Moray Watson
Encyclopedia
Moray Watson is an English
actor.
Watson's father was killed in Belgium in World War II. He was educated at Eton College
and made his first appearance on stage whilst still a student at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
at a matinee performance in memory of Ellen Terry
at Hythe, Kent
. After appearances in repertory
, he appeared on the West End
stage, including The Doctor's Dilemma and in The Rivals
by Sheridan
both at the Haymarket Theatre
.
In 1963, he went to New York City
to appear in The Private Ear and The Public Eye.
He played the part of the Art Editor in the BBC series Compact
for some years.
He appeared in several films, including Operation Crossbow
and The Grass Is Greener
, in which he played opposite Robert Mitchum
and Cary Grant
.
He has a series of television credits to his name, most notably as Brigadier
Arthur Maiford, M.C. (ret.) (but always known to the Larkins as "The General") in The Darling Buds of May
(1991–1993); and George Frobisher in Rumpole of the Bailey
(1978–1992).
He also appeared as Sir Robert Muir in the Doctor Who
story Black Orchid
; and has a small role in Yes Minister
. He also appeared in the 1974 version of The Pallisers
as Barrington Erle and in the Albert Campion
mystery The Death of a Late Pig as the Chief Constable. He also played a Chief constable in the 1977 BBC series Murder Most English and Mr Bennet in the 1980 BBC series Pride and Prejudice.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor.
Watson's father was killed in Belgium in World War II. He was educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and made his first appearance on stage whilst still a student at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, formerly the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, was a drama school, and originally a singing school, in London. It was one of the leading drama schools in Britain, and offered comprehensive training for those intending to pursue a...
at a matinee performance in memory of Ellen Terry
Ellen Terry
Dame Ellen Terry, GBE was an English stage actress who became the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain. Among the members of her famous family is her great nephew, John Gielgud....
at Hythe, Kent
Hythe, Kent
Hythe , is a small coastal market town on the edge of Romney Marsh, in the District of Shepway on the south coast of Kent. The word Hythe or Hithe is an Old English word meaning Haven or Landing Place....
. After appearances in repertory
Repertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
, he appeared on the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
stage, including The Doctor's Dilemma and in The Rivals
The Rivals
The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...
by Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...
both at the Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
.
In 1963, he went to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to appear in The Private Ear and The Public Eye.
He played the part of the Art Editor in the BBC series Compact
Compact (TV series)
Compact is a British television soap opera shown by the BBC between 1962 and 1965. The series was created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling, who together went on to devise Crossroads....
for some years.
He appeared in several films, including Operation Crossbow
Operation Crossbow
Crossbow was the code name of the World War II campaign of Anglo-American "operations against all phases of the German long-range weapons programme—operations against research and development of the weapons, their manufacture, transportation and their launching sites, and against missiles in flight"...
and The Grass Is Greener
The Grass Is Greener
The Grass Is Greener is a 1960 comedy film featuring an ensemble cast consisting of screen veterans Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, and Jean Simmons,directed by Stanley Donen...
, in which he played opposite Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
and Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
.
He has a series of television credits to his name, most notably as Brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
Arthur Maiford, M.C. (ret.) (but always known to the Larkins as "The General") in The Darling Buds of May
The Darling Buds of May
The Darling Buds of May is a British comedy drama which was first broadcast between 1991 and 1993 produced by Yorkshire Television for the ITV Network. It is set in an idyllic rural 1950s Kent, among a large, boisterous family. The three series were based on the novels by H. E. Bates. Originally...
(1991–1993); and George Frobisher in Rumpole of the Bailey
Rumpole of the Bailey
Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer which starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients...
(1978–1992).
He also appeared as Sir Robert Muir in the 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...
story Black Orchid
Black Orchid (Doctor Who)
Black Orchid is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two parts on 1 March and 2 March 1982...
; and has a small role in Yes Minister
Yes Minister
Yes Minister is a satirical British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC Television between 1980–1982 and 1984, split over three seven-episode series. The sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, ran from 1986 to 1988. In total there were 38 episodes—of which all but...
. He also appeared in the 1974 version of The Pallisers
The Pallisers
The Pallisers is a 1974 BBC television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels.-Cast :*Anthony Ainley: Rev. Emilius*Terence Alexander: Lord George*Anthony Andrews: Lord Silverbridge*Sarah Badel: Lizzie Eustace...
as Barrington Erle and in the Albert Campion
Albert Campion
Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
mystery The Death of a Late Pig as the Chief Constable. He also played a Chief constable in the 1977 BBC series Murder Most English and Mr Bennet in the 1980 BBC series Pride and Prejudice.
Partial filmography
- The Quatermass ExperimentThe Quatermass ExperimentThe Quatermass Experiment is a British science-fiction serial broadcast by BBC Television in the summer of 1953 and re-staged by BBC Four in 2005. Set in the near future against the background of a British space programme, it tells the story of the first manned flight into space, overseen by...
(1953) (TV) as Peter Marsh - The Grass Is GreenerThe Grass Is GreenerThe Grass Is Greener is a 1960 comedy film featuring an ensemble cast consisting of screen veterans Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, and Jean Simmons,directed by Stanley Donen...
(1960) as Trevor Sellers, the Butler - No Wreath for the General (1960) (TV) as Major Johnny Brookman
- The SaintThe Saint (TV series)The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
(1964) "The Imprudent Politician" (TV) as Ken Shield - Silas MarnerSilas MarnerSilas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe is a dramatic novel by George Eliot. Her third novel, it was first published in 1861. An outwardly simple tale of a reclusive weaver, in its strong realism it represents one of Eliot's most sophisticated treatments of her attitude to religion.-Plot summary:The...
(1964) (TV) as Godfrey Cass - Operation CrossbowOperation Crossbow (film)Operation Crossbow is a British 1965 spy thriller and World War II film, made from a story from Duilio Coletti and Vittoriano Petrilli and filmed at MGM-British Studios...
(1965) as Colonel Kenneth Post - The AvengersThe Avengers (TV series)The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
(1966) "The Danger Makers" (TV) as Peters - Z-CarsZ-CarsZ-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...
(1969) "A Right Cock-'N-Bull Story" (TV) as Harold Thorburn - CatweazleCatweazleCatweazle was a British television series, created and written by Richard Carpenter which was produced and directed by Quentin Lawrence for London Weekend Television under the LWI banner, and screened in the UK on ITV in 1970 and 1971...
(1970) (TV) as Lord Collingford (1970) - Rookery NookRookery Nook (1970 film)Rookery Nook is a 1970 British comedy television film starring Richard Briers, Arthur Lowe and Irene Handl. It is based on the play Rookery Nook, one of the Aldwych Farces, by Ben Travers. It was first aired on the BBC on 19 September 1970.-Cast:...
(1970, TV film) - Upstairs, DownstairsUpstairs, DownstairsUpstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a...
(1972) "A Pair of Exiles" (TV) as Colonel Winter - The PallisersThe PallisersThe Pallisers is a 1974 BBC television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels.-Cast :*Anthony Ainley: Rev. Emilius*Terence Alexander: Lord George*Anthony Andrews: Lord Silverbridge*Sarah Badel: Lizzie Eustace...
(1974) (TV) as Barrington Erle - Murder Most English: "A Flaxborough Chronicle" as Chief Constable Chubb
- QuillerQuiller (TV series)Quiller is a British drama television series starring Michael Jayston. The series premièred 29 August 1975 on BBC One.-Cast and characters:*Michael Jayston as Quiller*Moray Watson as Angus Kinloch*Sinéad Cusack as Rosalind...
(1975) (TV) as Angus Kinloch - Return of the SaintReturn of the SaintReturn of the Saint was a British action-adventure television series that aired for one season in 1978 and 1979 in Britain on ITV, and was also broadcast on CBS in the United States...
, The Judas Game (1978) (TV) as Buckingham - Life of Shakespeare (1978) (TV) as Nicholas
- Rumpole of the BaileyRumpole of the BaileyRumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer which starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients...
as George Frobisher (1978–1992) - The ProfessionalsThe Professionals (TV series)The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...
"It's Only a Beautiful Picture" (1980) (TV) as Jeremy Sangster - Pride and Prejudice (1980) (TV) as Mr. Bennet
- The Sea WolvesThe Sea WolvesThe Sea Wolves is a 1980 war film starring Gregory Peck, Roger Moore and David Niven. The film is based on the book Boarding Party by James Leasor, which itself is based on a real incident which took place in World War II...
(1980) as Breene - Winston Churchill: The Wilderness YearsWinston Churchill: The Wilderness YearsWinston Churchill: The Wilderness Years is an 8-part 1981 drama serial based on the life of Winston Churchill, and particularly his years in enforced exile from political position during the 1920s and 30s...
(1981) (TV) as Major Desmond Morton - The Walls of Jericho (1981) (TV) as Dr.George Balfour
- Tales of the UnexpectedTales of the Unexpected (TV series)Tales of the Unexpected is a British television series originally aired between 1979 and 1988, made by Anglia Television for ITV. Filming began in 1978.The series was an anthology of different tales...
- "Death in the Morning" (1982) (TV) as Sir Ian Masterson - Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor 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...
- Black OrchidBlack Orchid (Doctor Who)Black Orchid is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two parts on 1 March and 2 March 1982...
(1982) (TV) as Sir Robert Muir - Miss MarpleMiss Marple (TV series)Miss Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It starred Joan Hickson in the title role, and aired from 1984 to 1992. All twelve original Miss Marple Christie novels have been dramatised. The screenplays were written by T. R...
The Body in the LibraryThe Body in the Library (1984 TV film)The Body in the Library is a 1984 television film adaption of Agatha Christie's 1942 detective novel The Body in the Library which was co-produced by the BBC and the A&E Network. The film uses an adapted screenplay by T. R. Bowen and was directed by Silvio Narizzano...
(1984) (TV) as Colonel Arthur Bantry - MinderMinder (TV series)Minder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...
- "Goodbye Sailor" (1984) (TV) as Commander Hawksly - Who Dares WinsWho Dares Wins (TV series)Who Dares Wins was a British television comedy sketch show broadcast between 1983 and 1988, featuring Jimmy Mulville, Rory McGrath, Philip Pope, Julia Hills and Tony Robinson...
- Episode #3.4 (1986) (TV) - Rude Health (1987) (TV) as Sir Nigel Toft (1987)
- Star CopsStar CopsStar Cops is a British science fiction television series first broadcast on BBC Two in 1987. It was devised by Chris Boucher, a writer who had previously worked on the science fiction television series Doctor Who and Blake's 7 as well as crime dramas such as Juliet Bravo and Bergerac...
- "An Instinct for Murder" (1987) (TV) as the Commander - Still Crazy Like a FoxStill Crazy Like a FoxStill Crazy Like a Fox was a 1987 American television movie starring Jack Warden and John Rubinstein as a father and son team of private detectives who become mixed up in a high-level murder case whilst on vacation in England. It is most noted for the appearance of Monty Python Graham Chapman in a...
(1987) (TV) as Hubbard - Worlds BeyondWorlds BeyondWorlds Beyond was a British television anthology series of supernatural fiction. ITV broadcast 13 episodes from 1986 to 1988. The stories were based on real-life experiences described in archival documents from the Society for Psychical Research. A book was also released to accompany the...
- "The Haunted Garden" (1987) (TV) - CampionAlbert CampionAlbert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in The Crime at Black Dudley , an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, and would go on to feature in another 17 novels and over 20...
- "The Case of the Late Pig" (1989) (TV) as Sir Leo Pursuivant - Norbert Smith – a Life (1989) (TV) as Sir Donald Stuffy
- The House of EliottThe House of EliottThe House of Eliott is a British television series produced and broadcast by the BBC in three series between 1991 and 1994. The series starred Stella Gonet and Louise Lombard as two sisters in 1920s London who establish a dressmaking business and eventually their own haute couture fashion house...
- Episode #1.6 (1991) (TV) as The Judge - The New StatesmanThe New StatesmanThe New Statesman is an award-winning British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time...
- "The Party's Over" (1991) (TV) as Professor Eugene Quail - A Murder of QualityA Murder of QualityA Murder of Quality is the second novel by John le Carré. It follows George Smiley, the most famous of le Carré's recurring characters, in his only book set outside the espionage community.-Plot summary:...
(1991) (TV) as Maj. Harriman - HaggardHaggard (TV series)Haggard a 1990—1992 British comedy television series. "Haggard" is about the exploits of Squire Haggard, the Squire's 21-year-old son Roderick, and their servant Grunge...
- "Orlando's Revenge" (1992) (TV) as Henry Nugent - The Darling Buds of MayThe Darling Buds of MayThe Darling Buds of May is a British comedy drama which was first broadcast between 1991 and 1993 produced by Yorkshire Television for the ITV Network. It is set in an idyllic rural 1950s Kent, among a large, boisterous family. The three series were based on the novels by H. E. Bates. Originally...
as Brig. Arthur Maiford, M.C. (ret.) - The Vicar of DibleyThe Vicar of DibleyThe Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom created by Richard Curtis and written for its lead actress, Dawn French, by Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, with contributions from Kit Hesketh-Harvey. It aired from 1994 to 2007...
- "Animals" (1994) (TV) as The Stranger - Kavanagh QCKavanagh QCKavanagh QC is a British television series made by Carlton Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. It has been shown on ITV3 as recently as August 2011; series 1–6 are available on Region 2 DVDs....
- "Previous Convictions" (1999) (TV) as Sir Henry Dorrister - Midsomer MurdersMidsomer MurdersMidsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
- "Judgement Day" (2000) (TV) as Edward Allardice - Bertie and ElizabethBertie and ElizabethBertie & Elizabeth is a 2002 television film produced by Carlton Television. The film explores the relationship between King George VI and his wife Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon from their very first meeting to the King's death in the winter of 1952...
(2002) (TV) as Lord Dawson