Mr. Creakle Ian McKellen The vicious, whispering headmaster of David's first school is a friend of Mr. Murdstone's. Mr. Creakle's repressive teaching methods are evident as he singles David out for extra torment. Although Ian McKellen, nominated for an Academy Award in 1999 for his performance in Gods and Monsters, has played 35 Shakespeare characters, he admits that he hasn't done much Dickens. "However entertaining Dickens is as a writer, however outrageous the characters are, however exaggerated the view of life he presents, underpinning it all is a moral outrage that people should behave so badly to each other, which of course is very appealing to us 150 years on," says McKellen. With Creakle, he adopts a distinctive whisper to communicate his unpleasantness to the boys. "Creakle is a joyfully horrible man who deserves a very sticky end." The future holds two major roles for McKellen. "I'm playing Magneto, Master of Magnetism, in X-Men, then I'm playing Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, and they're going to make dolls of me. So I'm going to fall out of your cereal packet." He roars with laughter at the thought.