The actor Roger Lloyd Pack has died aged 69.
Lloyd Pack appeared in Doctor Who in 2006 playing the role of John Lumic, owner of Cybus Industries, in the two part adventure Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel.
He was perhaps best known for playing Colin “Trigger” Ball in the hugely successful long-running BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses or Owen Newitt in The Vicar of Dibley. He also appeared in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire playing Barty Crouch.
The actor was born in Islington, north London, in 1944, the soon of Hammer horror actor Charles Lloyd-Pack. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art alongside Richard Wilson and Kenneth Cranham before making his stage debut in Northampton.
He went on to appear in The Avengers and Virgin of the Secret Service before making his big screen debut in 1968 in The Magus. He also appeared in TV shows such as Crime Buster, The Road to Freedom, Spyder’s Web, Jason King, The Protectors, Within These Walls, Crown Court, Dixon of Dock Green, Survivors (as Wally in the 1975 two-parter The Lights of London and Billy Stringer in a series two episode of the re-make which aired in 2010), The Professionals, Private Schultz, The Bill, Boon, Lovejoy, 2point4 Children, Heartbeat, Kavanagh QC, Doc Martin, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, New Tricks, The Old Guys, Hustle and many more.
Sir David Jason who starred alongside Lloyd Pack in Only Fools and Horses, said today:
A very quiet, kind and unassuming actor who was a pleasure to work with. Although he played the simple soul of Trigger in Only Fools and Horses, he was a very intelligent man and a very fine actor capable of many roles. I shall remember him with fondness and for all the good times we had together.
John Challis, best known as Boycie in Only Fools, was distraught, saying:
I spoke to Roger two days ago. It is very sad and very distressing. My thoughts are with his family. He was a remarkable man and he’ll be missed. Roger is irreplaceable. It’s a very sorry day.
Andrew Hayden-Smith who played Jake in Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel, said:
Very sad to hear about Roger Lloyd-Pack. Trigger to many but to me he’ll always be super villain John Lumic. RIP.
For most of his life Lloyd Pack remained a committed socialist, campaigned for nuclear disarmament and was a supporter of Left Unity.
Today Labour MP Diane Abbot paid tribute to the actor, saying:
Sad to hear Roger Lloyd Pack has passed away. He was a campaigner until the end!
Roger Lloyd Pack died of pancreatic cancer on Wednesday night. He is survived by his second wife Jehane Markham and his four children, the actress Emily Lloyd and his sons Spencer, Hartley and Louis.