Doctor Who Vs. A Very Peculiar Practice

"It's the sight of the off-

kilter [nefarious] nuns

on campus that people

tend to remember about

this 1986 satire, rather

than that it was written

by Andrew Davies. So

associated did he be-

come with adapting the

classics that his original

 work is overlooked, but

this depiction of Thatcherite [era] cuts and the [privatisation of] higher education is well worth revisiting. Peter Davison is ideally suited to the lead role of

[Dr. Daker] a callow medic navigating a gallery of grotesques at the

fictional [Lowlands] University practice." - Radio Times

The first two episodes of the black comedy (first shown forty years ago

 this month) were repeated on BBC4 last night. The two seasons (con-

cluded by April 1988) featured David Troughton, John Bird, Hugh

Grant, Geoffrey Beevers,  and a total of thirty-eight Doctor Who

cast and crew connections:

• [Clement] Graham Crowden (McCannon) was Soldeed in The Horns of Nimon
• Barbara [Jay] Flynn [born McMurray] (Dr. Marie) was Tecteun in Once, Upon Time and Survivors of the Flux, and also voiced Sister Chalice/Croc Trooper for Big Finish's The Skull of Sobek (2008), Anne Hartman for The Rockery (2019), and Professor Vansom for Secrets of Telos (2022)
• Trevor Cooper (Ackerman) was [Lancelot] Takis in Revelation of the Daleks, and Friar Tuck in Robot of Sherwood, and voiced Stenton Rull for Kaldor City (2001-4), 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/Sentries for Army of Death (2011), Colonel Burroughs/Kimball for The Emerald Tiger (2012), Preddle/Jonathan Jaggers for Judoon in Chains (2016), Sir Joseph Eagleton/Jonathan Mayfly for The Ghosts of Greenwich, Smallpiece for Merry Christmas Mr Jago (both 2019), Silas Keynes for The Ravencliff Witch (2022), and Captain Thaddeus Grey for Archipelago (2024)
• Liz [Ann] Crowther (Antonia)
• Alexander [Joseph] Doré (Bickerton)
• Haydn Gwynne (Donizetti)
• [Anne] Harriet Reynolds (Deirdre) provided the Tannoy Voice for The Leisure Hive
• Kate Eaton (Megan) was Ange in (part 1 of) Survival
• Timothy [Lancaster] West (Furie)
• Joanna Hole (Secretary)
• Geraldine Alexander (Jeannie)
• Eiji Kusuhara (Interpreter)
• Kathy [Lucy Bridget] Burke (Alice)
• Christopher Good (Ember)
• Michael Shannon (Daniels)
• Joanna Kanska (Grete) voiced Rachel for Situation Vacant (2010)
• Anthony O'Donnell (Perks)
• André [Gaston] Maranne [born Maillol] (Sieberman) was Roger Benoit in The Moonbase
• Colin Stinton (Dusenberry)
• Clive [Walter] Swift (Platt) was [Joshua] Jobel in Revelation of the Daleks, and [Bayldon] Copper in Voyage of the Damned
• Tim Wylton [born Higginson] (Lillicrap)
• James Grout (Bunn)
• Godfrey James (Sweet)
• Chris Jury (Wagstaff)
• Joseph Long (Eugenides)
• Tim Preece (Gregory)
• David Bamber (Middling)
• John Halstead (Waiter) provided a Monoid Voice for The Ark
• Clive Wood (Frith)
• Mark Addy [born Johnson] (Prentis)
• Perry Benson ( was the Ice cream man in The Eleventh Hour
• Tim Munro (Smallcott)
• Martyn Whitby (Guard) was a Drayman in The Mark of the Rani
• Marc Warren (Extra)
• Ian [Anthony] Brooker (Extra)
• Mike Houghton
• Ken Trew was also costume designer on Terror of the Autons, Snakedance, The Mysterious Planet, Time and the Rani, Remembrance of the Daleks, Ghost Light, The Curse of Fenric, Survival and Dimensions in Time
• Chris Pemsel was production designer on The Enemy of the World too