Doctor Who Vs. Silent Witness, Series 18

The eighteenth season of BBC1's ever-

green crime drama was first broadcast in

early 2015 - Emilia Fox and David Caves

both returned as doctors Nikki Alexander and Jack Hodgson. The Home Office

forensic pathologists were joined at

London's Lyle Centre by Clarissa Mullery

and Dr. Thomas Chamberlain, played by Liz Carr and Richard Lintern.

A repeat run of the ten-part series began

on U&Drama last night - it featured Shaun

Dingwall, and a total of twenty-one Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

Snipers' Nest (UK TX: January 6 & 7)

• Sean Gilder (Clout here; DI Casey in Series 29) was the Sycorax leader in The Christmas Invasion
• Edmond Moulton (Luke here & Falling Angels) was Adam Wicks in The Almost People
• Jayne McKenna (Julia here & A Special Relationship) voiced Audrey Mohinson for Big Finish's Ravagers (2021)
• Ryan Stuart was stuntman on Nightmare in Silver too
• series clapper loader Peter Lowden was a camera assistant on The Time of the Doctor

Falling Angels (UK TX: January 12 & 13)

• Andrew Tiernan (DCI McLeod) was Jim Purcell in Night Terrors
• Steven [William Thomas] Elder [born Lawrence] (Stone) voiced Siy Tarkov for Dalek Empire (2003/4), Commander Farrow for Jubilee, Eric Rawden for Something Inside (2006), Rudolph for Blood on Santa's Claw, Lord Lycaon for I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day and Brightly Shone the Moon That Night (all 2019), and Grand Duke Cosimus/the Mechanic for The Last of the Kaleds (2025)
• Ben Ashmore was also the SFX co-ordinator on thirty-six stories (from The Girl in the Fireplace to The Next Doctor), The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood

Protection (UK TX: January 19 & 20)

• Daniel O'Hara was also director of Under the Lake and Before the Flood
• Lorraine Burroughs (DI Conroy) was Thalina in The Fires of Pompeii
• Micah Balfour (Garvey) was the Co-Pilot in A Christmas Carol, then voiced Yarven for Goth Opera (2024)
• David Sibley (Judge) was Pralix in The Pirate Planet, then voiced Kurt Schalk for Persuasion, the Eminence for The Seeds of War (both 2013), Dark Eyes 2 and Destroy the Infinite, Professor Markus Schriver for Masterplan (all 2014) and Eye of Darkness (2015), Josiah Morton for The Morton Legacy, the Manager for The Dying Room, Vincent Parry for Orr (all 2017), Valerian for Time War 1 (2018), Uther Vargosh for Darker Purposes, Sigmund Freud for Conflict Theory (both 2020), and Henry Wotton for The Master of Dorian Gray (2022)
• Amit [Kaushik] Shah (Dr. Dhillon) was Rahul in The Woman Who Fell to Earth
• for Des McAleer see Series 8
• Ross Adams was also the boom operator on thirteen adventures (from Asylum of the Daleks to Flatline)
• series sound mixer Ronald Bailey was the recordist on Daleks in Manhattan, Evolution of the Daleks, 42 and Utopia

Squaring the Circle (UK TX: January 26 & 27)

• Pippa [Jane] Haywood (Justine) voiced the Prime Minister for Embankment Station (2017), Jaxa for Seizure, Teremon for The War Master 2 (both 2018), and Captain Graff for Genetics of the Daleks (2020)

One of Our Own (UK TX: February 2 & 3)

• Jason Watkins (Hughes) was Webley in Nightmare in Silver, and voiced the Legate of the Caliph for The Destroyer of Delights, the White Guardian for The Chaos Pool (both 2009), and Al Norton for Twenty-Four Doors in December (2023)
• Steven Pacey (CS Haynes) voiced Trevor for The Zygon Who Fell to Earth (2008), then was Narrator of The Secret Invasion (2020) and The Kairos Ring (2021)
• Beth [Jane] Goddard (Trish) was Sister Helena in The Sarah Jane Adventures: Eye of the Gorgon, then voiced Christine Colley for The Sontaran Project (2017), Ludina Braskell for Ravenous 1 (2018), Barton for The Moons of Vulpana, Vella for A Photograph to Remember (both 2019) and Rulers of Earth, Sally/Time Lady for Operation: Hellfire (both 2020), and Allerdyce Benexa/Pangladasha for Ice Heist! (2023)
• for Mark Frost see Series 7

Doctor Who Vs. Spooks, Series 5

Series regulars Peter Firth, Rupert Penry-Jones,

Miranda Raison, Raza Jaffrey, and Hugh Simon

all returned for the fifth season of the award-

winning BBC spy drama - originally shown in the

autumn of 2006. The run saw the introduction of

Hermione Norris (as MI6 officer Ros Myers), and

the departure of Nicola Walker and Rory

McGregor.

A repeat showing of the ten-part series (known

as MI5 in some countries) begn on U&Drama last

night - it featured Gugu Mbatha Raw (pictured

in Smith and Jones), Shaun Dingwall, and a

total of thirty-one other Doctor Who cast and crew

connections:

• Norris was Captain Lundvik in Kill the Moon
• Lindsay [Vere] Duncan (Angela Wells) was Captain Adelaide Brooke in The Waters of Mars
• Robert Glenister (Home Secretary) was Salateen in The Caves of Androzani, then Thomas Edison in Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror, and also voiced Aboresh for Big Finish's Absolution (2007), and Eliot for Signal and I'll Come to You (2024)
• Helen Anderson (Woman) was Rachel in Revolution of the Daleks
• Mark Straker (Manager) and Michael [Alexander] Carter (Clark) were Trooper in Earthshock, and Prisoner/UNIT Soldier in The Mind of Evil
• Colin Stinton (Styles) was President Arthur Winters in The Sound of Drums
• Lucian [Gabriel Wiina] Msamati (Bufong) was Guido in The Vampires of Venice
• David Fynn and Gary Milner (Policemen) were Marcellus in The Pandorica Opens, and Scared Man in The Stolen Earth
• Davood Ghadami (Prince) was Jim in Let's Kill Hitler
• Pip [Dean] Torrens (Lee) was Headmaster Rocastle in Human Nature and The Family of Blood, then voiced Charlie Gibbs for Eldrad Must Die! (2013), Kenton for Break the Ice (2022), and Thomas Browne for 1901: The Unknowing Mirror (2025)
• [Mark] Alec Newman (Dempsey) and Michael Maloney (Russell) both starred in Blue Forgotten Planet (2009) - Maloney also voiced Frederick Simonsson for Grand Theft Cosmos (2008), Fratalin for Patient Zero, Adam Farrow for The Circus of Doom (both 2009), Rennol for Kiss of Death (2011), Hilary Hammond for Enemy Aliens (2013), Gregor Saraton for Zygon Hunt, the Viryans for Charlotte Pollard 1 (both 2014), William Hogan for The Rockery (2019), and the Two for Two's Company and The Union (both 2023), whilst Newman then voiced Dr. Julius for The Silent Scream (2017), and Dr. James Breck for Jamie (2023)
• James Greene (Holland) was the Abbott in The Bells of Saint John
• Anthony Flanagan (Fletcher here; Tom in Spooks: Code 9) was Orin Scannell in 42
• Aaron Neil (Ibraham) was Dunlop in The Magician's Apprentice, and Varun Singh in Class, then voiced Tir Ram for All-Consuming Fire, Sanukuma Master for The Rulers of the Universe, Priest for The Boundless Sea (all 2015), Aramatz for The Very Dark Thing, Klossi/ Stephano/Trink/Setebos for Maker of Demons, David for UNIT: Silenced, Steven Godbold for Five Twenty-Nine, Computer for World Enough and Time, Mandrake for The Torchwood Archive (all 2016), Gorky Sax for The Year After I Died (2017), and Gobran for The Poison of Peladon (2022)
• Peter Barrett (Officer) voiced Simon Jenkins for Damaged Goods (2015), and Guard Major Priskin for The Labyrinth of Buda Castle (2016)
• Derek Hutchinson (Cash) voiced Altus for The Burning Prince (2012), Usher for A Life in a Day, Brother Callis for Eye of Darkness (both 2015), and Geoff Evans for Black Thursday (2019)
• Joanna Horton (Leigh) voiced Brooke for The Diary of River Song 3 (2018)
• Tim McInnerny (Mace) 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)
• Sam Woodward (Ellis) voiced Lord Raffles/Captain Sanderson/Charlie for Iron Bright (2018)
• Raad Rawi (Ambassador) voiced Prince Hassan Al-Nadyr for Who Killed Toby Kinsella? (2016), St. Nicholas for Better Watch Out and Fairytale of Salzburg  (both 2018), and Tuba/Maygo/Hiarbus for The Phoenicians (2019)
• Saskia Reeves (Sally) voiced Carmen Rega for Emissary of the Daleks (2019)
• Roger Ringrose (Houghton) voiced Dawson for 1957: Double Agent (2025)
• Lucy Scott (Librarian) voiced Nurse Marva for Rendition (2026)
• director of photography Michael Costelloe was camera operator on the first five episodes of the revived series
• Julian Simpson was also director of The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People
• Neil Cross was also writer of The Rings of Akhaten and Hide
• Tony Slater Ling was also cinematographer on The Vampires of Venice and Vincent and the Doctor
• Andy Merchant was also stuntman on The Wedding of River Song and Into the Dalek

Doctor Who Vs. Agatha Christie's Poirot, Series 13

The thirteenth and final series of ITV's
acclaimed period crime drama concluded
with Curtain - based on the Queen of
Crime's last novel. Written in the early
1940's (but only published in 1975 just
before the author's death), Poirot's Last 
Case returned the detective and Captain
Hastings to Styles, the setting of the

writer's debut novel.

David Suchet reprised his definitive port-

rayal of Hercule Poirot, whilst Hugh Fraser (Hastings), Philip Jackson (Japp), Pauline

Moran (Miss Lemon), and Zoe Wanamaker

(Ariadne Oliver) all returned.

A repeat run of the five cases began on

ITV3 last night - the complete run featured

Shaun Dingwall, and a total of forty-four

Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

Elephants Can Remember
(TX: June 9 2013/Published 1972)

• Iain [Alan Sutherland] Glen (Willoughby here; Redfern for Evil Under the Sun, 1998; Trotter in The Mousetrap, 2012) was Father Octavian in The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone
• Annabel Mullion (Lady Ravenscroft) voiced Julia for Big Finish's The English Way of Death (2015)
• Ferdinand Kingsley (Burton-Cox) was Captain Neville Catchlove in Empress of Mars
• Adrian Lukis (Ravenscroft here; Kendal in A Caribbean Mystery, 1989) voiced Officer Bragg for Cobwebs (2010), Byzan for The Children of Seth (2011), Professor Jeffrey Broderick for Counter Measures 1 (2012), Harvey Marsh for The Justice of Jalxar, Sigmund Freud for Return of the Repressed (both 2013), and Ansillon for Blood of the Time Lords (2022)
• Maxine Evans (Mrs. Buckle) voiced Renucha for Mother Tongue (2020), then was Lowri Palin in 73 Yards  
• Sophie Holt (Extra) depicted actress Jackie Lane in An Adventure in Space and Time
• for Danny Webb see The Adventure of the Clapham Cook
• Stephanie Carey was also stunt performer on ten stories (from Voyage of the Damned to The Vanquishers)
• for Marcus Catlin see Taken at the Flood

The Big Four (TX: October 23/Published 1927)

• for writers Mark Gatiss and Ian Hallard see Series 11
• Sarah Parish (Flossie here; Evie in Sleeping Murder, 2006) was the Empress of the Racnoss in The Runaway Bride
• Peter Symonds (Whalley here; Hurstall in Towards Zero) was a Soldier in (part 3 of) Terror of the Zygons
• Steven Pacey (Paynter) voiced Trevor for The Zygon Who Fell to Earth (2008), and was Narrator of BBC Audio's The Secret Invasion (2020) and The Kairos Ring (2021)
• Teresa Banham (Diana) was the Prison Governor in The End of Time, then voiced Mrs. Bartholomew/Angelica for Jago and Litefoot 13 (2017)
• James Carroll Jordan (Ryland) voiced Major Vincent Da Costa/Herger for Shield of the Jotunn (2015), and Charles Virgil McLean for The Gift (2016) 
• Nicholas Burns (DI Meadows here; Britten in At Bertram's Hotel, 2007) was Lord Sutcliffe in Thin Ice
• for David Yelland see Murder in the Mews

Dead Man's Folly (TX: October 30/Published 1956)

• Martin Jarvis (Warburton here; Narrator of The Moving Finger, 2007 and Harley Quin, 2009-11; Hogg in The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, 2010) and Rosalind Ayres (Mrs. Warburton) both starred in Jubilee (2003) as Nigel and Miriam Rochester - Jarvis was also Hilio in The Web Planet, Butler in Invasion of the Dinosaurs, and the Governor in Vengeance on Varos
• Tom [John] Ellis (DI Bland) was Dr. Thomas Mulligan in Last of the Time Lords 
• Sam [born Roger Michael] Kelly (Merdell) voiced Eugene Tacitus for The Holy Terror (2000), and Acheron for Return to the Web Planet (2007)
• Sean [Carl] Pertwee (Stubbs here; Oglander in The King of Clubs; Griffith in The Moving Finger, 2006; DI Lejeune in The Pale Horse, 2020) made a cameo appearance in The Five(ish) Doctors
• Rebecca [Louise] Front (Miss Brewis here; Marcia for The £199 Adventure; Narrator of The Man in the Brown Suit) was Colonel Walsh in The Zygon Invasion, and voiced Major Takol for The Mind's Eye (2007), Patricia Walton for The Jupiter Conjunction (2012), and Tara for Together in Electric Dreams (2022)
• Nicholas [Robin Frank] Woodeson (DS Hoskins) voiced the Clocksmith for Doom Coalition 3 (2016), and the titular role for The Quest of the Engineer (2020)
• Daniel Weyman TV (Legge) voiced Ragan Crezzen for The Butcher of Brisbane (2012)
• Richard Dixon (Henden here; Rowlandson in A Murder is Announced, 2005; Cayman in Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, 2022) voiced DI Alan Probert for The Dreams of Avarice (2022)
• Francesca Zoutewelle (Hiker) voiced H-One/H-Two/Mission Captain for The Furies (2018)
• Kevin Hudson (Policeman) was a Cyberman in thirteen episodes (from The Long Game to Ascension of the Cybermen), Technician in Bad Wolf, Escort in New Earth, Delivery Man in The Idiot's Lantern, Ood in The Satan Pit, Planet of the Ood and The End of Time, Surgeon in Smith and Jones, Pigman in Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks, UNIT Soldier in Last of the Time Lords and The Day of the Doctor, Dalek in The Magician's Apprentice, and Apple Bill in The Witchfinders

The Labours of Hercules (TX: November 6/Published 1947)

• Morven Christie (Elsie here; Kirsten in Ordeal by Innocence, 2018) was O'Donnell in Under the Lake and Before the Flood
• Simon [Phillip Hugh] Callow (Dr. Lutz here; Melchett in The Body in the Library, 2004; cast in The Hollow, 2020) was Charles Dickens in The Unquiet Dead and The Wedding of River Song, and provided the voice of Tree Lorn Acre Blathereen in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Gift, then voiced Don Quixote for The Ingenious Gentlemen (2025)
• Rupert Evans (Waring) voiced Jack Maddocks for The Forgotten Village (2014)
• Stephen Frost (Chief Inspector) began his TV career as a Tharil in Warriors' Gate, then voiced Rondig/Pod for Saviour (2021)
• Tom Chadbon (Dr. Burton) was Duggan in City of Death, and Merdeen in The Mysterious Planet, then voiced Forrest for BBV Productions' Conduct Unbecoming (2000), Will Sullivan for Sarah Jane Smith (2006), Gordon Davidson for No More Lies (2007), and Embery for The Paradox Planet and Legacy of Death (both 2016)
• Eleanor Tomlinson (Alice here; Mary in Ordeal by Innocence, 2018) was Eve in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Mad Woman in the Attic
• Orla Brady (Countess) was Tasha Lem in The Time of the Doctor
• Isobel Middleton (WPC) provided the voice of Almak for Demons of the Punjab
• for Patrick Ryecart see Dumb Witness

Curtain (TX: November 13)

• Hettie Macdonald was also director of Blink, The Doctor's Meditation, The Magician's Apprentice and The Witch's Familiar
• John [Ronald Leon] Standing (Luttrell) voiced Fenric for Gods and Monsters (2012), and Professor Threadstone for Vampire of the Mind (2016)
• Anne Reid (Daisy here; Sister Agnes in Nemesis, 2009) was Nurse Crane in The Curse of Fenric, and Florence Finnegan in Smith and Jones
• Matthew McNulty (Allerton) was Adam Lang in Praxeus
• Anna Madeley (Barbara here; Adele in A Pocket Full of Rye, 2008) voiced Laura Lyons for The Monstrous Menagerie (2014)
• for Sean Clayton see Murder on the Links

Doctor Who Vs. Maigret, Part 1

Ealing Studios' reworking of the Georges

Simenon books began on ITV at Easter

2016. Rowan Atkinson became the

latest British actor to portray French

detective, Jules Maigret.
 Belgian novelist Simenon (1903-1989)

penned seventy-six whodunnits between
1931 and 1972 - with many adapted for
cinema, television and radio since 1932.
These four period mysteries were filmed

on location in Budapest, which stood in for

1950s Paris. Atkinson admitted that he'd

"been a devotee of the Maigret novels for

years" when cast in the role.

A repeat run of the thrillers began on ITV3

last night - they featured Shaun Dingwall,

Lucy Cohu, and a total of nineteen Doctor

 Who cast connections:

Maigret Sets a Trap (UK TX: March 28 2016)

• Christopher Bowen (DI Lefors) was Mordred in Battlefield
• David Annen (Tissot) depicted Peter Brachacki in An Adventure in Space and Time
• Mark Heap (Dr. Moers) voiced the Middleman for Big Finish's The Middle (2017)
• Rebecca Night [born Hardwick] (Yvonne) voiced Helen Towers for Masquerade (2014), Matilda Gregson for Beachhead (2016), and Romana for The Difference Office (2022)
• Heather Bleasdale (Pardon) voiced Cordelia/Fecunda for Blood on Santa's Claw, and President for I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day (both 2019), then starred in The Halloween Apocalypse as Wilma

Maigret's Dead Man (UK TX: Christmas Day 2016)

• Ian Pulseton Davies (Colombani) voiced Angus Selwyn for Absent Friends (2016)
• Michael Fitzgerald (Proprietor) was the Duke of Manhattan in New Earth
• Tim Chipping (Joe) voiced Rasputin/the Dahensa for The Wanderer (2012), and Constable Wolsey/Mandrake for The Widow's Assassin (2014)

Night at the Crossroads (UK TX: April 16 2017)

• Kevin [Robert] McNally (Grandjean) was Hugo Lang in The Twin Dilemma, and Eustacius Jericho in Flux - he also voiced Henry for Spider's Shadow (2008), Vakrass for The End of the Beginning, and Merrick Kingdom for Dalek Universe (both 2021)
• Robin Weaver (Madame) voiced Edwige Ponzi for Nothing to See Here (2016), and Arianda for Storm of the Horofax (2017)
• Wanda Opalinska (Jo Jo) voiced the Dockmaster for Magic Bullet's Storm Mine (2004), Nadia Vasney for The Night Witches (2017), Gudrun/Espen for Colony of Strangers, Irinda for Family Matters (both 2020), and Dr. Lorna Holmes for Supernature (2023)
• Paul Chahidi (Michonnet) voiced Hason for The Destroyer of Delights (2009), George Townsend for Industrial Evolution (2011), Bondsman Tango Veldt/the Shepherd for Persuasion, and the Shepherd for Daleks Among Us (both 2013)
• Joplin [Chook] Sibtain (Oscar) was Mark Grantham in The Sarah Jane Adventures: Warriors of Kudlak, Tarak Ital in The Waters of Mars, then voiced David Brock for The Feast of Axos (2011), Athrid for The Acheron Pulse (2012), Sanjaya Starr for The Case of the Gluttonous Guru (2013), and Brian/Koggnossenti for Technophobia (2016)
• Jonathan Newth (Ambassador) was Orfe in Underworld

Maigret in Montmartre (UK TX: Christmas Eve 2017)

• Douglas [William] Hodge (Alfonsi) voiced Edge for Urban Myths, and Radu for Son of the Dragon (both 2007)
• Olivia Vinall (Arlette) was Effie in The Crimson Horror, and voiced Sheena for The Starship of Theseus (2017)
• Simon Gregor (Grasshopper) was Carlo in The Vampires of Venice
• Adrian [Philip] Scarborough (Dr. Bloch) was Kahler Jex in A Town Called Mercy and The Making of the Gunslinger
• Adrian Rawlins (Bonvoisin) was Dr. Ryder in Planet of the Ood, then voiced Frederick Abberline for The Wax Princess (2014), and Gilman Hari for Antillia the Lost (2023)

Coda

1950 saw the first English-language adaptation of Simenon's works.

The Man on the Eiffel Tower starred Charles Laughton, whilst the

title role in the first British TV version was played by Rupert Davies

(from 1960-64). This BBC series was followed by Granada's own in

1992, with Michael Gambon as Maigret.