Doctor Who Vs. Agatha Christie's Crooked House

Published in 1949, 
the Queen of Crime's 
thirty-ninth detective 
novel (with Ordeal by 

Innocence) was one

of her favourite works

and is now considered a classic of the genre.

The title is derived

from the English

nursery rhyme, There

Was a Crooked Man.

An abridged version
was issued for the
American market in

Cosmopolitan magazine, whilst a British serialisation appeared in the

John Bull weekly periodical.

The mystery was first dramatised for BBC Radio in 2008, whilst this
adaptation (from Julian Fellowes) was announced in 2011, but

production only began in late 2016. Crooked House was released by

Sony Pictures in 2017, and premiered in the UK on channel 5 on

December 17th.

Shown again on 5 today, the thriller (from Brilliant Films and Fred
 Films) featured Terence Stamp, Glenn Close, Gillian Anderson, Max

Irons, Stefanie Martini, Amanda Abbington, Julian Sands, and these

eleven Doctor Who cast and crew connections: 

• Big Finish actor Trevor Cooper (Spymaster here; Opalsen in The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan; Harrison in N or M?; Coroner in Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, 2022), Roger Ashton Griffiths (Gaitskill) and Dean Forster (stunt co-ordinator here & Hallowe'en Party, stuntman on The Mystery of the Blue Train) all starred in Robot of Sherwood - as Friar Tuck, Quayle and stuntman - Cooper was also [Lancelot] Takis in Revelation of the Daleks, and voiced Rull for Magic Bullet's Kaldor City, then Sir Ralph for The Doomwood Curse, Shanks for The Haunting of Thomas Brewster (both 2008), Judah for The Beast of Orlok, Smithy for Castle of Fear (both 2009), Captain Maddox/Stennan for Army of Death (2011), Colonel Burroughs/Kimball for The Emerald Tiger (2012), Preddle/Jonathan Jaggers for Judoon in Chains (2016), Jonathan Mayfly/Sir Joseph Eagleton for The Ghosts of Greenwich (2019), Smallpiece for Merry Christmas Mr. Jago (2022), and Silas Keynes for The Ravencliff Witch (2022)
• John Heffernan (Brown here; Narrator of Murder at the Villa Rosa) voiced Vonchef for Revenge of the Swarm (2004), Honos for The Trial of a Time Machine (2018), the Nine for The Crucible of Souls (2016), Companion Piece, Relative Time (both 2019) and The Dreams of Avarice (2022), and Carson Baylis for The Ministry of Death (2026)
• David Seddon (Constable here; Marshall for Ordeal by Innocence, 2014) voiced Irving/Garm/Mercenary/Tashan for The King of Sontar (2014), Quisling/Tarn 2 for The Lady in the Lake (2018), and Lendrik for The Day of the Comet (2020)
• [Frank] Denis Lill (Doctor here; Hollaby in The Sunningdale Mystery; Sir Reuben in The Underdog; Blore in And Then There Were None, 2008; DI Lord in Spider's Web, 2009; Robarts in Witness for the Prosecution, 2010; Pennyfather in Murder on the Nile, 2012) was Dr. Fendelman in Image of the Fendahl, and Sir George Hutchinson in The Awakening
• David Cann (Coroner) was Narrator of Hello Sailor!, then voiced Albert for Jenny 3 (2024)
• Tina Gray (Miss Ackroyd) was Audrey in Lucky Day
• Mark Hedges was also first assistant director on The Sarah Jane Adventures: Invasion of the Bane, and Twice Upon a Time
• SFX supervisor Chris Reynolds was SFX technician on Terror of the Vervoids and Battlefield
• SFX supervisor Steve Bowman was VFX designer on Planet of the Spiders (1), The Creature from the Pit, Earthshock and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

Doctor Who Vs. Hard Sun

This co-production from Euston

Films and American streaming

service Hulu debuted on BBC1

(then iPlayer) in January 2018.

The thriller (a pre-apocalyptic

conspiracy, set in contemporary

London) starred Jim Sturgess and

former model Agyness Deyn as

DCI Charlie Hicks and DI Elaine

Renko.

Series creator and writer Neil

Cross (Luther) devised a potential

five-year story arc, but a sequel

remains unmade. The six-part

drama featured Varada Sethu, and

seventeen Doctor Who cast and

crew connections:

• Nikki Amuka Bird (Grace) was the Glass Woman [Helen Clay] in Twice Upon a Time, then voiced Tamasan for Big Finish's The Time War 2 (2018)
• Derek Riddell (DCS Bell) and Jamie Sives (Chapel) both appeared in Tooth and Claw, as Sir Robert MacLeish and Captain Reynolds - Riddell also voiced Lt. Comm. Sandy McNish for The Oncoming Storm (2016)
• Joplin [Chook] Sibtain (DS Sarafian) was Mark Grantham in The Sarah Jane Adventures: Warriors of Kudlak, and 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 and Koggnossenti for Technophobia (2016)
• Adrian Rawlins (DS Mooney) was Dr. Ryder in Planet of the Ood, then voiced Abberline for Jago & Litefoot 7 (2014)
• Lorraine Burroughs (Simone) was Thalina in The Fires of Pompeii
• Robin Weaver (Fran) voiced Edwige Ponzi for Nothing to See Here (2016), and Arianda for Storm of the Horofax (2017)
• David Seddon (Buckley) voiced Irving, Garm, Mercenary and Tashan for The King of Sontar (2014), Quisling and Tarn 2 for The Lady in the Lake (2018), and Lendrik for The Day of the Comet (2021)
• Kae Alexander (Angie) voiced Waywalker for The Becoming (2016), and Mia Chan for Solitary Confinement (2023)
• Caroline Lawrie (Moira) voiced Queen Jabule for Cry of the Vultriss (2020)
• Teri Ann Bobb Baxter (Lily) voiced Passion for Master! 2 (2022), and Esther for Redacted
• Aisling Bea [born O'Sullivan] (Mari) was Sarah in Eve of the Daleks
• Martin Mayger (Man) was UNIT Soldier in The Day of the Doctor
• Richard Senior was also director of Let's Kill Hitler, Meanwhile in the TARDIS, Space and Time, Night and the Doctor, and Doctor Who at the Proms (2013), then second unit director on The Day of the Doctor
• line producer Debbi Slater was production manager on Blink, Planet of the Ood, The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky, The Unicorn and the Wasp, Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead, then associate producer on Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
• Matthew Tabern was also film editor on Smith and Jones, The Shakespeare Code, Human Nature, The Family of Blood and The Sarah Jane Adventures
• Andy Pryor has also worked as casting director on the revived run since 2005, as well as The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood