
Geoffrey Palmer
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE was an English actor known for his roles in British television sitcoms playing Jimmy Anderson in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976–79), Ben Parkinson in Butterflies (1978–1983) and Lionel Hardcastle in As Time Goes By (1992–2005). His film appearances include A Fish Called Wanda (1988), The Madness of King George (1994), Mrs. Brown (1997), and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). Geoffrey Dyson Palmer was born on 4 June 1927 in North Finchley, Middlesex. He was the son of Frederick Charles Palmer, who was a chartered surveyor, and Norah Gwendolen (née Robins). He attended Highgate School from September 1939 to December 1945. He served as a corporal instructor in small arms and field training in the Royal Marines during his national service from 1946 to 1948, following which he briefly worked as an unpaid trainee assistant stage manager. Palmer's early television appearances included multiple roles in episodes of The Army Game (Granada Television), two episodes of The Baron and as a property agent in Cathy Come Home (1966). After a major break in John Osborne's West of Suez at the Royal Court with Ralph Richardson, he acted in major productions at the Royal Court and for the National Theatre Company and was directed by Laurence Olivier in J. B. Priestley's Eden End. Palmer found the play so dull, however, that he was deterred from a stage career. Two BBC sitcom roles brought him attention in the 1970s: the hapless brother-in-law of Reggie Perrin in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976–79), and the phlegmatic dentist Ben Parkinson in Butterflies (1978–1983). In 1978, Palmer appeared as organized crimelord Simon Sinclair in London Weekend Television's hard-hitting police drama The Professionals, the episode entitled "Where the Jungle Ends". Palmer played Doctor Price in the Fawlty Towers episode "The Kipper and the Corpse" (1979), determined to have breakfast amidst the confusion caused by the death of a guest and Fawlty's inept way of handling the emergency. In 1986, Palmer appeared as Donald Fairchild in the first series of an ITV sitcom, Executive Stress, alongside Penelope Keith. He later left, and was replaced by Peter Bowles. Palmer later starred opposite Judi Dench for over a decade in another BBC sitcom, As Time Goes By (1992–2005). In 1997, he also appeared with Dench in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, in which he portrayed Admiral Roebuck to Dench's M, and Mrs Brown, playing Sir Henry Ponsonby to Dench's Queen Victoria. Palmer married Sally Green in 1963. They had a daughter, Harriet, and a son, Charles, a television director. Palmer was a longtime resident of Lee Common in the Chiltern Hills, Buckinghamshire, and enjoyed fly fishing in his spare time. At the time of his death, he resided in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. Palmer died peacefully at his home on 5 November 2020, aged 93.
Known For
Credits
- 2021 · To Olivia as
- 2014 · Paddington as Head Geographer
- 2012 · Run For Your Wife as Man on Toilet
- 2011 · Lost Christmas as Dr. Clarence
- 2011 · W.E. as Stanley Baldwin
- 2007 · Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned as Captain Hardaker
- 2004 · Piccadilly Jim as Bayliss
- 2004 · He Knew He Was Right as Sir Marmaduke Rowley
- 2003 · The Young Visiters as Minnit
- 2002 · Dickens as
- 2002 · Stig of the Dump as Robert
- 1998 · Alice Through the Looking Glass as White King
- 1998 · Stiff Upper Lips as His Butler's Voice
- 1997 · Mrs Brown as Henry Ponsonby
- 1996 · The Legacy of Reginald Perrin as
- 1995 · Look at the State We're In! as The Ruler
- 1994 · The Madness of King George as Warren
- 1993 · Stalag Luft as The Kommandant
- 1991 · A Question of Attribution as Donleavy
- 1988 · Christabel as Mr. Burton
- 1988 · Hawks as SAAB Salesman
- 1986 · Executive Stress as
- 1986 · Clockwise as Headmaster
- 1986 · The Insurance Man as The Angry Doctor
- 1985 · A Zed & Two Noughts as Fallast
- 1983 · The Honorary Consul as British Ambassador
- 1981 · A Midsummer Night's Dream as Quince
- 1979 · The Outsider as Col. Wyndham
- 1975 · Edward the Seventh as Sir Edward Clarke
- 1973 · O Lucky Man! as Examination Doctor/Basil Keyes
- 1970 · Ben Travers Farces as Hugh Stafford
- 1966 · Cathy Come Home as Property Agent
- 1960 · The Odd Man as Const. Swift
- Future · Best Of Enemies as
- 2013 · Walrus: Two Tonne Tusker as Narrator
- 2012 · Bert & Dickie as Charles Burnell
- 2012 · The Hollow Crown as Lord Chief Justice
- 2012 · Queen Victoria's Last Love: Abdul Karim as Narrator
- 2009 · Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened as Self / Dr Price
- 2009 · The Pink Panther 2 as Joubert
- 2008 · Chateau Monty as
- 2008 · Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley as Sir John Crowder
- 2008 · Ashes to Ashes as Lord Scarman
- 2007 · The Alan Titchmarsh Show as Self
- 2006 · The One Show as Self
- 2005 · The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag as Corbett's Ghost
- 2005 · Pope John Paul II: 1920 - 2005 as Narrator
- 2003 · Peter Pan as Sir Edward Quiller Couch
- 2003 · Absolute Power as
- 2003 · Grumpy Old Men as Narrator
- 2001 · The Savages as Donald
- 2001 · The 1940's House as Narrator (voice)
- 2000 · Rat as The Doctor
- 1999 · Anna and the King as Lord John Bradley
- 1998 · Mr. Men & Little Miss: The Christmas Letter as Narrator / Santa
- 1998 · Reckless: The Sequel as Robert Crane
- 1997 · Tomorrow Never Dies as Admiral Roebuck
- 1992 · As Time Goes By as Lionel Hardcastle
- 1991 · Smack and Thistle as Sir Horace Wimbol
- 1989 · Agatha Christie's Poirot as Vice Admiral Hamling
- 1988 · A Fish Called Wanda as Judge
- 1987 · Inspector Morse as Matthew Copley-Barnes
- 1986 · Season's Greetings as Bernard
- 1986 · Hot Metal as
- 1985 · Absurd Person Singular as Ronald Brewster-Wright
- 1985 · Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire as Narrator
- 1984 · Oxbridge Blues as Fred
- 1984 · Fairly Secret Army as Major Harry Truscott
- 1983 · Natural World as Narrator
- 1983 · The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin as Jimmy Anderson
- 1983 · Blackadder as Field Marshal Haig
- 1983 · Dalgliesh as Edwin Lorrimer
- 1982 · The Houseboy as Eric
- 1982 · Whoops Apocalypse as
- 1982 · The Kenny Everett Television Show as Various
- 1982 · Mr. Kershaw's Dream System as Psychiastrist
- 1981 · The Last Song as
- 1981 · Bergerac as Nigel Carter
- 1980 · Safe at Work? as Narrator
- 1978 · Butterflies as Ben Parkinson
- 1978 · An Audience with... as Self
- 1977 · The Professionals as Avery
- 1977 · The Professionals as Simon Sinclair
- 1976 · The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin as Jimmy Anderson
- 1976 · Bill Brand as Malcolm Frear
- 1976 · Loyalties as Graviter
- 1976 · A Story to Frighten the Children as Det. Chief Insp. Harris
- 1976 · The Battle of Billy's Pond as First Policeman
- 1975 · Fawlty Towers as Dr. Price
- 1975 · Angels as
- 1975 · Goodbye as Jack
- 1975 · The Sweeney as Commander Watson
- 1974 · Mr. Men and Little Miss as
- 1973 · Only Make Believe as Richard Nicholls
- 1972 · Colditz as Doc
- 1972 · Crown Court as Kenneth Eden
- 1972 · Van der Valk as Head of Faculty
- 1972 · Doctor Who: The Mutants as Administrator
- 1971 · Michael Regan as Chief Superintendent
- 1970 · The Goodies as School Headmaster
- 1970 · Play for Today as
- 1970 · Play for Today as Detetective Chief Inspector Harris
- 1970 · Play for Today as Jack Buckett
- 1970 · The High Game as Man at the Clinic
- 1970 · Doctor Who and the Silurians as Masters
- 1970 · Doomwatch as Major Sims
- 1968 · The Expert as Asst. Chief Constable Rogers
- 1967 · The Revenue Men as Bill Mitchell
- 1966 · Mystery and Imagination as
- 1966 · Softly, Softly as
- 1965 · BBC Play of the Month as Monteith
- 1965 · Out of the Unknown as Chief Officer
- 1965 · No Place Like Earth as Chief Officer
- 1965 · The Troubleshooters as Jeremy Martin
- 1965 · The Man in Room 17 as Ian McWatt
- 1965 · The Joe Baker Show as
- 1965 · Londoners as Jack Poncey
- 1965 · Gideon's Way as Jeff Grant
- 1964 · The Wednesday Play as Property Agent
- 1964 · Ring of Spies as Police Officer (uncredited)
- 1963 · Doctor Who as Administrator
- 1963 · Doctor Who as Masters
- 1963 · The Human Jungle as Williams
- 1963 · Incident at Midnight as Dr. Tanfield
- 1962 · A Prize of Arms as Cpl. Myers
- 1962 · The Saint as Pete Ferguson
- 1962 · Bulldog Breed as
- 1961 · The Avengers as
- 1961 · The Avengers as Paul Manning
- 1961 · The Avengers as Martin Smythe
- 1959 · No Hiding Place as