Born: 3rd November 1910 (as Richard Gibbon Hurndall)
Died: 13th April 1984 (aged 73 years)
Episodes Broadcast: 1983

Richard Hurndall was born in Darlington, County Durham. After completing his training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he began acting in repertory theatre in 1930. Hurndall made his television debut in 1946, and he joined BBC Radio's drama repertory company in 1949. He rarely worked in television during the Fifties, but his appearances became more frequent during the Sixties, including episodes of United!, Breaking Point, Spindoe and The Power Game. Hurndall's movie credits were more rare, the first being the 1967 “Bulldog” Drummond adventure Deadlier Than The Male.

Hurndall's television work remained prolific during the Seventies, and included It's Murder But Is It Art, The Inheritors, A Legacy and Oil Strike North. He continued to work into the early Eighties, on programmes such as Love In A Cold Climate, Bognor and Rep. A guest role in a 1981 episode of Blake's 7 caught the eye of Ian Levine, who was acting as a fan adviser to the Doctor Who production office. When producer John Nathan-Turner was looking for an actor to replace the late William Hartnell as the First Doctor, Levine recommended Hurndall. The result was a memorable turn in The Five Doctors, which celebrated Doctor Who's twentieth anniversary in November 1983.

Following the broadcast of The Five Doctors, fan rumours were rampant that Hurndall would be reprising the role of the First Doctor. However, during the special's production in March 1983, his frailty and ill health were evident to the cast and crew. Hurndall suffered a heart attack and died on April 13th, 1984. His last television credit was an episode of Bergerac, broadcast on Christmas Eve 1983.