Doctor Who Vs. Carry On Up The Khyber

The Carry On franchise consists of thirty low-budget British comedy features, produced from 1958 to 1978, whilst a final title (Carry On Columbus) was 
released in 1992. Thames Television later screened four Carry On Christmas
 specials between 1969 and 1973, followed by Carry On Laughing from ATV in 1975. The series also spawned three West End (1973-75) and regional stage plays (1976 and 1992), and even an album in 1971.

Anglo Amalgamated Films produced the first dozen titles (until 1966), and 

the Rank Organisation made the next nineteen. Writer Norman Hudis scripted the first six films, then was replaced by Talbot Rothwell who penned the next 

twenty. Every film was made at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, with 

most location filming undertaken nearby.

The films' humour (albeit dated and sexist by modern standards) was in 
the comic tradition of the British music halls and bawdy seaside postcards.
Producer Peter Rogers and director Gerald Thomas made all thirty-one films, 

and drew on their own repertory company of actors that included Kenneth 

Williams (who made 25 appearances), Joan Sims (24), Charles Hawtrey
 (23), Sid James (19), Kenneth Connor (17), Peter Butterworth (16), Hattie Jacques, Bernard Bresslaw (14 each), Jim Dale, Peter Gilmore (11 each), 
Barbara Windsor (10), Patsy Rowlands (9), Jack Douglas (8), and Terry 
Scott (7).
TV documentary What a Carry On? marked the fortieth anniversary of the 
series in 1998, and BBC Radio 2 broadcast a two-part celebration in 2010. 
ITV screened a three-part retrospective, also titled Carry On Forever, over 
Easter 2015 - shown on ITV3 today as part as a festive Carry On season.

The sixteenth instalment in the 
franchise was released in 1968, 
and is now widely considered 
one of the best entries in the run.

Regular series actors Sid James
(as Sir Sydney Ruff Diamond),
Kenneth Williams (the Khasi of
Kalabar), Joan Sims (Lady Joan), Charles Hawtrey (Private Widdle), Bernard Bresslaw (Bungit Din) and Peter Butterworth (Belcher) were joined by Angela Douglas (Princess Jelhi) in her fourth and final series role. Terry Scott (Sgt. Major MacNutt) returned after a minor role in Carry On Sergeant.

The comedy was a spoof of  the Kiplingesque portrayal of life in the British Raj,
and the Highland infantry (the Third Foot and Mouth Regiment) was inspired
by the epic British war film Zulu (1964). In typical risqué tradition, the film's
title (Khyber Pass) is rhyming-slang for arse.

The film (the second most popular release at the UK box office in 1969) was
shown today for ITV3's Easter Carry On season, and featured Roy Castle
(as romantic lead Captian Keene) and sixteen Doctor Who cast alumni:

• Castle (1932-1994) played Ian Chesterton in Dr. Who and the Daleks
• for Douglas see Carry On Screaming!
• David Spenser (Servant) was Thonmi in The Abominable Snowmen
• Derek Sydney (Major Domo) was Sevcheria in The Romans
• Steven Scott (Guard) was Kebble in The Power of the Daleks
• John Hallam (Burpa) was Light in Ghost Light
• Alan Bennion (Burpa) was Slaar in The Seeds of Death, Izlyr in The Curse of Peladon, and Azaxyr in The Monster of Peladon
• for Wanda Ventham (Wife), Peter Gilmore (Hale) and Walter Henry (Burpa) see Carry On Cleo
• Dinny Powell (Burpa) was a stuntman on (episode 1 of) Terror of the Autons, and Guard in The Curse of Peladon (4) and Genesis of the Daleks (3)
• for Julian Holloway (Shorthouse) and Simon Cain (Soldier) see Carry On At Your Convenience
• for Harry Fielder (Burpa) see Carry On Abroad
• for Aileen Lewis (Spectator) see Carry On Cruising
• Alf Mangan (Burpa here; Townsman in Carry On Cowboy; Assistant in Don't Lose Your Head; Camper in Carry On Camping; Audience in Carry On Girls) was an Extra in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD

Doctor Who Vs. The Witness For The Prosecution

Writer Sarah Phelps followed BBC One's 

And Then There Were None (2015) 

with another Agatha Christie thriller,
first shown at Christmas 2016.

The Witness for the Prosecution began

life as a short story, published as Traitor Hands by Flynn's Weekly in 1925.
The courtroom drama was first adapted
for radio in 1949, then was dramatised
for the London stage in late 1953.
During its run, Christie also had two
other plays staged, making her the
only female playwright to have three
productions performed simultaneously
in the West End.

The play was soon adapted for cinema
in 1957, starring Charles Laughton,
Marlene Dietrich and Tyrone Power.
The original story has now garnered
four treatments for television - 

previous serials appeared in 1949

(BBC), 1953 (CBS), 1982 (Hallmark).
Christie aficionado Kim Cattrall contacted Mammoth Screen when the BBC 

announced plans for the newest version, and was consequently cast as
Emily French.

A repeat run of this two-part mystery began on BBC Four last night - it 

featured Andrea Riseborough (as Romaine), Billy Howle (Leonard Vole), 

and nine Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Toby Jones (Mayhew here; Ratchett in Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express) was the Dream Lord in Amy's Choice, and voiced Kotris for Big Finish's Dark Eyes (2012)
• David Haig (Carter here; Horton in Marple: Murder is Easy) was Pangol in The Leisure Hive
• Tim McMullan (Meredith KC) voiced Octavian for Doom Coalition 3 (BF, 2016)
• Charles De'Ath (Deveraux) was Adelaide's Father in The Waters of Mars
• Andrew Havill (Starling here; Peel in Partners in Crime; Hjerson in Poirot: The Clocks) was the Chief Steward in Voyage of the Damned, and voiced Aleister Portillon and Squire Claude for The Witch From the Well (BF, 2011)
• executive producer Damian Timmer (here, Poirot, Marple, And Then There Were None and Ordeal By Innocence) made a cameo appearance in An Adventure in Space and Time as a Menoptera
• SFX supervisor Scott McIntyre was the armourer on The Day of the Doctor
• Julius Ogden (first assistant camera) was focus puller on nine stories (from Closing Time to the 50th Anniversary special)
• Joe Russell was also a camera operator on thirty-seven episodes (from Blink to the Anniversary special)

Doctor Who Vs. James Bond, Part 3

The first Bond film not conceived by the Eon
Productions stable was released by Columbia
Pictures in 1967, just two months before You 
Only Live Twice.
Producer Charles Feldman had acquired the
cinema rights to Casino Royale in 1960 with
the intention of adapting Ian Fleming's book
with Eon and, but negotiations with Broccoli
and Saltzman failed. Eon would not produce an
official version until 2006. Sir James Bond was
portrayed here by David Niven (1910-1983).

Eon's sixth entry in the Bond series premiered
in December 1969, and was based on Fleming's
novel of 1963, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Following Sean Connery's decision to relinquish
the role, Eon cast the unknown Australian actor
and model George Lazenby (born 1939) as 007. However, during production Lazenby resolved
to play the spy only once, and critical reaction
to his portrayal remains divided. Connery then
agreed to return to the part in 1971 for Eon's
next title, Diamonds Are Forever, then finally for the unofficial release,
Never Say Never Again in 1983.
Another Bond season continued on ITV4 last night with Lazenby's solo
outing - both films featured Bernard Cribbins and a total of twenty
Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

CASINO ROYALE

• Geoffrey Bayldon (Q) was Organon in The Creature from the Pit, and voiced Big Finish's Unbound First Doctor for Auld Mortality (2003) and A Storm of Angels (2005)
• Colin Gordon (Director) was the Commandant in The Faceless Ones
• Erik Chitty (Butler) was Charles Preslin in (episode 1 of) The Massacre, and Co-ordinator Engin in The Deadly Assassin
• Valentine Dyall (Assistant) was the Black Guardian in The Armageddon Factor, Mawdryn Undead, Terminus and Enlightenment, then voiced Slarn for Slipback
• John Hollis (Fred here; Blofeld in For Your Eyes Only) was Sondergaard in The Mutants
• Caroline Munro (Guard here; Naomi in The Spy Who Loved Me) voiced Sentia for Omega (2003)
• David Prowse (Creature) was the Minotaur in The Time Monster
• Robert Rowland (Agent) was an Extra in The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1)
• Mike Reid (Stunt Driver) was a Greek Soldier in The Myth Makers: Death of a Spy, a Guard in The Massacre: Bell of Doom, and Soldier in The War Machines
• Lewis Alexander (Passenger here; UN Delegate in Live and Let Die; Man in Octopussy; Patron in Never Say Never Again) was Army Officer in The War Machines (3)

ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE

• Diana Rigg (Tracy) was Winifred Gillyflower in The Crimson Horror
• Bernard Horsfall (Campbell) was Lemual Gulliver in The Mind Robber, a Time Lord in The War Games (10), Taron in Planet of the Daleks, Chancellor Goth in The Deadly Assassin, and voiced Arnold Baynes for Davros (2003)
• Geoffrey Cheshire (Toussaint) was the Viking Leader in The Time Meddler, Garge in Devil's Planet, and Tracy in The Invasion
• James Bree (Gumbold) was the Security Chief in The War Games, Nefred in Full Circle, and the Keeper of the Matrix in The Ultimate Foe
• Catherine Schell (Nancy) was the Countess Scarlioni in City of Death
• Joanna Lumley (English Girl) was the female Doctor in The Curse of Fatal Death
• David de Keyser (voice of Draco here; and Doctor in Diamonds Are Forever) provided the Atraxi voice in The Eleventh Hour
• Brian Grellis (Aide) was Sheprah in Revenge of the Cybermen, Safran in The Invisible Enemy, and the Megaphone Man in Snakedance (4)
• Dudley Jones (Porter) and Steve Plytas (Tycoon) both starred in The Tenth Planet, as Dyson and Wigner 

Doctor Who Vs. Dark Heart

This feature-length thriller from Silverprint
Pictures was based on the crime novels of
Adam Creed, and acted as the pilot for the
forthcoming series. Due to the closure of ITV
Encore later this month, the six-part run will
air on ITV.
The serial (an adaptation of Suffer the 
Children, published in 2009) is set during
an August heatwave in London, and DI Will
Wagstaffe (played by Tom Riley) led the
investigation into a series of brutal attacks
on unconvicted paedophiles.
Originally shown on Encore in November
2016, the drama was repeated last night,
and featured Miranda Raison (as Sylvie),
and seventeen other Doctor Who cast and
crew connections:

• Riley portrayed Robin Hood (pictured) in Robot of Sherwood
• prolific Big Finish actor Tim Treloar (DS Smethurst) voiced Van Cleef for Return of the Rocket Men, the Lord President for Dark Eyes, the Ancient One for Gods and Monsters, Lord Jack for Destination Nerva, Tyron for The Burning Prince (all 2012), Telephus and Cisyphus for Mask of Tragedy (2014), Ergu for The Exxilons, and Narrator for The Third Doctor Adventures (from 2015), Damascus (2016) and Gardeners' World (2017)
• Anji Mohindra (DC Chancellor) played Rani Chandra in The Sarah Jane Adventures, and voiced Jyoti Cutler for Scavenger (2014)
• Nicholas Asbury (Dawlish) was Etoine in The Zygon Inversion, and voiced Rowe for The Many Deaths of Jo Grant (2011), Burmaster for UNIT: Assembled, and Chordok for The Silurian Candidate (both 2017)
• Robert Hands (Nico) was Algy in The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances, and later voiced Captain Solex for The War Doctor 2, Pope Leo X for The Ravelli Conspiracy, Daniel Defoe for The Diary of River Song 2 (all 2016), and Lagrange for The First Doctor 2 (2017)
• T'Nia Miller (Gail) was the General in Hell Bent
• Justin Salinger (Regis) was Tasker in Oxygen
• Franc Ashman (Lisa) was Christine in The Big Bang
• Teresa Banham (Greta) was the Governor of HMP Broadfell in The End of Time
• Eugene Washington (Mallory) was Mr. Wagner in School Reunion
• Roy Holder (Caretaker) was Krelper in The Caves of Androzani 
• Polly Polivnick (Holly) was Peggy in Village of the Angels
• line producer Debbi Slater was production manager on Blink, Planet of the Ood, The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky, The Unicorn and the Wasp, Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead, then associate producer on Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
• Colin Teague also directed The Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords, The Fires of Pompeii and Torchwood
• producer Chris Clough was the director of Terror of the Vervoids, The Ultimate Foe, Delta and the Bannermen, Dragonfire, The Happiness Patrol and Silver Nemesis
• Philip Hookway was film editor on Flatline too
• Mick Pantaleo was also the first assistant director on A Christmas Carol, The Doctor's Wife and Night Terrors

Doctor Who Vs. James Bond, Part 2

The next two instalments in the James Bond film franchise were released in 1965 and 1967.

Thunderball and You Only Live Twice were based
on an Fleming's eighth and eleventh full length
novels, published in 1961 and 1964 - the latter
title was adapted by the prolific Welsh children's
author Roald Dahl (1916-1990).

Eon Productions intended to follow From Russia 
With Love (1963) with an adaptation of Casino 
Royale (the first Bond novel from 1953), but were
again thwarted by legal issues. The alternative
project, Thunderball became the most successful
feature in the run to date.

The Bond series was especially popular in Japan,

so Eon's next production was set and filmed in
that country, and You Only Live Twice proved to
be Sean Connery's last regular portrayal as the
titular spy.

Another Bond season continued on ITV4 last night and these two entries featured Anthony Ainley (as Policeman in You Only Live Twice), and 
a total of twenty-six other Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

THUNDERBALL

• Earl Cameron (Pinder) was Williams in The Tenth Planet
• Philip Locke (Vargas) was both Bigon and the voice of Control in Four to Doomsday
• George Pravda (Kutze) was Denes in The Enemy of the World, Professor Jaeger in The Mutants, and Castellan Spandrell in The Deadly Assassin
• Leonard Sachs (Captain) was the Admiral Gaspard de Coligny in The Massacre, and Lord President Borusa (pictured) in Arc of Infinity
• Edward Underdown (Air Vice Marshal) was Zastor in Meglos      
• Gabor Baraker (Representative) was Wang-Lo in Marco Polo, and Luigi Ferrigo in (episode 2 of) The Crusade: The Knight of Jaffa
• Clive Cazes (Number 9) was the Guard Captain in The Massacre
• Neil Hallett (Pilot) was Maylin Renis in Timelash
• André Maranne (Number 10) was Roger Benoit in The Moonbase
• Jack Silk was a stuntman on The Daemons (4) too
• stuntman Bernard Barnsley was a Monoid in The Ark, and a UNIT Soldier in The Silurians (2)
• Peter Roy (006) was a Greek Soldier in The Myth Makers, Sergeant in The Faceless Ones (1), UNIT Bunker Soldier in The Invasion (1), Guard in six stories [The Seeds of Death (1), The Space Pirates (1), The Face of Evil (1), The Invasion of Time (1), The Androids of Tara (1), The Armageddon Factor (1)], Technic Obarl in The Hand of Fear (1), Policeman in Logopolis (1), Ambulance Man in Castrovalva (1), Market Man in Snakedance (1), and Extra in The Highlanders (1), The Silurians (6), The Sun Makers (1) and Resurrection of the Daleks (1)

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE

• Ronald Rich (Hans) was Gunnar in The Time Meddler, and Trantis in Mission to the Unknown
• George Baker (NASA Engineer here; Bray in OHMSS; and Benson in The Spy Who Loved Me) was Decider Login in Full Circle
• Ed Bishop (CapCom here; and Hergersheimer in Diamonds are Forever) voiced General Finch for Big Finish's Unbound: Full Fathom Five (2003)
• Shane Rimmer (Operator here; Tom in Diamonds are Forever; Hamilton (Voice) in Live and Let Die; and Commander Carter in The Spy Who Loved Me) was Seth Harper in The Gunfighters
• Stephen Hubay, Burnell Tucker and Kristopher Kum (Technicians) appeared in The War Games, The Angels Take Manhattan and The Mind of Evil respectively
• Norman Jones (Astronaut) was Khrisong in The Abominable Snowmen, Major Baker in The Silurians, and Hieronymous in The Masque of Mandragora
• Paul Carson (Astronaut) began his career as Ling-Tau in Marco Polo
• Bill Mitchell (Astronaut) was a Newcaster in Frontier in Space, and voiced Zor for The Pescatons 
• George Roubicek (Astronaut here; and Captain in The Spy Who Loved Me) was Captain Hopper in The Tomb of the Cybermen
• Chris Webb (stuntman here, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds are Forever, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill and Tomorrow Never Dies; Thug in The Spy Who Loved Me; and Soldier in The Living Daylights) was a Monoid in The Ark
• Martin Grace (stunts here, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy and A View to a Kill) was a Thal in Dr. Who and the Daleks
• Marc Boyle (stunts here, The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy, Never Say Never Again and Licence to Kill; and MI6 Agent in The Living Daylights) was a Prisoner and UNIT Motorcyclist in The Mind of Evil, Kronos in The Time Monster, Exxilon in Death to the Daleks (1), and fight arranger on The Time Warrior
• Bill Weston (stunts here, OHMSS, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, Never Say Never Again, A View to a Kill and The World is Not Enough; and Butler in The Living Daylights) was a Militiaman in The Smugglers (4)