Tag Archives: michael craze

Blu-ray Review – ‘The Underwater Menace’ (Doctor Who)

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Today, I’m sharing my updated review on the ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘The Underwater Menace’. 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 Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, Anneke Wills as Polly Wright, Michael Craze as Ben Jackson and Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon. This story also features Joseph Fürst as the titular ‘underwater menace’ – Professor Zaroff. 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

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Twice Upon a Time’

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

It’s time to check out the final story of the Peter Capaldi/Twelfth Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’ and it’s the final story of the Steven Moffat era. Here we are on the 2017 Christmas Special called ‘Twice Upon a Time’ by Steven Moffat. As well as Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, he gets to meet and team up with David Bradley as the First Doctor. David Bradley played William Hartnell in the 2013 docu-drama ‘An Adventure In Space and Time’. Since then, he’s played the First Doctor more than once in the Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’. Also in ‘Twice Upon a Time’, there’s the return of Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts and the introduction of Mark Gatiss as the Captain. There are guest returns of Rusty the Dalek from ‘Into the Dalek’, Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald and Matt Lucas as Nardole. There are also small appearances of the First Doctor’s companions, including Polly (played by Anneke Wills/Lily Travers) and Ben (played by Michael Craze/Jared Garfield). With this being the last story of the Peter Capaldi/Twelfth Doctor era, does ‘Twice Upon a Time’ conclude it on reassuring and satisfying notes? ‘Twice Upon a Time’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – Season 4 Summary

 

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Season 4 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series is rather unusual in how it starts and how it ends. It begins with the last two stories of William Hartnell’s era as the First Doctor. The rest of the season is dedicated to Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor. He does well in taking over from the original actor. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Faceless Ones’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Here’s the penultimate story in Season 4 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series called ‘The Faceless Ones’. It’s here where we say goodbye to Anneke Wills as Polly and Michael Craze as Ben. In this story, Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor and his friends Polly, Ben and Jamie visit Gatwick Airport in 1966 where the alien Chameleons are causing terror. ‘The Faceless Ones’ is mostly a missing six-part TV adventure with ‘Episodes 1 and 3’ still intact whilst the rest of the story has been animated on DVD and Blu-ray. You can also see this six-part story on Britbox. 🙂 Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Macra Terror’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

In this ‘Doctor Who’ adventure called ‘The Macra Terror’, Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, Anneke Wills as Polly, Michael Craze as Ben and Frazer Hines as Jamie find themselves fighting against the menace of the Macra – giant crab-like creatures that have brainwashed a human colony. The Marca make their first appearance here in the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series before they make their return in the new series TV episode called ‘Gridlock’. This missing four-part TV adventure has been animated on DVD and Blu-ray and can also been seen on Britbox. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Moonbase’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

The Cybermen return in their second appearance in the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series! In this four-part story called ‘The Moonbase’, Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, Anneke Wills as Polly, Michael Craze as Ben and Frazer Hines as Jamie visit Earth’s moon where there’s a moonbase that can control Earth’s weather. Can the TARDIS foursome help the moonbase’s crew thwart the Cybermen’s attack on the moon? This four-part story is complete with two live-action episodes and two animated episodes. You can watch ‘The Moonbase’ either on DVD or on Britbox. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Underwater Menace’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

With Frazer Hines as Jamie joining Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, Anneke Wills as Polly and Michael Craze as Ben in the TARDIS, the foursome visit the lost city of Atlantis where the crazed Professor Zaroff is determined to blow up the Earth in ‘The Underwater Menace’. Only two episodes of this four-part ‘Doctor Who’ story are in existence. Thankfully, the missing two episodes of this story will soon receive the animation treatment as well as ‘The Smugglers’ later this year. 😀 In the meantime, you can watch the surviving episodes and telesnap versions of the missing episodes of ‘The Underwater Menace’ either on DVD or on Britbox. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Highlanders’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

We’re now on the last of the pure historical ‘Doctor Who’ adventures from the 1960s. It’s time for ‘The Highlanders’, a four-part adventure where Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, Anneke Wills as Polly and Michael Craze as Ben find themselves in 18th century Scotland. They meet a band of Highlanders and one of them happens to be Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon, who becomes the Second Doctor’s new companion in the story. 🙂 ‘The Highlanders’ can be enjoyed on audio CD or as a download from Audible. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Power of the Daleks’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Here’s the third story in Season 4 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. It’s the beginning of a new era with Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor. As Anneke Wills as Polly and Michael Craze as Ben get to know the new Doctor, he himself has to deal with the menace of the Daleks on the planet Vulcan (No, not the one from ‘Star Trek’ 😀 ). This story is now completely animated on DVD and Blu-ray, since all the episodes of the six-part story are currently missing. You can watch ‘The Power of the Daleks’ either on DVD, on Blu-ray, or on Britbox. Continue reading