Doctor Who Vs. Titanic (2012)

The centenary of the loss of RMS Titanic was marked by
ITV's big-budget costume drama, written by Downton
 Abbey creator, Julian Fellowes. Titanic set out to paint
a picture of Edwardian society, telling the stories of 
almost a hundred characters, both real and fictional,
from every social level.

Their narratives were developed and interwoven over the first three parts, each of which ended in a cliff-
hanger as the disaster unfolds. The final episode drew
all these separate strands together and revealed who survived the sinking.

The series first aired over four Sunday nights in March
and April 2012 (and two consecutive nights on
American TV), and concluded another repeat run on
ITV Encore last night.
The star-studded cast of Titanic, headed by Geraldine Somerville and Linus Roache, featured Jenna Louise
Coleman (pictured as Annie Desmond), Ruth Bradley
 (Mary Maloney), and seventeen other Doctor Who cast connections:

• Toby Jones (Batley) played the Dream Lord in Amy's Choice, and voiced renegade Time Lord Kotris for Big Finish's Dark Eyes (2012)
• Linus [William] Roache (Manton) was Reginald Pye in Lux
• Celia Immrie (Grace) was Miss Kizlet in The Bells of Saint John, and voiced Dr. Elizabeth Bradley for Counter Measures (BF, 2013), Madame Tissot for Gallery of Ghouls, and Livia for Gallifrey: Enemy Lives (both 2016)
• James Wilby (Bruce Ismay) voiced Tenebris for both The Acheron Pulse and The Shadow Heart (2012)
• Lee Ross (Barnes) was the Boatswain in The Curse of the Black Spot
• Sophie Winkleman (Dorothy) voiced Kelly Westwood for The Eight Truths and Worldwide Web (BF, both 2009)
• Christine Kavanagh (Mrs. Thayer) was Aram in Timelash
• Sylvestra Le Touzel (Lady Duff Gordon) made her TV debut, aged 10, in The Mind Robber, as a Child
• Simon Paisley Day (Duff Gordon) was a Steward in The End of the World, and Rump in Face the Raven
• Big Finish actor Miles Richardson (JJ Astor) was Captain Douglas Cavendish in both video spin-off dramas Downtime (1995) and Daemos Rising (2004), and voiced Charles Darwin for Bloodtide (2001), Irving Braxiatel for Zagreus (2003), Theatre of War (2015) and Gallifrey: Enemy Lines, and Black Rod for The Gunpowder Plot
• Brian McCardie (First Officer Murdoch) voiced Alan Weir for Masters of Earth (BF, 2014)
• Ben Bishop (Lyons) voiced Stone for The Justice of Jalxar (BF, 2013)
• Pandora Colin (Countess of Rothes) voiced Fash for Prisoner of the Sun (BF, 2010)
• Timothy West (Lord Pirie) voiced Kai Tobias for Phobos (2007), Ronald Turvey for Cuddlesome (2008), and Dr. Magnus Soames for House of Blue Fire (2011)
• Jeff Mash (Valet) was Grant in Day of the Moon
• Mark Lewis Jones (Evans) voiced Professor Oliver Mortlake for The Darkness of Glass (BF, 2015)
• Olivia Darnley (Bessie) made a cameo appearance in The Five(ish) Doctors as Kourtney

Doctor Who Vs. Titanic

Next April sees the re-release of 1997's Titanic movie - now in 3D - and a new Titanic mini-series for ITV1, written by Downton Abbey creator, Julian Fellowes. 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the loss of the famed liner, and the star-studded TV drama is planned to air over four consecutive nights. Headed by Geraldine Somerville (Cracker), Celia Imrie, and Linus Roache, the cast includes these Doctor Who cast connections:

• James Wilby (Bruce Ismay) has been cast as Tenebris for next year's The Acheron Pulse (Big Finish)
• Toby Jones (Batley) played the Dream Lord in Amy's Choice 
• Lee Ross (Barnes) was the Boatswain in The Curse of the Black Spot
• Sophie Winkleman (Dorothy) voiced Kelly Westwood for The Eight Truths and Worldwide Web (BF, both 2009)
• for Christine Kavanagh (Mrs Thayer) see A Very British Coup here
• Sylvestra Le Touzel (Lady Duff Gordon) made her TV debut, aged 10, in The Mind Robber, as a Child
• Simon Paisley Day (Lord Duff Gordon) was a Steward in The End of the World
• Miles Richardson (Astor) provided the voice of Black Rod for The Gunpowder Plot, and see Murder Rooms (here) for his previous roles
• Ruth Bradley (Mary) voices the Eight Doctor's new companion, Molly O'Sullivan for next year's Dark Eyes quartet
• Pandora Colin (Countess of Rothes) voiced Fash for Prisoner of the Sun (BF, 2010)
• Timothy West (Lord Pirie) voiced Kai Tobias for Phobos (2007), Ronald Turvey for Cuddlesome (2008), and Dr Magnus Soames for House of Blue Fire (2011) - all from Big Finish

Another forthcoming, big-budget TV production is also due to air next April. The BBC's 12-part Titanic: Blood and Steel chronicles the construction of the luxury liner in Belfast, over 15 years, at the cost of 105 lives. This drama star these Doctor Who guest actors:

• Michael Cochrane (Captain Smith) played Charles Cranleigh in Black Orchid, Redvers Fenn-Cooper in Ghost Light, and voiced three Big Finish roles - Lt. Col. Brook for No Man's Land (2006), Murgat for Brotherhood of the Daleks (2008), and Colonel Spindleton for Trail of the White Worm (2012) - he is the older brother of Martin Cochrane (Chellak in The Caves of Androzani)
• for Derek Jacobi (Lord Pirie) see my second Randall & Hopkirk blog
• Gray O'Brien (Bruce Ismay) was Rickston Slade onboard Titanic in Voyage of the Damned

James Cameron's record-breaking, Oscar-laden cinema epic also featured the following Doctor Who guest actors: 

• David Warner (Lovejoy) voiced five roles for Big Finish - the 'Unbound' Doctor for Sympathy for the Devil (2003), and Masters of War (2008), Isaac Newton for Circular Time: Summer (2007), Co-ordinator Angell for Empathy Games (2007), Siris for The Children of Seth (2011), and Professor Boston Schooner for Deimos (2010), and Lord Azlok for Dreamland (BBC Red Button/BBC2)
• Ron Donachie (Master-at-Arms) was a Steward in Tooth and Claw
• real-life husband and wife, Martin Jarvis and Rosalind Ayres (here as married couple, the Duff Gordons) were both in Jubilee (BF, 2003) as Nigel and Miriam Rochester, and the 3 'classic' TV roles of Jarvis can be found here
• Paul Brightwell (Quartermaster Hitchens) was the Surgeon in World Enough and Time
• Terry Forrestal (Bell) was a Tractor driver in K9 and Company