Doctor Who Series 2 Cast: Where Are They Now?

Ron Cook is one of those actors that has never been a big star, but you'll have definitely seen him in at least three or four things and not even realised.

He's been acting since the mid-1970s, cropping up in big-time movies like the 2004 live-action Thunderbirds, in which he played butler Parker opposite Sophia Myles' Lady Penelope. On TV, he's been in literally everything – including, of course, Doctor Who.

Cook appeared in Series 2's The Idiot's Lantern, AKA the one with The Wire yelling its head off. He played Mr. Magpie, the owner of the electricals shop that distributes TVs to aid with the Wire's evil plot. Sadly, he doesn't make it to the end of the episode, but his company survives long into Doctor Who's future.

Cook has continued to stay gainfully employed ever since. In 2007 he memorably appeared in Edgar Wright's Hot Fuzz as George Merchant, and in 2021 he played Austrian leader Franz Ferdinand in action-blockbuster The King's Man.

Most recently, he joined another major sci-fi institution, playing the role of Willi in the hit Star Wars spinoff Andor.