The actor Stuart Organ, who was best known for playing the character of Peter Robson on Grange Hill, has died at the age of 72.

He played the firm but fair teacher on the children's TV drama and was the longest-serving member of staff in the school.

The character was a PE and geography teacher before being promoted to headteacher across the course of the show.

Grange Hill ran from 1978 to 2008 and made headlines for its gritty social realism, tackling issues such as racism, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, mental illness and HIV and Aids.

Organ also portrayed Kevin Cross in the TV soap opera Brookside and featured in a host of shows including popular BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who, where he appeared alongside Sylvester McCoy.

His career also included appearances in medical dramas Casualty and Holby City and a number of films including 1990’s Those Glory Glory Days, 1994’s festive film Present Spirits and 1997’s Fork In The Road.

Organ started his professional career at Leeds Playhouse in 1975 in a performance of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, a spin-off of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and would also tread the boards as Judge Turpin in Queens Theatre Hornchurch’s Sweeney Todd.

Tributes paid to Stuart Organ

Tributes were paid to Organ following the news of his death, with a Grange Hill fan account on X, formerly known as Twitter, posting: "Some extremely sad news today. Stuart Organ who played Mr Peter Robson in Grange Hill has sadly passed away.

"Stuart played Mr Robson from 1988 to 2003 and appeared in 265 episodes. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. RIP xxxx".

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Another account shared: "#StuartOrgan, Mr Robson from #GrangeHill has died. I met him in a corridor in a hotel in Manchester back in 2000 and we had a nice chat.

"A solid and dependable actor, capable of such realism and great warmth. RIP."

Meanwhile, another person wrote: "I spent many of my breakfasts last year, and the year before, watching the first 13 series of Grange Hill on BritBox, a massive nostalgia-fest. Stuart was a big part of the later series and was great as Mr Robson."