Among Woolf's leading parts was his performance as the Apostle John in a frequently repeated BBC adaptation of
The Man Born to Be King where he also introduced each play. His film roles include Sir
Percival in the 1953 film,
Knights of the Round Table. In 1975, he played
Sutekh in the
Doctor Who serial
Pyramids of Mars. Woolf renewed his association with
Doctor Who in 1981 by reading three novelisations of Doctor Who stories for the
Royal National Institute of Blind People. The books were
The Three Doctors,
Doctor Who and the Carnival of Monsters and
Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster, all written by
Terrance Dicks. He joined up with the Doctor again by performing in the
Big Finish Productions audio play Arrangements for War and its sequel,
Thicker than Water. He appeared on the
Pyramids of Mars DVD in a sketch called ''Oh Mummy: Sutekh's Story
and a documentary piece titled Osiran Gothic''. In 2005, he returned to work with the writers of
Oh Mummy, appearing in the
Doctor Who DVD extra
Eye On Blatchford as the demented Doctor Amadeus Gowel. In the Magic Bullet
Faction Paradox audio plays
Coming to Dust (2005),
The Ship of a Billion Years (2006) and
Body Politic (2008), all written by
Lawrence Miles, Woolf reprises his role as Sutekh. In 2008, Woolf played
Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins in the third story in the
Scarifyers series,
For King and Country. The play was broadcast on
BBC7 in 2009. In the
2006 series of
Doctor Who, Woolf returned to provide the voice of "
The Beast" in the two-part story "
The Impossible Planet" and "
The Satan Pit". Eighteen years later, he reprised the role of Sutekh in the
Series 14 two-part series finale "
The Legend of Ruby Sunday" / "
Empire of Death". His many parts on
BBC Radio include Shakespeare's
Romeo and Inspector
Charles Parker in the
dramatisations of the
Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. He toured with the author
Colin Dexter, performing readings to accompany Dexter's talks. Woolf is also a Vice President of the Joyful Company of Singers.
Arthur Ransome Woolf has abridged and recorded all of
Arthur Ransome's
Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. He was also elected President of
the Arthur Ransome Society. ==Personal life==