Doctor Who Vs. Miss Marple: A Murder is Announced

The third instalment of BBC1's
acclaimed period crime series

(originally shown in the winter of

1985) was repeated on Drama

today.

The producers, mindful of the

criticism levelled at Margaret
Rutherford's comedic portrayal
of Jane Marple in the 1960's,
specified that their version of
the character remained strictly
as written.

Published in 1950, the book (the
fourth Marple mystery) was billed
 as Agatha Christie's fiftieth novel,
 and was faithfully adapted by Alan

Plater. An ITV version followed in

2005.

The three-part serial starred the
79 year old actress Joan Hickson
as the definitive Marple (forty

years after being recommended for the part by Christie herself), and

fifteen Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• John [Michael Frederick] Castle (DI Craddock here & The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side; Edgware in Lord Edgware Dies, 2000) voiced Edmund Trevithick for Big Finish's Nightshade (2016)
• Samantha [Jane] Bond (Julia here; Stella in The Adventure of the Cheap Flat; Sylvia in Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, 2009; Narrator of Inside the Mind of Agatha Christie, 100 Years of Poirot and Miss Marple, Agatha Christie's England & The Hollow, 2020) was Miss Wormwood in The Sarah Jane Adventures: Invasion of the Bane and Enemy of the Bane, then reprised for The Revenge of Wormwood (2023) - she also voiced Mother Baroque for The Scapegoat (2009)
• Simon Shepherd (Simmons here; Hall in Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan; Dr. Rendell in Mrs. McGinity's Dead; Craddock in The Mirror Crack'd, 2019) voiced Boolin for Tsar Wars, Bewley for The Broken Crown, the Magician for Aladdin Time (all 2011), Pal Andrews for Break the Ice (2022), and Hudson Sage for Vespertine (2023)
• Elaine Ives-Cameron (Hannah) was Martha in The Stones of Blood
• Ralph [Champion] Michael [born Shotter] (Easterbrook here; Summers in Murder Most Foul) was Balaton in The Pirate Planet
• Sylvia [May Laura] Syms (Mrs. Easterbrook here; Mrs. Hubbard for Murder on the Orient Express, 1993; Lavinia in Murder is Easy) was Mrs. Pritchard in Ghost Light
• [Irene] Joan [Marion] Sims (Miss Murgatroyd here; Mrs. McGillicuddy for 4.5- from Paddington, 1997) was Katryca in The Mysterious Planet
• Liz [Ann] Crowther (Myrna) voiced Tessa Waylund for Something Inside (2003)
• David [Cressy] Collings (Rev. Harmon) was Vorus in Revenge of the Cybermen, [Ander] Poul in The Robots of Death (and reprised for Kaldor City and The Robots), then the titular role in Mawdryn Undead - he also voiced the Doctor for Full Fathom Five (2003), Gabriel Sanders for Jago & Litefoor (2011/12), and Rosato for The King of Sontar (2014)
• production manager Alan Wareing was a production assistant on The Keeper of Traken and manager on Timelash, then director of The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, Ghost Light and Survival
• production designer Raymond [Patrick] Cusick (pictured in 1964) was assigned to The Daleks to bring Terry Nation's creations to life, and designed sets for nine other early serials
• cinematographer Peter Hall was a film cameraman on The Seeds of Death, The Space Pirates, Colony in Space, Terror of the Zygons and Logopolis
• Joanna Newbery was AFM on Time and the Rani too
• series film recordist Malcolm Campbell was sound recordist on The Caves of Androzani and The Twin Dilemma
• John Taylor was the boom operator on The Five Doctors too

The BBC Radio 4 treatment of A Murder is Announced

was first transmitted in five weekly parts in 1999 - it

featured June Whitfield and four further Doctor Who

cast links:

• Graham Crowden (Clithering here & The Body in the Library; Bruce in The Affair of the Pink Pearl; Blake for Five Little Pigs, 1994; Macarthur in And Then There Were None, 2005) was Soldeed in The Horns of Nimon
• Judy Cornwell (Dora here & Miss Marple, 2015; Valerie in The Lamp; Heather in The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, 1992) was Maddy in Paradise Towers
• Jenny Funnell (Mitzi here & Dora, 2019; Nurse in Peril at End House; Elsie for The Moving Finger, 2001; Sally for Dead Man's Folly, 2007) voiced Veronica Buchman for Wirrn Isle (2012), and Reaver for The King of Sontar
• Joanna McCallum (Laura here; Evie in The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1990; Mrs. Olivera for One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, 2004; Princess in Murder on the Orient Express, 2022) voiced the Bursar for Night Thoughts (2006)

Another stage production toured the UK in

2019, with Louise Jameson in the lead with:

• Jo Castleton (Letitia) was Natasha Alexander in Auton 2 and Auton 3, Lauren Anderson in Zygon, then voiced Lady Sarah Whiteside for The Marian Conspiracy (2000), Nyaiad for Brotherhood of the Daleks (2008), Hazel Trahn for Cyberman 2 (2009), and Sciencetech Vi Kruger for Time's Horizon (2014)
• Ben Roddy (Edmund) voiced Operations for The Nowhere Place (2006)

In 2013, a national theatrical run starred

Katy Manning (as Letitia) with:

• Gearaldine Newman (Marple) voiced Eliza for The Wishing Beast (2007), and Lady Sybil for The Doomwood Curse (2008)
• Gemma Bissix voiced Aglae for The Fires of Vulcan (2000)
• John D Collins was Talor in Arc of Infinity