Doctor Who Vs. United

Screened on Great Movies! today,

this TV film from World Productions

 was based on the true story of

Manchester United's Busby Babes

and the aftermath of the Munich

 air disaster of February 1958.

The drama focused on the
experiences of Welsh football
coach Jimmy Murphy (1910-
1989) portrayed by David 
Tennant and midfielder, Bobby
Charlton (b. 1937) played by
Jack O'Connell (pictured centre).

Murphy became United's caretaker
manager following the plane crash
 in Germany which killed 23 people,
including eight club players, and

injured eighteen others and manager Matt Busby (1909-1994).

Nine MUFC squad players were amongst the 21 survivors.
In charge of United since 1945, Busby (depicted here by Dougray

Scott) recovered and resumed his role a year later. Rebuilding his

team, Busby would eventually lead the club to European supremacy

 in 1968, before retiring the next year. He was knighted in 1972.

Despite the disaster, Murphy steered United to the FA Cup final of

1958, then managed the Wales national squad at the country's only

FIFA World Cup finals appearance in Sweden. He remained as MUFC

assistant manager until 1971.

Filmed mainly in the North East of England, the drama was first

broadcast in April 2011 on BBC Two and BBC HD. Written by Chris

 Chibnall, United also featured Neil Dudgeon, Dean Andrews, Tim

Healy, and thirteen further Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• James Strong was also director of The Impossible Planet, The Satan Pit, Daleks in Manhattan, Evolution of the Daleks, Voyage of the Damned, Partners in Crime and Planet of the Dead
• Scott was Professor Alec Palmer in Hide
• Natalie Burt (Marion) voiced Dr. Sally Armstrong for Big Finish's Dark Eyes series

• Kate Ashfield (Alma George) voiced Lieutenant Beth Stokes for Enemy of the Daleks (2009)
• Daniel Hill (British Consul) and Shirley Dixon (Mrs. Watson) both worked on Shada - as Chris Parsons, and the Voice of Skagra's Ship respectively - Hill also voiced Percy Noggins for AudioGos' The Stuff of Nightmares (2009)
• BBC newsreader Kenneth Kendall had a cameo in (episode 4 of) The War Machines too
• Edward Thomas was also production designer on seventy-two stories (from Rose to The Big Bang), Attack of the Graske, The Infinite Quest, Music of the Spheres, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
• casting director Andy Pryor has worked on the revived run since 2005
• supervising art director James North was associate designer on fifty-nine episodes (from The Christmas Invasion to Closing Time)
• David Morison was also set decorator on twelve adventures (from Tooth and Claw to Forest of the Dead) after a stint as stand-by art director on Boom Town and Love & Monsters
• sound mixer John Taylor was a boom operator on The Five Doctors
• Alice Purser was also casting associate on forty-three instalments (from The Waters of Mars to The Time of the Doctor)
• Luke Corbyn was SFX technician on An Adventure in Space and Time too

Doctor Who Vs. Sea of Souls: The Prayer Tree

BBC1's BAFTA winning supernatural drama came
to a close after three full series, with a two-part
special, first screened in April 2007. 

The story (set in a remote Scottish haunted
house) was written by creator, David Kane,
and again starred Bill Paterson as Dr. Douglas
Monaghan - the Glaswegian actor later

appeared in Victory of the Daleks as Dr.

Edwin Bracewell.

The Prayer Tree was produced by Carnival Films
for BBC Scotland - it featured Neve McIntosh,

Douglas Henshall, Ben Miles, and eight Doctor

Who cast and crew connections:

• Christina Cole (Rebecca) was Lilith in The Shakespeare Code
• Ron [Eaglesham] Donachie [born Porter] (Minister) was a Steward in Tooth and Claw
• Alisdair Simpson (Mathers) voiced Sir Francis White and David Ritchie for 1963: The Assassination Games (2013), Cleon for The Mask of Tragedy (2014), Colonel Lifford for The Boundless Sea (2015), Sidney Wheeler and Field Marshal Brooke for Churchill Victorious (2018), and Damadus for Return to Skaro (2020)
• Simon Clark (sound recordist) and Liz Pearson (post-production supervisor) both workerd on An Adventure in Space and Time too
• Adam Trotman was also film editor on Last Christmas, Thin Ice and Knock Knock
• stunt co-ordinator Gareth Milne was George Cranleigh in Black Orchid, Mortuary Attendant in Vengeance on Varos, and doubled for Peter Davison on Warriors of the Deep

Doctor Who Vs. Breaking Point

William Russell (born Russell William Enoch in

1924) followed his portrayal of Ian Chesterton with

the lead role in this long-lost thriller for BBC2, as

secret service agent Martin Kennedy.

Russell was an established television actor by the

time he was cast as Coal Hill School's science

teacher, and had already played the title roles in

five period dramas of the Fifties - St. Ives, The

Adventures of Sir Lancelot, Nicholas Nickleby,

David Copperfield and Hamlet. Russell's most

recent TV role was as Harry (pictured) in An Adventure in Space and Time.

The five-part espionage drama was screened in

October and November 1966, and Russell starred

here opposite twelve other Doctor Who cast and

crew connections:

• producer Alan [James] Bromly (1915-1995) wad director of The Time Warrior and Nightmare of Eden
• director Douglas [Gaston Sydney] Camfield (1931-1984) was production assistant on 100,000 BC and Marco Polo, then director on fifty-two further episodes (from Planet of Giants to The Seeds of Doom)
• Malcolm Middleton was production designer on The Abominable Snowmen too 
• Richard [Gibbon] Hurndall (Sir Alfred) depicted the First Doctor in The Five Doctors
• Bernard [Frederic Bemrose] Kay (Stevens) was Carl Tyler in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Saladin in The Crusade, Inspector Crossland in The Faceless Ones, and Caldwell in Colony in Space, then voiced Major Dickens for Big Finish's Night Thoughts (2006)
• Vernon [Alexandre] Dobtcheff (Hedworth) was an Alien Scientist in The War Games, and voiced Dadda Desaka for The Cradle of the Snake (2010), Sibelius Crow for The Necropolis Express, Shamur for The Children of Seth (both 2011), Professor Schumann for Threshold (2012), and Jorenzo Zorn for The Genesis Chamber (2016)
• Ves Delahunt (Servant) was a Thal in The Daleks (7), and UNIT Soldier in The Silurians
• Norman Hartley (Richard) and Michael Miller (Hines) both appeared in The Time Meddler, as Ulf and Wulnoth respectively, whilst Hartley was also Sergeant Peters in The Invasion
• Royston Tickner (Gregson) was Steinberger P Green in The Daleks' Master Plan (7), and Robbins in The Sea Devils (1)
• Roger Avon (Sergeant) was Saphadin in The Crusade, Daxtar in The Daleks' Master Plan (4), and Wells in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD
• Lynda [born Lilian] Baron (uncredited Extra) recorded The Ballad  of the Last Chance Saloon (sung off screen) for The Gunfighters, was Captain Wrack in Enlightenment, and Val in Closing Time

Doctor Who Vs. The Skull

Shown again on the Talking Pictures TV

channel last night, this British horror film

 was produced by Amicus founders Milton

Subotsky and Max Rosenberg to 

challenge rival Hammer's dominance in the

genre. Subotsky's screenplay was based on

Robert Bloch's short story, The Skull of the

Marquis de Sade, and was the writer's first collaboration with Amicus.

The Skull was released by Paramount in late

1966, as a double bill with The Idol - it

featured horror icons Peter Cushing,

Christopher Lee and twenty-five Doctor

Who cast and crew connections:

• Michael Gough (Auctioneer) played the titular villain in The Celestial Toymaker, and was Councillor Hedin in Arc of Infinity
• George Coulouris (Londe) was Arbitan in (episode 1 of) The Keys of Marinus
• Maurice Good (Pierre) was Phineas Clanton in The Gunfighters
• Peter Woodthorpe (Travers) voiced Joey Oxford for Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman?
• Geoffrey Cheshire (Guard) was the Viking Leader in The Time Meddler, Garge in The Daleks' Master Plan, Tracy in The Invasion, and Roboman in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD
• Jack Silk (Driver) was a stuntman on The Daemons (4)
• stuntman Peter Diamond was regular stunt double and fight arranger on the classic run (from The Daleks to The Daemons)
• Oswald Hafenrichter (film editor), Bill Constable (art director), Scott Slimon (set decorator), Ted Lloyd (production manager), Tom Priestley (sound editor), Jill Carpenter (make-up artist) and Henry Montsash (hairdresser) all worked on Dr. Who and the Daleks too
• John Wilcox (cinematographer), Anthony Waye (assistant director), Buster Ambler (sound recordist), John Cox (sound supervisor), Ted Samuels (SFX), David Harcourt (camera operator), Ray Jones (grip), Maurice Gillett (electrician), Jackie Cummins (wardrobe), Pamela Davies (continuity) and Bill Waldron (construction manager) all worked on both Dalek films too

Doctor Who Vs. Secret Smile

This psychological drama was produced by
Granada, and was based on the 2003 novel 
of the same name, by Nicci French, the
pseudonym of English husband and wife
crime writing team, Nicci Gerrard and Sean
French.

Following his roles in Casanova and the
remake of The Quatermass Experiment,
David Tennant starred here as antagonist
Brendan Block.

First screened on ITV in late 2005 (just 
before Tennant's full debut as the Doctor
in The Christmas Invasion), this two-
part thriller featured Claire Goose, and
seventeen further Doctor Who cast and
crew connections:

• Kate Ashfield (Miranda, pictured) voiced Beth Stokes for Big Finish's Enemy of the Daleks (2009)
• Rory [Michael] Kinnear (Nick) voiced Samuel Belfrage for Industrial Evolution (2011)
• Tim Faraday (Mick) was Tom's Dad in Fear Her
• Ella Kenion (Presenter) was Harriet in Let's Kill Hitler, and voiced Boudica for The Wrath of the Iceni (2012), and Romy for Equilibrium (2015)
• Charlie [Lomax David] Condou (Lawrence) voiced Crabhead/System/Jarl for Ravenous 1 (2018), and Chris for Faithful Friends (2025), then was cast in The Interstellar Song Contest
• Daniel Ryan [born O'Brien] (Prior) was Biff Cane in Midnight
• Ben Willbond (Friend) voiced Timothy Vee for The Age of Revolution (2013)
• George Potts (Vicar) voiced Ruben and Guard for The Grand Betelgeuse Hotel (2015)
• Jake Polonsky was the cinematographer on Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS too
• composer Edmund Butt and Toby Wood (recording engineer) both worked on An Adventure in Space and Time in those capacities
• Stuart Walker was the production designer on The Savages too
• make-up artist Lisa Pickering was make-up assistant on (part 4 of) Warriors' Gate
• production buyer Pauline Seager was the assistant floor manager (AFM) on The Five Doctors
• Lisa McDiarmid (stand-by art director) and Antonia Grant (location scout) both worked on The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords
• Darren Leen was also a driver on Voyage of the Damned and The Unicorn and the Wasp