Doctor Who Vs. A Very English Scandal

BBC One's latest political drama
was based on the 2016 novel by
John Preston, and tells the true
story of the first British politician
to stand trial for murder.
Liberal MP and former party
leader Jeremy Thorpe (portrayed
here by Hugh Grant) was
accused of conspiring to kill his
alleged lover Norman Scott (Ben
Whishaw) in 1979. Thorpe (1929-
2014) was acquitted but his
political career was over.
During recent promotion for the
programme, writer Russell T
Davies revealed that he had
always intended to cast Grant
as the Doctor when Doctor Who was commissioned in 2003.
Produced by Blueprint Pictures, the three-part series featured Eve Myles,
Alex Jennings, and twenty-four other Doctor Who cast and crew alumni:

• Grant depicted the Doctor in The Curse of Fatal Death
• David Bamber (Lord Arran) was Captain Quell in Mummy on the Orient Express, and voiced Emperor Constantine for The Council of Nicaea (2005), and Colonel Ulrik and Whitmore for The Four Doctors (2010)
• Blake Harrison (Newton) voiced Lieutenant Daniel Hopkins for The Helliax Rift and Hour of the Cybermen (both 2018)
• Anthony O'Donnell (Abse) was Commander Kaagh in The Sarah Jane Smith Adventures: The Last Sontaran and Enemy of  the Bane
• Steffan Rhodri (DCS Challes) voiced Commander Korshal for Dreamtime (2005), Minister for Torchwood: Outbreak (2016), and Ted for The Silent Streets of Barry Island
• Adrian Scarborough (Carman) was Kahler Jex in A Town Called Mercy and The Making of the Gunslinger
• Jason Watkins (Hooson) was Webley in Nightmare in Silver, voiced the Legate of the Caliph for The Destroyer of Delights, and was the White Guardian for The Chaos Pool (both 2009)
• Lucy Briggs Owen (Sue) voiced Tina Andresson for The Havoc of Empires, Rejoice for The War Doctor 1: The Innocent (both 2015), Miranda for Maker of Demons (2016), Charlotte Mayfly for The Paternoster Gang: Heritage 1 (2019), and was cast in The Primeval Design (2021)
• Charlotte Lucas (Janet) voiced Bio Technician Valis and Echelon for Cobwebs (2010), and Duchess Miranda for Kingdom of Lies (2018)
• Paul Freeman (Cantley) voiced Jalnik for The Foe from the Future (2012)
• Tim Hudson (Lethaby) voiced the Tar-Modowk Leader for No More Lies (2007), then was Edward Lawn Bridges in The Giggle
• Andrew French (Sergeant-at-Arms) voiced Obingo for The Ghosts of Gralstead (2014), Beltempest for Original Sin, Muren for The Eternity Cage (both 2016), the Racnoss Consort for Empire of the Racnoss (2017), and Veritas for Morbius 1 (2024)
• Susan Wooldridge (Countess) auditioned for the role of Leela in 1976
• Morgan Watkins (Steele) voiced Ruck for The Dispossessed (2018)
• Zina Badran (Clerk) was the Morpheus Presenter in Sleep No More, then voiced Charlana for Ace and Tegan (2025)
• Daniel Weyman TV (Reporter) voiced Ragan Crezzen for The Butcher of Brisbane (2012)
• Nigel Hastings (Stable Owner) was the Commander in The Pyramid at the End of the World
• Nick Malinowski (Officer) was Eric in A Christmas Carol
• Tim Chipping (Guard) voiced Grigory [Rasputin] and the Dahensa for The Wanderer (2012), and Constable Wolsey and Mandrake for The Widow's Assassin (2014)
• Pablo Raybould (Auctioneer) was an Aide in Daleks in Manhattan
• Richard Price (Party Member) was Guest in The Runaway Bride and The Lazarus Experiment, Passerby in Partners in Crime, Takran Soldier in The Doctor's Daughter, Cyberman in The Doctor Falls and Shadow Kin in Class
• stunt co-ordinator Paul Kennington was stuntman on Rise of the Cybermen, The Age of Steel, Army of Ghosts, Doomsday and The Doctor's Daughter
• Murray Gold was composer on the revived run (from 2005 to last year) too
• Suzanne Cave was costume designer on An Adventure in Space and Time too

Doctor Who Vs. Lesbian Vampire Killers

This British comedy-horror film, shown 

again on the Horror channel last night,
was essentially a big-screen vehicle 
for BBC double-act James Corden
and Matthew Horne, that ultimately
received mainly negative reviews.

Horne (pictured left as Jimmy) is best
known for his roles on three series of
The Catherine Tate Show and Nan,
whilst Corden now hosts The Late 
Late Show on CBS.
 Paul McGann co-starred here as
the Vicar of Cragwych, the Norfolk
village cursed by a centuries-old 
vampire. 

Northern Actors Bernard Hill (Boys 
from the Black Stuff, Titanic) and 
Andrew Lee Potts (Strange, Primeval) were originally set to play the 
Vicar and Jimmy. 

Released by Momentum Pictures in 2009, the film also featured these 
twenty-seven other Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Corden (Fletch) played Craig Owens in The Lodger and Closing Time
• Ripper Street actress MyAnna Buring (Lotte) was Scooti Manista in The Impossible Planet 
• Lucy Gaskell (Judy) was Kathy Nightingale in Blink
• Big Finish actor Travis Oliver (Steve) was Milo in Gridlock, and voiced Chris Cweji for Damaged Goods (2015), Original Sin and Cold Fusion (both 2016)
• Millennium FX designer Neill Gorton worked on seventy-nine instalments of the revived run (from The Christmas Invasion to The Doctor Falls), The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood and Class
• Rob Mayor was also SFX supervisor on seventy-six adventures (from The Girl in the Fireplace to The Doctor Falls), and the programme's three spin-off series
• Martina Hawkins was also an effects administrator on forty stories (form The Next Doctor to The Doctor Falls), The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood and Class
• mould maker Claire Green held that post on nineteen episodes (from The Girl Who Waited to Smile) and Class
• make-up effects technician Paula Eden was a painter on A Good Man Goes to War, The God Complex and Deep Breath
• stunt co-ordinator Derek Lea and Stuart Clark were both stuntmen on Dalek, Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways, whilst Lea also worked on The Age of Steel and Partners in Crime
• Martin Rezard was also a prosthetics technician on ten stories (from The Girl in the Fireplace to The Sontaran Stratagem)
• make-up FX technicians Jon Moore, Darren Nevin, Fiona Walshe, Alexandra Wathey and Lauren Wellman were all prosthetics technicians on twenty-two episodes (from Rose to Deep Breath), four others (The Next Doctor, The Waters of Mars and The End of Time), another eight (from The Doctor's Daughter to The Time of the Doctor), twenty-seven parts (from The Lazarus Experiment to Heist) and seven more (from The Doctor's Daughter to The Bells of Saint John) respectively
• technicians Gill Reeves (was a SFX make-up artist on The Next Doctor and The Time of Angels) and Adrian Rigby (was the hair technician on The God Complex)
• make-up FX co-ordinator Kate Walshe was part of the prosthetics and SFX crews (in various roles) on forty-one instalments (from The Next Doctor to The Doctor Falls), The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
• Mandy Gold was a make-up artist on The Curse of Fatal Death too
• Roger Tarry was also the carpenter on Midnight and The Lodger
• Louise Bohling was a scenic artist on New Earth too
• John Whalley was also a scenic artist on seventeen adventures (from Voyage of the Damned to The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe)
• draughtsman Silas Williams was the stand-by carpenter on eight stories (from The Christmas Invasion to A Christmas Carol)
• Nick Foley was the ADR mixer on The Snowmen too
• Stephanie Carey was also a stunt performer on Voyage of the Damned, The Beast Below, The Curse of the Black Spot, Let's Kill Hitler, The Girl Who Waited, The Angels Take Manhattan and The Crimson Horror

Doctor Who Vs. Prime Suspect, Series 6

Granada's acclaimed, multi-award winning
police procedural drama was revived in 

November 2003, after a seven-year hiatus.

Helen Mirren's role as Detective Superintendent
 Jane Tennison and the serial earned four further BAFTA and three Emmy awards nominations.

Mirren co-starred here with Ben Miles (as DCI 
Finch), Mark Strong (DCS Hall), Sam Hazeldine
 (DC Butcher), and Tanya Moodie (DC Grieves).

The penultimate, two-part case (subtitled The 
Last Witness and again set in London) began 
another repeat run on ITV3 last night and 
featured twenty-two Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Liam Cunningham (West) played Captain Zhukov in Cold War
• Rupert Frazer (Giblin) voiced Dr. Say Findecker for Big Finish's The Butcher of Brisbane (2012)
• Barnaby Kay (DC Phillips) was Heidi in The Girl Who Died, and voiced Martin Donaldson for Dark Eyes 4 (2015), and Commander Thrakken for The War Doctor 2 (2016)
• Finlay Robertson (Vagrant) was Larry Nightingale (pictured) in Blink and The Lonely Assassins
• Robert Pugh (DS Simms) was Tony Mack in The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood
• Frank Finlay (Tennison here & The Final Act) voiced Old Jacob for Bedtime Story (2007)
• Davyd Harries (Lawyer) was Shapp in The Armageddon Factor
• Julia Joyce (Lukic's daughter) had doubled for Billie Piper in Father's Day as young Rose, and was Holly Frobisher in Torchwood: Children of Earth
• Stephen Cranford (Officer) was a Dalek operator in The Curse of Fatal Death, and the Covellitor in Devious (included on The War Games DVD)
• St. John O'Rorke was the film editor on The Time of the Doctor too
• first assistant director Stephen Woolfenden was the director of Nightmare in Silver
• Will Pope was also the stand-by carpenter on sixty-one episodes (from Love & Monsters to The Name of the Doctor), The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
• Nick Roberts was also the ADR recordist on The Time of Angels, Flesh and Stone, The Vampires of Venice, Cold Blood and The Lodger
• stunt co-ordinator Paul Heasman was an uncredited Nazi in Silver Nemesis, and the stunt arranger on Survival
• Lee Sheward was also the stunt co-ordinator on eleven instalments (from The End of the World to The End of Time), and Torchwood: Miracle Day
• stunt co-ordinator Gareth Milne was George Cranleigh in Black Orchid, a Mortuary Attendant in Vengeance on Varos, and doubled for Peter Davison on Warriors of the Deep