Jon Pertwee is my Doctor. He was the first I saw and I was hooked from that moment on. That has never changed, not once in the 30+ years since that fateful Saturday evening when I saw episode 6 of Frontier in Space, in March 1973.

Other Doctors have come and gone. The series itself disappeared more than once but my enthusiasm, reaching back to that first viewing, never did and I doubt it ever will. Some Doctors I liked more than others but for me Jon Pertwee's portrayal was the best by a mile. I devoured the books, novelisations of stories I had never seen, imagining what they must have been like. Over time I got to see them all and my admiration for the character and the actor behind it just grew.

As the years have gone by I acquired and read his biography and autobiography,as well as releases of his most famous radio comedy, The Navy Lark. There is one thing however, that I will always regret - I never got to meet him and was greatly saddened on the day in May 1996 when he passed away.

The badge of HMS Troutbridge: "Everybody Down!"!

John Devon Roland Pertwee was born in Chelsea, on 7th July 1919 into a family with a strong theatrical background. He was the second son of the famous playwright and actor Roland Pertwee. The Pertwee's had a long association with show business and it was at Wellington House preparatory school in Westgate-On-Sea in Kent that Jon was encouraged in his direction. The headmaster was one Reverend Percy Underhill and, although a very strict disciplinarian who often found the need to dispense corporal punishment, he came to be well liked and respected by Jon. Another teacher there, the French master Hubert Riley, became what Jon termed his "first theatre critic" when he observed that Jon wasn't actually frightened of him, but was merely acting frightened. He then told him that he was doing a credible job and should take it up as a profession when he was older.

After a short and unhappy spell at Sherborne, a public school in Dorset, Jon moved to Frensham Heights near Farnham in Surrey and here found happiness, this was 1935. Frensham Heights was a co-educational school, Jon had his first taste of 'real' theatre with real live females in the school stage productions of "Twelfth Night" and "Lady Precious Stream", staged in an open-air theatre that he took the lead in creating. In 1936, Jon Pertwee auditioned for, and was accepted by, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He was later kicked out for refusing to play the part of a wind in a play, a story he took great pleasure in recounting for the rest of his life.

Shortly after this episode Jon Pertwee joined the Senior Service, becoming an officer in the Royal Navy, with some time spent working for Naval Intelligence during World War 2. He was a crewman on HMS Hood but was transferred off shortly before it was sunk, losing all but three men. Jon was married twice, first to Jean Marsh (1955–1960), from whom he was divorced, and then on 13th August 1960, to Ingeborg Rhoesa, by whom he had two children, Sean and Dariel.

Jon Pertwee was a great comic actor, with roles such as the conniving Chief Petty Officer Pertwee in the already mentioned Navy Lark, in Waterlogged Spa, Mediterranean Merry-Go-Round and also in Puffney Post Office. He played the part of Lycus in the 1963 London stage production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Frankie Howerd and appeared in the smaller role of Crassus in the 1966 film version. He also appeared in four Carry On films, those being Carry On Cleo, Carry On Screaming, Carry On Cowboy and Carry On Columbus.

Jon Pertwee was chosen to become the 3rd incarnation of TV's Doctor Who in 1969 when Patrick Troughton, William Hartnell's successor decided to leave the role. Filming started late in 1969 during a BBC strike and thus benefitted from being made entirely on location and on film - a stylish opening for a stylish Doctor. Jon quickly made the role his own, confounding everyone when, as one of the country's leading comedians, he played it straight! The future of the programme, which had been in doubt running up to Troughton's departure, was assured and Jon continued in the role for 5 years, appearing with Caroline John, Katy Manning and Elisabeth Sladen as his assistants Liz Shaw, Jo Grant and Sarah Jane Smith respectively. His final regular appearance on TV as the Doctor being in June 1974 in Planet of the Spiders. During his stint as The Doctor he was the subject of Thames Television's This Is Your Life [Listen to intro - 1Mb] and in 1972 he released a vocal version of the Doctor Who theme music entitled "Who is the Doctor". [Listen here - 1Mb]. Jon returned to the role of the Doctor in the 1983 20th-Anniversary television special The Five Doctors and also in the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time.

Away from Doctor Who he became famous to a whole new generation of children when he played the title role of Worzel Gummidge for ITV followed by Worzel Gummidge Down Under shortly afterwards, appearing alongside Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally and Geoffrey Bayldon as The Crowman.

Ever a supporter of Doctor Who however, he was instrumental in bringing the third Doctor back, this time on radio in two audio productions for BBC Radio, The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space. Ever popular at conventions (he famously opened the 1983 BBC-sponsored 20th Anniversary "celebration" with his oft-used phrase, "I AM the Doctor") he made appearances up until the time of his his death, aged 76, from a heart attack whilst on holiday in Connecticut on 20 May 1996. He died close to the transmission of the Paul McGann Doctor Who TV Movie which was, at the time, hoped to be a forerunner to a new realisation of the show which had been scrapped from BBC television in 1989. News of his death made all the major bulletins and saw large features in most newspapers the following day. Fittingly the BBC broadcast of the McGann TV Film featured a dedication to Pertwee at its conclusion.

Jon Pertwee wrote two autobiographies, "Moon Boots and Dinner Suits" (published by Elm Tree Books in 1984), covering his early life and career prior to Doctor Who and "I Am The Doctor" (published Virgin Publishing in 1996) which concentrated on each of his stories in Doctor Who and was written in conjunction with Doctor Who historian David J. Howe. A biography was also published, the thoughtfully title "Jon pertwee The Biography" by Bernard Bale (published by Andre Deutsch in 2000). This however lacked the personal nature or charm of the other two and revealed little if anything that was new.

Jon Pertwee was one of Britain's best loved comedian's and actors - a personal opinion but one with some justification. His career was long and distinguished and although he didn't always get the recognition that some of his peers got, his catalogue of work was always of an exceptional quality often putting others in the shade. His career was a long one but his memory will will be longer still.

JON PERTWEE TRIBUTE @ KASTRIA.NET