Double-O-Who? Jon Pertwee's secret life as a wartime agent... years before he did battle with the Daleks

Actor was an intelligence agent in WWII and reported to Winston Churchill

Revelations were made in a long-lost tape-recorded interview

He was best known for battling the Daleks as one of the best-loved Doctor Whos.



But now it has been revealed that Jon Pertwee was a real-life secret agent years before he donned the Time Lord’s cape.



The actor, who died in 1996 aged 76, was a senior intelligence agent during the Second World War and reported directly to Winston Churchill.



He was also recommended for another role by James Bond creator Ian Fleming – and proved to be an expert in using a range of 007-like gadgets, including a smoking pipe that fired bullets and handkerchiefs containing secret maps.

Actor Jon Pertwee, pictured left in the Navy, was a senior secret intelligence agent during World War II before he became well-known for playing Doctor Who, pictured right



The revelations – in a long-lost tape-recorded interview – confirm that Pertwee’s wartime activities were as remarkable as his acting career, which saw him play the third incarnation of the Doctor between 1970 and 1974.

Pertwee said he kept silent about the nature of his covert role with the Naval Intelligence Division for decades for fear of breaching the Official Secrets Act.



On the tape he says: ‘The team I worked with, the brothers in intelligence, were an amazing collection of characters.



TV favourite: Jon Pertwee battled Daleks and aliens as Doctor Who for four years

‘There was a huge range of talents all being used to better protect the security of the nation, often in very surprising ways.



‘I did all sorts. Teaching commandos how to use escapology equipment, compasses in brass buttons, secret maps in white cotton handkerchiefs, pipes you could smoke that also fired a .22 bullet. All sorts of incredible things. It suited me perfectly as I have always loved gadgets.



‘I used to attend meetings where Churchill would be at the end of the table and he would be smoking his cigars. At the end of the meeting, I used to collect the butts and sell them on to the Americans for a few dollars.



‘I don’t remember much of my first meeting with Churchill except he gave me some priceless advice. He told me to always watch people, that there was a lot you could learn about someone’s character from the little actions they make – which was great advice for an actor.’



Pertwee also worked alongside Ian Fleming during his spell with Naval Intelligence. He recalled: ‘One day Fleming sent me for an interview for a job. They wanted a good French speaker.



‘I thought the job was going to be liaison with the Free French. I did not fancy that at all, so I deliberately messed up the interview, pretending I could not understand what they were saying at times and throwing in the most inappropriate answers.



‘Afterwards, when Fleming got the report back, he said they did not want me and how badly I had done. I confessed I had done it on purpose because I did not want to work with de Gaulle’s mob.



‘He told me I was a blithering idiot because the interview was a chance to be our man in Tahiti.’

Before taking up his clandestine role, Pertwee narrowly avoided death on the battlecruiser Hood, sunk by the Bismarck in 1941.

Jon Pertwee, pictured as Doctor Who with Nicholas Courtney who played Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, made the revelations in a long-lost interview

He recalled: ‘I was on HMS Hood and I got called to the captain’s cabin. I was told I had passed the captain’s test and I was now a fully fledged officer cadet. I had 20 minutes to pack before being transferred back to Pompey barracks for training.



‘It saved my life. Of the 1,418 crew, only three survived.’



Pertwee’s many obituaries all referred to his wartime service in the Navy, but made no mention of his top-secret role.



He gave the interview in 1994 to two young reporters, Matt Adams and David Southwell. They are lifelong Doctor Who fans – and decided this year’s 50th anniversary of the show was the ideal time to publish his revelations in Doctor Who Magazine.



Mr Southwell, now an author, said: ‘Eighteen years ago the opportunity arose to exploit our positions with a local paper to wangle an interview at the home of one of our childhood heroes.



‘We have gone on to quiz Oscar-winners and meet Prime Ministers, but no interview was ever more demanding than coming face-to-face with our Doctor.’

Jon Pertwee, pictured as the Doctor with Elisabeth Sladen, said he got to use all sorts of 'incredible equipment'