2014 Shows From The Who Team You Should Watch

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Basically every show you watch on telly these days has some sort of connection with Doctor Who.

Spotting actors who have appeared in the Beeb’s flagship sci-fi show is quite a fun hobby, if a little annoying to those not versed in the ways of the Big Blue Box. Game of Thrones, for instance, has starred Iain Glen (The Time of Angels/ Flesh and Stone), David Bradley (Dinosaurs on a Spaceship), Julian Glover (City of Death), and Diana Rigg (The Crimson Horror) – to name just a few. It’s also nice to speculate what roles other stars you’d like to see in Who may take: Natalie Dormer as a companion, anyone?

And if you love Doctor Who, you probably love TV. Here, we celebrate some of the best television of 2014…

Sherlock

INITIAL BROADCAST: January; BBC1.

Series 3 of this critically-acclaimed show was greatly anticipated by pretty much everyone, mainly because the world was intrigued to find out how Sherlock survived his ‘Reichenbach’ fall. The first script, by prolific Who writer Mark Gatiss, teased the audience throughout, and a comedic opening enraged the internet. No shock there then.

The final episode, His Last Vow, was written by Who showrunner, Steven Moffat, and directed by Nick Hurran (responsible for the incredible style of the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor), and concluded, once again, with a cliffhanger. But the best story of the three was probably The Sign of Three, in which John Watson married Mary Morstan. It was written by Moffat, Gatiss and Stephen Thompson (Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS) and directed by Colm McCarthy (The Bells of St. John).

Selfie

INITIAL BROADCAST: September – December; HBO, Hulu.

This US sitcom never really hit the right chord with critics and has sadly been cancelled, but nonetheless, it’s nominated in the Favourite New TV Comedy category at the 2015 People’s Choice Awards!

Selfie is a 21st Century take on My Fair Lady – or, if you prefer, the original 1912 play, Pygmalion. Karen Gillan, best known for playing Amy Pond regularly between 2010 and 2012 (then again in 2013 for one last surprise farewell), plays Eliza Dooley who is obsessed with social media and soon becomes an internet sensation- but seeks actual friendship instead of simply on Instagram. Co-starring Star Trek‘s John Cho, Selfie got lots of publicity: most famously, Karen posted a tasteful nude selfie online to draw the audiences in.

It’s an interesting concept and well worth a look. But yes, it’s been cancelled. Fortunately, that’s not stopped Karen, who played Nebula in the hit Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy and has been rumoured to star in a remake of Jumanji (a film she apparently loved growing up).

Prey

INITIAL BROADCAST: April – May; ITV.

This miniseries should’ve been a big deal, but media attention instead went onto another high-octane drama on BBC, which we’ll be turning our attention to shortly.

At just three episodes, Prey was intense and gripping – and starred one of the UK’s best actors in a lead role. John Simm will always be remembered as the Master in Doctor Who and Sam Tyler in Life on Mars, but he gave a great performance as DC Marcus Farrow, a man who finds himself blamed for the death of his wife and child. There was just a hint of last year’s The Escape Artist there, but it quickly turned into a man-on-the-run story with a nice dollop of twists.

Happy Valley

INITIAL BROADCAST: April – June; BBC1.

Happy Valley was the undisputed hit of the summer. And that’s because it was simply brilliant.

Sarah Lancashire (Partners in Crime) displayed amazing drive and heart in this gut-wrenching drama, and James Norton became the face of evil for six weeks as the disturbed Tommy Lee Royce. Whovians might’ve struggled to connect Norton with Doctor Who, but take a look at 2013’s Cold War and there he is, playing Onegin. The two roles are complete polar opposites, and Norton pulls them both off admirably, showing us all what a great actor he is. He played a Certified Nice Guy once more in ITV’s Grantchester too.

Oh, and he’d like to be in Doctor Who again!

If you want further Who connections, Steve Pemberton (Silence in the Library/ Forest of the Dead) played Kevin, George Costigan (Voyage of the Damned) played Nevison, and Euros Lyn (The End of the World; The End of Time) directed the first three episodes.

Sure, some complained about the violence in Happy Valley, but it was a piece of art – and from the pen of Sally Wainwright, creator of the sweet, gentle, and superb Last Tango in Halifax.

A Touch of Cloth: Too Cloth For Comfort

INITIAL BROADCAST: August; Sky 1.

Now for something lighter. A lot lighter…

Charlie Brooker’s spoof detective series first debuted in 2012, and for this third series, the cast welcomed Karen Gillan. As Kerry Newblood.

It’s the kind of show TV’s been missing for quite some time: anyone watching will get visions of Police Squad! (or, indeed, anything with Leslie Nielsen). It’s silly and smart. It’s also very adult. Plenty of swearing and jokes about sex. Wait! Finish this article before you rush off to watch it!

John Hannah heads the cast – why hasn’t he been in Doctor Who?! – joined by Suranne Jones, aka. Idris in The Doctor’s Wife, and Daisy Beaumont (Mummy on the Orient Express).

Line of Duty

INITIAL BROADCAST: February – March; BBC2.

Series 1 was BBC2’s best-performing drama series in a decade; Series 2 saw it head for greater heights. The Telegraph named it one of the channel’s Top 50 Shows of All Time. The Guardian called it the Best TV Drama of 2014.Steven Moffat has openly praised series creator, Jed Mercurio.

The action focussed on Keeley Hawes’ character DI Lindsay Denton – Hawes having been in this year’s Time Heist – who is accused of multiple murders. The beautiful Jessica Raine (An Adventure in Space and Time) joined the cast, as did Christina Chong (A Good Man Goes To War) and Mark Bonnar (The Rebel Flesh/ The Almost People).

All six episodes were directed by Douglas Mackinnon (The Power of Three; Flatline), so of course it looks stunning, and the first part of Series 2 has one of the most shocking endings I’ve ever seen.

Death in Paradise

INITIAL BROADCAST: January – March; BBC1.

You know what? I love Death in Paradise.

This year, it did the impossible: in episode one, the lead character, DI Richard Poole (the excellent Ben Miller, who starred in Robot of Sherwood) was killed off, and his replacement had to take up the investigation. That replacement was DI Humphrey Goodman, played by Kris Marshall. The baton was handed over. And the show stayed as successful and brilliant as before.

Very few shows can replace the main character and still be as good. There’s only one TV show I can think of otherwise – and that’s Doctor Who!

Rise of the Cybermen‘s Don Warrington is present on and off, and the Fifth Doctor himself, Peter Davison cropped up in the second episode of Series 3, alongside Michelle Ryan (Planet of the Dead).

What’s more, Death in Paradise returns to BBC1 on 8th January 2015!

The Musketeers

INITIAL BROADCAST: January – March; BBC1.

This was, perhaps, a surprise hit early this year, but it had action, violence, romance, and fun in perfect measurements… and starred the Twelfth Doctor, Peter Capaldi, as the core villain, Cardinal Richelieu.

Everyone knows the concept of Alexander Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, but the ten-part series was a refreshing change of tone for the main channel. It was smartly written, deftly acted, and was beautiful on the eye. Personally, I put that down to Alexandra Dowling as Queen Anne, but I guess it was nicely directed too.

No, but seriously, they employed some great directors, including Toby Haynes (A Christmas Carol); Saul Metzstein (A Town Called Mercy); Richard Clark (Gridlock); and Farren Blackburn (The Rings of Akhaten).

The Musketeers, too, returns in the New Year, sans Capaldi who is too busy doing something else. Can’t remember what.

Other TV shows you might be interested in from the Who team include Marvellous and The Detectorists, both starring Toby Jones (Amy’s Choice); Bruce’s Hall of Fame, with a Norman Wisdom tribute by Ben Miller; The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries, based on tragic real events and starring Nightmare in Silver‘s Jason Watkins; Inside No. 9, co-created by Steve Pemberton (Silence in the Library/ Forest of the Dead), and starring Anne Reid (Smith and Jones), Tamsin Greig (The Long Game), and Kayvan Novak (The Time of the Doctor); The Leftovers with Ninth Doctor, Christopher Ecclestone; Toast of London, starring Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison; Chasing Shadows, an underrated drama with Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith) and Alex Kingston (River Song); The Wrong Mans, starring James Cordan (The Lodger); Edge of Heaven with Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler); Peaky Blinders, directed by Colm McCarthy (The Bells of Saint John); Casualty and Holby City, both starring Georgia Moffett aka The Doctor’s Daughter, married to David Tennant and daughter of Peter Davison; and Penny Dreadful, directed by James Hawes (The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances), with a huge host of stars including Billie Piper (Rose Tyler), Timothy Dalton (The End of Time), and Helen McCrory (Vampires of Venice).

Phew! 2014 has been a great year for quality TV!

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