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Wizards vs Aliens was a children's science fantasy television series produced by BBC Wales, that ran on CBBC from 2012-2014. The series followed the adventures of 16-year-old wizard Tom Clarke (Scott Haran) and his scientifically gifted best friend Benny Sherwood (Percelle Ascott) as they battle against the Nekross, an alien race who have come to Earth with the intention of hunting down wizards and feasting on their magical energy.
The show was created by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford and, production-wise, was commissioned to fill the scheduling gap left by the cancellation of The Sarah Jane Adventures, following Elisabeth Sladen's passing.[1]
Connections
To The Sarah Jane Adventures
A significant number of Wizards vs Aliens' production crew were inherited from its DWU predecessor. Joseph Lidster, Clayton Hickman, Joss Agnew, and Gareth Roberts were among the writers and directors to return for the new series.
In terms of actors, Dan Starkey was the only Sarah Jane actor to make an appearance in Wizards, in which he played reoccurring character Randal Moon.
Perhaps its most significant connection to its predecessor is the fifth story of its second season, The Thirteenth Floor, which was a reworked version of the unproduced series 5 script of the same name, both times written by co-show runner Phil Ford.
Another similarity it shared with Sarah Jane was its episode format, with each story consisting of two half hour episodes shown over two days.
To the wider DWU
Production crew
Daniel O'Hara, who directed Wizards' first two stories, would later go on to direct the Doctor Who episodes Under the Lake and Before the Flood.
Mark Everest, director of various episodes in the last two series', previously directed the Torchwood episode Adrift.
Paul Murphy, who directed Wizards' version of the aforementioned unused Sarah Jane script, went on to direct Robot of Sherwood and The Caretaker.
Lee Haven Jones, who directed two stories in the final series, later directed part one of Spyfall, Orphan 55, and Revolution of the Daleks.
Actors
The show's two leading actors, Scott Haran and Percelle Ascott, would both go on to appear in Doctor Who-related works following their time on the show. Haran lent his voice to two Big Finish audios, playing Malfi Pryn in The Lives of Captain Jack story The Year After I Died, and Jason Campbell in the Class story Life Experience. Ascott, meanwhile, appeared on screen in the Doctor Who episode The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos, playing Delph.
Annette Badland, who appeared throughout BBC Wales' Doctor Who's first series as Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen, had a reoccurring role in Wizards as Tom's grandmother, Ursula Crowe.
The Nekross King was an animatronic character operated by Tim Rose, and voiced by Brian Blessed.
Tom Bell, an actor who has voiced various characters for Big Finish, played technician Jathro.
Victoria Wicks, who played the High Priestess in The Fires of Pompeii, played Chancellor Kooth.
Notes
Like Doctor Who, the Australian broadcasting rights to Wizards' were held by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, with the show being aired in the country on ABC Me (formerly ABC3).