Doctor Who Vs. The Monocled Mutineer

The Monocled Mutineer was broadcast over four consecutive Fridays from August 31st to September 21st 1986, to 10M viewers on BBC1, and attracted controversy from the right-wing press, who accused the BBC of left-wing bias.

The drama was written by Alan Bleasdale (who also scripted other gritty serials like Boys from the Black stuff), and was adapted from the book by William Allison and John Fairley (1978). These authors also faced criticism from the Tory-supporting newspapers. The BBC had originally approached Bleasdale in 1981 to adapt the book, which dramatised the life of Percy Toplis, an Army deserter during the First World War.

The series has never been repeated by the BBC, but there was a VHS release in 1999, then a DVD version in 2007.

Eighth Doctor actor, Paul McGann played Toplis, and another 15 Who cast connections follow here:

• Ron Donachie (Strachan) was a Steward in Tooth and Claw
• Timothy West (Thomson) voiced Turvey in Cuddlesome, and Dr Magnus Soames in House of Blue Fire, both for Big Finish
• Penelope Wilton (Lady Angela) see Vs. Shaun of the Dead http://ecklefecken.blogspot.com/2010/10/doctor-who-vs-shaun-of-dead.html
• David Allister (Asser) played Bruchner in Terror of the Vervoids, and Stimson in The Leisure Hive
• Philip McGough (Woodhall) was Calder in Resurrection of the Daleks
• Richard Ireson (Ritchie) was Axus in The Krotons, and a Soldier in The Mind Robber
• Noel Coleman (Sir John) was Smythe in The War Games
• Malcolm Terris (Johnson) was Etnin in The Dominators, and the Co-Pilot in Horns of Nimon
• Eric Mason (Sergeant Major) was Green in The Mind of Evil, and Smedley in The Sea Devils
• Anthony Calf (Guinness) made his first TV appearance as Charles in The Visitation, and later voiced Lord Barset in Frozen Time (BF)
• Jim Carter (Spencer) voiced Brother Bernard in The Book of Kells (BF)
• John Owens (C.O.) was Thorpe in The Daemons
• Extras: David Arlen was a Warrior Guard in The Mutants; Terry Paris was a Grecian Wrestler in Four to Doomsday; and Timothy Block played Tanner in Black Orchid

After making just one TV appearance as the Doctor, McGann has worked with Big Finish since 2000 when he reprised the role for audio. Four series, and a total of 64 stories later, the Eighth Doctor is as popular in fandom as he was 15 years ago.

Doctor Who Vs. Sherlock, Series 1

Anthony Horowitz, writer of the Alex Rider books, was recently chosen by the Conan Doyle Estate to pen a new full-length Sherlock Holmes novel (set in the 1890's), to be published in September. Meanwhile, series 2 of BBC One's BAFTA winning Sherlock (now given a modern day setting) is in production, and the only teaser revealed by Steven Moffat for the 3 new stories are the words: "Adler, Hound, Reichenbach". Can't wait for both of these projects!

Sherlock was co-created by current Doctor Who producer and head writer, Moffat, and NuWho writer/actor, Mark Gatiss (see below), whilst Matt Smith actually auditioned for the part of that other Doctor, Watson - here played by Martin Freeman.

Here then, are more Who cast connections, starting with the Sherlock regulars:

• Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes) voiced famous Egyptologist, Howard Carter in Forty Five: Fake Gods (Big Finish, 2008) - He is the son of Wanda Ventham, veteran of three 'classic' Who stories
• Una Stubbs (Mrs Hudson) was Flo in Horror of Glam Rock (BF, 2007)
• Vinette Robinson (DS Donovan) played Abi Lerner in 42
• For Mark Gatiss (Mycroft Holmes) see (http://ecklefecken.blogspot.com/2010/10/doctor-who-vs-shaun-of-dead.html)

Part 1: A Study in Pink (TX: 25/7/10, Written by Moffat, 9.2M Viewers)

• Philip Davis (Jeff) and Victoria Wicks (Margaret) both featured in Fires of Pompeii, portraying Lucius and the High Priestess respectively
• Peter Brooke (Passenger) was a Man in Daleks in Manhattan
• Joseph Long (Angelo, Unaired Pilot version) was Rocco Colasanto in Turn Left

Part 2: The Blind Banker (TX: 1/8/10, Written by Steve Thompson, Directed by Euros Lyn, 8M Viewers)

• Gemma Chan (Soo Lin Yao) played Mia Bennett in Waters of Mars
• Bertie Carvel (Wilkes) was the Mysterious Man in Gatiss' The Lazarus Experiment
• Paul Chequer (DI Dimmock) has been cast on the new Fourth Doctor AudioGo series, Serpent Crest: Tsar Wars

Part 3: The Great Game (TX:8/8/10, Written by Gatiss, 9.2M Viewers)

• Here we finally see James Moriarty (Andrew Scott, who appeared with Gatiss and David Tennant in The Quatermass Experiment remake of 2005)
• John Sessions (Kenny) voiced: General Tannis in Death Comes to Time; Mozart in 100: My Own Private Wolfgang; and Roland in Castle of Fear
• David Ryall (Huxley) was Carthok/Valentine in Gatiss' Big Finish story, Phantasmagoria
• Rita Davies (Blind Lady) voiced Janneus in Primeval (BF, 2001)

  (this story also features the voice of Peter Davison in the planetarium scenes)

A Tribute to Nicholas Courtney (1929-2011)

Doctor Who alumni Nicholas Courtney, the actor who portrayed the unflappable Brigadier for 40 years, sadly died yesterday after a long battle with cancer.

He was born William Nicholas Stone Courtney, on December 16th 1929, in Cairo, Egypt. The son of a British diplomat, he was educated in France and Kenya, and could speak French, Arabic, and Latin. After his National Service he decided not to pursue a career in the Army, and he joined the Weber Douglas Academy (where he won the Margaret Rutherford medal). He studied drama for 2 years, then worked in repertory theatre in Northampton, before moving to London. His first TV role came in 1957, and before becoming a regular cast member on Who, he appeared in The Saint, The Avengers, The Champions, and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).

Courtney's long association with Who began in 1965 with the part of Space Security agent, Bret Vyon, opposite William Hartnell (director Douglas Camfield had originally considered Courtney for the role of King Richard in The Crusade). Camfield then cast him as Captain Knight in The Web of Fear (1968), but when David Langton gave up his role of Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart, Courtney was given that part instead. Promoted to Brigadier, Lethbridge-Stewart returned in The Invasion (again opposite Patrick Troughton), and now headed the British section of the United Nations (later, Unified) Intelligence Taskforce. UNIT was devised to protect Earth from alien incursions, and it was for this recurring military role in the 'UNIT family' that Courtney is best known.

The Brigadier featured in 16 Jon Pertwee serials, including a dual role for Inferno, and he delivered the immortal "chap with wings, five rounds rapid" line in The Daemons. He returned for appearances opposite TV Doctors, Tom Baker (Robot, Terror of the Zygons); Peter Davison (Mawdryn Undead, The Five Doctors); Colin Baker (Dimensions in Time); and Sylvester McCoy (Battlefield, with Lethbridge-Stewart now married to Doris).

Courtney reprised the Brigadier for Big Finish, now working with Paul McGann in Minuet in Hell (2001); with David Tennant (here a UNIT Colonel) in The Wasting (2005); and with Unbound Doctor David Warner in Sympathy for the Devil, and Masters of War (2008).

Lethbridge-Stewart also featured in video drama Downtime (1995); BBC radio plays The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space; Death Comes to Time for BBCi (2001); and more recently in The Sarah Jane Adventures: Enemy of the Bane.

In 1997, Courtney became honorary president of DWAS: the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, and later wrote his autobiography, Five Rounds Rapid and Still Getting Away With It.

Outside Who, Courtney was seen in TV dramas Minder, All Creatures Great and Small, and The Bill; sitcoms Only Fools and Horses, Yes Prime Minister, and French Fields; on stage in The Rocky Horror Show (1995); and in films Bullseye (1990) and Incendiary (2008).

Courtney is survived by his second wife Karen, and his two children from his first marriage.

I had the pleasure of meeting Nicholas Courtney at a Doctor Who convention in Liverpool about 20 years ago, and he was a complete gentleman (his companion, JNT, was a surly sod though). He will be greatly missed by all in fandom.

UK Census 2011

Found this article on page 2 of today's 'The i'. Apparently, the response to the religion question in the last Census in 2001 resulted in over 390,000 followers of 'Jedi' after a huge internet campaign. The link to the TimeLord group is here: http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=eea3296cfb2fadcdf2690680d0118b36&#!/group.php?gid=108373425862055, so join now!

Many thanks to Christian Cawley for publishing this story at http://www.kasterborous.com/2011/02/24/census-2011-gallifrey-rises/

Doctor Who 'The Massacre' Review

Prologue

Transmitted 45 years ago in February 1966, The Massacre is one of the lesser-known period pieces in Doctor Who. It is however, without doubt one of the finest serials, not just within its genre, but of the Black and White era. In fact, The Discontinuity Guide (Virgin, 1995) regards it as "arguably the best ever story".
The historical events dramatised here are also unfamiliar, and the story is now only available via the 1999 BBC audio version (this is one of only three serials, with Marco Polo and Mission to the Unknown, were no footage survives). Although missing from the archives, listening to the episodes on CD only heightens their atmosphere, and I'd have to agree with Mark Gatiss that The Massacre could have been made for radio. The story is full of incident, period detail, rich characterisation, and a sense of deep foreboding.

Synopsis 

The TARDIS lands on the Rue De Bethisy in Paris, on the morning of August 20th 1572, just two days after the royal wedding of Prince Henry and Princess Margaret.
Unaware that they've arrived in the midst of the French Wars of Religion, the Doctor decides to visit the renowned apothecary Charles Preslin, to discuss germinology. Meanwhile in a nearby tavern, Steven befriends a group of Huguenots from the Protestant Admiral de Coligny's household. That evening, Steven helps to rescue a servant girl, Anne Chaplet, from her Catholic pursuers, and the Huguenots discover that she overheard plans to have French Protestants massacred (in a repeat of the attack on Anne's home town of Vassy, ten years previously).
To avoid the curfew, Steven lodges at the Admiral's apartments, and (as episode 1 ends) it soon appears to his allies (and viewers alike) that the hated Catholic dignitary, the Abbot of Amboise is actually the Doctor in disguise.
The political crisis deepens when the plot to assassinate the Admiral (known as the titular Sea Beggar of part 2) fails. The Abbot is blamed and executed, and (as episode 3 closes) his body dumped in the street. His death is attributed to the Huguenots, which further enrages the Catholic mob.
Fortunately for Steven (and the uncertain audience) it emerges that the Doctor was in fact the Abbot's physical double, and is still alive. The two travellers are reunited at Preslin's shop (where Steven has been searching for the Doctor's TARDIS key), and only now realise the importance of the date. They leave Anne and return to the Ship just as the carnage begins, with the King's Swiss guards attacking de Coligny's residence.
Steven is incensed at the Doctor's failure to rescue Anne (much like Donna Noble's protests in Pompeii, 42 years later), and when the TARDIS arrives in present day London, they meet their new travelling companion, Dodo Chaplet - Anne's descendant? 

Background 

Doctor Who had first dealt with a 'Holy War' in David Whitaker's The Crusade, but the religious dogma of the waring factions was kept in the background. The programme's remit of employing history to educate younger viewers meant that, in this case, the political intrigue at both opposing leaders' courts was the plot focus. Similarly, just 11 months later The Massacre also featured opposition between crown and state (and a failed peace process), but with the religious conflict now to the fore.
Each episode of the story spans one of the four days leading upto the Massacre, and all the relevant recorded events are chronicled within. First mentioned in part one, War of God, the marriage of Henry of Navarre (a Protestant) and Margaret de Valois (a Catholic) was arranged to unite France, and avoid further bloodshed. But just six days later, the Massacre began in earnest (actually on St. Bartholomew's Day, August 24th), and is believed to have been instigated by Catherine de Medici, mother of King Charles IX. Both royals appear in episode 3, Priest of Death, when the Queen Mother is seen wielding the real power behind the throne (see had been regent since Charles was 10, and ruthlessly coveted her control and influence). After hiring the assassin Maurevert (here given the alias, Bondot) to shoot de Coligny (and eliminating the Abbot into the bargain), Catherine then instructs Tavannes to extend his death-list from only the leading Huguenots to all Protestants in the capital, thereby condemning them by "unleashing the wolves of Paris". The Marshal dramatically concludes this scene in episode 4 with the most chilling line of the story: "At dawn tomorrow this city will weep tears of blood". And so, as the narrative draws to a close, tocsins (the titular Bell of Doom) signal the start of the violence, which would quickly spread throughout France, and lasted until October. Upto 10,000 people perished, with about 3,000 killed in Paris alone, but the final death toll is unknown. Nowadays, we would describe this civil strife as "ethnic cleansing" and it effectively eradicated any Huguenot 'threat', although the Wars of Religion persisted until 1598. 

Cast

• The Massacre is perhaps most notable for William Hartnell's impressive dual role as the Doctor (here only seen in the first and last halves of parts 1 and 4, respectively) and the Abbot of Amboise (briefly seen in parts 2 and 3), and they never actually meet during the course of the story - Hartnell's absence meant that Peter Purves literally took the lead and he provides a very strong performance as Steven
• David Weston (Nicholas Muss) later played Biroc, the Tharil, in Warriors' Gate (1981)
• Christopher Tranchell (the Abbot's secretary, Roger Colbert) was Jenkins in The Faceless Ones (1967), then Andred in The Invasion of Time (1978)
• Erik Chitty (Preslin) was Engin in The Deadly Assassin (1976)
• Leonard Sachs (the Admiral) was President Borusa in Arc of Infinity (1983)
• Michael Bilton (the King's councillor, Charles de Teligny) was Collins in Pyramids of Mars (1975), and also in serial 4P as a Time Lord
• Andre Morell (Marshal Tavannes) is the only actor to play Professor Quatermass (... and the Pit, 1958/9) to make a guest appearance in TV Who - Andrew Keir, the Professor in the film version (1967), was Wyler in the second Dalek film, the year before

Crew 

This was John Lucarotti's final story for the programme, and his scripts were adapted by Donald Tosh (he had previously penned season one historicals Marco Polo and The Aztecs, and his later treatment for The Ark in Space was rewritten by Robert Holmes). Departing script editor Tosh had developed a good relationship with producer John Wiles (who also left the show, after the next story The Ark) and they both wanted a more adult direction for Doctor Who, resulting in serials like The Massacre: a serious, even grim and doom-laden period drama.
Paddy Russell was the show's first female director, and this was her Who debut. She later directed Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974), Pyramids of Mars, and Horror of Fang Rock (1977).
This was designer Michael Young's only work on Who. He created the impressive Paris street sets at Ealing. 

Epilogue 

When a disgusted Steven leaves the TARDIS, the Doctor is forced to reflect on his actions, and Hartnell delivers an emotional soliloquy. Then there's a pregnant pause, as if the programme itself holds it's breath, and there's a tangible sense of something shifting, breaking, or ending. Then Dodo rushes in, breaking the spell. Now halfway through it's third season, Doctor Who has grown-up.