Michael A. James, known professionally as Michael Jayston, was an English actor. He played Nicholas II of Russia in the film Nicholas and Alexandra (1971). He also made many television appearances, which included portraying Peter Guillam in 1979 miniseries Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, playing the Valeyard in all fourteen episodes of the Doctor Who serial The Trial of a Time Lord (1986), and appearing in the Only Fools and Horses episode "Time on Our Hands" (1996) as Raquel's father, James.

Nicholas and Alexandra is a 1971 British epic historical drama film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, from a screenplay by James Goldman and Edward Bond based on Robert K. Massie's 1967 book of the same name. It tells the story of the last ruling Russian monarch, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra, from 1904 until their deaths in 1918. The ensemble cast includes Tom Baker as Grigori Rasputin, Laurence Olivier as Sergei Witte, Brian Cox as Leon Trotsky, Ian Holm as Vasily Yakovlev, and Vivian Pickles as Nadezhda Krupskaya.