Wednesday 15 July 2020

Doctor Who Vs. Coronation Street at 60, Part 3: 1965/66

Hines appeared in three
episodes as Roger Wain
in March 1965. From
1972, he spent 22
years on rival soap
Emmerdale Farm
1965 saw the first Corrie spin-off, when Arthur
Lowe's character, Leonard Swindley, appeared
 in Pardon My Expression, also from Granada
TV (Dennis Spooner even scripted an
episode). After two seasons Lowe moved
onto another sitcom called Dad's Army.
The Street became a huge success in
Australia by the mid sixties, then started 
on Canadian and Dutch TV in 1966.
More attempts were made to counter
further criticism that the programme's
portrayal of urban life was a "nostalgic
fantasy" but controversial issues were not
addressed for fear of alienating viewers.
These two years on the Street featured
Fraser Hinesand seventeen other Doctor
Who cast connections:

  • Glyn Owen (Lindley) played Rohm-Dutt in The Power of Kroll
  • Edward Evans (Petty) was Ted Moss in Image of the Fendahl
  • Rhys McConnochie (DI Lucas here; Toni, 1977) was Rod in (episode 1 of) The Enemy of the World
  • Griffith Davies (Tony) and Windsor Davies (Officer) both starred in The Evil of the Daleks, as Kennedy and Toby respectively
  • Andrew Downie (Charlesworth) was Willie Mackay in The Highlanders
  • Dennis Chinnery (Nigel here; Bassett, 1977) was Albert C. Richardson in The Chase (3), Gharman in Genesis of the Daleks, and Professor Sylvest in The Twin Dilemma (1)
  • Donald Hewlett (Maxwell) was Hardiman in The Claws of Axos
  • David Valla (Syms) was Lieutenant Crane in The War Games (3)
  • Margaret John (Mrs. Nathan) was Megan Jones in Fury from the Deep, and Grandma Connolly in The Idiot's Lantern
  • John Woodvine (Driver here; Hoyle, 2010) was the Marshal in The Armageddon Factor
  • Tom Watson (Turner) was Ramo in The Underwater Menace
  • Derek Pollitt (Ambulance man) was Driver [Gwynfor Ivor] Evans in The Web of Fear, Private Wright in The Silurians (6), and Professor Caldera in Shada (4)
  • Colette O'Neil (Ruth) was Tanha in Snakedance
  • Derek Smith (Bishop) was the Doorman in Human Nature
  • Kevin Lindsay (Dr. Connor) was Commander Linx in The Time Warrior, Cho Je in Planet of the Spiders, then Field Major Styre and the Marshal in The Sontaran Experiment
  • Trevor Martin (DC Rogers here; Whittaker, 1984) was the first actor to portray the Doctor on stage in Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsdayand for the subsequent Big Finish adaptation (2008) - he was the second Time Lord in The War Games (10), and also voiced multiple roles for The Paradise of Deaththen Professor Capra for Flip-Flop (2003)

Tuesday 7 July 2020

Date With History: 2005

The announcement that the city
of London would host the 2012
Olympic Games was made on Wednesday July 6th 2005.
The following morning, as the
UK celebrated this news, a
series of co-ordinated terrorist
 attacks upon the capital's
transport system targeted
innocent civilians.
The first bomb exploded at
8.50 am, on a Circle Line train,
between Liverpool Street and
Aldgate stations. The second
device detonated on another
Circle Line train leaving
Edgware Road. 
A third bomber struck a train leaving King's Cross, on the Piccadilly Line.
About an hour later, a fourth explosion ripped through a double-decker
bus in Tavistock Square.
Fifty-six people, including the four suicide bombers, were killed in the
attacks, and about 700 more were injured.

Wednesday 1 July 2020

Doctor Who Vs. Coronation Street at 60, Part 2: 1962-1964

Despite a critical start in December 1960
(when the Daily Mirror said the programme
was unrealistic and "doomed"), the popularity
 of Corrie was cemented within weeks. The
soap topped the TV ratings chart for the first
 time in March 1961, and reached a 1960s
peak of over 21 million viewers in December
1964.
Coronation Street soon became noted for its
depiction of a working class community, and
established the use of Northern English
language and dialect, widely heard on British 
television for the first time. The show first
aired in Australia in 1963, and began in New 
Zealand a year later.
These three years on the Street featured
Jackie Lane (under her stage name Jackie
Lenya, as Cheryl in episode 322 in January 1964) and sixteen other
Doctor Who cast connections:

  • Fred Ferris (Appleby) was Bert Rowse in (episode 3 of) Planet of Giants
  • Rhoda Lewis (Miss Welch here; Lilian, 1969) was Marta in State of Decay
  • Judy Cornwell (Georgina) was Maddy in Paradise Towers
  • Roy Holder (Butterworth) was Krelper in The Caves of Androzani
  • Susan Jameson (Myra) was cast as Morgan for Colony in Space but was replaced by Tony Caunter - she later voiced Mrs. Moynihan for Big Finish's The Spectre of Lanyon Moor (2000), then Fenella Wibsey for the Hornets' Nest (2009), Demon Quest (2010) and Serpent Crest (2011)
  • Geoffrey Hinsliff (Vincent here; Don Brennan, 1987-97) was Jack Tyler in Image of the Fendahl, and Fisk in Nightmare of Eden
  • Derek Benfield (Salesman here; Greenhalgh, 1967) voiced John Hallam for Catch 1782 (2005)
  • Alan Curtis (Thornley) was Major Green in The War Machines
  • Jon Rollason (Robbins, 1964, 1969) was Harold Chorley in The Web of Fear
  • Michael Barrington (Nuttall) was Sir Colin Thackeray in The Seeds of Doom
  • Ray Brooks (Phillips) was David in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD, and voiced the titular Time Lord for The Trouble With Drax (2016)
  • Jerome Willis (Presenter) was Stevens in The Green Death
  • Stephanie Bidmead (Lily) was Maaga in Galaxy 4
  • Neville Smith (Workman) was D'Argenson in The Reign of Terror (1)
  • George A Cooper (Piggott, 1964, 1970) was Cherub in The Smugglers
  • Noel Johnson (Braithwaite) was King Thous in The Underwater Menace, and Charles Grover MP in Invasion of the Dinosaurs