UK

Doctor Who's 'Brigadier' dies at 81

Tributes have been paid to the actor Nicholas Courtney, who famously portrayed the character of The Brigadier in Doctor Who.

The actor starred in more than 100 episodes of the show - first appearing in the late 1960s - as Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart.

He passed away, at the age of 81, after suffering from cancer. Nicholas Courtney had also suffered a stroke in recent years.

Former Doctor Who actor Tom Baker, who played opposite him as the fourth incarnation of The Doctor, has paid tribute to his friend: "We shall miss him terribly.

"Of all the characters in Doctor Who there is no doubt that he was the most loved by the fans for his wonderful portrayal of the rather pompous Brigadier."

In the hit TV series, Nicholas Courtney first played the long-running military character opposite Jon Pertwee, but appeared regularly throughout the years opposite other Doctor Who stars.

In the show, The Brigadier was the chief of UNIT (The United Nations Intelligence Taskforce), a fictional military organisation, dreamed up by the Doctor Who writers, which was tasked with investigating and combating paranormal and extraterrestrial threats to the Earth.

Picture: BBC