His daughter confirmed the unhappy information.
Mike Smith has sadly died (Picture: Michael Briant)
A BBC star who appeared in a Physician Who documentary has sadly died on the age of 87. Helicopter pilot ‘Mad’ Mike Smith’s passing was sadly confirmed by his daughter this weekend. Mike had flown the helicopter for the 2020 documentary The Merciless Sea: Surviving Fury of the Deep, which investigated the misplaced episode of the BBC sci-fi collection. It was included on the DVD content material for the animated particular episode, that includes the Second Physician.
BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Chris Chapman confirmed the information on X, tweeting: “Unhappy information to share – his daughter has simply let me know that helicopter pilot ‘Mad’ Mike Smith has died, aged 87. He spent his closing day driving himself to the pub and successful at pool. We shot with Mike for our Fury from the Deep doc. He was one among my favorite contributors. RIP.”
Tributes quickly started pouring in from followers on-line, with one writing: “Oh, so unhappy to learn this, we had an important few days filming on the market with Mike and Michael E. Briant.”
One other echoed: “It feels like he really lived his absolute best life proper up till the tip. There’s one thing actually heartwarming and galvanizing in that. RIP.”
“What a improbable previous boy, an actual character and I’m so glad you bought him for the documentary, I’ve watched it a number of occasions,” any individual else mentioned.
On his weblog, Physician Who producer Michael Briant spoke about working with Mike, writing: “On location, [director] Hugh David determined that he would really like Mike Smith to fly the helicopter between the legs of the [oil] rig to make the chase sequence extra thrilling – certain Mike mentioned – straightforward! The 2nd helicopter pilot mentioned he had by no means seen something so harmful in his life! Mike solely had 3 toes clearance on both facet of blades as he flew between the legs.
“It was the final day of filming and all of us received again to the lodge for a celebratory drink – Mike ordered champagne and brandy for everybody and proceeded to take pleasure in himself – I used to be busy making an attempt to be a accountable Manufacturing Assistant as he pulled me over in my chair. ‘Have you ever by no means wished to swing from a chandelier like Douglas Fairbanks?'”
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“‘Effectively I’ve’, declared Mike, and he sprang onto the desk and leaped into the air greedy the magnificent centre piece to the room.
“There was an immediate when it might need labored however solely an immediate… Your complete ceiling collapsed showering everybody in plaster and Mike was on the ground embracing the chandelier. I liked him dearly for that however its exhausting to elucidate to courageous and gifted helicopter pilots that actual life is totally different from films.”
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