Nabil Shaban obit

RIP Nabil Shaban

He was not on the list.

Nabil Shaban, known to generations of Doctor Who fans as Sil in Philip Martin’s various stories and the co-founder of Graeae, has died, aged 72.

The news was posted to social media that “Today Marcella, Zen had to say goodbye to Nabil as he passed away peacefully”. In addition to playing Sil twice on TV opposite Colin Baker, he reprised the role for Big Finish for a version of the lost Season 23 story Mission to Magnus, as well as a new story Antidote to Oblivion, and in 2019 was on screen at the heart of Sil and the Devil Seeds of Ardor for Reeltime. His other genre work included the adaptation of Children of Men.

He co-founded Graeae, which supports disabled actors, in 1980 and received a honorary doctorate from the University of Surrey for promoting Disability Arts in 1997.

Shaban was born in Amman, Jordan, with brittle bone disease osteogenesis imperfecta. He was sent to England for medical care, where he grew up in a series of hospitals and residential homes. He studied at the University of Surrey in the late 1970s and contributed to the Students' Union newspaper "Bare Facts". In 1997, Shaban was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university for services in the promotion of Disability Arts.

One of his most memorable television roles was that of the reptilian alien Sil in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. Shaban played Sil in two serials: Vengeance on Varos (1985) and Mindwarp (1986), and created Sil's laugh. He reprised the role in the Big Finish audio dramas Mission to Magnus (2009) and Antidote to Oblivion (2013), both again written by Philip Martin. Shaban again played Sil in 2019 in Reeltime Pictures' web series production of Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor (2019), again written by Philip Martin.

He has appeared in several films, including Born of Fire (1987), City of Joy (1992), Derek Jarman's Wittgenstein (1993), Gaias børn (1998), and Children of Men (2006), and has also worked as part of the Crass Collective. In 2011, he played the Roman emperor Constantius II at the National Theatre in Ibsen's Emperor and Galilean.

In 2003 he made a TV documentary titled The Strangest Viking (part of Channel 4's Secret History series), in which Shaban explored the possibility that Viking chieftain Ivar the Boneless may have had osteogenesis imperfecta, the same condition he himself has. Shaban has also published a trilogy of Ivarr the Boneless screenplays on Kindle, representing the Viking chieftain as a disabled Danish prince with brittle bones and unable to walk.

Shaban was nominated Best Actor in Scottish theatre in 2005, by the Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS), for his role as Mack the Knife in Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera, a Theatre Workshop (Edinburgh) production. Shaban lost out to rival nominee David Tennant, who was about to become the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who.

Shaban's play The First To Go premièred in May 2008, produced by Edinburgh's Benchtours Theatre Company in association with Sirius Pictures. It opened at the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh on 23 May and toured to the Tron Theatre, Glasgow; the Byre Theatre, St Andrews and Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield.

Actor

Coffee with Chris (2022)

Coffee with Chris

9.4

Podcast Series

2023

1 episode

 

The Glam Gizmo (2020)

The Glam Gizmo

Podcast Series

Nobelius

2023

1 episode

 

Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor (2019)

Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor

5.0

TV Movie

Sil

2019

 

Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures (1999)

Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures

7.8

Podcast Series

Sil (voice)

2014

1 episode

 

How to prevent a UFO Abduction (2010)

How to prevent a UFO Abduction

Video

Nabil Shaban

2010

 

Doctor Who: The Lost Stories (2009)

Doctor Who: The Lost Stories

7.4

Podcast Series

Sil (voice)

2009

1 episode

 

Morticia (2009)

Morticia

Dr. Moores

2009

 

Alia Alzougbi in Trouble Sleeping (2008)

Trouble Sleeping

5.7

Lawyer

2008

 

Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men

7.9

Bexhill Market Hustler

2006

 

Sorry About Last Night (1995)

Sorry About Last Night

6.6

TV Movie

Lawyer

1995

 

Edward James Olmos and Adrian Pasdar in Slave of Dreams (1995)

Slave of Dreams

5.8

TV Movie

Soothsayer

1995

 

Screen Two (1984)

Screen Two

6.5

TV Series

Alan

1994

1 episode

 

Bryan Brown, Matthias Hues, and Sophie Okonedo in Age of Treason (1993)

Age of Treason

5.9

TV Movie

Juba

1993

 

Wittgenstein (1993)

Wittgenstein

6.9

Martian

1993

 

Inmates

TV Movie

1992

 

Patrick Swayze in City of Joy (1992)

City of Joy

6.5

Anouar

1992

 

A Different Hand (1992)

A Different Hand

TV Movie

The Best Friend

1992

 

4 Play (1989)

4 Play

6.5

TV Series

George

1991

1 episode

 

South of the Border (1988)

South of the Border

7.1

TV Series

Prosecuting counsel

1990

1 episode

 

Iranian Nights (1989)

Iranian Nights

4.0

TV Movie

Caliph

1989

 

Billy's Christmas Angels

TV Movie

Charlie

1988

 

Raspberry Ripple (1988)

Raspberry Ripple

6.5

TV Movie

Bill

1988

 

Born of Fire (1987)

Born of Fire

6.0

The Silent One

1987

 

Paul McGann, Colin Baker, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, William Hartnell, Sylvester McCoy, Jon Pertwee, and Patrick Troughton in Doctor Who (1963)

Doctor Who

8.4

TV Series

Sil

1985–1986

6 episodes

 

Walter (1982)

Walter

7.3

TV Movie

Ben Gunn

1982

 

Writer

How to prevent a UFO Abduction (2010)

How to prevent a UFO Abduction

Video

Writer

2010

 

Morticia (2009)

Morticia

written by

2009

 

The Alien Who Lived in the Sheds (1997)

The Alien Who Lived in the Sheds

TV Movie

written by

1997

 

Another World (1995)

Another World

Video

written by

1995

 

A Different Hand (1992)

A Different Hand

TV Movie

additional material

1992

 

Everyman (1977)

Everyman

7.2

TV Series

writer

1990

1 episode

 

The Skin Horse (1983)

The Skin Horse

7.5

written by

1983

 

Director

How to prevent a UFO Abduction (2010)

How to prevent a UFO Abduction

Video

Director

2010

 

Morticia (2009)

Morticia

Director

2009

 

The Alien Who Lived in the Sheds (1997)

The Alien Who Lived in the Sheds

TV Movie

Director

1997

 

Another World (1995)

Another World

Video

Director

1995

 

Producer

How to prevent a UFO Abduction (2010)

How to prevent a UFO Abduction

Video

producer

2010

 

Morticia (2009)

Morticia

producer

2009

 

The Alien Who Lived in the Sheds (1997)

The Alien Who Lived in the Sheds

TV Movie

producer

1997

 

Another World (1995)

Another World

Video

producer

1995

 

Camera and Electrical Department

Another World (1995)

Another World

Video

camera operator

1995

 

Self

The No-Name Trivia Show (2020)

The No-Name Trivia Show

TV Series

Self

2020

 

The Silent One Speaks

Video

Self

2018

 

Return of the Starpeople

5.8

Self - Presenter

2004

 

The Story of 'Doctor Who' (2003)

The Story of 'Doctor Who'

7.4

TV Movie

Self

2003

 

Secret History (1991)

Secret History

6.8

TV Series

Self - Presenter

2003

1 episode

 

Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Tony Kaye, Chris Squire, Peter Banks, and Yes in Top Ten (1995)

Top Ten

6.1

TV Series

Self

2001

1 episode

 

Gaias børn

7.7

Self - Host

1998

 

The Alien Who Lived in the Sheds (1997)

The Alien Who Lived in the Sheds

TV Movie

Self

1997

 

Without Walls (1990)

Without Walls

5.7

TV Series

Self - Presenter

1996

1 episode

 

Double the Trouble, Twice the Fun (1992)

Double the Trouble, Twice the Fun

6.9

TV Movie

Self

1992

 

Open to Question (1984)

Open to Question

TV Series

Self

1992

1 episode

 

When I Get to Heaven

TV Series

Self - Interviewee

1991

1 episode

 

Tonight with Jonathan Ross (1990)

Tonight with Jonathan Ross

7.5

TV Series

Self

1991

1 episode

 

Everyman (1977)

Everyman

7.2

TV Series

Self - The Lanternist

1990

1 episode

 

After Dark (1987)

After Dark

7.3

TV Series

Self

1989

1 episode

 

The Garden Party

TV Series

Self

1989

1 episode

 

Arena (1975)

Arena

7.6

TV Series

Self

1981–1988

2 episodes

 

Mwaka Mudenda, Lindsey Russell, Adam Beales, and Richie Driss in Blue Peter (1958)

Blue Peter

6.5

TV Series

SelfSelf - Sil

1986

1 episode

 

Right to Reply (1982)

Right to Reply

TV Series

Self - Writer, The Skin Horse

1983–1986

2 episodes

 

The Skin Horse (1983)

The Skin Horse

7.5

Self - Narrator

1983

 

The Breakthrough

Short

Self - Narrator

1981

 

Archive Footage

Doctor Who: Tales of the TARDIS (2023)

Doctor Who: Tales of the TARDIS

7.4

TV Mini Series

Sil (archive footage)

2023

1 episode

 

Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures (1999)

Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures

7.8

Podcast Series

Sil (archive sound)

2014

1 episode

 

Tom Baker, William Hartnell, Jon Pertwee, and Patrick Troughton in Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited (2013)

Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited

8.2

TV Mini Series

Self - Sil (archive footage, uncredited)

2013

1 episode

 

Nice or Nasty?: The Making of Vengeance on Varos

Video

SelfSelf - Sil (archive footage)

2012

 

Who Peter: Partners in Time - 1963-1989 (2010)

Who Peter: Partners in Time - 1963-1989

8.6

Video

Self - Sil (archive footage)

2010

 

Trials and Tribulations

7.7

Video

Self - Sil (archive footage, uncredited)

2008

 

Doctor Who: The Colin Baker Years (1994)

Doctor Who: The Colin Baker Years

7.1

Video

Self - Sil (archive footage)

1994