Doctor Who Vs. Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel

Agatha Christie's tenth Jane Marple
mystery (her fifty-sixth crime novel)
 was published in 1965, and serialised
 by Woman's Own in the UK, then for

Good Housekeeping in America.

The book was adapted for television by

BBC1, and originally screened in the

 winter of 1987. A (less faithful) ITV

version followed thirty years later.

One of Miss Marple's few outings from

St. Mary Mead finds her staying in

London. Bertram's, the fictional setting

of the story, is thought to have been

inspired by Brown's, a favourite haunt

of Christie's, but could also have been

based on another Mayfair hotel, Fleming's.

Series producer George Gallacio was production manager on thirty

episodes of the classic era (from Planet of the Daleks to The Seeds

of Doom). This two-part serial was repeated on U&Drama last night

- it featured these sixteen Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• George [Morris] Baker (DCI Davy here; Strange in Towards Zero, 1956; Whittington in The Secret Adversary, 1983; Weston in Evil Under the Sun, 1998; Spence for Mrs. McGinity's Dead, 2006) was Decider Login in Full Circle
• Preston [born Reginald Herbert] Lockwood (Pennyfather here/ Simmons, 1995; Waiter in The Unbreakable Alibi; Francois in The Chocolate Box) was Dojjen in Snakedance
• Philip Bretherton (DI Campbell, right) voiced Plenipotentiary Suskind for Arrangements for War (2004), Elliot Payne for Jago & Litefoot 3, Scrivener for Recorded Time, Darcy/D'Urberville/Heathcliff for A Most Excellent Match (all 2011), Vituperon for The Devil's Armada (2014), and Sir Keith Kordel for Rise and Shine (2015)
• Edward [Noel] Burnham (Whittaker) was Professors Joseph Watkins and Jeremiah P Kettlewell in The Invasion and Robot respectively
• Rashid Karapiet (Waiter) was Rita's Father in The God Complex
• [Anne] Kate Duchene (Rose) voiced Regina/Seraphim for The High Price of Parking (2017)
• Richard Gibson (Inspector) voiced Mitchell for Flip-Flop (2003), and Colonel McKenna for Warlock's Cross (2018)
• for John Walker and Maggie Lewty see The Body in the Library
• for Bernard Ashby see The Moving Finger
• for Sheelagh Wells and Patricia Greenland see Sleeping Murder
• for Judy Pepperdine see A Pocketful of Rye
• for Thea Murray and Christopher Sandeman see The Murder at the Vicarage
• Jo O'Leary (location manager) was AFM on Revelation of the Daleks

In December 2004, BBC Radio 4 transmitted a five-part adapt-

ation of At Bertram's Hotel in December 2004. June Whitfield

 again voiced Miss Marple, and was joined by Geoffrey Bayldon,

Preston Lockwood (see above) and six classic series co-stars:

• [Manfred] Frederick Jaeger (DCI Davy here; the Count in The Fourth Man; Melchett in The Body in the Library, 1984) was Jano in The Savages, Sorenson in Planet of Evil, and Professor Frederick Marius in The Invisible Enemy
• [William] Maurice Denham (Pennyfather here; Japp in The Alphabet Murders; Parker Pyne in The Agatha Christie Hour; Poirot in The Mystery of the Blue Train, 1986) and Jillie Meers (Miss Gorringe here; Laura for The Unexpected Guest; Rhoda for The Pale Horse, 1993; Mrs. Lestrange for The Murder at the Vicarage, 1995) both starred in The Paradise of Death - as the President and Clorinda/UN Secretary General - Denham was also Azmael in The Twin Dilemma, whilst Meers also voiced Marcella/Baronessa for The Ghosts of N-Space [opposite Gavin Muir (Malinowski here; Carey for Murder in Mesopotamia, 1994) Barone] then Mrs. McGregor for Catch 1782 (2005)
• Sian [Jane Elizabeth Ailwên] Phillips (Bess here; Princess for Murder on the Orient Express, 1993; Mrs. Lacey for The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, 2004; Laura in Mrs. McGinty's Dead, 2007) voiced COLT-5000 for Jenny 1 (2018) and Her Own Worst Enemy (2021), Pilgrim for Ravenous 2, the Inquisitor for Gallifrey (2020), the Director for The World Traders, Lady Eugenia de Souza for Outback, and Mendrix for The Walls of Absence (2023), then starred in 73 Yards as Enid Meadows
• David Timson (DI Campbell here; Badcock/Vicar for The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, 1998; Blatt in Evil Under the Sun, 2001; Dr. Roberts for Cards on the Table, 2002) voiced Morpeth for The Trial of George Litefoot (2013)