Tag Archives: anthony ainley

Season 20 of ‘Doctor Who’ with Peter Davison on Blu-ray #7

Leave a reply

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time to check out the seventh and final story in the Season 20 Blu-ray box set of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. Today, it’s time for the 20th anniversary special ‘The Five Doctors’ by Terrance Dicks, directed by Peter Moffat. This ‘Doctor Who’ story was shown in November 1983 and it features the first five Doctors (technically). There’s Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor, Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor and Richard Hurndall as the First Doctor, with Tom Baker (through ‘Shada’ footage) as the Fourth Doctor and William Hartnell (through ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ clip) as the First Doctor. There’s Janet Fielding as Tegan, Mark Strickson as Turlough, Carole Ann Ford as Susan, Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier and Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. Lalla Ward also appears (via ‘Shada’ footage) as Romana in the story. A Dalek is also in this story as well as the Cybermen, a Yeti, a Raston Warrior Robot and Anthony Ainley as the Master. Continue reading →

Season 20 of ‘Doctor Who’ with Peter Davison on Blu-ray #6

Leave a reply

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

We’re now on the sixth story of Season 20 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series and, as it turns out, the season finale. Technically, anyway. Don’t worry. There’s still ‘The Five Doctors’ for us to check out next week. In the meantime, let’s check out this two-part story by Terence Dudley, featuring the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Turlough. It’s Terence Dudley’s third ‘Doctor Who’ contribution as a writer and it’s the first and only one to be directed by Tony Virgo. The story also introduces Kamelion, a new robot companion for the Fifth Doctor, voiced by Gerald Flood, who also plays King John in this adventure. There’s also the return of Anthony Ainley as the Master in ‘The King’s Demons’. The story’s special guest stars include Frank Windsor, Isla Blair, Christopher Villiers and Michael J. Jackson. The story was filmed at Bodiam Castle, as it takes place in medieval England in the year 1215. Continue reading →

Season 20 of ‘Doctor Who’ with Peter Davison on Blu-ray #3

Leave a reply

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

In the third week of our look into Season 20 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, it’s time to check out the third story of the season called ‘Mawdryn Undead’, which is also the first story of ‘The Black Guardian Trilogy’. This is a four-part story by Peter Grimwade, who previously directed ‘Full Circle’, ‘Logopolis’, ‘Kinda’ and ‘Earthshock’ and wrote ‘Time-Flight’. The story is directed by Peter Moffatt, who previously directed ‘State of Decay’ and ‘The Visitation’. ‘Mawdryn Undead’ stars Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa and Janet Fielding as Tegan. The story features the return of Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, the introduction of new ‘Doctor Who’ companion Mark Strickson as Turlough, and the return of Valentine Dyall as the Black Guardian. There’s also David Collings as the titular Mawdryn. Continue reading →

Basement Update & Quick Review – Season 20 of ‘Doctor Who’ on Blu-ray

6 Replies

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

You may have noticed the inactivity that’s occurring on ‘Bradley’s Basement’ so far in January 2024. Rest assured, I haven’t been idle. I’m currently putting together my ‘Nyssa Challenge’ mini-review season for Easter in March and April and I’m working on ‘The Sunfire Chronicles’ set of short stories. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – Season 26 Summary

8 Replies

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Season 26 – the third and final season of the Sylvester McCoy/Seventh Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’ – is a season where the show was getting to find its feet again on arguably what stories it could have told in the 1990s. This is thanks to how script editor Andrew Cartmel handled things with the stories. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Survival’

Leave a reply

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

And here we are on the fourth and final story of Season 26 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. This is also the last story of the Sylvester McCoy/Seventh Doctor era as well as the last story of the original 1963-1989 TV series. It’s time for ‘Survival’, a three-part adventure by Rona Munro, starring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace. This story has the Doctor taking Ace home to Perivale in the year 1989 and it also features the return of Anthony Ainley as the Master. There are also the Cheetah-People with their leader Karra, played by Lisa Bowerman (who would go on to play Bernice Summerfield in the Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’). ‘Survival’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – Season 23 Summary

2 Replies

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Season 23 of classic ‘Doctor Who’ is unique for many reasons. It was the first season truncated from 26 episodes to 14 episodes. It also replaced a cancelled Season 23, since ‘Doctor Who’ had been rested for 18 months in 1985 following concerns made by BBC executives on the show’s creditability. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’

Leave a reply

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time to check out Season 23 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. Season 23 is a fourteen-part story called ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’, and it’s Colin Baker’s second and (sadly) final season as the Sixth Doctor. ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’ is divided into four segments, including ‘The Mysterious Planet’ by Robert Holmes, ‘Mindwarp’ by Philip Martin, ‘Terror of the Vervoids’ by Pip and Jane Baker and ‘The Ultimate Foe’ by Robert Holmes & Pip and Jane Baker. As well as Colin Baker, there’s Michael Jayston as the Valeyard and Lynda Bellingham as the Inquisitor. There’s also the Doctor’s companions Nicola Bryant as Peri and Bonnie Langford as Mel. ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – Season 22 Summary

4 Replies

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Colin Baker’s first season as the Sixth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’ is arguably a season that became scrutinised by the BBC executives. Criticisms laid against Season 22 were on the levels of violence in some stories and the show’s cheap-looking nature. It almost put the ‘Doctor Who’ show in jeopardy. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Mark of the Rani’

Leave a reply

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

The third story of Season 22 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series is a two-part 45-minute episode adventure called ‘The Mark of the Rani’ by Pip and Jane Baker. This story has Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri visiting the mining town of Killingworth in the 19th century. There, a group of rampaging miners are on the run with attacking people and destroying machinery. This happens to be the work of Kate O’Mara who makes her debut as the evil Rani. She’s joined by Anthony Ainley who returns as the equally evil Master. Can the Sixth Doctor and Peri stop the plans of the Rani and the Master in time? ‘The Mark of the Rani’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox. Continue reading →