What happened to Bill Burridge?

[ianphillips]

Bill Burridge played Mr. Quill in Fury from the Deep who is probably one of the most famous characters from a missing episode, but I have no idea what happened to him. I've look on Tardis wiki, IMDB, you name it, but other than a few acting credits I have found literally nothing on him. Since Quill is one of my favorite characters and anyone who can do this  is worth learning about, I am curious as to whether anyone knows what happened to him.

[Julian Jones]

I tried to do some research in to him. According to imdb he didn't appear in anything after 1972 I think. I looked on data bases of birth deaths and marriages to se if I could find anything. There were loads of Bill or William Burridge's so I couldn't be sure. Not know how old he was didn't help. But there was a Bill Burridge who died in 1975. Could this be why he didn't make any more TV?

[Krisander T. Weum]

I asked BBC about Bill Burridge and sadly he's passed away.

[Michael D. Kimpton]

A story I heard was that, during filming of Frontier in Space, Bill Burridge played a Draconian, and the metallic greasepaint of the costume entered his bloodstream and caused him to have a brain seizure. This forced an end to his career and he had to go into a nursing home. It's believed he died sometime shortly after, as Equity were unable to contact him by 1976. So the above statement of a Bill Burridge dying in 1975 is likely our Mr Quill.

[John Green]

Nov 14, 2016 17:51:40 GMT Julian Jones said:

I tried to do some research in to him. According to imdb he didn't appear in anything after 1972 I think. I looked on data bases of birth deaths and marriages to se if I could find anything. There were loads of Bill or William Burridge's so I couldn't be sure. Not know how old he was didn't help. But there was a Bill Burridge who died in 1975. Could this be why he didn't make any more TV?

Do Equity know if this is his stage name, rather than the one he was assigned at birth?

[davetudor]

May 21, 2024 10:23:16 GMT Michael D. Kimpton said:

A story I heard was that, during filming of Frontier in Space, Bill Burridge played a Draconian, and the metallic greasepaint of the costume entered his bloodstream and caused him to have a brain seizure. This forced an end to his career and he had to go into a nursing home. It's believed he died sometime shortly after, as Equity were unable to contact him by 1976. So the above statement of a Bill Burridge dying in 1975 is likely our Mr Quill.

According to TARDIS Wiki and the Doctor Who Cast and Crew Guide this story was relayed by extra Terence Denville in the 2014 book Memories of Who. Sadly, Terence himself passed away in 2015, and as there are very few cast and crew left from 'Frontier in Space', it would be difficult to confirm this. I wonder if the BBC would have even produced a report on such an accident at the time, let alone that report having survived! A tragic way to have died if true.

[ianphillips]

Very sad if true, but an interesting story. I don't see any reason to doubt the Frontier in Space story, though it seems like something there'd be more information about somewhere just based on how well documented Doctor Who is as a show/fandom. Maybe I'll put in my DVD of Frontier in Space next time I get the chance and see if there's anything about it in the Info Text.

I'm amazed this thread got revived after 8 years.

[oliverjwake]

Jun 21, 2024 2:29:16 GMT ianphillips said:

Very sad if true, but an interesting story. I don't see any reason to doubt the Frontier in Space story, though it seems like something there'd be more information about somewhere just based on how well documented Doctor Who is as a show/fandom. Maybe I'll put in my DVD of Frontier in Space next time I get the chance and see if there's anything about it in the Info Text.

The production subtitles mention him on episode two, confirming he was playing a Draconian - but that's the only reference to him.

[Natalie Sinead]

On the other hand, there's little reason for Denville to have lied about it or told a tall tale -- he was not a Jon Pertwee -- this cult of "it needs to be in a document!" was always silly. Operation Legacy should have killed it off.

[Paul Hayes]

Interestingly, looking him up on the British Newspaper Archive, Equity were still including him in lists of members for whom they were holding royalty payments as published in The Stage as late as December 1980 - suggesting they were unable to find any trace of him nor any record of his death.

[John Green]

Little help with this question perhaps, but this website is useful generally-and free: www.freebmd.org.uk/

(I suppose BB could have retired, and died overseas).

[Richard Bignell]

Sept 16, 2024 8:33:17 GMT Natalie Sinead said:

On the other hand, there's little reason for Denville to have lied about it or told a tall tale -- he was not a Jon Pertwee -- this cult of "it needs to be in a document!" was always silly. Operation Legacy should have killed it off.

And it's equally as daft to try and imply that because of one unconnected action performed 50-70 years ago, it means that you should throw out all documentary evidence as being untrustworthy. That's very much the "silly" aspect of this.