Geoffrey Palmer
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE (4 June 1927 - 5 November 2020) 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
Anna and the King
(Lord John Bradley)
A Fish Called Wanda
(Judge)
Tomorrow Never Dies
(Admiral Roebuck)
The Madness of King George
(Warren)
Doctor Who and the Silurians
(Masters)
A Zed & Two Noughts
(Fallast)
To Olivia
The Pink Panther 2
(Joubert)
Alice Through the Looking Glass
(White King)
Walrus: Two Tonne Tusker
(Narrator)
Mrs Brown
(Henry Ponsonby)
Lost Christmas
(Dr. Clarence)
Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire
(Narrator)
W.E.
(Stanley Baldwin)
The Young Visiters
(Minnit)
Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley
(Sir John Crowder)
Reckless: The Sequel
(Robert Crane)
A Question of Attribution
(Donleavy)
Bert & Dickie
(Charles Burnell)
Doctor Who: The Mutants
(Administrator)
Season's Greetings
(Bernard)
Stalag Luft
(The Kommandant)
Smack and Thistle
(Sir Horace Wimbol)
Mr. Kershaw's Dream System
(Psychiastrist)
The Honorary Consul
(British Ambassador)
Run For Your Wife
(Man on Toilet)
Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened
(Self / Dr Price)
Safe at Work?
(Narrator)
The Insurance Man
(The Angry Doctor)
Rat
(The Doctor)
A Prize of Arms
(Cpl. Myers)
Paddington
(Head Geographer)
Mr. Men & Little Miss: The Christmas Letter
(Narrator / Santa)
The High Game
(Man at the Clinic)
The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag
(Corbett's Ghost)
Loyalties
(Graviter)
The Houseboy
(Eric)
Clockwise
(Headmaster)
No Place Like Earth
(Chief Officer)
Hawks
(SAAB Salesman)
Cathy Come Home
(Property Agent)
The Battle of Billy's Pond
(First Policeman)
Pope John Paul II: 1920 - 2005
(Narrator)
Stiff Upper Lips
(His Butler's Voice)
Queen Victoria's Last Love: Abdul Karim
(Narrator)
Piccadilly Jim
(Bayliss)
Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned
(Captain Hardaker)
Peter Pan
(Sir Edward Quiller Couch)
A Midsummer Night's Dream
(Quince)
A Story to Frighten the Children
(Det. Chief Insp. Harris)
Only Make Believe
(Richard Nicholls)
Michael Regan
(Chief Superintendent)
The Outsider
(Col. Wyndham)
Ring of Spies
(Police Officer (uncredited))
O Lucky Man!
(Examination Doctor/Basil Keyes)
Goodbye
(Jack)
Absurd Person Singular
(Ronald Brewster-Wright)
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
(Jimmy Anderson)
As Time Goes By
(Lionel Hardcastle)
The Sweeney
(Commander Watson)
Out of the Unknown
(Chief Officer)
Colditz
(Doc)
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
(Jimmy Anderson)
Executive Stress
Ashes to Ashes
(Lord Scarman)
The One Show
(Self)
The Savages
(Donald)
Absolute Power
Butterflies
(Ben Parkinson)
Softly, Softly
Fawlty Towers
(Dr. Price)
The Avengers
The Professionals
(Avery)
Whoops Apocalypse
Inspector Morse
(Matthew Copley-Barnes)
The Goodies
The Saint
(Pete Ferguson)
The Army Game
Doomwatch
(Major Sims)
He Knew He Was Right
(Sir Marmaduke Rowley)
Van der Valk
(Head of Faculty)
Mr. Men and Little Miss
Angels
No Hiding Place
Play for Today
The Expert
(Asst. Chief Constable Rogers)
The Alan Titchmarsh Show
(Self)
The Revenue Men
(Bill Mitchell)
Mystery and Imagination
Hot Metal
Natural World
(Narrator)
The Last Song
The Joe Baker Show
The BBC Television Shakespeare
Best Of Enemies
The Avengers
(Paul Manning)
The Kenny Everett Television Show
(Various)
Bulldog Breed
Chateau Monty
The Legacy of Reginald Perrin
Dalgliesh
(Edwin Lorrimer)
Christabel
(Mr. Burton)
Look at the State We're In!
(The Ruler)
The Human Jungle
(Williams)
Doctor Who
(Administrator)
Doctor Who
(Masters)
Oxbridge Blues
(Fred)
Fairly Secret Army
(Major Harry Truscott)
Play for Today
(Detetective Chief Inspector Harris)
The Kenny Everett Television Show
(Self)
Edward the Seventh
(Sir Edward Clarke)
Blackadder
(Field Marshal Haig)
Bergerac
(Nigel Carter)
Dickens
An Audience with...
(Self)
Bill Brand
(Malcolm Frear)
Gideon's Way
(Jeff Grant)
The Troubleshooters
(Jeremy Martin)
The Man In Room 17
(Ian McWatt)
Grumpy Old Men
(Narrator)
Stig of the Dump
(Robert)
The Hollow Crown
(Lord Chief Justice)
The Wednesday Play
(Property Agent)
The Goodies
(School Headmaster)
Doctor Who
(Captain Hardaker)
Crown Court
(Kenneth Eden)
Play for Today
(Jack Buckett)
The 1940's House
(Narrator (voice))
The Professionals
(Simon Sinclair)
Agatha Christie's Poirot
(Vice Admiral Hamling)
The Avengers
(Martin Smythe)