Is Ray Wise the new Alan Dale?

It's not just Željko Ivanek who's chasing after Alan Dale to become the Mr Ubiquity of the cult television genre. For with his devilish looks and huge grin, the magnificent Ray Wise has found himself increasingly in demand since his legendary turn as the troubled Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks. Here's a look at his impressive track record, which contains one very eye-opening overlap with Dale's career...

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Liko

In the 1989 episode 'Who Watches The Watchers', Wise donned heavy prosthetic make-up to play a Mintakan male called Liko. An encounter with Jean-Luc Picard left Liko believing that the bald USS Enterprise Captain was a God who had returned him back from the afterlife. After becoming embroiled in psychological turmoil about his predicament, he decided to shoot Picard with an arrow to test his theory. Not a wise move.

Twin Peaks - Leland Palmer

Without giving away too many of the shocking twists of the series, Wise played a lawyer in the small town of Twin Peaks who was overwhelmed with grief when the body of his daughter washed up on the river banks, wrapped in plastic. Leland's behaviour became increasingly erratic and included jumping onto the coffin of his daughter as it was lowered into the ground, followed by a stress-related change in hair colour. Then things turned really dark…

Star Trek: Voyager - Arturis

A member of Species 116, Arturis was one of few survivors from a Borg attack on his homeland. He blamed Captain Kathryn Janeaway and her USS Voyager crew for the devastation and set an elaborate trap for revenge that ultimately backfired and propelled him into the assimilative clutches of the Borg. Wise had another radical makeover for his second appearance in the Star Trek world in this 1998 episode 'Hope and Fear'.

Sleepwalkers - McCaig

This short-lived late '90s sci-fi series starring Naomi Watts and Bruce Greenwood as dream researchers who send their operatives into people's dreams to untangle the subconscious mess within. Owing a lot to the Dennis Quaid movie Dreamscape, the series boasted appearances by Wise in two episodes as McCaig - a dead man who roamed the dreams of an increasing number of sleepers and had revenge on his mind.

Charmed – Ludlow

The popular series about three very photogenic sisters and their dabbling in witchcraft cast enough of a spell over Wise to make him appear in the 2002 episode 'Lost and Bound'. He played a demon called Ludlow in the show - not the first nor the last time he took on a role with such hellish connotations.

24 - Vice President Hal Gardner

Second in command to President Charles Logan, Wise's Hal Gardner was widely assumed to be the treacherous force within the government who helped to engineer the assassination of David Palmer in Day Five of the series. Ultimately, Logan was revealed to be the traitor and Gardner assumed his duties until Wayne Palmer was eventually elected. Incidentally, Alan Dale also played the vice president in Days Two and Three of 24. Small world!

Bones - Rick Turco

A guest appearance on the enduringly popular David Boreanaz show happened in 2006, when Wise portrayed Rick Turco in the opening episode of the second season entitled 'The Titan on the Track'. He played a private investigator who became the primary suspect in a case involving a fatal car collision with a passenger train.

Reaper - The Devil

Who else could play The Devil with such relish? Evoking the wild-eyed mania that he channelled through Leland Palmer, Wise snapped up the regular role in 2007 as the demonic figure that makes a young man work as his bounty hunter after his parents sold his soul. Sadly, The CW network cancelled the series earlier this year after just two seasons.

Dollhouse - Howard Lipman

Fresh from the axed Reaper, Wise hopped on board for a role in the condemned Joss Whedon series Dollhouse. His episode 'The Left Hand' has yet to air, but we know that Wise is playing the head of a rival Washington Dollhouse who doesn't see eye-to-eye with Adelle over a variety of matters.

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