Daleks' Master Plan's Albert Barrington?

[mattbarker]

Hi All,



I’m a great fan of the Missing Episodes Podcasts with Tim and Paul. My favourite is the detailed, two-part analysis of the Daleks Master Plan.



The bit of mystery around Albert Barrington who plays Professor Webster in the Feast of Steven got me having a search round. I had a look on the 1939 register for the UK and found an entry for Albert E. Barrington living in Madia Vale, London. His occupation is given as photographer (film) - so cameraman. He was born in May 1885. He seems to have been a newsreel and short films cameraman. I have found him doing the films “Grand National, 1935” in 1935, “John Bull’s Garden” in 1938, "Election Prelude” in 1945, and “Girl Cyclists” in 1954. What is interesting about “Girl Cyclists” is that Barrington is cited as having a non-speaking part towards the end of the film according to the British Universities Film & Video Council website:

"Barrington was credited in the camera team that filmed ‘GRAND NATIONAL, 1935’ for Pathe Super Sound Gazette No.35/26 in April 1935. Barrington also provided material for ‘ELECTION PRELUDE’ in No.45/52 of June 1945, and was featured as the ‘old man’ in the comic ending to ‘GIRL CYCLISTS’ in Pathe Pictorial No.509 from June 1954."

Rather wonderfully, the British Pathe website has a digital copy of the film.



www.britishpathe.com/asset/81865/



Very much of its time, you can get a view of Barrington.



So here is a screen shot of what could be “The Feast of Steven” Alfred Barrington 12 years before. I like to think of Camfield as keeping an eye out for the older members of the film industry if it is him.

[Richard Bignell]

Some nice research there.

However, a quick check on the death registers shows that none of the seven Albert E Barrington's listed survived beyond 1960.

[mattbarker]

I took him as being the Albert Edward Barrington who died October 1970 at St Luke's Hospital in Chelsea.  Death registered in the Chelsea district though they have his birth year as 1884, as opposed to 1885 - day and month are the same.    According to the electoral registers, he was still living in Maida Vale up until then.

[Jon Preddle]

There is an "Albert Edward Barrington, film artist, of Clifton Villas. W.9." named in the Marylebone & Paddington Mercury 29 July 1944. Clifton Villas is near Maida Vale, so presumably the same person.

[mattbarker]

That's the chap.

Meant to say as well that the British Universities Film & Video Council catalogue also have details of a newsreel film of the 1966 Computer Data Fair, and in the description they mention the appearance of a dalek in studio at the beginning:

Summary

NoS synopsis: Beginning with a Dalek in the studio, we are taken to the Datafair, an exhibition held by the British Computer Society. There we see an Elliott, part of an exhibit by the National Physical Laboratory and an interview with one of the exhibitors.

Link to the catalogue entry here:

bufvc.ac.uk/newsonscreen/search/index.php/story/326283

No idea if the dalek appears in a still or moving image. It's around the time DMP was being recorded, so it could be film of the story being recorded, or a clip?  It appears in the "London Line" series of short films (no. 70) of the Central Office of Information released in 1966.

Some of the "London Line" series are available on the BFI player, but not no. 70.  I assume it can be viewed at the BFI though.

I knew my library skills would have a Who usefulness one day

[Phil Leach]

London Line had studio elements for links so I would guess that it was a Dalek prop in the London Line studio but an interesting find.

[Richard Bignell]

May 16, 2024 10:43:28 GMT mattbarker said:

I took him as being the Albert Edward Barrington who died October 1970 at St Luke's Hospital in Chelsea.  Death registered in the Chelsea district though they have his birth year as 1884, as opposed to 1885 - day and month are the same.    According to the electoral registers, he was still living in Maida Vale up until then.

Ah, I get you! I was just looking for the initial in the death registers.

[Richard Bignell]

May 17, 2024 6:17:13 GMT mattbarker said:

That's the chap.

Meant to say as well that the British Universities Film & Video Council catalogue also have details of a newsreel film of the 1966 Computer Data Fair, and in the description they mention the appearance of a dalek in studio at the beginning:

Summary

NoS synopsis: Beginning with a Dalek in the studio, we are taken to the Datafair, an exhibition held by the British Computer Society. There we see an Elliott, part of an exhibit by the National Physical Laboratory and an interview with one of the exhibitors.

Link to the catalogue entry here:

bufvc.ac.uk/newsonscreen/search/index.php/story/326283

No idea if the dalek appears in a still or moving image. It's around the time DMP was being recorded, so it could be film of the story being recorded, or a clip?  It appears in the "London Line" series of short films (no. 70) of the Central Office of Information released in 1966.

Some of the "London Line" series are available on the BFI player, but not no. 70.  I assume it can be viewed at the BFI though.

I knew my library skills would have a Who usefulness one day

Yes, we queried about this edition of London Line with the BFI back in 2012 after I had confirmed the Dalek's appearance in studio via letters sent to Nation's agent and Enterprises from mid-January 1966. Their holdings for the year are very sporadic (only about six, from memory), but it was confirmed that they didn't have this edition.

The Dalek introduced the item on computers.