David Roger Brierley (2 June 1935 – 23 September 2005) was an English actor.
Career
Brierley appeared in dozens of television productions over a forty-year period.
He twice appeared in Doctor Who, as Trevor in The Daleks' Master Plan (1965) and as the voice of Drathro in The Mysterious Planet (1986).
Brierley appeared in the biopic Jinnah based on the life of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976) as Mr. Thoneycroft in episode 6, and in the Granada television series Jeeves and Wooster as Sir Roderick Glossop.
Brierley played the part of Osborne in the 1977 episode "Suddenly At Home" in the TV series Rising Damp. He was also in an Only Fools and Horses episode in 1982 ("Diamonds Are for Heather").
Brierley portrayed Michael Palin's Latin teacher in a 1979 episode of Ripping Yarns entitled Roger of the Raj. In 1987 he played Reverend Phelps in East of Ipswich, also written by Palin. In 1988 he appeared with Palin and John Cleese in A Fish Called Wanda as Archie Leach’s secretary, Davidson.
Brierley worked on several occasions with Victoria Wood such as in her play Nearly a Happy Ending, in the early series Wood and Walters and her 1994 TV film Pat and Margaret. In a nod to her previous work with Brierley, Wood named a character after him in her 2006 TV film Housewife, 49.
Brierley‘a later work also included portraying John Biffen in the TV dramatisation of The Alan Clark Diaries (2004). He also played the hotel manager in "Mr. Bean in Room 426".
Personal life
Brierley was a supporter of Manchester United and was a founding member of Shareholders United Against Murdoch.
Death
Brierley died of a heart attack on 23 September 2005.