Actor Terrence Hardiman dies aged 86

The actor was best known for his lead role in the children’s series The Demon Headmaster.

He also played parts in The Crown, Wallander and Doctor Who.

His agent Scott Marshall Partners announced his death “with great sadness” They added that he was a “beloved client and much-loved stage and screen actor.”

The Demon Headmaster was a CBBC series based on the books by Gillian Cross which saw him hypnotise his victims while he worked as the headmaster of a school.

He was also a popular stage actor and a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1970s.

Hardiman played alongside Ben Kingsley in Ghandi in 1982 when he starred as former prime minister, Ramsey Macdonald. He also played Doctor Evans in the second series of The Crown.

Other television appearances included Bergerac in 1985, and Minder in 1982 along with twelve episodes of Secret Army and fifty-seven editions of Crown Court.

Terrence Hardiman was born in 1937 in East London, and he studied English at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.

His death caused comments by fans on Twitter. One user said: “Goddammit, We’ve lost Terence Hardiman. I honestly can’t think of anyone who could have played the Demon Headmaster better.”

Another fan tweeted “To this day I struggle to think of a more terrifying figure from my childhood.

Another user wrote “Another childhood legend gone. This (The Demon Headmaster) was amazing and terrifying back in the day.”

He leaves behind his wife, Rowena and his two children.