[6][7] Hardy was educated at Rugby School and Magdalen College, Oxford, where his studies were interrupted by service in the Royal Air Force during World War II.

[citation needed] Although he visited Los Angeles[8] when on leave from flight training at Terrell, his later acting career never gained a foothold in Hollywood.

In 1959, he appeared as The King of France in All's Well That Ends Well in April 1959, directed by Tyrone Guthrie at Stratford-upon-Avon, with Vanessa Redgrave and Diana Rigg indicated as supporting extras.

"[12] Hardy was seen as the irascible senior veterinary surgeon Siegfried Farnon in the long-running All Creatures Great and Small (1978–90), an adaptation of James Herriot's semi-autobiographical books.

[13] Hardy also made an appearance in the 1986–88 ITV comedy series Hot Metal, in which he played the dual roles of newspaper proprietor Twiggy Rathbone (who bore more than a passing resemblance to Rupert Murdoch) and his editor, Russell Spam.

In 2002, he played the role of pompous and eccentric Professor Neddy Welch in a WTTV/WGBH Boston co-production of Lucky Jim, adapted from the novel by Kingsley Amis.

It aired originally as part of the Masterpiece series on PBS in the U.S. and starred Stephen Tompkinson in the title role of Jim Dixon, a luckless lecturer at a provincial British university.

[17][citation needed] He also played Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in Elizabeth R and took the role of Sir John Middleton in the 1995 film version of Sense and Sensibility.

[1] Hardy's big screen roles included Professor Krempe in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter films.

[22] While playing Henry V, Hardy developed an interest in medieval warfare, and in 1963 he wrote and presented an acclaimed television documentary on the subject of the Battle of Agincourt.

[26] In February 2013, Hardy withdrew from his scheduled performance as Winston Churchill in Peter Morgan's play, The Audience, after suffering cracked ribs as the result of a fall.