Doctor Who Vs. Coronation Street at 60, Part 7: 1976-1978

By 1976, Corrie was in decline, so Bill Podmore was appointed to give the series a facelift and

soon a new title sequence starred a cat for the

first time. Established as a kitchen-sink drama

in the Sixties, the show now received a much

needed injection of humour - under Podmore's

producership ratings stabilised. An episode in

April 1977 gained almost 21 million viewers,

the highest figure of the decade.

These three years on the Street featured

Geoffrey Beevers (as Mr. Liston in episode 

1768), and twenty-six Doctor Who cast and 

crew connections:

• Geoffrey Bateman (Lightfoot) was Dymond in Nightmare of Eden
• Lois Baxter (Marie) was Lamia in The Androids of Tara
• Mary Healey (Thelma here; Yvonne, 1990) was a Killjoy in The Happiness Patrol
• Big Finish actor Philip Bretherton (Rod here; Weston, 1991; Ian Davenport, 2005) voiced Plenipotentiary Suskind for Arrangements for War (2004), Scrivener for Recorded Time, D'Urberville, Heathcliff and Darcy for A Most Excellent Match (both 2011), and Vituperon for The Devil's Armada (2014)
• William Hoyland (Hardcastle) voiced Premier Jaeger for Live 34 (2005)
• Colin Farrell (Holmes) was Benni in Orphan 55
• Arthur Kelly (Monkey) was Smithy in The Witchfinders
• John Duttine (Baker) voiced Hector for Exotron (2007)
• Derek Francis (Beaumont) played Nero in The Romans
• Graham Weston (Livesley) was Russell in The War Games, and De Haan in Planet of Evil
• Roy Boyd (Franklyn) was Driscoll in (part 2 of) The Hand of Fear
• Leslie Dwyer (Dugdale) was Vorg (pictured) in Carnival of Monsters
• Sylvia Coleridge (Sonia) was Amelia Ducat in The Seeds of Doom
• Christopher Coll (Goodwin here; and Victor Pendlebury, 1982-1992) was Phipps in The Seeds of Death, and Stubbs in The Mutants
• Geoffrey Leesley (Cox here; and Clegg, 2002) voiced Paramount Minister Mortund for Arrangements for War, and Harold for Audio- Go's Serpent Crest: The Broken Crown (2011)
• John Tordoff (Hill here; and Hesketh, 1999) was Alec Leeson in Colony in Space (4)
• Daphne Heard (Lizzie) was Martha Tyler in Image of the Fendahl
• Angela Bruce (Janice) was Brigadier Winifred Bambera in Battlefield, a role reprised for Animal (2011)
• Barry Jackson (Garfield) was Ascaris in The Romans, Jeff Garvey in Mission to the Unknown, Drax in The Armageddon Factor
• Jimmy Gardner (Hargreaves) was Chenchu in Marco Polo, and Idmon in Underworld
• Alan Bromly was also director of The Time Warrior and Nightmare of Eden
• Tristan de Vere Cole was director of The Wheel in Space too
• Matthew Robinson was also director of Resurrection of the Daleks and Attack of the Cybermen
• Darrol Blake was director of The Stones of Blood too
• John Black was also director of The Keeper of Traken, Four to Doomsday and K9 and Company
• director Roger Cheveley had been the production designer on The War Games

Doctor Who Vs. They Came From Beyond Space

Adapted from Joseph Millard's book The Gods

Hate Kansas, this British sci-fi B movie was a

Cold War thriller relocated to Cornwall. Like

other genre favourites (including Quatermass)

the Amicus project had an American lead,

Robert Hutton, and went into production

immediately after Daleks: Invasion Earth

2150 AD (many of its sets and props were

reused here), whilst Max Rosenberg and 

Milton Subotsky again acted as producers.

Released in 1967 with The Terrornauts as a

double-bill, director Freddie Francis claimed

that the studio had spent most of their budget

on the first film. Shown on Talking Pictures TV

today, the feature starred fifteen Doctor Who

cast and crew connections:

• Michael Gough (Master) played the titular being in The Celestial Toymaker, and was Councillor Hedin in Arc of Infinity
• Bernard Kay (Arden) was Carl Tyler in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Saladin in The Crusade, Inspector Crossland in The Faceless Ones, and Caldwell in Colony in Space, then voiced Major Dickens for Big Finish's Night Thoughts (2006)
• Maurice Good (Stilwell) was Phineas Clanton in The Gunfighters
• John Harvey (Trethowan) and Kenneth Kendall both appeared in The War Machines, as Professor Brett and Newscaster - Harvey was also Officia in The Macra Terror
• Luanshya Greer (Attendant) and Leonard Grahame (McCabe) both starred in The Daleks' Master Plan, as Lizan and Darcy Tranton (7)
• Norman Claridge (Dr. Andrews) was a Priest in The Massacre (3)
•  Michael Hawkins (Williams) was General Williams in Frontier in Space
• Bill Constable (production designer) and Scott Slimon (art director) both worked on Dr. Who and the Daleks too
• Ted Wallis (production supervisor), Tony Wallis (manager) and Bunty Phillips (make-up artist) all worked on the second Dalek feature too
• David Harcourt was camera operator on both Dalek films too 

Doctor Who Vs. Coronation Street at 60, Part 6: 1973-1975

Tamm played Polly
Ogden over two
instalments in
December 1973

The early seventies was a state of flux on the 

Street as the series faced fresh challenges.

Having enjoyed a stable core cast throughout

its first decade, Granada now dealt with the

departures of key characters. Comic storylines, 

popular in the 1960's, had become scarce, and

ratings reached a low of eight million in February

 1973 as rival ITV soap-opera Crossroads (1964 

to 1988) saw an increase in popularity.

A succession of producers were keen to bring

the show up-to-date by introducing many

younger characters and tackling controversial

issues. Two of the show's most ambitious plots

yet occurred in 1975 (abused housewife Lynn

Johnson was murdered, and Brittain's Ware-

house was destroyed by fire), whilst 1974 saw

Corrie's first foreign location shoot in Majorca.

These three years on the cobbles featured

Patrick Troughton, Mary Tamm, and

twenty-two other Doctor Who cast alumni:

• Charles Pemberton (Mann) was a titular alien in The Tomb of the Cybermen, and Alien Technician in (episode 5 of) The War Games
• Llewellyn Rees (James) was the President in The Deadly Assassin
• Paul Freeman (Slade) voiced Jalnik for Big Finish's The Foe from the Future (2012)
• Alan David (Thomas) was Gabriel Sneed in The Unquiet Dead
• Royston Tickner (Stranger) was Steinberger P. Green in The Daleks' Master Plan (7), and Robbins in The Sea Devils (1)
• Joanna Lumley (Elaine) appeared in The Curse of the Fatal Death as the first female incarnation of the Doctor
• Zulema Dene (Muriel here; Sarah, 1992) voiced Danna for Soldier Obscura (2018)
• Ian Liston (Burrows) was the Hero in The Armageddon Factor (1)
• Leonard Sachs (Berlin) was the Admiral Gaspard de Coligny in The Massacre, and Lord President Borusa in Arc of Infinity
• Donald Gee (Meeker here; Crompton, 1994/95) was Major Ian Warne in The Space Pirates, and Eckersley in The Monster of Peladon
• Richard Davies (Hopkins) was Burton in Delta and the Bannermen
• John Barrard (Wilson) was the Shopkeeper in The Reign of Terror
• Helen Worth (Gail Potter/Tilsley/Platt/McIntyre/Rodwell, 1974 to present) was Mary Ashe in Colony in Space
• Peter Bourke (Dodds) was Mr. Chambers in Human Nature
• Stephen Yardley (Barrett) was Sevrin in Genesis of the Daleks, and Arak in Vengeance on Varos
• Neil Daglish (Meggitt) was Damon in Arc of Infinity
• Geoffrey Hughes (Eddie Yeats, 1974-1983) was Popplewell in The Ultimate Foe
• Kenneth Watson (Lancaster, 1975, 1979, 1980) was Bill Duggan in The Wheel in Space, and Craddock in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD
• Rachel Davies (Donna) was Camilla in State of Decay
• Carolyn Pickles (Michelle here; Moira, 1998) voiced Lady Meera for Army of Death (2011)
• Lloyd McGuire (PC Lyle, 1975, 1980; and Burridge, 2011) was Lugo in The Face of Evil (1)

Doctor Who Vs. A Night to Remember

This British big screen adaptation of Walter

Lord's best-selling 

book was released
by Rank in 1958,
 and recounts the
final night on board
RMS Titanic. 

The film was directed
by Roy Ward Baker,
and producer William MacQuitty used White
Star Line blueprints
to create life-like sets,
while Titanic's Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall was a consultant.
Despite its modest production values, A Night to Remember is regarded
by critics as the most historically accurate of the many Titanic movies,
and earned a Golden Globe award.

The story of the 'unsinkable' liner's  loss in 1912 was told from the point
of view of her passengers and crew, principally Second Officer Charles
Lightoller, portrayed by Kenneth More.
Bob Ballard's discovery of the wreck of Titanic in 1985 sparked a fresh
wave of public interest in the disaster, and Lord (1917-2002) penned a
sequel, The Night Lives On (1986) and even acted as a consultant on
James Cameron's Titanic (1997).

Shown again on Film4 today, the acclaimed film featured Geoffrey
Bayldon, and twenty-two future Doctor Who cast and crew alumni:

     

• Honor Blackman (Mrs. Lucas) played Professor Lasky in Terror of the Vervoids, then voiced Queen Anahita for Big Finish's The Children of Seth (2011)
• Roanld Allen (Clarke) was Rago in The Dominators, and Professor Ralph Cornish in The Ambassadors of Death
• Richard Leech (Murdoch) was Gatherer Hade in The Sun Makers
• Ralph Michael (Yates) was Balaton in The Pirate Planet
• Jack Watling (Fourth Officer Boxhall) was Professor Edward Travers in The Abominable Snowmen, The Web of Fear and Downtime
• Harold Goldblatt (Guggenheim) was Professor Dale in Frontier in Space
• Andrew Keir (Joseph Bell) was Wyler in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD
• Philip Ray (Anderson) was Professor Daniel Eldred in The Seeds of Death
• Roger Avon (Reginald Lee) was Saphadin in The Crusade, Daxtar in (episode 4 of) The Daleks' Master Plan, and Wells in the second Dalek film
• Jeremy Bulloch (Boy) was Hal in The Time Warrior
• George A Cooper (Purser Hughes) was Cherub in The Smugglers
• Glyn Houston (Stoker) was Professor [Owen] Watson in The Hand of Fear, and Colonel Ben Wolsey in The Awakening
• Robert James (Hesketh) was Lester in The Power of the Daleks, and the High Priest in The Masque of Mandragora
• Stratford Johns (Crewman) was Monarch in Four to Doomsday
• Howard Lang (Chief Officer Henry Wilde) was Horg in 100,000 BC
• Derren Nesbitt (Stoker) was Tegana in Marco Polo, and voiced Thomas Dodd for Spare Parts (2002) and Ordinal-General Quences for Auld Mortality (2003)
• Steve Plytas (Greek Passenger) was Wigner in The Tenth Planet
• Mavis Ranson (Passenger) was a Schoolgirl in An Unearthly Child
• Richard Shaw (Crewman) was Lobos in The Space Museum, Cross in Frontier in Space, and Lakh in Underworld
• Pauline Challoner (Child) auditioned for the role of Victoria Waterfield in April 1967
• Jack Silk was a stuntman on The Daemons too
• David Harcourt was a camera operator on both Dalek feature films too

Doctor Who Vs. Coronation Street at 60, Part 5: 1970-1972

Sladen played barmaid
Anita Reynolds in six
instalments at New Year
1970.

Corrie ended its first decade with the broad-
cast of its first colour episode (in November
1969) and a brand new title sequence. As
the soap approached its tenth anniversary
and thousandth episode, it was hit by strike
action at Granada which kept the show off 

the air for most of June 1970. ITV's Colour
Strike later in the year meant that Corrie
was recorded in monochrome again from
November 1970 to February 1971.
The troubled early Seventies therefore

 resulted in the first major fall in ratings
since the programme's formative years.

These three years on the Street featured
Elizabeth Sladen, and twenty-three
other Doctor Who cast/crew connections:

• prolific BAFTA winning writer Brian Finch penned 150 episodes of Coronation Street, and provided an ultimately unused script for season 23 - Leviathan was adapted by Big Finish in 2010
• Paul Bernard was also director of Day of the Daleks, The Time Monster and Frontier in Space
• Ian Barritt (Policeman here; Forshaw, 1973) was Professor Peach in The Unicorn and the Wasp
• Rosalind Ayres (Jasmine) voiced Miriam Rochester for Jubilee (2003)
• June [Muriel] Brown (Mrs. Parsons) and Ray [Harold] Dunbobbin (Clarke) both starred in The Time Warrior, as Lady Eleanor and Irongron's Soldier, whilst Brown's EastEnders character (Dot Cotton) appeard in Dimensions in Time
• Maggie Steed [nee Baker] (Ellen) voiced Rana Zandusia for Mission to Magnus (2009)
• Richard [Leslie Mitford] Steele (DS Jones) was Commandant Gorton in (episode 2 of) The War Games, Sergeant Hart in The Silurians, and Guard in The Mark of the Rani
• William [Thomas Clucas] Lucas (Maxwell here; Judge Parrish, 1996) was Range in Frontios
• [John] Talfryn Thomas (Dirty Dick) was Mullins in Spearhead from Space (1) and Dave in The Green Death
• Gareth Thomas (Ryan) voiced Lord Tamworth for Storm Warning (2001), Kalendorf for Dalek Empire and Return of the Daleks (2006), and Astaroth Morax for Last of the Colophon (2014)
• Luan Peters [born Carol Ann Hirsch] (Lorna) was Chicki [as Karol Keyes] in The Macra Terror (4), and Sheila in Frontier in Space (3)
• George [Michael William] Layton (Shelton) was Technician Penn in The Space Pirates, and voiced Stefan Lehne for Unto the Breach (2014), Louis Markell for The Havoc of Empires (2015), and Regis Tel for The Quest of the Engineer (2020) - he also played the Doctor in the unaired French and Saunders sketch, The Silurian Disruption, in 1987
• Del Henney (Duncan) was Colonel Archer in Resurrection of the Daleks
• John [Wilson] Stratton (Crabtree) was Shockeye of the Quawncing Grig in The Two Doctors
• William Simons (Bates) was Mandrel in The Sun Makers
• Ivor Roberts (Silcock) was Mogran in Genesis of the Daleks (3)
• Brian Glover (Henshaw) was Griffiths in Attack of the Cybermen
• Jeremy Young (Lewis) was Kal in 100,000 BC, and Gordon Lowery in Mission to the Unknown
• Alec Sabin (Lomax) was Ringway in Earthshock
• Paul [Mackriell] Copley (Photographer here; Priestley, 2007) was Clem McDonald in Torchwood: Children of Earth, and voiced Dad for Spare Parts (2002)
• Robert Keegan (Jacko) was Sholakh in The Ribos Operation
• Thelma Barlow [nee Pigott] (Mavis Wilton/Riley, 1971-1997) was Lady Thaw in The Lazarus Experiment