Michael Wisher

Michael Wisher
Wisher as Rex Farrel in the Doctor Who serial Terror of the Autons (1971)
Born	Anthony Michael Wisher (1935-05-19)19 May 1935 London, England
Died	21 July 1995(1995-07-21) (aged 60) Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1963–1995
Known for	First actor to play Davros in Doctor Who
Children	1

Andrew Michael Wisher (19 May 1935 – 21 July 1995) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his various roles on Doctor Who, most notably originating the part of Davros.

Life and career

After struggling to find a job, Wisher settled on becoming an actor, and made his Doctor Who debut in The Seeds of Death providing a radio voiceover. His first onscreen appearance was as John Wakefield in The Ambassadors of Death in 1970. The following year he played Rex Farrel in Terror of the Autons, who he felt deserved to be manipulated by the Master. In 1973 he began voicing the Daleks with Frontier in Space, after being asked to imitate a Dalek by Barry Letts. His favourite non-Dalek role was as Kalik in Carnival of Monsters that same year.

In 1975, Wisher became the first actor to play Davros in Genesis of the Daleks, for which he provided uncredited Dalek voices, being the only time he had to act with himself. He portrayed the role of Morelli in Planet of Evil. He was booked to reprise his role as Davros in 1984's Resurrection of the Daleks but after multiple curtailments he became unavailable, and considered Terry Molloy’s mask to look like Ena Sharples. Outside of Doctor Who, Wisher voiced many commercials as well as narration of Horizon. He died of a heart attack on 21 July 1995.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963	Suspense	Radio officer, S.S. Opal Bay	Episode “The Uncertain Witness”
	Your World	Tony Miller	4 episodes
1963-1974	Z-Cars	Various	4 episodes
1965	R3	Petty Officer	Episode 10 “The Critical Moment”
	Mr. Holmes and the Lovebank	Narrator	10 radio episodes of Woman's Hour
1968	The Newcomers	Mr. Drake	2 episodes
1968-1975	Doctor Who	Radio announcer, John Wakefield, Rex Farrel, Kalik, Daleks, Davros, Magrik, Morelli	Season 6 (1 episode) Season 7 (3 episodes) Season 8 (4 episodes) Season 10 (10 episodes) Season 11 (4 episodes) Season 12 (10 episodes) Season 13 (3 episodes)
1968-1969	Adventure Weekly	PC Cullis	10 episodes
1972	Colditz	Consulate Official	Episode 7 “Lord, Didn’t It Rain”
1973	Moonbase 3	Harry Sanders	Episode 1 “Departure and Arrival”
1975	Dixon of Dock Green	PC Joe Birkett	Episode “On a Moody Complaint”
1976	The Prince and the Pauper	Farmer	Episode 3
	Wilkinson's WIngle	Narrator	Writer for radio Morning Story
1982	Airline	Kellett	6 episodes
1985	Cover Her Face	Mr. Welch	Episode 2
1986	Alice in Wonderland	Cheshire Cat	2 episodes
1987	Vanity Fair	Major-domo	Episode 13 “A Vulgar Incident”
1988	Wartime	Benton's father	Direct-to-video film
	Tales of the Unexpected	Dexter	Episode “The Dead Don’t Steal”
	Blind Justice	Magistrates Chairman	Episode 2 “White Man Listen”
1989	Rules of Engagement	Surveillance Agent	Episode 3
	The Bill	Car Repair Man	Episode “Chinese Whispers”
1991	The Stranger: Summoned by Shadows	Controller	Direct-to-video film
	EastEnders	Mr. Downing	Episode 709
1993	Doctor Who: Thirty Years in the TARDIS	Dalek Voices	TV special
	The Airzone Solution	Richard Allenby	Direct-to-video film
1994	Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans	Robar
1995	Dalekmania	Commissionaire

External links

• Michael Wisher at IMDb