Doctor Who Vs. The Theory of Everything

This British biographical romance was 

based on Travelling to Infinity: My Life 
With Stephen, the 2007 memoir by Jane 

Wilde Hawking, the first wife of Professor

 Stephen Hawking (1942-2018).
The film chronicled Wilde's relationship 

with Hawking from their first meeting

at Cambridge University in 1963), the

diagnosis of ALS (a form of motor 

neurone disease), and his success in

 physics. Eddie Redmayne and Felicity

Jones portrayed the Hawkings.

The acclaimed production premiered at

 the Toronto Film Festival in 2014, and

went on to win an Oscar, three BAFTAs

and a Golden Globe award, including 

three respective Best Actor awards for 

Redmayne.

Shown again on Sony Movies tonight, the drama featured David

Thewlis, Emily Watson, Maxine Peake, and thirteen Doctor Who

cast and crew connections:

• Jones played Robina Redmond in The Unicorn and the Wasp
• Harry Lloyd (Brian) was Baines in Human Nature and The Family of Blood
• Gruffudd Glyn (Rees) was Lloyd Llewellyn in The Woman Who Lived
• Simon Chandler (Taylor) voiced Corporal Arthur Dimes for Big Finish's Churchill Victorious (2018)
• Will Barton (Technician) made his TV debut as Midge on Survival, then voiced Djinni and Guard for The Destroyer of Delights, and Maddenjot for The Chaos Pool (both 2009)
• Claire Ashton (Kite Flyer) was a Secretary in An Adventure in Space and Time
• Shaun Lucas (Professor) was a Monk in The Bells of Saint John
• Glenn Marks was also stunt co-ordinator on The Family of Blood two-parter and Blink
• Helen Steinway Bailey and Leo Woodruff were stunt performers on Amy's Choice and Heaven Sent respectively
• Moira Thompson was also make-up artist on thirteen stories (from The Christmas Invasion to Doomsday)
• key stylist/make-up artist Lesley Smith began her career as an assistant on (part 1 of) State of Decay
• Julie Bentley was also the snow FX consultant on The Time of the Doctor and The Husbands of River Song

Date With History: 1966

 

At 9.15 am on Friday, October 21 1966, the spoil tip for Merthyr Vale

colliery collapsed. Fifty years worth of mining debris slid down the

hillside into the mining village of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil in South

Wales.

It first destroyed a farm cottage in its path, killing all the occupants.

Down in the village, nobody saw anything, but everybody heard the

noise, as the slide engulfed the Pantglas Junior School, and about

twenty houses, before coming to rest.

Then there was total silence.

144 people perished in the Aberfan disaster - 28 adults (including five 

teachers), and 116 school children.

Doctor Who Vs. Collateral

This British crime drama from TV production
company The Forge was first shown on BBC

Two from February 2018.

Here, DI Kip Glaspie (played by Carey Mulligan)
led the investigation into the shooting of Syrian
refugee Abdulah Asif, murdered whilst delivering
pizza in South London.

A repeat run of the four-part thriller began

on BBC4 last night - it featured Billie Piper,

John Simm, Nicola Walker, and twenty-one

other Doctor Who cast/crew connections:

• Mulligan was Sally Sparrow in Blink
• Brian Vernel (Gowans) was Lucius in The Eaters of Light, and voiced Robert for Big Finish's Dethras (2017)
• Vineeta Rishi (DC Shah) was Julia Swales in Smith and Jones (a role reprised for Radio 4's Lost Souls), and voiced Meena Cartwright for The Longest Night (2005), Dawon for The Emerald Tiger (2012), Falex for Dalek Soul (2017), Shana Siddiqui for Hosts of the Wirrn (2018), and Amita Burman for Concealed Weapon (2019)
• Kae Alexander (Linh) voiced Waywalker for The Becoming (2016), and Mia Chan for Solitary Confinement (2023)
• Orla Brady (Phoebe), Rob Jarvis (DC Johnson) and Lloyd Bass (Cabbie) all appeared in The Time of the Doctor, as Tasha Lem, Abramal and stuntman respectively
• John Heffernan (Spence) voiced Vonchef for Revenge of the Swarm (2004), the Nine for The Crucible of Souls (2016), Companion Piece and Relative Time (both 2019), and Honos for The Trial of a Time Machine (2018)
• Jeany Spark (Sandrine) voiced Florence Nightingale for The Angel of Scutari (2009), Jelena for Prisoner of the Sun (2010), Daisy Chapel for Operation: Hellfire (2020), and Tragacanth and Cham Yal for The Doomsday Contract (2021)
• Robert Portal (Dyson) voiced Marshal Ney for The Curse of Davros (2012), Reggie for The Auntie Matter (2013), Dr. Poograss for Whatever Remains, Jim and Midge for Lost Property, and Treadwell for Wild Animals (all 2020)
• Tony Way (Connor) was Alf in Deep Breath
• Adrian Lukis (Schofield) voiced Bragg for Cobwebs (2010), Byzan for The Children of Seth (2011), Professor Jeffrey Broderick for Counter Measures 1 (2012), Harvey Marsh for The Justice of Jalxar, and Sigmund Freud for Return of the Repressed (both 2013)
• Saskia Reeves (Deborah) voiced Carmen Rega for Emissary of the Daleks (2019)
• Raghad Chaar (Shelley) voiced Samira Rustami for Beyond Bannerman Road (2023)
• Andrew Burford (Bouncer) was a stuntman on The Eaters of Light, The Doctor Falls and Twice Upon a Time
• Guy List (Demir) was a stuntman on Evolution of the Daleks
• Balazs Bolygo was also cinematographer on The Rebel Flesh, The Almost People and Closing Time
• Matthew Scrivener was also first assistant director on The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe and Class
• Geraint L Williams was art designer on Series 11 too
• make-up artist Rani Sikka was set technician on The Rebel Flesh, The Almost People and The Name of the Doctor