Other Doctor Lives: Kiss Me, Kate (2025)

This West End production of Kiss Me, Kate was another of the recordings PBS aired for Great Performances this spring. Understandably, Next to Normal remains first in my heart, but this was a fun production too. Stephanie J. Block never disappoints, and ever since the fantastic Midsummer Night’s Dream he was in, I’m always excited when I see Hammed Animashaun pop up in something. And it was a pleasant surprise to discover that this is also an Other Doctor Lives project, thanks to an appearance from Peter Davison in a supporting role!

Bitter exes Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi are starring together in a new musical production of The Taming of the Shrew. On their opening night, backstage misunderstandings and grievances spill out onto their onstage performances. Throw in some gambling debts, a young couple with differing views on fidelity, and a pair of threatening gangsters, and you have the makings of a farce.

While Kiss Me, Kate isn’t a top-tier musical for me, I’ve always enjoyed the show. Cole Porter’s score is packed with clever, naughty lyrics, and there are so many crowd-pleaser numbers. In this production, the usual suspects brought the house down: the spectacular dancing in “Too Darn Hot,” the joyous promiscuity of “Always True to You (in My Fashion),” and of course the uproarious “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” especially as it gets into repeated refrains and the gangsters demand audience participation.

I do think it’s a show that works a little better in person, because when you’re in the room feeling the energy of the actors, it feeds the comedy and heightens the whole experience. In the recording, I can hear that the audience is absolutely rolling at the gangsters’ antics, Fred and Lilli’s onstage sparring, and so on. But even from a slight distance on the other side of my screen, there’s still plenty to enjoy.

Stephanie J. Block is a terrific Lilli, a strong-willed diva whose vulnerabilities are closer to the surface than she’d like to admit. She’s funny, she’s in excellent voice, and she has great combative chemistry with Adrian Dunbar’s Fred. I enjoy Charlie Stemp and Georgina Oruorah as Bill and Lois—Oruorah brings the house down with her delightful “Always True to You (in My Fashion.)” I of course knew that Hammed Animashaun was going to be a hoot, and he and Nigel Lindsay do a bang-up job as the two gangsters. Their scenes consistently had me grinning. Additional shoutout to Jack Butterworth as Paul. I’ve always loved “Too Darn Hot,” and he leads the dance fantastically.

Peter Davison plays Gen. Harrison Powell, Lilli’s new guy. He doesn’t show up until the second act, although we see Lilli’s phone calls with him in Act I. Harrison arrives at the theatre after Lilli has reached her limit with Fred, dramatically announcing her intention to quit the show and begging Harrison to come take her away. The main joke here is that Harrison is old and stodgy, a terrible fit for Lilli. “I can see why she fell for you,” Fred quips. “You look exactly like her grandpa.” While Lilli argues that she can depend on Harrison, Fred insists that she’ll never be satisfied with a quiet life away from the stage.

It’s a small role without much meat to it, but Davison is still enjoyable. He does a nice job playing baffled and suspicious of the theatrical antics, as well as oblivious to Lilli’s growing hesitation. My favorite bit comes when Lilli’s trying to convince him that the gangsters are forcing her to stay in the show at gunpoint. “But Harrison, I could get killed!” she insists. Aggressively American Military Man Harrison assures her, “Guns don’t kill people,” and right on cue, the gangsters pipe up, “We do!”

Accent Watch

A pretty broad American, vaguely Southern.

Recommend?

In General – I think I would. This is a fun production!

Peter Davison – I wouldn’t call it a must—Davison’s role is too small for that—but if you have any general interest in watching the show, his presence adds to it.

Warnings

A metric ton of sex jokes and innuendo, language, allusions to violence, and thematic elements.

Other Doctor Lives: Gentleman Jack: Season 2, Episode 7 – “What’s all that go to do with Jesus though” (2022)

*A few spoilers from episode 6.*

Gentleman Jack unfortunately didn’t make it past season 2, and this is Peter Davison’s last episode of the show. It’s a good one, even if we only get a brief appearance from Mr. Priestley.

In addition to her plans for her own land—which are moving full steam ahead—Anne helps Miss Walker address some issues with her property. Miss Walker has long been waiting to divide up her shared inheritance with her sister, but things have become much more complicated since she learned that her sister signed over her half of their estate to her husband. Capt. Sutherland seems hellbent on dragging out the proceedings, especially once he detects Anne’s influence in Miss Walker’s letters.

I feel like it’s not often that we see a controlling, domineering husband in Victorian period pieces who’s abusive without being overt about it. Capt. Sutherland’s abuse is potent but subtle, exerting his will over his wife by manipulating her perspective and presenting a much more mild, innocuous portrait of himself. Miss Walker has quite the time facing up to him, but she’s not about to back down, especially with Anne rallying behind her.

One byproduct of these efforts to divide Miss Walker’s estate is that a Sunday school run out of one of her properties suddenly loses its teacher. This leads into a fun montage of Anne’s steward Mr. Washington, Miss Walker, and Anne all attempting to fill in and teach the Sunday school themselves. After seeing Mr. Washington and Miss Walker both do their utmost to interest the kids in the story of the Good Samaritan, we smash cut to Anne energetically teaching them geometry. Ha!

As far as Anne’s hotel scheme is concerned, this episode finds her meeting with a young but visionary architect, Mr. Harper. I was happy to see he was played by Luke Newberry, who I loved so much as Kieren on In the Flesh. Mr. Harper is an endearing character, who has a passion for the charming details of old houses and is so dedicated to his work he forgets to eat.

Our final scene with Peter Davison comes when Mr. and Mrs. Priestley confront Mr. Washington about recent evictions on Miss Walker’s properties (again, from preparations to divide her estate.) Mrs. Priestley clearly doesn’t have much faith in her husband to be of use in this matter, which gives us this amusing exchange:

Mrs. Priestley: “Don’t.”

Mr. Priestley: “What?”

Mrs. Priestley: “Say anything.”

And to be sure, he’s not especially helpful. He knows nothing about Miss Walker’s plan to divide the estate but badly bluffs that he does. And as usual, Anne is the thorn in his side—as soon as Mr. Washington tells them about Miss Walker’s plans, Mr. Priestley grumbles, “We know who’s behind that one, don’t we?”

That’s it for Peter Davison on Gentleman Jack! Final thoughts:

Accent Watch

A soft Northern—well-to-do while also keeping those Northern vowels in a way that, say, Anne doesn’t.

Recommend?

In General – I would. It can move a bit slowly at times, but I always enjoy getting period pieces about LGBTQ folks, and the fact that these were real people makes it even more interesting.

Peter Davison – A soft maybe. While I’m not sure Davison is really in the series enough to be “worth it” watching just for him, he still brings across a strong sense of this character.

Warnings

Sexual content, scenes of violence (including discussion of sexual assault,) language, drinking/smoking, and strong thematic elements.

Other Doctor Lives: Gentleman Jack: Season 2, Episode 6 – “I can be as a meteor in your life” (2022)

*A few spoilers from earlier in the season.*

We’ve skipped over quite a bit of season 2 here—Peter Davison mostly appears toward the beginning and toward the end. As such, there’s a fair amount to catch up on here. I’ll stick as much as possible to what’s happening in this episode, just touching on the highlights of relevant info from past episodes.

No surprise, Anne is as busy as ever. She’s contemplating new ways to stop scroungers from stealing her coal, she’s looking into building an inn on some of her unused land, and she’s in the thick of some contentious local politics. Amid all this hustle and bustle, Miss Walker is feeling more ignored than ever—a cruel joke about her and Anne was printed in the paper, and Miss Walker is starting to fear she’s upended her entire life for something that Anne isn’t even serious about. She also learns some surprising news about her sister’s inheritance.

Anne’s business dealings are interesting, because she’s obviously ambitious and determined, and she’s always prepared to educate herself on the particulars she needs to know, but that doesn’t necessarily add up to sound decisions. She seems to be perpetually biting off more than she can chew, seeking professional advice while blithely ignoring any words of caution directed her way. She knows how intelligent she is, but that can sometimes put her in a position where 1) she assumes she knows better than her advisors and 2) she thinks she’s too shrewd to be cheated.

The public joke against Anne and Miss Walker occurred in the last episode, but the fallout continues here: someone had a fake marriage announcement printed in the paper, “mistaking” Anne for a man and claiming that “he” just wed Miss Walker. Anne puts on a show of indifference about the mockery in public, although she’s privately incensed. She sees it as someone trying to intimidate her, and she demands, “How dare anyone speak to me about intimidation?” Meanwhile, Miss Walker is deeply humiliated, and she doesn’t feel able to put on a brave face about it like Anne does.

This is further compounded by her creeping doubts about the depth of Anne’s feelings. A quarrel begins between them over what Miss Walker views as a dismissive reference to her in one of Anne’s letters. Miss Walker may think she isn’t strong, but she holds Anne to account here, not letting her off the hook. “‘I’m sorry if you think—’ I hate that, that’s what men say!” she argues. “‘I’m sorry if you’re so stupid that you’ve misunderstood.’” And so, when her family start trying to meddle (what else is new?), Miss Walker is perhaps a little more ready to hear what they have to say.

Mr. Priestley is attached to this plot, although we don’t see him doing this directly. While other members of Miss Walker’s family work their influence on her in person or through letters, Mr. Priestley is only guilty of attempted influence this time around—he comes to Shibden Hall to see Miss Walker, but she’s out and he runs into Anne instead. Anne purrs, “Well then, you’ve missed her, and you’ve caught me. That probably wasn’t the plan at all, was it?”

Davison does a nice job playing this absolute wet noodle of a man. Mr. Priestley is completely cowed in Anne’s presence, barely managing more than a frightened hat-tip.