Doctor Who Vs. Spooks: Code 9

David Wolstencroft, the American-born TV writer
and creator of the long-running Spooks (2002
to 2011), conceived this spin-off drama series
for BBC Three.
Again produced by Kudos, the six-part thriller
was intended to offer a new, "more maverick
perspective" for a younger audience.

Despite it's origins, the new series held no
character or plot connections to the parent 
programme, and instead focused on the story
of six young MI5 recruits. 

Set in 2012, the show opened in the after-
math of a nuclear attack on the London
Olympics. The subsequent evacuation of the
capital and the South East of England meant
that the government had relocated to
Manchester, and new MI5 agents were now
tasked with preventing further terror
attacks.

Spooks: Code 9 originally aired from August
2008, then was repeated on BBC HD in June
2009, and latterly on Forces TV in February 2018 - it featured Georgia
Moffett (pictured as Kylie), and a total of sixteen other Doctor Who cast
and crew connections:

• Anthony Flanagan (Tom) was Orin Scannell in 42
• Big Finish actor Warren Brown (Luke) voiced Stephen Gibson for Industrial Evolution (2011), Rufus Stone and To'Koth for Signs and Wonders (2014), and Lieutenant Sam Bishop for UNIT: Extinction (2015), UNIT: Shutdown, UNIT: Silenced (both 2016), UNIT: Assembled (2017), UNIT: Cyber Reality and Lady Christina (both 2018) - he was also Jake Willis in Praxeus
• Andrew Knott (Rob) voiced James O'Meara for 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (2013), and Sean Casey for The White Room (2014)
• Lorraine Burroughs (Simone) was Thalina in The Fires of Pompeii
• Lucinda Dryzek (Alice) was Melissa in School Reunion
• Chris Finch (Conlan) was a Time Lord Soldier in The Day of the Doctor and the Prequel: The Last Day
• Eva Pope (Hamilton) voiced Nia Brusk for Army of Death (2011)
• Darryl Clark (Norris) was Officer Will in Resolution
• Dean Forster was also a stuntman on The Christmas Invasion, New Earth, Smith and Jones, Voyage of the Damned, The Next Doctor, Cold Blood, A Good Man Goes to War, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
• Crispin Layfield was also the stunt co-ordinator on the revived series (from Smith and Jones to the present)
• sound editor Helen Dickson was foley editor on all thirteen episodes of Series 5, and twelve instalments of The Sarah Jane Adventures
• Matt Wood (VFX supervisor) and Gary Kelly (digital compositor) were both tasked with The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe and The Power of Three - Wood also worked on A Town Called Mercy
• line producer Patrick Schweitzer first worked on the revived series as location manager on The Runaway Bride, then was production manager on six stories for Series 3, and produced all of Series 5
• James Moran was writer of The Fires of Pompeii too
• Toby Haynes was also director of The Pandorica Opens, The Big Bang, A Christmas Carol, The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon

Doctor Who Vs. Prime Suspect, Series 7

Actors Helen Mirren (as DCS Jane Tennison), 
Robert Pugh (DS Simms), and Tom Bell 
(retired DS Bill Otley) all returned for the 
seventh and final season of Granada's 
acclaimed, multi-award winning police 
procedural drama.

Originally shown in October 2006, the serial 
earned three further Emmy Awards (including Outstanding Miniseries and Lead Actress for 
Mirren) and another BAFTA.
Lynda La Plante's novel Tennison was adapted by Noho Film, and the six-part prequel series, 
Prime Suspect: 1973, launched on ITV last night.

The two-part case (subtitled The Final Act)
began another repeat run on ITV3 last night, and featured Brendan Coyle (as DCS Mitchell), Robbie Gee (DI Traynor), Russell Mabey (DS 
Cox), Stephen Tompkinson (Sean Philips), and ten Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Big Finish actor Laura Doddington (DC Wood) voiced Zara for The Judgement of Isskar, The Prisoner's Dilemma, The Chaos Pool (all 2009), The Archive (2015) and Wicked Sisters (2020), Vale Endrogan for Gallifrey: Intervention Earth (2015), Idratz for The Very Dark Thing, Delilah for The Torchwood Archive (both 2016), and Lady Sutlumu for The War Master 6 (2021)
• Carolyn Pickles (Pauline) voiced Lady Meera Darone for Army of Death (2011), and Cardinal Ollistra for Doom Coalition 4 (2017)
• Seroca Davis (Delores) was Shona in Closing Time
• Nonso Anozie (Robert) was Hydroflax (pictured) in The Husbands of River Song
• Tim Preece (Speaker) was Codal in Planet of the Daleks, and voiced the President for Unbound: He Jests at Scars (2003)
• Helen Griffin (Speakers) was Mrs. Moore in Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel, then voiced both Director Cardell and Ship's Computer for Cobwebs (2010)
• Ricky Nixon (Bishop) voiced Turma for The War Master 3 (2019)
• make-up designer Deanne Turner was an artist on Planet of the Daleks
• Alex Kaye-Besley was an assistant director on The Shakespeare Code too
• SFX technician Charlie Bluett worked on forty-one stories (from Rose to Before the Flood), The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood and Class

Doctor Who Vs. Agatha Christie, Part 1

The biggest mystery in the life of Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie (1890-1976) is undoubtedly the story of her disappearance in 1926, 
when she vanished for eleven days. She never spoke of those missing 
days, and the ninety year old controversy remains as intriguing as any 
of her crime novels.

In late 1926, Agatha's husband Archie told her that he wanted a divorce. 
On December 3rd, the couple quarrelled, and Archie left their house, Styles, 
in Sunningdale, Berkshire, to see his mistress, Nancy Neele, at Godalming. 
Later that same evening, Agatha disappeared, informing her secretary in a letter 
that she had left for Yorkshire. Her abandoned Morris Cowley was found beside 
a lake at Newlands Corner, near Guildford.

Despite a public outcry and a massive manhunt, the novelist was only identified 

on December 14th, as a guest at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate. Even fellow crime writers, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy L Sayers took an interest

in the case.

Agatha was then diagnosed with an amnesiac 'fugue state', but many contemporary commentators believed she had staged a publicity stunt. In 1998, author Jared Cade speculated that Agatha had planned her disappearance, and wanted to publicly embarrass Archie. Biographer Andrew Norman also studied the case, and The Guardian reviewed his book here. The Christies divorced in 1928, and Agatha married the archaeologist Max Mallowan (1904-1978) two years later.

These events were dramatised in the British film, Agatha starring Vanessa Redgrave as the famous writer, and Dustin Hoffman as the reporter, Wally Stanton. Future James Bond actor, Timothy Dalton portrayed Agatha's adulterous husband, Colonel Archibald Christie (1899-1962). His affair is seen here as the catalyst for Agatha's breakdown, and she even booked into her hotel under the alias of Teresa Neele. The film (released by Warner in 1979) was screened on ITV3 today, and featured these ten Doctor Who cast and crew connections: 

• Dalton played Lord President Rassilon in The End of Time
• Carolyn Pickles (Charlotte) voiced Lady Meera for Big Finish's Army of Death (2011)
• Paul Brooke (Foster) voiced Paolo for The Ghosts of N-Space, and Toby the Sapient Pig for Year of the Pig (BF, 2006)
• Timothy West (Kenward) voiced Kai Tobias for Phobos (BF, 2007), Turvey for Cuddlesome (BF, 2008), and Dr. Magnus Soames in House of Blue Fire (BF, 2011)
• Harry Fielder (Policeman), a veteran of the original run, had parts as a Guard (in serials PP, ZZZ, 4L, 4P, 5A, 5F, 5Z), a Crewman (SS, 4T), a Vogan (4D), an Assassin (4Q), a Tigellan (5Q), and a Krarg for Shada
• Christopher Fairbank (Luland) voiced the Professor for The Wreck of the Titan (BF, 2010), and Doc Baroque for The Scapegoat (BF, 2009) - he is married to Camille Coduri
• John Joyce (Waiter) had an uncredited role in The Myth Makers, and was Garvin in The Daemons
• Hubert Rees (Official) made three classic era appearances, as the Chief Engineer in Fury from the Deep, Captain Ransom in The War Games, and John Stevenson in The Seeds of Doom
• Peter Arne (Manager) had been cast in Frontios as Range, but was replaced by William Lucas when he was murdered in his London home in August 1983
• Tony Bell was a boom operator on The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot too

TO BE CONTINUED