David Ryall obit

Harry Potter, The Village and Outnumbered star David Ryall has died

Sherlock writer and star Mark Gatiss leads tribute to his friend who died on Christmas Day aged 79

 

 He was not on the list.

David Ryall, the English character actor who was a familiar face in an array of TV favorites, has died.

The actor played the grandfather in the hit BBC comedy Outnumbered but was a well-known presence in a variety of other small-screen hits such as The Singing Detective, Goodnight Sweetheart and The Village.

Sherlock writer and actor Mark Gatiss paid tribute to his friend on Twitter, writing: Born in 1935, Ryall earned early success with his stage work before becoming a familiar face to TV viewers in a career spanning more than five decades.

He appeared in the first two series of BBC1 comedy Outnumbered as Frank, the grandfather who suffers from dementia. He later reprised his role for the 2009 and 2011 Christmas specials of the show.

Other roles included the part of Old Bert, Britain’s oldest man who recounts his long life through a series of flashbacks as narrator of the BBC series The Village (see main pic).

He also played the Ministry of Magic jurist Elphias Doge in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. He played Lord Salisbury in Around the World in 80 Days starring Jackie Chan.

Ryall enjoyed a cameo part as an old soldier in BBC1 drama Our Girl and was popular with fans of Sky 1 comedy Trollied as Vic.

His performance as Mr Hall – a fellow patient of Michael Gambon’s lead character in Dennis Potter’s seminal 1980s TV drama series The Singing Detective – was also highly regarded.

The drama’s producer Kenith Trodd told RadioTimes.com what made Ryall’s performance so special. He said: “He was cast as the old pro lynchpin in a trio of bantering cardiac and skin habitues in a dynasouric NHS ward. David’s aggrieved, prurient Mr Hall grounded the itchy desperation of the place in a heavenly patina of comic excess and total reality.”

Another familiar role that won him the affections of TV fans was his turn as the staunchly patriotic Eric, the father of Dervla Kirwan’s Phoebe in the Nicholas Lyndhurst time-travelling comedy Goodnight Sweetheart.

Fans of the actor took to Twitter to pay tribute.

Filmography

 

    The Dance of Death (1969) – Sentry

    Black Joy (1977) – Butcher

    Love for Lydia (1977, TV Series) – Bretherton

    Enemy at the Door (1978-1980, TV Series) - Capt. Tom Foster-Smythe

    Bless Me, Father (1978–1981, TV Series) – Billy Buzzle

    The Knowledge (1979) – Titanic

    The Elephant Man (1980) – Man With Whores

    Fords on Water (1983) – Mister Jack

    Jack the Ripper (1988, TV Series) – Bowyer

    The Woman in Black (1989) – Sweetman

    Wilt (1990) – Rev. Froude

    Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990) – George

    The Russia House (1990) – Colonial Type

    Shelley (1990-1992, TV Series) – Ted Bishop

    Shuttlecock (1993) – Pound

    Justice (1993) – English Minister

    Black Beauty (1994) – Carriagemaker

    Giorgino (1994) – Professor Beaumont

    Carrington (1995) – Mayor

    Restoration (1995) – Lord Bathurst

    Mad Cows (1999) – Man outside Harrods

    Unconditional Love (2002) – Funeral Director

    Two Men Went to War (2002) – Winston Churchill

    Blackball (2003) – Giles Wilton

    Around the World in 80 Days (2004) – Lord Salisbury

    The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005) – Tom Tit

    City of Ember (2008) – Chief Builder

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) – Elphias Doge

    Hysteria (2011) – Judge

    Trollied (2011–2012, TV series) – Vic

    Quartet (2012) – Harry

    A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Tractate Middoth (2013) – Dr. Rant

    Mr. Turner (2014) – Footman

    Autómata (2014) – Dominic Hawk

    Call the Midwife (2015, series 4, episode 7) – Tommy Mills (final appearance)