Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Under the Lake/ Before the Flood

The ghost of Prentis (Paul Kaye) stalks
the corridors of The Drum
Two episodes (Under the Lake, Before the Flood)
First broadcast Oct 3 to 10 2015
Average audience for story: 5.84m

REGULAR CAST

Peter Capaldi (The Doctor) Born Apr 14 1958 Click here for Peter Capaldi's entry on The Fires of Pompeii

Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald) Born Apr 27 1986 Click here for Jenna Coleman's entry on Asylum of the Daleks

GUEST CAST

Arsher Ali (Bennett) Born Apr 9 1984
Career highlights
Arsher debuted in Trial and retribution (2007), then Maxwell (2007), Britz (2007), Wallander (2010), Four Lions (2010), Complicit (2013), The Guilty (2013), The Missing (2014), Arthur and George (2015), Line of Duty (2016), The Darkest Universe (2016), Ackley Bridge (2017-18), Been So Long (2018), Informer (2018), Cold Courage (2020), The Fear Index (2022) and Funny Woman (2022). He also played Zak Khan in Silent Witness (2011) and A-Rab in Beaver Falls (2011-12).
Facts
Arsher often writes a column for the Nottingham Post about his beloved Nottingham Forest FC. He's also a big cricket fan, having played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. His wife is Roxy Shahidi, best known for her role as Leyla in Emmerdale, to whom he proposed just two weeks after they met! Here's Arsher on Twitter.

Morven Christie (O'Donnell) Born Sep 1 1981
Career highlights
Debuted in The Second Quest (2004), then Doctors (2004), Teachers (2004), House of 9 (2005), The Flying Scotsman (2006), Oliver Twist (2007), Lost in Austen (2008), The Young Victoria (2009), Monday Monday (2009), Survivors (2010), The Sinking of the Laconia (2011), Sirens (2011), Twenty Twelve (2012), Hunted (2012), Lilting (2014), From There to Here (2014), Murder (2016), Ordeal By Innocence (2018), The Road Dance (2021) and Lockwood and Co (2022). She also regularly played Amanda in Grantchester (2014-17), Alison Hughes in The A Word (2016-20) and DS Lisa Armstrong in The Bay (2019-21).
Facts
Between 2012-15, Morven was married to film director Scott Graham, before which she was linked to actor Rupert Evans. Her partner is now Iain Cook, member of the band Chvrches. In 2014, Morven got into a Twitter spat with actor (and fellow Doctor Who alumnus) Frances Barber over the Scottish independence referendum. Morven was a campaigner for Scottish independence, while Barber was an advocate of staying as a union. In a 2015 interview, Morven said: "Throughout the referendum I saw a lot of stuff on her Twitter about Scots and the SNP." At one point, later deleted, Barber condemned the SNP as reminiscent of the Third Reich. Morven said: "You're not talking about an idea, you're talking about my family, my friends and me. It's xenophobic and really aggressive and I'm not going to ignore this. I think it hit me so personally." This is her on Twitter.

Neil Fingleton (The Fisher King) Dec 18 1980 to Feb 25 2017 (heart attack)
Career highlights
As well as playing the Fisher King, 7ft 7.56in tall Neil appeared in X-Men: First Class (2011), 47 Ronin (2013), Game of Thrones (2014/17, as Mag the Mighty and a Giant Wight) and Jupiter Ascending (2015). He also performed stunts in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), and was the motion capture actor for Ultron, and appeared as himself on Superhuman: Giants (2007), Hole in the Wall (2008) and Pointless Celebrities (2013).
Awards
2007: Guinness World Record for Tallest Man in the European Union
Facts
Neil was the UK's tallest British-born man until his death. His siblings are also pretty tall - his sister is 6ft 3in and his brother is 6ft 8in, while both his parents are 6ft and his great grandfather was 6ft 8in. By the age of 11, Neil was already 7ft tall! He won a basketball scholarship in the US, and played for various teams between the age of 16 and 27. Neil ran a clothes shop for tall people called 7 Foot 7.

Zaqi Ismail (Lunn) Born Nov 8 1992
Career highlights
Doctor Who was Zaqi's screen debut, after which he appeared in Indian Summers (2016), Strike Back (2017), Britannia (2017-19), Summer in the Shade (2020), We Are Lady Parts (2021) and The Undeclared War (2022).
Facts
He is fluent in British Sign Language, as his elder sister is deaf. Here he is on Twitter.

Paul Kaye (Prentis) Born Dec 15 1964
Career highlights
Paul started his screen career playing the character of rude celebrity interviewer Dennis Pennis in shows such as Anyone for Pennis? (1995), The Sunday Show (1995-97), Shooting Stars (1996) and Very Important Pennis (1996-97), as well as another of his characters called Mike Strutter, who got his own series, Strutter (2006-07), Paul also wrote his own material for these characters. After killing off Pennis, Paul turned to acting - both serious and comedy - and appeared in You Are Here (1998), Coming Soon (1999), Spaced (1999), Citizen Kaye (2000), Blackball (2003), Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004), It's All Gone Pete Tong (2004), Spivs (2004), Match Point (2005), Hustle (2006), EastEnders (2007), Angelo's (2007), Murder in Mind (2009), Pulling (2008-09), Midsomer Murders (2009), Skins (2010), Shameless (2011), Being Human (2011), Candy Cabs (2011), Pusher (2012), Stella (2013), Ripper Street (2013), Blackwood (2014), Dracula Untold (2014), Lilyhammer (2013-14), Inside No.9 (2015), Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2015), Humans (2015), Fungus the Bogeyman (2015), The Ghoul (2016), Three Girls (2017), Wanderlust (2018), Dark Heart (2018), Zapped (2016-18), Cold Feet (2019), Year of the Rabbit (2019), The Stranger (2020), After Life (2019-20), The Watch (2021), Worzel Gummidge (2021), Vera (2019-22) and Pennyworth (2022). His regular roles have included Bob Slay in Perfect World (2000-01), Kenny Marsh in Two Thousand Acres of Sky (2001-03), the voice of Dr Wasabi in Chop Socky Chooks (2008), the voice of Vince in Mongrels (2010-11) and Thoros of Myr in Game of Thrones (2013-17).
Facts
Paul appears in the 1998 music video for the Fat Les single Vindaloo, sending up Richard Ashcroft's appearance in the Verve's video for Bittersweet Symphony. He has two sons - Jordan Katz Kaye's middle name is after his mother Orly's maiden name, and Geffen Strummer Kaye's middle name is after Paul's comedy character Mike Strutter. Before getting into showbiz, Paul was a scene painter at London's Old Vic Theatre, illustrator for the NME, i-D and Time Out magazines, and designer of merchandise for football clubs such as Derby County, Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton and Aston Villa. He also formed and took part in a number of bands, including We Are Pleb and TV Eye. Paul met his future wife Orly while working in a kibbutz in Israel in 1984. They married in 1989. Orly's mother was killed by a rocket attack in Gaza, Israel, in 2008.

Colin McFarlane (Moran) Born Sep 15 1961
Doctor Who credits
Played: Alien voice in Voyage of the Damned (2007)
Played: General Pierce in Torchwood: Children of Earth (2009)
Played: Moran in Under the Lake/ Before the Flood (2015)
Career highlights
Debuted as Detective Sergeant Watson in Dempsey and Makepeace (1985), then Bust (1988), Sean's Show (1992), In Dreams (1992), Class Act (1995), The Thin Blue Line (1996), Dennis the Menace (1996-98, as the voice of Sergeant Slipper), Ted and Ralph (1998), Black Books (2000), The Fast Show (1994-2000), Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (2001), Strange (2003), As If (2004), Batman Begins (2005), Judge John Deed (2002-03/05/06), MI High (2008), The Dark Knight (2008), Parents of the Band (2008-09), Hounded (2010), Reggie Perrin (2010), Dirk Gently (2012), Plebs (2014), Death in Paradise (2015), Olympus (2015), Father Brown (2016), Hooten and the Lady (2016), The Rebel (2017), Patient Zero (2018), Industry (2020), Offering to the Storm (2020), Queens of Mystery (2021) and Not Going Out (2022). He also gave voice to the Cube in the UK Saturday night game show of the same name (2009-21), and has often been the commentating voice for the National Television Awards. Colin is a prolific voice artiste, providing the voice of Thadius Vent and Tank in Oscar's Orchestra (1995), Sergeant Slipper in Dennis the Menace (1996-98), JJ in Bob the Builder (2001-05), Sparkie the dragon in Mike the Knight (2011-13), Belly-Up in Zack and Quack (2013-14), Harrison in Chuggington (2008-15), various in Thomas and Friends (2017-20) and numerous in Little Princess (2006-20). Colin also regularly played Ulysses in the series Outlander (2018-20).

Steven Robertson (Pritchard) Born Jan 1 1977
Career highlights
Steven was born in Vidlin in the Shetland Islands, and his first credited work was 2004 short The Race, followed by Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Einstein's Big Idea (2005), Nova (2005), True North (2006), Sugarhouse (2007), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), He Kills Coppers (2008), Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008), Red Riding (2009), Shameless (2009), Ashes to Ashes (2010), Luther (2011), The Bletchley Circle (2012), Ripper Street (2012), In the Flesh (2014), Utopia (2014), T2 Trainspotting (2017), Vera (2018), Harlots (2017-18) and The Bay (2021). He may be best recognised for playing Dominic Rook in Being Human (2012-13) and Sandy Wilson in Shetland (2013-22).
Facts
Steven overcame severe dyslexia as a student.

Peter Serafinowicz (Voice of the Fisher King) Born Jul 10 1972
Career highlights
Peter started out mimicking the voice of Jacques Chirac for the series Spitting Image in 1996, after which he appeared in Comedy Nation (1998), You Are Here (1998), Murder Most Horrid (1999), Smack the Pony (1999), The Phantom Menace (1999, as the dubbed voice of Darth Maul), How Do You Want Me? (1998-99), Spaced (1999-2001), Ted and Alice (2002), I'm Alan Partridge (2002), Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hardware (2003-04), Look Around You (2002-05), Run, Fatboy, Run (2007), The Peter Serafinowicz Show (2007-08), Couples Retreat (2009), Whitechapel (2010), Killing Bono (2011), Running Wilde (2010-11), Watson & Oliver (2012), Bad Sugar (2012), Father Figure (2013), Mr Sloane (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Parks and Recreation (2013-15), Spy (2015), Hunt the Truth (2015), Going in Style (2016), An Ordinary Man (2017), The Tick (2016-19), Miracle Workers (2020) and The Bubble (2022). Peter wrote material for his own 2007-08 show, as well as Look Around You, as well as producing them. He acted as creative consultant on South Park in 2014-15.
Awards
2006: Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Golden Rose for Comedy (Look Around You) - shared with production team
2008: Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Golden Rose for Best Entertainment (The Peter Serafinowicz Show)
Facts
Peter's wife is actor Sarah Alexander, his brother is TV producer James Serafinowicz, while his sister Helen is married to screenwriter Graham Linehan. In 2007, Peter dropped his attempt to use the Human Rights Act to prevent the publication of details revealing his Belarusian grandfather as the first man in Britain to go on trial for Nazi war crimes. Szymon Serafinowicz Sr was charged with allegedly murdering three Jews while a police chief during the Nazi occupation of Belarus during World War Two. He was found unfit for trial on grounds of dementia in 1997, and died later that year, aged 86. Here's a video of Peter doing 50 impressions in two minutes. It's a cheat, but look out for SV7 from The Robots of Death! Here's his Twitter feed.

Sophie Stone (Cass) Born Aug 11 1981
Career highlights
Sophie debuted in Casualty in 2003, then took roles in FM (2009), Marchlands (2011), Midsomer Murders (2013), Mapp and Lucia (2014), Small World (2014-16), The Moonstone (2016), The Crown (2017), Shetland (2018), This Way Up (2021) and The Chelsea Detective (2022).
Facts
In 2004, Sophie, who has been deaf since birth, was the first deaf student to win a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), and is the first deaf actress to appear in Doctor Who. She is a founder member of the Deaf and Hearing Ensemble. Her father was guitarist and rare book dealer Martin Stone.

Corey Taylor (Roar of the Fisher King) Born Dec 8 1973
Career highlights
American Corey is best known as the lead singer of the heavy metal band Slipknot, as well as the hard rock band Stone Sour. Corey helped form Stone Sour in 1992, and the band lasted until 1997, reforming in 2000. The band has been nominated for three Best Metal Performance Grammys. Corey joined Slipknot as its sixth member in 1997. The band members always wear masks during personal appearances, and Corey's has been described as resembling The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Leatherface, "if only he used moisturiser". Slipknot have had two number one albums on the UK chart (Iowa in 2001 and We are Not Your Kind in 2019). Corey has also been a guest musician on work by Soulfly, Apocalyptica, Anthrax and Damageplan, and has produced albums for Face Cage and Walls of Jericho. On the acting front, Corey appeared alongside A Nightmare on Elm Street star Robert Englund in Fear Clinic (2013), as well as the film Bad Candy (2020).
Awards
2000: Kerrang! Award for Best Single (Wait and Bleed) - with Slipknot
2000: Kerrang! Award for Best International Live Act - with Slipknot
2000: Kerrang! Award for Best Band in the World (Slipknot)
2000: NME Award for Brightest Hope - with Slipknot
2001: Kerrang! Award for Best Band in the World (Slipknot)
2002: NME Award for Best Metal Band (Slipknot)
2006: Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance (Before I Forget) - with Slipknot
2008: Kerrang! Icon Award (Slipknot)
2009: Kerrang! Award for Best Live Band (Slipknot)
2009: Kerrang! Award for Best International Band (Slipknot)
2020: NME Award for Best Band in the World (Slipknot)
Facts
Here's Corey on Twitter.

CREW

Toby Whithouse (writer) Born Jul 5 1970 Click here for Toby Whithouse's entry on School Reunion

Daniel O'Hara (director) Born Oct 1974
Career highlights
Daniel's directing CV begins with the 2003 short My Name is Yu Ming (which he also wrote), followed by The Clinic (2006), Paddywhackery (2007, which he also wrote), Zig and Zag: Best Bitz from Back Den (2008), Skins (2010), Beaver Falls (2011), Wizards vs Aliens (2012), Being Human (2011-13), The Game (2014), Silent Witness (2014-15), Houdini and Doyle (2016), Lucky Man (2017), Victoria (2017), Brassic (2019), The Stranger (2020) and Stay Close (2021). His TV career began as production manager on A Scare at Bedtime with Podge and Rodge in Ireland.
Facts
In 2003, Daniel co-founded the production company Dough Productions.

Derek Ritchie (producer) Born 1978
Doctor Who credits
Script edited: The Time of the Doctor (2013), Deep Breath (2014), Into the Dalek (2014), The Caretaker (2014). Derek also script edited the 50th anniversary sketch The Five(ish) Doctors (Reboot) (2013)
Produced: The Doctor's Meditation, Under the Lake/ Before the Flood, The Girl Who Died, The Woman Who Lived (all 2015), Class (2016). He also produced Strax's cinema introduction for Deep Breath (2014)
Career highlights
Derek first worked as a locations assistant on The Book Group (2003), and has also edited scripts for Wizards vs Aliens (2012-13). He also produced that series in 2014. As an assistant director he has worked on The Planman (2003), AfterLife (2003), Shoebox Zoo (2004), The Last King of Scotland (2006), Still Game (2002-07), Identity (2010), Frankenstein's Wedding... Live in Leeds (2011), Becoming Human (2011) and Being Human (2008-12). Production work includes Luther (2019), The Capture (2019) and Then You Run (2022).

Nick Lambon (script editor)
Doctor Who credits
Script edited: Under the Lake/ Before the Flood, The Girl Who Died/ The Woman Who Lived, Heaven Sent/ Hell Bent (all 2015), The Return of Doctor Mysterio (2016), The Pilot, Smile, Thin Ice, Knock Knock, Oxygen, The Lie of the Land, Empress of Mars, The Eaters of Light, World Enough and Time/ The Doctor Falls (all 2017)
Career highlights
Nick has also script edited DCI Banks (2012-14), Wizards vs Aliens (2014) and Silent Witness (2021), after acting as a story researcher on Holby City (2012). He graduated to production duties on Sanditon (2019) and Silent Witness (2021-22).
Facts
In 2006, Nick joined Power Television and helped in the development of programmes such as Crusoe (2008-09) and The Day of the Triffids (2009). He became a script editor for Left Bank Pictures in 2011.

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