Cold War

Clara's new ear muffs didn't suit her

One episode (Cold War)
First broadcast Apr 13 2013
Average audience for story: 7.37m + 1.95m iPlayer = 9.32m

REGULAR CAST

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

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

GUEST CAST

Charlie Anson (Belevich) Born 1980
Career highlights
Born in Switzerland to British parents, Charlie debuted in Rome (2007), then Doctors (2009), Any Human Heart (2010), The Borgias (2011), The Power of Three (2011), By Any Means (2013), Peaky Blinders (2014), X Company (2015), Downton Abbey (2012-15), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), Reg (2016), The Legend of Tarzan (2016), Collateral (2018), London Kills (2019), Riviera (2019), The Mallorca Files (2019), Get Even (2020), The Long Call (2021) and Death on the Nile (2022).
Facts
Charlie also runs Charlie's Cartoons, which provides bespoke personal gifts using caricatures and cartoons (he once pitched the business idea on Dragons' Den). Here's Charlie on Twitter.

Nicholas Briggs (Voice of Skaldak) Born Sep 29 1961 Click here for Nicholas Briggs' entry on Rose

Liam Cunningham (Captain Zhukov) Born Jun 2 1961
Career highlights
Debuted in Into the West (1992), followed by roles in Poor Beast in the Rain (1993), War of the Buttons (1994), First Knight (1995), Cracker (1995), Jude (1996), Police 2020 (1997), When the Sky Falls (2000), Attila (2001), Dog Soldiers (2002), Prime Suspect 6 (2003), The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005), Hotel Babylon (2006), Murphy's Law (2006), Northanger Abbey (2007), The Catherine Tate Show (2007), Hunger (2008), The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), Harry Brown (2009), Centurion (2010), Clash of the Titans (2010), Outcasts (2011), Camelot (2011), War Horse (2011), Merlin (2012), The Musketeers (2015), Pursuit (2015), Electric Dreams (2017), The Hot Zone (2019), The Vault (2021), Domina (2021), Impact Winter (2022) and The Last Voyage of Demeter (2023). He also played Chris in Roughnecks (1994-95), but is most recognised for playing Davos Seaworth in 42 episodes of Game of Thrones (2012-19). He also directed three episodes of The Clinic in 2005.

Awards

2007: Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor on a Supporting Role in a Film (The Wind That Shakes the Barley)

2009: Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor on a Supporting Role in a Film (Hunger)

2018: Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor on a Supporting Role - Drama (Game of Thrones)
Facts
Irishman Liam, who started out as an electrician in Zimbabwe before going into acting, auditioned for the role of the Eighth Doctor in 1996 after being recommended by director David Puttnam. He appeared in the 2013 music video for Kodaline's High Hopes. Here he is on Twitter.

Tobias Menzies (Lieutenant Stepashin) Born Mar 7 1974
Career highlights
Tobias debuted as Frank Gallagher in Casualty in 1998 and 2000, then secured work in Summer in the Suburbs (2000), Midsomer Murders (2000), The Low Down (2000), Ultimate Force (2002), Finding Neverland (2004), Casino Royale (2006), Atonement (2007), Bonekickers (2008), Spooks (2009), The Deep (2010), The Shadow Line (2011), Eternal Law (2012), The Thick of It (2012), Black Mirror (2013), Black Sea (2014), The Night Manager (2016), Una (2016), The Terror (2018), Catastrophe (2015-19), Carmilla (2019), This Way Up (2019-21), Modern Love (2021) and Made is Oslo (2022). Regular roles include Marcus Junius Brutus in Rome (2005-07), Jack and Frank Randall in Outlander (2015-18), Edmure Tully in Game of Thrones (2013-19) and the Duke of Edinburgh in The Crown (2019-20).

Awards

2021: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (The Crown)
Facts
Here's Tobias on Twitter.

James Norton (Onegin) Born Jul 18 1985
Career highlights
James debuted in An Education (2009), then Restless (2012), Blandings (2013), Rush (2013), Death Comes to Pemberley (2013), Mr Turner (2014), Bonobo (2014), Life in Squares (2015), Lady Chatterley's Lover (2015), War and Peace (2016), Black Mirror (2016), Hampstead (2017), Flatliners (2017), McMafia (2018), Mr Jones (2019), Little Women (2019), Unprecedented (2020) and The Nevers (2021-22). Regular roles include Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley (2014-22) and Sidney Chambers in Grantchester (2014-19).
Facts
Here he is on Twitter.

Josh O'Connor (Piotr) Born May 20 1990
Career highlights
Debuted in Lewis (2012), then The Magnificent Eleven (2013), The Wipers Times (2013), Amorous (2014), The Riot Club (2014), Peaky Blinders (2014), Ripper Street (2014), The Riot Club (2014), Cinderella (2015), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), God's Own Country (2017), Only You (2018), Les Miserables (2019), Hope Gap (2019) and Mothering Sunday (2021). Josh regularly played Lawrence Durrell in The Durrells (2016-19) and Prince Charles in The Crown (2019-20).

Awards

2017: British Independent Film Award for Best Actor (God's Own Country)

2019: British Independent Film Award for Best Actor (Only You)

2021: Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama (The Crown)

2021: Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (The Crown)
Facts
Here's Josh on Twitter.

David Warner (Professor Grisenko) Jul 29 1941 to Jul 24 2022 (cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Lord Azlok (voice) in Dreamland (2009)
Played: Professor Grisenko in Cold War (2013)
Career highlights
David made his credited screen debut in 1963's The Madhouse on Castle Street, then appeared in Tom Jones (1963), The Fixer (1968), Perfect Friday (1970), Straw Dogs (1971), A Doll's House (1973), From Beyond the Grave (1974), Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (1974), Mr Quilp (1975), The Omen (1976), Holocaust (1978), Nightwing (1979), Masada (1981), Time Bandits (1981), Nancy Astor (1982), TRON (1982), Marco Polo (1982-83), The Man with Two Brains (1983), Remington Steele (1983), Hart to Hart (1983), The Company of Wolves (1984), A Christmas Carol (1984), Frankenstein (1984), Hold the Back Page (1985-86), Waxwork (1988), Hostile Takeover (1988), Twin Peaks (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Star Trek: The Next Generation (1992), Wild Palms (1993), Necronomicon: Book of Dead (1993), Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1994), Babylon 5 (1994), Signs and Wonders (1995), The Choir (1995), Batman: The Animated Series (1992-95), Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus (1996), Titanic (1997), Scream 2 (1997), The Last Leprachaun (1998), Total Recall 2070 (1999), Shergar (1999), The Hunger (1999), Hornblower (2001), Planet of the Apes (2001), Conviction (2004), The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005), Sensitive Skin (2005), Hogfather (2006), Albert's Memorial (2009), Wallander (2008-15), Black Death (2010), Mad Dogs (2012), Before I Sleep (2013), Penny Dreadful (2014), Inside No 9 (2015), Lewis (2015), Ripper Street (2016), You, Me and Him (2017) and Mary Poppins Returns (2018).

Awards

1981: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Special (Masada)
Facts
In 2003, David played an alternative version of the Doctor in the Big Finish audio Sympathy for the Devil. David was originally cast to play Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street, but dropped out due to scheduling issues.

Spencer Wilding (Skaldak) 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

Mark Gatiss (writer) Born Oct 17 1966 Click here for Mark Gatiss's entry on The Unquiet Dead

Douglas Mackinnon (director)
Doctor Who credits
Directed: The Sontaran Stratagem/ The Poison Sky (2008), The Power of Three (2012), Cold War (2013), Listen (2014), Time Heist (2014), Flatline (2014), The Husbands of River Song (2015)
Career highlights
Douglas started out as a director on London's Burning in the early 1990s, then worked on The Bill (1994-95), Thief Takers (1996), The Grand (1997), Gentlemen's Relish (2001), Nice Guy Eddie (2001-02), Murder in Suburbia (2004), The Last Detective (2003/07), Jekyll (2007), Robin Hood (2009), Silent Witness (2004/13), Line of Duty (2012/14), Outlander (2015), Sherlock (2016), Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (2017), Knightfall (2017-18) and Good Omens (2019-22). He also wrote and directed the short Sealladh (1992) and Calum Dongle (2011).

Awards

2016: BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Directing in Film or Television (Sherlock)

2020: Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form (Good Omens) - shared with Neil Gaiman
Facts
Here he is on Twitter.

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

John Phillips (Assistant script editor)
Doctor Who credits
Assistant script editor: Asylum of the Daleks, The Power of Three, The Angels Take Manhattan, The Snowmen, The Bells of Saint John, The Rings of Akhaten, Cold War, Hide, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, The Crimson Horror, Nightmare in Silver (2012-13)
Script editor: The Name of the Doctor (2013)
Career highlights
John has also acted as production associate on Lip Service (2012) and MI High (2013), and script editor on Midsomer Murders (2013-14), Our Zoo (2014) and The Job Lot (2014). As a producer, he has worked on Lucky Man (2017), Endeavour (2018), Origin (2018) and Three Pines (2022).
Facts
In 2011 John gave some advice on script editing to The Ideas Tap.

The Rings of Akhaten

A grieving Clara (Jenna Coleman) at
her mother's grave with father Dave
(Michael Dixon)

One episode (The Rings of Akhaten)
First broadcast Apr 6 2013
Average audience for story: 7.45m + 2.31m iPlayer = 9.76m

REGULAR CAST

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

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

GUEST CAST

Chris Anderson (The Chorister) Born 1983
Career highlights
Chris debuted in the short Sold (2005), then appeared in Doctors (2006/12/18), Rome (2007), The Nightclub (2009), Murder on the Blackpool Express (2017), Emmerdale (2018) and Coronation Street (2018/22). He also provides voice work for various video games.
Facts
As well as being able to act and sing, Chris is also an experienced professional DJ, having had residencies in London, Ibiza and Mumbai.

Aidan Cook (The Mummy)

Doctor Who credits
Played: The Mummy in The Rings of Akhaten (2013)
Played: The Crooked Man in Hide (2013)
Played: Cyberman in Nightmare in Silver (2013), The Time of the Doctor (2013)
Played: Zygon in The Day of the Doctor (2013), The Zygon Invasion/ The Zygon Inversion (2015)

Played: The Vlinx in The Giggle (2023), The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2024), Lucky Day (2025), The Reality War (2025)
Career highlights
Aidan started out as one of the animatronics operators on children's series Fimbles in 2002, for which he also provided voice work. He was also movement director on the 2009 adaptation of The Day of the Triffids, and was the children's acting coach on the 2011 film Horrid Henry (he also provided various voices for the TV series (2006-19)). Further acting work includes Jackanory (1982/84), Mack the Knife (1989), ChuckleVision (1998), Sir Gadabout, the Worst Knight in the Land (2002), Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), Warrioress (2011), Restless (2012), Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 (2013), Star Wars: Rogue One (2016), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Andor (2022) and Willow (2022).

Michael Dixon (Dave) Born 1983
Career highlights
Debuted in the 2004 short Cashback, followed by Mile High (2004), Alexander (2004), Holby City (2006), Dream Team 80s (2006), Coronation Street (2006/17), Cashback (2006), Act of Grace (2008), Blue Murder (2009), Megapython vs Gatoroid (2011), The Tree of Life (2011), I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013), Humans (2015), Gridiron UK (2016) and Impact of Murder (2019). He also had two recurring roles in soap Hollyoaks, as D.S Richie Trent (2013) and Jay Johnson (2018). Michael also wrote, directed and produced the 2014 short film Game of Throne.
Facts
Michael's mother is one-time beauty queen - Miss Granada TV 1973, no less! - Marcelline Dixon, while his brother is singer songwriter Geoff Dixon, who has performed with acts such as The Ice Factory in support of Blur.

Karl Greenwood (Dor'een)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Cyberman in Rise of the Cybermen/ The Age of Steel (2006, uncredited), Army of Ghosts/ Doomsday (2006, uncredited), The Next Doctor (2008, uncredited)
Played: Ood in The Impossible Planet/ The Satan Pit (2006, uncredited)
Played: Judoon in Smith and Jones (2007, uncredited)
Played: Extra in The Shakespeare Code (2007, uncredited)

Played: Pig slave in Daleks in Manhattan/ Evolution of the Daleks (2007, uncredited)

Played: The Host in Voyage of the Damned (2007, uncredited)
Played: General monster in The End of Time (2009-10, uncredited)

Played: Winder in The Beast Below (2010, uncredited)
Played: Dor'een in The Rings of Akhaten (2013)
Karl also performed various monsters in the 2010 Doctor Who Live theatre tour
Career highlights
Karl - aka Feth Greenwood - has also appeared in Being Human (2013) and Knight of the Dead (2013).
Facts
Karl can also play bass guitar and violin, and has performed in fire shows, on stilts and trapeze. He has also worked in timber extraction using horses. His passion for stunts and horses combined when he set up the Stampede Stunt Company, a horse stunt team for jousting and trick riding which he runs with his wife Zana.

Emilia Jones (Merry) Born Feb 23 2002
Career highlights
Emilia's breakthrough role was as the young Sarah Frobisher-Smythe in House of Anubis (2011), followed by roles in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), One Day (2011), Utopia (2013-14), Wolf Hall (2015), Residue (2015), High-Rise (2016), Brimstone (2016), Horrible Histories: The Movie (2019) and CODA (2021). She also plays the regular role of Kinsey Locke in Locke & Key (2020-22).
Facts
Emilia's father is former child singer and now TV presenter Aled Jones (of Walking in the Air fame).

Nicola Sian (Ellie) Born Sep 30 1988
Doctor Who credits
Played: Ellie Oswald in The Bells of Saint John prelude, The Rings of Akhaten (both 2013)
Career highlights
Nicola's other work includes Doctors (2012/16), The Guilty (2013), Blue Borsalino (2015) and Father Brown (2017). Between 2017-19 she played Nicola Rubinstein in almost 100 episodes of soap Coronation Street. Since 2020 she has also worked as an occasional broadcaster on This Morning.
Facts
Since 2014 she has been credited as Nicola Thorp. In 2016, Nicola hit the headlines when she revealed she was made to wear high heels by her temping agency while working at PriceWaterhouseCooper. The issue was even discussed by a Parliamentary select committee. In 2018, Nicola was one of a group of celebrities who released the charity song Rock with Rudolph in aid of Great Ormond Children's Hospital (it reached number 2 on the iTunes pop chart). In 2018, Nicola admitted to having been so depressed in the past that she had a nervous breakdown in 2012. She has also been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Nicola on Twitter.

CREW

Neil Cross (writer) Born Feb 9 1969
Doctor Who credits
Wrote: The Rings of Akhaten (2013), Hide (2013)
Career highlights
Neil's earliest script writing credit was as the creator of The Fixer (2008), although there had been an adaptation of his novel Mr In-between in 2001. Other work includes eight episodes of Spooks between 2006-08, Whistle and I'll Come to You (2010), Mama (2013), Crossbones (2014, also creator), Luther (2010-21, also creator), Hard Sun (2018, also creator), The Sister (2020, also creator) and The Mosquito Coast (2021-22, also creator). He has also worked as an executive producer on several of these programmes.

Awards

2012: Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama Series (Luther) - with Katie Swinden
Facts
Neil lives in Wellington, New Zealand. He was offered showrunner duties on Marvel's The Defenders and Daredevil, but declined both. Neil has written several novels, including Always the Sun (long-listed for the 2004 Man Booker Prize), Burial (2009, which became the TV series The Sister) and Captured (2010).

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.

Denise Paul (producer) Click here for Denise Paul's entry on Closing Time

John Phillips (Assistant script editor)
Doctor Who credits
Assistant script editor: Asylum of the Daleks, The Power of Three, The Angels Take Manhattan, The Snowmen, The Bells of Saint John, The Rings of Akhaten, Cold War, Hide, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, The Crimson Horror, Nightmare in Silver (2012-13)
Script editor: The Name of the Doctor (2013)
Career highlights
John has also acted as production associate on Lip Service (2012) and MI High (2013), and script editor on Midsomer Murders (2013-14), Our Zoo (2014) and The Job Lot (2014). As a producer, he has worked on Lucky Man (2017), Endeavour (2018), Origin (2018) and Three Pines (2022).
Facts
In 2011 John gave some advice on script editing to The Ideas Tap.

The Bells of Saint John

The Doctor driving vertically
up The Shard.
Almost as silly as
flying down from the
Eiffel Tower...

One episode (The Bells of Saint John)
First broadcast Mar 30 2013
Average audience for story: 8.44m + 2.64m iPlayer = 11.08m

REGULAR CAST

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

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

GUEST CAST

Eve De Leon Allen (Angie) Born 1997
Doctor Who credits
Played: Angie in The Bells of Saint John (2013), The Crimson Horror (2013), Nightmare in Silver (2013), The Name of the Doctor (2013)
Career highlights
Eve's other work includes playing The Boss in the 2008 series Nuzzle and Scratch, and Acacia in the 2018 short film Bloodbound.

Facts

Her agency lists Eve as non-binary, female presenting.

Jade Anouka (Waitress) Born Dec 18 1990
Career highlights
Jade made her credited screen debut in USS Constellation: Battling for Freedom (2007), followed by Law and Order UK (2010), The Vote (2015), Stan Lee's Lucky Man (2016), Chewing Gum (2017), Trauma (2018), Cleaning Up (2019), Fisherman's Friends (2019), Last Christmas (2019), Small Axe (2020), The Drowning (2021) and His Dark Materials (2020-22).
Facts
Jade, who identifies as queer, also has a poetry website, and is on Twitter.

Manpreet Bachu (Nabile) Born 1994
Career highlights
Debuted in Fool Britannia (2012), then Humans (2015), The Royals (2015), The Moment (2017), Fleabag (2019), Killing Eve (2022) and D. I Ray (2022). He also played Harry Jandhu in River City (2015-16).
Facts
Manpreet also teaches acting lessons. Here he is on Twitter.

Isabella Blake-Thomas (Child reading comic) Born Sep 21 2002
Career highlights
Isabella has been acting since she was six, debuting in The Green Balloon Club as Lily-Rose (2008-09), then Enid (2009), Just William (2010), Johnny English Reborn (2011), Doctors (2012), Mr Stink (2012), Dancing on the Edge (2013), The Smoke (2014), Da Vinci's Demons (2014), Married (2015), Shameless (2016), Kepler's Dream (2016), Once Upon a Time (2016-17), Sand Angels (2018), Death Link (2021) and Hashtag Blessed: The Movie (2021).
Facts
In 2011, it was reported that an internet stalker had set up fake Facebook websites for both Isabella and her Just William co-star Daniel Roche, and was using the websites to talk to her friends. Isabella's mum Lizzie managed to get Facebook to take the site down, but Roche had more trouble, only getting the site removed with the intervention of the Mail on Sunday. In 2014, it was reported that Isabella was trying to launch her own business, Kreatively Kool, enabling children to make their own virtual movies. She has since moved into film production herself. In 2018-19 she released her own music via Spotify and iTunes, and has also launched her own company, Mother and Daughter Entertainment. More recently she has worked as a continuity announcer on ETV Comedy's pre-school strand.

Daniella Eames (Little girl) Born 1999
Daniella's only other work has been playing Imogen in the series Sadie J (2011-12). Her sister is Abigail Eames, who appeared in the Doctor Who story In the Forest of the Night (2014).

Matthew Earley (Man with chips)
Career highlights
Debuted in Red Mercury (2005), then Ultimate Force (2006), Blind Revenge (2009), Dick and Dom's Funny Business (2011), Coming of Age (2010-11), Watson and Oliver (2012), The Mimic (2013), The Karman Line (2014), Walliams and Friend (2015), Harlots (2017), Living the Dream (2019), It's a Sin (2021) and King Gary (2020-21).
Facts
Here he is on Twitter!

Anthony Edridge (Pilot) Born 1984
Career highlights
Anthony debuted in Strangers (1996), then The Big Swap (1998), Footballers' Wives (2003), The Jacket (2005), Inside the Twin Towers (2006), Primeval (2009), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Lewis (2013), Bloody Cuts (2014-15), Vicious (2015), The Crown (2016), Thugs of Hindostan (2018), Never After (2018), The Seed (2021) and The Madame Blanc Mysteries (2021).

Geff Francis (George) Born 1964
Career highlights
Debuted in Zastrozzi: A Romance (1986), then The Singing Detective (1996), Codename: Kyril (1988), Les Girls (1988), South of the Border (1990), Jack and Sarah (1995), The Governor (1995), Sharman (1996), Dangerfield (1998), Dog Eat Dog (2001), Bad Girls (2004), Waking the Dead (2005), Deadmeat (2007), Robin Hood (2007), The Passing Bells (2014), The Dumping Ground (2015), Holby City (2002/07/15), The Aliens (2016), The Level (2016), The Split (2018), Killing Eve (2019), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and Murder in Provence (2022). Regular roles include Michael Ambrose in 54 episodes of sitcom Desmond's (1989-94) and 11 episodes of its sequel Porkpie (1995-96), Adrian Dumfries in Murder City (2004-06) and Viv James in Ashes to Ashes (2008-10).

Richard E Grant (The Great Intelligence) Born May 5 1957
Doctor Who credits
Played: The Doctor in Scream of the Shalka (2003, animation)
Played: Dr Simeon/ The Great Intelligence in The Snowmen (2012), The Bells of Saint John (2013), The Name of the Doctor (2013)
He also played the Doctor in the 1999 Comic Relief Doctor Who spoof The Curse of Fatal Death
Career highlights
Born in Swaziland as Richard Grant Esterhuysen, he made his screen acting debut in Sweet Sixteen (1983), after which he landed his breakthrough role as Withnail in the film Withnail & I (1987). After this he appeared in Hidden City (1987), Codename: Kyril (1988), How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989), Warlock (1989), LA Story (1991), Hudson Hawk (1991), Dracula (1992), The Age of Innocence (1993), Absolutely Fabulous (1994), Hard Times (1994), Jack and Sarah (1995), Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life (1995), Karaoke (1996), Cold Lazarus (1996), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), Spice World (1997), The Match (1999), A Christmas Carol (1999), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999-2000), Gosford Park (2001), Posh Nosh (2003), Bright Young Things (2003), Frasier (2004), Color Me Kubrick (2005), Penelope (2006), Mumbai Calling (2008), The Crimson Petal and the White (2011), Rev (2011), The Iron Lady (2011), Girls (2014), Downton Abbey (2014), Psychobitches (2014), Dig (2015), Jekyll and Hyde (2015-16), Game of Thrones (2016), Logan (2017), The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017), Hang Ups (2018), A Series of Unfortunate Events (2019), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), The Spine of Night (2021), The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021), Loki (2021) and The Outlaws (2021-22). He has also occasionally acted as a host/ presenter, including at the 1996 BAFTAs, The Works (1996), MTV Europe Music Awards (1996), BBC Proms (2007), The History of Safari (2010), Dirty Weekenders in France (2014) and Hotel Secrets (2012-14).
Facts
Richard had many brushes with Doctor Who before being in the programme itself. In 1987, he starred opposite Eighth Doctor Paul McGann in Withnail & I, and 20 years later co-starred with him again in the short film Always Crashing in the Same Car. In 1995, Richard played the title role in the Oscar-winning short film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, directed by Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi. Richard also appeared as himself in the 2001 film Strictly Sinatra, which was written and directed by Capaldi. In 2003, he shared billing with Tenth Doctor David Tennant on no fewer than four productions - two episodes of Posh Nosh (incidentally also starring Big Finish audio Doctor Arabella Weir), the film Bright Young Things, and the BBC animated Doctor Who story Scream of the Shalka, in which Richard provided the voice and likeness of the Doctor (subsequently labelled an 'alternative Ninth Doctor'), and David voiced the caretaker. And, of course, Richard also appeared as one of the many incarnations of the Doctor (an 'alternative Tenth Doctor', in fact) in the 1999 Comic Relief Doctor Who spoof The Curse of Fatal Death, written by Steven Moffat.
Until her death in 2021, Richard was married to dialogue/ dialect coach Joan Washington, who worked on productions such as Crimson Peak, the Star Wars prequels (she is responsible for Ewan McGregor's impression of Alec Guinness...) and Schindler's List. Richard's father Henrik was the last Minister of Education in the British colony of Swaziland before its independence in 1968. Richard was a guest at the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005. Ironically, bearing in mind his role in Withnail & I, Richard is allergic to alcohol (he can only keep it down for 10 minutes before being ill for 24 hours). Richard has kept a daily diary since the age of 10, inspired to do so after witnessing his mother commit adultery with his father's best friend on the back seat of a car. In 2014, Richard launched his own fragrance, JACK. Here's Reg (as he's also known) on Twitter.

James Greene (The Abbot) May 19 1931 to Jan 5 2021
Career highlights
Born in Northern Ireland, James made his screen debut in 1972's Tales from the Lazy Acre, followed by Colditz (1972), Whodunnit? (1974), Victorian Scandals (1976), Rentaghost (1977), Target (1977), Secret Army (1978), The Moon Stallion (1978), Bread or Blood (1981), Squadron (1982), Chocky (1984), Gems (1985), Floodtide (1987), Empire of the Sun (1987), The Paradise Club (1989), The Jazz Detective (1992), Forever Green (1992), Joking Apart (1991/93), Tom & Viv (1994), Beyond Reason (1995), Keeping Mum (1997), Let Them Eat Cake (1999), From Hell (2001), What a Girl Wants (2003), Breakfast on Pluto (2005), Little Britain (2005), Dracula (2006), This Life +10 (2007), The Color of Magic (2008), RocknRolla (2008), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Albert Nobbs (2011), The Fades (2011), Merlin (2011), Hunderby (2012), Shetland (2013), Edge of Heaven (2014), Wolf Hall (2015), Vicious (2015), Downton Abbey (2015), Call the Midwife (2016), Humans (2016), Born to Kill (2017), The Crown (2017) and Cuckoo (2019). Regular roles include Rev Kenneth Bartlett in Mapp and Lucia (1985-86), Arnold in William and Mary (2003-05) and Mr Hubble in Big School (2013-14).
Facts
Between 1959-65, James was a continuity announcer for Ulster Television, and also presented the BBC series Film Review in 1968.

Olivia Hill (Newsreader)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Newsreader in The Sarah Jane Adventures: Invasion of the Bane (2007), The Sound of Drums (2007), The Bells of Saint John (2013)
Career highlights
Olivia's other work includes Sock (2005), Broken (2006), Holby City (2006), The Devil's Chair (2007) and Captain Eager and the Mark of Voth (2008).

Celia Imrie (Miss Kizlet) Born Jul 15 1952
Career highlights
Celia made her screen debut in The Fenn Street Gang (1971), then Assassin (1973), House of Whipcord (1974), Shoestring (1980), The Nightmare Man (1981), Cloud Howe (1982), Bergerac (1983), Gems (1985), Highlander (1986), Taggart (1988), Snakes and Ladders (1989), Oranges are Not the Only Fruit (1990), The Darling Buds of May (1991), All Good Things (1991), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), Black Hearts in Battersea (1995-96), Wokenwell (1997), The Borrowers (1997), Duck Patrol (1998), Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999), Gormenghast (2000), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Absolutely Fabulous (1995/2001), Thunderpants (2002), A is for Acid (2002), Daniel Deronda (2002), Calendar Girls (2003), Wimbledon (2004), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), Nanny McPhee (2005), St Trinian's (2007), Cranford (2009), The Road to Coronation Street (2010), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), Titanic (2012), Love & Marriage (2013), Our Zoo (2014), Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?! (2014), The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015), Vicious (2015), Bridget Jones's Baby (2016), Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016), Patrick Melrose (2018), Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! (2018), Malevolent (2018), Love Sarah (2020), Keeping Faith (2020-21) and The Jungle Book: The Mowgli Stories (2021). Regular roles include Joanna Tundish in The Riff Raff Element (1993-94), Diana in After You've Gone (2007-08), Gloria Millington in Kingdom (2007-09) and Phyllis in Better Things (2016-22). However, it is Celia's association with comedian and writer Victoria Wood that people may know her best for, a relationship which began with Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV (1985-87), in which she played Miss Babs in the soap spoof Acorn Antiques, and continued with An Audience with Victoria Wood (1988), Victoria Wood (1989), Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast (1992), Pat and Margaret (1994), Dinnerladies (1998-2000), in which she played Philippa, Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings (2000), Acorn Antiques: The Musical (2006) and Victoria Wood: Seen on TV (2009).

Awards

2006: Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Acorn Antiques: The Musical)

2023: Commander of the order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to drama
Facts
Celia has a son with fellow actor Benjamin Whitrow called Angus, who is also an actor. In 1966, Celia was hospitalised with anorexia nervosa, and treated with electroshock therapy and anti-psychotic drugs. In 2015 she published her first novel, Not Quite Nice, since when she has written several more. In 2018 Celia broke into the UK Top 40 singles chart with a cover of ABBA's When I Kissed the Teacher, from the Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! soundtrack. Here she is on Twitter.

Kassius Carey Johnson (Artie)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Artie in The Bells of Saint John (2013), The Crimson Horror (2013), Nightmare in Silver (2013), The Name of the Doctor (2013)
Career highlights
Other work includes Gigglebiz (2009-10), Man Down (2013), Hank Zipzer (2015), Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018) and Grantchester (2019).

Sean Knopp (Paul) Born 1979
Career highlights
Sean debuted in Extr@ (2003), then Sokhulu and Partners (2008), Casualty (2005-06/12-13), The Sky in Bloom (2013, which he also produced), The First Musketeer (2014), 24: Live Another Day (2014), The Milky Way (2015), Charismata (2017, which he also produced), UnPacking (2018), Dark Encounter (2019), Two Weeks to Live (2020) and Heart of Hope (2021).
Facts
You can also spot Sean in the video for the Nigel Kennedy Quintet's Carnivore of the Animals (2008). Here's his Twitter feed.

Dan Li (Alexei Chen) Born 1981
Career highlights
Dan debuted in Farewell My Concubine (1993), then Hotel Babylon (2008), My Spy Family (2009), Pimp (2010), The Deep (2010), Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2011), Amber (2014), The Driver (2014), Black Mirror (2014), I, Daniel Blake (2016), Press (2018), After Life (2019), Vigil (2021), The Girl Before (2021) and The Power (2022). He also had the regular role of Tony in Ideal (2008-11), and has provided the voice of Yong Bao in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends since 2018.

Fred Pearson (Barista) Born Nov 30 1936
Career highlights
Fred made his debut in Second City Firsts (1975), followed by Crown Court (1976), The Paper Lads (1977), No, Mama, No (1979), A Kind of Loving (1982), Strangers (1980/82), Black Silk (1985), Look and Read: Geordie Racer (1988), A Bit of a Do (1989), American Friends (1991), Chimera (1991), Zorro (1991), Underbelly (1992), Highlander (1993), Middlemarch (1994), Priest (1994), Cardiac Arrest (1995), Heartbeat (1998), Tilly Trotter (1999), As Time Goes By (2002), McLibel (2005), Misfits (2011), The Village (2013), Cuffs (2015) and Waiting for You (2017). He also played Dr Vickery in Dalziel and Pascoe (1997-2000).

Robert Whitelock (Mahler) Born 1972
Career highlights
After debuting uncredited in Resnick (1992), Robert's CV includes roles in Playing the Field (1998/99), Peak Practice (2001), Where the Heart Is (2002), Top Buzzer (2004), As If (2004), The Brief (2004-05), Ghostboat (2006), The Haunted Airman (2006), The Bank Job (2008), Injustice (2011), The Hour (2012), Alan Partridge (2013), Misfits (2013), Hercules (2014), The Great Fire (2014), Silent Witness (2016), Undercover (2016), Marcella (2016), Rillington Place (2016), Informer (2018), Military Wives (2019), Transference (2019) and Becoming Elizabeth (2022).
Facts
As well as being an actor, Robert is also a passionate expert on the subject of graffiti art, and co-wrote the book Monokrome - World Class Graffiti Design in Black and White (2011). Robert also acts in and writes Big Finish audio adventures. He is married to actress Polly Kemp. Here's his Twitter feed.

CREW

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

Colm McCarthy (director) Born Feb 16 1973
Career highlights
Starting out as a trainee assistant director on 1998's Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog, Colm's other directing work includes No Frontiers (2001), Footballers' Wives: Overtime (2005), Hustle (2006), Murphy's Law (2006-07), The Tudors (2008), Spooks (2008), The Deep (2010), Injustice (2011), Ripper Street (2013), Sherlock (2014), Peaky Blinders (2014), Black Mirror (2017), Krypton (2018), Curfew (2019) and Half Bad (2021). He also wrote and directed the 2010 film Outcast, and was an executive producer on Krypton, Curfew and Half Bad.
Facts
Here's Colm on Twitter.

Denise Paul (producer) Click here for Denise Paul's entry on Closing Time

John Phillips (Assistant script editor)
Doctor Who credits
Assistant script editor: Asylum of the Daleks, The Power of Three, The Angels Take Manhattan, The Snowmen, The Bells of Saint John, The Rings of Akhaten, Cold War, Hide, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, The Crimson Horror, Nightmare in Silver (2012-13)
Script editor: The Name of the Doctor (2013)
Career highlights
John has also acted as production associate on Lip Service (2012) and MI High (2013), and script editor on Midsomer Murders (2013-14), Our Zoo (2014) and The Job Lot (2014). As a producer, he has worked on Lucky Man (2017), Endeavour (2018), Origin (2018) and Three Pines (2022).
Facts
In 2011 John gave some advice on script editing to The Ideas Tap.

The Snowmen

The Doctor (Matt Smith)
just wants to be left alone

One episode (The Snowmen)
First broadcast Dec 25 2012
Average audience for story: 9.87m + 1.42m iPlayer = 11.29m

REGULAR CAST

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

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

GUEST CAST

Ben Addis (Bob Chilcott) Born 1980
Career highlights
Debuted in King Lear (2008), then Consuming Passion (2008), Lewis (2010), The Decoy Bride (2011), Hugo (2011), Vera (2013), The Musketeers (2015), Judge Rinder's Crown Court (2017), Hollyoaks (2019-21), Ted's Top Ten (2021) and The Girl Before (2021).
Facts
Here's Ben on Twitter.

Juliet Cadzow (Voice of the Ice Governess) Born May 9 1951
Career highlights
Juliet's career began with the 1972 short The Duna Bull, followed by roles in The View from Daniel Pike (1973), The Wicker Man (1973), Doom Castle (1980), Scotch & Wry (1980), Brond (1987), Venus Peter (1989), The Campbells (1990), I, Lovett (1993), Roughnecks (1994), Hamish Macbeth (1996), Nightlife (1996), The Baldy Man (1997), Beautiful Creatures (2000), Still Game (2006), Skins (2012), Ceremony (2014) and Molly and Mack (2018/21). Her most high profile role is playing Edie McCredie in the children's show Balamory (2002-05), and more recently Suzie Fraser in Scottish soap River City (2017-22).
Facts
Juliet's husband was the theatre writer and actor David MacLennan. She started her career alongside comedian Billy Connolly in The Great Northern Welly Boot Show.

Jim Conway (Uncle Josh)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Man in Torchwood: Miracle Day (The Categories of Life) (2011)
Played: Uncle Josh in The Snowmen (2012)
Career highlights
Debuted in London's Burning (1997), then Turn the World Down (2001), Law and Order UK (2011), Skyfall (2012), Dancing on the Edge (2013), Sherlock (2014), Call the Midwife (2014), Fergie Time (2016), The Bromley Boys (2018), EastEnders (2020), Small World (2021) and Death of Zygielboym (2021). He also had the role of Monk in the Doctor Who fan-made spin-off Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor (2019).

Ellie Darcey-Alden (Francesca) Born Sep 4 1999
Career highlights
Ellie debuted uncredited in Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008), then Robin Hood (2009), Holby City (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 2 (2011), Pranks (2012), Welcome to the Punch (2013), Borgia (2013), How to Identify a Serial Killer (2019) and Deadly Payback (2020). A disproportionately expansive Wikipedia entry for Ellie can be found here. She now lives in California in the US. Here she is on Twitter.

Joseph Darcey-Alden (Digby) Born Feb 18 2002
Career highlights
Joseph's other work includes the shorts Pranks (2012) and Waxwing (2013). He also played The Boy in a stage adaptation of Raymond Briggs' The Snowman in London. His sister is Ellie Darcey-Alden, who appears as his sister in this story, and Joseph's Twitter can be found here. He now lives in California in the US.

Annabelle Dowler (Walter's mother) Born 1974
Career highlights
Other work includes The Six Wives of Henry VIII (2001), The Bill (2003), Lewis (2009), Silent Witness (2010), Doctors (2014), Suffragette (2015), The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016), Sense8 (2017) and Brexit: The Uncivil War (2019). Annabelle has also played the part of Kirsty Miller in BBC radio soap The Archers since 2001.
Facts
Here's Annabelle on Twitter.

Richard E Grant (Dr Simeon/ The Great Intelligence) Born May 5 1957
Doctor Who credits
Played: The Doctor in Scream of the Shalka (2003, animation)
Played: Dr Simeon/ The Great Intelligence in The Snowmen (2012), The Bells of Saint John (2013), The Name of the Doctor (2013)
He also played the Doctor in the 1999 Comic Relief Doctor Who spoof The Curse of Fatal Death
Career highlights
Born in Swaziland as Richard Grant Esterhuysen, he made his screen acting debut in Sweet Sixteen (1983), after which he landed his breakthrough role as Withnail in the film Withnail & I (1987). After this he appeared in Hidden City (1987), Codename: Kyril (1988), How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989), Warlock (1989), LA Story (1991), Hudson Hawk (1991), Dracula (1992), The Age of Innocence (1993), Absolutely Fabulous (1994), Hard Times (1994), Jack and Sarah (1995), Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life (1995), Karaoke (1996), Cold Lazarus (1996), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), Spice World (1997), The Match (1999), A Christmas Carol (1999), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999-2000), Gosford Park (2001), Posh Nosh (2003), Bright Young Things (2003), Frasier (2004), Color Me Kubrick (2005), Penelope (2006), Mumbai Calling (2008), The Crimson Petal and the White (2011), Rev (2011), The Iron Lady (2011), Girls (2014), Downton Abbey (2014), Psychobitches (2014), Dig (2015), Jekyll and Hyde (2015-16), Game of Thrones (2016), Logan (2017), The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017), Hang Ups (2018), A Series of Unfortunate Events (2019), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), The Spine of Night (2021), The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021), Loki (2021) and The Outlaws (2021-22). He has also occasionally acted as a host/ presenter, including at the 1996 BAFTAs, The Works (1996), MTV Europe Music Awards (1996), BBC Proms (2007), The History of Safari (2010), Dirty Weekenders in France (2014) and Hotel Secrets (2012-14).
Facts
Richard had many brushes with Doctor Who before being in the programme itself. In 1987, he starred opposite Eighth Doctor Paul McGann in Withnail & I, and 20 years later co-starred with him again in the short film Always Crashing in the Same Car. In 1995, Richard played the title role in the Oscar-winning short film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, directed by Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi. Richard also appeared as himself in the 2001 film Strictly Sinatra, which was written and directed by Capaldi. In 2003, he shared billing with Tenth Doctor David Tennant on no fewer than four productions - two episodes of Posh Nosh (incidentally also starring Big Finish audio Doctor Arabella Weir), the film Bright Young Things, and the BBC animated Doctor Who story Scream of the Shalka, in which Richard provided the voice and likeness of the Doctor (subsequently labelled an 'alternative Ninth Doctor'), and David voiced the caretaker. And, of course, Richard also appeared as one of the many incarnations of the Doctor (an 'alternative Tenth Doctor', in fact) in the 1999 Comic Relief Doctor Who spoof The Curse of Fatal Death, written by Steven Moffat.
Until her death in 2021, Richard was married to dialogue/ dialect coach Joan Washington, who worked on productions such as Crimson Peak, the Star Wars prequels (she is responsible for Ewan McGregor's impression of Alec Guinness...) and Schindler's List. Richard's father Henrik was the last Minister of Education in the British colony of Swaziland before its independence in 1968. Richard was a guest at the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005. Ironically, bearing in mind his role in Withnail & I, Richard is allergic to alcohol (he can only keep it down for 10 minutes before being ill for 24 hours). Richard has kept a daily diary since the age of 10, inspired to do so after witnessing his mother commit adultery with his father's best friend on the back seat of a car. In 2014, Richard launched his own fragrance, JACK. Here's Reg (as he's also known) on Twitter.

Daniel Hyde (Lead workman) Born Sep 25 1975
Career highlights
Daniel made his earliest screen appearance in The Bill (2000), then London's Burning (2001), Hollyoaks (2003/05), Casualty (2005), Family Affairs (2005), Dream Team (2007), Clubbing to Death (2008) and Mr Sloane (2014).

Neve McIntosh (Madame Vastra) Born Apr 9 1972
Doctor Who credits
Played: Alaya in The Hungry Earth/ Cold Blood (2010)
Played: Restac in Cold Blood (2010)
Played: Madame Vastra in A Good Man Goes to War (2011), The Great Detective (2012, uncredited), Vastra Investigates (2012, uncredited), The Snowmen (2012), The Battle of Demon's Run - Two Days Later (2013, uncredited), The Crimson Horror (2013), The Name of the Doctor (2013), Deep Breath (2014)
Neve also played Vastra at the 2013 Doctor Who Prom
Career highlights
Debuted in Renegade (1993), then The Leading Man (1996), Plunkett and Macleane (1999), Psychos (1999), Gormenghast (2000), The Hound of the Baskervilles (2002), The Trouble with Men and Women (2005), The Ghost Squad (2005), Low Winter Sun (2006), Sea of Souls (2007), Law and Order UK (2010), Single Father (2010), Lip Service (2012), Ripper Street (2013), Dracula (2013), Critical (2015), Death in Paradise (2016), Guerrilla (2017), Lucky Man (2018), The Small Hand (2019), Traces (2019-20), Tin Star (2020) and Shetland (2018-21). She also enjoyed the recurring role of Donna Rix in 17 episodes of Bodies (2004-06).
Facts
Neve (real name Carol) divorced her husband Xandy Sahla - a prolific TV and film cameraman - in 2009, after meeting on the set of Psychos in 1999. Here's Neve's Twitter account.

Ian McKellen (Voice of the Great Intelligence) Born May 25 1939
Career highlights
Sir Ian McKellen is one of the most famous and respected British actors in the world, but his screen acting career began with 1964's The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling, followed by Sunday Out of Season (1965), David Copperfield (1966), Alfred the Great (1969), Edward II (1970), Dying Day (1980), Priest of Love (1981), Walter (1982), Walter and June (1982), The Keep (1983), Scandal (1989), Last Action Hero (1993), Tales of the City (1993), The Shadow (1994), Jack and Sarah (1995), Richard III (1995, which he also adapted for screen), Restoration (1995), Bent (1997), Gods and Monsters (1998), Emile (2003), Asylum (2005), Coronation Street (2005), The Da Vinci Code (2006), Extras (2006), King Lear (2008), The Prisoner (2009), Mr Holmes (2015), The Dresser (2015), Look Back in Anger (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017), All is True (2018), Cats (2019) and Infinitum: Subject Unknown (2021). He has also played Freddie Thornhill in the sitcom Vicious (2013-16), but is most known for playing the villain Magneto in the X-Men film franchise since 2000 and wizard Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies (2001-03 & 2012-14).
Awards
1977: Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a Revival (Pillars of the Community)
1978: Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance (The Alchemist)
1979: Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a New Play (Bent)
1979: Commander of the order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to drama
1981: Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play (Amadeus)

1983: Royal Television Society Award for Best Performance (Walter)
1984: Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a Revival (Wild Honey)

1984: Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor (Coriolanus)

1989: Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor (Othello)
1991: Olivier Award for Best Actor (Richard III)
1991: Knight Bachelor of the order of the British Empire (KBE) for services to drama
1996: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Television (Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny)

1997: Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television (Rasputin)

1999: British Independent Film Award for Best Actor (Gods and Monsters)

2003: British Independent Film Award Variety Award
2006: Olivier Award - Society's Special Award
2008: Companion of Honour for services to drama and equality

2020: Special Laurence Olivier Award (Ian McKellen on Stage)
Facts
Ian plays the vampire in the Pet Shop Boys music video for Heart (1987), and also appeared in the videos for the Guillemots' Falling Out of Reach (2008) and George Ezra's Listen to the Man (2014). Ian also provided a spoken vocal for the Scissor Sisters track Invisible Light (2010). In 2006 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Sophie Miller-Sheen (Clara's friend)
Career highlights
Other work includes Misfits (2011), Whitechapel (2013), The Rizen (2017) and The Rizen: POssession (2019).

Dan Starkey (Strax) Born Sep 27 1977 Click here for Dan Starkey's entry on The Sontaran Stratagem

Catrin Stewart (Jenny) Born Jan 29 1988
Doctor Who credits
Played: Jenny Flint in A Good Man Goes to War (2011), The Snowmen (2012), The Crimson Horror (2013), The Name of the Doctor (2013), Deep Breath (2014)
Catrin also played Jenny in the minisodes The Great Detective (2012), Vastra Investigates (2012) and The Battle of Demon's Run - Two Days Later (2013)
Career highlights
Catrin's other work includes Hearts of Gold (2003), Crusade in Jeans (2006), All Shook Up! (2010), Misfits (2010-11), Frail (2012), The Library Suicides (2016), Lifelines (2020) and One for the Road (2021). She also played Emma in 34 episodes of Stella (2012-17) and DS Gina Jenkins in Bang (2017-20).

Cameron Strefford (Walter) Born 2002
Career highlights
Cameron's only other credit is Les Miserables (2012), as Gavroche's urchin, but he has also appeared on the West End stage in The Wizard of Oz and Singin' in the Rain, and in 2013 appeared as a young reviewer on ITV's This Morning. His mother Anthea Strefford used to work as a production coordinator for the BBC.

Tom Ward (Captain Latimer) Born Jan 11 1971
Career highlights
Tom made his screen debut in The Storyteller: Greek Myths (1991), followed by Lethal Justice (1991), Pride and Prejudice (1995), Island (1996), The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (1996), Vanity Fair (1998), Anna Karenina (2000), Quills (2000), The Lost World (2001), Hawking (2004), Death in Paradise (2013), Death Comes to Pemberley (2013), The Frankenstein Chronicles (2015-17) and Harry Price: Ghost Hunter (2015). He also played Dr Harry Cunningham in almost 100 episodes of Silent Witness (2002-12). He has more recently moved into narration, lending his voice to series such as History's Greatest Hoaxes (2016), Supernatural Nazis (2017) and Abandoned Engineering (2017-21).
Facts
In 2005, Tom was a contestant (and winner) on Celebrity Mastermind, his specialist subject being poet Philip Larkin. Tom's father is poet John Powell Ward, who presented Poetry Now on BBC radio between 1977-84.

Liz White (Alice) Born Nov 5 1979
Career highlights
Debuted in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (2002), then Always and Everyone (2002), Ultimate Force (2002-03), Teachers (2003), Vera Drake (2004), A Thing Called Love (2004), The Street (2006), The Fixer (2008), Franklyn (2008), Garrow's Law (2010), The Crimson Petal and the White (2011), The Woman in Black (2012), Line of Duty (2014), Pride (2014), New Tricks (2014), Our Zoo (2014), Grantchester (2016), The Halcyon (2017), Call the Midwife (2016-17), Our Girl (2020), Unforgotten (2021) and Anatomy of a Scandal (2022). She will be best remembered as Annie Cartwright in Life on Mars (2006-07) and Emma Keane in Ackley Bridge (2017-19).
Facts
Liz can also be seen in the music video for Bush's single Inflatable (2002).

CREW

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

Saul Metzstein (director) Born Dec 30 1970
Doctor Who credits
Directed: Good as Gold (2012), Pond Life (2012), Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (2012), A Town Called Mercy (2012), The Snowmen (2012), The Crimson Horror (2013), The Name of the Doctor (2013)
Career highlights
Saul's earliest work behind the camera was as a production runner on the film Shallow Grave (1994, which starred future Doctor Christopher Eccleston). Other roles include location assistant on Trainspotting (1996) and second unit director on the films Dredd (2012), Black Sea (2014) and Suffragette (2015). As an outright director he debuted on the short Santa/ Claws (1997, which he also wrote), followed by Late Night Shopping (2001), Guy X (2005), Micro Men (2009), Upstairs, Downstairs (2010), The Musketeers (2014), Ripper Street (2014), You, Me and the Apocalypse (2015), Living the Dream (2017) and Brassic (2020).

Awards

2002: BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Feature Film Director (Late Night Shopping)
Facts
Saul's father was architect Isi Metzstein, who helped design a number of notable churches in and around Glasgow, as well as Robinson College, Cambridge. Here he is on Twitter.
In 2013 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Saul here.

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

John Phillips (Assistant script editor)
Doctor Who credits
Assistant script editor: Asylum of the Daleks, The Power of Three, The Angels Take Manhattan, The Snowmen, The Bells of Saint John, The Rings of Akhaten, Cold War, Hide, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, The Crimson Horror, Nightmare in Silver (2012-13)
Script editor: The Name of the Doctor (2013)
Career highlights
John has also acted as production associate on Lip Service (2012) and MI High (2013), and script editor on Midsomer Murders (2013-14), Our Zoo (2014) and The Job Lot (2014). As a producer, he has worked on Lucky Man (2017), Endeavour (2018), Origin (2018) and Three Pines (2022).
Facts
In 2011 John gave some advice on script editing to The Ideas Tap.

The Angels Take Manhattan

Ickle baby Weeping Angels

One episode (The Angels Take Manhattan)
First broadcast Sep 29 2012
Average audience for story: 7.82m + 1.63m iPlayer = 9.45m

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

Rob David (Sam Garner) Born Jun 6 1971
Career highlights
New Yorker Rob debuted in Vento di Ponente (2002), then The Mark (2003), Red Riding Hood (2003), Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), Rome (2005), The Moon and the Stars (2007), The Murder of Princess Diana (2007), Gravity (2010), RED 2 (2013), Rodolfo Valentino - La Leggenda (2014), Fortitude (2017), The Rook (2019), Time is Up (2021) and Glow & Darkness (2022). In 2008, he was the producer and director of the documentary Walking with Pasolini.
Between 2002-10 he was credited as Robert(o) Purvis; once in 2005 he was credited as David Purvis; and since 2012 he's been credited as Rob David. His IMDb entry credits him overall as Robert Davide, but his full birth name is Roberto Davide Purvis Junior. Got that?
Facts
Rob has dual nationality with the USA and Italy, and speaks six languages: English, Italian, Russian, Hebrew, Spanish and French (he also speaks rudimentary Greek and German!).

Bentley Kalu (Hood) Born 1972
Career highlights
Bentley's earliest work was in Surviving Terror (2008), followed by Spooks (2009), Gulliver's Travels (2010), Hot Hot Hot (2011), Twenty Twelve (2012), RED 2 (2013), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Mr Selfridge (2016), Pandorica (2016), Kill Command (2016), Red Dwarf (2016), Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017), Dead Ringer (2018), Chimerica (2019), Team Jay (2019), Get Even (2020), Morbius (2022) and Halo (2022).
Facts
Here's 6ft 4in Bentley on Twitter.

Alex Kingston (River Song) Born Mar 11 1963 Click here for Alex Kingston's entry on Silence in the Library

Mike McShane (Julius Grayle) Born Jun 25 1955
Career highlights
American Mike will be best known - to those in the UK at least - for being a competitor on the improvisational show Whose Line Is It Anyway? between 1988-97, but Mike has also appeared as himself on programmes such as The Full Wax (1991) and Gamesmaster (1993). His acting career kicked off with Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), then Best Shots (1990), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991, as Friar Tuck), The Big One (1992), The All New Alexei Sayle Show (1994), Richie Rich (1994), ER (1996), Tower of Terror (1997), Frasier (1998), Caroline in the City (1998), Norm (1999), Honey I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show (1999), 3rd Rock from the Sun (2000), Clerks (2000-01), John Doe (2002), King of the Hill (2003), Malcolm in the Middle (2005), Lab Rats (2008), Bluestone 42 (2013), Wayward Pines (2015), Red Bird (2016) and Barbarians (2020). He also does a lot of voiceover work, including the English dub of Castle in the Sky (1986), Avenger Penguins (1993), Balto (1995), Todd McFarlane's Spawn (1997-99), the English dub of Princess Mononoke (1997), A Bug's Life (1998), Thunderpig (2002), Dave the Barbarian (2004), Holly Hobbie and Friends (2005-07) and American Dad! (2010). He also played Lloyd Burwell in 40 episodes of Brotherly Love (1995-97).
Facts
Mike might also be remembered for advertising Air Canada in TV commercials in 1996. In May 2013 BBC Radio 5 Live announced that Mike had died, but had to hastily issue an apology when it was pointed out to them that comedy actor Paul Shane had died, not Mike. Mike was known for his size, but in 2003 had his stomach surgically separated, restricting the amount of food he could consume. This resulted in him dropping from over 26 stone (165kg) to 18 stone (114kg). Here's Mike on Twitter.

Burnell Tucker (Old Garner) Born 1934
Career highlights
Canadian Burnell debuted in 1957's Huntingtower, then The Myth Makers (1958), Dial M for Murder (1962), Epitaph for a Spy (1963), Devils of Darkness (1965), Dateline Diamonds (1965), A Countess from Hong Kong (1967), Codename (1970), Merry-Go-Round (1970), The Flaxton Boys (1973), Second Verdict (1976), The Omen (1976), Star Wars (1977), Superman (1978), The Martian Chronicles (1980), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), The Shining (1980), Flash Gordon (1980), Priest of Love (1981), Tales of the Unexpected (1983), Lifeforce (1985), Lovejoy (1986), The Paradise Club (1990), Space Precinct (1995), U-571 (2000), I Shouldn't Be Alive (2006) and WMD (2009).

Ozzie Yue (Foreman) Born Aug 12 1947
Career highlights
Ozzie made his acting screen debut in Slayground (1983), followed by roles in The Brothers McGregor (1986), Sob Sisters (1989), Nuns on the Run (1990), Lovejoy (1992), Virtual Murder (1992), All Quiet on the Preston Front (1994), Harry (1995), The Upper Hand (1996), Father Ted (1998), Croupier (1998), Dinnerladies (1998), Barbara (1999), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Meet the Magoons (2005), Syriana (2005), Come Fly with Me (2011), Rab C Nesbitt (2011), All in Good Time (2012), Being Eileen (2013), Pat and Cabbage (2013), The White Room (2015), Marco Polo (2016), Counterpart (2018) and Help (2021).
Facts
In the 1960s Ozzie was guitarist with Liverpudlian group The Hideaways (who played at the city's Cavern Club more than 250 times, and were the last act to perform there). Other band members included Frankie Connor (who later became a radio DJ in Merseyside) and Judd Lander (who went on to perform with Paul McCartney's Wings, play harmonica on Culture Club's chart-topping single Karma Chameleon, and eventually become head of music at Warner Brothers UK). In 1969, the band changed its name to Confucius and released its only commercial single, The Brandenburg Concerto. In the 1970s Ozzie was guitarist for the band Supercharge, which had a number 3 hit in Australia in 1977 with You've Gotta Get Up and Dance, as well as a Top 10 album, and in 1976 were the opening act at Queen's Hyde Park Festival. In the 1970s Ozzie was also a member of the band Joker, and more recently has formed his own band, Yue Hoo.

CREW

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

Nick Hurran (director) Born 1959
Doctor Who credits
Directed: The Girl Who Waited (2011), The God Complex (2011), Asylum of the Daleks (2012), The Angels Take Manhattan (2012), The Day of the Doctor (2013)
Career highlights
Nick started out as a floor manager on the children's anthology series Dramarama (1983-84), as well as Lytton's Diary (1985), Chance in a Million (1984-86) and The Bill (1987/88). His screen directing career began on the quiz show Telly Addicts in the late 1980s, after which he secured work on Never the Twain (1989-90), Big Break (1991), Boon (1992), Outside Edge (1994-96), Virtual Sexuality (1999), The Last Detective (2003), Bonekickers (2008), The Prisoner (2009), Sherlock (2014/17), Fortitude (2015), Minority Report (2015), Childhood's End (2015), Travelers (2016), Altered Carbon (2018) and Devils (2020). Nick has also acted as director/ producer on Walk Away and I Stumble (2005) and A Class Apart (2007), as well as The Last Detective (2003-07).
Facts
Nick's wife is TV producer Michele Buck. Here's Nick on Twitter.

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

John Phillips (Assistant script editor)
Doctor Who credits
Assistant script editor: Asylum of the Daleks, The Power of Three, The Angels Take Manhattan, The Snowmen, The Bells of Saint John, The Rings of Akhaten, Cold War, Hide, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, The Crimson Horror, Nightmare in Silver, The Name of the Doctor (2012-13)
Script editor: The Name of the Doctor (2013)
Career highlights
John has also acted as production associate on Lip Service (2012) and MI High (2013), and script editor on Midsomer Murders (2013-14) and The Job Lot (2014).
Facts
In 2011 John gave some advice on script editing to The Ideas Tap.

The Power of Three

The Shakri (Steven Berkoff) grins
a thoroughly evil grin

One episode (The Power of Three)
First broadcast Sep 22 2012
Average audience for story: 8.42m + 1.35m iPlayer = 9.77m

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

Daniel Beck (Orderly) Born 1984
Career highlights

Daniel can also be seen in Communion (2013), Jamaica Inn (2014), Essex Boys: Law of Survival (2015) and The Heiress (2021).

Facts

His twin brother David played the other orderly in this story. Look out for him in this 2015 TV advert for BetVictor. Here's Daniel on Twitter.

David Beck (Orderly) Born 1984
Career highlights

David debuted in the 2012 short Bruised, and can also be seen in Communion (2013), Jamaica Inn (2014) and The Heiress (2021).

Facts

His twin brother Daniel played the other orderly in this story. Here's David on Twitter.

Steven Berkoff (Shakri) Born Aug 3 1937
Career highlights
Steven made his screen debut uncredited in Hell, Heaven or Hoboken (1958), after which he found roles in The Third Man (1959), Corrigan Blake (1963), The Avengers (1965), Prehistoric Women (1967), The Champions (1968), UFO (1970-71, as Captain Steve Minto), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Barry Lyndon (1975), McVicar (1980), Outland (1981), Octopussy (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Absolute Beginners (1986), War and Remembrance (1988-89), The Krays (1990), Space Precinct (1994), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1997), Rancid Aluminium (2000), Jonathan Creek (2001), 9 Dead Gay Guys (2002), Children of Dune (2003), Forest of the Gods (2005), Say It in Russian (2007), At World's End (2009), Dead Cert (2010), The Road to Coronation Street (2010), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Strippers vs Werewolves (2012), The Borgias (2011-12), Witches of East End (2014), The Frankenstein Chronicles (2015), London Heist (2017), Point of No Return (2018), Red Rage (2019), Righteous Villains (2020), Vikings (2019-20) and Exorcist Vengeance (2022). He has also written several productions, including the 1984 TV movie West, the 1987 series Metamorphosis, and the documentary Shakespeare's Villains (2002).
Facts
Steven appeared in the 2012 music video for Above and Beyond's On My Way to Heaven, and also provided vocals for the Top 20 1997 N-Trance hit The Mind of the Machine. The lyric "I'm scared of Steven Berkoff" can be heard in the Brian May song I'm Scared (1993). In 2002, Steven was deported from the USA for staying one day longer than his visa allowed back in 1997. Steven is also a seasoned playwright and theatre director, with a unique style - for example, in 1988 he directed an interpretation of Oscar Wilde's Salome performed in slow motion. In 1996, he won a libel case against outspoken journalist Julie Burchill, who claimed he was "hideously ugly".

Peter Cartwright (Arnold Underwood) Aug 30 1935 to Nov 18 2013 (cancer)
Career highlights
South African born Peter made his screen debut in The Plane Makers (1964), then Hine (1971), Warship (1974), Edward the King (1975), The Velvet Glove (1977), Van der Valk (1977), The Famous Five (1978), Danger UXB (1979), Shoestring (1979), Buccaneer (1980), Gandhi (1982), First Among Equals (1986), Mandela (1987), Yes, Prime Minister (1987-88), Rumpole of the Bailey (1979/88), Woof! (1995), Bernard's Watch (1998), Shackleton (2002), Wimbledon (2004), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) and Place of Execution (2008). Peter also had a long-running recurring role as George Postlethwaite, the Bishop of Skipdale, in soap Emmerdale (2000-10).
Facts
He was best known in his home country of South Africa for playing Charles Glass, the founder of South African Breweries and brewmaster of Castle Lager, in a series of TV commercials.

David Hartley (UNIT researcher)
Career highlights
David's other work includes The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (2006), Talk to Me (2007), Holby City (2013), Men in Black: International (2019) and Doctors (2007/11/13/20).

Alice O'Connell (Laura) Born 1982
Career highlights
Debuted in The Bill (2003), then Powers (2004), The Rotters' Club (2005), Separate Lies (2005), The Verdict (2007), City of Vice (2008), Outnumbered (2011), Jonathan Creek (2014), Ballot Monkeys (2015), Holby City (2016), Your Mother Should Know (2018) and Bellmouth (2018).
Facts
Alice has a passion for wool and knitting after filling her time waiting to film scenes on set by taking up knitting. In 2013, she launched the Amsterdam-based Wool & Water, a knitwear label comprising garments individually created by Alice on a 1979 knitting machine! Here she is on Twitter.

Selva Rasalingam (Ranjit) Born 1968
Doctor Who credits
Played: Psychiatrist in Torchwood: Fragments (2008)
Played: Ranjit in The Power of Three (2012)
Career highlights
Selva made his debut credited as Sylvestre Tobias in the TV movie The Golden Years in 1992, followed by Carry On Columbus (1992), Son of the Pink Panther (1993), Joseph in Egypt (1995), Bad Girls (2001), Dream Team (2003), Spooks (2007), Waking the Dead (2008), The Londoners (2008-09), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), I Am Slave (2010), The Borgias (2012), Skyfall (2012), Luther (2013), Legends (2015), Risen (2016), The Mummy (2017), Strike Back (2017), Versailles (2018), EastEnders (2018), The Good Karma Hospital (2022) and Ten Percent (2022). He also played Jesus Christ in the Biblical Gospel of... series (2014-16).

Jemma Redgrave (Kate Stewart) Born Jan 14 1965
Doctor Who credits
Played: Kate Stewart in The Power of Three (2012), The Day of the Doctor (2013), Death in Heaven (2014), The Magician's Apprentice (2015), The Zygon Invasion/ The Zygon Inversion (2015), Flux (2021), The Power of the Doctor (2022), The Giggle (2023), 73 Yards (2024), The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2024), Lucky Day (2025), Wish World/ The Reality War (2025)
Career highlights
Jemma (real name Jemima) made her debut in a 1988 episode of Tales of the Unexpected, followed by roles in Dream Demon (1988), All Good Things (1991), Howards End (1992), The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), Mosley (1998), Cry Wolf (2000), Fish (2000), My Family (2002), The Grid (2004), Lassie (2005), Mansfield Park (2007), Unforgiven (2009), Frankie (2013), Dracula (2013-14), The Afghan (2015), Love and Friendship (2016), Midsomer Murders (2018), Demon (2021) and Wolfe (2021). She had her greatest screen success playing Dr Eleanor Bramwell in the ITV series Bramwell (1995-2000), and also regularly played Eve Granger in Cold Blood (2007-08), Bernie Wolfe in Holby City (2016-21) and Amelia in Grantchester (2019-22).
Facts
Jemma appeared in a TV commercial for Rover cars in 1989. She is from the famous Redgrave dynasty of actors - her grandparents were Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, her father was Corin Redgrave, her aunts Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave, and her cousins Joely Richardson and Natasha Richardson (which makes actor Liam Neeson her brother-in-law). Jemma's brother is film and TV cameraman Luke Redgrave.

Mark Williams (Brian Williams) Born Aug 22 1959
Doctor Who credits
Played: Brian Williams in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, The Power of Three (both 2012)
Career highlights
Mark's debut came in 1982's Privileged, followed by High Season (1987), Tumbledown (1988), Red Dwarf (1988), Alexei Sayle's Stuff (1988-89), Great Expectations (1991), Merlin of the Crystal Cave (1991), Kinsey (1992), The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer (1993-95), 101 Dalmatians (1996), The Borrowers (1997), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Gormenghast (2000), The Strangerers (2000), Happiness (2001), The Final Curtain (2002), Grass (2003), Carrie and Barry (2004-05), Stardust (2007), Sense and Sensibility (2008), Merlin (2010), The Indian Doctor (2010), Being Human (2012), Blandings (2013), Still Open All Hours (2013-15), Golden Years (2016), Hospital People (2017), Sister Boniface Mysteries (2022) and Surprised by Oxford (2023). He will be best remembered for playing various roles in the sketch show The Fast Show (1994-2000, which he also wrote material for), Albert Weasley in the Harry Potter film franchise (2002-11), or the title character in Father Brown (2013-22). Mark has also presented his own programmes, including Mark Williams On the Rails (2004), Industrial Revelations (2002-05) and game show The Link (2014-15).

CREW

Chris Chibnall (writer) Born Mar 21 1970 Click here for Chris Chibnall's entry on 42

Douglas Mackinnon (director)
Doctor Who credits
Directed: The Sontaran Stratagem/ The Poison Sky (2008), The Power of Three (2012), Cold War (2013), Listen (2014), Time Heist (2014), Flatline (2014), The Husbands of River Song (2015)
Career highlights
Douglas started out as a director on London's Burning in the early 1990s, then worked on The Bill (1994-95), Thief Takers (1996), The Grand (1997), Gentlemen's Relish (2001), Nice Guy Eddie (2001-02), Murder in Suburbia (2004), The Last Detective (2003/07), Jekyll (2007), Robin Hood (2009), Silent Witness (2004/13), Line of Duty (2012/14), Outlander (2015), Sherlock (2016), Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (2017), Knightfall (2017-18) and Good Omens (2019-22). He also wrote and directed the short Sealladh (1992) and Calum Dongle (2011).

Awards

2016: BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Directing in Film or Television (Sherlock)

2020: Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form (Good Omens) - shared with Neil Gaiman
Facts
Here he is on Twitter.

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

John Phillips (Assistant script editor)
Doctor Who credits
Assistant script editor: Asylum of the Daleks, The Power of Three, The Angels Take Manhattan, The Snowmen, The Bells of Saint John, The Rings of Akhaten, Cold War, Hide, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, The Crimson Horror, Nightmare in Silver (2012-13)
Script editor: The Name of the Doctor (2013)
Career highlights
John has also acted as production associate on Lip Service (2012) and MI High (2013), and script editor on Midsomer Murders (2013-14), Our Zoo (2014) and The Job Lot (2014). As a producer, he has worked on Lucky Man (2017), Endeavour (2018), Origin (2018) and Three Pines (2022).
Facts
In 2011 John gave some advice on script editing to The Ideas Tap.

A Town Called Mercy

Luckily, the Doctor's new face
tattoo was temporary

One episode (A Town Called Mercy)
First broadcast Sep 15 2012
Average audience for story: 8.42m + 1.35m iPlayer = 9.77m

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

Sean Benedict (Dockery)
Career highlights
American Sean's other work includes Dead or Alive (2013), Final Callback (2014) and Breakfast (2021).
Facts
Here's Sean's Twitter.

Andrew Brooke (The Gunslinger)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Kahler-Tek/ The Gunslinger in The Making of the Gunslinger (uncredited), A Town Called Mercy (both 2012)
Career highlights
Andrew made his debut in an episode of EastEnders in 2003, followed by roles in Murder City (2004), According to Bex (2005), Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker (2006), Children of Men (2006), The Bank Job (2008), He Kills Coppers (2008), No Signal (2009), Pulling (2006/09), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Jack the Giant Slayer (2013), The Bible (2013), Babylon (2014), Cuffs (2015), Ripper Street (2016), Emerald City (2017), Prime Suspect 1973 (2017), Strike (2018), Agatha Raisin (2018), Harlots (2019), Britannia (2019), The Salisbury Poisonings (2020) and After Life (2020-22). He also regularly played Ashley in PhoneShop (2009-13) and Grunwald in Da Vinci's Demons (2013-14).
Facts
In March 2012, Andrew was photographed by journalists kissing co-star Karen Gillan while filming A Town Called Mercy in Spain.

Ben Browder (Isaac) Born Dec 11 1962
Career highlights
Ben's earliest screen credit was at the age of 16 in Duncan's World (1978), after which he found roles in Memphis Belle (1990), A Kiss Before Dying (1991), Grace Under Fire (1993), Melrose Place (1994), Murder, She Wrote (1994), Nevada (1997), CSI: Miami (2003), Chuck (2012), Arrow (2013/14), Outlaws and Angels (2016), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (2017), Bigfoot (2019), All Rise (2020), SWAT (2020) and Ike Boys (2022). Recurring roles include Sam Brody in Party of Five (1996-97), John Crichton in Farscape (1999-2004) and Cameron Mitchell in Stargate SG-1 (2005-07). He also wrote two episodes of Farscape and one of Stargate SG-1, and in 2017 directed Bad Kids of Crestview Academy.
Facts
Ben's wife is the actress Francesca Buller, best known to sci-fi fans for playing various characters in Farscape (they did not meet on Farscape, however, but at drama school in 1989).

Rob Cavazos (Walter) Born Aug 18 1982
Career highlights
Mexican Rob debuted in Munich: Mossad's Revenge (2006, as Robert Carragher), then Rush (2013), El Beso (2014), Luis Miguel: The Series (2018), La Piloto (2018), Yankee (2019), La Guzman (2019), Narcos: Mexico (2020) and Identidad Tomada (2020).
Facts
Rob can also be seen in the 2006 music videos for Get Cape Wear Cape Fly's Call Me Ishmael and The Midnight Orchestra's Our Passage Home, as well as Miles Kane's 2010 video for Come Closer. He is a professional translator (English and Spanish) and carries out an awful lot of radio, voiceover and narration work.

Garrick Hagon (Abraham) Born Sep 27 1939
Doctor Who credits
Played: Ky in The Mutants (1972)
Played: Abraham in A Town Called Mercy (2012)
Career highlights
Garrick's earliest showbiz work was as a host of the series Junior Magazine (1959-60), followed by acting work in Encounter (1959), The Hired Gun (1961), The Forest Rangers (1964), The Gingham Dog (1970), Antony and Cleopatra (1972), The Adventurer (1972-73, as Gavin Jones), Moonbase 3 (1973, as Bruno Ponti), Colditz (1974), Couples (1975-76), The Message (1976), Star Wars (1977), A Bridge Too Far (1977), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), The XYY Man (1977), Lillie (1978), Oppenheimer (1980), Stookie (1985), Cry Freedom (1987), Batman (1989), Moomin (1990), Love Hurts (1992), Fatherland (1994), Balto (1995), Mission Impossible (1996), Spy Game (2001), The Magnificent Ambersons (2002), The Jacket (2005), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), The Line of Beauty (2006), The Walker (2007), Is Anybody There? (2008), Me and Orson Welles (2008), Ninja (2009), RED 2 (2013), Wallander (2015), Undercover (2016), The Crown (2016), The Current War (2017) and The Haunting of Margam Castle (2020).
Facts
His scenes as Luke Skywalker's friend Biggs Darklighter in Star Wars were largely deleted, but they can be seen in later DVD editions. He has his own audio production business, The Story Circle. Garrick is married to actor Liza Ross, while his brother is Australian actor and TV host Rex Hagon.

Dominic Kemp (Kahler-Mas)
Career highlights
Debuted in The Gentleman Thief (2001), then Waking the Dead (2005), Miss Potter (2006), Moses Jones (2009), The Londoners (2009), Downton Abbey (2011), White Heat (2012) and Derek (2014).
Facts
As well as being an actor, Dominic is also an art dealer specialising in post-1945 British prints, after also working as a gallery manager in York. He is also chief adviser for prints at the Chambers Collection and the Curwen Archive, and an off-camera valuation expert for the BBC series Flog It!

Joanne McQuinn (Sadie)
Career highlights
Joanne's other work includes The Bill (1999), Little Miss Jocelyn (2006), This Life +10 (2007) and Mistresses (2008).

Adrian Scarborough (Kahler-Jex) Born May 10 1968
Doctor Who credits
Played: Kahler-Jex in The Making of the Gunslinger (uncredited), A Town Called Mercy (both 2012)
Career highlights
Adrian debuted in The Madness of King George (1994), followed by The Governor (1995), Coogan's Run (1995), Let Them Eat Cake (1999), Gosford Park (2001), Bright Young Things (2003), The History Boys (2006), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Psychoville (2009), Gavin and Stacey (2007-09), Cranford (2007-09), Watson and Oliver (2012), Upstairs, Downstairs (2010-12), Mrs Biggs (2012), The Paradise (2013), Plebs (2013-14), Up the Women (2013-15), Blunt Talk (2015-16), Call the Midwife (2015), Crashing (2016), On Chesil Beach (2017), Little Women (2017), Christopher Robin (2018), Killing Eve (2019), 1917 (2019), The Windsors (2020), Artemis Fowl (2020), The Chelsea Detective (2020) and Sanditon (2019-22). He also regularly played Dreamboat Charlie in the sitcom Miranda (2009-15).

Awards

2011: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (After the Dance)

2020: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Leopoldstadt)

Byrd Wilkins (Preacher) Jan 19 1965 to Oct 31 2015 (pancreatic cancer)
Career highlights
American William Byrd Wilkins's other work includes Overnight Delivery (1998), Running Scared (2006) and The U (2011).
Facts
He also taught acting at Louisburg College, North Carolina. When he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in early 2015, he declined chemotherapy, saying he wished to live out his days without doctors and toxic treatments. A fund was set up to allow him to enjoy his final few months.

CREW

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

Saul Metzstein (director) Born Dec 30 1970
Doctor Who credits
Directed: Good as Gold (2012), Pond Life (2012), Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (2012), A Town Called Mercy (2012), The Snowmen (2012), The Crimson Horror (2013), The Name of the Doctor (2013)
Career highlights
Saul's earliest work behind the camera was as a production runner on the film Shallow Grave (1994, which starred future Doctor Christopher Eccleston). Other roles include location assistant on Trainspotting (1996) and second unit director on the films Dredd (2012), Black Sea (2014) and Suffragette (2015). As an outright director he debuted on the short Santa/ Claws (1997, which he also wrote), followed by Late Night Shopping (2001), Guy X (2005), Micro Men (2009), Upstairs, Downstairs (2010), The Musketeers (2014), Ripper Street (2014), You, Me and the Apocalypse (2015), Living the Dream (2017) and Brassic (2020).

Awards

2002: BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Feature Film Director (Late Night Shopping)
Facts
Saul's father was architect Isi Metzstein, who helped design a number of notable churches in and around Glasgow, as well as Robinson College, Cambridge. Here he is on Twitter.
In 2013 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Saul here.

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

Lindsay Grant (script supervisor)
Doctor Who credits
Script supervisor: A Good Man Goes to War (2011), Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (2012), A Town Called Mercy (2012), The Woman Who Fell to Earth (2018)
Career highlights
Lindsay started out as a production assistant on Casualty in 1990, and also worked in this capacity on EastEnders (1993) and Between the Lines (1993-94), before overseeing continuity on Silent Witness (1996), The Ebb-Tide (1998) and Hustle (2005-06). She has been a script supervisor on shows such as Ballykissangel (1996), North Square (2000), The Last Detective (2005), Five Days (2007), Paradox (2009), Lewis (2008-10), Whitechapel (2009-12), Silk (2011-12), Sherlock (2014), You, Me and the Apocalypse (2015), Lucky Man (2016), Love, Nina (2016), Silent Witness (2017), Dark Heart (2018), The Durrells (2017-19), Dracula (2020) and Killing Eve (2019-22).