Doctor Who Vs. Our Friends in the North

First staged by the RSC in 1982, Peter Flannery's play was eventually

adapted for television by BBC2, from (commission in) 1992 to (filming

in) 1995. Originally broadcast in early 1996, the drama told the story

of four friends from Newcastle over a period of 31 years, 1964 to 1995.

From the budget (£8 million), to the cast (160 speaking roles and

3,000 extras), the scale of the production was huge - filming took

forty weeks. Ratings success and critical acclaim followed - it won

three BAFTA TV awards, then was named one of the 100 Greatest

British TV Programmes by the BFI.

The epic series helped establish the careers of its lead actors -

(pictured left to right) Christopher Eccleston, Gina McKee, Mark

Strong, and Daniel Craig. A rare repeat run of the nine-part series

concluded on BBC4 last night - it featured David Bradley, Alun

Armstrong, Malcolm McDowell, and a total of thirty-three Doctor

Who cast/crew connections:

• McKee voiced the Lumiat for Big Finish's Missy 2 (2020) and Masterful (2021)
• Danny Webb (DI Conrad) was John Jefferson in The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit, then voiced Byron for The Girl Who Never Was (2007), and Ori for The Dark Husband (2008)
• David Schofield (DCI Salway) was Odin in The Girl Who Died, and voiced Billy for Death in Blackpool (2009), Nostradamus for The Doomsday Quatrain (2011), Narrator of The House of Winter (2015), Parval for The Sorcerer of Albion (2020), and Gostak for The End of the Beginning (2021)
• Donald Sumpter (Chapple) was Enrico Casali in The Wheel in Space, Commander Ridgeway in The Sea Devils, Erasmus Darkening in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Eternity Trap, and President Rassilon in Hell Bent
• Peter [Neville] Jeffrey (Blamire) was the Pilot in The Macra Terror, and Count Grendel in The Androids of Tara
• Granville Saxton (Jellicoe) voiced the Duke of Wellington for The Curse of Davros (2012)
• Gavin Muir (Kyle) voiced Barone for The Ghosts of N-Space
• Pete Lee Wilson (Butler) was Tommo in The End of Time
• Trevor Cooper (DCS Cockburn) was [Lancelot] Takis in Revelation of the Daleks, and Friar Tuck in Robot of Sherwood - he also voiced Rull for Magic Bullet's Kaldor City, then Sir Ralph for The Doomwood Curse, Shanks for The Haunting of Thomas Brewster (both 2008), Judah for The Beast of Orlok, Smithy for Castle of Fear (both 2009), Captain Maddox/Stennan for Army of Death (2011), Colonel Burroughs/Kimball for The Emerald Tiger (2012), Preddle/Jonathan Jaggers for Judoon in Chains (2016), Jonathan Mayfly/Sir Joseph Eagleton for The Ghosts of Greenwich (2019), Smallpiece for Merry Christmas Mr. Jago (2020), and Silas Keynes for The Ravencliff Witches (2022)
• Sean Gilder (PC Lukoschek) was the Sycorax Leader in The Christmas Invasion
• Peter [George Haywood] Halliday (Speaker) was Packer/Cyber Director Voice in The Invasion, voiced the titular Silurians in their debut story and the Aliens in The Ambassadors of Death, then was Pletrac in Carnival of Monsters, Soldier in City of Death, and Vicar in (part 2 of) Remembrance of the Daleks
• Malcolm Terris (Knox) was Etnin in The Dominators, and the Co-Pilot in The Horns of Nimon
• Angela Bruce (Sister) was Brigadier Winifred Bambera in Battlefield [a role reprised for Big Finish's Animal (2011) and UNIT), then voiced Mother for The Persistence of Dreams (2018), Herb for Conversion (2019), and Oya/Andarta for Consequences (2021)
• Ian [Jacob] Thompson (Correspondent) was Hetra in The Web Planet, and Malsan in The Chase (2) 
• Stephen [Mark] Marcus [born Scott] was the Jailer in The Shakespeare Code
• Peter [Francois] Cellier (Judge) was Andrews in Time Flight (1)
• David Schaal (Prison Officer) voiced Inspector Zogroth and Bus Driver for The Star Beast (2019)
• Roger Avon (Braniff) was Saphadin in The Crusade, and Daxtar in The Daleks' Master Plan (4)
• Steve Griffin was stuntman on The Idiot's Lantern too
• Diana Barton (production manager) was line producer on twenty-two stories (from A Christmas Carol to The Crimson Horror)
• Andy Pryor has also worked as casting director on the revived run since 2005, as well as The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
• Pennie Bloomfield (first assistant director) was assistant floor manager on Attack of the Cybermen
• Henry Jaworski was also art director on The Pilot and Smile
• Margaret Aston was make-up artist on Shakedown too
• Suzan Broad (make-up designer) was artist on Kinda
• Lisa Pickering (make-up artist) was assistant on Warriors' Gate (4)
• Garry Dawson also worked on stand-by props on Cold War and The Crimson Horror
• Tony Harding was also VFX designer on The Invisible Enemy, The Power of Kroll, State of Decay, The King's Demons and The Awakening
• Peter Kersey was SFX technician on the Doctor Who TV Movie too
• Peter Baldock (dubbing editor) was an Acolyte in The Face of Evil (4)
• Terry Elms was sound assistant on The Masque of Mandragora (1) too
• Richard Manton (sound recordist) worked on film sound on The Daemons and The Mutants
• Michael Preece was props buyer on K9 and Company too