Doctor Who Vs. Raiders of the Lost Ark

The first instalment in the Indiana
Jones movie franchise (directed by

Steven Spielberg) was released by

Paramount Pictures in 1981.

Star Wars creator George Lucas
conceived the archaeologist hero

in 1973 with The Adventures of

Indiana Smith, and Raiders was

 eventually developed between

1978 and 1980. 

Han Solo actor, Harrison Ford (born

 in Chicago in 1942) was cast as Dr.

Henry Walton Jones Jr. just three

weeks before filming began.

The film garnered many prizes in

1982, including five Oscars, seven

Saturn awards, a Grammy, a Hugo,

and BAFTA award. Following the popular and critical success of Raiders, a

prequel (The Temple of Doom) and two sequels (The Last Crusade and

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) were produced, and even spawned a spin-

off series for American TV, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Over forty

years on, the saga continues - a fifth Indiana Jones adventure, The Dial

of Destiny, opened in the summer of 2023.

Shown on ITV2 tonight, the adventure featured Karen Allen (Marion),

John Rhys Davies (Sallah), Denholm Elliott (Marcus Brody), and these

twenty-three Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Paul [born Peter John] Freeman (Dr. Belloq) voiced Jalnik for Big Finish's The Foe from the Future (2011)
• Ronald [William] Lacey (Toht) was offered the role of Jobel in November 1984, but Clive Swift was cast in Revelation of the Daleks
• Vic Tablian [born Varoujan Aintablian] (Barranca) made his TV debut as Ahmed in (part 1 of) Pyramids of Mars
• Wolf Kahler (Dietrich) voiced the Cart Driver for Blood and Steel (2022)
• Sonny Caldinez (Mongolian) was Kemel in The Evil of the Daleks, then titular Martians in The Ice Warriors (as Turoc), The Seeds of Death (Warrior), The Curse of Peladon (Ssorg), and The Monster of Peladon (Sskel)
• Tutte Lemkow [born Isak Samuel Lemkow] (Iman) was Kuiju in Marco Polo, Ibrahim  in The Crusdae (4), and Cyclops in The Myth Makers 
• Kiran Shah (Abu) was the Figure in Listen, and Emojibot in Smile
• John [Morgan] Rees (Sergeant) was Hardy in Frontier in Space
• Michael [Lawson] Sheard [born Perkins] (Captain here; Hitler in The Last Crusade) was Rhos in The Ark (2), Dr. Roland Summers in The Mind of Evil, Laurence Scarman in Pyramids of Mars, Supervisor Lowe in The Invisible Enemy, Mergrave in Castrovalva, the Headmaster [Harvey Parson] in Remembrance of the Daleks, and Chief Baxter in Fury from the Deep (2002) - he also voiced Duke Orsino for The Stones of Venice (2001)
• Nick Gillard (German Soldier here, Tank Crewman in The Last Crusade) was the stunt arranger on Silver Nemesis (2)
• Russell Brook (Soldier) was Schoolboy in Mawdryn Undead (2), Man-at-arms in The King's Demons, Crewman in Warriors of the Deep, Attendant in Revelation of the Daleks (1), Lakertyan/Tetrap/Genius in Time and the Rani, and Chimeron in Delta and the Bannermen (1)
• Peter Ross Murray (Guard) was also a Lakertyan
• Barry [John] Summerford (Soldier) was Golden Age Man in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (6), Elite Guard in Genesis of the Daleks, Vogan in Revenge of the Cybermen (1), Private Thurston in Terror of the Zygons (2), UNIT Soldier in The Seeds of Doom (6), Security Guard in The Hand of Fear (2), Audience Member in The Sun Makers (4), Shrieve in The Ribos Operation (4), Guard in The Armageddon Factor (1) and The Creature from the Pit (1), and Foster in The Keeper of Traken (1)
• Darrell Brook (Soldier) was Man-at-arms in The King's Demons, Lakertyan/Genius in Time and the Rani, and Navarino in Delta and the Bannermen (1)
• [Robert] Gerry Crampton (Soldier) was Captive in Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 AD
• Rick Lester (Soldier) was an Ogron in Day of the Daleks, Carnival of Monsters (2) and Frontier in Space
• stuntmen Peter Diamond, Harry Fielder, Peter Brace, Billy Horrigan and Bill Weston all had uncredited roles in the classic run (from The Daleks to Shada collectively)
• stuntmen Martin Grace and Rocky Taylor were a Thal in Dr. Who and the Daleks, and a stuntman on The Idiot's Lantern respectively