Peter Miles

Peter Miles (29 August 1928 – 26 February 2018) was an English actor. He played many television roles including several different characters in Z-Cars and Doctor Who. His other television work included Blake's 7, Survivors, The Sweeney, Dixon of Dock Green, Moonbase 3, Poldark and Bergerac. His film credits include roles in Made, The Whistle Blower (1986) and Little Dorrit (1988).

Miles was also an accomplished jazz and soul singer. He was a childhood friend of the singer Dusty Springfield, and the first recording Springfield ever made was with Miles on guitar.

Early life Peter Miles was born Peter Miles-Johnson on 29 August 1928 in Ealing, London. His English father was Edward Hezekiah Miles-Johnson and his French mother was Jacqueline Lesourd. The family lived at Bradley Gardens in West Ealing. His parents divorced when he was in his early teens.

In his teens, Miles was a close friend of Dusty Springfield, who lived nearby in Kent Gardens, West Ealing. They enjoyed singing together along with her brother, Tom.

Acting career Miles trained initially as a teacher, although he sometimes participated in amateur dramatics. In his late 20s he worked as a teacher at the William Ellis School in Hampstead. Whilst working there, the actress Helen Burns (mother of one of his pupils, future actor Chris Langham) inspired Miles to audition for the Birmingham Repertory Company. In Doctor Who, he appeared in three serials, as Dr. Lawrence in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970), Professor Whitaker in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974) and Nyder in Genesis of the Daleks (1975).

Film work Miles appeared in the Henry VIII feature film Monarch alongside Doctor Who actors T. P. McKenna and Jean Marsh.

Radio and other work Miles also performed in the BBC Radio 5 Doctor Who audio drama The Paradise of Death in 1993, playing the villain Tragan.

Filmography