Doctor Who Vs. Trial & Retribution II

Lynda La Plante's acclaimed crime drama returned
to ITV in October 1998, and again starred David
Hayman (as DCS Mike Walker), Dorian Lough (DS
Satchell), and Kate Buffery (DI Pat North). Like La Plante's Prime Suspect, the programme employed

split-screen scenes, a distinctive technique later

emulated by the makers of 24, Spooks and The Bill.

A repeat run of this two-part case began on ITV3

last night - it featured seventeen Doctor Who cast

and crew connections:

• Iain [Alan Sutherland] Glen (Morton) was Father Octavian (pictured) in The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone
• Big Finish actor George Asprey (DC Hutchens) voiced Overseer Zim for The Hidden Realm, Balthasar Schrek for Nothing to See Here (both 2016), the Leader for Infamy of the Zaross (2017), General Melak for Time in a Bottle and Kings of Infinite Space, the Ravenous for Seizure (all 2018), Deeptime Frontier, The Odds Against, Planet of Dust, Day of the Master (all 2019) and Beyond (2021), and Superior Elite for The Good Samaritan (2023)
• Simon [Phillip Hugh] Callow (Halliday) was Charles Dickens in The Unquiet Dead and The Wedding of River Song, and provided the voice of Tree Lorn Acre Slitheen Blathereen in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Gift - he then voiced Don Quixote for The Ingenious Gentlemen (2025)
• Joseph Long (Bellini) was Rocco Colasanto in Turn Left, and the Pope in Extremis
• Danny Sapani (Burton) was Colonel Manton in A Good Man Goes to War
• [Rosemary] Rowena Cooper (Corinna) also appeared in The Sarah Jane Adventures (she was Angela Price in Lost in Time), then voiced La Concierge for AudioGo's The Demon of Paris (2010), Emily Shaw for The Last Post (2012) and The Cloisters of Terror (2015), Jean Bazemore for Jago & Son, Mother Superior for The Unbound Universe (both 2016) and Ruler of the Universe (2017), and Queen Victoria for The Torchwood Archive, The Death of Captain Jack and Jago & Litefoor Forever (both 2018)
• Helen Anderson (Carol) was Rachel in Revolution of the Daleks
• Mona Hammond [born Mavis Chin] (Bibi) was Rita Anne in Rise of the Cybermen
• Madhav Sharma (Dr. Jaffrey) was Patel in Frontier in Space (3)
• Eric Carte (Slater) voiced Arak Varren for The Robots of Life (2019)
• Nicholas Beveney (Nailer) was Dad in Attack of the Graske
• John D Collins (Clerk) was Talor in Arc of Infinity
• for Daniel Ryan, Andrew Havill, Stephen Critchlow and John Abbott see Series 1
• Nikki Wilson was also script editor on The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky, then producer of thirty-two stories (from The Waters of Mars to The Timeless Children) and The Sarah Jane Adventures

Doctor Who Vs. Spooks, Series 6

Peter Firth, Rupert Penry-Jones, Miranda Raison,

Hermione Norris, and Hugh Simon all returned for

the sixth season of BBC1's award-winning spy drama,

first shown in the autumn of 2007.

This ten-part series saw the introduction of Alex

Lanipekun as journalist Ben Kaplan (later recruited

 as a junior officer) and Gemma Jones as analyst

Connie James, then the  departure of Raza Jaffrey

(MI5 agent Zaf Younis).

A repeat run of the season began on U&Drama last

night - it featured Lisa Bowerman, and a total of

twenty-two Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Angela Bruce (Chambers) and director Stefan Schwartz both starred in Battlefield, as Brigadier Winifred Bambera and Knight Commander - Bambera was reprised by Big Finish for Animal (2011), Seabird One, Visitants, Fractures and The War Factory (2022) - Bruce also voiced Mother for The Persistence of Dreams (2018), Herb for Conversion (2019), and Oya/Andarta for Consequences (2021)
• Matthew Cottle (Smith) voiced Paine for The Satanic Mill (2015), Hargreaves for Aquitaine, Henry Clarke for Quicksilver, James Leith for The Shadow Vortex (all 2016), Maxwell Wilberforce Bell for Subterranea (2017), Ben Donelly for Invocation, and Overseer for The Sontaran Project (both 2017)
• Lanipekun voiced DS Joseph for The Hidden Realm (2016)
• Pete Lee-Wilson (Ronson) was Tommo in The End of Time, Part 1
• Selva Rasalingam (Maruti) was Ranjit in The Power of Three
• Simon Slater (Caldwell) was Edwardes in Terror of the Vervoids, then voiced Carvil for The Lords of Terror (2018), Nustanu for Devil in the Mist, Montague Davis/Moses Walker/Coachman for A Spoonful of Mayhem (both 2019), and the title role for The Murder of Oliver Akkron (2021)
• Richard Dillane (Richardson) was Captain Carter in Let's Kill Hitler and The Wedding of River Song
• Joe Montana (Millar) was a Worker in Daleks in Manhattan
• Sam Graham (Rolfe) voiced Guthrie for City of Spires (2010), and Henry McMullan/Pilot for Destination: Nerva (2012)
• David [William] Yelland (Castledine) voiced Walter Pritchett for The Red Lady (2015)
• Richard Hansell (Doctor) voiced Robin/Slitheen for Death on the Mile (2018), John Fielding for The Avenues of Possibility (2019), and Enforcers/Captain for The Quest of the Engineer (2020)
• Paul Grunert (Faures) voiced Elbon for Gallifrey 3, and Henning Brauer for The Juggernauts (both 2005)
• Martin McDougall (Agent) voiced Craddock for He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not (2020)
• for Norris, Raison, Robert Glenister and Neil Cross see Series 5
• for cinematographer Damian Bromley and editor Jamie Pearson see Series 4
• Toby Ford was the first assistant director on A Good Man Goes to War too
• Simon Morris was also second assistant director on Love & Monsters, then third assistant on Turn Left, The Stolen Earth, Journey's End and The Sarah Jane Adventures
• Lucienne Suren was art director on Asylum of the Daleks, The Angels Take Manhattan, and An Adventure in Space and Time too 
• Marcus Catlin was also first assistant director on The Hungry Earth, Cold Blood, The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang
• Robert Edwards was ADR mixer on Space and Time too

Doctor Who Vs. Four Lives

ITV Studios' latest crime drama

was based on the true story of

the four young gay men who

lost their lives to serial rapist

Stephen Port (portrayed here

by Stephen Merchant).

Dubbed the Grindr Killer by the

press, Port was convicted in

2016, and will never be freed

from prison. 

Shown over three consecutive

nights, the drama concluded on

BBC1 last night - it featured

Sheridan Smith, and twelve

Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Samuel Barnett (Edwards) voiced Hans Tod for The Beast of Orlok (2009), Robin Yeadon for Nightshade, Norton Folgate for Torchwood (2016 to present), and Cicero in Tartarus (2019)
• Leo Flanagan (Daniel) was Charlie Duffy in Kerblam!, and Rex in The Eternal Mystery
• Michael Jibson (DC Slaymaker) voiced Corporal Gibbs for The Forsaken (2015)
• Daniel Ryan [born O'Brien] (Whitworth) was Biff Cane in Midnight
• Ella Kenion (Mandy) was Harriet in Let's Kill Hitler, then voiced Boudica for The Wrath of the Iceni (2012), and Romy for Equilibrium (2015)
• George Asprey (Rees) voiced Overseer Zim for The Hidden Realm, Balthasar Schrek for Nothing to See Here (both 2016), the Leader for Infamy of the Zaross (2017), General Melak for Time in a Bottle and Kings of Infinite Space (both 2018), and the titular alien for the Ravenous series and Beyond (2021)
• Ian Puleston Davies (MP) voiced Angus Selwyn for Absent Friends (2016)
• Milo Twomey (Detective) voiced Jorvik for Theatre of War (2015)
• Steve Walker was also script supervisor on twenty-four episodes (from Let's Kill Hitler to The Zygon Inversion)
• Ben Ashmore was also SFX supervisor on thirty-six stories (from The Girl in the Fireplace to The Next Doctor), The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
• Chris Lyons was also SFX technician (teeth) on Empress of Mars, The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos, The Haunting of Villa Diodati, Ascension of the Cybermen and The Timeless Children
• Nick Roberts (ADR mixer) was recordist on The Time of Angels, Flesh and Stone, The Vampires of Venice, Cold Blood and The Lodger