Terence Rigby

In Watership Down (1978), Terence Rigby voices Silver. His deep voice contributes to the force of Martin Rosen's animated film, though we would not make this supporting part the chief reason to see it. We were frightened by the rough drawing and the refusal to make the animals' danger comforting. The plot is crowded into 92 minutes, and the compression sometimes hurts the storytelling. Yet the unevenness of the animation helps the film: its creatures never look comfortably protected by the fact that they have been drawn.

Rigby's physical presence was useful elsewhere, and could easily dominate descriptions of his acting. With his burly build and deep voice, he was well suited to men whose authority might become a threat. Gerald Fletcher in Get Carter (1971) is a London villain, but PC Snow in Softly, Softly: Task Force belongs to his work as a sympathetic policeman. We would resist treating the latter as an exception: making authority believable does not always mean making it sinister.

His work with Harold Pinter and director Peter Hall gives that screen presence a useful context. He created Joey in Hall's The Homecoming (1965), then Briggs in No Man's Land (1975), bringing physical and emotional weight to complex supporting roles. His Pinter work continued through Davies in The Caretaker (2003). On television, Roy Bland in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979) belongs to the same record of detailed, believable character acting. Supporting work was a substantial occupation here, not something to dismiss while looking for a leading role.

For a first encounter, we recommend Watership Down, with a warning about its harshness and hurried plotting. It also offers a useful way of listening to an actor so often described through his size. As Silver, Rigby has none of that physical bulk available; the voice must do the work. Do not take the rabbits as a promise of a gentle evening.