John Atkinson

John Atkinson (1921-2007) was a British character actor who played the guard in The StoryTeller episode

Atkinson's earliest credits include [BBC Radio's Children's Hour (as a deer in the 1946 serial "Rabbit Hill") and BBCchildren's serials and adaptations, including Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby and Barnaby Rudge. He often alternated between authoritative roles (judges, military) and earthier sorts (farmers, workmen, and tramps). He was a cast member for a year on the soap opera Emmerdale as farmer Jim Gimbel and appeared in episodes of The Avengers, Thriller, All Creatures Great and Small, Minder, and Jeeves and Wooster as well as the period dramas The Devil's Crown and Jewel in the Crown. His few films included the Hammer horror Demons of the Mind (with Robert Hardy), Fräulein Doktor, and the 1987 version of Dickens' Little Dorrit (with Robert Morley).