Doctor Who Vs. Ashes to Ashes, Series 1

 

"My name is Alex Drake. I've been shot and that bullet's

taken me back in time. Now I'm lost in 1981. All I can do

is fight, and search, and stay alive. Because somehow I

will find a way home."

The sequel series to Life On Mars was also produced by Monastic and 
Kudos for BBC Wales. Keeley Hawes now led the cast as another out-
of-time detective, DI Alex Drake - a colleague of recently deceased

DCI Sam Tyler. Philip Glenister, Marshall Lancaster and Dean Andrews

 all reprised their roles (as DCI Gene Hunt, DC Chris Skelton and DS

Ray Carling respectively), and were also joined by newcomer

Montserrat Lombard (as WPC Shaz Granger).

Ashes to Ashes (referencing another David Bowie song) was co-

created by Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah, and centres 

on a present-day Metropolitan Police inspector, Drake who is shot 

and regains consciousness in 1981. Like its predecessor, the period

 setting was lovingly recreated against a rich backdrop of social

 history, and more importantly here, the music of the early eighties.

A repeat run of the first six-part season (originally transmitted from

January 9 to February 27 2008) concluded on That's TV last night -

it featured a total of forty Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Hawes played Ms. Delphox in Time Heist 
• Graham was also writer of Fear Her, The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People
• series producer Beth Willis was an executive producer on Doctor Who Confidential, The Adventure Games, and twenty-seven stories (from The Eleventh Hour to The Wedding of River Song)
• Julie Scott was also a BBC production executive on ninety instal- ments (from The Runaway Bride to Last Christmas), Time Crash, The Adventure Games, Dreamland, Music of the Spheres, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, An Adventure in Space and Time, The Five (ish) Doctors Reboot, and Doctor Who Proms
• Jonny Campbell was also director of The Vampires of Venice and Vincent and the Doctor
• Catherine Morshead was also director of Amy's Choice and The Lodger 
• Adam James (Markham) was DI Macmillan in Planet of the Dead
• Joseph Long (Luigi) was Rocco Colasanto in Turn Left, and the Pope in Extremis
• Geff Francis (Viv James) was George [Maitland] in The Bells of Saint John
• Roy [William] Skelton (voice of Rainbow puppets Zippy and George) voiced Daleks, Monoids, Cybermen and Krotons for the classic series, and was Norton in Colony in Space, James in (episode 5 of) The Green Death, Marshal Chedaki in The Android Invasion, and King Rokon in The Hand of Fear, then voiced James Carver for Big Finish's Test of Nerve (2002)
• Rupert Graves (Moore) was John Riddell in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
• Paul Thornley (Kay) voiced the Computer/Marko for Seven Keys to Doomsday (2008), Gomori/Steward for Paper Cuts, Michael Rond for Fitz's Story (both 2009), Robbie Flint/Cyril for Criss-Cross (2015), Relb/Sita for The Butler Did It, and Captain Goben for Pursuit of the Nightjar (both 2023)
• Sid Mitchell (Dane) was Pickens for The Haunting of Thomas Brewster (2008)
• Christopher Fairbank (Bonds) was Fenton in Flatline, and voiced Doc Baroque for The Scapegoat (2009), Pierre Aronnax for The Wreck of the Titan (2010), and Marc Brunel for Iron Bright (2018)
• Callum Dixon (Thief) was Jarva Slade in Kerblam!
• Amelda Brown (Elaine) voiced Margaret for The Gunpowder Plot
• Nik Howden (Youth) was Maurice in Vincent and the Doctor
• Claire [Louise] Rushbrook (Trixie) was Ida Scott in The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit, then voiced Tula Chenka for Escape from Kaldor (2018) and The Robots (2019-23), and the Abbess/Marna for Out of Time 1 (2020)
• Leo Bill (Burns) was the Pilot in A Christmas Carol
• Tracy Wiles (Girl) voiced Moira Brody for Masters of Earth (2014), Lilith Lovett for The Year of the Bat, Jacqui McGee for UNIT: Extinction (both 2015), UNIT: Silenced (2016), Death on the Mile (2018), Narcissus, The Power of River Song (both 2019), UNIT: Between Two Worlds, Outback, Longshot (all 2021), Agents of the Vulpreen, Objective: Earth (both 2022), Commander Barnac for The Neverwhen (2016), Ground Control/Secretary for Their Finest Hour, Sharlan for The Invention of Death, Hadway/Salma/V75 for Escape from Kaldor (all 2018), Drones for The False Guardian and Time's Assassin, Announcer for State of Bliss, Comms for The Famished Lands, Servant for Fugitive in Time, Marzanna/Engel for Nightmare Country, Various for The Robots 1 (all 2019), The Robots 2 and Dark Side of the Moon (2022), Tryana for Return to Skaro (2020), FELINE/Maria/ Patricia for A Forever Home, Draven/Shira/Sentinel for The Shadow Squad (both 2021), Shorak for Storm of the Sea Devils, and Peggy Cressler for Bad Apple Brigade (both 2024)
• Lucy [Jane] Briers (Patty) voiced Jenny Chaplin for After the Daleks (2021)
• Jeanie Gold (Partygoer) was Neighbour in The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky and The End of Time (1)
• Russell [George] Tovey (Johnstone) was Midshipman Alonso Frame in Voyage of the Damned, The End of Time (2) and [Big Finish's] One Enchanted Evening (2017), then Barclay Pierre Dupont in The War Between the Land and the Sea
• Phil Davis (Cale) was Lucius Petrus Dextrus in The Fires of Pompeii, and voiced Titus for The Cannibalists (2009)
• Madhav Sharma (Chatterjee) was Patel in Frontier in Space (3)
• Troy Glasgow (Ska Boy) was Angelo in The Time of Angels
• Geoffrey [Dyson] Palmer (Scarman) was Edward Masters in The Silurians, the Administrator in The Mutants (1), and Captain Hardaker in Voyage of the Damned 
• Paul Anderson (Suspect) made his TV debut in The Christmas Invasion as Jason
• [Michael Thomas] Jeremy Clyde (Chief Super) voiced George Sinclair for Absent Friends (2016), Lord Braye for Planet of the Drashigs (2019), and Tony Clare for Stranded (2020-22)
• David Schaal (Look-a-like) voiced Sergeant Zogroth/Bus Driver for The Star Beast (2019)
• Sean Clayton was second assistant director on Dalek and Father's Day too
• Derek Lea was also a stuntman on Dalek, Bad Wolf, The Parting of the Ways, The Age of Steel and Partners in Crime
• Gary Hoptrough and Rob Hunt were both stuntmen on The Runaway Bride - they also worked on Let's Kill Hitler and The Day of the Doctor respectively
• Christine Greenwood was make-up designer on Remembrance of the Daleks too
• film editor Jamie Pearson also edited nine episodes (from The Eleventh Hour to The Angels Take Manhattan)
• Edmund Butt was the composer on An Adventure in Space and Time too
• Matt Wood (visual effects supervisor) and Simon Blackledge (VFX artist) both worked on A Town Called Mercy and The Power of Three - Wood also worked on The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
• Antonia Grant was also the location manager on The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords

Doctor Who Vs. Life On Mars, Series 1

"My name is Sam Tyler. I had

an accident and I woke up in

1973. Am I mad, in a coma or

back in time? Whatever's

happened, it's like I've landed

on a different planet. Now

maybe if I can work out the

reason, I can get home."

Co-produced by Monastic and

Kudos for BBC1, Life On Mars

debuted in early 2006, and was

a new type of TV drama - fusing

1970s police procedural with

fantasy and sci-fi elements.

Actually conceived in 1998 and

entitled Ford Granada (although

the BBC preferred Nick of Time), the programme was initially rejected by

the Corporation, and was then developed by Channel Four, before being

commissioned by BBC Wales. An American version was made by ABC

(screened in 2008), and remakes aired in Spain (called The Girl From

Yesterday for Antena 3, in 2009), Russia (The Dark Side of the Moon for

Channel One), Ukraine (on Inter, both in 2012), and latterly in South

Korea (for OCN).

Sequel series Ashes to Ashes (also referencing another David Bowie song)

which was now set in 1980's London, began in 2008 and spanned three

seasons.

The programme centred on present-day Manchester detective, DCI Sam

Tyler (portrayed by Leeds-born actor John Simm), and his conflict with

his new superior, Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister). Dean Andrews, Marshall

Lancaster, and Liz White played Ray Carling, Chris Skelton, and WPC

Annie Cartwright.

After being hit by a car, Tyler awakes in an alien environment, namely

1973! Across the sixteen episodes, it is unclear to Tyler (and indeed the

viewer) whether he has died, is in a coma, is insane, or has actually

travelled back in time.

Series co-creator/writer Matthew Graham, co-executive producer

Julie Scott, producer Marcus Wilson, writer Chris Chibnall, and

director Richard Clark all later worked on Doctor Who.

A repeat run of the first season (originally shown in January/February

2006) began on That's TV (the Manchester-based archive TV network)

last night - it featured Archie Panjabi, and a total of thirty-eight other

Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Lancaster was Buzzer in Graham's The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People
• White was Alice in The Snowmen, and voiced Genestra for Big Finish's The Brink of Death (2015), and Helais for The Death of Peladon (2022)
• Christopher Harper (Neil) voiced Kaled Guard for From the Flames, Berserker for Shockwave (both 2019), and Lazari Helosta/Horgee/King Tremagi for Beauty on the Inside (2022)
• Andrew Tiernan (Trent) was [Jim] Purcell in Night Terrors
• Lee Ross (DCI Litton) was the Boatswain in The Curse of the Black Spot
• Stephen [Murphy] Aintree (Carroway) voiced DCI Turnbull for The Condemned (2008)
• Andrew Knott (Derek) voiced James O'Meara for 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (2013), and Sean Casey for The White Room (2014)
• Anthony Flanagan (Bond) was Orin Scannell in 42
• Ian Barritt (Cooper) was Professor Gerald Peach in The Unicorn and the Wasp
• John Wilson (Man) was Jacondan guard in The Twin Dilemma
• John R Walker (Pub local here; Czarnecki in Ashes to Ashes) was Cured Patient in New Earth, Injured Man in Evolution of the Daleks, and Sales Rep in Planet of the Ood
• Paul [Mackriell] Copley (Cole) was Clement McDonald in Torchwood: Children of Earth, and voiced Dad for Spare Parts (2002), Jimmy Deel for Missing Persons (2013), Mick Huff for The Miniaturist (2022), and Wendell for The Conservitors (2023)
• Sagar Arya (Saeed) was a Newsreader in The Christmas Invasion, and The Sarah Jane Adventures
• William [Denys] Hoyland (Rathbone) voiced Premier Jaeger for Live 34 (2005)
• Lee [David] Ingleby (Vic Tyler) voiced Samson Griffin for Terror Firma (2005)
• stunt co-ordinators Peter Brayham and Stuart Clarke, and stuntmen Crispin Layfield, Derek Lea, Graham Seed, Andy Smart, Tom Aitken, Dean Forster, Glann Foster, George Cottle, Tony Lucken and Nick Wilkinson all worled on the revived series
• stuntman Spencer Wilding was the Minotaur in The God Complex, the Wooden King in The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, Skaldak in Cold War, and Dreg in Orphan 55
• Balazs Bolygo was also the cinematographer on the Gangers two-parter and Closing Time
• Andy Pryor (series casting) has worked as casting director on the revived run since 2005, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
• Matt Wood was also the VFX supervisor on The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, A Town Called Mercy and The Power of Three
• Kirsty Robertson was also a casting associate on twenty adventures (from Rose to Last of the Time Lords)
• assistant editor Matthew Cannings also edited The Snowmen, The Crimson Horror and The Name of the Doctor
• floor runner Thomas Alibone was second assistant director on An Adventure in Space and Time - composer Edmund Butt later provided incidental music for the anniversary biopic too
• Tim Palmer was also the cinematographer on Let's Kill Hitler, The Wedding of River Song and Nightmare in Silver
• Elwen Rowlands was also script editor on seven episodes (from Rose to Boom Town)
• Julie Ankerson was also foley artist on every revived adventure (from Rose to The Doctor Falls), Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures