John Alderton married his co-star, Jill Browne, but they later divorced. After an uncredited role in "Cleopatra" (1963), and appearing in British films such as "The System" (1964), "Assignment K" (1968), "Duffy" (1968) and "Hannibal Brooks" (1969), he played the lead in the comedy series "Please Sir!", as hapless teacher Mr Hedges, which later resulted in him also playing the character in the 1971 feature film of the same name. In 1972 he appeared with Hannah Gordon in the BBC comedy series "My Wife Next Door" which ran for 13 episodes, and for which he won a Jacob's Award in 1975. He
John Alderton of a comeback in the 2003 film, "Calendar Girls". Then, in 2004 he played a role in the BBC series of Anthony Trollope's "He Knew He Was Right". Also in 2004, Alderton starred in the first series of ITV 1's "Doc Martin" in an episode entitled "Of All The Harbours in All The Towns" as sailor John Slater, a friend and former lover of Aunt Joan. He played Christopher Casby in the 2008 BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit". Alderton married actress Jill Browne in 1964 but they later divorced. In 1969, he married actress Pauline Collins and they