Doctor Who Vs. Oliver Twist (2007)

Victorian literary classic Oliver Twist 
(also known as The Parish Boy's 
Progress, and originally published
monthly in Bentley's Miscellany from
1837-39) was only Charles Dickens'
second novel.

The first television adaptation of the
book was produced by the BBC in
1962, followed by a more faithful
version in 1985.
 An ITV dramatisation from Alan
Bleasdale, was broadcast in 1999.

This BAFTA winning treatment

was first transmitted on BBC1

 over five consecutive week 

nights in December 2007.

Writer Sarah Phelps later adapted

Great Expectations, The Casual 

Vacancy, And Then There Were 

None, Dickensian, The Witness

for the Prosecution, Ordeal by

Innocence, The ABC Murders and The Pale Horse.

This series then aired in America and Australia in 2009, and was repeated

again on the Drama channel today. The cast, headed by Timothy Spall (as

 Fagin), Tom Hardy (Bill Sikes), with the famous orphan now depicted by 

William Miller, featured Michelle Gomez (Mrs. Sowerby), Nicola Walker

 (Sally) and fourteen other Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Sophie Okonedo (Nancy) voiced Alison Cheney for Scream of the Shalka, then played Queen Liz 10 in The Beast Below and The Pandorica Opens
• Sarah Lancashire (Mrs. Corney) was Miss Foster in Partners in Crime
• Julian Rhind Tutt (Monks) voiced Lexhan for The Paradise of Death, and Berkhoff for Big Finish's Tales From New Earth (2018)
• Anna Massey (Mrs Bedwin) voiced Miss Pollard for The Girl Who Never Was (2007)
• Paul Chahidi (Quack) voiced Hason for The Destroyer of Delights (2009), George Townsend for Industrial Evolution (2011), Bondsman Tango-Veldt and the Shepherd and for Persuasion, and the Entity for Daleks Among Us (both 2013)
• John [Gibb Marshall] Sessions (Sowerby) provided the voice of Gus for Mummy on the Orient Express, and voiced General Tannis for Death Comes to Time, Mozart for 100: My Own Private Wolfgang (2007), Roland of Brittany for Castle of Fear (2009), and George Wilson for Torchwood: The Conspiracy (2015)
• Morven Christie (Rose) was Alice O'Donnell in Under the Lake and Before the Flood
• Vincent Franklin (Limbkins) voiced Lord Stormblood for Scenes from her Life (2016)
• Mariah Gale (Agnes) was Eliza in Knock Knock
• Amy Roberts was also the costume designer on Image of the Fendahl, Full Circle, State of Decay, The Keeper of Traken, Time Flight and Mawdryn Undead
• Nicholas Hopkins was third assistant director on Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways too
• Francesco Reidy was also second assistant director on The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky
• Richard Dyer was sound recordist on The Satan Pit two-parter too
• SFX supervisor Steve Lucas was an uncredited VFX assistant on The Creature from the Pit and Warriors' Gate (part 4)

Doctor Who Vs. James Bond, Part 7

Following the departure of

George Lazenby after just one appearance as James Bond in

1969's On Her Majesty's Secret 

Service, United Artists secured 

the return of Sean Connery for 

the seventh entry in the 

franchise.

Diamonds Are Forever was
adapted from Ian Fleming's 

fourth spy novel of 1956, and 

was released in late 1971.

Shirley Bassey performed

vocals on her second Bond

theme song (see Goldfinger).

When Connery relinquished 

the lead role again, co-

producer Albert R Broccoli

 insisted that another British

 actor replace him, and

London-born Roger Moore

(1927-2017) was cast for Live and Let Die in 1972. 

When Eon's usual composer, John Barry, was unavailable, former Beatles

producer George Martin was hired, and Paul McCartney wrote the title

song for his latest band Wings - later nominated for an Oscar.

The Man With The Golden Gun (loosely based on Fleming's 1965 thriller)
was the last film co-produced by Harry Saltzman, and the resulting
legalities over the Bond property delayed production of the next
instalment, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).

Another Bond season continued on ITV4 last night with Moore's debut 

assignment, and the three adventures here featured a total of twenty

Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

• Joseph Furst (Dr. Metz) was Professor Zaroff in The Underwater Menace
• John Abineri (Representative) was Van Lutyens in Fury from the Deep, General Carrington in The Ambassadors of Death, Richard Railton in Death to the Daleks, and Ranquin in The Power of Kroll
• Bill Hutchinson (Controller) was Sergeant Thompson in (episode 4 of) The War Games
• Clifford Earl (Officer) was the Sergeant in The Daleks' Master Plan (7), and Major Branwell in The Invasion
• Michael Stevens (CIA Agent) was a Soldier in The Myth Makers (1), Daffodil Man in Terror of the Autons (3), UNIT Motorcyclist and Prisoner in The Mind of Evil, and Guard in The Curse of Peladon (1)
• Ron Gregory (Patron here; Clerk in Never Say Never Again) was a Guardian in The Ark
• Vincent Wong (Croupier here; Patron in The World is Not Enough; General Li in Die Another Day) was Ho in The Talons of Weng-Chiang, Chinese Delegate in Day of the Daleks, and Captain in Enlightenment
• for Ed Bishop and Shane Rimmer see You Only Live Twice
• for David de Keyser see O.H.M.S.S.

LIVE AND LET DIE

• Roy Stewart (Quarrel) was Toberman in The Tomb of the Cybermen, and Tony in Terror of the Autons
• Dennis Edwards (Baines) was a Centurion in The Romans (1), and Lord Gomer in The Invasion of Time
• Robert La Bassiere (Thug) was a titular alien in The Krotons
• Louis Mahoney (Patron) was a Newscaster in Frontier in Space, Ponti in Planet of Evil, and the elder Billy Shipton in Blink
• for Aileen Lewis and Lewis Alexander (Delegates) see From Russia With Love and Casino Royale
• Derek Meddings (VFX here, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only and Goldeneye) worked on SFX for The Invasion (1)

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

• Sonny Caldinez (Kra) was Kemel in The Evil of the Daleks, then Turoc in The Ice Warriors, Warrior in The Seeds of Death, Ssorg in The Curse of Peladon, and Sskel in The Monster of Peladon
• Michael Osbourne (Lieutenant) was an Extra in The Myth Makers (2), Guardian in The Ark, and Sorak in The Horns of Nimon
• for Rocky Taylor see Dr. No

Doctor Who Vs. The Field of Blood

Shown in 2011,
ITV3's The  A-Z of 
Crime represented
the letter G with
Glasgow. Tartan Noir 
author Denise Mina
(born 1966), herself 
a Glaswegian, said 
that Scotland's
second city "is the
perfect [locale] to
write crime fiction
for. It's small,
there's a lot of
crime, a lot of
poverty, and there's so any different textures. Everybody knows every-
body else, people talk to each other, what could be better really?" Mina's
fifth crime novel, The Field of Blood (published in 2005) is set in 1980s
Glasgow, and was dramatised for BBC1 in 2011. Jayd Johnson won the 
Best Actress BAFTA Scotland award for her portrayal of cub reporter
Paddy Meehan. The Dead Hour followed in 2013, and the final part of
Mina's Meehan trilogy, The Last Breath, remains unadapted for TV.
A repeat run of the two thrillers began on BBC Scotland last night -
they featured Peter Capaldi (as Dr. Pete), Jonas Armstrong, David
Hayman, anda total of nine Doctor Who cast connections:

• David Morrissey (Devlin) played Jackson Lake in The Next Doctor
• Brian [Tom] Vernel (Naismith) was Lucius in The Eaters of Light, and voiced Robert for Big Finish's Dethras (2017)
• Derek Riddell (DS Patterson) and Ron Donachie (Sean) both starred in Tooth and Claw, as Robert MacLeish and Steward
• Katherine Kelly (Maloney) was Miss Quill in Class
• Des McAleer (Neilson) voiced Lefty Lonnigan for A Life of Crime (2016), and Blujaw Skaldson for  The Skin of the Sleek and The Thief Who Stole Time (both 2017)
• Scott Napier (gaffer) and Colin Price (best boy) both worked on The Day of the Doctor too
• Neal Champion was SFX supervisor on An Adventure in Space and Time too

Doctor Who Vs. Liar, Series 1

ITV's hit psychological thriller concluded in

October 2017 with a climax that will see 

the programme return to the network for

a second series next month.

Liar focused on the police investigation into 

the alleged rape of teacher Laura Nielson, 

played by Joanne Froggatt. Ioan Gruffudd

was her attacker, surgeon Andrew Earlham.
Another repeat run of the six-part crime

drama (from Two Brothers Pictures and

All3Media) concluded on ITV3 last night,

and featured Peter Davison, Adjoa

Andoh, and twenty-eight other Doctor

Who cast and crew connections:

• Big Finish actor Warren Brown (Bailey) voiced Stephen Gibson for Industrial Evolution (2011), Rufus Stone and To'Koth for Signs and Wonders (2014), then Lieutenant Sam Bishop for UNIT: Extinction (2015), UNIT: Shutdown, UNIT: Silenced (both 2016), UNIT: Assembled (2017), UNIT: Cyber Reality, Lady Christina 1 (both 2018) and UNIT: Incursions (2019) - he was also Jake Willis in Praxeus
• Shelley Conn (DI Harmon) voiced Asha Qureshi for Situation Vacant (2010)
• Danny Webb (DS Maxwell) was Mr. Jefferson in The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit, then voiced Byron for The Girl Who Never Was (2007), and Ori for The Dark Husband (2008)
• Zoe Tapper (Katy) voiced Collis for Legion of the Lost (2016)
• Kieran Bew (Ian) voiced Arthur Kettleson for The Lady of Mercia (2013), Murdo Jamieson for The Helm of Awe, Krim Pollensa for Month 25 (both 2017), Richard Cooper for The Creeping Death (2019), Lunk/V97 for Do No Harm (2020) Dwayne Pherber for The End of the Beginning (2021), Grannus Drek for The Tribulations of Thadeus Nook (2021), and Davlin Crux for Hooklight 1 (2025), and was Ivan in Oxygen
• Chu Omambala (Semer) was Major Blake in The Christmas Invasion
• Richie Campbell (Liam) voiced Floyd for Renaissance of the Daleks (2007), and Jeremiah Henderson for The Torchwood Archive (2016)
• David Avery (Brown) was Fabian in The Name of the Doctor
• Tim Chipping (Wilson) voiced Grigory for The Wanderer (2012), and Constable Wolsey and Mandrake for The Widow's Assassin (2014)
• Laura Aikman (Charlotte) voiced Young Anita for Buried Memories (2019), and Lila Kreeg for Master! (2021)
• Clare Higgins (Felicity) was Ohila in The Night of the Doctor, The Magician's Apprentice and The Witch's Familiar
• Franc Ashman (Examiner) was Christine in The Big Bang
• Tim Packham (Teacher) began his TV career as a Plasmaton in Dimensions in Time
• co-executive producer James Strong was the director of The Impossible Planet, The Satan Pit, Daleks in Manhattan, Evolution of the Daleks, Voyage of the Damned, Partners in Crime and Planet of the Dead
• Ray Holman was also costume designer on twenty-eight stories (from Blink to The Husbands of River Song), and Torchwood
• Mike Jones was also film editor on twelve stories (from Rose to Face the Raven)
• Lynsey Muir was also assistant director on thirteen episodes (from The Christmas Invasion to Doomsday) and Torchwood
• dialogue editor Doug Sinclair was sound editor on forty-two stories (from Rose to The Waters of Mars), and The Sarah Jane Adventures, and sound designer on The Infinite Quest
• Helen Atherton was also stand-by art director on twenty-eight adventures (from A Christmas Carol to The Name of the Doctor)
• Louis Burnett (graphic designer) and Sebastian Marczewski (second assistant camera) were both trainees on An Adventure in Space and Time
• Jamie Talbutt was also foley editor on fifty-eight episodes (from A Christmas Carol to The Husbands of River Song), and The Sarah Jane Adventures, and sound FX editor on Shadows of the Vashta Nerada
• Tom Fears was camera trainee on Face the Raven too
• Gareth Hughes was also a camera operator on fourteen editions (from Rsoe to Heaven Sent)
• Rob Carter was also steadicam operator on The Bells of Saint John, The Rings of Akhaten and Last Christmas
• 2nd unit DoP Joe Russell was steadicam operator on thirty-seven instalments (from Blink to The Day of the Doctor)
• principle standby Ian Fowler was costume assistant on fourteen stories (from Into the Dalek to The Husbands of River Song)
• Simon Marks was also costume supervisor on thirteen episodes (from The Magician's Apprentice to the 2015 Christmas special)

Doctor Who Vs. Nothing But the Night

This thriller was made by Charlemagne
Productions, the film company set up
by actor Christopher Lee and producer
Anthony Nelson Keys, with the aim of
creating traditional Britsh horror
features.
However, the drama's box office failure
led Rank to pull out as distributor, and
the short-lived compnay folded.
Shown on the Talking Pictures channel
 last night the film (scripted by Brian 
Hayles) featured Lee, Peter Cushing,
Diana Dors, and ten other Doctor Who
cast connections:

• Michael Gambon (DI Grant) played both Elliot and Kazran Sardick in A Christmas Carol
• Keith Barron (Haynes) was Captain Straker in  Enlightenment, then voiced Isaac Barclay for Big Finish's Plague of the Daleks (2009), and Lord Tulip for The Bad Penny (2018)
• Fulton Mackay (Cameron) was Dr. John Quinn in The Silurians
• Morris Perry (Yeats) was Captain Dent in Colony in Space
• Duncan Lamont (Knight) was Dan Galloway in Death to the Daleks
• Geoffrey Frederick (Operator) was Exorse in The Savages
• Robin Wentworth (Porter) was Professor Horner in the first episode of The Daemons
• Andrew McCulloch (Malcolm) later co-wrote Meglos
• Kenneth Watson (Jamie) and Maxwell Craig (Visitor) both appeared in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD, as Craddock and Fighter - Watson was also Bill Duggan in The Wheel in Space

Doctor Who Vs. William Hartnell at the Cinema, Part 2

These two satirical film
comedies were vehicles for
Peter Sellers (1925-1980).
Based on Leonard Wibberley's novel, The Mouse That Roared
was released in the summer of
1959, and was a surprise box
office success in America.
Sellers played a trio of roles
here, and was joined by
William Hartnell (as Will

Buckley). A sequel, The Mouse

on the Moon, followed in 1963.

Heavens Above! (directed by 

prolific filmmakers John and Roy Boulting) opened in the spring of 1963. Hartnell played Major Fowler. Both productions (shown again on the Talking Pictures TV and Sony Movies channels this week) featured a total of twenty-one future Doctor Who cast alumni:

The Mouse That Roared

• Timothy Bateson (Roger) was Binro in The Ribos Operation
• Colin Gordon (Announcer here; Prime Minister in Heavens Above!) was the Commandant in The Faceless Ones 
• Fred Haggerty (Fenwickian) was a stuntman on (episode 2 of) The Time Meddler
• John Tatum (Admiral) was a Villager/Coven member in The Daemons
• Juba Kennerley (Maybury) was an Old Man in The Massacre (2)
• Tex Fuller (Fenwickian) was an Exxilon in Death to the Daleks (3)

Heavens Above!

• Mark Eden (Despard) was reunited with Hartnell on Marco Polo
• Rodney Bewes (Milkman) was Sergeant Stein in Resurrection of the Daleks
• John Harvey (Wilson) was Professor Brett in The War Machines, and Officia in The Macra Terror
• George Curtis (Constable) and Arthur Howell (Man) both starred in The War Games, as Firing Squad Soldier (1) and Confederate Horse- man (3)
• Walter Henry (Doorman) was an Extra in The Myth Makers (2) and The Silurians (6), Primord in Inferno, and Brother in The Masque of Mandragora
• Gilbert Wynne (Engineer) was Thara in The Krotons
• Richard McNeff (Inspector) was Baker in The Dalek Invasion of Earth
• Rita Tobin Weske (Lady) was the Theatre Cleaner in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (3)
• Anthony Lang (Officer) was an Egyptian Slave in The Daleks' Master Plan, Extra in The Highlanders (1) and The Faceless Ones (1), Time Lord in The Three Doctors (1), and Kaled Councillor in Genesis of the Daleks
• Graham Tonbridge (Man) was Priest in The Massacre (3) and Journalist in The War Machines (1)
• Jim O'Brady, Fred Wood (Protestors), Maxwell Craig (Reporter), Pat Judge (Worker) and Reg Thomason (Technician) all appeared in the second Dalek film
• Richard Rodney Bennett was composer of The Aztecs too

Doctor Who Vs. Spooks: Code 9

David Wolstencroft, the American-born TV writer
and creator of the long-running Spooks (2002
to 2011), conceived this spin-off drama series
for BBC Three.
Again produced by Kudos, the six-part thriller
was intended to offer a new, "more maverick
perspective" for a younger audience.

Despite it's origins, the new series held no
character or plot connections to the parent 
programme, and instead focused on the story
of six young MI5 recruits. 

Set in 2012, the show opened in the after-
math of a nuclear attack on the London
Olympics. The subsequent evacuation of the
capital and the South East of England meant
that the government had relocated to
Manchester, and new MI5 agents were now
tasked with preventing further terror
attacks.

Spooks: Code 9 originally aired from August
2008, then was repeated on BBC HD in June
2009, and latterly on Forces TV in February 2018 - it featured Georgia
Moffett (pictured as Kylie), and a total of sixteen other Doctor Who cast
and crew connections:

• Anthony Flanagan (Tom) was Orin Scannell in 42
• Big Finish actor Warren Brown (Luke) voiced Stephen Gibson for Industrial Evolution (2011), Rufus Stone and To'Koth for Signs and Wonders (2014), and Lieutenant Sam Bishop for UNIT: Extinction (2015), UNIT: Shutdown, UNIT: Silenced (both 2016), UNIT: Assembled (2017), UNIT: Cyber Reality and Lady Christina (both 2018) - he was also Jake Willis in Praxeus
• Andrew Knott (Rob) voiced James O'Meara for 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (2013), and Sean Casey for The White Room (2014)
• Lorraine Burroughs (Simone) was Thalina in The Fires of Pompeii
• Lucinda Dryzek (Alice) was Melissa in School Reunion
• Chris Finch (Conlan) was a Time Lord Soldier in The Day of the Doctor and the Prequel: The Last Day
• Eva Pope (Hamilton) voiced Nia Brusk for Army of Death (2011)
• Darryl Clark (Norris) was Officer Will in Resolution
• Dean Forster was also a stuntman on The Christmas Invasion, New Earth, Smith and Jones, Voyage of the Damned, The Next Doctor, Cold Blood, A Good Man Goes to War, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood
• Crispin Layfield was also the stunt co-ordinator on the revived series (from Smith and Jones to the present)
• sound editor Helen Dickson was foley editor on all thirteen episodes of Series 5, and twelve instalments of The Sarah Jane Adventures
• Matt Wood (VFX supervisor) and Gary Kelly (digital compositor) were both tasked with The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe and The Power of Three - Wood also worked on A Town Called Mercy
• line producer Patrick Schweitzer first worked on the revived series as location manager on The Runaway Bride, then was production manager on six stories for Series 3, and produced all of Series 5
• James Moran was writer of The Fires of Pompeii too
• Toby Haynes was also director of The Pandorica Opens, The Big Bang, A Christmas Carol, The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon