From April 1959 Jones appeared in a variety of stage productions as a member of the Touring Theatre Company including versions of Bell, Book and Candle, The Seven Year Itch, I Am A Camera and A Murder Has Been Arranged. As a new decade dawned Jones established himself as a dependable stage actor notching up credits in a variety of plays in an array of venues such as The Keep at the Royal Court under the direction of Graham Crowden in August 1960 and the musical Wildest Dreams at the Vaudeville theatre.
He made his screen debut in 1962, the year he turned thirty, when he appeared in 'Botany Bay' (28th July 1962) in a small role as the character Monroe. This was an episode of the early science fiction anthology series Out Of This World which was written by Terry Nation and also starred 'During Barty’s Party’s' Anthony Bate. Jones returned to the stage for a few years before his next screen role and was attached to the Lincoln Theatre Company for the majority of this period. Roles included playing the father in a production of Billy Liar during November 1962, a pantomime dame in Humpty Dumpty during the 1962 Festive period and Nick Scroggins in the musical Nutmeg and Ginger. During December 1963 and January 1964 he appeared in a production of Toad of Toad Hall at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Here he would play a role which was to become a staple of his repertoire, the policeman.
When he undertook the role of milkman Ralph Palmer in the daily daytime soap opera Crossroads, in 1964, he became a household name thanks to a controversial storyline which saw him marrying the unmarried mother Christine Fuller. Jones also popped in a small role as Dave in the Dixon of Dock Green episode 'Fair Means or Foul' (3rd October 1964). He would make an annual appearance in the series for the next few years. Also during October 1964 Jones appeared in a production of Henry IV (Part 1) at the Library Theatre in Manchester. Trade paper The Stage enjoyed Jones appearance commenting “There is a fire-eating Hotspur from Mr Jones with a flashing eye accompanying the fighting words.[1]”
Jones then moved on to the part of Renko in the six-part thriller series Curtain of Fear (28th October – 2nd December 1964) before making a second Dixon of Dock Green appearance in the episode 'Forsaking All Others' (6th March 1965). Jones continued to have a flourishing stage career and it would be another year before he reappeared on the goggle box with the role of Lucas in the Dixon of Dock Green episode 'Manhunt' (30th April 1966). Jones ended the year at the Library Theatre in Manchester appearing a production of As You Like It. 1967 saw Jones in small screen roles portraying Pete in The Saint episode 'Island of Chance' (7th April 1967) and one of the ill-fated American astronauts seen at the start of the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967). More substantial roles included his first appearance in an episode of Z Cars in the two-part story 'Ever Seen a Happy Cop' (13th & 14th March 1967) playing the role of Joe Connors. For the BBC he was cast as George Fitzwilliam in the BBC period drama The Queen’s Traitor (28th August – 25th September 1967) which depicted a conspiracy to depose Queen Elizabeth I. Five days later Jones made his first appearance in Doctor Who with the role of Khrisong in the Patrick Troughton era adventure 'The Abominable Snowmen' (30th September – 4th November 1967). Television work for the year was topped with his annual Dixon of Dock Green appearance was as Alan Glass in the episode 'The Witness' (4th November 1967).
The following year started with the BBC Play of the Month production 'The Parachute' (21st January 1968) which featured Jones as a German army sergeant in a play by David Mercer set in Nazi Germany. Having made appearances every year since 1964 in Dixon of Dock Green Jones essayed his final character for the series, Michael Collins, in the episode 'Double Jeopardy' (19th October 1968). Cinema wise Jones appeared in a small role as a Scottish soldier in the satirical film Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). He took the role of Heiden in The Champions episode 'The Final Countdown' (16th April 1969) and appeared as Cooper in the Public Eye story 'Divide and Conquer' (6th August 1969). One of his more notable stage works for the year was The Contractor, a new play by David Storey, which opened the English Stage Company’s Winter season at the Royal Court Theatre in October 1969. The play was directed by Lindsay Anderson and featured Bill Owen in the title role. Jones was part of a trio of Beasts actors appearing in the production including Martin Shaw and 'Baby' colleague T P McKenna. His final screen role for the year was a BBC production of Thomas Hardy short story The Distracted Preacher (26th December 1969) playing Jim Owlett.
The year of 1972 saw Jones make fewer TV appearances; as police constable Shaw in the Six Days of Justice episode 'Suddenly…You’re In It' (17th April 1972) and on the other side of law as George Bowen in the New Scotland Yard episode 'Point of Impact' (22nd April 1972). He played another policeman, Sergeant Wallis, in the film All Coppers Are… (1972) and appeared alongside future Beasts alumni Michael Kitchen in the Play for Today drama 'The Reporters' (9th October 1972). Stage work included a production of Beckett’s Endgame presented by the Young Vic during April 1972 and a production of Sean O’Casey’s Shadow of a Gunman at the Young Vic during July 1972. This was immediately followed by a production of Julius Caesar at the same venue during August 1972.
Achilles Heel (18th March 1973) was a London Weekend Television production directed by Alan Clarke and starring Jones along with future 'Buddyboy' cast member Martin Shaw. Previous to this Jones could be seen opposite Diana Dors in the Yorkshire Television comedy series All Our Saturdays (14th February – 21st March 1973. He guest starred as Captain Dwyer in the Special Branch story 'Red Herring' (8th May 1973). He had a small role as a printer in the ITV Sunday Night Theatre instalment 'Katapult' (28th October 1973). Three days later Jones appeared in the Play for Today production 'Jack Point' (1st November 1973) as Taffy in a script written by Colin Welland. 1974 saw Jones appear as Jake Thorne in the Hunter’s Walk story 'Lost Sheep' (20th May 1974) which also featured 'Murrain' cast member David Simeon. Next was the Yorkshire Television production South Riding (16th September – 9th December 1974) with Jones appearing as Joe Astell. The cast also featured future Beasts cast member Clive Swift.
Jones made his first appearance in a Crown Court case playing Philip Shepherd in the storyline 'No Questions Asked' (21st January – 23rd January 1976). His third, and final, Doctor Who role was as Hieronymous in the Tom Baker era adventure 'The Masque of the Mandragora' (4th – 25th September 1976). Shortly before he appeared in Beasts Jones could be seen in The Sweeney episode 'Bad Apple' (11th October 1976) as Detective Inspector Perraut. Post-Beasts Jones could once more seen alongside his 'Baby' co-star Mark Dignam when he appeared in three episodes of the crime thriller The XYY Man. Filmwise Jones played a policeman in the David Soul starring film The Stick Up (1977).
Jones demonstrated he was equally at home in comedy with guest appearances the first episode of the Porridge spin-off Going Straight playing Mr Tanner in 'Going Home' (24th February 1978) and the role of Mr Warner in the Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em episode 'Scottish Dancing' (25th November 1978). He could also be seen as Major Chadwick in 'Truth or Consequence' (12th August 1978), an episode of the mystery anthology series Scorpion Tales. After a lapse of 21 years Jones made a second appearance in Z Cars with the episode 'Deserter' (23rd August 1978) in the role of Detective Inspector Parry.
The year 1983 would see several guest roles as well recurring roles. His guest roles for the year included Le Fresnais in the Bergerac instalment 'A Message for the Rich' (9th January 1983) and Philip Snowden in 'Underdog' (20th February 1983), an episode of drama series Number 10. His final Crown Court role, Mr Owen, came with the story 'Mother’s Boy' (15th March 1983). His
recurring roles for the year took in three episodes of Jemima Shore Investigates as Pompey along with two seasons the Tyne
Tees drama production Andy Robson.
Jones final screen work for 1983 was for two episodes of the medical soap opera
Angels (10th and 15th November 1983) as a patient
called Arthur Verner. Charlie is a neglected Central Television
drama headlined by David Warner. Jones has a part in two episodes – 'In Union
Is Strength' (2nd April 1984) and 'If You’re Not Part of the
Solution, You’re Part of the Problem' (4th April 1984) – in the role
of Ray Prothero. His remaining television credits for 1984 consisted of a
couple of guest roles – appearing as Henry Wood in 'The Crooked Man' (22nd
May 1984), an episode of The Adventures
of Sherlock Holmes starring Jeremy Brett in the role of the famous
detective, and as DCI Jenkins in the Travelling
Man episode 'The Watcher' (21st November 1984). This role marked
a string of television policemen for next few years starting with Inspector
Hanson in the third episode (26th February 1985) of BBC drama Inside Out and continuing with Detective
Inspector Pierce in the Boon episode 'Full
Circle' (8th April 1986) and Chief Superintendent Bell in two
episodes of Inspector Morse – 'The
Dead of Jericho' (6th January 1987) and 'Service of All The Dead' (20th January 1987).
Interspaced between these policemen roles were appearances in Screen Two productions starting with 'Poppyland' (13th January 1985), the second episode of the feature length single dramas. This was followed by 'The Burston Rebellion' (24th February 1985) and 'Frankie and Johnny' (2nd February 1986), a contemporary thriller starring Hywel Bennett investigating a political cover up. His final appearance in a Screen Two production was 'Border' (7th February 1988) in a small role as a guide. His final screen role was in the low budget British film The Assassinator (1992) which bypassed a cinema release and went straight to video.
Jones passed away following a heart attack at the Prince Royal Hospital in Telford on 23rd April 2013. He was aged 80. He was cremated at Telford Crematorium. Many of his obituaries made particular note of his roles in Doctor Who.
Jones demonstrated he was equally at home in comedy with guest appearances the first episode of the Porridge spin-off Going Straight playing Mr Tanner in 'Going Home' (24th February 1978) and the role of Mr Warner in the Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em episode 'Scottish Dancing' (25th November 1978). He could also be seen as Major Chadwick in 'Truth or Consequence' (12th August 1978), an episode of the mystery anthology series Scorpion Tales. After a lapse of 21 years Jones made a second appearance in Z Cars with the episode 'Deserter' (23rd August 1978) in the role of Detective Inspector Parry.
He started the year of 1979 with a string of guest roles taking in the BBC drama Telford’s Change (14th January 1979) and an episode of the Victorian detective series Cribb. He made a third Crown Court appearance playing Eddie Wilbraham in 'Heart to Heart' (15th May 1979). 1980 was also a busy year with the regular role of Hilditch in the Birmingham car factory based drama Bull Week (1st May – 5th June 1980). Other credits includes the ITV Playhouse drama 'Hands' (20th August 1980) alongside Rosemary Leach. The play depicted the events that happened after a young daughter gives her mother a book on female sexuality. Rosemary Leach played the mother and Jones was cast as her husband. He then had a small role as a secret policeman in the Granada one-off comedy drama Tiny Revolutions (22nd September 1981), before undertaking the higher profile role of British prime minister Clement Atlee in an episode of the Robert Hardy starring series Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years – 'A Menace in the House' (27th September 1981). His final television role for the year was as Cardinal Piccolomini in the ninth episode (9th December 1981) of ambitious, but flawed, BBC period drama The Borgias. Jones then made his penultimate appearance in Crown Court with the role of Arthur Jenkins in the case 'Window Shopping' (18th – 20th May 1982).
Interspaced between these policemen roles were appearances in Screen Two productions starting with 'Poppyland' (13th January 1985), the second episode of the feature length single dramas. This was followed by 'The Burston Rebellion' (24th February 1985) and 'Frankie and Johnny' (2nd February 1986), a contemporary thriller starring Hywel Bennett investigating a political cover up. His final appearance in a Screen Two production was 'Border' (7th February 1988) in a small role as a guide. His final screen role was in the low budget British film The Assassinator (1992) which bypassed a cinema release and went straight to video.
Jones passed away following a heart attack at the Prince Royal Hospital in Telford on 23rd April 2013. He was aged 80. He was cremated at Telford Crematorium. Many of his obituaries made particular note of his roles in Doctor Who.
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