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