Doctor Who Vs. The Elephant Man

Directed by David Lynch and released in

late 1980, this Anglo-American period prod-

uction was based on the 1977 play from

Bernard Pomerance.

Victorian surgeon Dr. Frederick Treves

befriended and rescued Joseph Merrick (the

 heavily deformed subject of a freak show,

dubbed the Elephant Man), and housed him

in the London Hospital. Treves (1853-1923)

and Merrick (1862-1890) were depicted here

by Anthony Hopkins and the Oscar-nominated

John Hurt.

Shown on BBC2 last night, the black and

white picture was nominated for another

nine Academy Awards, and won three BAFTAs - it featured Anne Bancroft,

John Gielgud, and twenty-seven Doctor Who cast connections:

• Hannah [Campbell Grant] Gordon (Ann) was Kirsty McLaren in The Highlanders, and voiced Skagra's Ship for Big Finish's Shada
• John [Robert Leon] Standing (Fox) voiced Fenric for Gods and Monsters (2012), and Professor Threadstone for Vampire of the Mind (2016)
• Lesley Dunlop (Nora) was Norna in Frontios, and Susan Q in The Happiness Patrol
• [William] Pat Gorman (Bobby) made appearances in eighty-three episodes (from The Dalek Invasion of Earth to Attack of the Cybermen)
• Frederick [William] Treves (Alderman) was Lieutenant Brotadac in Meglos
• Claire [Bernice] Davenport (Fat Lady) was the Empress in (episode 7 of) Marco Polo
• Brenda [Elizabeth] Kempner (Woman) was Mrs. Grose in Ghost Light
• Roy Evans (Cabman) was Trantis in The Daleks' Master Plan, Bert in The Green Death, and Miner in The Monster of Peladon
• Marcus Powell (Midget) was Prisoner in Destiny of the Daleks (2)
• Eiji Kusuhara (Bleeder) was Chinese Man in Four to Doomsday
• Hugh Spight (Actor) was Dalek operator in Remembrance of the Daleks, and Robot Clown in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (2)
• Janie Kells (Horse) was a Sister in The Brain of Morbius
• Harry Fielder (Policeman) was a Guard (PP, ZZZ, 4L, 4P, 5A, 5F, 5Z), Crewman (SS, 4T), Vogan (4D), Assassin (4Q), Tigellan (5Q), and Krarg in Shada
• Tommy Wright (Bobby) was the Guardmaster in The Creature from the Pit
• Jill Goldston (Nurse) was Extra in The Masque of Mandragora (4), and Peasant in State of Decay (1)
• Jay McGrath (Man) was Worker in The War Machines (3), UNIT Soldier in The Silurians (3), Coven Member in Image of the Fendahl, and Dead Androgum in The Two Doctors (1)
• Ralph G Morse (Aristocrat) was a Foster in The Keeper of Traken
• Henry Roberts (Man) was Jousting Judge in The King's Demons (1)
• Peter Ross Murray (Docker) was a Lakertyan in Time and the Rani (4)
• Juba [Elgar] Kennerley (Committee) was Old Man in The Massacre (2)
• Chick Fowles, Cyril Kent, Fred Wood (Men) and Reg [George] Thomason (Assistant) all appeared in Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 AD, as Prisoner, Captive, and Men respectively
• William Morgan Sheppard and David [John] Ryall (Men) were [the Older] Canton in The Impossible Astronaut, and voiced Carthok for Phantasmagoria (1999)
• Patsy [Doris] Smart (Woman) was the Ghoul in The Talons of Weng-Chiang