Peter Butterworth (February 4 1919 - January 16 1979) was an English comic actor who appeared in many of the Carry On films. He also appeared in Doctor Who as the first Time Lord villain, the Meddling Monk, in The Time Meddler and later in the 12-part epic The Daleks' Master Plan, both with William Hartnell.

Butterworth served during World War II in the Royal Navy as a lieutenant. He was captured in the Netherlands in 1940 and attempted to escape three times. During one attempt that occurred in June, 1940 at Dugaluft near Frankfurt, Butterworth managed to escape through a tunnel and covered 27 miles over the next three days before German secret police recaptured him. The other five attempts were abortive and never got beyond the camp grounds.

During the course of his stay in the camp, he met Talbot Rothwell , who would go on to co-write many of the Carry On films. Rothwell and Butterworth sang together in a camp show, where the booing and the catcalls were so loud that they covered up the sounds of an escape tunnel being dug by other prisoners. Rothwell and Butterworth continued to be close friends after the war, and the latter was inspired by the experience to take up acting.

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