Doctor Who Vs. Coronation Street at 60, Part 13: 2004-2006

Walsh was announced as Doctor
Who companion Graham O'Brien
 in October 2017

The Street's producer Kieran

Roberts bowed out in early

2004, and was replaced by

Tony Wood, whilst Carolyn

Reynolds remained executive

producer. Roberts returned

(as new exec) in early 2006

when Steve Frost took over

from Wood.

Schedule changes due to

coverage of Euro 2004

matches resulted in the

broadcast of three episodes

of the soap on the same day

 for the first tme in May. In

 late November that year,

eight instalments were

shown over five consecutive

nights. 2004 also saw the closure of ITV's cable channel, Granada Plus

which had repeated vintage Corrie. By the end of 2005, the show had

enjoyed its best viewing figures since 1993.

These three years on the cobbles featured Bradley Walsh (as Mike
Baldwin's son Danny), Jane Slavin, Anjli Mohindra, and a total of

twenty-five Doctor Who cast connections:

• Philip Dinsdale (Waiter) voiced Sergeant Jarrod for Big Finish's Project: Destiny (2010)
• Honor Blackman (Rula) was Professor Lasky in Terror of the Vervoids, and voiced Queen Anahita for The Children of Seth (2011)
• Richard Bremmer (Phillips) voiced General Hemmings, Valcon and Taxi Driver for The Valley of Death (2011), and Old Beowulf for Black and White (2012)
• Miichael Fenton Stevens (Presenter) voiced Shakespeare for The Kingmaker (2006), Brooks for The Raincloud Man (2008), Moorson and Controller for Destroy the Infinite (2014), and Douglas Bell for The Carrionite Curse (2017)
• Annette Badland (Thelma) was Margaret Blaine (alias Blon Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen) in Aliens of London, World War Three, Boom Town and Sync (2019), then voiced Queen Karlina for Equilibrium, Thelma for Suburban Hell (both 2015), Guilana for Asking for a Friend (2017), Judge and Computer for Barrister to the Stars, Mrs. Slinger and Batraxus for Whatever Remains, and Maude Polwart and Mermaid for The Ghost Writers (all 2020)
• Ray Fearon (Cooper) voiced Barlow Teveler for The Seeds of War (2013)
• John R Walker (Punter) was a Cured Patient in New Earth, Injured Man in Evolution of the Daleks, and Sales Rep in Planet of the Ood
• Sir Ian McKellen (Hutchwright) provided the voice of the Great Intelligence for The Snowmen
• Clare Calbraith (Robyn) voiced a Trooper for Urban Myths, Maria for Son of the Dragon (both 2007), Starling for The Phoenix Strain (2016), and Orla for The Blood Furnace (2017)
• Tim Preece (Reverend) was Codal in Planet of the Daleks, then voiced the President for He Jests at Scars (2003)
• Mina [Mumtaz] Anwar (Ravinder), Ace Bhatti (Parekh) and Mohindra (Shareen) all appeared in The Sarah Jane Adventures, as Gita, Haresh and Rani Chandra respectively - Anwar was also Goodthing in Smile, and voiced Kurdi for The Rise of the New Humans, Forsetti for The Trial of a Time Machine, and Captain Varda for Empress of the Drahvins (all 2018), Valerie Pritchard for The Survivor, Horl for Tick Tock World, Bethan Foster for A Mother's Son (all 2019), Betty for Ghosts (2020), Juliana for The Lone Centurion 1 (2021), and was cast in Broken Memories and Morbius (both 2024)
• Paul Broughton (Solicitor) has been cast in Series 13
• Ian McElhinney (Fr. Thomas) was Ko Sharmus in Ascension of the Cybermen and The Timeless Children
• Ian Reddington (Vernon Tomlin, 2005-2008) was the Chief Clown in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy and The Psychic Circus (2020), then voiced Nobody No-One for A Death in the Family (2010)
• Catherine Grose (DC Golding here; Doctor, 2014) voiced Princess Aelfwynn for The Lady of Mercia (2013)
• Zaraah Abrahams (Joanne Jackson) voiced Daphne for Dead and Breakfast, the Castellan for From the Flames, Kaled Corporal for The Master's Dalek Plan, and Narvin for Shockwave (all 2019)
• David Peart (Stuart) voiced the Vizier for The Destroyer of Delights (2009)
• Trevor Bannister (Solicitor) voiced Korbin Thessinger for Nocturne (2007)
• Michael Dixon (Pitcher) was Dave in The Rings of Akhaten
• prolific Big Finish actor Susan [Elizabeth] Brown (Maureen) was Bridget Spears in Torchwood: Children of Earth, and voiced the Midwife for 100 BC, Mary for Bedtime Story (both 2007), Alice Withers for The Eternal Summer, Maud for Castle of Fear, Mrs. Withers and Mrs. Sowerby for Plague of the Daleks (all 2009), Margaret for Deimos and The Resurrection of Mars, Eleanor Harvey for Return of the Krotons, Chief Engineer and Chanel for The Song of the Megaptera, Babs for Prison in Space (all 2010), and Kastrella for Death Match (2015)
• Sean [Campbell] Gallagher (Paul Connor, 2006/07) was Chip in New Earth
• Marshall Lancaster (Slug) was Buzzer in The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People
• Graeme Harper was also director of forty-three instalments of Corrie between 2005 to 2013

Doctor Who Vs. William Hartnell at the Cinema, Part 1

Hartnell appeared opposite
David Niven in The Way Ahead

William Henry Hartnell

(born in London in January

1908) was known as Billy

Hartnell when he became a

jobbing actor. He made his

cinema debut in 1929, aged 

21, in The Unwritten Law.

Thus began a thirty-five year
film career that saw Hartnell
appear in many classic British
features.
Hartnell returned to the

theatre when he was

invalided out of the Royal

Artillery Corps in 1940. 

Director Carol Reed cast

Billy in The Way Ahead

after watching his performance as Dallow in the stage version of

Brighton Rock in 1943, a character he reprised for the film

rendition - now recognised as his most notable big-screen role.

By the fifties, Hartnell had become typecast in tough-guy parts

but was equally adept at comedy, and following a major role in

the star-studded Hell Drivers, he starred in the inaugural Carry

On title and Granada's The Army Game. 1963 saw Hartnell's final

film appearances (in This Sporting Life and Tomorrow at Ten),

then he was cast in a new BBC TV series called Doctor Who.
The acclaimed wartime production, The Way Ahead  (written by

Eric Ambler and Peter Ustinov) was essentially a remake of the

British Army training film, The New Lot, and opened in 1944.

Doublecross, a low-budget espionage drama, was released in

1956. Rank's BAFTA nominated thriller, Hell Drivers (shown on

 Talking Pictures TV today) opened in 1957.

Hartnell co-starred with Stanley Baker, Patrick McGoohan, Sean
 Connery, David McCallum and Herbert Lom. The black-and-white

features starred a total of ten future Doctor Who cast and crew
connections:

The Way Ahead

• Leslie [Gilbert] Dwyer (Pte. Beck) was Vorg in Carnival of Monsters
• Hugh [Archibald Nairn] Burden (Pte. Parsons) was Channing in Spearhead from Space
• Jack [Stanley] Watling (Buster) was Professor Edward Travers in The Abominable Snowmen, The Web of Fear and Downtime

Doublecross

• Anton Diffring [born Alfred Pollack] (Krassin) was De Flores in Silver Nemesis
• Kenneth [Charles] Cope (Jeffrey) was Packard in Warriors' Gate
• Colin [Martin] Douglas (Sergeant) was Donald Bruce in The Enemy of the World, and Reuben in Horror of Fang Rock
• Harry Towb (Publican) was Osgood in (episode 1 of) The Seeds of Death, and McDermott in Terror of the Autons
• Marcus Dods was conductor on The Aztecs too

Hell Drivers

• Terry Sartain (Man) was an Alien Technician in The War Games (3), Warrior in The Mutants (1), UNIT Soldier in The Three Doctors (1), Prison Guard and Draconian in Frontier in Space, Exxilon in Death to the Daleks, Brother in The Masque of Mandragora (3), Gundan in Warriors' Gate (3), and Market Man in Snakedance (1)
• David Harcourt was a camera operator on Dr. Who and the Daleks too