Doctor Who Vs. Strangers

Produced by Two Brothers
Pictures, ITV's latest crime
drama concluded last night.
Originally titled White Dragon,
the series was mainly filmed in
its Hong Kong setting.

The thriller debuted on the ITV
Hub on September 6, then
began an eight-week run four
 days later - it featured John 
Simm (as Jonah), Anthony
Wong, Emilia Fox, Katie
Leung, and twelve Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Dervla Kirwan (Megan) was Miss Hartigan in The Next Doctor
• Kae Alexander (Becky) voiced Waywalker for Big Finish's The Memory Bank and Other Stories (2018)
• Tim McInnerny (Bach) was Halpen in Planet of the Ood, and voiced Admiral Dolne for The Well-Mannered War (2015)
• Raquel Cassidy (Racel) was Miranda Cleaves in The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People, and voiced Mesca for The Judgement of Isskar (2009), Inquisa for Paradoxicide, Destiny Gray for Recorded Time: Question Marks (both 2011), Dr. Alison Foster for Destination: Nerva (2012), and Guinevere Godiva for Jago & Litefoot 5 (2013)
• Andrew Knott (Conrad) voiced James O'Meara for 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (2013), and Sean Casey for Dark Eyes 2: The White Room (2014)
• Tina Simmons (Mother) made her TV debut as an Inferno Customer in (episode 1 of) The War Machines
• Liana Del Giudice was also film editor on The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, The Christmas Invasion, New Earth, School Reunion and The Day of the Doctor
• property master Garry Dawson worked on stand-by props for Cold War, The Crimson Horror and The Sarah Jane Adventures pilot episode
• Nick Murray was also art director on Thin Ice and Knock Knock
• Sophie Powell was graphic designer on Last Christmas too
• ADR mixer Robert Searl was recordist on Twice Upon a Time
• Charlie Bluett was also prosthetics technician on forty-eight stories (from Rose to The Husbands of River Song), Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Class

Doctor Who Vs. Press

Produced by Lookout Point for BBC1, this drama
 (conceived and scripted by prolific dramatist
Mike Bartlett) is set in two warring news-
rooms in the British newspaper industry.
Charlotte Riley played Holly Evans, deputy news
editor at The Herald, whilst Ben Chaplin was
Duncan Allen, editor of tabloid The Post. The
rival papers, neighbours in the same London
square, are ethically chalk and cheese, but
both chase the same scoop, a MI5 whistle-
blower.
The six-part series concluded last night, and
featured Al Weaver, and sixteen Doctor Who 
cast and crew connections:

• Shane Zaza (Kane) was Prem in Demons of the Punjab
• David Suchet (Emmerson) was the Landlord in Knock Knock
• Dominic Rowan (West) voiced Corwyn for Big Finish's The Burning Prince (2012)
• David Schofield (Cartwright) voiced Billy for Death in Blackpool (2009), and Nostradamus for The Doomsday Quatrain (2011), then appeared in The Girl Who Died as Odin
• Tom Bell (Brooks) voiced Fakrid/Jinka for The Highest Science (2014), Arran/Shift for The Age of Endurance (2016), and Brian Sherborne for Intelligence for War (2023)
• Elliot Levey (PM Harper) voiced Gobernar and Blank for Vampire of the Mind (2016), and Colonel Marsden for Red Planets (2018)
• Pandora Clifford (Anna) voiced Zeeb and Zeet for Wicked Sisters (2020)
• Thalissa Teixeira (Angie) voiced Dr. Lenni Fisk for Into the Stars (2022), and Jenel Kilum'bu/Saggy for Defender of the Earth (2023)
• Dan Li (Lawyer) was Alexis in The Bells of Saint John
• Bern Callaco (Journalist) was an Operator in The Return of Doctor Mysterio, and Soldier in Thin Ice
• Lorna Brown (Carla) voiced Veega for Gallifrey: Time War 3 (2020)
• Tina Simmons (Director) made her TV debut as an Inferno Customer in (episode 1 of) The War Machines
• stunt co-ordinator Nick Gillard was the stunt arranger on Silver Nemesis (2)
• Faith Penhale was co-executive producer on The Day of the Doctor too
• Sean Clayton was also the second assistant director on Dalek and Father's Day
• Toby Wood was a music engineer on An Adventure in Space and Time too

Doctor Who Vs. Mayday

Produced by Kudos for BBC One,
this thriller was first broadcast over
five consecutive nights in March
2013.
Scripted by Whitechapel writers Ben
Court and Caroline Ip, the drama
told the story of murdered schoolgirl
Hattie Sutton, who disappeared on
her way to join her village's
May Day celebration as the May Queen. 

The cast featured Peter Firth, Aiden
Gillen, and thirteen Doctor Who 
cast and crew connections:

• Sophie Okonedo (Fiona) voiced Alison Cheney for Scream of the Shalka, then played Queen Liz 10 in The Beast Below and The Pandorica Opens
• Lesley Manville (Gail) depicted Heather Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time
• Adrian Rawlins (DS Mills) was Dr. Ryder in Planet of the Ood
• David Fynn (Spicer) was Marcellus in The Pandorica Opens
• Kerry Godliman (Amelia) voiced Karen for The Eight Truths and Worldwide Web (2009)
• Caroline Berry (Jo) was a Dinner Lady in School Reunion
• Frances Ashman (Teacher) was Christine in The Big Bang
• Edmund Kente (Ken) was Mr. Scoones in The Next Doctor
• Big Finish actor Tim Treloar (Searcher) voiced Lord Jack Corrigan for Destination: Nerva, Tyron for The Burning Prince, The Ancient One for Gods and Monsters, Van Cleef for Return of the Rocket Men, the Lord President for Dark Eyes (all 2012), the Third Doctor for The Light at the End (2013) and The Legacy of Time (2019), Telephus and Cisyphus for Mask of Tragedy (2014), Ergu for The Exxilons, and Narrator for The Third Doctor Adventures (from 2015), Damascus (2016) and Gardeners' World (2017)
• costume designer Lucinda Wright and her assistant Joanne Hayes both worked in those posts on all thirteen episodes of Series 1
• Karl Probert was also art director on The Doctor's Wife, Night Terrors and The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
• Andy Piers Morris was the safety free-diver on The Vampires of Venice too
• David Barrett was also film editor on The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood

Doctor Who Vs. The Final Cut

The final serial in BBC1's Francis Urquhart trilogy followed House 
of Cards (1990) and To Play The King (1993), and again starred 
Ian Richardson as the scheming 
Conservative Prime Minister in 
his last, turbulent years in power. 
The drama generated much 
controversy by opening with 
Margaret Thatcher's funeral.
This four-part political thriller, 
based on Michael Dobbs' novel, 
originally aired in late 1995,
and featured seventeen Doctor 
Who cast and crew connections:

• Big Finish actor Nickolas Grace (Pitt) made a brief TV appearance as Albert Einstein in Death is the Only Answer, and voiced Loozly for Bang-Bang-A-Boom! (2002), Straxus for Human Resources (2007), Sisters of the Flame (2007) and The Vengeance of Morbius (both 2008), Balancer and Viktor Skaarsgard for Equilibrium (2015), Goole for Gallery of Ghouls (2016), Professor Grove for Shadow Planet/ World Apart, and Chevalier D'Eon for The Sword of the Chevalier (both 2017)
• Paul Freeman (Makepeace, pictured right) voiced Jalnik for The Foe from the Future (2012)
• Isla Blair (Claire) was Lady Isabella Fitzwilliam in The King's Demons, and voiced Paula for Exotron (2007)
• John Rowe (Watling) voiced Sir Isiah Hardy for Entanglement (2018)
• Miles Richardson (Jardine) was Captain Douglas Cavendish in Downtime and Daemos Rising, then voiced Charles Darwin for Bloodtide (2001), Irving Braxiatel for Zagreus (2003), Gallifrey 4 (2011), Gallifrey 6 (2013), Theatre of War (2015), Gallifrey: Enemy Lines (2016) and Gallifrey: Time War (2018), and Black Rod for The Gunpowder Plot
• Kevork Malikyan (Nurse) was Kemel Rudkin in The Wheel in Space
• Peter Symonds (Polecutt) was a Soldier in Terror of the Zygons
• David Ashford (Newsreader) was Dad in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
• Derek Lea (Thug) was a stuntman on Dalek, Bad Wolf, The Parting of the Ways, The Age of Steel and Partners in Crime
• Trevor Steedman (Detective) was a Seabase Guard in Warriors of the Deep
• Joseph Long (President) was Rocco Colasanto in Turn Left
• for David Ryall (Bullerby), Nick Brimble (Corder), and crew members Ian Punter, Dave King, and Ken Ledsham see my blog for To Play The King
• associate producer Tony Redston production manager on The Mark of the Rani and Time and the Rani

Doctor Who Vs. Bodyguard

This political thriller from World Productions
 (now part of ITV Studios) was created and
scripted by Jed Mercurio, writer of Cardiac 
Arrest and Line of Duty.
When protection officer Sergeant David
Budd (portrayed by Richard Madden) is
assigned to guard the ambitious and
powerful Home Secretary Julia Montague
(Keely Hawes) he is torn between his duty
and his beliefs. The former soldier despises
everything she stands for but is responsible
for her safety.

The six-part series attracted an audience of
11 million as it concluded last night, the best
ratings for a BBC drama since The Next
 Doctor aired in 2008. Bodyguard featured
Gina McKee, and ten Doctor Who cast and
crew connections:

• Hawes played Ms. Delphox in Time Heist
• Stephanie Hyam (Chanel) was Heather in The Pilot and The Doctor Falls
• Vincent Franklin (Travis) voiced Lord Stormblood for Big Finish's Doom Coalition 2 (2016)
• Pippa Haywood (Craddock) voiced Jaxa for Ravenous 2, and Teremon for The War Master 2 (both 2018)
• Nina Toussaint White (Rayburn) was Mels in Let's Kill Hitler, and voiced Brooke 2 for The Diary of River Song 3, and Loba Christata for Tales From New Earth (both 2018)
• David Westhead (Vosler PM) was Kempe in The Shakespeare Code
• Anji Mohindra (Nadia) was Rani Chandra in The Sarah Jane Adventures, and voiced Jyoti Cutler for Scavenger (2014)
• Wendy Albiston (Receptionist) voiced Madame de Chevreuse for The Church and the Crown (2002)
• Tina Simmons (Nurse) began her career as an Inferno Customer in (episode 1 of) The War Machines
• Iain Atkinson was second assistant director on Flatline too

Doctor Who Vs. To Play The King

The first sequel to House of Cards, 

again starred Ian Richardson as 

scheming Francis Urquhart (now 

the Tory Prime Minister), and 

Michael Kitchen, who earned the

BAFTA Best Actor award for his 

role as the newly crowned British 

monarch. The Final Cut followed
in 1995.

Writer Andrew Davies again 

employed the old theatrical
convention of breaking the 

fourth wall, were Urquhart
occasionally addressed the
audience.

Again based on the works of
Michael Dobbs, this four-part  political drama was first screened in the autumn of 1993, and featured eighteen Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Big Finish actor Don Warrington (Gaunt) was the President of Great Britain in Rise of the Cybermen, and voiced Rassilon for Seasons of Fear, The Time of the Daleks, Neverland (all 2002), Zagreus (2003), Caerdroia, and The Next Life (both 2004)
• Nicholas Farrell (Mycroft) was Brian Green PM in Torchwood: Children of Earth, then voiced Gammades for Time Reef, Phil for A Perfect World (both 2008), and Captain Frank for Last of the Cybermen (2015)
• Frederick Treves (Quillington) was Brotadac in Meglos
• Pip Torrens (Harding) was Headmaster Rocastle in Human Nature and The Family of Blood, and voiced Charlie Gibbs for Eldrad Must Die! (2013)
• David Ryall (Bullerby) voiced Carthok and Valentine for Phantasmagoria (1999)
• George Raistrick (Gropeham) made his TV debut as a Guard in (episode 3 of) Day of the Daleks
• James Snell (DI Hackett) was Harry in The Daemons
• John Bleasdale (Journalist) was one of the titular The Robots of Death
• John Paul Connolly (Beggar) voiced William Russell and Russian Guard for The Angel of Scutari (2009)
• Julian Harries (Officer) voiced Governor Lawson for Bloodtide (2001)
• for director Paul Seed, Colin Jeavons (Stamper), Christopher Owen (McKenzie), Kenneth Gilbert (Earle), Nick Brimble (Corder), Nigel Taylor (associate producer), Ken Ledsham (production designer), Rosalind Ebbutt (costume designer), Ian Punter (cinematographer), and Barrie Tharby (recordist) see my blog for House of Cards
• film editor Dave King edited The Mutants too
• stunt arranger Terry Forrestal was a Driver in K9 and Company
• casting assistant Andy Pryor has worked as casting director on the revived run since 2005, then The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood

Doctor Who: More Series 11 News

So the long wait is almost over. We have just another month to go until the
debut of the first female Doctor, portrayed by Jodie Whittaker.

The BBC have finally revealed the start date for the historic, eleventh season
of the reworked run of Doctor Who. Chris Chibnall's latest TV assignment
 continues to court controversy - the ground-breaking revival will now air on Sunday nights. Since 2005, the programme has been shown in the traditional Saturday slot.

The new series will launch on October 7th with an hour-long adventure written by the showrunner, entitled The Woman Who Fell to Earth. The ten-part run will therefore conclude on Sunday December 9th, and will be followed by the show's fourteenth Christmas special.

Writers Malorie Blackman, Ed Hime, Pete McTighe, Vinay Patel and Joy 
Wilkinson have also contributed stories, whilst directors Jamie Childs, 
Sallie Aprahamian, Mark Tonderai, Jennifer Perrott and Wayne Yip 
were all assigned to Doctor Who. Segun Akinola replaced Murray Gold as
show composer.

Actors Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill play new companions
Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair and Yasmin Khan respectively. Sharon D 
Clarke will also appear, and confirmed guest stars include Alan Cumming,
 Lee Mack and Shaun Dooley.