Gareth Thomas has died

[SiHart]

Blake's 7 star Gareth Thomas has sadly died.

What a brilliant actor the man was. He gave Blake a real gravitas and made him real, even when the character was at his selfish worst, he always made it work. He wasn't my favourite character in Blake's 7, but he never once let the show down while he was in it and indeed, he makes the last episode something truly special.
Despite his voice aging, I very much enjoyed his returns to the role for Big Finish and I'm saddened to learn they were just about to do some more full cast audios which now sadly will probably not happen.

But Blake was only part of his career. He had a distinguished theatre career, working with the RSC and appeared in many other TV shows including Children of the Stones, which I know is much loved around here.

RIP Gareth.

[Nyder]

Oh it certainly is Si - yes this is very sad news. Blake's 7 was a major part of my childhood - and I'm so glad he got to take part in the BF full cast audios. Although his voice had aged he still gave the part great gravitas. We'll miss you Gareth - you were a mighty fine actor :-(

[MacNimon]

Agreed, this certainly is sad news...he was always impressive, no matter what you saw (or heard!) him in...another major part of my childhood gone

This was just so unexpected...2016 can't get much worse, surely?

RIP Gareth

[Jon Masters]

Very sad - he was one of the bright spots in Storm Warning too

[Dino]

Whenever you saw Gareth Thomas acting, you immediately focused on his authority and his belief in his characters.
I really should have made more efforts to see him live in theatre.

R.I.P. Gareth Thomas.

[MacNimon]

He was just one of those actors who had a 'presence', for lack of a better description. Maybe not the greatest actor in the world or quite the household name he deserved to be, but one of a rare breed whose performance you could always appreciate regardless of what sort of role he was playing. He was one of only a handful of actors who, if it caught my attention that he was appearing in something on tv, would make me go out of my way and watch something which I probably wouldn't have otherwise. There aren't many actors who really have that much influence on my viewing habits...sadly there's one less in the world now

[Dirk Gently]

Very sad news indeed. Another celebrity goes in 2016, this is turning out to be an "annus horribilis".

I'm just so glad he finally made the cross over & starred in Doctor Who.

R.I.P Gareth.