Early bit parts in assorted Butcher’s tripe and playing a headachey wimp in The Italian Job might rank among the least auspicious of film career beginnings but, after a proper telly apprenticeship (including three top notch Wednesday Plays) Powell got started on the good stuff. Perfectly suited to oddball horrors like Asylum and The Asphyx, and holding his own in the odd Ken Russell wig-out, the way was paved for dangling off Big Ben in The Thirty Nine Steps (Big Ben Edition), in a bid to purge his ‘sensitive young man’ image. But there’s always been a quiet menace behind those delicate cheekbones, and the Pan’s Hubby can do sinister with the best of them.
FINEST HOUR: Never mind Jesus, his multi-costume turn in Australian horror Harlequin captures that otherworldly side of Powell better than anything.
