Sunday 26 April 2020

Doctor Who Vs. Oliver Twist (2007)

Victorian literary classic Oliver Twist 
(also known as The Parish Boy's 
Progress, and originally published
monthly in Bentley's Miscellany from
1837-39) was only Charles Dickens'
second novel.
The first television adaptation of the
book was produced by the BBC in
1962, followed by a more faithful
version in 1985.
 An ITV dramatisation from Alan
Bleasdale, was broadcast in 1999.
This BAFTA winning treatment
was first transmitted on BBC1
 over five consecutive week 
nights in December 2007.
Writer Sarah Phelps later adapted
Great ExpectationsThe Casual 
VacancyAnd Then There Were 
NoneDickensianThe Witness
for the ProsecutionOrdeal by
InnocenceThe ABC Murders and The Pale Horse.
This series then aired in America and Australia in 2009, and was repeated
again on the Drama channel today. The cast, headed by Timothy Spall (as
 Fagin), Tom Hardy (Bill Sikes), with the famous orphan now depicted by 
William Miller, featured Michelle Gomez (Mrs. Sowerby), Nicola Walker
 (Sally) and fourteen other Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

  • Sophie Okonedo (Nancy) voiced Alison Cheney for Scream of the Shalka, then played Queen Liz 10 in The Beast Below and The Pandorica Opens
  • Sarah Lancashire (Mrs. Corney) was Miss Foster in Partners in Crime
  • Julian Rhind Tutt (Monks) voiced Lexhan for The Paradise of Death, and Berkhoff for Big Finish's Tales From New Earth (2018)
  • Anna Massey (Mrs Bedwin) voiced Miss Pollard for The Girl Who Never Was (2007)
  • Paul Chahidi (Quack) voiced Hason for The Destroyer of Delights (2009), George Townsend for Industrial Evolution (2011), Bondsman Tango-Veldt and the Shepherd and for Persuasion, and the Entity for Daleks Among Us (both 2013)
  • John [Gibb Marshall] Sessions (Sowerby) provided the voice of Gus for Mummy on the Orient Express, and voiced General Tannis for Death Comes to TimeMozart for 100: My Own Private Wolfgang (2007), Roland of Brittany for Castle of Fear (2009), and George Wilson for Torchwood: The Conspiracy (2015)
  • Morven Christie (Rose) was Alice O'Donnell in Under the Lake and Before the Flood
  • Vincent Franklin (Limbkins) voiced Lord Stormblood for Scenes from her Life (2016)
  • Mariah Gale (Agnes) was Eliza in Knock Knock
  • Amy Roberts was also the costume designer on Image of the Fendahl, Full CircleState of DecayThe Keeper of TrakenTime Flight and Mawdryn Undead
  • Nicholas Hopkins was third assistant director on Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways too
  • Francesco Reidy was also second assistant director on The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky
  • Richard Dyer was sound recordist on The Satan Pit two-parter too
  • SFX supervisor Steve Lucas was an uncredited VFX assistant on The Creature from the Pit and Warriors' Gate (part 4)

Friday 17 April 2020

Doctor Who Vs. James Bond, Part 7

Following the departure of
George Lazenby after just one appearance as James Bond in
1969's On Her Majesty's Secret 
Service, United Artists secured 
the return of Sean Connery for 
the seventh entry in the 
franchise.
Diamonds Are Forever was
adapted from Ian Fleming's 
fourth spy novel of 1956, and 
was released in late 1971.
Shirley Bassey performed
vocals on her second Bond
theme song (see Goldfinger).
When Connery relinquished 
the lead role again, co-
producer Albert R Broccoli
 insisted that another British
 actor replace him, and
London-born Roger Moore
(1927-2017) was cast for Live and Let Die in 1972. 
When Eon's usual composer, John Barry, was unavailable, former Beatles
producer George Martin was hired, and Paul McCartney wrote the title
song for his latest band Wings - later nominated for an Oscar.
The Man With The Golden Gun (loosely based on Fleming's 1965 thriller)
was the last film co-produced by Harry Saltzman, and the resulting
legalities over the Bond property delayed production of the next
instalment, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
Another Bond season continued on ITV4 last night with Moore's debut 
assignment, and the three adventures here featured a total of twenty
Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
  • Joseph Furst (Dr. Metz) was Professor Zaroff in The Underwater Menace
  • John Abineri (Representative) was Van Lutyens in Fury from the Deep, General Carrington in The Ambassadors of Death, Richard Railton in Death to the Daleks, and Ranquin in The Power of Kroll
  • Bill Hutchinson (Controller) was Sergeant Thompson in (episode 4 of) The War Games
  • Clifford Earl (Officer) was the Sergeant in The Daleks' Master Plan (7), and Major Branwell in The Invasion
  • Michael Stevens (CIA Agent) was a Soldier in The Myth Makers (1), Daffodil Man in Terror of the Autons (3), UNIT Motorcyclist and Prisoner in The Mind of Evil, and Guard in The Curse of Peladon (1)
  • Ron Gregory (Patron here; Clerk in Never Say Never Again) was a Guardian in The Ark
  • Vincent Wong (Croupier here; Patron in The World is Not Enough; General Li in Die Another Day) was Ho in The Talons of Weng-Chiang, Chinese Delegate in Day of the Daleks, and Captain in Enlightenment
  • for Ed Bishop and Shane Rimmer see You Only Live Twice
  • for David de Keyser see O.H.M.S.S.
LIVE AND LET DIE
  • Roy Stewart (Quarrel) was Toberman in The Tomb of the Cybermen, and Tony in Terror of the Autons
  • Dennis Edwards (Baines) was a Centurion in The Romans (1), and Lord Gomer in The Invasion of Time
  • Robert La Bassiere (Thug) was a titular alien in The Krotons
  • Louis Mahoney (Patron) was a Newscaster in Frontier in Space, Ponti in Planet of Evil, and the elder Billy Shipton in Blink
  • for Aileen Lewis and Lewis Alexander (Delegates) see From Russia With Love and Casino Royale
  • Derek Meddings (VFX here, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved MeMoonraker, For Your Eyes Only and Goldeneye) worked on SFX for The Invasion (1)
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN
  • Sonny Caldinez (Kra) was Kemel in The Evil of the Daleks, then Turoc in The Ice Warriors, Warrior in The Seeds of Death, Ssorg in The Curse of Peladon, and Sskel in The Monster of Peladon
  • Michael Osbourne (Lieutenant) was an Extra in The Myth Makers (2), Guardian in The Ark, and Sorak in The Horns of Nimon
  • for Rocky Taylor see Dr. No