Doctor Who Vs. Agatha Christie's Crooked House

Published in 1949, 
the Queen of Crime's 
thirty-ninth detective 
novel (with Ordeal by 

Innocence) was one

of her favourite works

and is now considered a classic of the genre.

The title is derived

from the English

nursery rhyme, There

Was a Crooked Man.

An abridged version
was issued for the
American market in

Cosmopolitan magazine, whilst a British serialisation appeared in the

John Bull weekly periodical.

The mystery was first dramatised for BBC Radio in 2008, whilst this
adaptation (from Julian Fellowes) was announced in 2011, but

production only began in late 2016. Crooked House was released by

Sony Pictures in 2017, and premiered in the UK on channel 5 on

December 17th.

Shown again on 5 today, the thriller (from Brilliant Films and Fred
 Films) featured Terence Stamp, Glenn Close, Gillian Anderson, Max

Irons, Stefanie Martini, Amanda Abbington, Julian Sands, and ten

Doctor Who cast and crew connections: 

• Big Finish actor Trevor Cooper (Spymaster here; Opalsen in The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan; Harrison in N or M?; Coroner in Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, 2022), Roger Ashton Griffiths (Gaitskill) and Dean Forster (stunt co-ordinator here & Hallowe'en Party, stuntman on The Mystery of the Blue Train) all starred in Robot of Sherwood - as Friar Tuck, Quayle and stuntman - Cooper was also [Lancelot] Takis in Revelation of the Daleks, and 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 (2022), and Silas Keynes for The Ravencliff Witches (2022)
• John Heffernan (Brown here; Narrator of Murder at the Villa Rosa) voiced Vonchef for Revenge of the Swarm (2004), Honos for The Trial of a Time Machine (2018), and the Nine for The Crucible of Souls (2016), Companion Piece, Relative Time (both 2019) and The Dreams of Avarice (2022)
• David Seddon (Constable here; Marshall for Ordeal by Innocence, 2014) voiced Irving/Garm/Mercenary/Tashan for The King of Sontar (2014), Quisling/Tarn 2 for The Lady in the Lake (2018), and Lendrik for The Day of the Comet (2020)
• [Frank] Denis Lill (Doctor here; Hollaby in The Sunningdale Mystery; Sir Reuben in The Underdog; Blore in And Then There Were None, 2008; DI Lord in Spider's Web, 2009; Robarts in Witness for the Prosecution, 2010; Pennyfather in Murder on the Nile, 2012) was Dr. Fendelman in Image of the Fendahl, and Sir George Hutchinson in The Awakening
• David Cann (Coroner) was Narrator of Hello Sailor!, then voiced Albert for Jenny 3 (2024)
• Mark Hedges was also first assistant director on The Sarah Jane Adventures: Invasion of the Bane, and Twice Upon a Time
• SFX supervisor Chris Reynolds was SFX technician on Terror of the Vervoids and Battlefield
• SFX supervisor Steve Bowman was VFX designer on Planet of the Spiders (1), The Creature from the Pit, Earthshock and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy