Tributes have been pouring in this evening, following the sad news that, actor Michael Keating has died at the age of 79.
Goodbye Michael Keating. The Vila of all our hearts. He was in the first thing I ever wrote, playing a mutant piglet who thought he was Hercule Poirot. In quiet patches he did the odd ushering shift at ENO. I never saw tickets torn with such panache.
— Matthew Sweet (@drmatthewsweet.bsky.social) 2026-05-21T18:41:29.925Z
Farewell Michael Keating. I came to appreciate his Vila Restal in Blake's 7 thanks to talking to @gkw.bsky.social about it on @squarewindowpod.bsky.social sites.libsyn.com/592215/episo…
— Samira Ahmed (@samiraahmeduk.bsky.social) 2026-05-21T16:50:01.449Z
Keating was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, on 10 February 1947. His acting career began in 1966. One of his earlier notable roles was as Goudry in Doctor Who: The Sun Makers, a 1977 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. 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.
Some years later, Keating reunited with his Blake’s 7 co-star Gareth Thomas in an episode of the BBC drama series Casualty. In 2004, Keating returned to the Doctor Who franchise, guest-starring as Major Koth in the Big Finish Productions audio adventure The Twilight Kingdom. 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.
From 2005 to 2017, Keating played Reverend Stevens in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. 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).
Keating died on 21st May 2026, aged 79, the official cause of death has not been publicly disclosed.
