Richard Franklin (actor) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Richard Franklin
Franklin at The Television & Movie Store, Norwich, in 2009, surrounded by Doctor Who artefacts
Born	Richard Kimber Franklin (1936-01-15)15 January 1936 Marylebone, London, England
Died	25 December 2023(2023-12-25) (aged 87)
Occupation	Actor writer director political activist
Years active	1967–2021
Known for	Captain Mike Yates in Doctor Who
Political party	Liberal Democrats (before 1996) Referendum Party (1996–1997) UKIP (1997–2005) Silent Majority (2005–2015) 30-50 coalition (2015-2023)

Richard Kimber Franklin (born January 15, 1936 – died December 25, 2023) was an English actor, writer, and director. He was also active in politics. He was mainly a stage actor, but he also appeared in popular British TV shows. These included Crossroads and Emmerdale Farm.

Richard Franklin is best known for playing Captain Mike Yates in the TV show Doctor Who. He was on the show from 1971 to 1974. He returned to this role many times in other Doctor Who stories and spin-offs. Franklin also wrote books, including Forest Wisdom, which shared his political ideas. He also wrote novels based on the Doctor Who universe.

Early Life and Training

Richard Kimber Franklin was born in Marylebone, London, England, on January 15, 1936. He went to Westminster School. Later, he studied philosophy, politics, and economics at Christ Church, Oxford. He also earned a master's degree in Modern History.

Before becoming an actor, he served in the military. He was a captain in the Royal Green Jackets. He also worked for three years at an advertising company. There, he helped with accounts, produced, and wrote scripts. Franklin then trained to be an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He won an award there called the Jenny Laird prize.

Theatre Work

After finishing RADA, Richard Franklin spent six years acting in different plays. He started at the Century Theatre. Then he worked at the Birmingham Rep for two years. He also spent a season at Bristol Old Vic. Later, he moved to Ipswich, where he acted and was also an associate director.

Franklin performed in many plays in London's West End. In 1967, he played Corin in As You Like It. In 1978, he took over the main role in Same Time, Next Year. His last theatre work was as an understudy for Arthur Kipps in The Woman in Black. He also acted in Macbeth for the RSC. He was the Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show.

Plays Written by Richard Franklin

Richard Franklin wrote many plays that were performed professionally. Some of these include:

• The Trial of Johnny Bull
• Dr Weird and the Amazing Box
• The Cage (which won an award in Edinburgh)
• Shakespeare was a Hunchback (which was later made into a TV show)
• Poison
• Luck of the Draw (which was based on his uncle's World War I diaries)
• Shakespeare by Shaggers

Franklin was also involved in British pantomime. He appeared in eighteen different pantomime shows. His last pantomime role was the Emperor of China in Aladdin in 2014–15.

Directing Plays

As a director, Franklin was an associate director at Ipswich. He directed shows at Swansea Grand and Chesterfield Civic. He was also the artistic director of Renaissance Theatre in Stockholm. He directed at acting schools like the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. He also directed many plays at festivals in London, Edinburgh, and Brighton.

Television Roles

Richard Franklin first became well-known on TV in 1969. He played Joe Townsend in Crossroads for 36 episodes. Over his long TV career, he appeared in many famous British shows. These included Blake's 7, Dixon of Dock Green, The Saint, Heartbeat, and Emmerdale Farm.

Doctor Who

Franklin's most famous role was Captain Mike Yates in Doctor Who. Captain Yates was part of a fictional military group called UNIT. Franklin first appeared as Captain Yates in 1971 in the story Terror of the Autons. He was a regular character until 1974, when the Third Doctor, played by Jon Pertwee, left the show.

Franklin stayed connected to Doctor Who for many years. He often attended fan conventions. He also appeared in spin-off shows and documentaries. He played Captain Mike Yates again on TV for the show's 20th anniversary special, The Five Doctors (1983). He also appeared in the 30th anniversary special, Dimensions In Time (1993). A photo of him as Yates was even shown in the 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor" (2013). He also voiced Captain Yates in many audio plays for Big Finish Productions and the BBC. In these, he even worked with the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker.

In 2002, Franklin wrote a novel called The Killing Stone. It featured Captain Yates as the main character. It was first released as an audiobook, read by Franklin himself. Later, it was published as a book in 2013 under the title Operation H.A.T.E. The book was rewritten to change any names related to Doctor Who to avoid copyright issues.

Film Appearances

Richard Franklin worked with director Julian Doyle on two films. These were Chemical Wedding (2008), which was about a famous occultist, and Twilight of the Gods (2013), where he played the German composer Richard Wagner. In 2016, he appeared in the Star Wars film Rogue One. He played an engineer on the Death Star.

Audio Dramas

Besides his many roles in Doctor Who audio dramas, Richard Franklin also worked on other audio projects. He spent two years working on BBC radio dramas. He was in Sapphire and Steel: The Surest Poison. He also played Harrison Howell in a BBC Radio 2 production of Kiss Me Kate in 1996. He created his own World War I docudrama called Luck of the Draw. He also played Davros' father, Nasgard, in the Big Finish audio drama miniseries I, Davros.

Music Videos

In 2009, Richard Franklin starred in a music video. It was for the song "The First Days of Spring" by the band Noah and the Whale.

Journalism

Franklin also worked as a theatre critic. He wrote many reviews for the Edinburgh Evening News and fringereview.co.uk.

Political Activities

Richard Franklin was very active in politics. He ran for a seat in the UK Parliament several times.

• In 1992, he ran for the Liberal Democrats.
• In 1997, he ran for the Referendum Party.
• In 2001, he ran for the United Kingdom Independence Party.
• He also started his own political group called the Silent Majority Party. He ran for them in 2005.
• He later founded another group called the 30-50 coalition.

His political work led to him appearing on TV shows like Campaign Calendar. In 1993, he gave a speech at the Liberal Democrat Conference, which was shown on Sky TV.

Death

Richard Franklin passed away on December 25, 2023. He was 87 years old.

Filmography

Films

Television Shows

See also

In Spanish: Richard Franklin (actor) para niños