The actor and former Doctor Who companion Jean Marsh has died at the age of 90.
If you’re a fan of classic Doctor Who, the chances are you will have encountered Jean Marsh, even if you don’t quite know the name. She appeared in three classic serials: ‘The Crusade’ in 1964, ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan‘ in 1965, and ‘Battlefield‘ in 1989. She also enjoyed a cameo in the 2013 docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time, which chronicled Doctor Who‘s early days, particularly the lives and careers of William Hartnell and Verity Lambert. Marsh could briefly be seen in the ‘farewell’ party for Verity Lambert, alongside the other classic series companion Anneke Wills.
But it’s not always easy to know how to classify Jean Marsh in the world of Who – if ‘classify’ is the right word. Because, in ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan,’ she is technically playing a guest role in the form of space security agent Sara Kingdom. But this guest role is, to all intents and purposes, a companion; she fills the shoes left by the recently-departed Katarina (who sacrificed herself to save the Doctor) and travels in the TARDIS with the Time Lord and Steven, helping them to fight the titular villains.
Moreover, within the world of the show itself, Jean Marsh’s character was considered a companion. In ‘The Day of the Doctor,’ her face was pinned to UNIT‘s wall of the Doctor’s known associates. UNIT had, at some point, brought Sara Kingdom to its Black Archive facility to ‘screen’ her, before wiping her memory of the event.
And if Sara Kingdom is indeed an official Doctor Who companion, then she made history in ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan,’ being only the second companion in the series’ history to die will travelling with the Doctor, and only one of three in the whole of classic Who.
But even if we dispense with categorisations for a moment, one thing is abundantly clear: Jean Marsh, despite only appearing in nine episodes of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan,’ made a memorable impact. And this isn’t subjective; as the UNIT cameo proves, it’s manifestly true. This is even more incredible when one considers that only two of Jean Marsh’s ‘Daleks’ Master Plan’ episodes still exist in the BBC’s archive. And if you’ve never seen them, you should; her character goes on a journey, and her vicious, antagonistic performance in episode five is particularly memorable. She starts off as the Doctor’s enemy, and even shoots her own brother.
It wasn’t until 1989 that Jean Marsh finally made a return to the Whoniverse for Season 26’s ‘Battlefield‘ written by Ben Aaronovitch. But here, there was no doubt: she was unequivocally the baddie, playing the sorceress Morgaine. On the surface, this was very much a stock, witch-like character, complete with the crystal ball and long finger nails, and the ability to shoot lightning from her fingertips.
But Jean Marsh’s Morgaine was far more nuanced than this, and indeed this is evident on screen – a testament to the writing of Aaronovitch, and Jean Marsh’s superb performance. Clearly, Morgaine has no compunction with killing people, and does a lot of it in ‘Battlefield.’ But this is juxtaposed with surprising moments like the scene in the tavern, in which she restores a blind woman’s sight to pay for her son’s drinks.
In contrast, Morgaine then displays a cool disregard for her son’s life by telling him to “die well” when she refuses to cede to the demands of her enemies, who are holding her son captive. She quite readily sends her son to his death in the pursuit of personal victory. Moreover, she unleashes the power of the fearsome Destroyer on planet Earth – a god-like being with the ability to devour whole planets. Again, she appears to care little when faced with the real possibility of wiping out the human race.
But one of these humans is Arthur, the famous king of British folklore, with whom she once had a romantic involvement. Morgaine is moved to tears when she learns that she will never see him again, and ultimately it’s this grief that forces her to abandon her plans for global destruction. “Arthur, who burned like star fire,” she utters, “and was as beautiful… We were together in the woods of Celadon. The air was like honey…”
Few Doctor Who villains have ever been so complex, and so exquisitely portrayed as Jean Marsh’s Morgaine. ‘Battlefield’ might be a ‘Marmite’ story (even for its writer, who doesn’t rate it highly) but there is no denying that one of its strengths is Jean Marsh’s performance.
Of course, her life wasn’t all Doctor Who (very little of it, in fact) although you may be fascinated to know that, at one time, she was married to the Third Doctor himself, Jon Pertwee. They married in 1955, and divorced in 1960.
Perhaps what Jean Marsh will be best remembered for is the period drama series Upstairs, Downstairs which she devised with the actress Eileen Atkins, and indeed had a recurring role in. This ran for five seasons between 1971 and 1975, enjoying a revival in 2010 where Marsh reprised the part of parlourmaid Rose Buck. Jean Marsh even won an Emmy for her performance in 1975.
Her film career, meanwhile, was extensive, and my personal favourite of all her roles (after Morgaine in ‘Battlefield’) was as the evil witch Mombi in 1985’s Return to Oz, which was truly the stuff of nightmares, in the best possible way. Marsh’s performance in this movie is electrifying and will have induced many a sleepless night in the children who saw it and, again, if you’ve never experienced Return to Oz, I highly recommend that you add it to your watch pile.
Jean Marsh, 1934-2025, made an outstanding contribution to the world of TV and film, and we owe her a huge debt, in the Whoniverse and beyond. She survives through the impressive body of performances she has left behind, for which we are all-the-richer.
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