Homecoming date as Brian Blessed to appear at Doncaster Comic Con
Booming Brian Blessed is set to make a noise – when he makes a homecoming appearance at this year’s Doncaster Comic Con.
The big-voiced star, famed for his roles in Flash Gordon, Blackadder and Z-Cars, will appear at The Dome on April 12 – making a return to the area where he was born back in 1936.
The performer, now 89, is one of Britain’s biggest and best known stars and has appeared in a host of movies and hit TV shows and is known around the globe for his larger than life persona.
The son of William Blessed, a miner at Hickleton Main and Hilda Wall, Blessed was born at Montagu Hospital in Mexborough on October 9, 1936 and attended Bolton on Dearne Secondary Modern School, but was forced to leave at the age of 15 after his father suffered an industrial accident.
He then spent several years working in a number of jobs, ranging from an undertaker to a plasterer’s assistant.
He started drama training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where his contemporaries included Patrick Stewart, and then found fame as PC “Fancy” Smith in the BBC TV series Z-Cars, between 1962 and 1965.
More TV roles followed in The Avengers, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Doctor Who while on stage he starred in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats.
One of his best remembered roles was as Prince Vultan in the 1980 film Flash Gordon for which he is frequently remembered for the exclamation “Gordon’s alive!”
He also appeared as Richard IV in the first series of Blackadder while to younger viewers he is known as the voice of Grampy Rabbit in Peppa Pig.
He has also attempted to climb Mount Everest three times but without ever reaching the summit and has also trekked to the North Pole on foot, as well as a number of other expeditions away from the silver screen.
A Doncaster Comic Con spokesperson said: “This will be a great day for families, sci-fi collectors, fans, and every other kind of Comic Con fan.
"There is lots to see and do, including out of this world displays and props, traders selling out of this world collections and you can meet celebrities from TV and the movies.”
Tickets are available HERE