Tag Archives: william hartnell

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

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 Blu-ray Box Set Review – ‘Carry On: Collection 1’

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

My Dad purchased the first Blu-ray collection of the first four ‘Carry On’ films recently. I greatly enjoyed checking out these British comedy films, since they’re very entertaining. There’s ‘Carry On Sergeant’, ‘Carry On Nurse’, ‘Carry On Teacher’ and ‘Carry On Constable’ in the Blu-ray set of films. 🙂 Continue reading

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

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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 – ‘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

Quick TV Review – ‘The Daleks in Colour’ (Doctor Who)

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

Okay, let me be clear about something. I love the first ‘Daleks’ story with William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill and Carole Ann Ford in ‘Doctor Who’. It’s one of the best William Hartnell/First Doctor era stories in the classic TV series. One I’ll happily revisit on DVD and Britbox. 🙂 Continue reading

Quick TV Reviews – ‘Talking Doctor Who’ & ‘Doctor Who at 60: A Musical Celebration’

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

On the 1st of November 2023, before I went away for my weekend to attend the ‘Scarborough Comic Con’, I saw two items to celebrate 60 years of ‘Doctor Who’. These were originally shown on BBC Four, and I caught up with them on BBC iPlayer. I found these very nice celebrations to check out. 🙂 Continue reading

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

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

The time has come for ‘The Day of the Doctor’ by Steven Moffat – the 50th anniversary special of ‘Doctor Who’. This was shown on BBC TV on the 23rd of November 2013. It stars Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald, Billie Piper as the Moment and John Hurt as the War Doctor. There are special guest stars like Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, Ingrid Oliver as Osgood and Joanna Page as Queen Elizabeth I. The story also features the Daleks as well as the return of the Zygons, who previously appeared in their first TV story ‘Terror of the Zygons’. There are surprise guest cameos of Doctors and companions that a keen ‘Doctor Who’ fan would need to look out for. 😀 This is a ‘Doctor Who’ anniversary special that’s highly rated by the fans. Do I agree with that? Do I think that this is a better anniversary special than ‘The Five Doctors’, the 20th anniversary special? Does it cover everything that I want to celebrate about 50 years of my favourite TV show? Are there things that I like about ‘The Day of the Doctor’? 😀 ‘The Day of the Doctor’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading