Interesting Doctor Who related trivia I discovered...

[Andrew_Kearley]

Some slight confusion here. Peter Butterworth was indeed a POW in Stalag Luft III, but he was mainly involved in a different escape attempt - the one chronicled in the movie "The Wooden Horse". This was where a group of prisoners practised gymnastics in the middle of the compound, with the entrance to the tunnel being concealed beneath the vaulting horse - while the German guards watched the atheletes, they were unaware of the man inside the horse digging the tunnel. When the film was made, Butterworth went up for the part of one of the gymnasts - basically to play himself - but was rejected on the grounds that he didn't look athletic enough! He'd probably put on some weight in the intervening years.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

It really shouldn't be a surprise to see Who actors turning up in other series and films made around the same period. In the sixties and seventies, there were only around 46 actors actually working in Britain. I watch a lot of archive British tv, and it's actually very comforting to see the same actors turning up again and again.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

William Russell was also one of the Krytonian elders in the first Superman movie.

As indeed were Professor Sondergaard from "The Mutants", Ronson from "Genesis of the Daleks", and the President of Androzani.

 

[diankra]

Some slight confusion here. Peter Butterworth was indeed a POW in Stalag Luft III, but he was mainly involved in a different escape attempt - the one chronicled in the movie "The Wooden Horse". This was where a group of prisoners practised gymnastics in the middle of the compound, with the entrance to the tunnel being concealed beneath the vaulting horse - while the German guards watched the atheletes, they were unaware of the man inside the horse digging the tunnel. When the film was made, Butterworth went up for the part of one of the gymnasts - basically to play himself - but was rejected on the grounds that he didn't look athletic enough! He'd probably put on some weight in the intervening years.

You're right: I'd had a feeling since posting that it might have been The Wooden Horse rather than The Great Escape - mainly because WH was made a lot earlier (by the time of GE he was obviously 20 years older).

 

[Chaos Descending]

Some slight confusion here. Peter Butterworth was indeed a POW in Stalag Luft III, but he was mainly involved in a different escape attempt - the one chronicled in the movie "The Wooden Horse".

I'm glad you sorted out your confusion. The rest of us were on point from the get-go.

EDIT: The winking smiley face is meant to indicate that this post is intended as a light-hearted jest, in case there are any "emotion-to-text" translation errors.

 

[DimesDan]

Anjli Mohindra was in last weeks Law and Order (London) UK playing a student back packer.