Sunday 10 March 2024

Doctor Who Vs. Wycliffe, Series 1

HTV (Harlech Television until
2004, and now ITV Cymru/
Wales and ITV West Country)
produced this police proced-
ural drama based on the crime
novels of William John Burley
 (1914-2002).
Between 1968 and 2000, the
writer created twenty-two
traditional whodunnits - all set
in his native Cornwall, they
featured detective Charles
Wycliffe -  portrayed here by
Jack Shepherd (pictured
centre). The programme was filmed in the historic county (with a
production office based in Truro), and the cast included Jimmy Yuill
(right, as DI Kersey), and Helen Masters (left, DI Lane).
The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction (2003) notes that Wycliffe
was just one of a group of 1990's crime dramas that contrasted older
detectives with their younger colleagues who are not only better
equipped with newer techniques, but are more politically correct (see
Inspector MorseA Touch of FrostVera). Regionally based series like
Wycliffe were the opposite of socially realist fare like CrackerPrime SuspectWhitechapel and Luther.
Following a pilot episode, the show endured for five series from 1994
 to 1998, and won an RTS award for best TV theme. In 2006, ITV's
Super Sleuths strand examined the legacy of Wycliffe and his literary
peers.
All seven mysteries here were adapted from Burley's books, whilst
all later stories were original screenplays. A repeat run of the first
season began on ITV3 last night - it featured a total of thirty-three
Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

The Cycle of Death (UK TX: August 7 1993/Published 1990)
  • [John] Pennant Roberts was also director of The Face of EvilThe Sun MakersThe Pirate PlanetThe Five DoctorsWarriors of the Deep, Timelash and (the VHS release of) Shada
  • Siri O'Neal (Christine) voiced Colonel Emily Chaudhry for Big Finish's UNIT (2004/5), and Ruth for Full Fathom Five (2003)
  • [Eve Lucinda] Lucy Fleming (Helen) voiced Lady Catherine Waverly for Manhunt (2013), Alice Donelly for UNIT: Invocation (2017), and Veronica Holmes for The Auton Infinity (2022)
  • Carla Mendonca (DS Lane) voiced Waltraud Raither for Better Watch Out, Imp for Fairytale of Salzburg (both 2018), and Evangeline Horton for The House on the Edge of Chaos (2019)
  • John [Edward] Cater (Glynn) was Professor Krimpton in The War Machines 
  • Tim Munro (Sergeant Fox) was Ainu in The Creature from the Pit, and Sigurd in Terminus
  • Herbert [Thomas Morgan] Rees (Dr. Rees) was the Chief Engineer in Fury from the Deep, Captain Ransom in The War Games, and John Stevenson in The Seeds of Doom 
  • April Walker (Florence) was originally cast as Sarah Jane Smith in 1973, and even attended rehearsals for The Time Warrior
  • John Robinson was also the grip on ninety-six adventures (from Rose to The Husbands of River Song) and Torchwood
  • Steve Slocombe was also the electrician on sixty-five stories (from Army of Ghosts to Death in Heaven)
The Four Jacks (UK TX: July 24 1994/Published 1985)
  • Bill [Francis] Nighy (Cleeve) was Dr. Black in Vincent and the Doctor
  • Nicholas Gecks (Surgeon) was Albert Dumfries in The Sound of Drums
  • Georgine Anderson (Barbara) was May Cassini in Gridlock
  • Pandora [Beatrice Ormsby Gore] Colin (Millie) voiced Fash for Prisoner of the Su(2011)
  • series script supervisor Elaine Matthews held that post on The Girl Who Waited and The God Complex too
The Dead Flautist (UK TX: July 31/Published 1991)
  • Kenneth [Murray] Watson (Carter) was Craddock in Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 AD, and Bill Duggan in The Wheel in Space
  • Mary Wimbush (Mrs. Christopher) was Aunt Lavinia Smith in K9 and Company
  • [Michael Thomas] Jeremy Clyde (Bottrell) voiced George Sinclair for Absent Friends (2016), Lord Braye for Planet of the Drashigs (2019), and Tony Clare for Stranded (2020-22)
  • David [James] Bamber (Bottrell) was Captain Quell in Mummy on the Orient Express, and voiced Emperor Constantine for The Council of Nicaea (2005), and Colonel Ulrik/Whitmore for The Four Doctors (2010)
  • Dee Sadler (WPC) was Flowerchild in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
The Scapegoat (UK TX: August 7/Published 1978)
  • Susan Penhaligon (Mariah) was Lakis in The Time Monster, then voiced Shayla for Primeval (2001), Dorka/Mummy Voc for Circuit Breaker (2020), Florence Harding for A Ghost of Alchemy, and Mrs. Bevell for The Colour of Terror (both 2023)
  • series make-up designer Barbara Southcott also worked on ninety-one instalments (from The Runaway Bride to The Doctor Falls), and Music of the Spheres
The Tangled Web (UK TX: August 14/Published 1988)
  • Robert Demeger (Clemo) was the Preacher in The Shakespeare Code
  • Eric [Cecil] Deacon (Innes) was Mykros in Timelash
  • Richenda Carey (Jane) voiced Alexis Linfoot for Plague of the Daleks (2009), Gliss for Prisoner of the Sun, Sister Frances Beckett for The Cloisters of Terror (2015), Mother Finsey for The Transcendence of Ephros (2016) and The Last Day 1 (2023), Professor Blavatsky for The Wreck of the World (2017), Lady Crozion for Kingdom of Lies (2018), Darial for The Bekdel Test, and Admiral for Concealed Weapon (both 2019)
The Last Rites (UK TX: August 21/Published 1992)
  • Jeff Rawle (Jordan) was Plantagenet in Frontios, Lionel Harding in The Sarah Jane Adventures: Mona Lisa's Revenge, and depicted Mervyn Pinfield in An Adventure in Space and Time - he then voiced Toby Brokesmith for Chapel of Night (2017), Chad Caramel for The Tyrants of Logic (2018), and Captain Miles Rozann for Here Lies Drax (2022)
  • [Peter] Nigel Terry (Vinter) was General Cobb in The Doctor's Daughter
  • Ellie Haddington (Katherine) was Professor Docherty in Last of the Time Lords
  • Julia Deakin (Stephanie) voiced Harriet Griffin for Terror Firma (2005), and Old Anita for Burrowed Time (2019)
  • Geoffrey Leesley (Glynn) voiced Paramount Minister Mortun for Arrangements for Wa(2004), and Harold for AudioGo's The Broken Crown (2011)
The Pea Green Boat (UK TX: August 28/Published 1975)
  • Barry Jackson (Greaves) was Ascaris in The Romans, Jeff Garvey in Mission to the Unknown, and Drax in The Armageddon Factor
  • David Westhead (Tremaine) was Kempe in The Shakespeare Code
  • Brigit Forsyth (Ella) was Ruth Maxtible in The Evil of the Daleks

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