Thursday 18 February 2016

Doctor Who Vs. Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell

Shown again on the Horror channel tonight, this feature was Hammer's final chapter in their Frankenstein saga. Genre legend Peter Cushing made his sixth appearance as Baron Von Frankenstein, and future Star Wars actor David Prowse again played the scientist's monstrous creation. Here, the Baron works as an asylum surgeon under the alias of Dr. Victor, and is now murdering his patients to acquire body parts in his constant experiments. 
Produced in 1972 but only released two years later, 
the film performed poorly at the box office and became 
one of the studio's last horror movies. Frankenstein
 featured Patrick Troughton (pictured as the 
Bodysnatcher) and ten other Doctor Who cast connections:

  • John Stratton (Director) played Shockeye of the Quawncing Grig in The Two Doctors
  • Prowse (the Monster) was the Minotaur in The Time Monster
  • Norman Mitchell (Sergeant) and Hugh Cecil (Inmate) both appeared in The Daleks' Master Plan, as a Policeman (in The Feast of Steven) and Technix (in The Nightmare Begins) respectively - Cecil was also a Priest in The Massacre: The Sea Beggar, a Worker in (episode 3 of) The War Machines, and an Extra in The Silurians (episode 6)
  • Philip Voss (Ernst) was Acomat in Marco Polo, and Wahed in The Dominators (1)
  • Norman Atkyns (Smiler) was a Guardian in Colony in Space, and the Rear Admiral in (episode 5 of) The Sea Devils
  • Janet Hargreaves (Chatter) was Mum in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
  • Gordon Richardson (Inmate) was Squire in The Silurians (2)
  • Nicholas Smith (Death Wish) was Wells in The Dalek Invasion of Earth
  • Roy Hyde was the sound editor on Dr. Who and the Daleks too