In the early 1950's, Mr Magpie ran an electricals shop on Florizel Street, near Alexandra Palace in North London. His main business was in the new television sets, but the shop was struggling to stay afloat due to mounting debts. One night, an alien energy being known as the Wire materialised on the premises, arriving in a lightning bolt and housing itself in one of the TV sets. It promised Magpie great wealth and power if he helped it. He soon started selling TV sets at very low prices - which were snapped up as the new Queen's coronation was imminent and was to be broadcast on television. The Wire fed on energy of human beings via these sets, absorbing their personality, so was keen to see them spread widely across the region.
Magpie eventually rebelled against the Wire, unhappy at what it was making him do. After he had been forced to link it to the BBC transmitter on Coronation Day, it released him by disintegrating him. The Doctor then trapped and destroyed it.
Despite the controversy of the time, Magpie's company survived. Martha Jones, in 2008, had a Magpie Electricals TV set, and Sarah Jane Smith one of their computers, and the company was still going strong into the 33rd Century, being present on Starship UK.
The Doctor even employed Magpie Electricals components in the TARDIS.
Played by: Ron Cook. Appearances: The Idiot's Lantern (2006).
- I first came across Ron Cook when he played Richard III in the BBC Shakespeare plays in 1983.
- He has twice played Napoleon, previously acted opposite David Tennant in Russell T Davies' Casanova, and was Lady Penelope's chauffeur Parker in the movie version of Thunderbirds.
- More recently he featured in the Star Wars: Rogue One spin-off Andor.
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