The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe

The Wooden King
(Spencer Wilding)

One episode (The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe)
First broadcast Dec 25 2011
Average audience for story: 10.77m + 0.84m iPlayer = 11.61m

REGULAR CAST

Matt Smith (The Doctor) Born Oct 28 1982 Click here for Matt Smith's entry on The End of Time

Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) Born Nov 28 1987 Click here for Karen Gillan's entry on The Fires of Pompeii

Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) Born Jun 17 1982 Click here for Arthur Darvill's entry on The Eleventh Hour

GUEST CAST

Alexander Armstrong (Reg Arwell) Born Mar 2 1970
Doctor Who credits
Played: Mr Smith (voice) in The Sarah Jane Adventures: Invasion of the Bane, The Sarah Jane Adventures Series 1-5 (2007-11), The Stolen Earth/ Journey's End (2008)
Played: Reg Arwell in The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011)
Career highlights
Actor and comedian Alexander debuted in A Breed of Heroes in 1994, after which he appeared in There's No Business (1994), The Thin Blue Line (1995), Never Mind the Horrocks (1996), Brass Eye (1997), Is It Legal? (1998), Plunkett and Macleane (1999), Cinderella (2000), Murder Rooms (2001), Dr Terrible's House of Horrible (2001), I Saw You (2002), tlc (2002), Match Point (2005), Saxondale (2006), Scoop (2006), The Trial of Tony Blair (2007), To the Manor Born (2007), Mutual Friends (2008), Skellig: The Owl Man (2009), Rev (2010), Reggie Perrin (2010), Hacks (2012), Hunderby (2012-15), Not Going Out (2014), Cockroaches (2015), Years and Years (2019), Horrible Histories: The Movie (2019) and Banking on Mr Toad (2022). Alexander has also had a number of recurring roles, including Nick in sitcom Beasts (2000-01), various characters in The Armstrong and Miller Show (1997-2001 & 2007-10, which he also wrote for and produced), Phil Mee in Life Begins (2004-06), the voice of Danger Mouse (2015-19) and narrator of Hey Duggee (2014-18). He is also known as a presenter, having worked on The Best of the Worst (2006), Don't Call Me Stupid! (2007-09), Have I Got News for You (2003-21), Epic Win (2011), Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask (2011-13), The One Show (2010-11), and most famously of all, the game show Pointless (since 2009).

Awards

2010: BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy (Programme or Series) (The Armstrong and Miller Show) - with Ben Miller, Caroline Norris and Dominic Brigstocke
Facts
Alexander's long-time comedy partner is Ben Miller (who appeared in Robot of Sherwood in 2014). In 2008, he appeared in a TV commercial for Pimm's, and in 2011 recorded a series of adverts for Direct Line car insurance with Chris Addison (who had a recurring role as Seb in Doctor Who's 2014 series). Alexander is brother-in-law to broadcaster Giles Coren, quiz show host Victoria Coren-Mitchell and comedian David Mitchell. He is a descendant of William the Conqueror. Alexander is a supporter of the Countryside Alliance and appears in their publicity promoting countryside shooting. Alexander's second cousin is actor Imogen Stubbs. He has released three albums (2015-17), the first two of which were Top 10 sellers and the first of which (A Year of Songs) went gold.

Bill Bailey (Droxil) Born Jan 13 1965
Career highlights
Bill is principally a stand-up comedian and TV personality whose earliest screen appearance as an actor was in Tygo Road (1990), followed by roles in Blue Heaven (1994), Saving Grace (2000), Spaced (1999/2001), Jonathan Creek (2001/03), Wild West (2002-04), Hot Fuzz (2007), Skins (2008), Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010), Hustle (2009/12), It's Kevin (2013), Midsomer Murders (2018), In the Long Run (2017-20), My Life is Murder (2021) and Worzel Gummidge (2021). He also played Manny in the sitcom Black Books (2000-04). In his stand-up persona he has appeared on the quiz show Space Cadets (1997), Is It Bill Bailey? (1998), Wild Thing: I Love You (2006), Never Mind the Buzzcocks (1998-2008), Bill Bailey's Birdwatching Bonanza (2010), Have I Got News for You (1999-2021) and QI (2003-21). He has also released several of his own live stand-up videos/ DVDs, including Bewilderness (2001), Tinselworm (2008), Dandelion Mind (2010), Qualmpeddler (2013) and Limboland (2018). In 2020 he was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, which he won alongside partner Oti Mabuse (and becoming the show's oldest winner at 55).

Awards

1999: British Comedy Award for Best Live Stand-Up
Facts
Bill auditioned for the role of Gimli in The Lord of the Rings films, and also has a plant named after him (Nepenthes x Bill Bailey). Here's Bill on Twitter.

Paul Bazely (Ven-Garr) Born May 6 1968
Career highlights
Debuted in Making Out (1991), then Resnick (1992-93), Medics (1993), Heartbeat (1998), Vanity Fair (2004), Chopratown (2005), The IT Crowd (2008), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), Critical (2015), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2016), The Hollow Crown (2016), Black Mirror (2016), Damascene (2017), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), Waiting for the Barbarians (2019), The Good Karma Hospital (2019), Four Kids and It (2020), Quiz (2020), The Sister (2020), Cruella (2021), Feel Good (2021), Murder in Provence (2021) and The Ipcress File (2022). He also played Troy Ganatra in 34 episodes of Benidorm (2007-17).
Facts
Paul's wife is playwright and screenwriter Charlotte Jones. Here's his Twitter feed.

Maurice Cole (Cyril Arwell) Born 2002
Career highlights
Maurice debuted in Foster (2011), then secured a regular role as Arthur in the series Spy (2012). He also plays John in the TV movie Peter & Wendy (2015).

Holly Earl (Lily Arwell) Born Aug 31 1992
Career highlights
Holly made her debut aged five playing Louise Creegan in Touching Evil (1997-98), then found roles in Red Dwarf (1999), My Hero (2000), Wild at Heart (2006), Casualty (2010-11), Skins (2012), Dracula: The Dark Prince (2013), Benidorm (2014), The Musketeers (2014), Cuckoo (2012-16), Beowulf (2016), Our Ex-Wife (2016), Humans (2018), Once Upon a Time in London (2019) and Last Train to Christmas (2021).
Facts
Holly's sister is actress Elizabeth Earl. If you've ever wanted to see Holly dance to Hello by Dragonette in her underwear, click here! Here she is on Twitter.

Paul Kasey (Wooden Queen) Born Aug 5 1973 Click here for Paul Kasey's entry on Rose

Claire Skinner (Madge Arwell) Born Oct 7 1965
Career highlights
Claire made her screen acting debut in 1988's South of the Border, followed by work no The Rachel Papers (1989), Life is Sweet (1990), Naked (1993), Chef! (1993), Coogan's Run (1995), Brass Eye (1997), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Bedtime (2001), Trevor's World of Sport (2003), The Trial of Tony Blair (2007), Sense and Sensibility (2008), Trinity (2009), Homefront (2012), Silk (2014), Critical (2015), Inside No 9 (2015), Power Monkeys (2016), Next of Kin (2018), Vanity Fair (2018), Ted Lasso (2021) and Kate & Koji (2022). She also played Clare in the series Life Begins (2004-06), but will be best remembered as long-suffering mum Sue Brockman in the 35 episodes of the sitcom Outnumbered (2007-16).

Awards

1995: Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress (The Glass Menagerie)
Facts
Between 2001-16, Claire was married to director Charles Palmer, who directed four episodes of Doctor Who in 2007 and two in 2017. Since 2017, she has been in a relationship with her Outnumbered co-star Hugh Dennis.

Sam Stockman (Co-pilot) Born May 19 1982
Career highlights
Sam debuted as a ten-year-old in B&B (1992), then The Upper Hand (1993), Hard Times (1994), Wire in the Blood (2008), Scoop (2009), Crime Stories (2012), The Coroner (2015), Undercover (2016) and Suspects (2016). Recurring roles include Lewis Davenport in 87 episodes of soap Family Affairs (2002-04), DC Emerson Kent in 18 episodes of Whitechapel (2009-13) and James Hope in 17 episodes of Holby City (2006-07/14).
Facts
Sam is also a musician and has played in bands called Shepherd's Pi (with fellow actor Rupert Hill), The Circus Electric, and Colour of Bone.

Arabella Weir (Billis) Born Dec 6 1957
Career highlights
Arabella was born in San Francisco and made her acting debut in a minor role in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), followed by Othello (1981), Jury (1983), The Frog Prince (1986), Shades of Darkness (1986), The Corner House (1987), Les Girls (1988), Traffik (1989), KYTV (1992), One Foot in the Grave (1993), Takin' Over the Asylum (1994), Shooting Fish (1997), Ted and Ralph (1998), The Creatives (1998-2000), Posh Nosh (2003), Skins (2007-08), Citizen Khan (2013), House of Fools (2014), Drifters (2013-16), Nurse (2015), Colette (2018) and Pure (2019). She was also a regular performer on the comedy sketch show The Fast Show (1994-2000/2014), and regularly played Beth in sitcom Two Doors Down (2016-21). Arabella has also written for the TV, including The All New Alexei Sayle Show (1995), The Fast Show (1994-96) and Posh Nosh.
Facts
In 2003, Arabella played an alternative Doctor in the Big Finish audio play Exile. She has also appeared in TV commercials for Weetabix, Bran Flakes, Nescafe and Alpen, and in 1998 wrote the book Does My Bum Look Big in This? (which became a one-woman live show in 2019 called Does My Mum Loom Big in This?). In the 1970s Arabella sang backing vocals in the punk band Bazooka Joe, which also featured future Adam Ant Stuart Goddard on bass. Arabella's father was former British ambassador to Egypt Sir Michael Scott Weir, while Tenth Doctor David Tennant is godfather to one of her children (Tennant lodged with Arabella for five years when he first moved to London from Scotland).

Spencer Wilding (Wooden King) Born Jul 26 1972
Doctor Who credits
Played: The Creature (minotaur) in The God Complex (2011)
Played: Wooden King in The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011)
Played: Skaldak in Cold War (2013)

Played: Quill Goddess in Class: The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did (2016)
Played: Lead Dreg in Orphan 55 (2020)
Career highlights
At two metres (6ft 7in) high, Spencer specialises in playing creatures and supernatural beings. He started out playing a werewolf in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), after which he appeared in The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Batman Begins (2005), Eragon (2006), Stardust (2007), The Golden Compass (2007), The Wolfman (2010), Game of Thrones (2011), Wrath of the Titans (2012), Atlantis (2013), The Legend of Hercules (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Jupiter Ascending (2015), Pan (2015), Victor Frankenstein (2015), Men in Black International (2019) and Hobbs & Shaw (2019). He also played Darth Vader in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).
Facts
Spencer is on Twitter. He was once crowned British/ Welsh kickboxing champion. To see a photo of 6ft 7in Spencer with 7ft actor Phill Martin and 3ft 8in Jimmy Vee (also a Doctor Who alumni), click here.

CREW

Steven Moffat (writer) Born Nov 18 1961 Click here for Steven Moffat's entry on The Empty Child

Farren Blackburn (director)
Doctor Who credits
Directed: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (and its prelude) (2011), The Rings of Akhaten (2013)
Career highlights
Debuted as a director on shorts Looters (2000) and The Game (2000), before securing work on Panorama (2004), Waterloo Road (2007), Doctors (2005-07), Rock Rivals (2008), Holby City (2007-09), Survivors (2010), The Fades (2011), Hammer of the Gods (2013), Luther (2013), Daredevil (2015), The Interceptor (2015), Iron Fist (2017), The Defenders (2017), The Innocents (2018), A Discovery of Witches (2021) and Dream On (2022). Farren also executive produced The Innocents and A Discovery of Witches.

Awards

2012: BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Series (The Fades) - shared with production team
Facts
As a young man Farren was on the books of Cambridge United FC and represented England at youth level. He is married to actress Verona Joseph, who appeared in Partners in Crime (2008). Here he is on Twitter.

Marcus Wilson (producer) Born Jul 4 1973 Click here for Marcus Wilson's entry on The Impossible Astronaut

Caroline Henry (script editor) Click here for Caroline Henry's entry on The Impossible Astronaut