TVXOHOF, NOVEMBER 2015 - PRINCESS DI

For the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, November is the month when we induct someone who is a newsmaker - a politician, many times a former President of the United States, and sometimes even those who report the news (Walter Cronkite, Murphy Brown).

As we have a "British Invasion" theme running all year, there were three major televersions I considered for the "honor": Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth II....  But the winner is:

PRINCESS DIANA

formerly

LADY DIANA SPENCER

There have been many incarnations of "Princess Di" over the years since she died in that car accident.  Like JFK, Abe Lincoln, and Marilyn Monroe, there will likely be many more.  With so many different actresses playing the role in stand-alone projects like TV movies and mini-series, all of them can be dispatched to other TV dimensions; spread the love!

But the official portrayal of Princess Diana in the main Toobworld has her interacting with established TV characters in different TV series, and we've added a TV movie destined for an alternate dimension because all three appearances were of the same actress as Diana - Nicky Lilley.

The first time she played the role was in a 2003 TV movie about "Prince William".  Because of so many recastaways of other real-life/historical figures in this dramatization of the life of Diana's oldest son.  This was followed by a video-taped flashback watched by Mike Spicer, a minor celebrity who once hosted a horrible game show.  He was presented to her at a charity event and this was the moment he was re-watching.

But the most bizarre appearance by Nicky Lilley as Princess Diana was in the second episode of 'Ashes To Ashes' in its first season.  It happened in the 1980s dream world of comatose shooting victim Detective Alex Drake so it wasn't really her.  But it was based on Alex's memories of the waking world, so it can be considered as "proof" that the Princess existed in Toobworld.

Prince William (2002)

"Midsomer Murders"
    - Hidden Depths (2005) 

"Ashes to Ashes"
    - Episode #1.2 (2008) 

I don't know how much longer Nicky Lilley can pull off this acting impersonation of Princess Diana since the Royal has a finite shelf life for her appearance.  Ms. Lilley will hopefully have a long life ahead of her and she will continue to age.  (This was a problem faced by other Toobworld characters who should have remained frozen in Time like Lt. Commander Data, River Song, and George and Marian Kirby.)

So over ten years since she started portraying Princess Diana, it could be that Nicky Lilley may have already passed the shelf date for the role.

But one other reason why I wanted to make sure Ms. Lilley is the face of Princess Diana for the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame.  Although it could be considered exploitation of Di's memory to be playing the role in the first place, Ms. Lilley has shown that she had principles about protecting that memory.

Back in 1998, Kia Motors of Korea was planning to film a blipvert in which Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed would have been seen escaping safely from the paparazzi thanks to the Kia Sephia.  (This outcome would have established a pocket dimension with a different timeline than that of the real world and Toobworld.)

The tagline for the car (to be known as Mentor in the UK)?  

"It's about time everyone had a well-made car."

Nicky Lilley was originally hired to play the role, but quit under protest because of the poor taste displayed in the commercial's storyline.   "The whole idea was sick," she said at the time. "It was like the crash wouldn't have happened if she had been in this car."

Following Ms. Lilley's objections, the production company for the blipvert changed the storyline.  

For more on the story, click here.

And that's why it will be Nicky Lilley as Princess Diana in the Hall......