Powell took up acting while an undergraduate although he had already appeared as a teenager in The Adventures of Samuel Poppleton on BBC Radio Children 's Hour from the North of England in Manchester , where he came under the guidance of producer , Trevor Hill , as detailed in Hill 's autobiography , Over the Airwaves . He had aspired to become a lawyer and in 1963 – 64 attended an external London University LLB degree course at the Manchester College of Commerce but at the same time quietly took acting roles under Trevor Nunn . At the College of Commerce he swapped roles with Bernard Brandon in a week-long College Revue of Comedy Sketches to see which role gave him " the best laughs " . This early comedy experience was later to be fulfilled with Jasper Carrott . After this he secured a post at a repertory theatre in Stoke-on-Trent . His first film part was in '' Robbery '' when he played the engine driver who was coshed in the Stanley Baker film about the Great Train Robbery . He had a small role in the original film version of '' The Italian Job '' ( 1969 ) playing one of the gang , but had to wait a few years for his first success , playing scientist Toby Wren in the BBC 's science fiction series , '' Doomwatch '' in 1970
Great Train Robbery
Great Train Robbery (1963)
Robert Powell