Born at the end of the Second World War Bell attended
RADA alongside Ronald Pickup and Hywell Bennett and made his professional debut
acting in local repertory theatre. A typical role from this period included Little Red Riding Hood during January
1965 for the Leatherhead Repertory Company. He was also attached to the Royal
Shakespeare Company and appeared in a staging of Bertolt Brecht’s play Squire Puntila and His Servant Matti at
the Aldwych Theatre.
Bell made his first television appearance in the
soap opera The Newcomers playing a
character named Peter in an episode transmitted 9th November 1965. During
1966 he became a series regular playing the character Archie Lean. The same
year also saw Bell undertake the regular lead role of Don in the BBC children’s
adventure series Quick Before They Catch Us. In 1967 and 1968 Bell concentrated
on stage work which took in roles in productions of The Good Natured Man at the
Derby Playhouse, Hop Step and Jump at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, Lady
Windermere’s Fan at Salisbury Theatre and Waiting For Godot at Morecambe’s
Palace Theatre.
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He returned to television screens with the role of
Jim Coxon in 'A Banner With A Strange Device' for the series The First Lady (1969)
and followed this with appearances in episodes of Z Cars, Play for
Today and The Liver Birds in supporting roles. His most famous TV credit before
Beasts was in two Doctor Who adventures playing military men in the Jon Pertwee
era adventures 'The Sea Devils' and 'Invasion of the Dinosaurs'. Post-Beasts he
appears to have only one further television credit playing Andy in the Play For
Today instalment 'Come The Revolution'. Bell drifted away from the acting profession and for a while
ran a pub before becoming a painter and decorator. Despite reports in Doctor
Who Magazine in 1995 that Bell has passed away he is still very much alive at
the time of writing.
Bell was a regular voice actor for radio during the 1970s which lent his role of Barty a patina of
realism.
Many thanks to Toby Hadoke for allowing me to access his interview with Colin
in preparation for this profile.