Doctor Who actor Stewart Bevan dies, aged 73

His Doctor Who co-star and ex-partner Katy Manning paid tribute to Bevan this afternoon, describing him as "the most beautiful man, poet, actor, screenwriter, husband and father".

"He was the love in my life for many years on and off screen and our wonderful friendship continued to the end," she added.

The actor is survived by his two daughters, Coral and Wendy Bevan.

Bevan appeared in six episodes of Doctor Who's 10th season as Professor Clifford Jones, a Welsh biologist who helps the Doctor (Pertwee) defeat Global Chemicals, an oil plant run by a megalomaniacal supercomputer.

He starred in the span of episodes alongside Manning, who played The Doctor's companion Jo Grant, and Nicholas Courtney, who played Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

The episodes marked the Third Doctor's last adventures with Jo, who fell in love with Clifford and married him at the end of the serial.

Manning and Bevan were also a couple in real-life at the time, having been engaged during the filming of Bevan's Doctor Who episodes, however the couple separated a year after the show was recorded.

Outside of Doctor Who, Bevan appeared in movies such as Burke & Hare, Spy Story, Chromophobia and Jack Thorne's 2009 drama The Scouting Book for Boys, which would be Bevan's final film role.

As for his TV career, Bevan took on roles in many dramas from the 1960s onwards, from Public Eye and Shoestring, to Airline, The Brief, Number 10 and Silent Witness.

In 1977, he appeared in eight episodes of Emmerdale as Ray Oswell, a man who lodged at Emmerdale Farm with his wife Sarah after being halted by a storm.

Bevan's last TV role was that of a chairman of the jury in The Brief, an ITV crime drama starring Alan Davies and Linda Bassett which followed a defence barrister whose personal life begins to spill into his high-stakes work.