P.R.O.B.E.
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P.R.O.B.E.
''P.R.O.B.E.'' is a series of direct-to-video science-fiction films mostly written by Mark Gatiss and produced by BBV Productions. It was the first live-action ''Doctor Who'' spin-off series. The series features Caroline John as Liz Shaw, working for the Preternatural Research Bureau. Many former ''Doctor Who'' actors, including former Doctors Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, appear in the series playing different roles. (Due to licensing restrictions, no overt reference to The Doctor is permitted.) ''Doctor Who'' alumna Louise Jameson co-stars with Caroline John in the original four films, as Patricia Haggard. Originally released on VHS, the series was not widely available on video. When an interviewer commented to series author Mark Gatiss that he had never seen the series, Gatiss replied "No, and you never will. One, they're not available. And two, I forbid it. Christ, for all I knew, they were the only things I would ever get to make. And I lear ...
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Bill & Ben Video
BBV Productions is a UK-based video and audio production company founded in 1991, specialising in science fiction drama. The company has expanded to include publishing of novels and scripts associated with its productions. Origin Company co-founder Bill Baggs is a longtime fan of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and BBV productions often involve characters or actors from that series. It was originally founded as "Bill & Ben Video". The "Ben" in the company name is the nickname of Bill Baggs's wife and fellow company co-founder, Helen. Marian Baggs, the mother of Bill Baggs, also operated a second distribution chain on behalf of BBV. Video BBV's first production was ''Summoned by Shadows'' (1991), co-produced with the BBC Film Club. Partly as a homage to ''Doctor Who'', which Baggs was a fan of, and partly in a pragmatic attempt to take advantage of a pre-existing audience, ''Summoned by Shadows'' was a ''Who''-style tale of strange doings on a distant ...
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Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton and Jeremy Dyson, he is a member of the comedy team ''The League of Gentlemen''. Early life and education Gatiss was born in Sedgefield, County Durham, England, to Winifred Rose (née O'Kane, 1931–2003) and Maurice Gatiss (1931–2021). He grew up opposite the Victorian psychiatric hospital there, and later in Trimdon, before his father, a colliery engineer, took a job as engineer at the School Aycliffe Mental Hospital in Heighington.Mark Lawson Talks to Mark Gatiss His family background is working class. His passions included watching ''Doctor Who'' and Hammer Horror films on television, reading Sherlock Holmes and H.G. Wells, and collecting fossils. All those interests have influenced his creative ...
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Louise Jameson
Louise Jameson (born 20 April 1951) is an English actress with a wide variety of television and theatre credits. Her roles on television have included playing Leela in ''Doctor Who'' (1977–1978), Anne Reynolds in ''The Omega Factor'' (1979), Blanche Simmons in '' Tenko'' (1981–1982), Susan Young in '' Bergerac'' (1985–1990) and Rosa di Marco in ''EastEnders'' (1998–2000). In 2022, she joined the cast of ''Emmerdale'' as Mary Goskirk, having previously appeared on the show in 1973 as Sharon Crossthwaite. According to Screenonline, Jameson "was one of a handful of actresses who both benefited from and contributed to the opening out of roles for women on British television during the 1970s and 80s, when she became associated with a series of tough, resourceful and independent characters in genres where women had conventionally been either victims or vamps." Biography Early life and career Jameson was born in Wanstead, Essex and grew up in nearby Woodford Green. Jameson a ...
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Liz Shaw
Elizabeth "Liz" Shaw is a fictional character played by Caroline John in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs. A civilian member of UNIT, an international organisation that defends Earth from alien threats, she was the companion of the Third Doctor for the 1970 season. Liz appeared in 4 stories (25 episodes). Appearances Television Liz Shaw first appears in the first serial of the seventh season (1970), ''Spearhead from Space'', having been drafted from the University of Cambridge by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart as a scientific advisor to UNIT. She is a brilliant scientist, an expert on meteorites, with degrees in medicine, physics and a dozen other subjects. Her extensive training, however, is still pale in comparison to the Doctor's own knowledge of the universe and scientific principles far beyond those of Earth. Sceptical at first of UNIT's ambit to defend against alien invasion, Shaw changes her mind when she encoun ...
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Peter Davison
Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor with many credits in television dramas and sitcoms. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan Farnon in the BBC's television adaptation of James Herriot's '' All Creatures Great and Small'' stories. Davison's subsequent starring roles included the sitcoms '' Holding the Fort'' (1980–1982) and '' Sink or Swim'' (1980–1982), the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in '' Doctor Who'' (1981–1984), Dr. Stephen Daker in ''A Very Peculiar Practice'' (1986–1988) and Albert Campion in '' Campion'' (1989–1990). He also played David Braithwaite in ''At Home with the Braithwaites'' (2000–2003), "Dangerous" Davies in ''The Last Detective'' (2003–2007) and Henry Sharpe in '' Law & Order: UK'' (2011–2014). Early life Davison was born to Claude and Sheila Moffett in Streatham, London. Claude was originally from British Guiana (no ...
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Reece Shearsmith
Reeson Wayne "Reece" Shearsmith (born 27 August 1969) is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is best known for being a member of ''The League of Gentlemen'', alongside Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. With Pemberton, he later created, wrote and starred in the sitcom ''Psychoville'', as well as the dark comedy anthology series, ''Inside No. 9''. He has also had notable roles in ''Spaced'' and '' The World's End''. Early life Shearsmith was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, as Reeson Wayne Shearsmith. He attended Andrew Marvell High School and then Bretton Hall College of Education where he met Mark Gatiss and Steve Pemberton. Career 1995–2005: Career beginnings and ''The League of Gentlemen'' ''The League of Gentlemen'' began as a stage act in 1995, transferred to Radio 4 as ''On the Town with The League of Gentlemen'' in 1997 and then arrived on television on BBC Two in 1999. The latter saw Shearsmith and his colleagues awarded a British Acad ...
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Caroline John
Caroline Frances John (19 September 1940 – 5 June 2012) was an English actress. She played classical roles on the stage and also portrayed Elizabeth "Liz" Shaw in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', as well as several other television roles. Early life and education John was the third of eight children born to Vera (''née'' Winckworth), an actress and singer, and Alexander John, a theatre director. She was educated at St. Joseph's convent school, Crackley Hall in Kenilworth. After training at the Central School of Speech and Drama, she worked in theatre and toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre Company. She appeared in '' Juno and the Paycock'' in a 1966 production directed by Laurence Olivier, ''King Lear'', ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead'', ''The Merchant of Venice'' and as Hero in Franco Zeffirelli's production of ''Much Ado About Nothing''. ''Doctor Who'' John played the role of the Doctor's companion in 1970 ...
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Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the universe in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS. The TARDIS exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. With various companions, the Doctor combats foes, works to save civilisations, and helps people in need. Beginning with William Hartnell, thirteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; in 2017, Jodie Whittaker became the first woman to officially play the role on television. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the series with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation, a plot device in which a Time Lord "transforms" into a new body when the current one is too badly harmed to heal normally. Each acto ...
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Colin Baker
Colin Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor who played Paul Merroney in the BBC drama series '' The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' from 1984 to 1986. Baker's tenure as the Doctor proved to be a controversial era for the series, which included a hiatus in production and his subsequent replacement on the orders of BBC executive Michael Grade. Early life Colin Baker was born in Waterloo, London, England. He moved north to Rochdale with his family when he was three years old. He was educated at St Bede's College, Manchester, where he passed A' Levels in French, Latin and Greek. Particularly strong in Latin and Greek, Baker achieved 2 A grades. He studied law at a London college and subsequently trained to become a solicitor. At the age of 23, Baker enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Career Early work in television Baker's numer ...
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Sophie Aldred
Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series ''Doctor Who'' during the late 1980s, becoming the final companion in the series' first run. Early life Aldred was born in Greenwich, London, but grew up in nearby Blackheath. She sang in the church choir of St James', Kidbrooke, and attended Blackheath High School from 1973 until 1980. She then enrolled as a drama student at the University of Manchester. She graduated in 1983 and decided to embark on a career in children's theatre. She also sang in working men's clubs around Manchester. Career In 1987, Aldred was cast as Ace in ''Doctor Who'', initially for '' Dragonfire'', the final story of the twenty-fourth season. Her tenure on the show spanned the last nine stories of the programme's original run, which ended in 1989. In January 199 ...
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Charles Kay
Charles Kay (born Charles Piff, 31 August 1930) is an English actor. Early life Kay was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, the son of Frances (née Petty) and Charles Beckingham Piff. Originally educated at Warwick School, Kay went on to study medicine, then decided to train for the stage. He went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and in 1957, after graduation, joined the Radio Drama Company by winning the Carlton Hobbs Bursary.Carlton Hobbs Bursary winners
at BBC.co.uk, accessed 23 January 2018 He went on to join the at the

Patricia Merrick
Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word ''patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United States according to the 1990 US Census. Another well-known variant of this is "Patrice". According to the US Social Security Administration records, the use of the name for newborns peaked at #3 from 1937 to 1943 in the United States, after which it dropped in popularity, sliding to #745 in 2016.Popularity of a NameSocial Security Administration''ssa.gov'', accessed June 26, 2017 From 1928 to 1967, the name was ranked among the top 11 female names. In Portuguese and Spanish-speaking Latin-American countries, the name Patrícia/Patricia is common as well, pronounced . In Catalan and Portuguese it is written Patrícia, while in Italy, Germany and Austria Patrizia is the form, pronounced . In Polish, the variant is Patrycja. It is also used in ...
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