At the Eighth Fantasy Fair I had a chance to chat to the guest Barry Noble. From the publicity I knew that he had played a Cyberman in the Dr. Who story 'The Moonbase' and had appeared in the Reeltime Pictures video 'I was a Doctor Who Monster'.

     I discovered that Barry, educated at Kettering Boys School, went to London in the mid-sixties and had small parts in such series as 'Dangerman' and 'The Prisoner'. His first appearance in Dr. Who was as an Ancient Egyptian in 'The Dalek Masterplan'.

     What was William Hartnell like?

     He was a nice man. He played so many Sergeant-Majors that people think he was like that in real life, but he wasn't.

     How did you audition to be a Cyberman?

     Oh, I had to be the right size and shape for the costume. They were terrible things to wear, you couldn't go to the toilet.

     (On page 60 of the book 'The Doctors', Barry is the Cyberman holding the left-hand side of the weapon.) Also in his career, Barry played one of the Book People in the classic film, 'Fahrenheit 451'.

     Those woods around the Pinewood studios were in all the films then. Especially the Hammers.

     After these he went on to make records for EMI at the Abbey Road Studios.

     Another historic place.

     Hopefully, Barry will be back to Peterborough at either an SF Club or Nth Dimension event before too long.