Ian Richardson 07 April 1934 - 09 February 2007

Today is the 4th anniversary of Ian's death. It's hard to believe that four years have passed since he left us.

With the passing of time, images fade, but we are so fortunate in that there are so many visual and audio opportunities to keep fresh in our minds what a wonderful actor Ian Richardson was.

The first main section of his career was his time, between 1960 and 1975, with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Although there is almost no visual material available from his host of performances with the Company, it is still possible to obtain DVD copies of him as Oberon (seen above, with Ian Holm as Puck) in Peter Hall's filmed version of A Midsummer Night's Dream and as Marat in Peter Brook's Marat/Sade.

There are a great many of Ian's television and film performances available on DVD from a variety of sources. I strongly recommend getting hold of programmes such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; Private Schulz; The Woman in White (1982); Six Centuries of Verse; The Sign of Four: The Hound of the Baskervilles; Porterhouse Blue; Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy; The Gravy Train; Troubles; An Ungentlemanly Act; The House of Cards Trilogy; Gormenghast; Murder Rooms; Becoming Jane; Hogfather.

These are just a selection of the range of titles available.

And today we are blessed with sites such as YouTube, where you can find hidden gems otherwise not likely to be seen.

One of these is the Drama The Winslow Boy (1989) in which Ian played Sir Robert Morton. The link isn't available, but you can find the whole series on YouTube.

In the meantime, you can enjoy examples such as this:

Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy

In 1986, Ian played Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, in the mini-series, Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy. Producer, Judith De Paul had been searching unsuccessfully for an Indian actor to perform the role, when she stumbled across a poor quality photocopy photo of Ian (who had hoped to play Mountbatten, but wasn't tall enough). She covered the top half of the head and declared, 'we have our Nehru'.

As part of his agreement to play the role, Ian insisted on being flown to India and sitting through many hours of newsreels and steeping himself in the Indian culture. He came to love the country and its people.

The Indian Government were adamant that there should be no overt manifestations of the rumoured affair between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten (played by Janet Suzman). However, the actors were able to engender a palpable electricity between the two characters.



For those of us who have watched the drama, the final scene, in which Nehru bids farewell to Edwina, shall remain unforgettable.



Mountbatten:The Last Viceroy was directed by Tom Clegg, and starred Nicol Williamson as Lord Louis Mountbatten and Sam Dastor as Gandhi.

There are contributions from Sam Dastor and Janet Suzman in We Could Possibly Comment: Ian Richardson Remembered , as well as some of Ian's own recollections of the making of the drama.

The DVD is still available from a few sources, such as Amazon UK, Acorn Media and Ciao.Co.UK and scenes from the Drama have just recently been put onto YouTube.