It is with great sadness that we must announce the passing of actress Caroline John, who passed away on the 5th June.
John is best remembered for her role as Dr. Liz Shaw, assistant to Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor in DOCTOR WHO throughout the show’s 1970 Season (the first featuring Pertwee in the role, and also the first to be broadcast in colour).
John leaves behind a great legacy of work away from DOCTOR WHO. Roles included extensive work with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as 2003’s LOVE ACTUALLY, 1989’s THE WOMAN IN BLACK, and guest stints in CASUALTY, MIDSOMER MURDERS, and AGATHA CHRISTIE’S POIROT (wherein she met her husband, actor Geoffrey Beevers, who went on to play the Master opposite Tom Baker in DOCTOR WHO).
Whilst only a regular on DOCTOR WHO for one season, John has continued to be regularly involved in the show through fan conventions and audio spin-off dramas.
We here at THN greatly recommend INFERNO, a DOCTOR WHO story from 1970, which sees the Doctor catapulted into an apocalyptic parraell universe. One of the all time fan favourites, INFERNO boasts a cracking performance from John, who gets the chance to play both Liz and an evil, Nazi-like version of Liz in the parallel universe.
A funeral was held in south-west London on Wednesday for the Yorkshire-born actress. RIP Caroline John.
