Doctor Who Vs. The Thirty Nine Steps

This British period drama starred Robert Powell (as fugitive Richard Hannay), John

Mills and Eric Porter. The third, and most

faithful cinematic version of John Buchan's

adventure novel did however deviate from

the original narrative with the famous

climax atop Big Ben.

Robert Donat played Hannay in the first

adaptation (directed by Alfred Hitchcock in

1935), then Kenneth More took the lead

role for the 1959 remake. A fourth, tele-

vision production aired on BBC1 in 2008,

with Hannay portrayed by Rupert Penry

Jones.

The Thirty Nine Steps (the first of five titles

to feature Hannay) originally appeared in

Blackwoods Magazine in 1915, and depicts

Europe on the edge of war. The book

quickly became popular reading both in the trenches and on the home front.

The story was first dramatised for radio by Orson Welles in 1939, and more

recently for theatre. Radio 4 first transmitted a two-part rendition in 2001,

which starred Tom Baker and David Robb.

Powell reprised his film role for Thames TV's spin-off series, Hannay,

launched in 1988. Released by Rank in 1978, the thriller was shown on

Talking Pictures TV last night - it featured David Warner, and these

thirty-one Doctor Who cast connections:

• Powell voiced the eponymous role for Big Finish's Time Lord Immemorial (2023)
• George [Morris] Baker (Bullivant) was Login in Full Circle
• Ronald [Alfred] Pickup (Bayliss) made his TV debut as Physician in (episode 4 of) The Reign of Terror, then voiced Kestorian for Time Works (2006), Elder Bones for Spaceport Fear (2013), the Old One for Jago & Litefoot 12 (2016), and Jacob Harmer for The Wizard of Time (2023)
• Donald [Ellis] Pickering (Marshall here; McGillivray in The Three Hostages) was Eyesen in The Keys of Marinus, Blade in The Faceless Ones, and Beyus in Time and the Rani
• Timothy [Lancaster] West (Porton) voiced Kai Tobias for Phobos (2007), Turvey for Cuddlesome (2008), and Dr. Magnus Soames for House of Blue Fire (2011)
• Andrew Keir [born Buggy] (Rohan) was [Peter] Wyler in Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 AD
• William [Arthur] Squire (Harkness) was the Shadow in The Armageddon Factor
• David [Cressy] Collings (Tillotson) was Vorus in Revenge of the Cybermen, [Ander] Poul in The Robots of Death [and reprised for Magic Bullet's Kaldor City (2002) and Big Finish's The Robots (2020/21)], the titular role in Mawdryn Undead, then voiced the Doctor for Full Fathom Five (2003), Gabriel Sanders for Jago & Litefoot (2010/11), Rosato for The King of Sontar (2014), and Narrator of BBC Books' Corpse Marker, The Witch Hunters and Scream of the Shalka
• Edward [James] de Souza (Woodville) was Marc Cory in Mission to the Unknown, then voiced Mortimer Davey for The Roof of the World (2004), and Sir Henry Irving for The Woman in White (2016)
• John Normington (Fletcher) was Morgus in The Caves of Androzani, and Trevor Sigma in The Happiness Patrol
• [Robert] Michael Bilton (Vicar) was Charles de Teligny in The Massacre, Collins in Pyramids of Mars (1), and Time Lord in The Deadly Assassin (1)
• Donald [Harold Gunn] Bisset (Renfrew) and Andrew [Fraser] Downie (Stewart) both appeared in The Highlanders - as Colin McLaren and Willie Mackay
• Harry Fielder (Policeman) was Guard (in PP, ZZZ, 4L, 4P, 5A, 5F, 5Z), Crewman (SS, 4T), Vogan (4D), Assassin (4Q), Tigellan (5Q), and Krarg in Shada 
• Paul [Graham] Jerricho [born Coulthard] (Scott) was the Castellan in Arc of Infinity and The Five Doctors, then Alfie in Lucky Day
• [Walter] Prentis Hancock (Perryman) was Reporter [Jimmy] in Spearhead from Space, Vaber in Planet of the Daleks, Controller Salamar in Planet of Evil, and Captain in The Ribos Operation
• James Garbutt (Miller) and Reg Turner (Policeman) were Ronson and Thal in Genesis of the Daleks
• Oliver Maguire (Martins) was a Shrieve in The Ribos Operation
• Leslie Adams (Man here; Guest in Hannay) was Passenger in Time Flight
• Lewis Alexander (Bystander) and [Alfred Harold] John Doye (Official) both starred in The War Machines, as Army Officer and Interviewer - Doye was also an Extra in The Romans (1), and Cowboy in The Gunfighters
• Peter Childs (Man) was Jack Ward in The Mark of the Rani
• Aileen [Mary] Lewis [born Halsey] (Lady) and Maureen Nelson (Guest) were both Extras on The Silurians (6) - Nelson was also the Bar Girl in The Gunfighters
• John [Ernest Clotworthy] Moore (Diner) was a Prisoner in Frontier in Space (3)
• Mike Reynell (Servant) was an Exxilon in Death to the Daleks, and Kaled Scientist in Genesis of the Daleks (6)
• Del Watson (Man) was an Alien Guard and Crimean Soldier in The War Games
• John [Kenneth] Tatham (Committee) was Villager/Coven member in The Daemons
• Jill Goldston (Nun) was an Extra in The Masque of Mandragora (4), and Peasant in State of Decay (1)
• Rita Tobin Weske (Nun) was the Cleaner in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (3)

Doctor Who On This Day #55

1968 - The Web of Fear, Episode

4 first screened on BBC1

1973 - Frontier in Space, Episode

1 first screened on BBC1

1978 - Pyramids of Mars, Part 4

 first screened on ABC

1979 - The Armageddon Factor,

Part 6 first screened on BBC1

1982 - The Face of Evil, Part 2

repeated on KQED Plus; and The 

Visitation, Part 4 first screened

on BBC Cymru

1983 - The Creature from the Pit,

Part 4 repeated on KQED Plus

1984 - The Ark in Space, Part 2

repeated on KQED Plus; The

Invisible Enemy, Part 3 repeated

on ABC; and Planet of Fire, Part 2

first screened on BBC1

1985 - Genesis of the Daleks

Omnibus repeated on WTTW 11

1986 - The Silurians, Episode 2 repeated

on ABC; Warriors' Gate Omnibus repeated

on WTTW 11; and Earthshock, Part 4 first

screened on TROS

1987 - The Gunfighters, Episode 4:

The OK Corral repeated on KQED

Plus; and Terror of the Zygons, Part

3 repeated on TV2

1988 - Robot, Part 3 repeated on TV de

Galicia; The Pirate Planet, Part 3 repeated

on KQED Plus; and The Armageddon

Factor, Part 6 repeated on TV2

1989 - The Sea Devils, Episode 6

repeated on KQED Plus; and Genesis

of the Daleks, Part 5 repeated on ABC

1990 - The Invasion of Time, Parts

1 and 2 both repeated on WTTW 11;

and Arc of Infinity, Part 3 repeated on

KQED Plus

1994 - Underworld, Part 1 repeated

on UK Gold; and Timelash, Part 1 (of

4) repeated on ABC

1995 - The Ultimate Foe, Part 2

first screeened on VOX

1996 - The Ghosts of N-Space, Episode

6 first broadcast on Radio 2

1997 - The Curse of Peladon, Episode

1 repeated on UKTV (Aus); The Time

Monster Omnibus repeated on KQED

Plus; and Planet of the Daleks Omnibus

repeated on UK Gold

1998 - The Krotons, Episode 2 first

screened on Space; and Time Flight,

Part 2 repeated on UKTV (Aus)

1999 - The Krotons, Episode 2 repeated

 on Space; and The Invasion of Time, Part

4 repeated on UKTV (Aus)

2000 - Planet of Giants, Episode 2: Dangerous

Journey repeated on UKTV (Aus); The Silurians,

Episode 1 repeated on Space; and Day of the

Daleks, Episode 1 first screened on TG4

2001 - The Brain of Morbius Omnibus repeated

on UKTV (Aus); The Androids of Tara, Part 3

first screened on Prairie PTV; The Horns of

Nimon, Parts 3 and 4 both repeated on Iowa

PTV; and Arc of Infinity, Part 1 repeated on

BBC Prime

2002 - The Mind of Evil Omnibus repeated

 on UK Gold; Invasion of the Dinosaurs

Omnibus repeated on MPT; The Ark in Space,

Part 1 repeated on Lakeland PTV; Terror of

the Zygons, Parts 1 and 2 both repeated on

 MiND; The Talons of Weng-Chiang, Part 1

repeated on WILL; The Leisure Hive, Part 1

repeated on Twin Cities PTV; The Keeper of

Traken, Part 4 and Logopolis, Part 1 both

repeated on WCET; Kinda, Part 4 repeated

on WQED; The Visitation, Parts 3 and 4

both repeated on KBTC; Earthshock, Parts 1

and 2 both repeated on NHPTV; and Planet

of Fire Omnibus repeated on Iowa PTV

2003 - The Invasion of Time Omnibus

repeated on BBC Kids (Can)

2004 - The Mind Robber, Episode 3 repeated

on ABC; and Time Flight, Parts 1 and 2 both

repeated on BBC Kids (Can)

2005 - Horror of Fang Rock, Part 2

repeated on ABC

2006 - The Doctor Dances and Boom

Town both first screened on ΣΚΑΙ

2007 - The Impossible Planet repeated

on UK Gold and Jimmy

2008 - The Armageddon Factor, Parts 1 and 2 both repeated

 on WCET; The Unquiet Dead and Doctor Who Confidential: 

TARDIS Tales both repeated on NHPTV; Aliens of London

repeated on MPT

and WTVP; Dalek repeated on WXXI and Houston PM; Father's Day
and Doctor Who Confidential: Time Trouble both repeated on KERA 
and WGVU; The Doctor Dances and Doctor Who Confidential: Weird
 Science both repeated on KQED Plus; Boom Town repeated on Idaho 
PTV; Bad Wolf and Doctor Who Confidential: The World of Who both 
repeated on WEDU; The Parting of the Ways repeated on S Dakota 
PB; and Doctor Who Confidential: I Get a Sidekick Out of You 
repeated on MPT

2009 - Paradise Towers, Parts 1 and

2 both first screened on MTV3 SciFi and

TV4; The Empty Child and Doctor Who

Confidential Cutdown: Special Effects both

 repeated on UKTV (Aus); The Girl in the

Fireplace and Doctor Who Confidential

Cutdown: From Script to Screen both

repeated on ABC1; and The Shakespeare

Code and Doctor Who Confidential: Stage

Fright both repeated on BBC3

2010 - The Age of Steel repeated on Syfy

(Spa); and The Sound of Drums and Doctor

Who Confidential: The Saxon Mystery both

repeated on BBC3

2011 - The Seeds of Doom, Parts 3 and

4 both repeated on MTV3 SciFi, TV2 and

 TV4; and Planet of the Ood repeated on

Space

2012 - The Satan Pit repeated on BBC

America; The Sound of Drums repeated

on BBC Entertainment Ind and ABC2;

Smith and Jones and The Shakespeare

Code both repeated on BBC3; and Midnight

repeated on Watch

2013 - The Aztecs, Episodes 1 and 2 both

repeated on BBC America; The Seeds of Death

Omnibus repeated on UKTV; Revenge of the

Cybermen, Parts 3 and 4 both repeated on

KBTC; 42 and Human Nature both repeated

on France 4; Blink repeated on UKTV (NZ);

The Eleventh Hour repeated on Idaho PTV;

Victory of the Daleks and Doctor Who

Confidential: War Games both repeated on

Iowa PTV; The Impossible Astronaut and

Day of the Moon both repeated on Fox (FRG);

Let's Kill Hitler repeated on MPTV; The

Wedding of River Song and Doctor Who

Confidential: When Time Froze both first

screened on WPT; and Doctor Who

Confidential Cutdown: The Born Identity

repeated on UKTV (Aus)

2014 - The Invisible Enemy, Parts 1 and

 2 and Four to Doomsday, Parts 3 and 4

all repeated on Syfy (Aus); School Reunion

and The Girl in the Fireplace both repeated

 on BBC America; Blink repeated on TV3;

The Unicorn and the Wasp repeated on

France 4; The End of Time, Part 2, The 

Eleventh Hour and The Beast Below all

repeated on Syfy (Port); The Almost People

repeated on BBC Entertainment LA; The

Girl Who Waited repeated on Watch; and

Cold War repeated on Z

2015 - The Robots of Death, Parts 2

and 3 both repeated on Horror; The

Sun Makers, Part 4, Human Nature

and The Curse of the Black Spot all

repeated on Syfy (Aus); The Pirate

Planet, Parts 3 and 4 both first

screened on Retro TV; The Age of

Steel repeated on KCPT2; The Girl

Who Waited and The God Complex

both repeated on BBC America;

The Wedding of River Song repeated

on Syfy (Ben); Cold War and Journey

to the Centre of the TARDIS both

repeated on BBC Nordic HD and BBC

Polska HD; and Kill the Moon repeated

on BBC Entertainment Asia

2016 - Planet of Evil Omnibus

repeated on Horror; Boom Town and

Doctor Who Confidential: Unsung

Heroes and Violent Death both

repeated on ABC Family; Evolution

of the Daleks repeated on France 4

 and Syfy (Aus); The Waters of Mars

and The Eleventh Hour both repeated on

BBC America; Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

repeated on BBC Polska HD; The Snowmen

repeated on Syfy (Spa); The Day of the

Doctor repeated on Syfy (Aus); Kill the

Moon repeated on WGVU; Listen

repeated on KLRU; Flatline repeated on

TV Cultura; The Magician's Apprentice

repeated on BBC First ME; and Sleep No

More repeated on BBC Entertainment

 Asia

2025 - Love & Monsters repeated

on ABC Entertains

2026 - Mindwarp, Parts 3 and 4

and Terror of the Vervoids, Parts

 1 and 2 all repeated on Retro TV

Doctor Who Vs. Hannay, Series 1

This adventure series was the TV spin-off from

Rank's 1978 film version of The Thirty Nine

Steps. Both productions starred Robert Powell as

Edwardian hero Richard Hannay, created in 1915

by Scottish novelist, historian and politician, John Buchan (1875-1940). Hannay appeared in four

further books, and has been portrayed by over

twenty actors across all media since Hitchcock's

first adaptation in 1935. Thames Television's

period thriller (co-produced by Robert Banks

Stewart), set before the Great War, had little

in common with Buchan's novels, but used

character names from his other works.

A repeat run of the six-part drama (first shown

on ITV in early 1988) continued on Talking

Pictures TV tonight, and featured a total of

thirty Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

The Fellowship of the Black Stone (TX: January 6 1988)

• Powell voiced the eponymous role for Big Finish's Time Lord Immemorial (2023)
• David Gooderson (Steward) and Tim [born Michael John Leigh] Barlow (Taverner) both starred in Destiny of the Daleks, as Davros and Tyssan respectively
• Philip McGough (Kupitt) was Sergeant [Graham] Calder in Resurrection of the Daleks 
• Davyd Harries (Harrap) was Shapp in The Armageddon Factor
• Timothy Block (Bennett) was Tanner in Black Orchid
• Stuart Fell (Todd) was UNIT Soldier in The Claws of Axos, [the body of] Alpha Centauri in both Peladon stories, titular reptile in (episode 4 of) The Sea Devils, Functionary in Carnival of Monsters (1), Tramp in Planet of the Spiders (2), Wirrn operator in The Ark in Space, Styre's double in The Sontaran Experiment (1), Kraal in The Android Invasion (3), Monster in The Brain of Morbius, Guard/Peasant/ Entertainer in The Masque of Mandragora, Guard in The Face of Evil (1) and The Sun Makers, Sontaran in The Invasion of Time, Roga in State of Decay (3), fight arranger on The Talons of Weng-Chiang, and stuntman on Terror of the Autons (1) and The Ribos Operation (1)
• Derek Ware (Guard/stunt arranger) was an uncredited fight arranger on 100,000 BC, The Aztecs (4), The Crusade (1), The Daleks' Master Plan (7), The Underwater Menace (3), The Web of Fear (1), stuntman on Terror of the Autons (1), then appeared as Bus Conductor in The Chase (6), Trojan Soldier in The Myth Makers (4), Tuthmos in The Daleks' Master Plan, Spaniard in The Smugglers, UNIT Soldier in The Ambassadors of Death, Private Wyatt in Inferno, and Pigbin Josh in The Claws of Axos (1)

A Point of Honour
(TX: January 13/based on the short story by Dornford Yates)

• [Thomas] Kevin [Harvest] Stoney (Brim) was Mavic Chen in The Daleks' Master Plan, Tobias Vaughn in The Invasion, and Tyrum in Revenge of the Cybermen
• Terrence Hardiman (Harman) was Hawthorne in The Beast Below, and voiced King Sitirc for The Book of Kells (2010), Reverend Dobbs for AudioGo's The Broken Crown, the Grypthon for Aladdin Time (both 2011), Lord Richard Pollard for The Fall of the House of Pollard (2014), Hepworth Stackhouse for The English Way of Death (all 2015), and Rassilon for Time War 2 (2019)
• Martyn Read (Privitt) was a Security Guard in Silver Nemesis

Voyage Into Fear (TX: January 20)

• John [Henry] Ringham (Manners) was Tlotoxl in The Aztecs, Josiah Blake in The Smugglers, and Robert Ashe in Colony in Space
• Stephen [George] Churchett (Kennedy) was Bill in Attack of the Cybermen

Death With Due Notice (TX: January 27)

• Malcolm Tierney (Latimer) was Doland in Terror of the Vervoids
• [Frank] Denis Lill (DI Bristow) was Dr. Fendelman in Image of Fendahl, and Sir George Hutchinson in The Awakening
• Colin [Abel] Jeavons (Wotton) was Damon in The Underwater Menace, and George Tracey in K9 and Company
• [Albert] Frank Mills (Peter) was the Telescope Director in Terror of the Autons (1)
• Brett Forrest (Hailey) was a Guard in The Face of Evil (2)

Act of Riot (TX: February 3)

• Iain Cuthbertson (Elliston) was Garron in The Ribos Operation
• Martin Cochrane (Crombie) was General Chellak in The Caves of Androzani
• David Ashton [born Scott] (Cauldshaw) was cast as Tomas in The Face of Evil, but was replaced by Brendan Price - he later appeared as Kendron in Timelash
• Angus [Wilson] Lennie (Drummond) was Storr in The Ice Warriors, and Angus McRanald in Terror of the Zygons
• Nicola [Kathleen] Stapleton (Betty) reprised her EastEnders role of Mandy Salter for Dimensions in Time

The Hazard of the Die (TX: February 10)

• Edward [James] de Souza (Di Castigliani) was Marc Cory in Mission to the Unknown, and voiced Lord Mortimer Davey for The Roof of the World (2004)
• Michael [Lawson] Sheard [born Perkins] (Perrin) was Rhos in The Ark (2), Dr. Roland Summers in The Mind of Evil, Laurence Scarman in Pyramids of Mars, Lowe in The Invisible Enemy, Mergrave in Castrovalva, the Headmaster [Harvey Parson] in Remembrance of the Daleks, Chief Baxter in Fury from the Deep (2002), then voiced Orsino for The Stones of Venice (2001)
• Gary [born Garrowby Cawthorne] Watson (Strickland) was Arthur Terrall in The Evil of the Daleks
• Albert Welling (Meredith) played the Fuhrer in Let's Kill Hitler
• Victoria Burgoyne (Maisie) was Clare Keightley in Shada
• John [Richard] Rolfe (Ross) was the Captain in The War Machines, Sam Becket in The Moonbase, and Ralph Fell in The Green Death
• Harry Van Engel (Croupier) was a Kaled Scientist in Genesis of the Daleks

Doctor Who Vs. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1982)

This neglected treatment of Conan Doyle's best

loved and most staged work originally aired in

October 1982, and was adapted by Alexander

Baron - he had also dramatised The Musgrave Ritual and Wisteria Lodge in 1968, then

Granada's A Scandal in Bohemia in 1984.

Never released commercially in the UK, and rarely repeated, this drama (quite faithful to the

novel) only became available to purchase when

the sadly short-lived BBC Store launched in late

2015.

This BBC1 production was the first TV vehicle for Tom Baker after vacating the TARDIS - his

portrayal of Sherlock Holmes is reminiscent of

the Doctor (recalling Baker's pseudo-Holmesian

role in The Talons of Weng-Chiang). Baker is only the third actor to play both the Time Lord and the Great Detective, after Peter Cushing and Richard Hurndall.

Baker would reprise Holmes for the stage in The Mask of Moriarty in

1985, then for Auk Studios' Sir Sherlock (2026). Dr. Watson was

depicted here by Terence Rigby, who later appeared in The Sign of Four.

The four-part mystery was recorded at BBC Birmingham and filmed on

location in its Dartmoor setting. Produced by Barry Letts and script

edited by Terrance Dicks, the serial also featured Caroline John,

and these fourteen other Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Nicholas [Robin Frank] Woodeson (Sir Henry) voiced the Clocksmith for Big Finish's Doom Coalition 3 (2016), and the titular role for The Quest of the Engineer (2020)
• [Frank] Morris Perry (Barrymore) was Captain Dent in Colony in Space
• Gillian [Mary] Martell (Mrs Barrymore) and Terry [Philip Julian] Forrestal (Sir Hugo here; stuntman on Without a Clue) both appeared in K9 and Company, as Lilly Gregson and Tractor Driver
• Michael [John] Goldie (Selden here; PC Murcher in A Study in Scarlet; Artist in The Final Problem, 1985) was Craddock in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, and Elton Laleham in The Wheel in Space
• William [Arthur] Squire (Frankland) was the Shadow in The Armageddon Factor
• Hubert [Thomas Morgan] Rees (DI Lestrade here; Dr. Watson in The Baker Street Boys) was the Chief Engineer in Fury from the Deep, Captain Ransom in The War Games, and John Stevenson in The Seeds of Doom
• Peter Wragg was the VFX designer on The Visitation too
• costume designer Joyce Hawkins had worked with Baker on Horror of Fang Rock [also produced at Pebble Mill]
• Norma Flint was production assistant on Warriors of the Deep too
• David Hughes was also studio sound assistant on The War Machines, Fury from the Deep, The Space Pirates (6), Colony in Space, Horror of Fang Rock and K9 and Company
• Mark Kershaw (vision mixer), Sue Hedden (AFM) and Susie Bancroft (make-up artist) all worked on K9 & Company too
• scenic painter Brian Bishop began his career as an uncredited back- drop painter on (episode 1 of) The Aztecs