Doctor Who Vs. Luther, Series 5

After an absence of three years,

the long-awaited fifth season of Neil

Cross' acclaimed thriller debuted in

January 2019.

Idris Elba returned as maverick DCI

John Luther in another dark murder

case, whilst newcomer Wunmi

Mosaku played DS Halliday.

Dermot Crowley, Michael Smiley,

and Ruth Wilson reprised their

respective roles as Schenk, Benny,

and Alice.

A film version of Luther, The Fallen

Sun, was finally unveiled in early

2023, then launched on Netflix.

A repeat showing of the drama

(originally shown on BBC1 over four

 consecutive nights from New Year's

Day) began on U&Drama last night

- it featured Paul McGann, Patrick Malahide, and a total of twenty-two

Doctor Who cast and crew links:

• Marcus Wilson was also producer of twenty-eight episodes (from The Impossible Astronaut to The Day of the Doctor), and The Doctors Revisited
• Jamie Payne was also director of Hide and The Time of the Doctor
• 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 2013 festive adventure, Deep Breath, Into the Dalek, The Caretaker and The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
• Hermione [Jane] Norris (Dr. Lake) Captian Lundvik in Kill the Moon
• Sonita Henry (Daria) was Colonel Meme in The Time of the Doctor
• Roberta [Alexandra Mary] Taylor [born Roberts] (Celia) voiced Berengaria for The Holy Terror (2000), Angela Wisher for Cuddlesome (2008), and Maid for I Was Churchill's Double (2018)
• for Michael Obiora see Series 4
• Jami Reid Quarrell (Hauser) was Colony Sarff in The Magician's Apprentice and The Witch's Familiar, the Veil in Heaven Sent, and the Wraith in Hell Bent
• Katie Brayben (Penny) was Ellie in Oxygen
• Julie Teal (Miriam) voiced Chancellor Vorena for Time in Office (2017), the Royal Magnificat for Emancipation (2019), Silla for Self-Help (2025), and Woman for The Indigo Child (2026)
• Anthony [Matthew] Howell (Palmer) voiced Edward Perkins for The Valley of Death (2011), Christopher Manners for The Renaissance Man, Meredid Roath for The First Sontarans (both 2012), Professor John Bleak for The Lady of Mercia (2013), Victor Bataille for Island of Death, Tim Hope for The End of the Line (both 2015), Volar Crick for The Robots 1 (2019), Adrian for Out of This World, Lord Morton/ Donat/Devore for Plight of the Pimpernel (both 2020), Macbeth/ Siward for The Curse of Lady Macbeth (2021), Volen Steasel/Thug for The Tivolian Who Knew Too Much (2022), Cornwell for Double (2023), Alan Turing/Christopher/Cicerone for Storm of the Sea Devils (2024), and Meredit Roath for Betrayal at the House of Sontar (2026)
• Delroy Atkinson (Hayes) voiced Dav Christos/Therian Leader for Animal Instinct, Wadmore for The Avenues of Possibility (both 2019), Mike/Messingham/UNIT Soldier for Long Shot (2021), Greyson for The Running Men (2024), and Devish Maldra for The Ruins of Kaerula (2025)
• Nicholas Asbury (DCI Woodgate) voiced Rowe for The Many Deaths of Jo Grant (2011), Anthony Burmaster for Call to Arms and Tidal Wave, Chairman Bart Falco for The Silurian Candidate (all 2017), Visguard/ Captain Morgan/SB Officer for Churchill Victorious, Dante for The Diary of River Song 4 (both 2018), Captain Zenna/Kivall for Out of Time, Shakespeare for The Hollow Crown, Tenebrae/Franz Albrecht Stuart for Rulers of Earth (all 2020), Commander Stevenson/ Pietersen for Return of the Cybermen, Mollis for Colony of Fear, Preacher Stem for The Melting Pot (all 2021), Hari Ventross for Kaldor Nights, Dr. Sturm for Shellshock (both 2022), Belias for Never the End Is, and Inquisitor Robel for You Only Die Twice (both 2024) - he was also Etoine in The Zygon Inversion
• Lewis Young (Lucas) was a stuntman on Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS
• Andrew Burford (Emil) was a stuntman on The Eaters of Light, The Doctor Falls, Twice Upon a Time, Kerblam!, The Witchfinders, The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos and Spyfall (2)
• Xavier Lake was stuntman on The Woman Who Fell to Earth too
• Crispin Layfield was also stunt co-ordinator on fifty stories (from Father's Day to The Day of the Doctor)
• John Pardue was cinematographer on An Adventure in Space and Time too
• Ian Adrian was also camera operator on The Vampires of Venice, The Hungry Earth, Cold Blood, Vincent and the Doctor and The Lodger, then director of photography on Twice Upon a Time
• Liam Byrne was the armourer on The Wedding of River Song too
• Rory Herbert was also script supervisor on A Town Called Mercy, The Power of Three, The Rings of Akhaten, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS and The Name of the Doctor
• Christopher Reynolds (first assistant camera) was focus puller on The Eleventh Hour, The Rings of Akhaten, Nightmare in Silver and The Name of the Doctor

Doctor Who Vs. Silent Witness, Series 22

The twenty-second season of the popular

crime drama returned to BBC1 in early

2019, as it reached the milestone of two

-hundred instalments - it again starred

 Emilia Fox and David Caves as doctors Nikki Alexander and Jack Hodgson. The

Home Office forensic pathologists (based

in London's Lyell Centre) were joined by

Clarissa Mullery and Dr. Chamberlain,

played by Liz Carr and Richard Lintern.

A repeat run of the ten-part series

continued on U&Drama last night - the

five cases featured Jo Martin, Ingrid

Oliver, and a total of thirty Doctor Who

cast and crew connections:

Two Spirits (UK TX: January 7 & 8)

• Kerry Fox (Susie) voiced Julia Hartley Price for Big Finish's UNIT: Cyber Reality (2018)
• Rochenda Sandall (Liz) was Azure in Flux
• Andrew Knott (Marlow) voiced James O'Meara for 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (2013), and Sean Casey for The White Room (2014)
• for Jemima Rooper see Series 10
• Helen Dickson was also dialogue editor on twenty stories (from The Eleventh Hour to World Enough and Time), The Sarah Jane Adventures and Class

Lift Up Your Hearts (UK TX: January 14 & 15)

• Radoslaw [Sebastian] Kaim (Rudi) was Worker in The Sontaran Stratagem
• for Colin Salmon see Series 1 and Richard Price see Series 21
• Dan Li (DS Lin) was Alexei in The Bells of Saint John, then voiced Dokan for UNIT: Shutdown, Grillo Clavik for The Genesis Chamber (both 2016), Okada Shumei for The Barbarians and the Samurai (2018), Mike Chaoxiang/Raptor for Master! 3 (2024), Lee Hoi Sang/Stall holder/KC Chen for The Final Cut, and Chesney for The Greatest Train Robbery (both 2026)
• Alex Frost (Nurse) was Reverend Shaw in Village of the Angels
• for Kiaran Murray Smith and Timothy Wood see Series 19

To Brighton, To Brighton (UK TX: January 21 & 22)

• Sebastian [Felipe Xavier Fernández-Garcia] Armesto (DI Taramelli) was Broff in Bad Wolf, and voiced Anders for Grand Theft Cosmos (2008), and Garrison for Kidnapped! (2020)
• Samantha [Jane] Bond (DS Quicke) was Miss Wormwood in The Sarah Jane Adventures: Invasion of the Bane and Enemy of the Bane then reprised for The Revenge of Wormwood (2023), and voiced Mother Baroque for The Scapegoat (2009)
• for Carlyss Peer see Series 14 and Daniel Weyman see Series 20
• Nancy Baldwin (Audrey) was Joy in The Impossible Astronaut 
• Tomi May (Calvin) was Dowell in Thin Ice

Deathmaker (UK TX: January 28 & 29)

• Amanda Root (Olivia) voiced Madeleine Fairweather for The Girl Who Never Was (2007), and Lendek/Scientist for The Lords of Terror (2018)
• for Lucinda Dryzek see Series 6 and Des McAleer see Series 8
• Ray Fearon (DI Quint) voiced Barlow Teveler for The Seeds of War (2013)
• Ian McElhinney (Walsh) was Ko Sharmus in Ascension of the Cybermen and The Timeless Children
• Alex Jordan (Reporter) voiced Renk Van Magnastein for The Revolution (2014), Mandeville/Chief/Acolyte for The Library in the Body (2016), Heatcote for An Ideal World (2018), Computer for The Scaramancer, Bandit for The Cognition Shift (both 2020), Sergeant Jean Paul Savarin for Seabird One and Visitants (both 2022), Louis Marchand/Napoleon for Time Schisms! (2023), and Various for The Last Day (2024)
• Avita Jay (DC Anderton) voiced Zakia Akhtar for Stranded 2020-22), Harper for The Unzal Incursion, Hera/Moran Kez for Cycle of Destruction, and Evo/Eleanor Pearce for The Evolving Dead (all 2021)
• Silas Carson (Harris) provided Alien voices for The End of the World, then Ood voices for The Impossible Planet, The Satan Pit, Planet of the Ood, The End of Time, Pond Life, Survivors of the Flux, The Vanquishers, Prisoner of the Ood, The War Master 2 and Oracle, and voiced Arbuckle for The Jabari Countdown (all 2018), Trave for Havoc, the Sicari for Collateral and Assassins, Commentator for Warzone (all 2019), Sir Thomas Pewsey/Pilot for The Sins of Captain John, Brian for He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not, Garlon Rosh for The Robots of War (all 2020), Dr. Winston Grange for Time Flies (2022), Drane for The Kicker, Narrator of An Ood Halloween (both 2023), and Ramesh Kamal for Storm of the Sea Devils (2024)
• Emily Taaffe (Orla) voiced Sasha Yan for Fond Farewell (2022)

Betrayal (UK TX: February 4 & 5)

• Emma Sullivan was also director of Can You Hear Me? and The Haunting of Villa Diodati
• Art [born Athar Ul-Haque] Malik (Pujari) was Ilin in The Ghost Monument, and voiced Abbot Absolute for The Skull of Sobek (2008)
• Dervla Kirwan (Amanda) was Miss Hartigan in The Next Doctor, then reprised Miss Quill for Big Finish's Class, and voiced Mrs. Calderwood for Aimed at the Body, Di Wright for The Bookshop at the End of the World, Yost McComack for Lightspeed, Anne Marie for Interlude, Representative for Echo Chamber, Agatha Fernbridge for Towards Zero, Professor Callis for Castle Hydra, and Kelleher for Effect and Cause (all 2020)
• prolific Big Finish and BBV contributor Nigel Fairs (Judge) was Police- man in Zygon, and voiced Gary Williams for The Shadow of the Scourge (2000), Joshua for Race Memory (2001), Osbert for The Green Man, Hall for In 2 Minds (both 2002), Rom for Nekromanteia (2003), Time Lord for Pandora (2005), Kalbez for Enemy Lines (2016), Cornelius Pinch for Inside Every Warrior (2019), Curtis/ Crewman for The Flying Dutchman (2020), Rev. Samuel Claypole/the Snowart for The God of Phantoms, Faren/Trooper for Destroyer (both 2021), and Announcer for The Prints of Denmark (2022)

Doctor Who Vs. Silent Witness, Series 28

The latest run of BBC Studios' evergreen crime drama concluded last

night - it starred Emilia

 Fox (now the veteran of

over 200 episodes since

2004) and David Caves,

as doctors Nikki

 Alexander and Jack

Hodgson. The Home

Office forensic path-

ologists (based in

London's Lyell Centre)

were joined by new-

comers Maggie Steed

and Francesca Mills (as

Harriet Maven and Kit

Brooks). The ten-part

series featured a total of thirty-two Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

Exodus 20:17 (UK TX: January 6 & 7)

• Steed [born Baker] voiced Madamme Rana Zandusia for Big Finish's Mission to Magnus (2009)
• Mills voiced Bethany for Swipe Right (2024)
• Sam Gittins (Mayhew) voiced Helico for Transference (2023)
• for Sean Pertwee (DI Flynn) see Series 27 and for Steven Forrester see Series 12
• Amy Booth Steel (Greenwood) was Hyph3n in Orphan 55
• Delroy [Hugh] Atkinson (Manager) voiced Dav Christos/Therian Leader for Animal Instinct, Wadmore for The Avenues of Possibility (both 2019), Mike/Messingham/UNIT Soldier for Long Shot (2021), and Grayson for The Running Men (2024)
• Matthew Earley (Workman) was Man in The Bells of Saint John

Homecoming (UK TX: January 13 & 14)

• Zaqi Ismail (Singh) was Tim Lunn in Under the Lake and Before the Flood, and voiced John Hobshaw for Thin Time (2020), and Sardo for Masterful (2021)
• David Verrey (Morgan Jones) was Joseph Green MP in Aliens of London and World War Three
• Ellie Haddington (Meg) was Professor Alison Docherty in Last of the Time Lords
• for Andy Godbold see Series 16

Broken (TX: January 20 & 21)

• Sallie Aprahamian was also director of Arachnids in the UK and The Witchfinders
• Raj Ghatak (Shah) voiced Zendo/Emory for The Famished Lands (2019), Reader for Lost Property, Sanjit/Mugger for Wild Animals, Mison for Madquake, the Complex for Conflict Theory, Vikram for The Undying Truth, Boros for The Enemy of My Enemy (all 2020), Bradley /Horobin for The Blazing Hour, First Official for The Sincerest Form of Flattery, Vizier for Unfinished Business, Olaf Richter for Monsters in Metropolis (all 2021), Jenfold/Leader for Mind of the Hodiac, Monk/ Professor Klovis for Together in Eclectic Dreams (both 2022), Captain Sharma/Professor Sanjay Billimoria for Storm of the Sea Devils (2024), and Mohinder Johal for Flying Solo (2025)
• Nicky Goldie (Judge) voiced the Spillager Empress for Winter for the Adept, Valeria Hedone for The Fires of Vulcan (both 2000), Inquisitor Danby for Excelis Rising (2002), and Polk for The Moonrakers (2020)
• Kim Durham (Rose) voiced Abatan for The Ultimate Evil (2019), and Vale for Maelstrom (2022)
• Lisa Palfrey (was the Mum in Attack of the Graske, then voiced Mrs. Maloney for 1901: The Unknown Mirror (2025)
• for Tamzin Outhwaite see Series 15 and for Belinda McGinley see Series 12
• for Will Willoughby see Series 14 and Christina Low see Series 26

Vanishing Point (TX: January 27 & 28)

• Sunetra Sarker (Fiona) was Indira in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
• Steve Oram (Jenkins) was Joseph Williamson in Flux
• Asif Khan (Patel) was Ramesh Sunder in The Woman Who Fell to Earth and Spyfall, and voiced Jay Roy for Power Cell (2016)
• Joshua Leese (Darby) was Single in Joy to the World
• Nikkita Chadha (Jodie) was Hologram Singer in Sleep No More
• Samila Kularatne (Emily) was Sandeep's mum in The Zygon Invasion

I Believe in Love (TX: February

• Kareem Alexander (Darby) was Jordan Lang in Lucky Day
• Scarlett Courtney (Sergeant) voiced Jessica Kelly/Kathy Kelly for Splinters (2022), and Arnica for The Curse of Time (2024)
• Matthew Aubrey (Bobby) voiced Gwyn Hughes for Black Thursday (2019)
• Dan Griffiths was also a stuntman on Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos and Fugitive of the Judoon, and Gunrunner in Smile
• for Karl Collins (DI Strong) see Series 12
• for Robert Lonsdale (Alex) see Series 14

Doctor Who Vs. Strike: Lethal White

This Bronte Films thriller was based on the

fourth crime novel from JK Rowling, written

under the pen-name Robert Galbraith.

Plans to adapt the Cormoran Strike books

were announced in late 2014, and Harry

Potter author Rowling acted as executive

producer. Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger

were cast as Strike and Robin Ellacott in

2016. 

 Lethal White followed adaptations of The

Cuckoo's Calling, The Silkworm and Career

of Evil, and Troubled Blood (based on book five) debuted in December 2022. Production on The Ink Black Heart is currently under-

way, whilst Strike's seventh case, The

Running Grave was published last year.

A repeat run of the four-part mystery

(which debuted on BBC1 in August 2020) began on Drama last night - it featured Kerr Logan, Natasha O'Keeffe, and twenty-seven Doctor Who

cast and crew connections:

• Robert Glenister (Chiswell here & Narrator of Strike audiobooks) was Salateen in The Caves of Androzani, then Thomas Edison in Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror - he also voiced Aboresh for Big Finish's Absolution (2007), and Eliot for Future Phantoms (2024)
• Robert Pugh (Winn) was Tony Mack in The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood, and voiced Emmett Burrows for Five Twenty-Nine (2017)
• Sophie Winkleman (Kinvara) voiced Kelly Westwood for The Eight Truths and Worldwide Web (2009), Sofia Cozzi for Serpent in the Silver Mask (2016), and Rachel Allan for Torchwood One (2017)
• Christina Cole (Izzy) was Lilith in The Shakespeare Code
• Natalie [Sithokozile] Gumede (Lorelei) was Ashley Carter in Last Christmas, and voiced Aeronwen for The Famished Lands (2019), Isobel/Neighbour for Twenty-Four Doors in December (2023), and Ruath for Goth Opera (2024)
• Sophie Colquhoun (Sarah) voiced Madrigal for Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy (2017)
• Silas Carson (Drummond) provided Alien voices for The End of the World, and voiced Uvlavad for The Sarah Jane Adventures: Warriors of the Kudlak, then voiced the Ood for The Impossible Planet, The Satan Pit, Planet of the Ood, The End of Time, Pond Life, Prisoner of the Ood, The War Master 2 and Torchwood (2023), Arbuckle for The Jabari Countdown (2018), Trave for Havoc, the Sicari for Collateral and Assassins, Commentator for Warzone (all 2019), Sir Thomas Pewsey/ Pilot for The Sins of Captain John, Brian for He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not, Garlon Rosh for The Robots of War (all 2020), Dr. Winston Grange for Time Flies (2022), Drane for The Kicker, Narrator of An Ood Halloween (both 2023), and Ramesh Kamal for Storm of the Sea Devils (2024)
• Robyn Holdaway (Hayley) voiced Calypso Jonze for The Lovecraft Invasion (2020) and The End of the Beginning, and Decima/Citizen for The Lone Centurion 1 (both 2021)
• Lucy [Jane] Briers (DCI McMurran) voiced Jenny Chaplin for After the Daleks (2021)
• Saffron [Marni] Coomber (Flick) voiced Elidir/Byrne for London Orbital (2022)
• Ruth Lass (Dr. Curtis Lacey) voiced Elodie Kendall for Future Phantoms (2024)
• Natalie Walter (Fizzy) was Alice Coltrane in Turn Left
• Nicholas Burns (Torks) and Bern Collaco (Officer) both appeared in Thin Ice, as Lord Sutcliffe and Soldier, whilst Collaco was also an Operator in The Return of Doctor Mysterio
• Bart Suavek (Barman) was Pavel in Knock Knock
• Samuel Oatley (DI Layborn) was T'zim Sha in The Woman Who Fell to Earth and The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos
• Annette Badland (Cab driver) was Margaret Blaine [aka Blon Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen] in Aliens of London, World War Three, Boom Town and reprised for Sync (2019), then voiced Queen Karlina for Equilibrium, Thelms for Suburban Hell (both 2015), Guilana for Asking for a Friend (2017), Judge/Computer for Barrister to the Stars, Mrs. Slinger/Batraxus for Whatever Remains, Maude Polwart/Mermaid for The Ghost Writers (all 2020), Mrs. Goose/Fleshkin for The Hunting Season (2021), Eminent Sedanya for Blood of the Time Lords, the titular entity for The Miniaturist, Mrs. Chinn for Mind of the Hodiac (all 2022), the Toymaker for Metamorphosis (2024), and Dorothy Stubbs for Future Phantoms
• Sarah Lochlan (stunt performer) and Ruth Horrocks (Guest) both worked on Revolution of the Daleks too
• Richard Price (Passerby) was Guest in The Runaway Bride and The Lazarus Experiment, Passerby in Partners in Crime and The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Mark of the Berserker, Takran Soldier in The Doctor's Daughter, Cyberman in World Enough and Time, The Doctor Falls, Ascension of the Cybermen, The Timeless Children, Once, Upon Time and The Power of the Doctor, Teammate in Kerblam!, Sniperbot in The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos, Judoon in Fugitive of the Judoon, Dalek operator in Revolution of the Daleks, Tourist in The Halloween Apocalypse and The Vanquishers, titular reptile in Legend of the Sea Devils, and Shadow Kin in Class
• Liam Lau Fernandez (Porter) voiced Thomas for Jenny 3 (2024)
• Paul Bailey and Christina Low were stunt drivers on Spyfall (1) too - Bailey also worked on It Takes You Away, The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos and Resolution
• George Atkins was also ADR mixer on six adventures (from The Time of the Doctor to The Timeless Children)
• James Gregory was also ADR mixer on The Haunting of Villa Diodati and Ascension of the Cybermen
• for Nigel Squibbs, Richard Roundtree and Dan Rees see The Cuckoo's Calling