Doctor Who Vs. Agatha Christie, Part 2

"Loss of memory cases are rare, but occasionally genuine"

Poirot, The Disappearance of Mr. Dagenham (1924)

BBC2 first transmitted Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures in September 2004. This feature-length biopic - told in flashback from Agatha's point of view - documented

her famous disappearance of 1926. Here, her psychiatrist concluded that the novelist (portrayed by Olivia Williams) had been in a fugue state at the time, and her amnesia was genuine (see Part 1).

The programme was repeated on BBC4 in 2008, and featured Mark Gatiss (as Kenyon), and six other Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Anna Massey (Older Agatha) voiced Miss Pollard for Big Finish's The Girl Who Never Was (2007)
• Raymond Coulthard (Archie Christie) voiced Loki, Edgar and Hawks for Cobwebs (2010), and Ralph for Suburban Hell
• Anthony O'Donnell (Kenward and Hercule Poirot) was Commander Kaagh in The Sarah Jane Adventures: Enemy of the Bane and The Last Sontaran
• Bertie Carvel (Max Mallowan) was the 'Mysterious Man' in The Lazarus Experiment
• Olivia Darnley (Nurse) made a cameo appearance in The Five(ish) Doctors
• Mick Pantaleo was also the first assistant director on A Christmas Carol, The Doctor's Wife and Night Terrors

Sky Arts' Agatha Christie Vs. Hercule Poirot, also examined the writer's
disappearance in the context of the reception to her latest novel, The Murder 
of Roger Ackroyd.
Gareth Roberts' series four story, The Unicorn and the Wasp (2008) depicts the events (albeit fictional) leading up to Agatha's disappearance. By the end of the episode, the action has moved from the atypical Christie 'whodunnit' setting - the English country house - to Silent Pool, where the novelist's car was actually found abandoned. Here, Agatha (now played by Fenella Woolgar, pictured) is briefly possessed by the alien firestone, and falls unconscious. The Doctor now realises that this incident caused her memory loss, and takes the writer to Harrogate ten days later (ie. the day before she was discovered). In the TARDIS, the Doctor shows Donna a copy of Death in the Clouds (1935), a book in which a wasp sting is an apparent cause of death - so Agatha's amnesia was not complete, she remembered the Vespiform. Even by the year 5 billion, Christie is still the best selling author of all time.

Great Doctor Who Quotes #5

"Homo sapiens! What an inventive, invincible species. It's only a few million years since
they crawled up out of the mud and learned to walk. Puny, defenceless bipeds. They've survived flood, famine, and plague. They've survived cosmic wars and holocausts. And now, here they are, out among the stars, waiting to begin a new life. Ready to out-sit eternity. They're indomitable!"

- The Doctor, The Ark in Space, Part 1 (January 25 1975)

Written by Robert Holmes

Doctor Who Vs. I, Monster

Shown on the Horror channel today, this Amicus feature starred genre legends Christopher Lee (born 1922) and Peter Cushing (as Dr. Marlowe and Frederick Utterson).

I, Monster was writer (and co-producer) Milton Subotsky's take on the classic gothic novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, first published in 1886. This version is considered very faithful to Stevenson's book, but is set in Edwardian London.

Released by British Lion in 1971, the film featured six other Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Richard Hurndall (Lanyon) played the First Doctor (pictured) in The Five Doctors
• Susan Jameson (Diane) voiced Mrs. Moynihan for The Spectre of Lanyon Moor (Big Finish, 2000), then the recurring character of Mrs. Wibsey for the Hornets' Nest (2009), Demon Quest (2010), and Serpent Crest (2011) series from AudioGo (she had been cast as Morgan for Colony in Space but was replaced by Tony Caunter)
• Ian McCulloch (Man) was Nilson in Warriors of the Deep
• Aimée Delamain (Landlady) was Dona Arana in (the first part of) The Two Doctors
• fellow producer Max Rosenberg and Buster Ambler (sound mixer) both worked on the two Dalek films

New Doctor Who Companion Announced

The BBC today named the actor cast as the new male companion to join Doctor Who later this year. Samuel Anderson will play Danny Pink (pictured), a colleague of Clara at Coal Hill School. Anderson and Jenna Coleman worked together before on Emmerdale.

On joining the programme, Anderson said "I was so excited to join Doctor Who.. it's a quintessential part of British culture and I can't believe I'm part of it. It's an honour to work alongside Peter Capaldi and Jenna and I can't wait to show people how my character becomes involved with such a fantastic duo!"

Doctor Who Vs. The Beast Must Die

This low-budget British B-movie was shown on the Horror channel yesterday. In fact, the production - released in 1974 - was so cheap that an Alsatian doubled for the werewolf! Peter Cushing led the cast here (pictured as Dr Lundgren) in another Amicus horror feature, again co-produced by the Dalek film makers, Max Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky.

Eight other co-stars with Doctor Who connections here are:

• Michael Gambon (Jarmokowski) portrayed both Elliot and Kazran Sardick in A Christmas Carol
• Anton Diffring (Pavel) was De Flores in Silver Nemesis
• Tom Chadbon (Foote) played Duggan in City of Death, Merdeen in The Mysterious Planet, and voiced Gordon for No More Lies (Big Finish, 2007)
• Sam Mansary (Butler) was a Delegate in Mission to the Unknown, a Journalist in The War Machines, and a Diplomat in Day of the Daleks
• Andrew Lodge (Pilot) was an Assistant in The Savages
• Carl Bohen (Hunter) was a Tharil in Warriors' Gate
• Valentine Dyall (the Break voice) was the Black Guardian from The Armageddon Factor to Enlightenment, and voiced Slarn for Slipback (Radio 4, 1985)
• Bill Mitchell (Narrator) was a Newcaster in Frontier in Space, and voiced Zor for The Pescatons (Argo, 1976)
• Ted Samuels had also worked on SFX for both Dalek films

Great Doctor Who Quotes #4

"Believe me child, your future lies with David and not with a silly old duffer like me... One day I shall come back. Yes. I shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine."

- The Doctor, The Dalek Invasion of Earth: Flashpoint 

(Boxing Day 1964)

Written by Terry Nation

(this speech also formed the pre-credit sequence to The Five Doctors, and featured in An Adventure in Space and Time)

Radio Times TV Review of 2013

That venerable publishing colossus, Christmas perennial, and loyal

Doctor Who advocate, the Radio Times, has revealed the results of their annual survey. Their website's top forty shows of the year has placed the programme at a respectable number twenty-two (down from number fifteen last year, and probably due to a reduced run of episodes). Mark Gatiss' one-off anniversary drama, An Adventure in Space and Time - his "love letter" to Doctor Who - also polled in thirteenth position.

  RT writer and resident Whovian Patrick Mulkern comments:

22) Doctor Who BBC1 
Despite peripheral distractions (stamps, books, docs, a Prom), fans could be forgiven for thinking the golden anniversary was lean in terms of transmitted episodes. The concluding chunk of series 7 was a stew of corkers and stinkers, with Mark Gatiss’ juicy pastiche The Crimson Horror (with Diana Rigg) eclipsing Neil Gaiman’s Cyber-tripe Nightmare in Silver. Steven Moffat’s big celebration special, simulcast in 94 countries, ticked fan boxes by deftly weaving old Who with new. Yet at a time when ever-younger Time Lords seemed in vogue, he and Gatiss boldly volleyed Peter Capaldi (55), David Bradley (71), John Hurt (73) and even the majestic Tom Baker (79) into primetime TV as viable Doctors. 

13)  An Adventure In Space and Time BBC2 
Taking its title from a tagline printed on every 1960s RT billing for Doctor Who, Mark Gatiss’ account of the show’s origins was meticulously and lovingly mounted, celebrating the team of outsiders who, 50 years ago, shook up the fusty Corporation and gave birth to a TV phenomenon. Doubly poignant, An Adventure was the last drama made at BBC TV Centre and showed how Doctor Who captivated, then cast aside, its original star William Hartnell. So much more than a startling looky-likey, David Bradley brought a terrier’s bite, a twinkle and immense pathos to Hartnell and the character he created. He deserves a Bafta.