Doctor Who Vs. Silent Witness, Series 16

The sixteenth season of BBC1's perennial crime

drama was first broadcast in the winter of 2013,

and saw the departure of William Gaminara after

eleven years in the role of Dr. Leo Dalton (he was

killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan).

Emilia Fox (fellow Home Office pathologist, Dr.

Nikki Alexander) was now joined by David Caves

and Liz Carr as Jack Hodgson and Clarissa Mullery.

A repeat run of the ten-part series began on

U&Drama last night - it featured Mark Bonnar,

and a total of twenty-nine Doctor Who cast and

crew connections:

Change (TX: January 10 & 11)

• Tim [Peter] Piggott Smith (Briggs) was Captain Harker in The Claws of Axos, and Marco in The Masque of Mandragora
• Derek Riddell (Trenter) was Robert MacLeish in Tooth and Claw, and voiced Lieut. Comm. Sandy McNish for Big Finish's The Oncoming Storm (2016)
• Sharon Small (Geraldine) voiced Jeannie/Janet for The Revenants (2012)
• for Rob Dixon see Series 1

Trust (TX: January 17 & 18)

• Richard Clark was also director of Gridlock, The Lazarus Experiment, The Doctor's Wife and Night Terrors
• Wendy Albiston (Stacey) voiced Madame de Chevreuse for The Church and the Crown, and Meg for The Tao Connection (both 2002)
• Adam James (Dr. Fell) was DI McMillan in Planet of the Dead
• Davood Ghadami (Kolahi) was Jim in Let's Kill Hitler
• Sean Jackson (Roper) voiced George Crow for The Marian Conspiracy (2000), and Seth Arnod for Dalek Empire 3 (2004)
• Bryan Dick (Ballinger) voiced The Exec for Theatre of War (2015), Finnian Valentine for The Devil You Know (2018), and Major Thomas Langhorn/Berno Redcrew for The God of Phantoms (2021)
• Amanda Drew (DI Reed) provided the voice of the Mouri in Once, Upon Time, then voiced Commander Jane Wardie for Way of the Burryman and The Forth Generation (both 2022), and was Narrator of The Seven Year Hitch
• Nic Morris was the cinematographer on Flatline too
• art department assistant Sophie Powell was graphic artist on Last Christmas

True Love Waits (TX: January 24 & 25)

• Christina Cole (Janice) was Lilith (pictured) in The Shakespeare Code
• Rob Jarvis (Henderson) was Abramal in The Time of the Doctor
• Kevin Hudson (Guard) had uncredited roles in twenty-nine episodes (from The Long Game to The Timeless Children)
• Jason Ewart was the steadicam operator on The Time of the Doctor too

The Legacy (TX: January 31 & February 1)

• Stephen Gallagher was also writer of Warriors' Gate, Terminus, Time on a Vine, The Kairos Ring and Nightmare Country (both 2021)
• Teresa Banham (Alison) was the Governor in The End of Time
• Tim Preece (Ryder) was Codal in Planet of the Daleks
• Velile Tshabalala [Nozizu] (Kristen) was Rosita in The Next Doctor
• David Westhead (DI Cherry) was Kemper in The Shakespeare Code
• Ed Stoppard (Embleton) voiced Fortalexa for Theatre of War, and Sir Nicholas Asquin for The Beast of Kravenos (2017)

Greater Love (TX: February 7 & 8)

• Douglas Mackinnon was also director of The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky, The Power of Three, Cold War, Listen, Time Heist, Flatline and The Husbands of River Song
• Andy Godbold was also stunt co-ordinator on Boom, 73 Yards and Rogue
• Suzie Lavelle was also the cinematographer on Cold War, Listen, Time Heist and The Return of Doctor Mysterio
• Adam Green was also film editor on The Doctor's Meditation, The Girl Who Died, The Woman Who Lived, The Husbands of River Song, The Return of Doctor Mysterio, The Power of the Doctor and Class
• James Blackwell was first assistant director on Partners in Crime too
• Bob Shipsey was also camera operator on The Doctor's Wife and Night Terrors

Doctor Who Vs. Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

The Crime Scene online magazine

previewed the stand-alone Sherlock

festive special - Emma Dibdin wrote:
"Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss

pulled off the unthinkable. Modern-

ising Sherlock Holmes had seldom

been attempted before, much less

with any success, and initial reports

were met with scepticism from Doyle

aficionados and the general public

alike. How wrong we all were. Now,

what has become unthinkable is

placing Benedict Cumberbatch's

Holmes and Martin Freeman's Dr.
Watson back in the Victorian period
from whence they came, and so [the
writers] set out to do just that with
[The Abominable Bride]. "It's Holmes

in his natural era [but in the] modern

version, he's a Victorian man out of

time" says Gatiss.

Exactly two years on from Holmes' return from the dead in The Empty Hearse, Sherlock is back with this gothic mystery, swapping the

modern-day setting for late Victorian London. 1895: the iconic Deer-

stalker clad Holmes and the heavily-moustached Watson face a super-

natural enemy in the form of Mrs. Ricoletti's ghost.

Rupert Graves (as Lestrade), Una Stubbs (Mrs. Hudson), Amanda

Abbington (Mary), Louise Brealey (Molly), Jonathan Aris (Anderson),

Gatiss (Mycroft) and Andrew Scott (Moriarty) all returned for this

period drama. David Nellist and Yasmine Akram reprised the roles

of Mike Stamford and Janine, whilst the character of Billy [Wiggins]

debuted here.

The feature-length adventure (the title based on a quote from The
Musgrave Ritual, published in 1893) premiered on BBC1 (and was
simulcast in UK cinemas) on New Year's Day 2016. Consolidated

 ratings for the episode, including a BBC3 repeat, totalled over 11

million, and later won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding

TV Movie. Shown on U&Drama (formerly UKTV's Drama channel)

today, the case featured thirty-nine Doctor Who cast and crew

connections:

The Abominable Bride

(BBC TX: January 1, January 2 2016/Alibi TX: September 27, September

28, December 20, December 21 2017, June 2, June 3, July, 21, July 22

2018, January 1, June 15 2019/Drama TX: June 12 2022, May 16 2024/

U&Drama TX: June 29 2025)

• Douglas Mackinnon was also director of The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky, The Power of Three, Cold War, Listen, Time Heist, Flatline and The Husbands of River Song
• Tim McInnerny (Sir Eustace here; Clay in The Red Headed League) was Klineman Halpen in Planet of the Ood, and voiced Admiral Dolne for Big Finish's The Well-Mannered War (2015), and the eponymous role for Puccini and the Doctor (2024)
• Gerald Kyd [born Gerasimos Awkoumides] (Ricoletti) voiced Martin Regan/Sir Robert Devere/Stephen Mulryne for 1963: The Assassination Games (2013), and Lieutenant Maurizio Savinio for Aquitaine (2016) - he was General Logan in War of the Sontarans
• Damian Samuels (Giles) was Arthur Lloyd in The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances
• Daniel Fearn (Newsvendor here; Man in Holmes & Watson) was Man in The Woman Who Lived
• Tim [born Michael John Leigh] Barlow (Wilder here; the Count in The Resident Patient) was Tyssan in Destiny of the Daleks
• Stephanie Hyam (Jane) was Heather in The Pilot and The Doctor Falls
• Ben Crowe (Driver) voiced Sergeant Hunter for Charlotte Pollard 2 (2017), and Piotr Azarov for Nightfall (2025)
• Antonio Bustorff [Silva] (Man) was Bodyguard in Face the Raven
• for Clem So, Dean Forster and Julia Jones see His Last Vow
• for Gordon Seed see The Sign of Three
• stunt performers Crispin Layfield and Jo McLaren were stunt co-ordinators on the revived series
• Ian Pead was stuntman on Twice Upon a Time too
• Suzie Lavelle was also the cinematographer on Cold War, Listen, Time Heist and the 2015 Christmas special
• for Aris and (crew) Arwel Jones, Dafydd Shurmer, Julie Ankerson, Sarah Astley, Danny Hargreavs, Paul McFadden, Doug Sinclair, James Scott and John Mooney see A Study in Pink
• for Nandie Narishkin, Keith Barton and Benoit Leveau see Many Happy Returns
• for Heddi-Joy Taylor and Dave Kneath see Scandal in Belgravia
• Jamie Talbutt was also foley editor on ninety stories (from A Christmas Carol to the Centenary special)
• Jade Poole was also SFX assistant co-ordinator on eighteen stories (from In the Forest of the Night to Twice Upon a Time) and Class
• James Smith was also SFX co-ordinator on a dozen adventures (from The Time of the Doctor to Last Christmas)
• VFX producer Natalie Reid was VFX co-ordinator on twenty stories (from The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe to Revolution of the Daleks)
• Daniel Bishop was steadicam operator on The Husbands of River Song too
• production co-ordinator Helen Blyth was an assistant on fourteen instalments (from A Christmas Carol to The Wedding of River Song)
• Katrina Aust was also assistant editor on eighteen stories (from The Rings of Akhaten to Last Christmas) and The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot

Doctor Who: Even More Series 7 News

Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Steven Moffat, and Caroline Skinner will all attend the Doctor Who panel at Comic Con later this month, where the forthcoming Series Seven will be previewed.

So how much do we actually know about the new season? Radio Times reported that the series - again split in half, either side of the Christmas special - will consist of "at least" fourteen episodes. Moffat stated in DWM that there will be no two-parters, and fellow producer Marcus Wilson said that two 'classic' era monsters will make a return appearance - the Ice Warriors are likely candidates.

The title of episode 1 is confirmed as Asylum of the Daleks, and will feature the Special Weapons Dalek, last seen in 1988. Written by Moffat, and directed by Nick Hurran, the season opener will launch at the BFI, then be screened later in Edinburgh, before a probable TV premiere in late August, or early September. Nick Briggs again provides the (many) Dalek voices. 

Episode 2 - Dinosaurs on a Spaceship? - is penned by Chris Chibnall, and helmed by Saul Metzstein. The cast includes Harry Potter film actors Mark Williams and David Bradley, Rupert Graves (Lestrade in Sherlock), and Riann Steele as Queen Nefertiti.

Written by Toby Whithouse and directed by Metzstein, part 3 stars Dominic Kemp, Adrian Scarborough, Ben Browder, Andrew Brooke, Garrick Hagon (Ky in The Mutants), Rob Cavazos, and Joanne McQuinn. Provisionally titled The Gunslinger or A Town Called Mercy, and set in the American Wild West, the story was filmed in  Spain.

The next installment - thought to be called Cubed - is also scripted by Chibnall, directed by Douglas Mackinnon, and sees the return of Williams as Rory's dad, Brian. Other guest stars are Jemma Redgrave (as Kate Stewart), Steven Berkoff, and Ruthie Henshall.

The Ponds leave the programme in the fifth adventure, which is set in New York - location filming took in Central Park - and features the Weeping Angels. Alex Kingston reprises her role as River Song here, opposite co-stars Mike McShane, Rob David, and Bentley Kalu.

New companion Jenna Louise Coleman, rumoured to be named Clara, debuts in this year's Christmas special, which is again written by Moffat.

The eight unplaced episodes for 2013 include Phantoms of the Hex (working title), from Luther creator and Spooks writer, Neil Cross. Dougray Scott (Matt Busby in David Tennant's United), and Jessica Raine head the cast, directed by another newcomer, Jamie Payne (Primeval, and Survivors).

NuWho veteran Mark Gatiss has contributed two scripts for next year. The first is helmed by Mackinnon, and stars David Warner (see my Titanic blog), Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones), Josh O'Connor, and James Norton. His second serial, rumoured to be called The Crimson Horror, features Dame Diana Rigg (Emma Peel in The Avengers), and her daughter Rachael Stirling. Catrin Stewart returns here as Jenny (from last year's A Good Man Goes to War), so her partner Madame Vastra (played by Neve McIntosh) can't be far away.