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Richard Franklin, a famed British actor well-known for his roles in Dr Who and Emmerdale, died “peacefully in his sleep” on Christmas morning at 87. Franklin’s family posted a statement on X (formerly Twitter), saying the actor died “after fighting long-term illness.”
Richard Franklin was most famous for his stage work. He has also appeared in several TV shows and movies, such as Crossroads, Emmerdale, Dr Who, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, to name a few.
He played Captain Mike Yates during Jon Pertwee’s era as the Time Lord in Dr Who. His character in Emmerdale was named Denis Rigg, a ruthless businessman who met a tragic death after being crushed by a rampant bull.
Richard Franklin, who played Denis Rigg in Emmerdale, dies at age 87
Richard Franklin appeared in Emmerdale (then called Emmerdale Farm) as a vicious businessman named Denis Rigg. He was a recurring character for 35 episodes from 1988 to 1989. Denis Rigg was one of Franklin’s most successful characters.
Emmerdale is a British soap opera created by Kevin Laffan in 1972 and is presently running on ITV. The show is set in the fictional village of Beckindale (later changed to Emmerdale in 1994) in Yorkshire Dales. It was created as a lunchtime farming series, focusing on the Sugden family who recently moved to a farm and their dynamic with the characters in the nearby village.
According to the Emmerdale fandom wiki, Dennis Rigg was a villainous character conceptualized in 1988. Born in 1940, Denis Rigg was a reckless businessman who threatened to evict the villagers from their homes if they didn’t comply with his demands.
After moving to Beckindale in 1988, he planned to give the entire village an overhaul by demolishing half of it to make way for a quarry. He proposed to buy Emmerdale Farm for his expansion, which the owner, Annie Sugden, refused.
In 1989, Denis got into a verbal argument with Annie’s son Joe after he refused Denis’s offer. Joe was tending to his bull, and an angry Denis aggravated the bull, causing the bull to crush him against the wall and kill him.
Richard Franklin, born on 15 January 1936, started acting at a young age. He trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and his first professional acting work was with the Century Theatre.
According to The Guardian, his breakout role as a television actor was in the soap Crossroads in 1969, followed by Doctor Who in 1971.
"Sleep well Richard": People pay tribute to Richard Franklin on social media
People took to social media to pay their respects to Richard Franklin following the news of his death. Fellow actors and fans reminisced their fond memories of the actor, causing "RIP Richard" to trend on X.
Liam Rudden, whom Richard Franklin gave his first professional acting job, posted that he was "devastated" on hearing the actor had died.
Katy Manning, a fellow actor who starred alongside Franklin in Doctor Who, paid a tribute to the actor on X, saying she was "so very grateful" she saw him before his death.
According to The Sun, Richard Franklin was also politically active and was a candidate for the Liberal Democrats in the 1992 general election in Sheffield. He was the founder of the Silent Majority Party and stood as a candidate for the UK Parliament several times. He also wrote the book Forest Wisdom: Radical Reform of Democracy and the Welfare State.
