Doctor Who Vs. Silent Witness, Series 7

The seventh season

 of this long-running

crime drama was first
shown on BBC1 in the

autumn of 2003.
Amanda Burton
starred as Home
Office pathologist
Professor Sam Ryan
in her last full series,
whilst Tom Ward and
William Gaminara
returned as doctors Harry Cunningham and Leo Dalton.

A fifth Silent Witness novel, written by the programme's creator Nigel
McCrery, was planned to tie-in with this year but remains unpublished.

A repeat run of the eight-part series began on Drama last night, and

featured a total of twenty-nine Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

Answering Fire (TX: October 11 & 12)

• Jo [Mary] Joyner (Cathy) was Lynda Moss in Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways, then voiced Fenice for Big Finish's Boundaries (2022)
• Robert Cavanah (Burwood here; DI Laing in Series 17: In a Lonely Place) voiced President Gilbert for Saltwater (2022)
• Leena Dhingra (Shaheen) was Miss Chandrakala in The Unicorn and the Wasp, and Nani Umbreen in Demons of the Punjab 
• David Mallinson (Bowman) voiced Brodlik for Creatures of Beauty (2003)
• for David Quilter (Coroner) and Nick Wilkinson (stuntman) see Series 5
• Peter Brayham was also stunt co-ordinator (here & Series 10: Schism) on The Christmas Invasion, New Earth and School Reunion
• Dani Biernat was also a stunt performer (here & Schism) on seven- teen stories (form the 2005 festive special to Kerblam!)
• for Ian Adrian (camera operator) see Series 6

Fatal Error (TX: October 18 & 19)

• Michael Bertenshaw (Whitaker) was Coles in The Next Doctor
• Nick Malinowski (Ricketts) and Tim Plester (Owen here & Beyond Guilt) both appeared in A Christmas Carol, as Eric and Servant
• Graham Padden (Father) was Pa in Gridlock
• Mark Frost (DS Baxter here; DCI Sullivan in Series 18: One of Our Own) voiced Shandar for Requiem for the Rocket Men (2015), and Niccolo Machiavelli for The Ravelli Conspiracy (2016)

Running On Empty (TX: October 25 & 26)

• Jaye Griffiths (DI Jayne Hurst here; Professor Janet Mander, series 12-15) was Jac in The Magician's Apprentice and The Zygon Invasion then reprised for The Turn of the Tides (2022), and voiced Daylin for The Neverwhen (2016), Til Rork for The Sentient (2019), Sister Ursula for Abbey of Heretics (2020), Hieronyma Friend for Meanwhile, Elsewhere (2022), Lady Montague for Audacity (2023), Bramble King and Causeway, and Gloria for Inseparable (all 2025)
• Dona Croll (Diane) was Matron Casp in New Earth, and voiced Bella for Madquake (2020), and the Empress for The Sincerest Form of Flattery (2021) 
• Don [Samuel] Gilet (Johns) was Lance in The Runaway Bride, and voiced Streatham for The Hunting Season (2021)
• Jana Carpenter (Alice) was De Maggio in Dalek, then voiced Marion Stokes for Calamity Jenny (2021)
• Katherine Kelly (Tina) was Miss Quill in Class
• Sarah Paul (Kimberley) was Miss Jerome in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Gift, then voiced Coleen for Jenny 3 (2024)

Beyond Guilt (TX: November 1 & 2)

• Malcolm Terris (Goveror) was Etnin in (episode 1 of) The Dominators, and the Co-Pilot in The Horns of Nimon
• Joy Harrison (Sandra) was Jill Tarrant in Death to the Daleks
• Tony Lucken (Proctor here; Barlow in Series 14: The Prodigal) was stuntman on Dalek, Bad Wolf, The Parting of the Ways and The End of Time, then was De Florres in The Curse of the Black Spot
• James Weber Brown (Davidson) was the Minister in In The Forest of the Night
• Sorcha Cusack (Denise) voiced Mary Carter for Dark Eyes 4 (2015)
• for Paul Copley (Parkin) see Series 4
• Roger Cann was production designer on Nightmare of Eden too
• Terry Elms (sound recordist here, Series 7 & 8) was an assistant on The Masque of Mandragora (1)

Doctor Who Vs. United

Screened on Great Movies! today,

this TV film from World Productions

 was based on the true story of

Manchester United's Busby Babes

and the aftermath of the Munich

 air disaster of February 1958.

The drama focused on the
experiences of Welsh football
coach Jimmy Murphy (1910-
1989) portrayed by David 
Tennant and midfielder, Bobby
Charlton (b. 1937) played by
Jack O'Connell (pictured centre).

Murphy became United's caretaker
manager following the plane crash
 in Germany which killed 23 people,
including eight club players, and

injured eighteen others and manager Matt Busby (1909-1994).

Nine MUFC squad players were amongst the 21 survivors.
In charge of United since 1945, Busby (depicted here by Dougray

Scott) recovered and resumed his role a year later. Rebuilding his

team, Busby would eventually lead the club to European supremacy

 in 1968, before retiring the next year. He was knighted in 1972.

Despite the disaster, Murphy steered United to the FA Cup final of

1958, then managed the Wales national squad at the country's only

FIFA World Cup finals appearance in Sweden. He remained as MUFC

assistant manager until 1971.

Filmed mainly in the North East of England, the drama was first

broadcast in April 2011 on BBC Two and BBC HD. Written by Chris

 Chibnall, United also featured Neil Dudgeon, Dean Andrews, Tim

Healy, and thirteen further Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• James Strong was also director of The Impossible Planet, The Satan Pit, Daleks in Manhattan, Evolution of the Daleks, Voyage of the Damned, Partners in Crime and Planet of the Dead
• Scott was Professor Alec Palmer in Hide
• Natalie Burt (Marion) voiced Dr. Sally Armstrong for Big Finish's Dark Eyes series

• Kate Ashfield (Alma George) voiced Lieutenant Beth Stokes for Enemy of the Daleks (2009)
• Daniel Hill (British Consul) and Shirley Dixon (Mrs. Watson) both worked on Shada - as Chris Parsons, and the Voice of Skagra's Ship respectively - Hill also voiced Percy Noggins for AudioGos' The Stuff of Nightmares (2009)
• BBC newsreader Kenneth Kendall had a cameo in (episode 4 of) The War Machines too
• Edward Thomas was also production designer on seventy-two stories (from Rose to The Big Bang), Attack of the Graske, The Infinite Quest, Music of the Spheres, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
• casting director Andy Pryor has worked on the revived run since 2005
• supervising art director James North was associate designer on fifty-nine episodes (from The Christmas Invasion to Closing Time)
• David Morison was also set decorator on twelve adventures (from Tooth and Claw to Forest of the Dead) after a stint as stand-by art director on Boom Town and Love & Monsters
• sound mixer John Taylor was a boom operator on The Five Doctors
• Alice Purser was also casting associate on forty-three instalments (from The Waters of Mars to The Time of the Doctor)
• Luke Corbyn was SFX technician on An Adventure in Space and Time too

Doctor Who Vs. Strangers

Produced by Two Brothers
Pictures, ITV's latest crime
drama concluded last night.
Originally titled White Dragon,
the series was mainly filmed in
its Hong Kong setting.

The thriller debuted on the ITV
Hub on September 6, then
began an eight-week run four
 days later - it featured John 
Simm (as Jonah), Anthony
Wong, Emilia Fox, Katie
Leung, and twelve Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Dervla Kirwan (Megan) was Miss Hartigan in The Next Doctor
• Kae Alexander (Becky) voiced Waywalker for Big Finish's The Memory Bank and Other Stories (2018)
• Tim McInnerny (Bach) was Halpen in Planet of the Ood, and voiced Admiral Dolne for The Well-Mannered War (2015)
• Raquel Cassidy (Racel) was Miranda Cleaves in The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People, and voiced Mesca for The Judgement of Isskar (2009), Inquisa for Paradoxicide, Destiny Gray for Recorded Time: Question Marks (both 2011), Dr. Alison Foster for Destination: Nerva (2012), and Guinevere Godiva for Jago & Litefoot 5 (2013)
• Andrew Knott (Conrad) voiced James O'Meara for 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (2013), and Sean Casey for Dark Eyes 2: The White Room (2014)
• Tina Simmons (Mother) made her TV debut as an Inferno Customer in (episode 1 of) The War Machines
• Liana Del Giudice was also film editor on The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, The Christmas Invasion, New Earth, School Reunion and The Day of the Doctor
• property master Garry Dawson worked on stand-by props for Cold War, The Crimson Horror and The Sarah Jane Adventures pilot episode
• Nick Murray was also art director on Thin Ice and Knock Knock
• Sophie Powell was graphic designer on Last Christmas too
• ADR mixer Robert Searl was recordist on Twice Upon a Time
• Charlie Bluett was also prosthetics technician on forty-eight stories (from Rose to The Husbands of River Song), Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Class

Doctor Who Vs. The Witness For The Prosecution

Writer Sarah Phelps followed BBC One's 

And Then There Were None (2015) 

with another Agatha Christie thriller,
first shown at Christmas 2016.

The Witness for the Prosecution began

life as a short story, published as Traitor Hands by Flynn's Weekly in 1925.
The courtroom drama was first adapted
for radio in 1949, then was dramatised
for the London stage in late 1953.
During its run, Christie also had two
other plays staged, making her the
only female playwright to have three
productions performed simultaneously
in the West End.

The play was soon adapted for cinema
in 1957, starring Charles Laughton,
Marlene Dietrich and Tyrone Power.
The original story has now garnered
four treatments for television - 

previous serials appeared in 1949

(BBC), 1953 (CBS), 1982 (Hallmark).
Christie aficionado Kim Cattrall contacted Mammoth Screen when the BBC 

announced plans for the newest version, and was consequently cast as
Emily French.

A repeat run of this two-part mystery began on BBC Four last night - it 

featured Andrea Riseborough (as Romaine), Billy Howle (Leonard Vole), 

and nine Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Toby Jones (Mayhew here; Ratchett in Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express) was the Dream Lord in Amy's Choice, and voiced Kotris for Big Finish's Dark Eyes (2012)
• David Haig (Carter here; Horton in Marple: Murder is Easy) was Pangol in The Leisure Hive
• Tim McMullan (Meredith KC) voiced Octavian for Doom Coalition 3 (BF, 2016)
• Charles De'Ath (Deveraux) was Adelaide's Father in The Waters of Mars
• Andrew Havill (Starling here; Peel in Partners in Crime; Hjerson in Poirot: The Clocks) was the Chief Steward in Voyage of the Damned, and voiced Aleister Portillon and Squire Claude for The Witch From the Well (BF, 2011)
• executive producer Damian Timmer (here, Poirot, Marple, And Then There Were None and Ordeal By Innocence) made a cameo appearance in An Adventure in Space and Time as a Menoptera
• SFX supervisor Scott McIntyre was the armourer on The Day of the Doctor
• Julius Ogden (first assistant camera) was focus puller on nine stories (from Closing Time to the 50th Anniversary special)
• Joe Russell was also a camera operator on thirty-seven episodes (from Blink to the Anniversary special)

Doctor Who Vs. Dark Heart

This feature-length thriller from Silverprint
Pictures was based on the crime novels of
Adam Creed, and acted as the pilot for the
forthcoming series. Due to the closure of ITV
Encore later this month, the six-part run will
air on ITV.
The serial (an adaptation of Suffer the 
Children, published in 2009) is set during
an August heatwave in London, and DI Will
Wagstaffe (played by Tom Riley) led the
investigation into a series of brutal attacks
on unconvicted paedophiles.
Originally shown on Encore in November
2016, the drama was repeated last night,
and featured Miranda Raison (as Sylvie),
and seventeen other Doctor Who cast and
crew connections:

• Riley portrayed Robin Hood (pictured) in Robot of Sherwood
• prolific Big Finish actor Tim Treloar (DS Smethurst) voiced Van Cleef for Return of the Rocket Men, the Lord President for Dark Eyes, the Ancient One for Gods and Monsters, Lord Jack for Destination Nerva, Tyron for The Burning Prince (all 2012), Telephus and Cisyphus for Mask of Tragedy (2014), Ergu for The Exxilons, and Narrator for The Third Doctor Adventures (from 2015), Damascus (2016) and Gardeners' World (2017)
• Anji Mohindra (DC Chancellor) played Rani Chandra in The Sarah Jane Adventures, and voiced Jyoti Cutler for Scavenger (2014)
• Nicholas Asbury (Dawlish) was Etoine in The Zygon Inversion, and voiced Rowe for The Many Deaths of Jo Grant (2011), Burmaster for UNIT: Assembled, and Chordok for The Silurian Candidate (both 2017)
• Robert Hands (Nico) was Algy in The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances, and later voiced Captain Solex for The War Doctor 2, Pope Leo X for The Ravelli Conspiracy, Daniel Defoe for The Diary of River Song 2 (all 2016), and Lagrange for The First Doctor 2 (2017)
• T'Nia Miller (Gail) was the General in Hell Bent
• Justin Salinger (Regis) was Tasker in Oxygen
• Franc Ashman (Lisa) was Christine in The Big Bang
• Teresa Banham (Greta) was the Governor of HMP Broadfell in The End of Time
• Eugene Washington (Mallory) was Mr. Wagner in School Reunion
• Roy Holder (Caretaker) was Krelper in The Caves of Androzani 
• Polly Polivnick (Holly) was Peggy in Village of the Angels
• line producer Debbi Slater was production manager on Blink, Planet of the Ood, The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky, The Unicorn and the Wasp, Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead, then associate producer on Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
• Colin Teague also directed The Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords, The Fires of Pompeii and Torchwood
• producer Chris Clough was the director of Terror of the Vervoids, The Ultimate Foe, Delta and the Bannermen, Dragonfire, The Happiness Patrol and Silver Nemesis
• Philip Hookway was film editor on Flatline too
• Mick Pantaleo was also the first assistant director on A Christmas Carol, The Doctor's Wife and Night Terrors

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

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