Before the part came along I'd been playing a bunch of crooks, sergeants, prison warders and detectives. Then, after appearing in This Sporting Life (1963), I got a phone call from my agent. He said, "I wouldn't normally have suggested you work in children's television, Bill, but there's a sort of character part come up that I think you'd just love to play. My agent said the part was that of an eccentric old grandfather- cum-professor type who travels in space and time. Well, I wasn't that keen, but I agreed to meet the producer. Then, the moment this brilliant young producer Miss Verity Lambert started telling me about Doctor Who (1963), I was hooked. I remember telling her, "This is going to run for five years." And look what's happened.
