 In 1961, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon and from 1963 to 1968 was with the National Theatre at the Old Vic.On television, Blakely appeared in the "Armchair Theatre" series in 1962, episode "The Hard Knock" and director Charles Crichton unusually cast Blakely in two different roles during the same run of episodes of the 1967 series "Man in a Suitcase".In 1969, Blakely's controversial role as Jesus Christ in Dennis Potter's "Son of Man" gained him wide recognition.