Terrence Hardiman


Terrence Edward Hardiman was an English actor. He often portrayed authority figures such as Nazi-era personnel and a British officer.
His other roles include: a police inspector ; a doctor ; a barrister ; a judge ; a twelfth-century abbot ; and an evil headmaster in The Demon Headmaster. He played prime minister Ramsay MacDonald in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi. He also appeared in the Inspector Morse episode "Last Bus to Woodstock".

Early life and education

Hardiman was born on 6 April 1937 in Forest Gate, Essex, now in Newham, London. His father was a policeman. Hardiman was educated at Buckhurst Hill County High School, Essex and later studied at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he read English.

Stage career

At Cambridge, Hardiman acted extensively for The Marlowe Society and the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club, in both dramatic and comedic roles, alongside many of his future screen co-stars such as Derek Jacobi.
Hardiman then toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company in several principal roles, including as Starveling in Peter Brook's landmark 1970 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Film and television career

1970s and 1980s

Hardiman's television work included him playing barrister Stephen Harvesty QC in Granada Television's Crown Court from 1972 to 1983.
He also had a starring role as Charles Pooter in the 1979 television adaptation of George and Weedon Grossmith's Diary of a Nobody, a role which shows his versatility more than the succession of officers he usually portrays.
Hardiman portrayed Major Reinhardt, in Secret Army, the head of the Luftwaffe police who often provided a foil to Clifford Rose's more brutal S.S. Chief, Kessler. In 1990, he played a German officer, General Stuckler, in the final series of London Weekend Television's Wish Me Luck.

1990s: ''Cadfael'' and ''The Demon Headmaster''

A notable small role Hardiman played was a version of the Sergeant Wilson character from Dad's Army, in a 1995 episode of time travel comedy Goodnight Sweetheart, called "Don't Get Around Much Any More." Nicholas Lyndhurst's character Gary Sparrow goes back in time to a bank in the 1940s, and encounters characters called Mainwaring and Wilson. Hardiman's portrayal was a keenly observed impersonation of John Le Mesurier's own performance, incorporating many of the tics and mannerisms of the original.
From 1996 to 1998, Hardiman starred as the eponymous Demon Headmaster in the children's television drama series, which ran to three series and proved popular with adults as well as children. He reprised his role as a cameo in the 2019 revival.
Hardiman also appeared as Grand Wizard Egbert Hellibore in four episodes of The Worst Witch. Hardiman appeared in the second series of The Worst Week of My Life. Another notable recent role was as a devious Swiss murder victim in an episode of crime mystery series Jonathan Creek entitled The Eyes of Tiresias.
Hardiman's other major recurring role was as Brother Cadfael's ecclesiastical superior, Father Abbot Radulfus, in the television series. Joining him throughout the series as Prior Robert was Michael Culver, who had played his predecessor Major Brandt in Secret Army.

2000s

Hardiman made an appearance on the daily soap on BBC One, Doctors, on 3 April 2009, as well as from 14 to 15 January 2015, and in the drama from Yorkshire, Heartbeat, as John Upton in one episode.
In 2009, he appeared in a film for the BFI, Radio Mania: An Abandoned Work, directed by British artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.
Hardiman appeared as Hawthorne in the episode of Doctor Who, "The Beast Below", on 10 April 2010.

Personal life and death

Hardiman was married to Rowena Cooper and the couple had two children. Hardiman narrated hundreds of audiobooks, including series by Colin Dexter, Anne Perry, and Ruth Rendell. Hardiman's volunteer narration work for the non-profit Calibre Audio Library earned him a Silver Centurion service award in 2013.
Hardiman died on 18 April 2023, aged 86.

Selected filmography

  • Running Scared as Doctor
  • Pope Joan as Cardinal Anastasius
  • Loophole as David
  • The Bunker as Hermann Fegelein
  • Gandhi as Ramsay MacDonald
  • Sahara as Browne
  • Mask of Murder as Dr. Paul Crossland
  • God's Outlaw as Thomas Cromwell
  • Casualty
  • Prime Suspect as Commander Chiswick
  • Cadfael as Abbot Radulfus
  • The Demon Headmaster as The Demon Headmaster
  • Distant Shadow as The Svit
  • Fishtales as Professor Ratcher
  • Doctor Who as Hawthorne
  • Mr. Turner as Gallery Visitors
  • The Demon Headmaster as The Demon Headmaster