Doctor Who Vs. The Second Coming

This acclaimed Northern morality tale was

written by executive producer Russell T

Davies, who cast Salford-born Christopher

Eccleston in the lead role of Stephen Baxter.

Long-serving Doctor Who composer Murray Gold provided the music here too. Both he

and Davies were nominated for Royal

Television Society awards, whilst Eccleston
earned a BAFTA Best Actor nomination.

Originally commissioned by Channel 4 in
1999, and later turned down by the BBC, The

Second Coming was eventually made by Red

Productions for ITV over the summer of 2002.

Following a drunken night-out in Manchester,
Baxter disappears for forty days and nights.
He is found wandering Saddleworth Moor, and

claims to be the 'second coming' of Jesus, the

Son of God. After performing a modern-day

miracle at Manchester City's Maine Road

stadium (turning night into day), he proclaims

to the world's media that he has just five days to find the human race's

Third Testament, and avert the Apocalypse.

Granada's Liverpool-based drama Springhill, also penned by Davies,

ended it's run in 1997 with a recital of The Second Coming by WB Yeats,

and was essentially a story of good-versus-evil too.

Screened over two consecutive nights in February 2003, this drama

also featured Tim Woodward, Peter Wight, and fourteen other Doctor

Who cast and crew connections:

• Lesley Sharp [born Karen Makinson] (Judith) was Sky Silvestry in Midnight - shae also worked with Eccleston on Clocking Off and The Shadow Line, and with Davies on Bob & Rose
• Mark Benton (Tyler) was Clive Finch in Rose (a role reprised by Big Finish for The Dimension Cannon and Other Worlds), and voiced Ellis for Invaders from Mars (2002), and Jack Coulson for Energy of the Daleks (2012)
• Rory [Michael] Kinnear (Dillane) voiced Samuel Belfrage for Industrial Evolution (2011)
• Ace [born Ahsen Rafiq] Bhatti (Gupta) was Haresh Chandra in The Sarah Jane Adventures
• Jennifer Hennessy [born Hayes] (Reporter) was Valerie in Gridlock, and Moira in The Pilot and Extremis
• Angel Coulby (PC Fraser) was Katherine in The Girl in the Fireplace
• Ray Emmet Brown (Nurse) voiced No. 16 for House of Blue Fire (2011)
• Denise Black [born Dixon] (Rachel) voiced Eva Jericho for Damaged Goods, Control for Rise and Shine (both 2015), and Mrs. Mountford for The Haunting of Malkin Place (2017)
• Trisha [Gloria] Goddard had a cameo appearance in Army of Ghosts too
• stunt co-ordinator Gareth Milne was George Cranleigh in Black Orchid, an Attendant in Vengeance on Varos, and doubled for Peter Davison in Warriors of the Deep
• Rick English was a stuntman on Tooth and Claw too
• Davy Jones was also make-up designer on fifteen adventures (from Rose to Cold Blood)
• associate producer Des Hughes was line producer on eight stories (from The Snowmen to The Time of the Doctor), and had a cameo in The Five(ish) Doctors
• SFX supervisor Graham Brown was a SFX assistant on Resurrection of the Daleks and Attack of the Cybermen, uncredited VFX assistant on (part 4 of) Full Circle, The Five Doctors, The Caves of Androzani (4) and Revelation of the Daleks (2), then VFX designer on The Curse of Fenric

Doctor Who On This Day #59

 

1912 - Director Reginald Mervyn

Pinfield born in Evesham, Worcs.

1966 - The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Episode

6: Flashpoint and The Romans, Episode 3:

Conspiracy both repeated and The Web

Planet, Episode 3: Escape to Danger first

screened, all on ABC

1968 - The Crusade, Episode 3: The Wheel of Fortune,

The Space Museum, Episode 3: The Search, The Chase,

Episode 3: Flight Through Eternity, The Time Meddler,

Episode 1: The Watcher and Galaxy 4, Episode 1: Four

Hundred Dawns all repeated on ABC

1969 - Composer Murray Gold born in

Portsmouth
1970 - Doctor Who and the Silurians,

Episode 5 first screened on BBC1

1976 - The Seeds of Doom, Part 5

first screened on BBC1

1978 - Pyramids of Mars, Part 2 repeated 

and The Android Invasion, Part 1 first

screened, both on ABC

1979 - The Invisible Enemy, Part 1 repeated 

and Part 3 first screened, both on ABC

1980 - Robot, Part 3 first screened on

WTTW 11; and City of Death, Part 4 first

screened on ABC

1981 - Logopolis, Part 1 first screened

 on BBC1

1983 - The Leisure Hive Omnibus

repeated on WTTW 11

1984 - The Ark in Space, Part 4 repeated

 on KQED Plus; and Image of the Fendahl,

Part 1 repeated on ABC

1985 - Inferno, Episode 2 repeated

on KQED Plus

1986 - The Power of Kroll, Part 4

repeated on KQED Plus

1987 - The War Machines, Episode 4 repeated on KQED Plus;

and Mindwarp, Parts 7 and 8 both first screened on ABC

1988 - The Krotons Omnibus repeated on KQED Plus; and 

The Ark in Space, Part 2 repeated on Super Channel UK
1989 - The Mutants, Episode 2 repeated on KQED Plus;

and Revenge of the Cybermen, Part 1 repeated on ABC

1990 - Snakedance, Part 1 repeated on KQED Plus

1991 - The Invisible Enemy, Part 2 repeated on KQED Plus

1992 - The Mind Robber, Episode 5 repeated on BBC2; and 
The Ambassadors of Death, Episode 1 repeated on KQED Plus

1993 - Spearhead from Space Omnibus repeated on UK Gold

1994 - Underworld, Part 3 repeated on UK Gold; and

Timelash, Part 4 (of 4) and Revelation of the Daleks,

Part 1 (of 4) both repeated on ABC

1995 - Revelation of the Daleks, Part 2 first

screened on VOX; and Delta and the

Bannermen, Part 2 repeated on UK Gold
1997 - The Mutants, Episode 1 repeated on UKTV (Aus)

1998 - The Seeds of Death, Episode 1 first screened on

Space; and Time Flight Omnibus repeated on UKTV (Aus)
1999 - Inferno, Episode 7 and Terror of the Autons, Part

1 both repeated on WCET; The Mind of Evil Omnibus

repeated on NHPTV; Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Parts 4

and 5 both repeated on LPB; Robot, Part 1 repeated on

Lakeshore PTV; Terror of the Zygons Omnibus repeated

on UK Gold; Horror of Fang Rock Omnibus repeated on

WQED; The Armageddon Factor Omnibus repeated on

KSPS; Snakedance, Part 1 repeated on WUSF; and 

Survival, Parts 2 and 3 both repeated on KBTC

2000 - The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Episode

1: World's End repeated on UKTV (Aus); and

The Silurians, Episode 5 repeated on Space

2001 - The Android Invasion, Parts 1 and 2 both repeated on 

Prime; The Deadly Assassin, Part 1 repeated on UKTV (Aus) and

Parts 3 and 4 both repeated on BBC America; and Arc of Infinity,

Part 2 repeated on BBC Prime

2002 - Genesis of the Daleks, Part 1 repeated on BBC

Kids (Can); and Mindwarp, Part 8 repeated on BBC Prime

2003 - The Robots of Death, Parts 1

and 2 both repeated on BBC Kids (Can)

2004 - The Ark in Space Omnibus repeated on UK Gold;

The Mind of Evil, Episode 6 repeated on Colorado PTV; and 

Snakedance, Parts 1 and 2 both repeated on BBC Kids (Can)
2005 - Horror of Fang Rock, Part 3 repeated on ABC

2007 - The Parting of the Ways first screened on BBC America
2009 - Time and the Rani, Parts 3 and 4, Paradise Towers and 
Delta and the Bannermen Omnibuses and Dragonfire, Part 1 all 
repeated on MTV3 SciFi and TV4; The Empty Child and Doctor 

Who Confidential Cutdown: Special Effects both repeated on 

UKTV (Aus); Bad Wolf repeated on Syfy (FRG); The Parting

 of the Ways repeated on WQLN, Syfy (Rus) and Syfy (FRG);

The Christmas Invasion repeated on KQED Plus; The

Idiot's Lantern, The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit

all repeated on Syfy (Spa); Doomsday repeated  on OETA;

Evolution of the Daleks and Doctor Who Confidential: 
Making Manhattan both repeated on WGVU; and The

Lazarus Experiment repeated on HRT2

2010 - The Girl in the Fireplace repeated on WTVP; The Satan

 Pit repeated on Ozarks PTV; Gridlock first screened on WVPB; 

Human Nature repeated and Doctor Who Confidential: Alter

Ego first
screened, both on WXXI; The Family of Blood repeated on WTTW 
11; The Fires of Pompeii and Doctor Who Confidential; The Italian 
Job both first screened on MPTV; The Poison Sky and Doctor Who 
Confidential: Sontar-Ha! both first screened on KERA; The Unicorn
 and the Wasp and Doctor Who Confidential: Nemesis both first 
screened on Houston PM; Forest of the Dead and Doctor Who 
Confidential: River Runs Deep both first screened on Idaho

PTV; and Planet of the Dead repeated on Syfy (Ben)
2011 - The Brain of Morbius, Episode 1 repeated on Radio 7;
The Masque of Mandragora, Parts 1 and 2 both repeated on

MTV3 SciFi, TV2 and TV4; The Stolen Earth repeated on 

WGVU; and Journey's End and Doctor Who Confidential:

The End of an Era both repeated on WTTW 11

2012 - Fear Her repeated on BBC America; Voyage of the 

Damned repeated on ABC2; The Stolen Earth repeated on 

Watch; A Christmas Carol and Doctor Who Confidential 

Cutdown: The End of an Era both repeated on UKTV (Aus);

and Resistance is Useless repeated on MTV3 SciFi and TV4

2013 -  Voyage of the Damned repeated on UKTV (NZ);

Midnight repeated on Watch; and Amy's Choice and

The Beast Below both repeated on BBC America

2014 - The Sun Makers, Parts 1 and 2 and The Visitation,

 Parts 3 and 4 all repeated on Syfy (Aus); Fear Her and

Army of Ghosts both repeated on BBC America; Blink

and Utopia both repeated on Really; Turn Left both

repeated on France 4; The Eleventh Hour and The 

Beast Below both repeated on BBC3; The Vampires

of Venice repeated on Syfy (Port); The Hungry

Earth and Doctor Who Confidential: After Effects

both repeated on BBC Nordic HD and BBC Polska

HD; The Girl Who Waited repeated on Watch; and

Cold War repeated on Ztélé

2015 - Colony in Space, Episodes 2 to 5 all repeated on Retro

 TV; The Time Warrior Omnibus repeated on Horror; Genesis 

of the Daleks, Parts 1 and 2, The Poison Sky, The Doctor's 

Daughter, The 
Unicorn and the Wasp, Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead
all repeated on Syfy (Aus); The Androids of Tara, Parts 3 and 4 both
first screened on Retro TV; Love & Monsters repeated on KCPT2;
Blink repeated on UKTV (NZ); The End of Time,  Parts 1 and 2 both 
repeated on BBC Entertainment EU, Romania and ME; The

Hungry Earth repeated on Jeem TV (ME); The Impossible 
Astronaut, The Curse of the Black Spot and The Doctor's Wife

 all repeated on BBC Nordic HD and BBC Polska HD; The Girl Who 

Waited and The God Complex both repeated on Space; Into the 
Dalek repeated on TLC TV; The Caretaker repeated on RAI4;

and Doctor Who Confidential: River Runs Wild repeated on

BBC Entertainment AP

2016 - The Romans, Episodes 3 and 4 both repeated on Retro

 TV; The Mind of Evil, Episodes 3 to 6 all repeated on WVPB; 

Pyramids of Mars, Part 4 repeated on KRWG; The Hand of Fear,

Parts 3 and 4
both repeated on KPTS; The Mysterious Planet, Parts 1 and 2 both repeated on KBTC; Human Nature and The Family of Blood both 
repeated EBRU; The Wedding of River Song repeated on Syfy (Aus);
 Dinosaurs on a Spaceship repeated on Watch; A Town Called Mercy 
and The Power of Three both repeated on BBC Polska HD; Hide 
repeated on Iowa PTV; Deep Breath repeated on Idaho PTV and 

Syfy (Aus); Robot of Sherwood repeated on MPTV; Time Heist 
repeated on KLRU; The Caretaker repeated on WPT; Kill the Moon 
repeated on KERA; Mummy on the Orient Express repeated on 
KCPT; In the Forest of the Night repeated on WILL and WXXI;
Death in Heaven repeated on OETA; The Witch's Familiar and 
Under the Lake both repeated on BBC First (ME); Before the

Flood repeated on BBC First (Ben); Sleep No More and Face the 

Raven both repeated on BBC America; Heaven Sent repeated 

on BBC Entertainment AP; and An Adventure in Space and 
Time repeated on RAI4

2017 - The Silurians, Episode 2 repeated on The Zone; The

Visitation, Parts 2 and 3 both repeated on Retro TV; Smith

and Jones repeated on FX (Ind); The Time of Angels repeated

on Syfy (Aus); Amy's Choice, 

The Hungry Earth, Cold Blood, Vincent and the Doctor and The 

Pandorica Opens all repeated on BBC America; The Lodger repeated 

on BBC America and Syfy (Aus); The Angels Take Manhattan, The 

Bells of Saint John and The Zygon Invasion all repeated on Syfy 

(Bra); Into the Dalek and Robot of Sherwood both repeated on

BBC Polska HD; and Last Christmas repeated on France 4

2018 - The Idiot's Lantern repeated on Syfy (Aus); Silence in

the Library repeated on Star World Premiere; The Hungry Earth

 repeated on ABC and ABC ME; The Big Bang and The Impossible 

Astronaut both repeated on RAI4; Into the Dalek repeated on 

BBC Polska HD; Listen repeated on BBC First (ME); and

Extremis repeated on Syfy (Bra)

2019 - The Tsuranga Conundrum first

screened on Fox (FRG); and The Battle of

Ranskoor Av Kolos repeated on BBC First

(ME)

2020 - The Mind Robber, Episodes 1 and

2 both repeated on Retro TV; The Crimson

Horror repeated on Syfy (Fra); The Eaters

of Light repeated on Star World Premiere;

The Doctor Falls repeated on ABC; and

Ascension of the Cybermen first screened

on YLE TV2 and repeated on ABC ME

2021 - The Time Meddler, Episodes 3 and

4 and The Curse of Fenric, Parts 1 and 2 all

repeated on Retro TV; The Two Doctors,

Parts 5 and 6 (of 6) both repeated on

KBTC; New Earth, Tooth and Claw,

Kerblam!, The Witchfinders and It Takes

You Away all repeated on W; The Battle

of Ranskoor Av Kolos repeated on W and

 One ARD; and Resolution repeated on

One ARD

2025 - The Savages Omnibus first

screened at BFI Southbank

Doctor Who Vs. Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), Series 1

Before Doctor Who was reimagined

for the twenty-first century, another

cult Sixties TV drama, Randall and

Hopkirk (Deceased) was deftly

brought back from the dead for BBC1

by Working Title Television. Writer and director Charlie Higson made Hitch-cockesque cameos in all thirteen stories.

A repeat run of the original twenty

-six part series (created by Dennis

Spooner) continued on Great! TV

last night - it was first shown on ITV

from September 1969 to March 1970.

Comic duo Vic Reeves (stage name of

James Moir) and Bob Mortimer reprised

the roles of detective partners Marty Hopkirk and Jeff Randall, whilst Emilia

Fox and Tom Baker played Jeannie

and Wyvern.

Murray Gold composed the show's

incidental music, whilst the theme tune was provided by David Arnold who

later arranged Ron Grainer's iconic theme tune for Big Finish's Eighth Doctor adventures.

The first, six-part series featured David Tennant, Mark Gatiss, Charles

Dance, Hugh Laurie, and a total of twenty-nine other Doctor Who cast and

crew connections:

Drop Dead (UK TX: March 18 2000)

• Jessica Hynes [nee Stevenson] (Felia) was Joan Redfern in Human Nature and The Family of Blood, then (that character's great grand-daughter) Verity Newman in The End of Time, and voiced Glory Bee for Big Finish's Invaders from Mars (2002)
• Steve Pemberton (DS Liddel) was Strackman Lux in Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead
• Gemma Page (Woman) voiced an Agent for The Flood (2019)
• Paul Shearer (Man) voiced King Henry VIII for Recorded Time, and Cranston for A Most Excellent Match (both 2011)
• Laurie [Philip] Goode (Removal Man) was Mutt in The Mutants, Time Lord in The Invasion of Time, Bandit in The Creature from the Pit, Tigellan in Meglos, Sailor in Enlightenment, and UNIT Trooper in Battlefield
• series ADR editor Paul McFadden was sound supervisor on eighty-two stories (from Rose to The Power of Three), The Infinite Quest, Time Crash, Music of the Spheres, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood

Mental Apparition Disorder (UK TX: March 25)

• [Alexander] Martin Clunes (Nash) was Lon in Snakedance
• Richard [Andrew Palethorpe] Todd (Waterman) was Sanders in Kinda
• Wanda Ventham (Alice) was Jean Rook in The Faceless Ones, Thea Ransone in Image of the Fendahl, and Faroon in Time and the Rani
• [Leslie] Steven Berkoff [born Berks] (the Mouth) was the Shakri in The Power of Three
• Rachel Talalay was also director of seven episodes (from Dark Water to Twice Upon a Time) and The Star Beast

The Best Years of Your Death (UK TX: April 1)

• Rory Jennings (Daniel) was Tommy Connolly in The Idiot's Lantern, and voiced Davros for Innocence (2006)
• Peter [John] Bowles (Graves) was Lionel Carson in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Man Who Never Was
• Phyllis Logan (Harriet) was Andinio in The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos
• Mark Straker (Dawkins) was a Trooper in Earthshock

Paranoia (UK TX: April 8)

• Arabella Weir (Judith) was Bilis in The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, and voiced the Doctor for Exile (2003), then Angie Glazebrook for Prisoner of the Ood (2018)
• Tim Wallers (Lacey here & Series 2: Painkillers) was Childers in Victory of the Daleks, and voiced Justinian for The Secret History (2015), and Commander Roxita/Chief Raldon for Day of the Vashta Nerada (2017)
• Simon [John] Pegg [born Beckingham] (Pope) was the Editor in The Long Game, voiced Don Chaney for Invaders from Mars, and was Narrator of the first run of Doctor Who Confidential
• Paul Rhys (Milton) was Max Paul for The Scapegoat (2009)
• Joanna Kanska (Magda) voiced Rachel for Situation Vacant (2010)
• Tony Way (Hammer) was Alf in Deep Breath

Blast from the Past (UK TX: April 15)

• Mark Benton (Wallis) was Clive [Finch] in Rose (a role reprised by Big Finish for The Dimension Cannon), and voiced Ellis for Invaders from Mars, and Jack Coulson for Energy of the Daleks (2012)
• prolific Big Finish actor Susan [Elizabeth] Brown (Deirdre) was Bridget Spears in Torchwood: Children of Earth
• Patrick [Geoffrey] Ryecart (Posh Man) was Dr. Crozier in Mindwarp

A Man of Substance (UK TX: April 22)

• Elizabeth [Jean] Spriggs [born Williams] (Mrs. Glauneck) was Tabby in Paradise Towers
• Gareth [Daniel Noake] Thomas (Bechard) voiced Lord Tamworth for Storm Warning (2001), Kalendorf for Dalek Empire and Return of the Daleks (2006), and Astaroth Morax for Last of the Colophon (2014)
• Tony Bluto (Banks) was Driver Joe in Midnight
• Rachel Weaver (Mrs Banks) was Inga in Terminus
• Hugh [Lewis] Lloyd (Seth) was Garonwy in Delta and the Bannermen