Doctor Who Vs. Bookish, Series 1

"Mark Gatiss here. Join

me as Gabriel Book, a bookseller who's also

rather good at solving

baffling cases and the

knottiest of crimes, as

postwar London can be

a dangerous place.

Bookish, new and

exclusive to U&Alibi."

UKTV's newest in-house period crime drama (a co-production form Eagle

Eye Drama and Happy Duck Films) was created and written by Mark

Gatiss, and was filmed in Belgium in 2024 - Antwerp doubled for

Archangel Lane, WC2.

A repeat run of the six-part series began on U&Alibi last night - the

cast was led by Gatiss (as the titular antiquarian), Polly Walker

(Trottie), Elliot Levey (DI Bliss), Connor Finch (Jack), Buket Komar

(Nora), and Blake Harrison (Morris), and also featured Paul McGann,

 Joely Richardson, and a total of fourteen Doctor Who cast and crew

connections:

• Walker voiced Commander Narina for Big Finish's The Movellan Grave (2017)
• Levey voiced Andrew Gobernar/Blank for Vampire of the Mind (2016), and Colonel Marsden for Red Planets (2018)
• Harrison voiced Lieutenant Daniel Hopkins for The Helliax Rift, Hour of the Cybermen and Warlock's Cross (all 2018), then appeared in Village of the Angels as Namaca Ost Parvess Po
• Tim McInnerny (D) was Klineman Halpen in Planet of the Ood, and voiced Admiral Dolne for The Well-Mannered War (2015), and the eponymous role for Puccini and the Doctor (2024)
• Rosie [Cecilia] Cavaliero (Mrs Dredge) voiced Cassie Schofield for Project: Twilight (2001) and Project: Lazarus (2003), Marge Ellmore for Infamy of the Zaross (2017), and Audrey Gale for Homecoming (2027)
• Amanda Drew (Nerina) 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
• Gerard [James Pertwee] Horan (Baseheart) was Clark/Father of Mine in Human Nature and The Family of Blood
• Daniel [Alan] Mays (Wellbeloved) was Alex Thompson in Night Terrors
• Elizabeth Berrington (Sylvia) was Auntie in The Doctor's Wife
• Nadia Albina (Dr. Calder) was Diane [Curtis] in Flux and Legend of the Sea Devils, then voiced Oshia for Previously, Next Time (2022), and Keetree for Face of the Apocalypse (2024)
• Mark Benton (Gash) 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)
• George Harris was also stuntman on Lucky Day and Wish World
• Chris Roebuck was also film editor on four episodes (from The Devil's Chord to Rogue)
• Jay Price was also sound editor on four storeis (from Kill the Moon to Dark Water)

Doctor Who Vs. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Series 2

The centenary of The Final
Problem was marked by
the Royal Mail in 1993

Jeremy Brett and David Burke returned

as Holmes and Watson for the second

season of Granada's acclaimed period

drama. This series (first screened in the

summer of 1985) saw the introduction

of Conan Doyle's other recurrent char-

acters. Mycroft Holmes was depicted by

Charles Gray (reprised from The Seven-

Per-Cent Solution in 1976), and Colin

Jeavons was Lestrade (following an app-

earance as Moriarty in The Baker Street

Boys in 1983). Moriarty was portrayed

here by Eric Porter.

A repeat run of the six mysteries (all

originally serialised in The Strand from

1891) began on ITV4 today - they

featured a total of sixteen Doctor Who

cast and crew connections

The Copper Beeches

(UK TX: August 25 1985)

The Greek Interpreter

(UK TX: September 1)

• George Costigan (Kemp) was Max Capricorn in Voyage of the Damned
• Oliver Maguire (Gregson) was a Shrieve in The Ribos Operation
• stuntman Jim [Derek Christopher] Dowdall had uncredited roles in Day of the Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks and Frontios

The Norwood Builder (UK TX: September 8)

• Jeavons was Damon in The Underwater Menace, and George Tracey in K9 & Company
• Ken [Alan] Grieve was director of Destiny of the Daleks too

The Resident Patient (UK TX: September 15)

• Patrick [David] Newell (Blessington here; PC Benson in A Study in Terror; Lestrade in Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson; Bobster in Young Sherlock Holmes) was Colonel Faraday in The Android Invasion
• Tim [born Michael John Leigh] Barlow (Count here; Wilder in The Abominable Bride) was Tyssan in Destiny of the Daleks
• Brett Forrest (Son) was Guard in (part 2 of) The Face of Evil
• John [Henry] Ringham (DI Lanner) was Tlotoxl in The Aztecs, Josiah Blake in The Smugglers, and Robert Ashe in Colony in Space

The Red Headed League (UK TX: September 22)

• Tim McInnerny (Clay here; Carmichael in The Abominable Bride) 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)
• [John] Roger Hammond (Wilson here; Rucastle for The Copper Beeches, 1991; Cunningham for The Reigate Squires, 1992) was Francis Bacon in The Chase (1), and Dr. Runciman in Mawdryn Undead, then voiced Harold Withers for The Eternal Summer (2009)
• Richard [born Ian Carmichael] Wilson (Ross) was Dr. Constantine in The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances
• John [Edward Arthur] Woodnutt (Merryweather here; Station Master in The Bruce Partington Plans; Broker in The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax, both 1965; Ralph for The Blanched Soldier, 1994; Frankland for The Hound of the Baskervilles, 1998) was George Hibbert in Spearhead from Space, the Draconian Emperor in Frontier in Space (5), the Duke of Forgill/Broton in Terror of the Zygons, and Seron in The Keeper of Traken

The Final Problem (UK TX: September 29)

• Michael [John] Goldie (Artist) was Jack Craddock in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, and Elton Laleham in The Wheel in Space
• Marc [Raymond] Boyle was also a stuntman on Terror of the Autons, fight arranger on The Time Warrior, and had roles as Prisoner/UNIT Motorcyclist in The Mind of Evil, Kronos in The Time Monster, and Exxilon in Death to the Daleks             
• Alf [Charles Richard] Joint (Thug here; McMurdo in The Sign of Four) was Heavy in The Ambassadors of Death, Primitive/Guard in Colony in Space, and stunt arranger on Battlefield

Doctor Who Vs. Trial & Retribution VI

Lynda La Plante's acclaimed
crime drama returned to ITV in
October 2002. David Hayman,
Dorian Lough, and Inday Ba
reprised their respective roles as DCS Walker, DS Satchell, and DC

West, whilst Kate Buffery

 (pictured left as DI North) left

the series after six years. Like

La Plante's earlier hit series

Prime Suspect, the programme employed its distinctive split-

screen technique. A repeat run of the two-part case (the last without a specific subtitle) concluded on ITV3 last night - it featured Camille Coduri, and a dozen Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Tim McInnerny (Fowler) 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)
• James [William] Fox (Stevens QC) voiced Professor Chronotis for Shada
• Bella Emberg [born Sybil Dyke] (Mrs. Fowler) was Nurse in (episode 6 of) The Silurians, and Servant in The Time Warrior (4), then was Mrs. Croot in Love & Monsters
• Colin Prockter (Giddings) was the Chef in The Long Game, and the ARP Warden in Victory of the Daleks
• Stevan Rimkus (Walker) was Captain Bates in The Curse of Fenric
• Chris Obi (Officer) was George in Closing Time
• Amerjit Deu (Clerk) voiced the Swami for Hounded (2016), the Governor for World of Damnation (2018), Roni Bandara for The Dimension Cannon 1 (2019), Jom for Maelstrom (2022), and Voltaire for Missy (2025)
• for Michael Simkins (CS Bradley) see Series 3
• Clare Mahoney was the foley artist on An Adventure in Space and Time too
• Chris Lawson (SFX technician) was VFX designer on Arc of Infinity, Planet of Fire and Attack of the Cybermen
• Garry Dawson also worked on props for Cold War and The Crimson Horror
• Jennie Fave (floor runner) was production manager on Time Crash, then second assistant director on nineteen episodes (from Gridlock to The End of Time) and Music of the Spheres

Doctor Who Vs. The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Everybody

knows the name. Everybody knows

Sherlock Holmes - or thinks they do.

But few know the true story of Conan

 Doyle's remarkable life, fewer still the

extent to which Doy;e suppressed and

sanitised the pain of Holmes' birth.

Set between 1892 and the early 1900s, this

feature length drama for BBC2 was written

by David Pirie (see 'Murder Rooms') - it

explored the dark family past that drove

Conan Doyle (depicted by Douglas Henshall)

to create fiction's greatest detective, then

kill him off.

The genesis of Sherlock Holmes was recently

examined by Lucy Worsley in Killing Sherlock.

Originally shown in the summer of 2005, this BBC Scotland production was

repeated on Talking Pictures TV tonight - it featured Brian Cox (as Doyle's

mentor, Dr. Joseph Bell), Emily Blunt, Sinéad Cusack, and these six Doctor

Who cast and crew connections:

• Saskia Reeves (Louise) voiced Carmen Rega for Big Finish's Emissary of the Daleks (2019), then was both Maddelena Fagandini and Mary Wollstonecraft in Delia: The Myths and Legendary Tapes
• Tim McInnerney (Selden/Sherlock here; Clay in The Red Headed League; Ferret in Fairy Tale; Sir Eustace in The Abominable Bride) was Klineman Halpern in Planet of the Ood, then voiced Admiral Dolne for The Well-Mannered War (2015), and the eponymous role for Puccini and the Doctor (2024)
• Cox voiced the Ood Elder in The End of Time, then portrayed Sydney Newman in An Adventure in Space and Time
• Anthony Calf (Walker here; Hodson in Fairy Tale) made his TV debut as Charles in The Visitation, was Colonel Godsacre in Empress of Mars, and voiced Lord Barset for Frozen Time (2007), and Cal for Zero Space (2018)
• Derek Ritchie was also producer of The Doctor's Meditation, Under the Lake, Before the Flood, The Girl Who Died, The Woman Who Lived and Class, following script editing duties on The Time of the Doctor, Deep Breath, Into the Dalek, The Caretaker and The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
• ADR editor Nick Roberts was sound recordist on The Time of Angels, Flesh and Stone, The Vampires of Venice, Cold Blood and The Lodger

Doctor Who Vs. Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage

ITV Studio's Marple series (a co-production

from WGBH Boston and Agatha Christie Ltd)

began in 2004 with The Body in the Library.
Geraldine McEwan (1932-2015) now depicted

Jane Marple. She was succeeded by Julia

McKenzie in 2007 after a dozen cases.

First published in 1930, this classic golden age

locked room murder mystery was the Queen of

Crime's tenth novel, and marked the full-length

debut of Marple. This period drama is the second television production of the book, following the

BBC version in 1986.

Radio 4's five-part adaptation aired in 1993,

and the Corporation retained the TV rights to

Christie's works in 2014.

Repeated on ITV3 tonight, the case featured

Mark Gatiss, Derek Jacobi, Herbert Lom,

Stephen Tompkinson, and these seventeen

Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Robert Powell (Dr. Haydock) voiced the eponymous role for Big Finish's Time Lord Immemorial (2023)
• Jane Asher (Mrs. Lester) voiced Susan for Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman?, was Andrea Yates in The Sarah Jane Adventures: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?, then voiced Elaine for 9 to 5 (2018), Pilot Dena for Chase the Night (2020), Bellatrix Vega for Run (2023), Myra for Birdsong (2024), and Mother Susan for The Council of Susan (2026)
• Miriam Margolyes (Mrs. Price-Ridley here; Romaine in Witness for the Prosecution, 2002) provided the voice of Leaf Apple Glyn Blathereen in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Gift, and the Meep in The Star Beast, then voiced Frau Tod for The Beast of Orlok (2009), and the Soothsayer for The Dying Breed (2025)
• Tim McInnerny (Clement here; Randolph in Agatha and the Truth of Murder) was Klineman Halpen in Planet of the Ood, and voiced Admiral Dolne for The Well-Mannered War (2015), and the eponymous role for Puccini and the Doctor (2024)
• Christina Cole (Lettice) and [Daphne Anne] Angela Pleasance (Miss Hartnell) both appeared in The Shakespeare Code, as Lilith and Queen Elizabeth I respectively
• Jana Carpenter (May) was De Maggio in Dalek
• Stephen [George] Churchett (Coroner here, The Moving Finger, Murder is Easy, Endless Night) was Billy in Attack of the Cybermen - he also provided the screenplay here and for five other episodes
• Julie Cox (Young Marple here; Elsa for Five Little Pigs) voiced Mary Shelley for Mary's Story (2009), The Silver Turk, The Witch from the Well and Army of Death (all 2011)
• Rachael [Atlanta] Stirling (Griselda here; Caroline in Five Little Pigs) was Ada Gillyflower (pictured) in The Crimson Horror, and voiced Demesne Furze for Trail of the White Worm (2012), Adelaine Dutemps for The Monster of Montmartre, Narrator of Little Rose Riding Hood (both 2015), A Comedy of Terrors, Sontar's Little Helpers, The Gift (all 2016), Something at the Door, Mark of the Medusa and The Patchwork Pierrot (all 2017), and Jill Meadows for Technophobia
• John Owens (Photographer) was Thorpe in The Daemons
• Charles Palmer was also director of Smith and Jones, The Shakespeare Code, Human Nature, The Family of Blood, Oxygen and The Eaters of Light
• Lee [Michael] Sheward was also stunt co-ordinator on eleven stories (from The End of the World to The End of Time)
• Adam Recht was the film editor on A Christmas Carol too
• for Damien Timmer, Nigel Squibbs, Greg Bennett and Sean Clayton see The Body in the Library

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 Vs. Agatha and the Truth of Murder

In December 1926, Agatha

Christie went missing for eleven

days. The circumstances

surrounding her disapperance

have never been revealed. This

film imagines what might have

happened...

This channel 5 thriller is another
fictionalised account of Christie's unexplained vanishing. It is revealed

that Christie (portrayed here by Ruth

Bradley) staged her disappearance

and evaded the ensuing nationwide hunt to investigate the real-life unsolved murder of Florence

Nightingale Shore (goddaughter of the Crimean war nurse) who was bludgeoned to death on a Sussex

bound train in 1920. The Queen of Crime (1890-1976) had writer's block

and posed here as Mary Westmacott, her later pen-name.

The thriller spawned two sequels for 5 - The Curse of Ishtar (in 2019), and

The Midnight Murders (2020). The channel later broadcast documentaries

Inside the Mind of Agatha Christie and Agatha Christie's England.

First shown at Christmas 2018 (then rerun on Boxing Day and New Year's

Day 2019) the film was repeated on U&Drama today - it featured Ralph

Ineson, Dean Andrews, Michael McElhatton, and these six Doctor Who

cast connections: 

• Tim McInnerny (Randolph here; Rev. Clement in The Murder at the Vicarage, 2004) 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)
• Pippa Haywood (Mabel here; Mrs. Price in Ordeal by Innocence, 2007; Mrs. Upjohn in Cat Among the Pigeons, 2008) voiced the Prime Minister for Seed of Chaos and The Destructive Quality of Life (both 2017), Jaxa for Seizure, Teremon for The War Master 2 (both 2018), and Captain Graff for Genetics of the Daleks (2020)
• Blake Harrison (Travis here & Agatha and the Midnight Murders) voiced Lieutenant Daniel Hopkins for The Helliax Rift, Hour of the Cybermen and Warlock's Cross (all 2018), then starred in Village of the Angels as Namaca Ost Parvess Po
• Brian McCardie (Persimmion here; Gould in Ordeal by Innocence, 2018) voiced Alan Weir for Masters of Earth (2014)
• Samantha Spiro (Pamela) was Hazran in The Doctor Falls
• Joshua Silver (Franklin) voiced Charlie Nisbett for The Romance of Crime (2015)