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 Hines, and 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 Doomsday, and 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 Death, then Professor Capra for Flip-Flop (2003)

Doctor Who Vs. Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express

Agatha Christie's sixteenth crime novel
was her most successful book to date - it
remains Hercule Poirot's most renowned
(and adapted) case. The book was serial-
ised in America as Murder in the Calais 
Coach, then issued as Murder on the
Train in 1934.

The Queen of Crime's inspiration for the
story's setting was personal (in 1931,
her own journey on the train was delayed
by flooding), whilst the background behind
her titular crime was based on the actual
Lindbergh kidnapping case of 1932. 

The acclaimed Oscar-winning adaptation
of the mystery was released in 1974, with
Poirot played by Albert Finney, then
Kenneth Branagh depicted the sleuth for
Fox's recent version.

Another repeat run of the twelfth and
penultimate season of ITV Studios' Poirot continued on ITV3 last night
with Murder on the Orient Express. Originally shown on Christmas Day
2010, the feature-length serial featured David Suchet, and seven
Doctor Who cast and connections:

• Toby Jones (Ratchett here; Mayhew in The Witness for the Prosecution; Gabriel for The Rose and the Yew Tree) was the Dream Lord in Amy's Choice, and voiced Kotris for Big Finish's Dark Eyes (2012)
• David Morrissey (Arbuthnot) was Jackson Lake in The Next Doctor
• Hugh Bonneville (Masterman here; DI Hewitt in The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side; Strange in Towards Zero; Ralston in The Mouse- trap) was Captain Henry Avery in The Curse of the Black Spot (then briefly in A Good Man Goes to War and The Wedding of River Song), and voiced Tsar Nicholas I and Sir Sidney Herbert for The Angel of Scutari (2009)
• Samuel West (Dr. Constantine) was Cyrian in Dimensions in Time, and voiced the titular renegade for The Vengeance of Morbius (2008), Albert Tiermann for AudioGo's Demon Quest: A Shard of Ice (2010), Aristophanes for Mask of Tragedy (2014), Mr. Song for The Diary of River Song (2016), and the Mazzini Family for Serpent in the Silver Mask (2018)
• Stewart Scudamore (Concierge) voiced Danvers for Hounded (2016)
• Crispin Layfield was also the stunt co-ordinator on sixty-eight stories (from Smith and Jones to Ascension of the Cybermen)
• stuntman Curtis Rivers doubled for John Barrowman in Utopia, The Sound of Drums and Torchwood

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.

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