Tag Archives: maureen o’brien

Audio Reviews – ‘The Cloud Exiles & Other Stories’ (Doctor Who)

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

And welcome to this year’s ‘Nyssa Challenge’ mini-review season from December 2025 to January 2026! 🙂 It’s a Christmas tradition that’s been going for the past 10 years (unless you reschedule a ‘Nyssa Challenge’ mini-review season for Easter 2024 instead of Christmas 2023, but that’s beside the point) where I share brand-new and updated reviews on certain ‘Doctor Who’ stories featuring Nyssa of Traken, my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ companion, as played by Sarah Sutton in the TV series and the Big Finish audios. I’m looking forward to sharing with you some brand-new reviews on certain ‘Doctor Who’/Nyssa stories that have come out this year as well as share updated reviews on certain stories I’ve already covered but have revisited recently. Continue reading →

Blu-ray Review – ‘The Celestial Toymaker’ (Doctor Who)

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s Bank Holiday Monday in August in the UK (England, Wales and Northern Ireland to be precise) in 2024 today. Here’s my updated review on the ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘The Celestial Toymaker’. This updated review is based on the latest in a line of mostly missing black-and-white ‘Doctor Who’ TV stories from the 1960s that have been animated on DVD and Blu-ray for today. The story stars William Hartnell as the First Doctor, Peter Purves as Steven Taylor and Jackie Lane as Dodo Chaplet. This story also features Michael Gough in the titular role of the Toymaker. Continue reading →

Season 2 of ‘Doctor Who’ with William Hartnell on Blu-ray #9

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time to check out the ninth and final story of Season 2 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series called ‘The Time Meddler’. This is a four-part story by Dennis Spooner, starring William Hartnell as the First Doctor, Maureen O’Brien as Vicki and Peter Purves as new companion Steven Taylor. In this story, our heroes visit Northumbria on the planet Earth in the year 1066. It’s a time where the Vikings are about to invade the home of the Saxons, and the Battle of Hastings is to take place in that year. But the Doctor discovers Peter Butterworth as the Meddling Monk, who’s about to tamper with the course with Earth’s history. Can our heroes uncover why the Monk is doing this? Is the Monk all he seems to be? How is it that the Doctor and the Monk know each other so well? Continue reading →

Season 2 of ‘Doctor Who’ with William Hartnell on Blu-ray #8

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Here we are on the penultimate story of Season 2 of the classic ‘Doctor Who‘ TV series. It’s time for another one of my favourite stories from the William Hartnell/First Doctor era – a six-part adventure called ‘The Chase’, featuring the third appearance of the Daleks on TV. This story is notable for featuring the debut of Peter Purves in ‘Doctor Who’ where he plays Morton Dill in the third episode and Steven Taylor in the sixth episode. Steven Taylor becomes a new ‘Doctor Who’ companion after this story. There’s also the introduction of the Mechanoids in this story. ‘The Chase’ also features the departure of TARDIS regulars William Russell as Ian Chesterton and Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright, who have been in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series since the beginning. Continue reading →

Season 2 of ‘Doctor Who’ with William Hartnell on Blu-ray #7

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time to check out what is regarded the weakest story out of the nine stories featured in Season 2 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series called ‘The Space Museum’, a four-part story by Glyn Jones. The story has the TARDIS jumping a time-track and our heroes – William Hartnell as the First Doctor, William Russell as Ian, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara and Maureen O’Brien as Vicki – have to avert a future where they end up dead in boxes in display at a futuristic Space Museum on the planet Xeros, run by the militaristic Moroks. The story also features special guest star Jeremy Bulloch as Tor, the Xeron leader. Jeremy Bulloch would go on to play Hal the Archer in ‘The Time Warrior’ and be the body of Boba Fett in the original ‘Star Wars’ film trilogy. Continue reading →

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

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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

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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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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

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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

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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 →