# John Alderton
**John Alderton** (born 27 November 1940) is an English retired actor whose best-known television roles are the schoolteacher Bernard Hedges in *Please Sir!*, the chauffeur Thomas Watkins in *Upstairs, Downstairs* and its spin-off *Thomas and Sarah*, the Wodehouse characters of *Wodehouse Playhouse*, the original *Little Miss* series, and the voice of [Fireman Sam](https://www.edgepedia.org/fireman-sam).[1](https://catalogue.royalalberthall.com/Record.aspx?id=DS%2FUK%2F2252&src=CalmView.Persons) He was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the son of Ivy Handley and Gordon John Alderton, and grew up in Hull, where he attended Kingston High School.[1](https://catalogue.royalalberthall.com/Record.aspx?id=DS%2FUK%2F2252&src=CalmView.Persons) • [2](https://readingwire.co.uk/culture/john-alderton-alive-illness-2026/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 November 1940, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England[1](https://catalogue.royalalberthall.com/Record.aspx?id=DS%2FUK%2F2252&src=CalmView.Persons) |
| Signature roles | Bernard Hedges in *Please Sir!* (1968–1972); Thomas Watkins in *Upstairs, Downstairs* (from 1971) and *Thomas and Sarah* (1979)[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Guiness-Television-Encyclopedia-Evans-1995-22-06-06.pdf) |
| Training | Graduated from RADA in 1961, having previously worked as a driving instructor[4](https://readingwire.co.uk/culture/john-alderton-biography-tv-shows/) |
| Awards | Radio Industries Club ITV Personality of the Year and The Sun Newspaper TV Awards Best Actor for *Upstairs, Downstairs*[5](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-%26-Radio-ITV/ITV-Guide-to-Independent-Television-1974.pdf) |
| Marriages | Actress Jill Browne (married 1964, divorced); actress Pauline Collins (married 1970)[6](https://mcmweb.co.uk/tvtimes/1970/Oct%203rd%201970%20NFPA.pdf) |
| Later work | Estragon in *Waiting for Godot* at the National Theatre; Christopher Casby in the BBC's *Little Dorrit* (2008)[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0017596/bio/) |
## Early career
Alderton began his professional career with the York Repertory Company in 1961, and his stage parts included *Spring and Port Wine* and *Dutch Uncle*; he debuted on the London stage in Bill Naughton's *Spring and Port Wine* as Harold Crompton.[6](https://mcmweb.co.uk/tvtimes/1970/Oct%203rd%201970%20NFPA.pdf) • [7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0017596/bio/) His first television appearance came in *Emergency—Ward 10*, the ITV medical series, where he played Dr Richard Moone, appearing alongside his first wife, the actress Jill Browne.[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Guiness-Television-Encyclopedia-Evans-1995-22-06-06.pdf) Early film credits included *[Duffy](https://www.edgepedia.org/duffy-1968-film)* (1968) and *Hannibal Brooks* (1969).[6](https://mcmweb.co.uk/tvtimes/1970/Oct%203rd%201970%20NFPA.pdf) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/john_alderton)
## Please Sir! and the comedy years
The ITV comedy series *Please Sir!*, first broadcast in 1968, cast Alderton as Bernard Hedges, a conscientious, harassed schoolteacher trying to control a class of tough cockney kids, and the role made his reputation.[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Guiness-Television-Encyclopedia-Evans-1995-22-06-06.pdf) • [9](https://mcmweb.co.uk/tvtimes/1984/1984-01-28%20--%201984-02-03%20%28TVS%29.pdf) The series ran to 1972 and a film version followed.[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Guiness-Television-Encyclopedia-Evans-1995-22-06-06.pdf) It launched him into a succession of other sitcoms, most notably *My Wife Next Door* (1972), *The Upchat Line* (1977) and *Wodehouse Playhouse* (1975–1978), in which he played a rotating gallery of P.G. Wodehouse characters including George Mulliner, Bingo Little, Freddie Widgeon and several members of the Mulliner family.[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Guiness-Television-Encyclopedia-Evans-1995-22-06-06.pdf) • [10](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/john_alderton/)
## Upstairs, Downstairs and Thomas and Sarah
In the period drama *Upstairs, Downstairs*, first shown on British television in 1971, Alderton joined in the second series as Thomas Watkins, the Welsh chauffeur at 165 Eaton Place, appearing opposite [Pauline Collins](https://www.edgepedia.org/pauline-collins), whom he had married in 1970 and who played the parlour maid Sarah Moffat.[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Guiness-Television-Encyclopedia-Evans-1995-22-06-06.pdf) • [11](https://mcmweb.co.uk/tvtimes/1976/Feb%2014th%201976%20YTV.pdf) Both won awards for their roles: the Radio Industries Club named Alderton ITV Personality of the Year for playing the chauffeur and honored Collins for her part as the parlour-maid, and The Sun Newspaper TV Awards voted Alderton Best Actor.[5](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-%26-Radio-ITV/ITV-Guide-to-Independent-Television-1974.pdf) The Royal Television Society's awards archive also records a Male Personality award to Alderton in 1973.[12](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/file/PDF%27s/Awards/Awards_Archive_February_2011.pdf)
The pairing carried into a spin-off, *Thomas and Sarah*, produced by [London Weekend Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/london-weekend-television) and broadcast in 1979 in 13 one-hour episodes, following the two characters after they left Eaton Place in 1910.[13](https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1970s/thomas-sarah/) • [14](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Encyclopedias/Archive-Encyclopedia-of-Television/Encyclopedia-of-Television-Vol-4.pdf) A planned second series was interrupted by the 1979 ITV technicians' strike and abandoned.[13](https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1970s/thomas-sarah/) Alderton, who was the catalyst for getting the series made, said at the time that he hoped it could emigrate to the United States and secure a long run with an American network.[15](https://www.memorabletv.com/uk-tv/thomas-sarah-itv-1979-john-alderton-pauline-collins/)
The couple starred together again in the 1974 comedy *No, Honestly*, written by the husband-and-wife team Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham, and in the 1980s and 1990s rustic drama *Forever Green*.[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Guiness-Television-Encyclopedia-Evans-1995-22-06-06.pdf) • [16](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/UK-Books/40-Years-of-British-Televisi0on-Harbord-Wright-1992.pdf)
## Film and later work
Alderton's film roles include [James Herriot](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-herriot) in *It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet* (1976) and the Friend in [John Boorman](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-boorman)'s *Zardoz* (1974); his highest-rated film on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes is *Calendar Girls* (2003), in which he appeared with [Julie Walters](https://www.edgepedia.org/julie-walters) and Helen Mirren.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/john_alderton) • [17](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0017596/news/) Through the 1980s and 1990s he continued in varied roles, including Estragon in *Waiting for Godot* on stage at the National Theatre, the headmaster of a school for maladjusted children in *Clockwork Mice* (1995), and the greedy landlord Christopher Casby in the BBC's Dickens adaptation *Little Dorrit* (2008).[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0017596/bio/) He also supplied the voice of Fireman Sam in the original series.[1](https://catalogue.royalalberthall.com/Record.aspx?id=DS%2FUK%2F2252&src=CalmView.Persons)
## Personal life
Alderton married the actress Jill Browne in 1964 and they divorced; he married Pauline Collins in 1970, and the two have often been described as one of British television's best-known acting couples.[6](https://mcmweb.co.uk/tvtimes/1970/Oct%203rd%201970%20NFPA.pdf) • [18](https://stalkingthebelleepoque.blogspot.com/2010/07/persons-of-week-pauline-collins-and.html) Collins died on 5 November 2025, aged 85, after several years with [Parkinson's disease](https://www.edgepedia.org/parkinsons-disease).[13](https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1970s/thomas-sarah/) Biographical and filmography listings continue to describe Alderton as a living retired actor.[2](https://readingwire.co.uk/culture/john-alderton-alive-illness-2026/)
## References
1. [Royal Albert Hall archive: Alderton, John (27 November 1940–present), English actor](https://catalogue.royalalberthall.com/Record.aspx?id=DS%2FUK%2F2252&src=CalmView.Persons)
2. [John Alderton – Alive, Illness Rumours, Wife & 2026 Status, Reading Wire](https://readingwire.co.uk/culture/john-alderton-alive-illness-2026/)
3. [Guinness Television Encyclopedia entry: Alderton, John (1940–)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Guiness-Television-Encyclopedia-Evans-1995-22-06-06.pdf)
4. [John Alderton – Biography, TV Shows and Career Facts - Reading Wire](https://readingwire.co.uk/culture/john-alderton-biography-tv-shows/)
5. [ITV Guide to Independent Television (1974): Some Award Winners](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-%26-Radio-ITV/ITV-Guide-to-Independent-Television-1974.pdf)
6. [TV Times, 3 October 1970: ALDERTON, John](https://mcmweb.co.uk/tvtimes/1970/Oct%203rd%201970%20NFPA.pdf)
7. [John Alderton – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0017596/bio/)
8. [John Alderton Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/john_alderton)
9. [TV Times programme guide, 28 January 1984](https://mcmweb.co.uk/tvtimes/1984/1984-01-28%20--%201984-02-03%20%28TVS%29.pdf)
10. [John Alderton, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/john_alderton/)
11. [TV Times, 14 February 1976: The chauffeur who even charmed Rose](https://mcmweb.co.uk/tvtimes/1976/Feb%2014th%201976%20YTV.pdf)
12. [RTS National Awards archive](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/file/PDF%27s/Awards/Awards_Archive_February_2011.pdf)
13. [Thomas and Sarah, Nostalgia Central](https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1970s/thomas-sarah/)
14. [The Encyclopedia of Television, Vol. 4: Upstairs, Downstairs](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Encyclopedias/Archive-Encyclopedia-of-Television/Encyclopedia-of-Television-Vol-4.pdf)
15. [Thomas and Sarah (ITV 1979, John Alderton, Pauline Collins), Memorable TV](https://www.memorabletv.com/uk-tv/thomas-sarah-itv-1979-john-alderton-pauline-collins/)
16. [40 Years of British Television (Harbord & Wright, 1992)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/UK-Books/40-Years-of-British-Televisi0on-Harbord-Wright-1992.pdf)
17. [John Alderton – News, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0017596/news/)
18. [Stalking the Belle Époque: Person(s) of the Week: Pauline Collins and John Alderton](https://stalkingthebelleepoque.blogspot.com/2010/07/persons-of-week-pauline-collins-and.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames A to B*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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