Did you spot Mark Gatiss’ sneaky cameo in The Dead Room?

The new ghost story’s writer and director couldn’t resist including a small part for himself

Published: Monday, 24 December 2018 at 10:30 pm

Mark Gatiss’ new ghost story for Christmas The Dead Room had a small but intriguing cast including veteran thesp Simon Callow and Bodyguard’s Anjili Mohindra – but did you notice that Gatiss himself also had a small role in the spooky drama?

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Listen closely during The Dead Room’s mind-bending, 70s-infused final moments and you might notice the writer, director and actor providing the voice of a radio announcer working during the 1976 heat wave, chatting about the latest news in a segment beamed directly from haunted actor Aubrey Judd’s (Callow) memories.

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“Mr Denis Howell, up til now Minister for Sport, has been appointed Minister for Drought by the Prime Minister Mr Callaghan,” Gatiss reads in a vintage news broadcast.

“With the temperature still hitting 30 degrees centigrade and a whopping 89 degrees Fahrenheit, there’s no let-up in sight. Mustn’t grumble, eh John?”

It’s not a massive surprise that Gatiss managed to find himself a part in his latest project – after all, when co-creating the BBC’s smash-hit Sherlock he managed to bag one of the biggest parts as Mycroft Holmes – but it’s still a nice little detail that you might not have spotted on first watch. Especially if you were as terrified at the end as we were….

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The Dead Room is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer

Authors

Radio Times commissioning editor Huw Fullerton. He sits in front of a shelving unit, looking at the camera and smiling. He wears glasses and has a moustache

Huw FullertonCommissioning editor

Huw Fullerton is a commissioning editor for Radio Times magazine handling comedy, entertainment and specialist drama. In a previous regeneration, he covered all things sci-fi and fantasy for RadioTimes.com.

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