Doctor Who Vs. Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective

Accident prone detective 'Dangerous'

Davies appeared in four comic crime

novels by Leslie Thomas, published

between 1976 and 1998.

The first case, The Last Detective, was

adapted by ITC in 1981, followed by

Granada's TV version in 2003 - Davies

was played by Peter Davison.

The film was shown on Talking Pictures

TV last night - it featured Bernard

Cribbins (the titular DC), Colin Baker,

Bill Maynard, Joss Ackland, and nine

Doctor Who cast connections:

• Frank Windsor [Higgins] (Fennell) was Sir Ranulf Fitzwilliam in The King's Demons, and Inspector Mackenzie in Ghost Light
• Maureen [Diane] Lipman (Ena) was the Wire in The Idiot's Lantern
• Eric Francis (Albert) was the First Elder in The Sensorites
• Sam Dastor (Longton) voiced Professor Narayan for The Emerald Tiger (2012)
• Roy Stewart (Pomeroy) was Toberman in The Tomb of the Cybermen, and Tony in Terror of the Autons
• [John] Frank Jarvis [born Train] (Heavy) was the Corporal in (episode 3 of) The War Machine, Ankh in Underworld, and Skart in The Power of Kroll
• Mike Reynell (Officer) was an Exxilon in Death to the Daleks, and Kaled Scientist in Genesis of the Daleks (6)
• Charles Pemberton (Evans) was a titular alien in The Tomb of the Cybermen, and Alien Technician in The War Games (5)
• Pam [Ann] St. Clement (Mrs. Norris) reprised her EastEnders role of Pat Butcher for Dimensions in Time

Doctor Who Vs. The Shadow Line

This dark and gritty crime drama was
written, produced and directed by
Hugo Blick. Here, DI Jonah Gabriel

(played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) is assigned

to investigate the murder of a notorious

London drugs baron.

Following a BAFTA screening, the seven

-part thriller was shown on BBC2 from

May to June 2011, and featured
Christopher Eccleston (as Joseph
Bede), Sharon D Clarke, Stephen
Rea, Rafe Spall, and twenty-three
other Doctor Who cast and crew
connections:

• both Lesley Sharp [born Karen Makinson] (Julie) and Ace [born Ahsen Rafiq] Bhatti (Khokar) also appeared opposite Eccleston in The Second Coming
• Robert Pugh (Harris) was Tony Mack in The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood, and voiced Emmett Burrows for Big Finish's Five Twenty-Nine (2016)
• Sean Gilder (Beatty) was the Sycorax Leader in The Christmas Invasion
• Sasha Behar (Laing) and Lorraine Burroughs (WPC) both starred in The Fires of Pompeii, as Spurrina and Thalina
• Clare Calbraith (Laura) voiced Trooper for Urban Myths, Maria for Son of the Dragon (both 2007), Starling for The Phoenix Strain (2016), and Orla for The Blood Furnace (2017)
• Tobias Menzies (McGovern) was Lieutenant Stepashin in Cold War
• Rachel [Joanne] Bavidge (Nurse) voiced the European Leader for The Defectors (2015), and Seru for The Isos Network (2016)
• Tony Osoba (Solicitor) was Lan in Destiny of the Daleks, Kracauer in Dragonfire, and Duke in Kill the Moon
• Martha [Esther] Cope (Reporter) was the Controller in Bad Wolf, and voiced Captain Tanya Oswin for The Nowhere Place, Talia for 100, and Commander Lind for The Sons of Kaldor (2018)
• Simon [Timothy] Chandler (Consultant) voiced Corporal Arthur Dimes for Churchill Victorious (2018)
• Nigel [Edward] Hastings (Spokesman) was the Commander in The Pyramid at the End of the World, and voiced Quain for Creatures of Beauty (2003), and Boden for Return to Skaro (2020)
• Anjela Lauren Smith (Kirsten) voiced Genevieve for The Coney Island Chameleon (2019)
• John Heffernan (PC Felix) voiced Vonchef for Revenge of the Swarm (2004), Honos for The Trial of a Time Machine (2018), and the Nine for The Crucible of Souls (2016), Companion Piece, Relative Time (both 2019) and The Dreams of Avarice (2022)
• Lloyd McGuire (Clerk) was Lugo in The Face of Evil, and voiced Tendexter for The Architects of History (2010)
• Charles Kay [born Piff] (Halton) voiced the Curator in Excelis Rising (2002)
• Nadine [Panchita] Marshall (Officer) voiced Shepstay for Earth Aid (2011), Katrice for You are the Doctor, and Kordel for The Grand Betelgeuse Hotel (both 2015)
• David Schofield (DS Foley) was Odin in The Girl Who Died, and voiced Billy for Death in Blackpool (2009), Nostradamus and Conclave Leader for The Doomsday Quatrain (2011), Parval for The Sorcerer of Albion (2020), and Gostak for The End of the Beginning (2021)
• Jonathan [Louis] Tafler (Book keeper) voiced Captain Waldo for The Paradise of Death, and Pietro Clemenza for The Ghosts of N-Space
• Alex Kaye Besley was also assistant director on The Sarah Jane Adventures: Invasion of the Bane and The Shakespeare Code
• stunt co-ordinator Gareth Milne was George Cranleigh in Black Orchid, Mortuary Attendant in Vengeance on Varos, and doubled for Peter Davison in Warriors of the Deep
• Ian Pead was stunt double on Twice Upon a Time too

Doctor Who Vs. Witness for the Prosecution

Agatha Christie's courtroom drama

began life as a short story (published

as Traitor's Hands by Flynn's Weekly

in 1925), which then featured in

anthologies in 1933, 1948 and 1993.

The mystery was first adapted for radio

 in 1949, then was dramatised for the

London stage in late 1953. During its

run, Christie also had two other plays

staged, making her the only female

playwright to have three productions

performed simultaneously in the West

End. A Broadway version followed a

year later. The play was adapted for 

cinema by in 1957, starring Charles 

Laughton, Marlene Dietrich and Tyrone Power. Acclaimed revivals of

the play opened in York, Leeds, and latterly at County Hall, London.

The original story has garnered four treatments for television - two

from the BBC (broadcast in 1949 and 2016), one from CBS (1953),

and this production from Hallmark. The TV movie premiered in late

1982 - it featured Sir Ralph Richardson (pictured), Beau Bridges,

Deborah Kerr, Donald Pleasence, Wendy Hiller, and twelve Doctor 

Who cast and crew connections:

• [Enid] Diana [Elizabeth] Rigg (Christine here; Arlena in Evil Under the Sun, 1982) played Winifred Gillyflower in The Crimson Horror
• Peter [John] Sallis (Carter here; Poirot in Hercule Poirot's Christmas, 1986) was Elric Penley in The Ice Warriors, and was due to appear as Striker in Enlightenment
• [Francis] Michael Gough (Judge here; Durand in The Fourth Man) was the titular entity in The Celestial Toymaker, and Councillor Hedin in Arc of Infinity 
• [Albert] Frank Mills (DCI Hearne here; Crump in A Pocket Full of Rye, 1985) was the Telescope Director in (episode 1 of) Terror of the Autons
• Peter [Francis Gabian] Copley (Dr. Harrison here; Brabazon in Nemesis; Burgoyne in The Mystery of the Spanish Chest) was Dr. Warlock in Pyramids of Mars
• Primi Townsend [born Beardsley] (Diana) was Mula in The Pirate Planet
• Aubrey [Harold] Woods (Tailor) was the Controller in Day of the Daleks
• Walter Henry [born Israel Nagelkop] (Juror here; Waiter in Evil Under the Sun) was an Extra in The Myth Makers (2) and The Silurians (6), Primord in Inferno, and Brother in The Masque of Mandragora
• Harry Van Engel (Juror) was a Kaled Scientist in Genesis of the Daleks
• Zulema [Noel] Dene [born Walliker] (Miss Johnson) voiced Danna for Soldier Obscura (2018)
• Cliff Culley (optical FX) was VFX designer on Planet of the Daleks, Invasion of the Dinosaurs and Robot
• Maurice Gillett was supervising electrician on both Dalek films too

Doctor Who Vs. Day of the Triffids

 The BBC's second, lavish re-

working of John Wyndham's

classic sci-fi novel was first

shown over two nights at

Christmas 2009 - it followed

 the Corporation's more 

 faithful TV version of 1981.

After readings of the book

on the BBC Home Service in

1953, radio productions were
broadcast in 1957, 1968 and
2001, and a cinema adapt-
ation (starring Carole Ann 
Ford) was released by Rank
in 1962.

Published in 1951, this post-

apocalyptic thriller is the best-known work of English novelist Wyndham (1903-1969), and related the colonisation of Earth by an aggressive

plant species, the carnivorous Triffids. A sequel by Simon Clark, The

Night of the Triffids (2001) was adapted by Big Finish in 2014, then transmitted on BBC Radio two years later.

Both feature-length episodes were repeated on 5Action today, and

featured Joely Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, Eddie Izzard, Jason

Priestley, and eighteen Doctor Who cast connections:

• [Stephen] Dougray Scott (Bill Masen) played Major Alec Palmer in Hide
• Brian [Denis] Cox (Dennis) voiced the Ood Elder in The End of Time, and depicted Sydney Newman in An Adventure in Space and Time
• Troy Glasgow (Troy) was Angelo in The Time of Angels
• Big Finish actor/writer Lizzie Hopley (Hilda) voiced Gemma Griffin for Terror Firma (2005), Sue for Night Thoughts, Lady Lillian Hawthorne for The Veiled Leopard, Yarvell for I, Davros (all 2006), the Mantasphid Queen for The Infinite Quest, Brinna, Secretary and Comp for Cyberman, Sister Christie for The Emporium at the End (both 2016), Miss Steel for The Creeper (2020), and Camper for Silver Medal (2021)
• Steven [William Thomas] Elder [born Lawrence] (Koch) voiced Commander Farrow for Jubilee (2003), Siy Tarkov for Dalek Empire (2004), Eric Rawden for Something Inside (2006), Lord Lycaon for I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day and Brightly Shone the Moon That Night, and Rudolph for Blood on Santa's Claw (all 2019)
• William [Michael] Ilkley (Jeff) was Tim Bass in The Mark of the Rani
• Paul Chahidi (Vronsky) voiced Hason for The Destroyer of Delights (2009), George Townsend for Industrial Evolution (2011), and the Shepherd for Persuasion, and Daleks Among Us (both 2013)
• Julia Joyce (Imogen) was the Young Rose Tyler in Father's Day, and Holly Frobisher in Torchwood: Children of Earth
• Raji James (Doctor) was Dr. Rajesh Singh in Doomsday and Army of Ghosts
• Rita Davies (Wheelchair Woman) voiced Janneus for Primeval (2001), and Tashek for Innocence (2006)
• Stephanie Carey (Barricade Woman) was a stunt performer on ten episodes (from Voyage of the Damned to The Vanquishers)
• Greg Bennett (Soldier) was a Guard in Dalek, Sycorax Warrior and UNIT Soldier in The Christmas Invasion, and Guest in The Lazarus Experiment
• Amanda Foster was a stunt performer on The Doctor's Daughter too
• Will [John] Willoughby [born Haynes] was also a stuntman on nine adventures (from Rose to A Town Called Mercy) and Torchwood
• Marcus Catlin was also the first assistant director on The Hungry Earth, Cold Blood, The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang
• Neal Champion was the SFX supervisor on An Adventure in Space and Time too
• Carly Reddin (props) was art director on Cold War
• Simon Diggins was also ADR recordist on twenty-five stories (from The Day of the Doctor to Twice Upon a Time)

Doctor Who Vs. Flood

This British disaster film (released by Lionsgate in 2007) was shown on 5 Action today, and was based on the eco-thriller written by Guernsey-born climate change expert, Richard Doyle. The novel depicts the aftermath of a devastating Atlantic storm on the British Isles. Present day London is threatened by a catastrophic flood (then subsequent fires from a refinery explosion), and the Thames Barrier fails. 

The drama (first broadcast on ITV as a mini-series in May 2008 and

repeated on ITV3 in Janaury 2011) however, concentrates on the

flooding of the capital. Ironically, the city's saviour proves to be the

weather, and rain extinguishes the second Great Fire. Doyle's book

(published in 2002) is highly detailed and researched, full of incident

and characterisation, with a true sense of scale and realism. Flood

conveys a thoroughly convincing scenario, presented with tangible 

peril and rising panic - a highly recommended and insightful read

that remains one of my favourite books.

The extended two-part TV version of Flood featured Robert Carlyle,

Jessalyn Gilsig, Joanne Whalley, Tom Hardy, Tom Courtenay, David 

Hayman, and eleven Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• David [Courtney] Suchet (Campbell) played the Landlord in Knock Knock
• Nigel [George] Planer (Hopkins) was Vorgenson in The Monsters Are Coming!, and voiced Marlow for Big Finish's Hothouse (2009), then the Old Emperor and Herrax for Empire of the Racnoss (2017)
• Rob Dixon (Bryant) voiced Reggie Mead for Project: Twilight (2001), and Sergeant Wood for No Man's Land (2006)
• Pip [Dean] Torrens (Richardson) was Headmaster Rocastle in Human Nature and The Family of Blood, then voiced Charlie Gibbs for Eldrad Must Die! (2013)
• Martin Ball (Wyatt) was Roger Davey in Partners in Crime
• Chrissie Cotterill (Christine) was Madame Vernet in Vincent and the Doctor
• John Benfield [born Jonathan Edmund Fulford Turner] (Frank) voiced Don for Autumn (2007), and Captain Greeg for The Song of Megaptera (2010)
• stunt co-ordinator Jim Dowdall had uncredited roles in Day of the Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks and Frontios
• Christopher Fosh (Engineer) and stuntman Steve Griffin both worked on The Idiot's Lantern too
• Susan Wooldridge (Nash's Assistant) auditioned for the role of Leela in 1976

Doctor Who Vs. Van Der Valk, Series 1

This classic ITV crime drama starred Barry
Foster as the titular Dutch detective, and
was based on characters created by Nicolas
Freeling for his Van Der Valk books in 1962.
Produced at Thames Television's studios in
 London, location scenes were shot in
Amsterdam, and the series first aired in the
autumn of 1972. The show was was revived
in 1991, and Marc Warren was cast in the
recent modern remake.
A repeat run of the first, six-part season

(including an episode directed by Douglas

Camfield) began on Talking Pictures TV

tonight - it featured Richard Hurndall,

Trevor Martin, and a total of thirteen

Doctor Who cast connections:

• [John] Clifford Rose (Boersma here; De Groote in Series 3) was Rorvik in Warriors' Gate
• Michael [Pierce] Turner (Dr. Smeding) was Jarvis Bennett in The Wheel in Space
• Dave Carter (Stribos) was a Rebel in (episode 1 of) The Power of the Daleks, IE Guard in The Invasion (1), titular reptile in The Silurians, Primord in Inferno, Attendant in Terror of the Autons (1), Prison Officer in The Mind of Evil, Skybase Guard in The Mutants (1), Roundhead Officer in The Time Monster (3), Sergeant Duffy in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1), and Grierson in The Android Invasion
• [John] Colin McCormack (Sailor) was the Commander in The Sun Makers
• James Cairncross (Dr. Jagerman) was Lemaitre in The Reign of Terror, and Beta in The Krotons
• [Sarah] Patricia Quinn (Yvonne) was Belazs in Dragonfire
• Jonathan Newth (Chemist) was Orfe in Underworld
• [Albert] Geoffrey Bayldon (Kettner) was the oldest actor to portray the Doctor in any medium - he starred in Big Finish's Auld Mortality (2003) and A Storm of Angels (2005), and he was also Organon in The Creature from the Pit
• Peter [Wiliam] Pratt (Westermann) was the Master in The Deadly Assassin 
• John [Morgan] Rees (Mulhauzen) and Harold [born Israel] Goldblatt (Moen) both appeared in Frontier in Space, as Hardy and Professor Dale
• Michael [Lawson] Sheard [born Perkins] (Harkemer here; Ruytens in Series 3) was Rhos in The Ark (2), Dr. Roland Summers in The Mind of Evil, Laurence Scarman in Pyramids of Mars, Lowe in The Invisible Enemy, Mergrave in Castrovalva, the Headmaster in Remembrance of the Daleks, then voiced Orsino for The Stones of Venice (2001)
• Christopher Matthews (Receptionist) was Radar Technician in The Tenth Planet