Doctor Who Vs. The Final Cut

The final serial in BBC1's Francis Urquhart trilogy followed House 
of Cards (1990) and To Play The King (1993), and again starred 
Ian Richardson as the scheming 
Conservative Prime Minister in 
his last, turbulent years in power. 
The drama generated much 
controversy by opening with 
Margaret Thatcher's funeral.
This four-part political thriller, 
based on Michael Dobbs' novel, 
originally aired in late 1995,
and featured seventeen Doctor 
Who cast and crew connections:

• Big Finish actor Nickolas Grace (Pitt) made a brief TV appearance as Albert Einstein in Death is the Only Answer, and voiced Loozly for Bang-Bang-A-Boom! (2002), Straxus for Human Resources (2007), Sisters of the Flame (2007) and The Vengeance of Morbius (both 2008), Balancer and Viktor Skaarsgard for Equilibrium (2015), Goole for Gallery of Ghouls (2016), Professor Grove for Shadow Planet/ World Apart, and Chevalier D'Eon for The Sword of the Chevalier (both 2017)
• Paul Freeman (Makepeace, pictured right) voiced Jalnik for The Foe from the Future (2012)
• Isla Blair (Claire) was Lady Isabella Fitzwilliam in The King's Demons, and voiced Paula for Exotron (2007)
• John Rowe (Watling) voiced Sir Isiah Hardy for Entanglement (2018)
• Miles Richardson (Jardine) was Captain Douglas Cavendish in Downtime and Daemos Rising, then voiced Charles Darwin for Bloodtide (2001), Irving Braxiatel for Zagreus (2003), Gallifrey 4 (2011), Gallifrey 6 (2013), Theatre of War (2015), Gallifrey: Enemy Lines (2016) and Gallifrey: Time War (2018), and Black Rod for The Gunpowder Plot
• Kevork Malikyan (Nurse) was Kemel Rudkin in The Wheel in Space
• Peter Symonds (Polecutt) was a Soldier in Terror of the Zygons
• David Ashford (Newsreader) was Dad in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
• Derek Lea (Thug) was a stuntman on Dalek, Bad Wolf, The Parting of the Ways, The Age of Steel and Partners in Crime
• Trevor Steedman (Detective) was a Seabase Guard in Warriors of the Deep
• Joseph Long (President) was Rocco Colasanto in Turn Left
• for David Ryall (Bullerby), Nick Brimble (Corder), and crew members Ian Punter, Dave King, and Ken Ledsham see my blog for To Play The King
• associate producer Tony Redston production manager on The Mark of the Rani and Time and the Rani

Doctor Who Vs. Bodyguard

This political thriller from World Productions
 (now part of ITV Studios) was created and
scripted by Jed Mercurio, writer of Cardiac 
Arrest and Line of Duty.
When protection officer Sergeant David
Budd (portrayed by Richard Madden) is
assigned to guard the ambitious and
powerful Home Secretary Julia Montague
(Keely Hawes) he is torn between his duty
and his beliefs. The former soldier despises
everything she stands for but is responsible
for her safety.

The six-part series attracted an audience of
11 million as it concluded last night, the best
ratings for a BBC drama since The Next
 Doctor aired in 2008. Bodyguard featured
Gina McKee, and ten Doctor Who cast and
crew connections:

• Hawes played Ms. Delphox in Time Heist
• Stephanie Hyam (Chanel) was Heather in The Pilot and The Doctor Falls
• Vincent Franklin (Travis) voiced Lord Stormblood for Big Finish's Doom Coalition 2 (2016)
• Pippa Haywood (Craddock) voiced Jaxa for Ravenous 2, and Teremon for The War Master 2 (both 2018)
• Nina Toussaint White (Rayburn) was Mels in Let's Kill Hitler, and voiced Brooke 2 for The Diary of River Song 3, and Loba Christata for Tales From New Earth (both 2018)
• David Westhead (Vosler PM) was Kempe in The Shakespeare Code
• Anji Mohindra (Nadia) was Rani Chandra in The Sarah Jane Adventures, and voiced Jyoti Cutler for Scavenger (2014)
• Wendy Albiston (Receptionist) voiced Madame de Chevreuse for The Church and the Crown (2002)
• Tina Simmons (Nurse) began her career as an Inferno Customer in (episode 1 of) The War Machines
• Iain Atkinson was second assistant director on Flatline too

Doctor Who Vs. To Play The King

The first sequel to House of Cards, 

again starred Ian Richardson as 

scheming Francis Urquhart (now 

the Tory Prime Minister), and 

Michael Kitchen, who earned the

BAFTA Best Actor award for his 

role as the newly crowned British 

monarch. The Final Cut followed
in 1995.

Writer Andrew Davies again 

employed the old theatrical
convention of breaking the 

fourth wall, were Urquhart
occasionally addressed the
audience.

Again based on the works of
Michael Dobbs, this four-part  political drama was first screened in the autumn of 1993, and featured eighteen Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Big Finish actor Don Warrington (Gaunt) was the President of Great Britain 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)
• Nicholas Farrell (Mycroft) was Brian Green PM in Torchwood: Children of Earth, then voiced Gammades for Time Reef, Phil for A Perfect World (both 2008), and Captain Frank for Last of the Cybermen (2015)
• Frederick Treves (Quillington) was Brotadac in Meglos
• Pip Torrens (Harding) was Headmaster Rocastle in Human Nature and The Family of Blood, and voiced Charlie Gibbs for Eldrad Must Die! (2013)
• David Ryall (Bullerby) voiced Carthok and Valentine for Phantasmagoria (1999)
• George Raistrick (Gropeham) made his TV debut as a Guard in (episode 3 of) Day of the Daleks
• James Snell (DI Hackett) was Harry in The Daemons
• John Bleasdale (Journalist) was one of the titular The Robots of Death
• John Paul Connolly (Beggar) voiced William Russell and Russian Guard for The Angel of Scutari (2009)
• Julian Harries (Officer) voiced Governor Lawson for Bloodtide (2001)
• for director Paul Seed, Colin Jeavons (Stamper), Christopher Owen (McKenzie), Kenneth Gilbert (Earle), Nick Brimble (Corder), Nigel Taylor (associate producer), Ken Ledsham (production designer), Rosalind Ebbutt (costume designer), Ian Punter (cinematographer), and Barrie Tharby (recordist) see my blog for House of Cards
• film editor Dave King edited The Mutants too
• stunt arranger Terry Forrestal was a Driver in K9 and Company
• casting assistant Andy Pryor has worked as casting director on the revived run since 2005, then The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood

Doctor Who: More Series 11 News

So the long wait is almost over. We have just another month to go until the
debut of the first female Doctor, portrayed by Jodie Whittaker.

The BBC have finally revealed the start date for the historic, eleventh season
of the reworked run of Doctor Who. Chris Chibnall's latest TV assignment
 continues to court controversy - the ground-breaking revival will now air on Sunday nights. Since 2005, the programme has been shown in the traditional Saturday slot.

The new series will launch on October 7th with an hour-long adventure written by the showrunner, entitled The Woman Who Fell to Earth. The ten-part run will therefore conclude on Sunday December 9th, and will be followed by the show's fourteenth Christmas special.

Writers Malorie Blackman, Ed Hime, Pete McTighe, Vinay Patel and Joy 
Wilkinson have also contributed stories, whilst directors Jamie Childs, 
Sallie Aprahamian, Mark Tonderai, Jennifer Perrott and Wayne Yip 
were all assigned to Doctor Who. Segun Akinola replaced Murray Gold as
show composer.

Actors Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill play new companions
Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair and Yasmin Khan respectively. Sharon D 
Clarke will also appear, and confirmed guest stars include Alan Cumming,
 Lee Mack and Shaun Dooley.