as Ted Sullivan on Coronation Street.
“In the photo, I bumped into him on a train in 2018! I was star-struck! He spoke with so much pride and joy about his son, Alfred Enoch, who I’d seen in King Lear at the Royal Exchange. Absolutely lovely man. A fine, long life. Well done, sir, well played.”
Message from Sylvester…RIP William Russel. We lived near each other and I’d bump into him. He always gave me a beautiful generous smile of welcome.
— Sylvester McCoy (@4SylvesterMcCoy) June 4, 2024
Sadly no more. pic.twitter.com/oVo6BobhAE
Others paying tribute included Seventh Doctor star Sylvester McCoy, who posted on Twitter, which has been rebranded as X: “RIP William Russell. We lived near each other and I’d bump into him. He always gave me a beautiful generous smile of welcome. Sadly no more.”
Meanwhile, Katy Manning, who played Jo Grant in the series, added in her own post: “This beautiful funny gentle man… So grateful to have known him my heartfelt thoughts to his wife Etheline & dear family.”
Anneke Wills, who played companion Polly in the show, posted: “Let’s all light a candle for William Russell tonight. What a lovely man. Anneke x.”
Russell first appeared as Ian Chesterton in the first ever Doctor Who story, An Unearthly Child, and was most recently seen in the show’s 2022 special, The Power of the Doctor.