William Mervyn Pickwoad (3 January 1912 – 6 August 1976) was an English actor best known for his portrayal of the bishop in the clerical comedy All Gas and Gaiters, the old gentleman in The Railway Children and Inspector Charles Rose in The Odd Man and its sequels.
Mervyn was born in Nairobi, British East Africa, but educated in Britain at Forest School, Snaresbrook, before embarking on a stage career, spending five years in provincial theatre. He made his West End debut in The Guinea Pig at the Criterion Theatre in 1946, before parts in plays such as Lend Me Robin at the Embassy Theatre, the comedy Ring Round the Moon, The Mortimer Touch, A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde at the Savoy Theatre in 1953 and Charley's Aunt.
Mervyn's later stage roles included those of O'Trigger in The Rivals, Lord Greenham in the comedy Aren't We All? and Sir Patrick Cullen in The Doctor's Dilemma. Although he was admired in the theatre, it was with television that he became really well known. One of his first major small screen roles was Sir Hector in the 1962 series Saki. Four years later, he played the Bishop of St. Ogg's in the comedy series All Gas and Gaiters. It was, at that time, breaking with tradition, allowing a laugh at the expense of the established church.
He also played the police chief inspector Charles Rose in the Granada TV series The Odd Man and its spin-offs It's Dark Outside and Mr Rose. He played the Hon. Mr. Justice Campbell in the Granada TV series Crown Court.
Having taken the part of a Chief Inspector in the 1949 Ealing Studios film The Blue Lamp, in which PC George Dixon first appears (only to be shot dead by a young Dirk Bogarde), he then reappeared in a 1960 Dixon of Dock Green episode "The Hot Seat". He was in the 1966 Doctor Who story The War Machines and several Carry On films in the late 1960s, and also appeared as Mr. Whitty in the Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) episode "A Disturbing Case" in 1969.
Usually cast as a wealthy upper class gentleman, he also appeared in The Railway Children (1970), as the children's train passenger friend, and The Ruling Class (1972). Around the same time, he appeared as Sir Hector Drummond, Bt., in the British TV series The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, in an episode entitled "The Superfluous Finger" (1973).
Mervyn was married to Anne Margaret Payne-Cook, a theatre designer and architect who survived him with their three sons - Michael Pickwoad, who in 2010 became the production designer on Doctor Who, Richard, television director and aerial cameraman and Nicholas (Pickwoad), expert on bookbinding. Mervyn's granddaughter Amy Pickwoad became an art director and standby art director for Doctor Who.
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as Osborne(1 ep)
as Squire Alworthy
as Mr Brayling(1 ep)
as (voice)
as The Hon. Mr. Justice Campbell(75 eps)
as Mr. Justice Campbell(4 eps)
as Lord Twithampton
as Sir Charles Gurney
as Sir Hector Drummond(1 ep)
as Sir Charles Worthington(1 ep)
as Dr. Finlay
as Marc Honeydew
as Old Gentleman
as Protestant Bishop, Jeff's father
as Lord Paragon
as Cabinet Minister (uncredited)
as Walter Perrin
as Prime Minister
as Sir Cyril Ponsonby
as Uncle Edward
as Charles Rose / Marcus Despard(24 eps)
as Chairman of the Phoenician Board
as The Bishop, The Right Reverend Cuthbert Hever(32 eps)
as Sir Charles Summer
as Sir Gerald(13 eps)
as Sir Hector Rose(1 ep)
as Father(1 ep)
as Sir Eric Brown(1 ep)
as Squire Griffin(6 eps)
as Dutch Technical Examiner
as Mr. Pater(1 ep)
as Lord Justice
as Carson(5 eps)
as The Bishop
as Breeze-Connington
as Passenger on Plane
as Chief Insp. Charles Rose(16 eps)
as Sir Hector(8 eps)
as Ship's Captain
as Postmaster-General (uncredited)
as Admiral Croft(4 eps)
as Doctor(1 ep)
as Chief Insp. Charles Rose(8 eps)
as President of the Court(1 ep)
as Dr. Morley
as Detective's Friend
as Capt. Balfour (uncredited)
as King Klaus(3 eps)
as Kingsley
as Mr Kenge(3 eps)
as Colonel Frew(1 ep)
as Ivor Naunton(1 ep)
as Charles Begbie(22 eps)
as Colonel Buckmaster
as Captain
as Mr. Witterly(1 ep)
as Sir Edmund
as Dr. Scott(1 ep)
as Sir Edmund(1 ep)
as Council Official(1 ep)
as Manager of Festival Hall
as Roberts (MI5)
as Colley Cibber
as Thomas(1 ep)
as Judd(1 ep)
as Mr. Wentworth/Col. Wentworth
as (uncredited)
as Chief Inspector Hammond (Uncredited)
as Cinema Manager (uncredited)
as Huxtable
