Doctor Who Vs. The War of the Worlds

"Across the gulf of space.. intellects vast and cool and
unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes,
and slowly and surely drew their plans against us"

H G Wells' seminal 'scientific
romance' was published in
1898 following serialisation
in Pearson's Magazine and
Cosmopolitan. The novel has
 inspired many adaptations,
most famously Orson Welles'
radio version of 1938, and
has influenced other literary
works ever since.
The first British television
iteration of the sci-fi classic
was announced in late 2015,
and the co-production (from
Mammoth Screen. Creasun
 Media and Red Square) began
transmission last month. The
 three-part drama (written
by Peter Harness) con-
cluded on BBC1 last night,
and featured Rafe Spall,
Eleanor Tomlinson, Robert Carlyle, Jonathan Aris, and twenty-three
Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Rupert Graves (Frederick) was John Riddell in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
• Charles De'ath (Graves) was Adelaide's Father in The Waters of Mars
• Harry Melling (Artilleryman) voiced Harvey Taker and Demi-Taker for Big Finish's The Whispering Forest (2010)
• Milo Twomey (Sgt. Major) voiced Jorvik for Theatre of War (2015)
• Adam Darlington (Refugee) was Passerby in Arachnids in the UK
• Sam Benjamin (Salesman) was the Estate Agent in Knock Knock
• Mickey Lewis (Policeman) was Dalek Operator on Asylum of the Daleks, Into the Dalek and The Magician's Apprentice, Policeman in The Snowmen, Beast Man in The Rings of Akhaten, Alien in The Witch's Familiar, Chauffeur in The Zygon Invasion, UNIT Soldier in The Zygon Invrsion, Corpse in Oxygen, Harbour master in The Lie of the Land, Cyberman in The Doctor Falls, and Soldier in Twice Upon a Time
• Susan Wooldridge (Mrs. Elphinstone) auditioned for the role of Leela in 1976
• Nick Gillard (stunt co-ordinator) was stunt arranger on (part 2 of) Silver Nemesis
• Damian Timmer (co-exec producer) and Tony Gibson (SFX editor) both worked on An Adventure in Space and Time too
• Howard Burden was also the costume designer on thirty adventures (from Asylum of the Daleks to Last Christmas)
• Carly Griffith was also assistant costume designer on eighteen episodes (from Asylum of the Daleks to In the Forest of the Night)
• Charlie Bestwick was also costume assistant on fourteen stories (from The Time of the Doctor to Last Christmas)
• Sean Clayton  was also the second assistant director on Dalek and Father's Day
• Daniel Kennedy was draughtsman on Series 12 too
• Dan Walker was concept artist on Series 1 too
• Robert Searl was ADR recordist on Twice Upon a Time too
• Chris Reynolds was also a SFX technician on Terror of the Vervoids and Battlefield
• Peter Kersey was SFX technician on the Doctor Who TV Movie too
• Sophie Hardcastle was also camera trainee on Demons of the Punjab, The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos and Resolution
• Peter Lowden was camera assistant on The Time of the Doctor too
• Rob Arrowsmith was also a camera operator on The Pandorica Opens, The Big Bang and A Christmas Carol
• Liam Byrne was armourer on The Wedding of River Song too

Doctor Who Vs. Pet Shop Boys

This post combines my two greatest creative influences: the

British institutions that are Doctor Who and Pet Shop Boys.

For the uninitiated, the Wikipedia entry for the Pet Shop Boys describes them as

"an English electronic dance music duo [formed in London in 1982, and originally called West End], consisting of Neil Tennant [b. 1954], who provides main 

vocals and Chris Lowe [b. 1959] on keyboards." 
One of the world's best-selling music artists, Pet Shop Boys have sold over 100 million records worldwide, and are listed as the most successful duo in UK music history. Three times Brit Award winners and six-times Grammy nominees, since 1985 they have achieved forty-two Top 30 singles and twenty-two Top 10 hits in the UK chart, including four number ones: West End Girls, It's a Sin, Always On My Mind, and Heart. At the 2009 Brit Awards, Pet Shop Boys received the Outstanding Contribution to Music.

This month, the duo released their first single for three years. Dreamland,

a duet with Olly Alexander (of Years & Years), is the intended title track of

their forthcoming album, to be released next January. PSB headlined the

recent Live in Hyde Park festival, and the band also announced a new 

worldwide arena tour for 2020 - Dreamworld will celebrate their greatest

 hits. These two icons of British culture are connected by these sixteen 

facts:

• in the late 1980's, a young Scottish drama student called David John McDonald adopted the stage name of David Tennant, after PSB front- man Neil Tennant
• their 1988 film, It Couldn't Happen Here, starred Gareth Hunt (Arak in Planet of the Spiders), Barbara Windsor (given a cameo in Army of Ghosts), extra Chris Chering (Tetrap in Time and the Rani, and Skin- head in Silver Nemesis), and Simon Archer (lighting cameraman) was later the cinematographer on The Lodger
• comic actors, David Walliams and Matt Lucas (both longtime Petheads and dedicated Whovians) appeared in the video for I'm With Stupid (2006)
• Frances Barber (who played Madame Kovarian in Series Six) starred in the PSB's 2001 stage musical, Closer to Heaven as Billie Trix, a role reprised for Musik (2019) - Concrete (2006) included her live version of Friendly Fire
• Tennant provided backing vocals on Robbie Williams' 1998 single, No Regrets with Neil Hannon, who later sang Love Don't Roam for The Runaway Bride, and performed Song For Ten on the first Doctor Who OST album (2006)
• former PSB manager Tom Watkins also worked with Billie Piper during her pop career
• the character of Elton Pope in Love & Monsters was named after Elton John, who recorded a cover version of In Private with Tennant for Fundamentalism (2006)
• Tennant and Lowe have collaborated with many other musicians, including Kylie Minogue, who played Astrid Peth in Voyage of the Damned
• the PSB revived the career of Dusty Springfield with the release of the single, What Have I Done to Deserve This? in 1987, leading to her PSB-produced album, Reputation in 1990 - the number one hit record, You Don't Have to Say You Love Me (1966), was heard in The Rebel Flesh, and Rory remarked that his mum was a fan of Dusty (along with Wilf Mott)
• Phil Oakey also dueted with Tennant (on Yes Etc. with This Used to be the Future), his former band, the Human League, recorded a tribute B-side track entitled Tom Baker in 1981
• Sir Ian McKellern (the voice of the Great Intelligence in The Snowmen) starred as a vampire in the video for Heart (1988)
• Ron Moody appeared as the Judge in the video for It's a Sin (1987), and he later voiced the Duke of Wellington for Big Finish's Other Lives (2005)
• the duo wrote I'm Not Scared for Eighth Wonder's vocalist Patsy Kensit in 1988 - she later voiced Mercenary for Kingdom of Lies (2018)
• Joanna Lumley starred in the video for Absolutely Fabulous (1994) and was later seen as the first female incarnation of the Doctor in The Curse of the Fatal Death
• Bettrys Jones, a dancer in the video for I'm With Stupid, voiced Judith for Black Thursday (2019)

Doctor Who Vs. Deep Water

Produced by Kudos, ITV's latest crime drama concluded last night.
 The six-part thriller was adapted 
by Anna Symon from the Lake 
District-based series by novelist
Paula Daly.
Deep Water debuted on August
14 (then the entire run was made 
available on the ITV Hub) and it
featured Anna Friel, Rosalind 
Eleazer, and thirteen Doctor Who
cast and crew connections:

• Big Finish actor Sinead Keenan (Roz) played Addams in The End of Time, and voiced Margery Phipps for Council of War (2013), Aoife Dineen for Iterations of I, Stephanie Wilton for The Reesinger Process, Rosheen for The Highest Science (all 2014), and Mary Summersby for The Darkness of Glass (2015)
• Alastair Mackenzie (Riverty) voiced Galen for Prisoners of Fate (2013), Robots for The Entropy Plague (2015), and Julian St. Stephen for Counter Measures 1 (2012)
• Faye Marsay (Joanne) was Shona McCullough in Last Christmas
• Gerald Kyd (Elias)  voiced Martin Regan, Sir Robert Devere and Mulryne for 1963: The Assassination Games (2013), and Lieutenant Maurizio Savinio for Aquitaine (2016)
• Matthew Aubrey (Wayne) voiced Gwyn Hughes for Black Thursday (2019)
• Steven Cree (Joe) voiced Neil Redmond for Torchwood: Uncanny Valley (2016)
• Gordon Seed was also stunt co-ordinator on thirty-six episodes (from The Idiot's Lantern to Kill the Moon)
• Christina Low was stunt driver on Series 12 too
• casting director Andy Brierley was casting associate on fifty-eight episodes (from The Christmas Invasion to The Big Bang), Music of the Spheres, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures
• sound mixer Brian Milliken  was the sound recordist on The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky and The Sarah Jane Adventures
• George Atkins was also ADR mixer on The Time of the Doctor, Flatline and Empress of Mars
• Euan Toms was ADR assistant on The Witchfinders too
• Nigel Squibbs was the dubbing mixer on An Adventure in Space and Time too

Doctor Who Vs. Carry On Doctor & Carry On Again Doctor

The fifteenth production (and the 
second with a medical theme) from

the Carry On stable was released

 in 1968. Series stalwarts Kenneth
Williams, Sid James, Joan Sims,
 Bernard Bresslaw, Charles Hawtrey,
Jim Dale, and Peter Butterworth 
were joined here by newcomer 
Frankie Howerd (1917-1992). 
Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor,
and Anita Harris all returned to 
the series.

The comedy was the third biggest
release at the UK box office that
year (after The Jungle Book and
Barbarella), and a sequel (shown again on ITV3 today) followed a year
later - they featured a total of twenty-five Doctor Who cast alumni:

• Stephen Garlick (Boy) was Ibbotson in Mawdryn Undead
• Bart Allison (Grandad here and Carry On Loving) was Maximus Pettulian in (episode 1 of) The Romans
• Cheryl Molineaux (Nurse) was Miss Rutherford in The Ambassadors of Death
• Jay McGrath (Visitor) was Worker in The War Machines (3), UNIT Soldier in The Silurians (3), Coven Member in Image of the Fendahl, and Dead Androgum in The Two Doctors (1)
• Derek Francis (Burke here; Farmer in Carry On Camping and Carry On Henry; Bishop in Carry On Loving; Arthur in Carry On Matron; Brother in Carry On Abroad) was Emperor Nero in The Romans
• Robin Scott (Patient) was Charlie Wise in The Moonbase, and Resistance Man in The War Games (7)
• for Walter Henry (Visitor), Peter Gilmore (Henry here and sequel), Gertan Klauber (Orderly), and Jill Goldston (Nurse here and sequel) see Carry On Cleo
• for Bresslaw (Biddle), Julian Holloway (Simmons) and Simon Cain (Orderly here; X-Ray Man in the sequel) see Carry On At Your Convenience
• stuntman Ken Norris was a Morok Guard in The Space Museum

Carry On Again Doctor (the franchise's eighteenth title) was released

 in 1969, and again starred regulars James, Williams, Hawtrey, Sims, 

Windsor, Jacques, and Butterworth. Patsy Rowlands (1931-2005) 

debuted here, and featured in eight further titles, whilst Jim Dale

made his final series appearance until Carry On Columbus (1992).

• William Mervyn (Paragon here; Ponsonby in Follow That Camel; Physician in Carry On Henry) and Lewis Alexander (Partygoer) both appeared in The War Machines, as Sir Charles Summer and Army Officer (3)
• Donald Bisset (Patient) was Colin McLaren in The Highlanders
• Heather Emmanuel (Girl) was Tessa in The Android Invasion (4)
• Anthony Lang (Sick man) was an Egyptian Slave in The Daleks' Master Plan, Extra in The Highlanders (1) and The Faceless Ones (1), Time Lord in The Three Doctors (1), and Kaled Councillor in Genesis of the Daleks
• Claire Davenport (Guest here; Blonde in Carry On Emmannuelle) was the Empress in Marco Polo (7)
• for Alan Harris (Man) and Aileen Lewis (Lady) see Carry On Cruising
• for Billy Cornelius (Patient) see Carry On Screaming
• for Hugh Futcher (Cabbie) see Carry On At Your Convenience
• for Michael Stevens (Ordely) see Carry On Cowboy
• for Elizabeth Knight (Nurse) see Carry On Camping

Doctor Who Vs. Jon Pertwee at the Cinema, Part 1

The centenary of the birth of
Jon Pertwee was marked by
BBC Radio 4 this week. The 
Jon Pertwee Files was narrated
by his son, Sean Pertwee.
Tomorrow, the Talking Pictures
TV channel will screen the 1955
British film comedy, A Yank in 
Ermine. The network screened
two other vintage comedies
today, The Gay Dog and The 
Ugly Ducking - all starred
Pertwee (1919-1996)
Released in 1954, the first
feature, written by future
Carry On producer Peter Rogers (based on the play from Joseph Colton),
also starred William Russell, and Peter Butterworth.
The second production (from the iconic Hammer stable) was released in
1959, and meant a more prominent role for Pertwee, but it was a box
office flop - it featured six other Doctor Who cast connections:

• Bernard Bresslaw (Henry) was Varga in The Ice Warriors
• John Harvey (DS Barnes) was Professor Brett in The War Machines, and Officia in The Macra Terror
• Aileen Lewis (Dancer here and A Yank in Ermine) was an Extra on (episode 6 of) The Silurians
• Ernest Blyth (Guest) was a Villager in The Daemons
• Roger Avon (Reporter) and Reg Thomason (Guest) both appeared in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD - Avon also played Saphadin in The Crusade, and Daxtar in The Daleks' Master Plan (4)
• Henry Montsash was hairdresser on Dr. Who and the Daleks too

Doctor Who Vs. Oliver Twist (2005)

By 2004, the controversial French-born filmmaker 

Roman Polanski was keen to produce a child 

friendly version of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist

- actually the first cinematic treatment since the 

Oscar-winning musical, Oliver! in 1968.
This new adaptation was shot entirely in the
Czech Republic.

This literary classic (also known as The Parish 

Boy's Progress, and originally published monthly
 in Bentley's Miscellany from 1837 to 1839) was
only the writer's second novel.

Barney Clark now portrayed the famous orphan,
 and the cast, headed by Ben Kingsley as Fagin,
also featured twelve Doctor Who acting alumi:

• Jeremy Swift (Bumble) voiced Fraser for Big Finish's Hidden Depths (2022)
• Ian McNeice (Limbkins) played Winston Churchill in Victory of the Daleks, The Pandorica Opens and The Wedding of River Song (a role reprised for The Churchill Years and Their Finest Hour), and voiced Zeus for Immortal Beloved (2007), and Reginald Harcourt for The Renaissance Man (2012)
• John Nettleton (Magistrate) was Reverend Ernest Matthews in Ghost Light
• Chris Overton (Noah) voiced Terrill and Levek for The Brood of Erys (2014)
• Jamie Foreman (Bill Sykes) was Eddie Connolly in The Idiot's Lantern
• Timothy Bateson (Parson) was Binro in The Ribos Operation
• Joseph Tremain (Hungry Boy) was Jim in The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances
• Peter Copley (Master) was Dr Warlock in Pyramids of Mars
• Gerald Horan (Farmer) was Clark in Human Nature and The Family of Blood
• Patrick Godfrey (Bookseller) was Tor in The Savages, and Major Cosworth in The Mind of Evil
• Frank Mills (Officer) was the Radio Telescope Director in Terror of the Autons
• Paul Brooke (Grimwig) voiced Paolo for The Ghosts of N-Space, and Toby the Sapient Pig for Year of the Pig (2006)

Doctor Who Vs. Years and Years

BBC One's latest prime
time drama concluded
last night, and will
premiere on American
TV next week.
Created and written by
Russell T Davies, the
six-part series focused
on the lives of the
Manchester-based
Lyons family, and was

set in the near future.
Made by the Red
Production Company,

the acclaimed pro-

gramme featured

Emma Thompson, Ruth Madeley, Dan Starkey, and twenty-seven Doctor Who cast/crew connections:

• Rory Kinnear (Stephen) voiced Samuel Belfrage for Big Finish's Industrial Evolution (2011)
• Russell Tovey (Daniel) played Midshipman Alonso Frame in Voyage of the Dead - a role reprised for The End of Time, Part 2 and The Lives of Captain Jack (2017)
• Maxim Baldry (Viktor) was Dr. John Polidori in The Haunting of Villa Diodati 
• Jessica Hynes (Edith) was Joan Redfern in Human Nature and The Family of Blood, then [that character's great-grand daughter] Verity Newman in The End of Time, Part 2 - she also voiced Glory Bee for Invaders from Mars (2002)
• Anne Reid (Muriel) was Nurse Crane in The Curse of Fenric, and Florence Finnegan in Smith and Jones
• Sharon Duncan Brewster (Fran) was Maggie Cain in The Waters of Mars
• T'Nia Miller (Celeste) was the General in Hell Bent
• Lydia West (Bethany) voiced Vivien for Kidnapped! (2020)
• George Bukhari (Aleef) voiced Security for Purity Unleashed (2023)
• Mark Hugh Williams (Friend) was the Bus Driver in Rosa
• Beatrice Curnew (Expert) was the Group Commander in The Lie of the Land
• Andrew Byron (Policeman) was Ilya in The Pyramid at the End of the World
• Gracy Goldman (Expert) was Mrs. Woods in The Caretaker
• Emma Fielding (Jane) provided the voice of Kisar for Demons of the Punjab
• Ellie Haddington (Dr. Moss) was Professor Alison Docherty
• Glen McCready (voice of Signor) voiced Auditor General Otak Lame/ Reyn for The Paternoster Gang 2 (2019), John Farron/Chad Mullain/ Ezra/Soldier for The God of Phantoms, Franco/Luchino for The Lost Resort, Dr. Varma for The Eleven (all 2021), Dodson for The Auton Infinity (2022), Robertson/Innkeep/Captain for James Robert McCrimmon (2023), Technician Dune/Agent 1 for Last Words (2024), and Professor Albert Herber/the Steward/Andrew Wellesley for Doctor Who and the Brain Drain (2025)
• Susan Momoko Hingley (Dr. Eto) voiced Maria Werner for Fairytale of Salzburg, Keiko for The Barbarians and the Samurai (both 2018), Sassparilla/Li Zhao for Master! (2021), Mari for Together in Electric Dreams, and Queen Tremagi and Sheeda Wang for Beauty on the Inside (both 2022)
• Bronté Barbé (Lucille) was cast in the 2025 season
• Nila Aalia (Host) was Lakshmi Chandra in Wish World
• Charles Armstrong (Editor) voiced Karl for Colony of Strangers (2020)
• Julia Sandiford (Newsreader) voiced Ilya for The War Master 5 (2020), and Fabrico for The Lost Resort
• Nina Albina (Guard) has been cast in Series 13
• Glen Fox (Expert) was Pilot in The Giggle
• Xavier Lake was stuntman on The Woman Who Fell to Earth too
• Murray Gold was also composer on every episode (from Rose to Twice Upon a Time)
• Andy Pryor has also worked as casting director on the revived run since 2005, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
• Tony Slater Ling was also the cinematographer on The Vampires of Venice and Vincent and the Doctor

Doctor Who Vs. Single Father

Produced by BBC Scotland (and filmed in

Glasgow, Paisley and Edinburgh), this four-

part drama focused on Dave Tiler (played by

David Tennant), a photographer struggling

to care for his four children after the death 

of his partner, Rita (Laura Fraser) in a traffic

accident. 

Tennant debuted in Big Finish's Doctor Who

range in 2001 (for Colditz), and he recently

reprised the lead role for The Tenth Doctor 

Adventures.

The series was originally shown in October

2010 (and last repeated on the True Enter-

tainment Channel in 2015), and featured
Neve McIntosh, and thirteen further Doctor 
Who cast and crew connections:

• Suranne Jones (Sarah) was the titular antagonist in The Sarah Jane Adventures: Mona Lisa's Revenge, then depicted Idris in The Doctor's Wife
• Isla Blair (Beatty) was Isabella in The King's Demons, and voiced Paula for Exotron (2007)
• Warren Brown (Matt) voiced Stephen Gibson for Industrial Evolution (2011), Rufus Stone and To'Koth for Signs and Wonders (2014), then Lieutenant Sam Bishop for UNIT: Extinction (2015), UNIT: Shutdown, UNIT: Silenced (both 2016), UNIT: Assembled (2017), UNIT: Cyber Reality, Lady Christina 1 (both 2018) and UNIT: Incursions (2019)
• Rupert Grave (Stuart) was John Riddell in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
• Mark Heap (Robin) voiced the Middleman for The Middle (2017)
• Sanjeev Kohli (Dad) voiced Brother Boyle/Vallot for The Quin Dilemma (2024)
• Sophie Kennedy Clark (Tanya) voiced Mhairi Campbell/the Slips for Wicked! (2025) 
• stunt co-ordinator Paul Heasman was a Nazi in Silver Nemesis, and the stunt arranger on Survival
• Belinda McGinley was also a stunt performer on Amy's Choice and The Girl Who Waited
• stuntman Lee Sheward was a stunt co-ordinator on eleven adventures (from The End of the World to The End of Time), and Torchwood: Miracle Day
• Steve Smith was also a make-up artist on forty-one episodes (from The Christmas Invasion to The Waters of Mars), and Music of the Spheres
• sound mixer Brian Milliken was the sound recordist on The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky and The Sarah Jane Adventures
• composer Murray Gold has worked on the revived run (from Rose to Twice Upon a Time)

Doctor Who Vs. Van Der Valk, Series 5

ITV's classic crime drama again starred Barry Foster as the eponymous Dutch detective, was based on characters created by Nicolas Freeling for
his Van Der Valk novels in 1962. Produced at Thames Television's studios
 in London, with location scenes shot in the books' Amsterdam setting, the 
show was revived in early 1991, thirteen years after the previous series.
A repeat run of the final, three-part season (first shown in early 1992)
concluded on the Talking Pictures TV channel last night, and featured 
twenty-one Doctor Who cast connections:

• Brian Cox (Szabo) provided the voice of the Elder Ood in The End of Time, and depicted Sydney Newman in An Adventure in Space and Time
• Malcolm Tierney (Nagel) was Dolland in Terror of the Vervoids
• Vernon Dobtcheff (Jonge) was an Alien Scientist in The War Games , then voiced Dadda Desaka for The Cradle of the Snake (2010), Sibelius Crow for The Necropolis Express, Shamur for The Children of Seth (both 2011), Professor Heinrich Schumann for Counter Measures 1: Threshold (2012), and Jorenzo Zorn for The Genesis Chamber (2016)
• Sion Tudor Owen (Staal) was Tandrell in The Mysterious Planet
• Kevork Malikyan (Colombian) was Kemel Rudkin in The Wheel in Space
• Martyn Whitby (Swart) was a Drayman in The Mark of the Rani
• Paul Freeman (Tromp) voiced Jalnik for The Foe From the Future (2012)
• Stephen Moore (Hensen) was Eldane in The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood, and voiced Clark Goodman for The Eight Truths and Worldwide Web (2009)
• Maggie Steed (Maria) voiced Madame Rana Zandusia for Mission to Magnus (2009)
• Julian Fox (Samuel) was Peter Hamilton in Death to the Daleks
• Ian Barritt (Hartog) was Professor [Gerald] Peach in The Unicorn and the Wasp
• Richard Mayes (Farmer) was Chief Baxter in Fury from the Deep
• Celia Imrie (Marijke) was Miss [Rosemary] Kizlet in The Bells of Saint John, and voiced Dr. Elizabeth Bradley for The Fifth Citadel (2013), Madame Tissot for Gallery of Ghouls, and Lady Livia Caralis for Gallifrey: Enemy Lines (both 2016)
• Angela Bruce (Tony) was Brigadier Winifred Bambera in Battlefield, a role reprised by Big Finish for Animal (2011)
• Holly De Jong (Hannie) voiced Amelia Doory for Project: Twilight (2001)
• Martin McDougall (Vendor) voiced Craddock for He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not (2020)
• Tony Caunter (Voss) was Morgan in Colony in Space, and Jackson in Enlightenment 
• Pip Torrens (de Groot) was Headmaster Rocastle in Human Nature and The Family of Blood, then voiced Charlie Gibbs for Eldrad Must Die!(2013)
• Barry Aird (Postman) was a Time Lord Soldier in The Last Day
• for David McKail see Series 3
• stunt arranger Peter Brayham was stunt co-ordinator on The Christmas Invasion, New Earth and School Reunion

Doctor Who Vs. Captain America: The First Avenger

This WWII action film explored the creation 

of the Marvel Comics character, Captain 

America - a superhero conceived by Jack 

Kirby and Joe Simon in 1941.

Chris Evans portrayed the eponymous 

super-soldier (alias Steve Rogers), charged 

with preventing Red Skull (played by Hugo
Weaving) from using the Tesserac to 

achieve world domination.
Shown again on Film4 last night, the

adventure was released by Paramount in 

2011 and spawned two sequels. The film 

also featured Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley 

Tucci, Samuel L Jackson, Jenna [Louise] 

Coleman, David Bradley, and thirteen 

other Doctor Who cast alumni:

• Big Finish actress Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter) voiced Asha for Blood of the Daleks (2007), Eleanor for The Doomwood Curse, Seska for The Whispering Forest (2010), and President Sheridan Moorkur for The Sands of Life and War Against the Laan (both 2013)
• Toby Jones (Dr. Zola) was the Dream Lord in Amy's Choice, and voiced Kotris for Dark Eyes (2012)
• JJ Field (Falsworth) voiced David McCallister for Blue Forgotten Planet (2009)
• Michael Brandon (Brandt) was General Sanchez in The Stolen Earth, and voiced CP Doveday for Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge (2010)
• Lex Shrapnel (Hodge) voiced Robin Marshall for Shadow of the Past (2010)
• William Hope (Lieutenant) voiced General Tillington for Renaissance of the Daleks (2007)
• Sam Hoare (Recruit) voiced Lucius for AudioGo's Serpent Crest: Tsar Wars (2011), and depicted Douglas Camfield in An Adventure in Space and Time
• David McKail (Artist) was Sergeant Kyle in The Talons of Weng Chiang
• Tim Howard (Soldier) was a Villager in The Time of the Doctor, and Highwayman in The Woman Who Lived
• Tobias James Samuels (Producer) was a Waiter in Voyage of the Damned
• Kieran O'Connor (Jerk) was a Prison Guard in The Impossible Astronaut
• Colin Stinton (Taxi Driver) was President Arthur Winters in The Sound of Drums
• Sy Turner (Hydra Soldier) was a camera trainee on The Zygon Inversion, Heaven Sent and Class

Doctor Who Vs. The Victim

In STV Productions
latest crime drama,
Craig Myers (played
by James Harkness)
 is attacked at his
home in Port Glasgow,
 then discovers he has
been accused online of
being child murderer
Eddie J Turner.
DI Stephen Grover's
(John Hannah) invest-
igation incriminates
Anna Dean (Kelly
Macdonald), whose son was killed by Turner fifteen years ago. The mother
 is brought to trial at Edinburgh's High Court, but is Myers really the killer
or a victim of mistaken identity?

Shown over four, consecutive nights this week, the thriller concluded on
BBC1 last night, and featured nine Doctor Who cast and crew alumnis:

• Jamie Sives (Lenny) was Captain Reynolds in Tooth and Claw
• Allison McKenzie (Cathy) voiced Imogen Frazer for Big Finish's Iterations of I (2014)
• John Scougall (Carpenter) voiced Ryall and Sythes for The Time War 3 (2019)
• Ramon Tikaram (Mishra) voiced Wanchese for Voyage to the New World (2012), the Castellan for Doom Coalition 1, Marlock for Theatre of War, Colonel Shindi for UNIT: Extinction (all 2015), UNIT: Silenced (2016), UNIT: Encounters (2017) and UNIT: Cyber Reality, and Colin Colchester Price for Torchwood: Aliens Among Us and Gods Among Us (all 2018)
• Pooky Quesnel (Mo) was the Captain in A Christmas Carol
• Seylan Baxter (Jury) was Tecteun in The Timeless Children
• Paul Heasman was stunt co-ordinator on Survival too, and was an uncredited Nazi in Silver Nemesis
• Geraint L Williams was art designer on The Woman Who Fell to Earth too
• Gibran Farrah was also ADR mixer on The Tsuranga Conundrum and Demons of the Punjab

Doctor Who Vs. Cheat

The latest psychological drama from
ITV Studios concluded last night.
Here, Katherine Kelly played Leah, a
Cambridge university lecturer framed
for her husband's murder by student
(and her secret sister) Rose (Molly
Windsor).

Shown over four consecutive nights
this week, the thriller (produced by
Two Brothers Pictures), featured
Peter Firth, Neve McIntosh, and ten
Doctor Who cast and crew alumni:

• Kelly was Miss Quill in Class
• Tom Goodman Hill (Adam) was Reverend Arnold Golightly in The Unicorn and the Wasp
• Burn Gorman (Ben) was Torchwood series regular, Owen Harper
• Justine Mitchell (DI Bould) voiced Lucy Martin for Big Finish's Seasons of Fear (2002)
• Ravin J Ganatra (Brian) was Hakim Khan in Arachnids in the UK, Demons of the Punjab and Spyfall
• Kemi Bo Jacobs (Karen) was Hila in Hide
• Philip Bird (Doctor) voiced Shepton Rothwell for Missing Persons (2013)
• Adam Trotman was the film editor on Last Christmas too
• Henry Jaworski was also art director on The Pilot and Smile
• Edmund Butt composed the music for An Adventure in Space and Time too

Doctor Who Vs. Bleak House (1985)

Now considered one of Charles 
Dickens' (1812-1870) finest
works, Bleak House was 
originally published in twenty 
monthly instalments from 
March 1852.

The writer's fourteenth novel 
is also cited as amongst the
earliest forms of fiction to 
include a major role for a 
detective.

The first television adaptation
 of Bleak House was produced
by the BBC in late 1959, then again in the spring of 1985 for this production.
The Corporation's third version followed in 2005.

The cast for this eight-part series was led by Denholm Elliott, and featured 

Gerald Flood, and twenty-four other Doctor Who cast and crew alumni:

• Dame Diana Rigg (Lady Dedlock) was Winifred Gillyflower in The Crimson Horror
• Sylvia Coleridge (Miss Flite) was Amelia Ducat in The Seeds of Doom
• Philip Franks (Carstone) voiced the Supervisor and Acolyte for The Warehouse (2015), and Gevaudan for Zaltys (2017)
• Sam Kelly (Snagsby) voiced Eugene Tacitus for The Holy Terror (2000), and Acheron for Return to the Web Planet (2007)
• TP McKenna (Skimpole) was Captain Cook in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
• Malcolm Terris (Chadband) and Graham Crowden (Chancellor) both appeared in The Horns of Nimon, as the Co-Pilot and Soldeed - Crowden was also Etnin in The Dominators
• Frank Windsor (Grindley) and Ian Hogg (Bucket) both starred in Ghost Light, as Inspector Mackenzie and Josiah Samuel Smith - Windsor was also Sir Ranulf Fitzwilliamin The King's Demons, whilst Hogg voiced General Voshkar for The Sandman (2002), and Albert for Protect and Survive (2012)
• Kathy Burke (Guster) was a Lazar in Terminus
• Arthur Hewlett (Waggoner) was Kalmar in State of Decay and Kimber in Terror of the Vervoids
• Cathy Murphy (Maid) was Mum in The Christmas Invasion
• George Sewell (Rouncewell) was Ratcliffe in Remembrance of the Daleks
• James Snell (Barrister) was Harry in The Daemons
• Donald Sumpter (Nemo) 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
• Fiona Walker (Miss Barbary) was Kala in The Keys of Marinus, and Lady Peinforte in Silver Nemesis
• Harry Fielder (Gent) was a Guard (in serials PP, ZZZ, 4L, 4P, 5A, 5F, 5Z), Crewman (SS, 4T), Vogan (4D), Assassin (4Q), Tigellan (5Q), and Krarg in Shada
• Seymour Green (Parson) was Hargreaves in The Seeds of Doom, and the Chamberlain in The Twin Dilemma
• Anne Reid (Mrs. Bagnet here; Miss Rouncewell in 2005) was Nurse Crane in The Curse of Fenric, and Florence Finnegan in Smith and Jones
• Colin Jeavons (Vholes here; Carstone in 1959) was Damon in The Underwater Menace
• Geoffrey Burgon was also the composer on Terror of the Zygons and The Seeds of Doom
• cinematographer Kenneth MacMillan was a camera operator on Planet of Evil
• Dave King was film editor on The Mutants too
• Jeremy Silbertson was also production manager on The King's Demons and The Five Doctors
• Mickey Edwards was VFX designer on Four to Doomsday too