Tributes pour in for popular Mansfield-born actor Stephen Critchlow who appeared in Doctor Who and Torchwood

Stephen Critchlow attended Bull Farm – now Crescent Primary School – and the former Queen Elizabeth’s Boys’ Grammar School before moving to London to train at the prestigious Mountview Theatre School.

Best know for his work in the theatre and as a voice actor, he appeared in over 200 radio plays during three separate stints with the BBC Radio Drama Company, and was a regular in other voice dramas, including Doctor Who and Torchwood, and voiced numerous video games in his 30-year career.

Known in the theatre world as "Critch" or "The Critch", he worked in theatre all over Britain.

Beginning in repertory, he performed in A Christmas Carol, When We Are Married and The Relapse at Birmingham Rep, and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night at the Theatre Royal, Northampton.

His West End work included Hamlet, with Paul Darrow, directed by Sir Peter Hall CBE at the Gielgud Theatre; Pygmalion, directed by Ray Cooney at the Albery Theatre. He also played in Cyrano De Bergerac at the Royal National Theatre.

In 2004–05, he starred as Kenneth Horne in three national tours of Round the Horne... Revisited, which he listed this as his favourite theatre job, and a stage version of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps.

Television work included Skins, Heartbeat and Monarch of the Glen.

Paying tribute to the actor, Scott Handcock, who directed him in a number of Torchwood adventures, said: "He was such a talent – a chameleon behind the microphone – but also such a genuinely lovely, funny and generous human being.

"The world will be a much, much sadder place without him."

News of his death, first announced on September 19 by Big Finish productions, led to players of Final Fantasy XIV, in which he appeared, holding vigils around the world in his memory.

Big Finish creative director Nicholas Briggs said: "I shall always remember Stephen as a real powerhouse of versatility and joy. I count myself lucky to have worked with him."

School friends described him as a very private man who would still meet them in Mansfield for a drink.

His agent has been contacted regarding funeral arrangements.

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