Michael Keating (actor)

Keating was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, on 10 February 1947. His acting career began in 1966.^[1] One of his earlier notable roles was as Goudry in The Sun Makers, a 1977 Doctor Who story. Just over a month later, Keating first appeared in the role of Vila Restal in the BBC TV series Blake's 7, which aired from 1978 to 1981.^[2] Vila was the only character to appear in all fifty-two episodes of the series. In 1981, Keating appeared in an episode of the BBC sitcom Yes Minister titled The Death List, playing the role of Police Constable Ross.^[3]

Some years later, Keating reunited with his Blake's 7 co-star Gareth Thomas in an episode of the BBC drama series Casualty.^[3] In 2004, Keating returned to the Doctor Who franchise, guest-starring as Major Koth in the Big Finish Productions audio adventure The Twilight Kingdom.^[2] In 2006, he starred in another Doctor Who audio adventure, this time as Inspector Chardalot in Year of the Pig. In 2009, he had a brief role in the BBC one-off drama Micro Men about the rise of the British home computer market in the late 1970s and early 1980s.^[2]

From 2005 to 2017, Keating played Reverend Stevens in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.^[1] He appeared as a recurring character, usually for a single episode or a few episodes at a time, in connection with another character's christening, marriage, or funeral, or relating to regular churchgoer Dot Branning (June Brown).^[2]

Keating died at home from dementia on 26 April 2026, aged 79.^[4][5][6]