Doctor Who Vs. The Last Detective, Series 2

Accident prone detective Dangerous

Davies appeared in four comic crime

novels by Leslie Thomas, published

between 1976 and 1998.

Bernard Cribbins starred as the

eponymous policeman in The Last

Detective, adapted by ITC in 1981,

followed by Granada's TV version in

2003 - DC Davies was now played by

Peter Davison.

A repeat run of this four-part comedy

drama series (originally shown from

February 2004) concluded on U&Drama

last night - it featured Sean Hughes,

Emma Amos, Rob Spendlove, Anita Dobson, and a total of twenty-nine

 Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• for Charles De'Ath and Elizabeth Bennett see Series 1
• Susan Vidler (Christine) was Aunt Susan in The Big Bang, and voiced Krige for Bernice Summerfield 5 (2013)
• Nicholas [Robin Frank] Woodeson (Hennessy) voiced the Clocksmith for Doom Coalition 3 (2016), and the title role for The Quest of the Engineer (2020)
• Ian Midlane (Fire Officer) was Tim Jeffery/Kist Magg Thek Lutiven Day Slitheen in The Sarah Jane Adventures: Revenge of the Slitheen
• Bhasker Patel (Lal) was Jival Chowdry in Turn Left
• Hilary [Sophia] Sesta (Mrs Brady) was the Fortune Teller in Snakedance
• William [Michael] Ilkley [born Brown] (SOCO) was Tim Bass in The Mark of the Rani
• Natasha [born Roselyn Agatha] Williams (WPC) was Pharmacist in Gridlock
• Lynda Bellingham [born Meredith Lee Hughes] (pictured as Marjorie) was Inquisitor [Darkel] during The Trial of a Time Lord - a role reprised for Gallifrey (2004-06) then Trial of the Valeyard (2014)
• Tracy Ann Oberman (Mandy) was Yvonne Hartman in Army of Ghosts and Doomsday, a role reprised for Big Finish's Torchwood - she also voiced Temperance Finch/Mrs Grenville for Deimos and The Resurrection of Mars (both 2010), and the titular role for Tartarus (2019)
• Ifan Huw Dafydd (Bevis) voiced Bishop Parrash for Faith Stealer (2004)
• Jerome [Barry] Willis (Parish) was [Jocelyn] Stevens in The Green Death and Global Conspiracy?
• Michael [John] Attwell (Clemens) was Isbur in The Ice Warriors, and Bates in Attack of the Cybermen
• Donald Sumpter (Alfie) was Enrico Casali in The Wheel in Space, Commander Ridgeway in The Sea Devils, Erasmus Darkening in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Eternity Trap, and President Rassilon in Hell Bent
• Richard Dixon (Pathologist) voiced DI Alan Probert for The Dreams of Avarice (2020)
• Michael Maloney (Swannee) voiced Frederick Simonsson for Grand Theft Cosmos (2008), Adam Farrow for AudioGo's The Circus of Doom, Fratalin for Patient Zero, the Viryans for Blue Forgotten Planet (all 2009) and Charlotte Pollard 1 (2014), Rennol for Kiss of Death, Narrator of The Silent Stars Go By (both 2011), Hilary Hammond for Enemy Aliens (2013), Gregor Saraton for Zygon Hunt (2014), William Hogan for The Rockery (2019), and the Two for Two's Company and The Union (both 2023)
• [Colin] David Daker (Beauchamp) was Irongron in The Time Warrior
• Steve Speirs [born Roberts] (Caradoc) was AC Strickland in Aliens of London and World War Three
• Alan David (Hughes) was Gabriel Sneed in The Unquiet Dead, then voiced Castellan Kanteer for The Enigma Dimension (2017), and Lord Macavoy/Old Lawrence for The Primeval Design (2021)
• Ronald [Alfred] Pickup (Tapscott)  made his TV debut as the Physician in (episode 4 of) The Reign of Terror, and 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)
• Yasmin Paige (Katy) was Maria Jackson in The Sarah Jane Adventures
• [Rafael] David de Keyser (Green) provided the Atraxi voice in The Eleventh Hour
• Trevor Laird (Jones) was Frax in Mindwarp, then played Clive Jones in Smith and Jones, The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords
• Colin Spaull (Chas) was [August] Lilt in Revelation of the Daleks, Crane in Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel, then voiced Colonel Baxter for The Fearless (2007), and Henrik for Grand Theft Cosmos (2008)
• Susan Wooldridge (Sestrina) auditioned for the role of Leela in 1976
• script editor Caroline Skinner was co-executive producer on the revived run (from The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe to The Name of the Doctor), An Adventure in Space and Time and The Doctors Revisited
• David Mason was also line producer on The Impossible Astronaut, Day of the Moon and The Angels Take Manhattan
• Jon Older was also first assistant on The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, The Christmas Invasion, New Earth and School Reunion

Doctor Who Vs. Waking the Dead, Series 1

Following a successful pilot

 episode, this popular Emmy 

award winning BBC crime 

drama began a full, eight-

part series in 2000, endured

for another ten years, and

 even spawned a spin-off programme, The Body Farm

in 2011.

Created by Casualty writer
Barbara Machin, the show
centred on a fictional
London-based Cold Case

unit, comprised of CID officers, a psychological profiler, and forensic team. Only three regulars

appeared in all nine seasons - Trevor Eve (as DCI, then Superintendent

Peter Boyd), Sue Johnston (Dr. Grace Foley), and Will Johnson (DS

Spence Jordan), whilst Claire Goose (DC Mel Silver) and Holly Aird (Dr.

 Frankie Wharton) both stayed with the show for four years.

The first, standalone case was repeated on U&Drama last night - the

full season featured Noel Clarke, and a total of twenty-eight Doctor

Who cast and crew connections:

Pilot (UK TX: September 4 & 5 2000)

• Mal Young was also executive producer on the first seasons of the revived series and Doctor Who Confidential
• David Sterne (Harvey) voiced Lord Arthur Greyston/John/Guard for Big Finish's Peake Season (2022)
• Steven [William Thomas] Elder (Pearson) voiced Farrow for Jubilee (2003), Siy Tarkov for Dalek Empire (2004), 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 Last of the Kaleds (2025)
• associate producer Margot Hayhoe was assistant floor manager (AFM) on The War Machines, Fury from the Deep and The Ambassadors of Death, then production manager on Logopolis, Castrovalva and Snakedance
• first assistant director 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
• sound recordist John Taylor was boom operator on The Five Doctors
• dubbing mixer Dave Humphries was foley recordist on The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways
• Vince McGahon was also the Steadicam operator on The Vampires of Venice and Vincent and the Doctor
• script supervisor Juley Harding was production assistant on Black Orchid and The Caves of Androzani
• Fran Needham was the make-up artist on Full Circle and Arc of Infinity

Burn Out (UK TX: June 18 & 19 2001)

• series associate producer Matthew Patnick was the line producer on An Adventure in Space and Time
• Simon Morris was also first assistant director on Turn Left, The Stolen Earth, Journey's End and The Sarah Jane Adventures (and second assistant on Love & Monsters)
• Graham Frake (cinematographer) and Steve Robinson (first assistant director) also held those posts on The Beast Below and Victory of the Daleks
• Michael Feinberg was also sound editor on The Lazarus Experiment and The Sarah Jane Adventures
• stunt co-ordinator Richard Hammatt was a stuntman on The Runaway Bride
• following uncredited appearances as Warrior in (episode 9 of) The Daleks' Master Plan, and Guard in The Curse of Peladon (4), Rocky Taylor was stuntman on The Idiot's Lantern too 

Blind Beggar (UK TX: June 25 & 26)

• Annette [Ross Mcleod] Crosbie (Moira) was Mrs Angelo in The Eleventh Hour
• Heather Bleasdale (Bridget) was Wilma in The Halloween Apocalypse, and voiced President for I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day, Cordelia for Blood on Santa's Claw, and Priestess Vesselina for The Lost Son (2024)
• Tom Lucy was also stunt co-ordinator on sixteen adventures (from Smith and Jones to The Next Doctor)

A Simple Sacrifice (UK TX: July 2 & 3)

• Harriet [Mary] Walter (Annie) voiced Beatrice Mapp for The Boy That Time Forgot (2008), and was Jo Patterson in Revolution of the Daleks
• Lynda Bellingham [born Meredith Lee Hughes] (Mary) was Inquisitor [Darkel] during The Trial of a Time Lord, a role reprised for Big Finish's Gallifrey (2004-06) then Trial of the Valeyard (2014)
• Nicholas [Robin Frank] Woodeson (Dickson) voiced the Clocksmith for Doom Coalition 3 (2016), and the titular role for The Quest of the Engineer (2020)
• Rakie Ayola (Pauline) was the Hostess in Midnight, then voiced Pollia for The Lords of Terror, Lambda Epsilon for In the Garden of Death (both 2018), Andrea for One Mile Down (2019), Violet Hardaker for The Blazing Hour, Professor Victoria Wilks for Twisted Folklore (both 2021), Dakota Bly for Heart of Orion (2022), Clarissa Hodan for Nightfall, and Marla for Cry of the Banshee (both 2025)

Every Breath You Take (UK TX: July 9 & 10)

• Robert Demeger (Pathologist) was the Preacher in The Shakespeare Code
• Janet Ellis (TV Reporter) was Teka in The Horns of Nimon
• Lee Ross (Redford) was the Boatswain in The Curse of the Black Spot
• Tessa Peake-Jones (Fiona) was Marta in The Time of the Doctor
• William Hartley was also first assistant director on The Waters of Mars, The Girl Who Waited and The God Complex, after acting as AFM on Horror of Fang Rock

Doctor Who Vs. All Creatures Great and Small, Series 4

A repeat run of this much-loved

period drama began on BBC4

last night. Set in 1930s Yorkshire,

the programme was based on the

works of Northern vet, Alf Wight

(1916-1995) - he wrote under

the pen-name of James Herriot,

and was portrayed here by Christopher Timothy. Lynda

Bellingham replaced Carol

Drinkwater as Helen Herriot.

The fourth, ten part series

(originally shown from January

to March 1988) featured Robert

Hardy, Peter Davison, John McGlynn, and a total of twenty-six Doctor

Who cast and crew connections:

• for Peter Moffatt, Johnny Byrne, Bill Sellars, Pamela Salem, James Bree, James Grout and Eric Dodson see Series 1
• Bellingham was the Inquisitor [Darkel] during The Trial of a Time Lord, a role reprised for Big Finish's Gallifrey (2004-06) then Trial of the Valeyard (2014)
• Kevin [Harvest] Stoney (Massingham) was Mavic Chen in The Daleks' Master Plan, Tobias Vaughn in The Invasion, and Tyrum in Revenge of the Cybermen
• Edwin [Ronald] Richfield (Whithorn) was Captain Hart in The Sea Devils, and Mestor in The Twin Dilemma
• Jenny Laird [born Phyllis Edith Mary Blythe] (Mrs. Whithorn) was Neska in Planet of the Spiders
• Donald Morley (Gregson) was Jules Renan in The Reign of Terror
• Rebecca [Jayne] Callard [born Atkinson] (Jane) voiced Connie Winter for A Perfect World (2008), and Shadrak for Harvest of the Sycorax (2016)
• Sabina Franklyn (Susan) voiced Dr. Eleanor Harcourt for Bang-Bang-A-Boom! (2002), Wanda Rothman for Situation Vacant (2010), and President Beel/Aetius/Herculania for Judoon in Chains (2016)
• David [John] Quilter (Bruce) was Greeves in The Unicorn and the Wasp
• Alan Rothwell (Merrick) voiced Janto for The Twilight Kingdom (2004)
• for Edward Peel see Series 2
• for Graham Rigby see Series 3
• [Laura] June Hudson was also costume designer on eight stories (from The Ribos Operation to Logopolis)
• Ray London was also production designer on The War Machines, The Krotons and The Mind of Evil
• Christopher Moss (production associate) was AFM (assistant floor manager) on (part 4 of) The Power of Kroll
• Angela Beveridge was vision mixer on The Deadly Assassin too
• Rodney Taylor (studio camera supervisor) was senior cameraman on The Creature from the Pit
• Andrew Stacey worked on studio sound for Attack of the Cybermen too
• Kevan Van Thompson was production manager on Mindwarp too
• Mike Kelt was also VFX designer on Enlightenment, The Five Doctors and The Mysterious Planet