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This page aims to list occurences of cross-overs between two television shows. That is,
characters have appeared or there have been explicit references (but not of the simple type
where it is remembered or referenced as a television show, such as a modern
day sitcom referring to the Daleks). I am also excluding connections between actual spin-off
shows (such as any connections between, say, Man About The House and George And Mildred).
This list is also limited purely to British shows on the basis that I know that this kind of thing
was quite commonly done with lots and lots of US shows that I have never heard of! There is also
a comprehensive list of these American examples at
Poobala.com.
The shows are listed below, indexed first by the programme in which the cross-over
occurred, and then the programme referenced. If you know of any others then please
let me know.
Brookside - Emmerdale
When the Yorkshire soap opera featured the plot involving a plane crash, a newspaper
was seen in "Brookside" which had a headline concerning an air crash on a Yorkshire
village. This was at the time when "Brookside" creator Phil Redmond was also
working on "Emmerdale".
Chalk - Press Gang
Steven Moffat's much maligned school comedy contained a number of references
to Moffat's earlier show which are listed elsewhere on this site.
Chelmsford 123 - Doctor Who
This Roman era set sitcom from the 80s featured a cameo appearance from the TARDIS, which appears
in the background of a wood. The Doctor (seen in silhouette) emerges and looks around for a bit before
returning to the TARDIS which then departs.
Cracker - Prime Suspect
This is probably not a true cross-over but was a special sketch as part of the 1997 Comic Relief
telethon called "Prime Cracker" where DI Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) and Fitz (Robbie
Coltrane) teamed up to solve a crime. However, despite the seriousness of the original
shows, this latter cross-over was played as a comedy - in particular featuring
a song and dance routine for Tennison and Fitz!
The Detectives - Bergerac & The Paradise Club
An episode of the Jasper Carrott/Robert Powell comedy ("Studs") featured an appearance by
John Nettles and Terence Alexander playing Jim Bergerac and Charlie Hungerford. The following
episode ("Strangers In Paradise") featured Leslie Granthan playing Danny Kane, his character
from The Paradise Club.
Doctor Who - EastEnders
Another charity special, this one from Children In Need in 1993 to celebrate the Doctor's thirtieth anniversary.
Portrayed as two part Doctor Who story called "Dimensions in Time", it featured the Doctor visiting
Albert Square in 1973, 1993 and 2013 and featured many members of the then current cast of the soap opera.
Notably, the future set scenes pre-empted the real future of the show by having Pauline Fowler refer to the death
of her husband Arthur, something which happened in the real show a few years later.
Father Ted - Ballykissangel
The 1996 Father Ted Christmas special ("A Christmassy Ted")
featured a dream sequence in which Dervla Kirwan
and Stephen Tompkinson appear playing their Ballykissangel characters.
Goodnight Sweetheart - Dad's Army
The first episode of the second series of the time travelling sitcom (called "Don't Get Around Much Anyway")
features a sequence when Nicholas Lyndhurst's Gary Sparrow visits a bank during
the Second World War and
is met by the Mainwaring and Wilson, the manager and assistant manager, who are
played by look-a-likes for Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier. However, Gary does recognise
them as characters from a 70s comedy and has problems taking them seriously.
The New Statesman - Roll Over Beethoven
When Piers gets married, one of his guests is rock star Nigel Cochrane, the main character from an earlier
comedy by Marks and Gran (although only his car is seen).
Preston Front & Border Cafe - Once Upon A Time In The North
Writer Tim Firth has tied together three of his television shows in the form of the character
of Morris Tollit, a lorry driver with an Apache spirit guide called Geronimo. This character
was a regular in Once Upon A Time In The North but was mentioned in an episode of Preston Front
and subsequently appeared in an episode of Border Cafe (but played by a different actor).
2 Point 4 Children - Health And Efficiency
I may be breaking my spin-off rule here, but one episode in series two of Andrew Marshall's
comedy featured an appearance by Victor Maguire as a hospital doctor. Maguire then went on
to play essentially the same character in Marshall's hospital comedy.
The Vicar Of Dibley - Ballykissangel
As with "Prime Cracker" above, this was the subject of a special sketch as
part of the 1997 Comic Relief special. It was called "Ballykissdibley" and featured Stephen Tompkinson's
Father Clifford visiting the village of Dibley and meeting Dawn French's Geraldine Grainger.
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