# William Mervyn

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.

## Life and career

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).

## Personal life

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.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1947 | The Loves of Joanna Godden | Huxtable | |
| 1947 | The Mark of Cain | Mr Bonnington | Uncredited |
| 1949 | That Dangerous Age | Nicky | |
| 1949 | Stop Press Girl | Cinema Manager | Uncredited |
| 1950 | The Blue Lamp | Chief Inspector Hammond | Uncredited |
| 1950 | Four Men in Prison | Unknown | short |
| 1954 | Conflict of Wings | Mr Wentworth | |
| 1956 | Tons of Trouble | Roberts (M15) | |
| 1956 | The Long Arm | Manager of Festival Hall | |
| 1957 | The Admirable Crichton | Guest at Ball | Uncredited |
| 1957 | Barnacle Bill | Captain | |
| 1957 | The Long Arm | Manager of Festival Hall | Released as The Third Key in the USA |
| 1958 | Carve Her Name with Pride | Colonel Buckmaster | |
| 1959 | The 39 Steps | Angry Train Passenger | Uncredited |
| 1959 | Upstairs and Downstairs | Kingsley | |
| 1960 | A Touch of Larceny | Capt. Balfour | Uncredited |
| 1960 | The Battle of the Sexes | Detective's friend | |
| 1960 | Circus of Horrors | Doctor Morley | |
| 1961 | No Love for Johnnie | Postmaster-General | Uncredited |
| 1961 | Watch It, Sailor! | Ship's Captain | Uncredited |
| 1961 | Invasion Quartet | Naval Officer | |
| 1963 | Tamahine | Lord Birchester | |
| 1964 | Hot Enough for June | Passenger on plane | Uncredited and released as Agent 8¾ in the USA |
| 1964 | Murder Ahoy! | Commander Breeze-Connington | |
| 1965 | Operation Crossbow | Dutch Technical Examiner | |
| 1965 | Up Jumped a Swagman | Mr Hawkes Fenhoulet | |
| 1967 | Deadlier Than the Male | Chairman of the Phoenician Board | |
| 1967 | The Jokers | Uncle Edwards | |
| 1967 | Follow That Camel | Sir Cyril Ponsonby | |
| 1968 | Hammerhead | Walter Perrin | |
| 1968 | Salt and Pepper | Prime Minister | |
| 1968 | Star! | General | Uncredited |
| 1968 | Hot Millions | Sir Charles Wilson | Uncredited |
| 1969 | The Best House in London | | Uncredited |
| 1969 | Carry On Again Doctor | Lord Paragon | |
| 1970 | Incense for the Damned | Marc Honeydew | |
| 1970 | Atlantic Wall | L'évêque Anglais | |
| 1970 | The Railway Children | Old Gentleman | credited as Mr William Mervyn |
| 1971 | Carry On Henry | Physician | |
| 1972 | The Ruling Class | Sir Charles Gurney | |
| 1972 | Up the Front | Lord Twithampton | |
| 1976 | The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones | Squire Alworthy | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1959 | Charlesworth | Charles Begbie | |
| 1960 | ITV Television Playhouse | Mr Challen | |
| 1960 | The Long Way Home | French police sergeant | |
| 1960 | The Four Just Men | Under Secretary | |
| 1960 | Yorky | Mr Playford | |
| 1960 | On Trial | Sergeant Ballatine/President of the Court | |
| 1960 | Dixon of Dock Green | Bruce Treadgold | |
| 1960 | Persuasion | Admiral Croft | |
| 1961 | No Hiding Place | Ivor Naunton/Colonel Frew | |
| 1962 | Oliver Twist | Mr Grimwig | |
| 1962 | Bulldog Breed | Company director | |
| 1962 | Maigret | Doctor | |
| 1962 | It Happened Like This | Sir George Wilby | |
| 1963 | The Odd Man | Chief Inspector Rose | |
| 1963 | The Sentimental Agent | Colonel Wilde | |
| 1964 | Silas Marner | Squire Cass | |
| 1964 | Diary of a Young Man | Bott | |
| 1964 | The Massingham Affair | Mr Jessopp | |
| 1965 | The Flying Swan | Alexander Curtis | |
| 1965 | Heiress of Garth | Squire Griffin | TV mini-series |
| 1965 | Court Martial | Chief Inspector Haigh | |
| 1966 | The Liars | Sir Gerald | |
| 1966 | Doctor Who: The War Machines | Sir Charles Summer | |
| 1966 | BBC Play of the Month | Sir Hector Rose | |
| 1966-1971 | All Gas and Gaiters | Bishop Cuthbert Hever | |
| 1967 | Gideon's Way | Mr Pater | |
| 1968-1970 | Thirty-Minute Theatre | Sir Eric Brown/Father | |
| 1969 | Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) | Whitty | |
| 1970 | The Mating Machine | Major Whitestone | |
| 1971-1972 | Tottering Towers | Duke of Tottering | |
| 1972-1984 | Crown Court | The Hon. Mr Justice Campbell | |
| 1973 | The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes | Sir Hector Drummond | |
| 1976 | The Ghosts of Motley Hall | Mr Bayling | |
| 1977 | Raffles | Osborne |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Theatre |
| 1946 | The Guinea Pig | Criterion Theatre |
| 1947-1948 | The Blind Goddess | Apollo Theatre, London |
| 1948 | Lend Me Robin | Embassy Theatre |
| 1952 | The Mortimer Touch | Duke of York's Theatre |
| 1952-1953 | Pagan in the Parlour | Theatre Royal, Bath |
| 1953 | A Woman of No Importance | Savoy Theatre |
| 1954 | Charley's Aunt | New Theatre and Strand Theatre |
| 1954-1955 | Witness for the Prosecution | Bristol Hippodrome |
| 1955 | Mrs Willie | Globe Theatre, London |
| 1956 | The Rivals | Saville Theatre |
| 1957 | The Iron Duchess | Fortune Theatre |
| 1972 | The Doctor's Dilemma | |