Hamish Wilson obit

Hamish Wilson 1942 – 2020

 He was not on the list.

From Lorne Boswell of Equity…

“Sorry to hear of Hamish’s death last Thursday.

He led a full life and touched many people. He was one of life’s enthusiasts and succeeded at most everything he turned his hand to. Trained at the RSAMD, his early career as an actor included Greyfriars Bobby (1961), Vital Spark (‘66), Softly Softly (‘67), Dr Who (‘68) The Mind Robber. He worked for Equity for a bit in Glasgow and London. His latter working years were as a Radio Drama Producer for the BBC where he produced hundreds of network dramas for Radio 3 and 4. He returned to acting after retiring from the BBC and appeared in Taggart, Monarch of the Glen and many others. Time in his company was always enjoyable and often informative.

He succumbed to this dreaded virus. We won’t be able to gather for his funeral. Remember that mischievous grin and raise a glass to him. RIP.”

I met Hamish while I was working at Radio Clyde and after I went out on my own during 1988 Hamish did a lot of our early voice overs. It was during 2005 when we produced Type 2 Diabetes the No Nonsense Guide that I am about to preview below. Hamish was a stickler for correctness and if something wasn’t right he would do it again. I got Hamish to read the whole script so we could use it as a guide track.

Unfortunately the last time I spoke to Hamish was about a year ago, I say unfortunately because I wish it had not been so long ago. Hamish used to stay about 5 minutes along the road from me till he and his lovely wife Dianna retired to Newton Stewart near Wigtown which is 95 miles away.

The Mind Robber took place in June 1968, during production of the Mind Robber actor Frazer Hines contracted chickenpox and was hurriedly replaced by Hamish Wilson for episode 2.

His nom de plumb was the “arm chair general” as he was very much into virtual war on his computer and a ton of books on the subject. Its very sad to think I will no longer to be able to pick up the phone to my old friend who had the richest, warmest, chocolatey voice in the world of voice over artists. God bless you Hamish.

Hamish leaves a lovely wife Dianna and three very loving girls Emma, Alice and Abigail.

He was best known for briefly taking over the role of Jamie McCrimmon for part of two episodes in the 1968 Doctor Who serial The Mind Robber when series regular Frazer Hines was ill with chickenpox and unable to attend the recording. The change of actor was written in as part of the story when Jamie is turned into a cardboard cut-out and has his face removed by the Master of the Land of Fiction. The Second Doctor's first attempt to reconstruct his face is unsuccessful. Eventually, Jamie's real face is restored when Hines recovered.

Wilson trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and his early work includes an appearance on the first series of The Vital Spark (in the only surviving episode of that series, 1966's "A Drop O' The Real Stuff"). At the time of his Doctor Who appearance, he was working in London for a furniture removal firm. His other work includes numerous TV guest appearances in programmes such as Softly, Softly and Monarch of the Glen, and involvement in the documentary and the audio commentary on the 2005 DVD release of "The Mind Robber". Wilson also acted in Greyfriars Bobby (1961) and TimeLock (2013). Starting in the 1970s, Wilson became a continuity announcer with STV in Glasgow, he then became a radio producer, working with Radio Forth and Radio Clyde before moving to the BBC's Scottish radio drama unit in Edinburgh in 1989, where he made programmes for BBC Radio Scotland as well as BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4. He received a fellowship from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1996. He was also a staff member at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.