Monthly Archives: August 2024

Cinema Experience – ‘Spider-Man 3’

Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

Here are my thoughts on seeing ‘Spider-Man 3’, the third and final ‘Spider-Man’ film of the Tobey Maguire/Sam Raimi film trilogy, which was shown recently at cinemas this year. This is part of the marathon of the eight live-action ‘Spider-Man’ movies being shown at cinemas in the UK from August to September in 2024. Continue reading

Season 2 of ‘Doctor Who’ with William Hartnell on Blu-ray #6

Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

In today’s instalment of our look into Season 2 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series via its Blu-ray box set, we come to what’s considered an oddity in the season. Not so much on the story, but the fact that it happens to be an incomplete story featured in the story. It’s time for the four-part story ‘The Crusade’ by David Whitaker, which has two of the four episodes still remaining. The first and third episodes are intact whilst the second and fourth episodes are filled in by telesnap reconstructions on ‘The Crusade’s Blu-ray disc. The story stars William Hartnell as the First Doctor, William Russell as Ian, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara and Maureen O’Brien as Vicki. There are also special guest stars Julian Glover as Richard the Lionheart and Jean Marsh as Joanna, King Richard’s sister. Continue reading

Season 2 of ‘Doctor Who’ with William Hartnell on Blu-ray #5

Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

Today in our look of Season 2 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series via its Blu-ray box set, it’s time to check out one of the most ambitious ‘Doctor Who’ stories ever made from the William Hartnell/First Doctor era. It’s time for ‘The Web Planet’, a six-part adventure by Bill Strutton. This story has our heroes – William Hartnell as the First Doctor, William Russell as Ian, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara and Maureen O’Brien as Vicki – visiting the planet Vortis. On the planet, there are a variety of insect-like aliens, including the butterfly-like Menoptera, the ant-like Zarbi, the worm-like Larvae Guns (Venom Grubs), the woodlice-like Optera and the spider-like Animus. Continue reading

Novelization/Audiobook Review – ‘Doctor Who – The Romans’

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Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

Just in case you missed it today, I’ve updated my review on the Target novelization/audiobook of the ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘The Romans’ by Donald Cotton. This story features the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki, as they visit Italy in 64 A.D. where Emperor Nero reigns in Rome. The 2023 audiobook for ‘Doctor Who – The Romans’ is read by seven narrators – Tim Treloar, Jamie Glover, Dan Starkey, Clare Corbett, Jon Culshaw, Maureen O’Brien and Louise Jameson. Was revisiting ‘The Romans’ Target novelization with its audiobook well-worth it for me? Continue reading

Season 2 of ‘Doctor Who’ with William Hartnell on Blu-ray #4

Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

It’s time for one of my favourite stories out of Season 2 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series as well as my favourite story from the William Hartnell/First Doctor era. Today, we’re taking a look at ‘The Romans’, a four-part historical adventure where our heroes – William Hartnell as the First Doctor, William Russell as Ian, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara and Maureen O’Brien as Vicki – get to visit Italy in 64 A.D. They start in a Roman villa in Assisium before ending up in Rome where the fifth Emperor – Derek Francis as Caesar Nero – reigns. This is a ‘Doctor Who’ historical adventure that is injected with a lot of comedy by the story’s writer Dennis Spooner, who’s also the script editor on Season 2. Continue reading

Season 2 of ‘Doctor Who’ with William Hartnell on Blu-ray #3

Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

Today, we’re on the third story in Season 2 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series on Blu-ray. It’s time for ‘The Rescue’, a two-part story that introduces Maureen O’Brien as Vicki, a new ‘Doctor Who’ companion who joins William Hartnell as the First Doctor, William Russell as Ian and Jacqueline Hill as Barbara in the TARDIS. This story also features special guest star Ray Barrett as Bennett. Ray Barrett is well-known for voicing John Tracy and the Hood in ‘Thunderbirds’. There’s also the monster-like Koquillion, played by Sydney Wilson. 😀 Will the Doctor, Ian and Barbara help Vicki when she and Bennett are terrified of Koquillion after crash-landing on the planet Dido? Continue reading

Season 2 of ‘Doctor Who’ with William Hartnell on Blu-ray #2

Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

It’s time to check out the second story in Season 2 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series on Blu-ray, and it’s a very significant story in the TV show’s history. Today, we’re checking out ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’, which is the second TV story to feature the evil pepperpots. William Hartnell as the First Doctor is joined by William Russell as Ian, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara and Carole Ann Ford as Susan, as they help the rebels in London on Earth in the 22nd century to battle against the Daleks, as they’ve invaded and occupied the planet for a long time. This story also features the final regular departure of Carole Ann Ford as Susan from the classic TV series. Continue reading

Cinema Experience – ‘Spider-Man 2’

Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

Here are my thoughts on seeing ‘Spider-Man 2’, the second ‘Spider-Man’ film of the Tobey Maguire/Sam Raimi film trilogy, which was shown recently at cinemas this year. This is part of the marathon of the eight live-action ‘Spider-Man’ movies being shown at cinemas in the UK from August to September in 2024. Continue reading

Season 2 of ‘Doctor Who’ with William Hartnell on Blu-ray #1

Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

Here we are, everyone! I’ve been able to update my reviews on the nine stories featured in Season 2 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, since it was re-released on Blu-ray back in December 2022. For the next two weeks, I’ll be sharing my updated thoughts on each of the nine stories in Season 2. The season stars William Hartnell as the First Doctor, William Russell as Ian and Jacqueline Hill as Barbara. Carole Ann Ford stars as Susan in the first two stories of Season 2, Maureen O’Brien stars as Vicki in the rest of the season, and Peter Purves stars as Steven in the last two stories. Continue reading

Quick DVD Review – ‘The Dog Who Saved Summer’

Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer holidays so far or whether you’re just about to go on a summer holiday. So far, in the UK, we’ve had one week of a heatwave at the end of July leading into August, and we seem to have gone back to having rain again. Summer 2024 isn’t that good so far. 😀 Continue reading