Hello everyone.

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

After attending the ‘Christmas with the Doctor’ convention in Andover last Sunday, I was (and am) saddened to discover that John Leeson, the actor who voiced K-9, the Doctor’s robotic dog companion in ‘Doctor Who’, passed away recently. It’s such a loss. 🙁

Tim Bradley with John Leeson and K-9 at the ‘London Film & Comic Con 2011’, Earl’s Court, London, July 2011

K9 from ‘The Stones of Blood’ signed by John Leeson (‘Tailwags to Tim from your friend K-9!)

The first time I met John Leeson at a convention was at the ‘London Film & Comic Con’ in July 2011. I had a great time meeting John for the first time at that convention. I chatted with him, had a signed photo of K-9 from him and I had a lovely photo with him and K-9. 🙂

Over the years since then, I’ve met John Leeson at multiple conventions, including ‘Regenerations 2011’ in Swansea, September 2011, ‘Project Motor Mouth 2’ in Slough, August 2013, ‘Timey Wimey 1’ in Brighton, November 2014, ‘Bournemouth Film & Comic Con’ in August 2015, and ‘London Film & Comic Con’ in July 2017. Six times I’ve met John Leeson at conventions and all of them are filled with happy memories of him. 🙂

Seán Carlsen, John Leeson and Louise Jameson with Charlie Ross at ‘Regenerations 2011’, Swansea, September 2011

Tim Bradley with Matthew Waterhouse, Lisa Bowerman, Sarah Sutton, Louise Jameson, Sophie Aldred, John Leeson, Carole Ann Ford, Katy Manning, Janet Fielding, Anneke Wills, Deborah Watling and Lalla Ward at ‘Project Motor Mouth 2’, Slough, August 2013

Tim Bradley with Wendy Padbury, John Leeson, Sophie Aldred, Louise Jameson and Sarah Sutton at ‘Timey-Wimey 1’, Brighton, November 2014

Tim Bradley with John Leeson at the ‘Bournemouth Film & Comic Con 2015’, August 2015

Tim Bradley with John Leeson at the ‘London Film & Comic Con’, Olympia, July 2017

I’ve enjoyed John Leeson as the voice of K-9 in a variety of ‘Doctor Who’ productions including TV and audio. I’ve had my CD covers of ‘Shada’ signed by John, including the 2003 Big Finish audio production of ‘Shada’ with Paul McGann and the unabridged audiobook of the ‘Shada’ 2012 BBC novelization, read by Lalla Ward. I’m happy I’ve had them signed by John.

John Leeson has also signed my copy of ‘Novel Adaptation, Volume 2’, which includes the audio story ‘The Well-Mannered War’. I’ve also had my CD cover of ‘The Sands of Life’ signed by John. 🙂 The Big Finish audios certainly gave John a nice chance to shine as K-9.

Tim Bradley’s CD cover of ‘Shada’ signed by Paul McGann, Lalla Ward, John Leeson and Nicholas Pegg

Tim Bradley’s CD cover of ‘Doctor Who – Shada’ signed by Lalla Ward and John Leeson

Tim Bradley’s copy of ‘Novel Adaptations, Volume 2’ (‘The Well-Mannered War’) signed by John Leeson

Tim Bradley’s CD cover of ‘The Sands of Life’ signed by John Leeson and David Warner

As well as playing K-9, John Leeson has also been in non-K-9 roles over the years in the ‘Doctor Who’ universe. This includes playing Dugeen in ‘The Power of Kroll’ as well as Anthony the D.J. in the Reeltime Pictures video production ‘Downtime’, released in 1995.

Outside of ‘Doctor Who’, John Leeson has been in episodes of ‘Dad’s Army’, ‘Allo, ‘Allo’, ‘Blake’s 7′ and ‘Sorry!’. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, I enjoyed checking out John Leeson’s ‘Myth Makers’ interview, which is in ‘The Doctors: The Tom Bakers Years’ DVD.

John Leeson in ‘The Sands of Life’.

John Leeson meant so much to many people in the ‘Doctor Who’ community, including those who worked with him and the fans. It’s so sad to think he’s no longer with us, as I’ll always have very happy memories of meeting him as well as of him as the voice of K-9. 🙂

I’m pleased I met him at six conventions over the years. I’ve greatly enjoyed checking out his TV and audio appearances, both as K-9 and in other roles over the years. I hope to continue to do so in the future, especially when checking out the audiobooks read by him.

I’ve especially enjoyed his readings of ‘The Invasion of Time’ and ‘The Ribos Operation’. John Leeson was more than just the voice of K-9. He always came across as enthusiastic and very friendly whenever I met him. I’ll always cherish those memoires of him in future years. 🙂

Definitely affirmative! 🙂

My prayers and thoughts go out to all of those who are the friends and family of John Leeson during this difficult time.

Thanks for reading, everyone.

Bye for now.

Tim