Philip Latham Movies

Doctor Who celebrated its 20th anniversary with the 90-minute special "The Five Doctors." The life of the present Doctor (Peter Davison) is jeopardized when his four previous incarnations -- played by William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, and Tom Baker -- are taken out of time by an illegal Time Scoop. Even worse, the five doctors are confronted by a seemingly endless series of past enemies, included Daleks, Cybermen, and Yetis. The climax takes place in the Forbidden Zone on Gallifrey, where the instigator of the aforementioned time-scooping forces the five doctors to engage in the potentially deadly Game of Rassilon. Can any of the doctors save themselves -- and if not, will robot dog K-9 come galloping to the rescue? The late William Hartnell appeared only in clips from the second-season episode "Invasion of Earth: Flashpoint"; he was replaced in the body of the 20th anniversary special by Richard Hurndall. Written by Terrance Dicks, "The Five Doctors" was first presented in America on November 23, 1983, two days before its British TV debut. Since that time, it has been reedited into a four-part cliffhanger for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Force 10 From Navarone was a sequel to the 1961 blockbuster The Guns of Navarone and tells the tale of ten widely divergent WW II troubleshooters who attempt to blow up a crucial bridge in Yugoslavia. As in the first Navarone film, one of the guerillas is a traitor: group leader Mallory (Robert Shaw) knows the identity of the turncoat, but can't prove it until it's almost too late. The beautiful female resistance leader is played by Barbara Bach, while Harrison Ford, fresh from his Star Wars success, is the romantic lead. Others in the cast include Edward Fox, Franco Nero and Alan Badel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This historical dramatic series, produced by the BBC, explores political and social intrigue among England's privileged classes during the Victorian era. Plantagenet Palliser (Philip Latham) weds Lady Glencora (Susan Hampshire) in a match that has more to do with power than love as Palliser enters into a career as a member of Parliament. The supporting cast includes Anna Massey, Barbara Murray, Roland Culver, and Caroline Mortimer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Christopher Lee dons the evil Count's cloak once again after an 8-year hiatus for this first "authentic" sequel to Hammer Studios' Horror of Dracula (the literal 1960 follow-up Brides of Dracula did not feature Lee). The story begins when two stuffy vacationing couples make an ill-fated stopover at Castle Karlsbad in the Carpathian mountains -- despite the warnings of the mysterious Fr. Sandor (Andrew Keir) and the near-destruction of their coach when the terrified driver runs for his life. After a slightly tedious stretch, one of the men (Charles Tingwell) is sacrificed in a bloody Satanic ritual, orchestrated by the Count's loyal manservant Klove (Philip Latham) to bring the legendary vampire back to life. The revived Count immediately sets his sights on the man's wife (Barbara Shelley), making her his undead bride; the surviving pair seek refuge in Fr. Sandor's abbey, with the undead bloodsuckers in hot pursuit. This stylish and chilling production is imbued with Gothic atmosphere by director Terence Fisher (one of his last films for the studio) and remains one of the classier entries from Hammer's heyday. Also known as Revenge of Dracula. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

This British WWII adventure film concerns a woman trapped in a prisoner of war camp and hidden by her fellow POWs from their Japanese captors. Elaine (Barbara Shelley) is a secret agent whose plane is shot down over the island of Malaya in 1944 by the Japanese. With no other recourse except capture, she enters the POW camp on the island and is hidden by Crewe (Jack Hedley) and his fellow prisoners. The Japanese realize that Elaine must be somewhere on the island, however, and when their search fails to produce her, they suspect that their prisoners know more than they are willing say. So the men are tortured one by one, and eventually a few crack and tell the truth. Elaine is then caught and also tortured. When her inquisitors realize the importance of the information Elaine carries, plans are made to send her to Singapore for interrogation at the hands of experts. The Secret of Blood Island (1965) was one of few features produced by television director Quentin Lawrence. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Bernard Lee plays an irresponsible British warrant officer who loses his post in Warsaw. Lee is reassigned to a navy underwater weapons establishment in Portland. Humiliated, he falls for the entreaties of enemy spy William Sylvester, who recruits him to steal secret papers. Lee convinces a female coworker (Margaret Tyzack) that Sylvester is a NATO agent; thus, the woman is unwittingly sucked into the spy ring. The British turncoat outsmarts himself when he begins spending more money than he makes, arousing the suspicions of the government. Ring of Spies was based on the real-life Portland espionage scandal which dominated British headlines throughout the very early 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The title refers to an astronomical phenomenon that might bring about the end of the world. The only scientist who knows for certain what's in store for mankind is brutally murdered, bringing Steed and Cathy in on the case. As the Avengers elude various villains and sidestep government cover-ups in order to get to the truth, the "dwarf" -- actually a meteor -- draws nearer and nearer to the Earth. An interesting precursor to the X-Files school of justifiable paranoia, "The White Dwarf" was written by Malcolm Hulke. First seen in England on February 16, 1963, the episode made its American TV debut exactly 28 years and nine days later. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi