Doctor Who Vs. Coronation Street at 60, Part 8: 1979-1982

By 1979, Corrie had scant competition within

its primetime slot. But some critics suggested

that the programme had grown complacent,

whilst moving away from socially aware story-

lines, and was again accused of portraying

a dated view of working-class life. The late

 1970's however, saw the show's popularity

grow, and the Street regularly topped the

TV ratings.

The series was again affected by industrial 

action when the whole ITV network was

blacked out for 75 days, from August 10th

to October 24th 1979.

The early 1980's would prove to be one

of the show's most popular periods, and

earned its highest viewing figures since

its heyday. Ena Sharples (played by Violet

Carson since 1960) left Corrie in 1980, and the wedding of Ken Barlow

and Deirdre Langton in 1981 was watched by over 24 million viewers.

 Then in 1982, a brand-new exterior set finally replaced the original,

which was little more than a dated facade. These four years on the

cobbles featured another twenty Doctor Who cast and crew alumni:

• Michael Melia (Cummings) was the Terileptil leader in The Visitation
• Bill McGuirk (Wilson here; DC Banks, 1984) was a Guard in The Enemy of the World, and Policeman in (episode 3 of) Terror of the Autons
• Paul Seed (Harris) was the Graff Vynda-Ka in The Ribos Operation
• Christian Rodska (Newton) voiced Laan Carder for Big Finish's Faith Stealer (2004), and Reverend Small for AudioGo's Hornet's Nest: The Dead Shoes (2009)
• Sue Wallace (Mrs. Fletcher here; Jean, 2005) voiced Mrs. Baddeley for The Chimes of Midnight, Edith for Season of Fear (both 2002), and Mertil for The Whispering Forest (2010)
• Richard Shaw (Johnson) was Lobos in The Space Museum, Cross in Frontier in Space, and Lakh in Underworld
• Jonathan Caplan (Cheveski) was Roskal in Planet of Fire
• Tenniel Evans (DI Vaughan) was Major Daly in Carnival of Monsters
• Kenny McBain was director of The Horns of Nimon too
• Paul Lowther (Jackson) was a Knight in The King's Demons, and Orderly in Frontios
• Gilbert Wynne (Dodds) was Thara in The Krotons
• Brian Miller (Elliott here; Pughes, 2012) [husband of Elizabeth Sladen and father of Sadie Miller] was Dugdale in Snakedance, voiced the Daleks for Resurrection of the Daleks, Remembrance of the Daleks and Doctor Who Pinball: Time Streams, and was Barney (pictured) in Deep Breath
• Graham Seed (Solicitor) voiced Bevan for The Forgotten Village (2014), Pyrepoint for The Romance of Crime (2015), and Gramoryan 2, Taverner and Squire for Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated (2019)
• David Simeon (Simpson here; Dr. Bird, 1998) was Private Latimer in Inferno, and Alastair Fergus in The Daemons (1)
• Dave Hill (Hurst) voiced Nessican for Death Comes to Time
• Tony Osoba (McGregor here; Peter Ingram, 1990) was Lan in Destiny of the Daleks, Kracauer in Dragonfire, and was Duke in Kill the Moon
• Philip Jackson (Smitty) voiced Laxton for Valhalla (2007) and Mr. Peabody for The Contingency Club (2017)
• Brian Capron (Worthington here; Richard Hillman, 2001-03; Dickie in A Knight's Tale) voiced Lesley Kulcade for Subterfuge (2020)
• Mark Eden (Randle here; Alan Bradley, 1986-89) and Lesley Manville (Jill) both appeared in An Adventure in Space and Time, as Donald Baverstock and Heather Hartnell respectively - Eden had played the titular explorer, Marco Polo

Doctor Who Vs. The Theory of Everything

This British biographical romance was 

based on Travelling to Infinity: My Life 
With Stephen, the 2007 memoir by Jane 

Wilde Hawking, the first wife of Professor

 Stephen Hawking (1942-2018).
The film chronicled Wilde's relationship 

with Hawking from their first meeting

at Cambridge University in 1963), the

diagnosis of ALS (a form of motor 

neurone disease), and his success in

 physics. Eddie Redmayne and Felicity

Jones portrayed the Hawkings.

The acclaimed production premiered at

 the Toronto Film Festival in 2014, and

went on to win an Oscar, three BAFTAs

and a Golden Globe award, including 

three respective Best Actor awards for 

Redmayne.

Shown again on Sony Movies tonight, the drama featured David

Thewlis, Emily Watson, Maxine Peake, and thirteen Doctor Who

cast and crew connections:

• Jones played Robina Redmond in The Unicorn and the Wasp
• Harry Lloyd (Brian) was Baines in Human Nature and The Family of Blood
• Gruffudd Glyn (Rees) was Lloyd Llewellyn in The Woman Who Lived
• Simon Chandler (Taylor) voiced Corporal Arthur Dimes for Big Finish's Churchill Victorious (2018)
• Will Barton (Technician) made his TV debut as Midge on Survival, then voiced Djinni and Guard for The Destroyer of Delights, and Maddenjot for The Chaos Pool (both 2009)
• Claire Ashton (Kite Flyer) was a Secretary in An Adventure in Space and Time
• Shaun Lucas (Professor) was a Monk in The Bells of Saint John
• Glenn Marks was also stunt co-ordinator on The Family of Blood two-parter and Blink
• Helen Steinway Bailey and Leo Woodruff were stunt performers on Amy's Choice and Heaven Sent respectively
• Moira Thompson was also make-up artist on thirteen stories (from The Christmas Invasion to Doomsday)
• key stylist/make-up artist Lesley Smith began her career as an assistant on (part 1 of) State of Decay
• Julie Bentley was also the snow FX consultant on The Time of the Doctor and The Husbands of River Song

Date With History: 1966

 

At 9.15 am on Friday, October 21 1966, the spoil tip for Merthyr Vale

colliery collapsed. Fifty years worth of mining debris slid down the

hillside into the mining village of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil in South

Wales.

It first destroyed a farm cottage in its path, killing all the occupants.

Down in the village, nobody saw anything, but everybody heard the

noise, as the slide engulfed the Pantglas Junior School, and about

twenty houses, before coming to rest.

Then there was total silence.

144 people perished in the Aberfan disaster - 28 adults (including five 

teachers), and 116 school children.

Doctor Who Vs. Collateral

This British crime drama from TV production
company The Forge was first shown on BBC

Two from February 2018.

Here, DI Kip Glaspie (played by Carey Mulligan)
led the investigation into the shooting of Syrian
refugee Abdulah Asif, murdered whilst delivering
pizza in South London.

A repeat run of the four-part thriller began

on BBC4 last night - it featured Billie Piper,

John Simm, Nicola Walker, and twenty-one

other Doctor Who cast/crew connections:

• Mulligan was Sally Sparrow in Blink
• Brian Vernel (Gowans) was Lucius in The Eaters of Light, and voiced Robert for Big Finish's Dethras (2017)
• Vineeta Rishi (DC Shah) was Julia Swales in Smith and Jones (a role reprised for Radio 4's Lost Souls), and voiced Meena Cartwright for The Longest Night (2005), Dawon for The Emerald Tiger (2012), Falex for Dalek Soul (2017), Shana Siddiqui for Hosts of the Wirrn (2018), and Amita Burman for Concealed Weapon (2019)
• Kae Alexander (Linh) voiced Waywalker for The Becoming (2016), and Mia Chan for Solitary Confinement (2023)
• Orla Brady (Phoebe), Rob Jarvis (DC Johnson) and Lloyd Bass (Cabbie) all appeared in The Time of the Doctor, as Tasha Lem, Abramal and stuntman respectively
• John Heffernan (Spence) voiced Vonchef for Revenge of the Swarm (2004), the Nine for The Crucible of Souls (2016), Companion Piece and Relative Time (both 2019), and Honos for The Trial of a Time Machine (2018)
• Jeany Spark (Sandrine) voiced Florence Nightingale for The Angel of Scutari (2009), Jelena for Prisoner of the Sun (2010), Daisy Chapel for Operation: Hellfire (2020), and Tragacanth and Cham Yal for The Doomsday Contract (2021)
• Robert Portal (Dyson) voiced Marshal Ney for The Curse of Davros (2012), Reggie for The Auntie Matter (2013), Dr. Poograss for Whatever Remains, Jim and Midge for Lost Property, and Treadwell for Wild Animals (all 2020)
• Tony Way (Connor) was Alf in Deep Breath
• Adrian Lukis (Schofield) voiced Bragg for Cobwebs (2010), Byzan for The Children of Seth (2011), Professor Jeffrey Broderick for Counter Measures 1 (2012), Harvey Marsh for The Justice of Jalxar, and Sigmund Freud for Return of the Repressed (both 2013)
• Saskia Reeves (Deborah) voiced Carmen Rega for Emissary of the Daleks (2019)
• Raghad Chaar (Shelley) voiced Samira Rustami for Beyond Bannerman Road (2023)
• Andrew Burford (Bouncer) was a stuntman on The Eaters of Light, The Doctor Falls and Twice Upon a Time
• Guy List (Demir) was a stuntman on Evolution of the Daleks
• Balazs Bolygo was also cinematographer on The Rebel Flesh, The Almost People and Closing Time
• Matthew Scrivener was also first assistant director on The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe and Class
• Geraint L Williams was art designer on Series 11 too
• make-up artist Rani Sikka was set technician on The Rebel Flesh, The Almost People and The Name of the Doctor