Doctor Who Vs. Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel

Agatha Christie's tenth Jane Marple
mystery (her fifty-sixth crime novel)
 was published in 1965, and serialised
 by Woman's Own in the UK, then by

Good Housekeeping in America.

The book was adapted for television

by BBC1, and originally screened in

the winter of 1987. A (less faithful)

ITV version followed thirty years later.

One of Miss Marple's few outings from

St. Mary Mead finds her staying in

London. Bertram's, the fictional

setting of the story, is thought to 
have been inspired by Brown's, a
 favourite haunt of Christie's, but 
could also have been based on another Mayfair hotel, Fleming's.

Series producer George Gallacio was production manager on thirty

episodes of the classic era (from Planet of the Daleks to The Seeds

of Doom). This two-part serial was repeated on Drama today - it

featured fifteen Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• George [Morris] Baker (DCI Davy here; Strange in Towards Zero, 1956; Whittington in The Secret Adversary, 1983; Weston in Evil Under the Sun, 1998; Spence for Mrs. McGinity's Dead, 2006) was Decider Login in Full Circle
• Preston [born Reginald Herbert] Lockwood (Pennyfather here/ Simmons, 1995; Waiter in The Unbreakable Alibi; Francois in The Chocolate Box) was Dojjen in Snakedance
• Big Finish actor Philip Bretherton (DI Campbell, right) voiced Plenipotentiary Suskind for Arrangements for War (2004), Elliot Payne for Jago & Litefoot 3, Scrivener for Recorded Time, Darcy, D'Urberville and Heathcliff for A Most Excellent Match (all 2011), Vituperon for The Devil's Armada (2014), and Sir Keith Kordel for Rise and Shine (2015)
• Edward [Noel] Burnham (Whittaker) was Professors Watkins and Kettlewell in The Invasion and Robot respectively
• Rashid Karapiet (Waiter) was Rita's Father in The God Complex
• [Anne] Kate Duchene (Rose) voiced Regina and Seraphim for The High Price of Parking (2017)
• cinematographer John Walker was a film cameraman on nine stories (from Horror of Fang Rock to Revelation of the Daleks)
• Bernard Ashby was film editor on Arc of Infinity too
• make-up artist Sheelagh Wells began her career as an uncredited assistant on Planet of the Spiders, worked on Mawdryn Undead, then returned to the revived run (for The Christmas Invasion to Doomsday)
• Judy Pepperdine was costume designer on Warriors of the Deep too
• Thea Murray and Patricia Greenland were also PAs (production assistants) on The Masque of Mandragora, and Full Circle/ Logopolis respectively
• Jo O'Leary was location manager on Revelation of the Daleks too
• Tony Redston was also production manager on The Mark of the Rani and Time and the Rani
• Christopher Sanderman was an AFM on the second Rani adventure too

In December 2004, BBC Radio 4 transmitted a five-part

adaptation of At Bertram's Hotel in December 2004. June

Whitfield again voiced Miss Marple, and was joined by

Geoffrey Bayldon, Preston Lockwood (see above) and

six classic series co-stars:

• [Manfred] Frederick Jaeger (DCI Davy here; the Count in The Fourth Man; Melchett in The Body in the Library, 1984) was Jano in The Savages, Sorenson in Planet of Evil, and Professor Marius in The Invisible Enemy
• [William] Maurice Denham (Pennyfather here; Japp in The Alphabet Murders; Parker Pyne in The Agatha Christie Hour; Poirot in The Mystery of the Blue Train, 1986) and Jillie Meers (Miss Gorringe here; Laura for The Unexpected Guest; Rhoda for The Pale Horse, 1993; Mrs. Lestrange for The Murder at the Vicarage, 1995) both starred in The Paradise of Death - as the President and UN Secretary General - Denham was also Azmael in The Twin Dilemma, whilst Meers also voiced Marcella/Baronessa for The Ghosts of N-Space [opposite Gavin Muir's (Malinowski here; Carey for Murder in Mesopotamia, 1994) Barone] then Mrs. McGrgor for Catch 1782 (2005)
• Dame Sian [Jane Elizabeth Ailwên] Phillips (Bess here; Princess for Murder on the Orient Express, 1993; Mrs. Lacey for The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, 2004; Laura in Mrs. McGinty's Dead, 2007) voiced COLT-5000 for Jenny 1, Pilgrim for Ravenous 2 (both 2018), the Inquisitor for Gallifrey (2020), the Director for The World Traders, and Lady Eugenia de Souza for Outback (both 2021)
• David Timson (DI Campbell here; Badcock/Vicar for The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, 1998; Blatt in Evil Under the Sun, 2001; Dr. Roberts for Cards on the Table, 2002) voiced Morpeth for The Trial of George Litefoot (2013)