Richard Franklin, who portrayed Captain Mike Yates in the classic series of Doctor Who, has passed away at the age of 87, according to Deadline.
What’s Happening:
- Actor Richard Franklin passed away peacefully in sleep this morning, December 25th, at the age of 87.
- The news was confirmed by longtime friend Líam Rudden, who shared the news via Franklin’s X account today, on behalf of the family.
- Franklin got his start on TV in 1969 with the popular British soap opera, Crossroads, as Joe Townsend.
- Just a couple of years later in 1971, he made his Doctor Who debut as Captain Mike Yates in the season 8 story, “Terror of the Autons.”
- As part of the UNIT family, Franklin appeared in numerous stories over the next few years alongside Third Doctor Jon Pertwee.
- The character of Mike Yates even became a bit of a troubled antihero, helping the villains of “Invasion of the Dinosaurs” do the wrong thing for the right reasons. His character was redeemed in his following appearance in Jon Pertwee’s final story as the Doctor, “Planet of the Spiders.”
- Franklin would continue to play Mike Yates in spinoff audios from Big Finish, as well as making a brief appearance in the 20th anniversary special, “The Five Doctors.”
- Franklin also has multiple big screen credits, even making a small appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as Death Star Engineer Sirro Argonne.
Franklin can be seen to the left of Mads Mikkelsen's Galen Erso
- In addition to his work as an actor, Franklin was also a writer, journalist and political activist.