Monday, 4 December 2017

Doctor Who Vs. The Secret of Crickley Hall

Based on the twenty-second supernatural 
novel from British horror writer James 
Herbert (1943-2013), this three-part drama originally aired on BBC America in October 
2012, then on BBC One a month later. 
The drama presents two parallel narratives 
- the main storyline, set in the present, 
follows the events of the Caleigh family who
rent Crickley Hall in the Northern village of 
Devil's Cleave; and the other is a series of flashbacks covering events in 1943, when
evacuees from London also lived at the Hall.
The series was adapted and directed by Joe 
Ahearne, who had helmed DalekFather's 
DayBoom TownBad Wolf and The Parting 
of the Ways for the first season of the 
revived series. 
The thriller began another repeat run on 
the W channel (formerly Watch) last night, 
and featured David Warner , and seventeen Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

  • Suranne Jones (Eve) played Idris in The Doctor's Wife, and was the titular subject of The Sarah Jane Adventures: Mona Lisa's Revenge
  • Tom Ellis (Gabe) was Dr. Thomas Mulligan in Last of the Time Lords
  • Maisie Williams (Loren) was Ashildr in The Girl Who DiedThe Woman Who LivedFace the Raven and Hell Bent
  • Sarah Smart (Magda) was Jennifer in The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People, and voiced Laura Corbett for The Crooked Man (BF, 2014
  • Donald Sumpter (Pyke) was Enrico Casali in The Wheel in Space, Commander Ridgeway in The Sea Devils, Erasmus Darkening in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Eternity Trap, and President Rassilon in Hell Bent
  • John Sackville (Dr. Wilcox) voiced Randolph Wright for Resistance (2009)
  • Fern Deacon (Susan) had an uncredited role in A Good Man Goes to War
  • Paul Clayton (Publican) was Mr. Bartle in Planet of the Ood, and voiced Mergrass for The Infinite Quest
  • Velile Tshabalala (Teacher) was Rosita in The Next Doctor
  • Craig Parkinson (Reverend) was cast in Series 13
  • Rachelle Beinart (stunt double) was Goblin in The Church on Ruby Road
  • Graham Walker was also the film editor on all five of Ahearne's episodes
  • stunt co-ordinator Gordon Seed worked on thirty instalments (from The Idiot's Lantern to The Time of the Doctor)
  • William Willoughby was also a stunt performer on RoseSmith and JonesDaleks in ManhattanEvolution of the DaleksThe Pandorica OpensA Good Man Goes to War, and The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, and doubled for Matt Smith in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and was Ben Browder's double (as Isaac) in A Town Called Mercy
  • Ben Ashmore was also the special FX supervisor on thirty-six stories of the revived series (from The Girl in the Fireplace to The Next Doctor)
  • gaffer Gavin Walters was an electrician on Love & Monsters
  • Peter Chester was also the best boy on eighty-three episodes (from Rose to The Wedding of River Song and Music of the Spheres)

Thursday, 9 November 2017

NEW DOCTOR'S COSTUME REVEALED


A new look TARDIS exterior and the long-awaited costume for its 
occupant's next incarnation were both revealed today. 
Jodie Whittaker's Doctor sports the traditional long coat over a 
stunning, modern ensemble, incorporating braces and boots again
- courtesy of designer Ray Holman.
A new sonic screwdriver is promised too.

Sunday, 5 November 2017

Doctor Who Vs. Gunpowder

1603: Elizabeth I is dead. Scottish monarch 
James Stuart becomes James I of England. 
His Protestant kingdom has been at war 
with Catholic Spain for a generation. 
English Catholics are persecuted. 
Mass is forbidden. Attempts have already 
been made on the new King's life. So far 
they have all been thwarted.

This graphic historical thriller examined the background behind the infamous Gunpowder Plot, masterminded by Robert Catesby (1572-1605) - portrayed here by his descendant, Kit Harrington.
The plan was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on November 5th 1605, as the prelude to a popular revolt in the Midlands. The assassinated King was then to be replaced by his daughter, Princess Elizabeth as
the Catholic head of state.
The conspirators fled London when the plot failed. Those who survived the ensuing battle at Holbeche House (including Guy Fawkes and Thomas Wintour, played here by Tom
Cullen and Edward Holcroft) were tried and executed.
The three-part drama concluded on BBC One last night - it featured Mark Gatiss as Lord Robert Cecil (1563-1612), and nine Doctor Who cast and
crew connections:

  • Derek Riddell (King James, 1566-1625) was Sir Robert MacLeish in Tooth and Claw, and voiced Lt. Commander Sandy McNish for Big Finish's The Churchill Years (2016)
  • David Bamber (Earl of Northumberland) was Captain Quell in Mummy on the Orient Express, and voiced Emperor Constantine for The Council of Nicaea (BF, 2005), and both Colonel Ulrik and Whitmore for The Four Doctors (BF, 2010)
  • Kevin Eldon (Hawksworth) voiced Antimony for Death Comes to Time
  • Steve Robinson was also first assistant director on The Beast Below and Victory of the Daleks
  • ADR mixer Sam Biggs was an ADR recordist on The Time of the Doctor and Flatline
  • Gareth King was also publicist on fourteen episodes (from The Return of Doctor Mysterio to Twice Upon a Time)
  • Geraint L Williams (digital artist) and Sam Stefan (stuntman) both worked on Class too
  • Robert Schofield was also stunt rigger on The Shakespeare Code and the 2016 Christmas special
Also shown last night on BBC Four, Gunpowder 5/11: The Greatest Terror Plot used the words of the plotters themselves. This drama documentary from BBC Wales was based on the confessions of Guy Fawkes and Thomas Wintour. Another five Doctor Who cast and crew connections were included here:
  • Joseph Kennedy (Catesby) was Will Scarlett in Robot of Sherwood
  • Adam James (Inquisitor) was DI Macmillan in Planet of the Dead
  • first assistant director Sarah Davies began her career as production runner on The Christmas Invasion, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Idiot's Lantern and Doomsday, then was third/first assistant on thirty-six stories (from Love & Monsters to World Enough and Time) and The Sarah Jane Adventures
  • Sean Millar was sound recordist on Doctor Who Confidential too
  • Geoff Holloway was also an electrician on The Christmas Invasion, Closing Time and The Day of the Doctor

Monday, 23 October 2017

NEW TARDIS TEAM REVEALED


It was late last night that the BBC announced Jodie Whittaker's co-stars
for next year's series of Doctor Who. The new Doctor will be joined by three
companions - Graham, Yasmin and Ryan, played by Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole.

Former stand-up comic Walsh (born in Watford in 1957) has been the host of
ITV quiz show The Chase since 2009 - his best known straight acting roles
were Danny Baldwin in Coronation Street, and detective Ronnie Brooks in
eight seasons of Law & Order UK.
Gill (like Whittaker, a native of Yorkshire) and Cole were both series regulars
on Hollyoaks.
London-born actress and singer Sharon D Clarke will also appear in series
11 as a returning character.

Thursday, 7 September 2017

Doctor Who Vs. If I Had You

This feature-length crime drama from Granada TV was first shown in May 2006, then on BBC
America two months later.
Here, DI Sharon Myers (played by Sarah Parish) investigated the murder of a teacher in the English village of Luckwell, her
childhood home.
The thriller, repeated on ITV3 last night, featured Paul McGann (as Phillip Andrews), Andrew Buchan (DC Watson), and eight other Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

  • Parish was the Empress of the Racnoss in The Runaway Bride
  • Mark Benton (DS Fielding) was Clive [Finch] in Rose (a role reprised for Big Finish's Rose Tyler: The Dimension Cannon), and voiced Ellis for Invaders From Mars (2002), and Jack Coulson for Energy of the Daleks (2012)
  • Sakuntala Ramanee (Pathologist) made her TV debut in Survival as Shreela [Govindia], and was Larnier in Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor, and voiced Hatshepsut for The Eye of Horus (2015), and Maglin Shank for Month 25 (2017)
  • stunt co-ordinator Sarah Franzl was stunt performer on The End of the World, The Idiot's Lantern and The End of Time
  • Roger Pearce was also a camera operator on thirteen episodes (from Rise of the Cybermen to The Waters of Mars)
  • Nick Cox was first assistant camera on The Day of the Doctor too
  • trainee director Pete Scott was an electrician on A Christmas Carol and Closing Time
  • executive producer Damien Timmer was a Menoptera in An Adventure in Space and Time

Thursday, 31 August 2017

Date With History: 1997

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.She died, aged 36, at 4 am on Sunday August 31st, as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. Her partner, Dodi Fayed, and the driver, Henri Paul, also perished. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the only survivor.



Wednesday, 16 August 2017

Doctor Who Vs. The Saint (2017)

The long-running series of crime novels from Leslie
Charteris (1907-1993) were published between 1928
 and 1963. They all featured Simon Templar, the heroic career criminal known as the Saint who has also been portrayed in films, radio and TV since 1938.
The best known depiction of Templar was played by
Roger Moore for ITC's The Saint (1962-69). The series
was revived in 1978 (as The Return of the Saint, with
Ian Ogilvy in the title role), 1987 (for an American TV pilot), and 1989 (by LWT).
The recently proposed television reboot led to this one-
off TV movie with Adam Rayner as the latest incarnation
of Templar. Originally produced in 2013, The Saint was
only released last month, and is now available on Netflix
- it starred Ogilvy, a cameo from Moore, and four Doctor 
Who cast connections:

  • Christopher Villiers (Arthur Templar) was Hugh Fitzwilliam in The King's Demons, Professor Moorhouse in Mummy on the Orient Express, and voiced Cacothis for Big Finish's Absolution (2007)
  • Richard Ashton (Vadim) was Friday in Empress of Mars
  • Tomi May (Dimitri) was Dowell in Thin Ice
  • Caroline Royce (Model) was a Weeping Angel in The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone

Tuesday, 1 August 2017

Doctor Who Vs. North Sea Hijack

This British thriller from Cinema Seven Productions
was known as Ffolkes outside the UK, then was
renamed Assault Force for American TV. The film
was a vehicle for Roger Moore and Anthony Perkins
- both wanted to escape typecasting roles. James
Bond actor Moore followed Moonraker with this
project, whilst Perkins was best known for Psycho.
Released by Universal in 1980, the feature was a
box office flop - it was shown on the Spike channel
today - it featured James Mason, and seventeen
Doctor Who cast connections:

  • Jeremy Clyde (Tipping) voiced George Sinclair for Big Finish's Doom Coalition (2016)
  • George Baker (Fletcher) was Decider Login in Full Circle
  • John Lee (Phillips) was Alydon (pictured) in The Daleks
  • Tim Bentinck (Harris) voiced Giles Moreau and Jenkins for Destination Nerva, Roger Buchman for Wirrn Isle (both 2012), Nathaniel Whitlock for Moonflesh (2013), both Ned Bones and Lord Burghley for The Devil's Armada (2014), Colonel Radlett for The English Way of Death, Chowdras and Governor for Planet of the Rani (both 2015), General Kallix for The War Doctor 2: Infernal Devices (2016), Wakefield and Stonegood for The Contingency Club, Professor Edward Travers and the Great Intelligence for The New Counter Measures 2 (both 2017), and Lord Crozion for Kingdom of Lies (2018)
  • Thane Bettany (Heyerdal) was Tarak in State of Decay
  • Jonathan Newth (Kirk) was Orfe in Underworld
  • Martin Matthews (Man) was Kurster in The Androids of Tara
  • Eiji Kusuhara (Eiji) was a Chinaman in Four to Doomsday, and voiced Professor Toshio Shimura for Enemy of the Daleks (BF, 2010)
  • Eric Mason (Stallemo) was Smedley in The Sea Devils, and Green in The Mind of Evil
  • Barry Andrews (Driver) was Stott in Nightmare of Eden
  • David Ashford (Cab Driver) was Dad in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
  • Dinny Powell, Greg Powell (Assault Team Member) and stuntmen Martin Grace, Rick Lester, Valentino Musetti and Mark McBride all worked on the classic run

Saturday, 22 July 2017

A Tribute to Deborah Watling (1948-2017)


The official website of Deborah Watling yesterday reported that the actress had
died after a short battle with lung cancer, aged 69. She was best known for her
portrayal of Victoria Waterfield, a companion to the Second Doctor, from May
1967 to April 1968, described by The Telegraph as a "Sixties screamer."
Deborah Patricia Watling was born in London in 1948, to actors Jack Watling
and Patricia Hicks. Her siblings Dilys, Giles and Nicky also became actors.
Her breakthrough role was Sally Wilson in ITC's The Invisible Man (1958), but
it was the lead part in Dennis Potter's Alice in 1965 that brought her to the
attention of the Doctor Who office. Watling debuted as Victoria (named after
script editor Gerry Davies' daughter) in the second episode of The Evil of the Daleks. The Tomb of the Cybermen and The Enemy of the World are the only two serials in which Watling appeared that still exist in their entirety. She even worked opposite her father in The Web of Fear. She departed the programme
in Fury From the Deep, but returned for Dimension in Time (1993), Downtime (1995) and The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot (2013).
After Doctor Who, Watling starred in BBC soap The Newcomers, the Cliff
Richard film Take Me High (1973) and ITV wartime drama, Danger UXB.

Sunday, 16 July 2017

NEW DOCTOR ANNOUNCED.. AND IT'S A WOMAN


Months of intense speculation followed Peter Capaldi's decision 
to vacate the TARDIS in January - would we finally see a female 
Doctor?
35-year old Jodie Whittaker was dramatically unveiled as the 
Thirteenth Doctor on BBC One this afternoon.
The Huddersfield-born Broadchurch actress was revealed as the 
first woman to portray the Doctor at the conclusion the Men's 
Singles Final at Wimbledon.

Whittaker will debut on Christmas Day when Peter Capaldi leaves the 
programme. She told BBC News: "I'm beyond excited to begin this epic 
journey with Chris [Chibnall] and every Whovian on this planet. It's an 
honour to play the Doctor. It feels completely overwhelming, as a feminist, 
as a woman, as an actor, as a human, as someone who wants to continually challenge themselves, and not be boxed in by what you're told you can and 
can't do." Whittaker also said that she will "embrace everything the Doctor 
stands for - hope. I can't wait."

The Radio Times has reported that the current Time Lord has given his 
blessing to Whittaker. Capaldi was "showing his support for the first female 
version of the" Doctor. "Anyone who has seen Jodie's work will know that 
she is a wonderful actress of great individuality and charm."

Whittaker, born in West Yorkshire in 1982, is best known for the role of Beth Latimer in ITV's Broadchurch (opposite David TennantArthur Darvill,
and David Bradley), conceived and written by new Doctor Who show-
runner Chris Chibnall. He said that it was always his intention to cast a 
woman as the Doctor, and Whittaker was his first choice.

Thursday, 11 May 2017

Doctor Who Vs. King Charles III

This Drama Republic production was adapted by
Mike Bartlett from his own Olivier award-winning
West End play, and starred most of the original cast.
In his final TV role, Tim Pigott-Smith portrayed
Charles, who begins his reign still haunted by
Princess Diana and struggling in a position he has
waited sixty years to hold.
The film opens with the funeral of Queen Elizabeth
II and the accession of Prince Charles. The new
monarch soon causes a constitutional crisis when
he refuses to sign a controversial bill to censure the
press, and the political fallout worsens when the
King dissolves Parliament. 
A thoroughly Shakespearean climax sees Prince William wrestle the throne from his father by forcing him to abdicate and thereby saving the monarchy.
King Charles III was shown on BBC Two last night, and featured eight Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

  • Bartlett later scripted Knock Knock
  • Pigott-Smith played Captain Harker in The Claws of Axos, and Marco in The Masque of Mandragora
  • Katie Brayben ( Diana) was Ellie in Oxygen
  • John Shrapnel (Archbishop of Canterbury) and Tim McMullan (Reiss) both starred in Big Finish's Doom Coalition 3 (2016) as Thomas Cromwell and Octavian respectively - Shrapnel has also been cast in The False Guardian and Time's Assassin (new for 2019)
  • Adam James (Prime Minister) was DI Macmillan in Planet of the Dead
  • Rupert Vansittart (Sir Matthew) was General Asquith in Aliens of London and World War Three, and voiced Sepulchre for Dead London (BF, 2008)
  • producer Simon Maloney was the first assistant director on An Adventure in Space and Time

Wednesday, 10 May 2017

Doctor Who Vs. Chasing Shadows

Originally shown in the autumn of
2014, this crime thriller from ITV
Studios focused on the work of the
national Missing Persons Bureau.
The cast was led by Reece
Shearsmith as misfit DS Sean
Stone, an acutely anti-social and
awkward but brilliant detective
exiled to the bureau. 
repeat run of this four-part mini
series concluded on ITV Encore last
night, and featured Alex Kingston
(as analyst Ruth Hattersley), Noel
Clarke (DCI Carl Pryor), Adjoa
Andoh (Angela), and eighteen
further Doctor Who cast and crew
connections:

  • Shearsmith (DS Stone) appeared briefly in An Adventure in Space and Time as Patrick Troughton, and was Rassmussen in Sleep No More
  • Big Finish artist John Albasiny (Harvey) voiced both Lev Tlostoy and Preston for The Angel of Scutari (2009), Colonel/Major Maxim Felnikov for both Thin Ice and Crime of the Century (2011), Chris Fleming for Phantoms of the Deep (2013), and Jesper for Equilibrium (2015)
  • Lynda Baron (Maggie) recorded The Ballas of the Last Chance Saloon (sung off screen) for The Gunfighters, then was Captain Wrack in Enlightenment, and Val in Closing Time
  • Nick Malinowski (Dr. Kent) was Eric in A Christmas Carol
  • Nadine Marshall (Donna) voiced Shepstay for Earth Aid (2011), and both Katrice and Kordel for You are the Doctor and Other Stories (2015)
  • Don Warrington (CS Drayton) was the President in Rise of the Cybermen, and voiced Rassilon for Seasons of Fear, The Time of the Daleks, Neverland (all 2002), Zagreus (2003), Caerdroia and The Next Life (both 2004)
  • Imogen Daines (Chloe) voiced Nidhi Chand for Jenny 3 (2024)
  • Alfie Field (Bryan) was Timmy in The Beast Below
  • Daniel Brocklebank (Dr. Francis) voiced Sheldukher for The Highest Science (2014), Tauras for Gallifrey: Intervention Earth, and David Daniels for Damaged Goods (both 2015)    
  • Letitia Wright (Taylor) was Anahson in Face the Raven
  • Tony Lucken (Blake) was also a stuntman on DalekBad WolfThe Parting of the Ways and The End of Time
  • Tony Slater-Ling was also the cinematographer on The Vampires of Venice and Vincent and the Doctor
  • St. John O'Rorke was the editor on The Time of the Doctor too
  • Lucinda Wright was also the costume designer on the whole of Series 1
  • boom operator Ross Adams was sound engineer on thirteen episodes (from Asylum of the Daleks to The Name of the Doctor)
  • sound mixer Ronald Bailey was the sound recordist on Daleks in Manhattan, Evolution of the Daleks, 42 and Utopia
  • Jamie Harcourt was a camera operator on The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit too
  • script supervisor Sarah Hayward worked on the continuity for Love & Monsters

Friday, 3 March 2017

Doctor Who Vs. Prime Suspect, Series 7

Actors Helen Mirren (as DCS Jane Tennison), 
Robert Pugh (DS Simms), and Tom Bell 
(retired DS Bill Otley) all returned for the 
seventh and final season of Granada's 
acclaimed, multi-award winning police 
procedural drama.
Originally shown in October 2006, the serial 
earned three further Emmy Awards (including Outstanding Miniseries and Lead Actress for 
Mirren) and another BAFTA.
Lynda La Plante's novel Tennison was adapted by Noho Film, and the six-part prequel series, 
Prime Suspect: 1973, launched on ITV last night.
The two-part case (subtitled The Final Act)
began another repeat run on ITV3 last night, and featured Brendan Coyle (as DCS Mitchell), Robbie Gee (DI Traynor), Russell Mabey (DS 
Cox), Stephen Tompkinson (Sean Philips), and ten Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

  • Big Finish actor Laura Doddington (DC Wood) voiced Zara for The Judgement of IsskarThe Prisoner's DilemmaThe Chaos Pool (all 2009), The Archive (2015) and Wicked Sisters (2020), Vale Endrogan for Gallifrey: Intervention Earth (2015), Idratz for The Very Dark Thing, Delilah for The Torchwood Archive (both 2016), and Lady Sutlumu for The War Master 6 (2021)
  • Carolyn Pickles (Pauline) voiced Lady Meera Darone for Army of Death (2011), and Cardinal Ollistra for Doom Coalition 4 (2017)
  • Seroca Davis (Delores) was Shona in Closing Time
  • Nonso Anozie (Robert) was Hydroflax (pictured) in The Husbands of River Song
  • Tim Preece (Speaker) was Codal in Planet of the Daleks, and voiced the President for Unbound: He Jests at Scars (2003)
  • Helen Griffin (Speakers) was Mrs. Moore in Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel, then voiced both Director Cardell and Ship's Computer for Cobwebs (2010)
  • Ricky Nixon (Bishop) voiced Turma for The War Master 3 (2019)
  • make-up designer Deanne Turner was an artist on Planet of the Daleks
  • Alex Kaye-Besley was an assistant director on The Shakespeare Code too
  • SFX technician Charlie Bluett worked on forty-one stories (from Rose to Before the Flood), The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood and Class

Wednesday, 1 March 2017

Doctor Who Vs. Prime Suspect, Series 6

Granada's acclaimed, multi-award winning
police procedural drama was revived in 
November 2003, after a seven-year hiatus.
Helen Mirren's role as Detective Superintendent
 Jane Tennison and the serial earned four further BAFTA and three Emmy awards nominations.
Mirren co-starred here with Ben Miles (as DCI 
Finch), Mark Strong (DCS Hall), Sam Hazeldine
 (DC Butcher), and Tanya Moodie (DC Grieves).
The penultimate, two-part case (subtitled The 
Last Witness and again set in London) began 
another repeat run on ITV3 last night and 
featured twenty-two Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

  • Liam Cunningham (West) played Captain Zhukov in Cold War
  • Rupert Frazer (Giblin) voiced Dr. Say Findecker for Big Finish's The Butcher of Brisbane (2012)
  • Barnaby Kay (DC Phillips) was Heidi in The Girl Who Died, and voiced Martin Donaldson for Dark Eyes 4 (2015), and Commander Thrakken for The War Doctor 2 (2016)
  • Finlay Robertson (Vagrant) was Larry Nightingale (pictured) in Blink and The Lonely Assassins
  • Robert Pugh (DS Simms) was Tony Mack in The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood
  • Frank Finlay (Tennison here & The Final Act) voiced Old Jacob for Bedtime Story (2007)
  • Davyd Harries (Lawyer) was Shapp in The Armageddon Factor
  • Julia Joyce (Lukic's daughter) had doubled for Billie Piper in Father's Day as young Rose, and was Holly Frobisher in Torchwood: Children of Earth
  • Stephen Cranford (Officer) was a Dalek operator in The Curse of Fatal Death, and the Covellitor in Devious (included on The War Games DVD)
  • St. John O'Rorke was the film editor on The Time of the Doctor too
  • first assistant director Stephen Woolfenden was the director of Nightmare in Silver
  • Will Pope was also the stand-by carpenter on sixty-one episodes (from Love & Monsters to The Name of the Doctor), The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
  • Nick Roberts was also the ADR recordist on The Time of Angels, Flesh and Stone, The Vampires of Venice, Cold Blood and The Lodger
  • stunt co-ordinator Paul Heasman was an uncredited Nazi in Silver Nemesis, and the stunt arranger on Survival
  • Lee Sheward was also the stunt co-ordinator on eleven instalments (from The End of the World to The End of Time), and Torchwood: Miracle Day
  • stunt co-ordinator Gareth Milne was George Cranleigh in Black Orchid, a Mortuary Attendant in Vengeance on Varos, and doubled for Peter Davison on Warriors of the Deep

Saturday, 25 February 2017

Doctor Who Vs. Prime Suspect, Series 5

Granada's acclaimed, multi-award winning police
procedural drama returned in October 1996. 
Helen Mirren's role as Detective Superintendent 
Jane Tennison earned her further Emmy award
and BAFTA nominations, and the serial won
 another Outstanding Mini-series Emmy.
Mirren was joined by David O'Hara (as DS Rankine), Julia Lane (DI Devanney), John 
Brobbey (DC Adeliyeka), and John McArdle
(DCS Ballinger).
This two-part case (subtitled Errors of 
Judgement, and now based in Manchester
began another repeat run on ITV3 last night, and featured eight Doctor Who cast and 
crew connections:

  • Steven Mackintosh (the Street) played Gazak (pictured) in Timelash
  • Ray Emmet Brown (Johns) voiced 'No. 16' for Big Finish's House of Blue Fire (2011)
  • Ravin J Ganatra (Mooz) was Hakim Khan in Arachnids in the UK and Demons of the Punjab
  • Joe Jacobs (Lafferty) was a Guard in The Pandorica Opens
  • Andy Devine (Reporter) began his TV career as an uncredited Draconian in Frontier in Space
  • director Philip Davis was Lucius Petrus Dextrus in The Fires of Pompeii, and voiced Titus for The Cannibalists (BF, 2009)
  • production manager Des Hughes was the line producer on eight stories (from The Snowmen to The Time of the Doctor) - he had a cameo in The Five(ish) Doctors too
  • Peter Brayham was also the stunt co-ordinator on The Christmas InvasionNew Earth and School Reunion

Friday, 24 February 2017

Doctor Who Vs. Murder on the Home Front

This period drama from Carnival Films
was inspired by Evidence for the Crown,
a book by Molly Lefebure (1919-2013)
which chronicled the writer's wartime
work with pioneering forensic pathologist
Dr. Keith Simpson (1907-1985).
1940: the height of the London Blitz.
Dr. Lennox Collins (Home Office
pathologist, forensic sciencist and
advocate of Locard's principle) is enlisted
by Scotland Yard when a prostitute is strangled and a Swastika is found carved on her tongue. Collins, played by Patrick Kennedy (Bleak House, War Horse)
is assisted in the hunt for the 'Nazi
Strangler' by his new secretary and
would-be crime reporter Molly (Tamzin
Merchant).
The two-part serial (originally shown in May 2013) was repeated on ITV3
last night, and featured thirteen Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

  • Geoffrey Sax directed the Doctor Who TV Movie too
  • James Fleet (Professor Stephens) voiced O'Reilley for Max Warp (2008), Geoff Cooper for The Entropy Composition, and Martin Ashcroft and Sir Jack Merrivale for Special Features (both included on The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories release of 2010)
  • Richard Bremmer (Maxton) voiced General Hemmings, Valcon and Taxi Driver all for The Valley of Death (BF, 2011), and Old Beowulf for Black and White (BF, 2012)
  • John Heffernan (Zeigler) voiced Vonchef for Revenge of the Swarm (BF, 2014), and the Imposter for Doom Coalition 3 (BF, 2016)
  • Angus Wright (Carver) voiced Magnus Greel for The Butcher of Brisbane (BF, 2012), and Alek Zenos for We Are The Daleks (BF, 2015)
  • Greg Bennett (PC) was a Sycorax Warrior and UNIT Soldier in The Christmas Invasion, and a Guest in The Lazarus Experiment
  • Paul Heasman was the stunt co-ordinator on Survival too, and was an uncredited Nazi in Silver Nemesis
  • stunt performers Lee Sheward, Kim McGarrity, Seon Rogers and Marcus Shakesheff all worked on the revived run
  • Gareth Spensley was also the colourist on twenty-two stories (from The God Complex to The Return of Doctor Mysterio)
  • script supervisor Karen Jones began her TV career as PA on Mindwarp

Wednesday, 22 February 2017

Doctor Who Vs. Prime Suspect, Series 4

Granada's acclaimed, multi-award winning police 
procedural drama returned for a fourth season in the 
spring of 1995. Helen Mirren's role as Jane Tennison 
(now a Detective Superintendent) earned her a third
Emmy award and another BAFTA nomination.
Mirren was joined here by regular series actors John
Benfield (as Chief Superintendent Mike Kernan), 
Richard Hawley (DI Haskons), Mossie Smith (DC 
Havers), Jack Ellis (DI Muddyman), and newcomers Thomas Craig (DS Booth), Sophie Stanton (DS Cromwell), Cristopher John Hale (DC Bakari), and Christopher Fulford (DCI Mitchell). A fifth serial followed in October 1996.
The series, now comprised of three separate cases,
began another repeat run on ITV3 last night, and 
featured seventeen Doctor Who cast and crew 
connections:

The Lost Child (UK TX: April 30)
  • Lesley Sharpe (Anne) played Sky Silvestry in Midnight
  • Robert Glenister (Hughes) was Salateen in The Caves of Androzani
  • Graham Seed (Doctor) voiced Pyerpoint for The Romance of Crime (2015)
  • Adrian Lukis (Warwick) voiced Bragg for Cobwebs (2010), Byzan for The Children of Seth (2011), Harvey Marsh for The Justice of Jalxar (2013), and Professor Jeffrey Broderick for Counter Measures
  • Sam Cox (DCI Birnan) was DI Bishop in The Idiot's Lantern
  • clapper loader Tony Slater Ling was the cinematographer on The Vampires of Venice and Vincent and the Doctor
Inner Circles (UK TX: May 7)
  • writer Eric Deacon (Dr. Gordon in Prime Suspect 3) was Mykros in Timelash
  • Roger Milner (Norman) was Anicca in (part 1 of) Kinda
  • Albert Welling (Manager) was the titular Fúhrer in Let's Kill Hitler
  • Ralph Arliss (DCI Raymond) was Tuar in Planet of the Spiders
  • Martin Matthews (Councillor) was Kurster in The Androids of Tara
  • stuntman Jim Dowdall was a Guerilla in Day of the Daleks, a Guard in Genesis of the Daleks, and a Warnsman in Frontios (1)
The Scent of Darkness (UK TX: May 15)
  • Marc Warren (DC Dyson) was Elton Pope in Love & Monsters
  • Ray Fearon (Whitehouse) voiced Barlow Teveler for The Seeds of War (BF, 2013)
  • Tim Wallers (Motorist) was Childers in Victory of the Daleks, and voiced Justinian for The Secret History (BF, 2015)
  • Kate Ashfield (Helper) voiced Lieutenant Beth Stokes for Enemy of the Daleks (BF, 2009)
  • Heather Emmanuel (Nurse) was Tessa in The Android Invasion (4)