‘Well, first of all Peggy heard this noise in the cellar, so she goes down…’
Jackie Tyler, Army of Ghosts
Soap operas are part of the great TV viewing tradition of Great Britain. Following Doctor Who, Frazer Hines began a 22-year stint in the ITV soap Emmerdale in 1972. In 2012, Emmerdale repaid the favour as Jenna-Louise Coleman had previously found fame on the rural soap before playing Clara in Doctor Who. Connections between Doctor Who and the soaps are many: Freema Agyeman’s first TV role was in the 2003 revival of Crossroads – a soap co-created by Peter Ling, writer of The Mind Robber. Here’s a selection of other actors who have appeared in Doctor Who and four of the nation’s favourite soaps operas currently broadcast.
DIMENSIONS IN TIME
To celebrate Doctor Who’s 30th anniversary in 1993, several Doctors visited Albert Square for a special Doctor Who-EastEnders crossover for the charity telethon Children in Need. The following EastEnders cast members appeared in character:
Wendy Richard
Gillian Taylforth
Letitia Dean
Pam St Clement
Mike Reid
Adam Woodyatt
Steve McFadden
Ross Kemp
Deepak Verma
Shobu Kapoor
Nicola Stapleton
(Ron Tarr also appeared in his role as Big Ron, in an alternative version of Part 2, which was not broadcast.)
CONNECTING DOCTOR WHO AND THE ARCHERS
‘I’ve matured. I’m 1200 years old now. Plus I don’t want to miss The Archers.’
The Doctor, A Town Called Mercy
Terry Molloy, who played Davros three times in Doctor Who between 1984 and 1988, has played the role of Mike Tucker in The Archers since 1973.
Charles Collingwood (The Archers’ Brian Aldridge) played the Brigadier in a series of ‘Dr Where’ sketches for the BBC Schools programme Mathshow in 1975.
In the Christmas Day 2005 episode of The Archers, the warring brothers Ed and Will Grundy briefly called a halt on hostilities to watch The Christmas Invasion.
Ysanne Churchman, who provided the voice of Alpha Centauri in The Curse of Peladon and The Monster of Peladon, played Grace Archer from 1950 to 1955. On 22 September 1955, the character was killed in a fire, a dramatic storyline intended to keep audiences away from ITV, which launched on TV that evening.
Mary Wimbush, who played Julia Pargeter in The Archers between 1992 and 2005, played Sarah Jane Smith’s Aunt Lavinia in K-9 and Company.
Tamsin Greig, the nurse in The Long Game, has played Debbie Aldridge since 1991, flitting in and out of storylines as her character lives in Hungary most of the year.
Aristocratic Lord Cranleigh in Black Orchid and Crown Saxe-Coburghunter Redvers Fenn-Cooper from Ghost Light (both played by Michael Cochrane) are better known to Archers’ fans as former gentleman farmer Oliver Sterling.
THE NAME’S WHO. DOCTOR WHO
In 1986, Sylvester McCoy and Timothy Dalton worked together on a series of Shakespeare plays at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London. Within a year Sylvester had been cast as the Doctor and Dalton as James Bond, two of the great heroes of British popular culture. With Dame Diana Rigg (Tracy in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) guest starring in Doctor Who’s 2013 series, the following is a selection of actors who have appeared in both Doctor Who and the James Bond films.
Actor/writer Moris Farhi pitched two unused scripts to Doctor Who in the 1960s – ‘Farewell Great Macedon’ and ‘The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance’, and appeared in From Russia with Love and You Only Live Twice.
Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures script editor Gary Russell appeared as an uncredited extra in Octopussy.
TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO TARDIS HAS GONE BEFORE
On 21 June 1969, The War Games Episode Ten concluded Patrick Troughton’s time as the Doctor. Three weeks later, on 12 July, the BBC filled the slot vacated by Doctor Who with a new American sci-fi import – Star Trek. Five decades later, both Doctor Who and Star Trek remain among the most enduring television entertainment franchises in the world, and a small handful of actors share the distinction of having appeared in both.
Star Trek Key:
TOS: The Original Series
TNG: The Next Generation
DS9: Deep Space Nine
Voy: Voyager
Ent: Enterprise
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Neutral Zone, broadcast in 1988, a computer readout clearly shows the names of William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davidson (sic) and Colin Baker.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine cast members Alexander Siddig (Dr Bashir) and Chase Masterson (Leeta) have both recorded Doctor Who audio adventures for Big Finish Productions, as has Benedict Cumber-batch, who plays villain John Harrison in Star Trek: Into Darkness.
In 2012, the fictional universes of Doctor Who and Star Trek collided in the IDW comic book series Assimilation2, which saw the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory battle the Cybermen and Star Trek’s Borg alongside the Next Generation crew. It also transpired that the Fourth Doctor had encountered Captain James T. Kirk in his travels.