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

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

How fitting that on the 8th of May – my birthday as well as a Bank Holiday – we look at another one of my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ stories from the Fourth Doctor era as well as the actual finale to Season 17 of the classic TV series. This is ‘Shada’, a six-part adventure by Douglas Adams, featuring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Lalla Ward as Romana and K-9, voiced by David Brierley. This story was never shown on TV in 1979, but thankfully it has been completed with animation and was released in 2017. You can check out the feature-length 2017 film version of ‘Shada’ on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox and you can check out the exclusive six-part 2021 version of the story on Blu-ray.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Horns of Nimon’

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

Here we are on one of the most infamous ‘Doctor Who’ stories shown on screen called ‘The Horns of Nimon’. This classic four-part ‘Doctor Who’ adventure by Anthony Read has a pantomime feel to it that many people loathe, yet somehow, I have a soft spot for it. 😀 ‘The Horns of Nimon’ ended up being technically the finale to Season 17 of the classic TV series; but it’s actually the penultimate story of the season. The story stars Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Lalla Ward as Romana and K-9, voiced by David Brierley, with guest stars Graham Crowden as Soldeed, future ‘Blue Peter’ presenter Janet Ellis as Princess Teka and the minotaur-like Nimon. ‘The Horns of Nimon’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Nightmare of Eden’

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

Today, on King Charles’ coronation in the UK ( 😀 ), it’s time for the fourth story of Season 17 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series called ‘Nightmare of Eden’. This four-part story by Bob Baker is infamous for its behind-the-scenes issues. The story stars Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Lalla Ward as Romana and K-9, voiced by David Brierley. In ‘Nightmare of Eden’, the theme of drug-smuggling is addressed and we’re introduced to a new race of monsters called the Mandrels. ‘Nightmare of Eden’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Creature From The Pit’

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

We’re now on the third story of Season 17 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. This is ‘The Creature From The Pit’, a four-part story by David Fisher. As well as Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Lalla Ward as Romana, there’s K-9 (now voiced by David Brierley). This story also features guest stars like Myra Frances, Eileen Way and Geoffrey Bayldon. Is the titular creature as scary as it sounds or will it end up being ridiculous? 😀 ‘The Creature From The Pit’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘City of Death’

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

It’s time to check out my absolute favourite Fourth Doctor/Tom Baker era ‘Doctor Who’ story. Here we are on ‘City of Death’, a four-part story by ‘David Agnew’ (pseudonym for David Fisher, Douglas Adams and Graham Williams). This is the second story in the classic TV series of ‘Doctor Who’, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Lalla Ward as Romana. There are also special guest stars like Julian Glover, Catherine Schell, Tom Chadbon, David Graham, Peter Halliday, John Cleese and Eleanor Bron. ‘City of Death’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox.

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

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

And welcome to Season 17 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series! This is the season where Douglas Adams (author of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’) is the script editor. It’s Tom Baker’s sixth season as the Fourth Doctor, Graham Williams’ third and final season as producer, and Lalla Ward’s first season as the second Romana. To start off the season, we look at ‘Destiny of the Daleks’, a four-part story by Terry Nation which features the Daleks of course, the return of Davros (played by David Gooderson) and introduces the robotic Movellans. ‘Destiny of the Daleks’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Armageddon Factor’

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

We’ve come to the end of ‘The Key to Time’ season…

“Mayday, mayday, mayday!”

Oh yeah, it’s Bank Holiday Monday in May in the UK today. Fitting it should be on the 1st of May too. 🙂

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

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

Today, we’re taking a look at the fifth and penultimate story of ‘The Key to Time’ season (Season 16) in the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. This is the second story in ‘The Key to Time’ season to be penned by Robert Holmes (his first was ‘The Ribos Operation’). ‘The Power of Kroll’ is a four-part story, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Mary Tamm as Romana. K-9 doesn’t feature in this story, though John Leeson gets to play a human character called Dugeen in this. The story also features Philip Madoc (well-known for being in the ‘Dad’s Army’ episode ‘The Deadly Attachment’ as well as three ‘Doctor Who’ stories and a ‘Doctor Who’ movie beforehand) as Fenner. ‘The Power of Kroll’ can be checked out on DVD and Britbox.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Androids of Tara’

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

It’s time for the fourth story in ‘The Key to Time’ season (Season 16) in the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series and another one of my favourites from the season. This is ‘The Androids of Tara’, another four-part adventure by David Fisher, who previously wrote ‘The Stones of Blood’. The story stars Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Mary Tamm as Romana, and K-9, voiced by John Leeson. The story also features Peter Jeffrey as Count Grendel. This swashbuckling ‘Doctor Who’ story is inspired by ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’ by Anthony Hope. ‘The Androids of Tara’ can be checked out on DVD and Britbox.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Stones of Blood’

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

Here’s another one of my favourite stories in ‘The Key to Time’ season (Season 16) of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. It’s time to check out ‘The Stones of Blood’, a four-part adventure by David Fisher. In the story, Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Mary Tamm as Romana, and K-9, voiced by John Leeson visit the planet Earth to locate the third segment of the Key to Time. They come across a stone circle where alien stones come to life and suck people dry of their blood. This is another story that helped me with my ‘Doctor Who’ writing, particularly for the ‘Fifth Doctor’ adventure ‘The Railway of Time’. 🙂 ‘The Stones of Blood’ can be checked out on DVD and Britbox.