Thursday, March 05, 2015

The Christmas Invasion

Rose (Billie Piper) and the new Doctor
(David Tennant) contemplate their
future among the stars
One episode (The Christmas Invasion)
First broadcast Dec 25 2005
Average audience for story: 9.84m

REGULAR CAST

David Tennant (The Doctor) Born Apr 18 1971 Click here for David Tennant's entry on The Parting of the Ways

Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) Born Sep 22 1982 Click here for Billie Piper's entry on Rose

GUEST CAST

Paul Anderson (Jason Overton) Born Feb 12 1978
Career highlights
Paul debuted in Doctor Who, and has since gone on to appear in Silent Witness (2007), Ashes to Ashes (2008), Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me (2008), The Firm (2009), The Promise (2011), Lewis (2008/11), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), The Sweeney (2012), Passion (2012), Top Boy (2013), The Great Train Robbery (2013), '71 (2014), Electricity (2014), Legend (2015), The Revenant (2015), 24 Hours to Live (2017), Robin Hood (2018) and Tijuana Bible (2019). Paul also regularly played Arthur Shelby in Peaky Blinders (2013-19).

Sagar Arya (Newsreader)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Newsreader in The Christmas Invasion (2005), The Sarah Jane Adventures: Secrets of the Stars (2008)
Career highlights
Sagar debuted in Ek Swaal Munni Ka (1984), then Indradhanush (1989), In Custody (1994), Fiza (2000), Red Mercury (2005), Life on Mars (2006), Outnumbered (2007), The Invisibles (2008), Survivors (2008), Spooks (2009), Hunted (2012), Cucumber (2015), Banana (2015), Emmerdale (2015), Silent Witness (2016), Agatha Raisin (2016), Rillington Place (2016), Howards End (2017), The Good Karma Hospital (2018), Ghost Stories (2020) and The Sandman (2021).
Facts
Sagar's father is Indian cinematographer Ishan Arya, while his mother is actress Sulbha Arya, best known for being in Indian TV's first ever sitcom, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi. Sagar's brother Sameer is also a Bollywood cinematographer. Sagar himself is married to actress Anwesha Bhattacharya, daughter of Indian writer Rinki Bhattacharya and Hindi film director Basu Bhattacharya.

Anita Briem (Sally Jacobs) Born May 29 1982
Career highlights
Icelandic Anita debuted in Doctors (2004), followed by The Nun (2005), The Evidence (2006), The Tudors (2008, as Jane Seymour), Journey to the Centre of the Earth (2008), Everything Will Happen Before You Die (2010), Elevator (2011), You, Me & The Circus (2012), The Drone (2019), The Minister (2020) and Quake (2021).
Facts
Anita is married to actor and director Dean Paraskevopoulos, who has directed music videos for Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, while her parents are Gunnlaugur Briem (drummer with the Icelandic group Mezzo Forte) and vocalist Erna Thorarinsdottir. Anita can be seen in the music video for The Airborne Toxic Event's Sometime Around Midnight (2009). At drama school, Anita won the John Barton Award for Stage Fighting after studying hand to hand combat and weaponry as a child.

Lachele Carl (Reporter [Trinity Wells]) Born Apr 29 1960 Click here for Lachele Carl's entry on Aliens of London

Sean Carlsen (Policeman) Born 1968
Doctor Who credits
Played: Policeman in The Christmas Invasion (2005)
Played: Mr Grainger in Torchwood: Sleeper (2008)
Career highlights
Debuted in Bad Company (1992), then Mud (1995), Backup (1995), Shine (1996), Tastebuddies (2000), The Great Dome Robbery (2002), Skins (2011), Stella (2016), The Cleansing (2019) and All Creatures Great and Small (2020).
Facts
Sean is a regular actor for the Big Finish audio range, and works principally as a voiceover artist on documentaries and continuities.

Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith) Born Dec 6 1975 Click here for Noel Clarke's entry on Rose

Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler) Born Apr 18 1965 Click here for Camille Coduri's entry on Rose

Daniel Evans (Danny Llewellyn) Born Jul 31 1973
Career highlights
Daniel's earliest role was playing Robin Richards in 1987's The Eye of the Dragon, after which he won roles in Soldier Soldier (1995), Cameleon (1997), Great Expectations (1999), Love in a Cold Climate (2001), Being Dom Joly (2001), Daniel Deronda (2002), Spooks (2004), The Virgin Queen (2006), The Passion (2008), Holby City (2008), Les Miserables (2012) and Look Back in Anger (2016).
Awards
2001: Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical (Merrily We Roll Along)
2007: Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical (Sunday in the Park with George)
Facts
Daniel was Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres between 2009-16, and Artistic Director of the Chichester Festival Theatre from 2015. Daniel's brother Luc played fullback for the senior Wales rugby team against France in 1992. Here's his Twitter.

Adam Garcia (Alex) Born Jun 1 1973
Career highlights
Australian Adam made his screen debut in Home and Away in 1991, and later Wilde (1997), Dream Team (1998), Coyote Ugly (2000), Bootmen (2000), Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), Kangaroo Jack (2003), Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004), Standing Still (2005), Riot at the Rite (2005), Britannia High (2008), Flight of the Conchords (2009), Hawthorne (2009), House MD (2010), Threesome (2011), Camp (2013), Perception (2014), The Code (2014), Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey (2014), A Woman Called Job (2014), Genius (2017), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Agatha Raisin (2019) and Death on the Nile (2021). Adam was also a judge on the talent show Got to Dance between 2009-14, Dancing with the Stars in 2014 and Dance Boss (2018).
Much of Adam's off-screen work has been in musical theatre, appearing in productions such as Hot Shoe Shuffle, Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Kiss Me Kate and Wicked. He has also had a hit single in the UK, reaching number 15 in 1998 with his cover of the Bee Gees' Night Fever.
Facts
Adam performed as part of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games opening ceremony. He also co-founded the dance troupe that went on to become Tap Dogs. Here's his Twitter account.

Sean Gilder (Sycorax leader) Born Mar 1 1964
Career highlights
Debuted in May to December (1989), then On the Up (1990), Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge (1994), Resort to Murder (1995), Our Friends in the North (1996), Bugs (1996), Touching Evil (1997), Rich Deceiver (1997), Honest (2000), Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001), Gangs of New York (2002), State of Play (2003), New Tricks (2006), Life on Mars (2007), The Shadow Line (2011), Treasure Island (2012), Monroe (2012), Midsomer Murders (2015), The Last Kingdom (2015), Vera (2016), Penny Dreadful (2016), Poldark (2017-18), The Murders at White House Farm (2020), Grantchester (2020), Our Girl (2016/20), His Dark Materials (2020) and Death in Paradise (2021). Sean also regularly played Styles in the Horatio Hornblower series of TV films (1998-2003) and will be best remembered as Paddy Maguire in Shameless (2005-10).
Facts
Media reports claim Sean left the role of Paddy Maguire in Shameless in 2007 because of the difficult relationship between him and his screen wife, played by Tina Malone. However, Sean returned to the series in 2008 as Paddy's gay brother Noel, credited on screen as Neil Grades (an anagram of his name). He is married to actress Robin Weaver.

Sian McDowall (Sandra)
Career highlights
Further work includes Tales from Pleasure Beach (2001), Candy (2003) and Casualty (2003).

Jason Mohammad (Newsreader) Born Sep 17 1973
Doctor Who credits
Played: Newsreader in The Christmas Invasion (2005), The Sarah Jane Adventures: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? (2007), The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Lost Boy (2007), Voyage of the Damned (2007), Turn Left (2008), The Stolen Earth (2008), The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Man Who Never Was (2011)
Career highlights
Jason joined the BBC in 1997 as a reporter for Wales Today, and stayed with BBC Wales as a presenter until 2013 when he became the host of Final Score on BBC1. He is also a snooker commentator for the Corporation, and has a weekday morning show on BBC Radio Wales.
Facts
Jason gets fan mail for his part in Doctor Who: "So many people ask me about my roles in Doctor Who. I get fan mail from all over the world - the best one was from a guy in New Zealand who said he thought I played the role of a newsreader so well that he thought I was a real newscaster!"

Cathy Murphy (Mum) Born Aug 7 1967
Career highlights
Cathy debuted in 1982's Made in Britain, after which she appeared in Nanny (1983), Stars of the Roller State Disco (1984), Bleak House (1985), The December Rose (1986), The Phantom of the Opera (1989), Memphis Belle (1990), She-Wolf of London (1990), Streetwise (1991), French and Saunders (1993), Men Behaving Badly (1994), Rumble (1995), Karaoke (1996), Moll Flanders (1996), Oliver Twist (1999), On the Nose (2001), About a Boy (2002), The Queen's Nose (2002), Vital Signs (2006), Extras (2006), Cold Blood (2008), Shameless (2010), Welcome to the Punch (2013), River (2015), Bridget Jones's Baby (2016), Fearless (2017), Summer of Rockets (2019), Holby City (2005/07/12/14/20) and I Hate Suzie (2020). Regular roles include Tilly in The House of Eliott (1991-94), DC Cheryl Barker in soap Family Affairs (2003-04) and Julie Perkins in soap EastEnders (2010-11).

Chu Omambala (Major Blake) Born 1970
Career highlights
Debuted in Doomwatch: Winter Angel (1999), followed by White Teeth (2002), Judge John Deed (2006), The Whistleblowers (2007), Casualty (2009), Spooks (2011), Treasure Island (2012), Wolfblood (2012), Common (2014), Lucky Man (2016), Houdini and Doyle (2016), Liar (2017), Flack (2019) and Queens of Mystery: Murder in the Dark (2019).

Penelope Wilton (Harriet Jones) Born Jun 3 1946
Doctor Who credits
Played: Harriet Jones in Aliens of London/ World War Three (2005), The Christmas Invasion (2005), The Stolen Earth (2008)
Career highlights
Prolific character actor Penelope made her debut in The Editor Regrets (1970), followed by An Affair of Honour (1972), The Pearcross Girls (1973), The Norman Conquests (1977), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Clockwise (1986), The Monocled Mutineer (1986), Cry Freedom (1987), Blame It on the Bellboy (1992), Screaming (1992), Kavanagh QC (1999), Victoria and Albert (2001), Bob and Rose (2001), Iris (2001), Calendar Girls (2003), Shaun of the Dead (2004), The History Boys (2006), Five Days (2007), Margot (2009), South Riding (2011), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), The Girl (2012), The Second Best Marigold Hotel (2015), The BFG (2016), Brief Encounters (2016), Zoo (2017), The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018), Eternal Beauty (2019) and After Life (2019-20). Penelope also played Homily in The Borrowers (1992) and its follow-up The Return of the Borrowers (1993), and regularly played Isobel Crawley in 52 episodes of Downton Abbey (2010-15), and its 2019 film version. However, it is her role as Ann Bryce in the sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles (1984-89) which was her TV breakthrough part.
Awards
1981: Critics' Circle Award for Best Actress (Much Ado About Nothing)
1993: Critics' Circle Award for Best Actress (The Deep Blue Sea)
2004: Officer of the order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama
2008: Evening Standard Award for Best Actress (The Chalk Garden)
2015: Olivier Award for Best Actress (Taken at Midnight)
2016: Dame Commander of the order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to drama
Facts
Penelope has been married (and divorced) twice to fellow actors - firstly Daniel Massey (who went on to marry Penelope's sister Lindy after they divorced) and then Ian Holm. Her uncle was the actor Bill Travers.

CREW

Russell T Davies (writer) Born Apr 27 1963 Click here for Russell T Davies' entry on Rose

James Hawes (director)
Doctor Who credits
Director: The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances (2005), The Christmas Invasion (2005), New Earth (2006), School Reunion (2006)
Career highlights
James's earliest directing work was The Earth in Balance (1990, featuring Prince Charles), followed by Against All Odds (1994), Staying Alive (1996), The Bill (1996-98), Holby City (1999), The Mrs Bradley Mysteries (2000), Sea of Souls (2004), The Chatterley Affair (2006), Miss Marie Lloyd (2007), Fanny Hill (2007), Merlin (2008), The 39 Steps (2008), DCI Banks (2010), The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (2011), Mad Dogs (2012), The Mill (2013), Penny Dreadful (2014), Undercover (2016), The Mist (2017), Black Mirror (2016/19), Snowpiercer (2020), Raised By Wolves (2020) and Slow Horses (2021). However, he'd started out as a member of the production team on Crimewatch in the late 1980s, as well as producer on the series Did You See...?, and was also an executive producer on Snowpiercer.
Awards
2006: BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Drama Director (Doctor Who)
2006: Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form (Doctor Who) - shared with Steven Moffat
2014: Royal Television Society Award for Best Single Drama (The Challenger) - shared with Kate Gartside, Mark Hedgecoe and Laurie Borg
Facts
James was originally announced as the producer on series one of Torchwood, but he backed out after deciding that directing was where his real passion lay. Here he is on Twitter.

Phil Collinson (producer) Born Aug 26 1970 Click here for Phil Collinson's entry on Rose

Helen Vallis (associate producer) Click here for Helen Vallis's entry on Rose

Helen Raynor (script editor) Born Mar 27 1972 Click here for Helen Raynor's entry on The Unquiet Dead

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