Doctor Who Vs. State of Play

This landmark political thriller (a co

production with Endor) - written and

co-produced by Paul Abbott - was

 originally broadcast on both BBC1

and BBC4 in the spring of 2003.

 Directed by prospective Doctor Who

filmmaker David Yates, the drama

 won three BAFTA awards. A planned

 sequel remains unmade.

 The series was repeated on BBC4

from August 2004, then shown on

BBC America in 2005. Universal's

film version, starring Russell Crowe

and Helen Mirren, was released in

2009.

The six-part series is available to stream on U (formerly UKTV play)

- it featured John Simm (pictured right as McCaffrey), his Life on Mars

co-star Philip Glenister, Tom Burke (Strike), Geraldine James, James

McAvoy, Kelly Macdonald, and these twenty-two Doctor Who cast and

crew connections:

• David Morrissey (Collins, left) was Jackson Lake in The Next Doctor
• Bill [Francis] Nighy (Best Actor BAFTA winner for his role as Foster) was Dr. Black in Vincent and the Doctor
• Marc Warren (Foy) was Elton Pope in Love & Monsters
• Rebekah Staton (Liz) was Jenny/Mother of Mine in Human Nature and The Family of Blood
• Sean Gilder (DS Cheweski) and Greg Bennett (Constable) both starred in The Christmas Invasion, as the Sycorax Leader and Warrior respectively - Bennett was also Guest in The Lazarus Experiment
• Nick Brimble (DCC Janson) voiced Shreeni for Exotron (2007), Kith for Max Warp (2008), Dudley Jackson for The Eternal Summer (2009), Olaf Eriksson for The Book of Kells (2010), and Commander Harlan for The Conscript (2017)
• Anthony Flanagan (Man) was Orin Scannell in 42
• Bruce Lawrence (Jack) was the Engineer in Voyage of the Damned
• Michael Gould (Merrick) voiced Frederick Lindemann for The Oncoming Storm (2016)
• Madeleine [Daly] Potter (Tate) voiced Lizzie Williams for Assassin in the Limelight (2008), Yoanna Rayluss for Cradle of the Snake (2010), and Lady Ferrril for Ferril's Folly (2011)
• prolific Big Finish actor Aaron Neil (Paramedic) was Dunlop in The Magician's Apprentice, and Varun Singh in Class, then voiced Tir Ram for All-Consuming Fire, Sanukuma Master for The Rulers of the Universe, Surene Priest for The Boundless Sea (all 2015), Aramatz for The Very Dark Things, Stephano/Klossi/Trink/Setebos for Maker of Demons, David for UNIT: Silenced, Steven Godbold for Five Twenty-Nine, Computer for World Enough and Time, Mandrake for The Torchwood Archive (all 2016), Gorky Sax for The Year After I Died (2017), Gobran for The Poison of Peladon (2022), and Kujad Stak for The Ruins of Kaerula (2025)
• Ian Hughes (Radiologist) was Knibbs in Empress of Mars
• Chris Jarman (Sergeant) and Polly [Alexandra] Walker (Anne) both starred in The Movellan Grave (2017), as Chenek and Commander Narina - Jarman was also Dancer in The Curse of the Black Spot, then voiced Joel Sanders for Tempest, Kyphus for Planet of Dust (both 2019), Cardinal Rasmus for Time War 4 (2020), The War Doctor Begins 1 and War Room 1, the Pastor/Vesht/Gorn for Dalek Universe 1 (2021), and Patthos for Eclipse (2022)
• Fred Pearson (Dad) was the Barista in The Bells of Saint John, whilst Thomas Elgood was location manager on that episode too
• Christopher Obi (Journalist) was George in Closing Time
• David Ryall (Coutts) voiced Carthok for Phantasmagoria (1999)
• Lucy Allen (Passerby) was stunt performer on The Zygon Inversion
• Paul Frift was also producer of In the Forest of the Night and Last Christmas
• first assistant director Stephen Wolfenden was director of Nightmare in Silver