Review The BRADLEY Doctor

[Doctor Omega]

In 2017, in the final episode of the tenth series of Doctor Who, "The Doctor Falls", Bradley returned to portray the First Doctor, having previously been portrayed by Hartnell, who originally played the character.

He reprised this role in the 2017 Christmas special, "Twice Upon a Time".

This makes him the third actor to play the role in the television programme, after William Hartnell and Richard Hurndall since the premiere of Doctor Who in 1963, and at the age of 75, he is the also the oldest actor to play the role of the Doctor

And he is now reprising the role in Big Finish adventures....

Spoiler: DETOUR........

Detour back to......

THE HARTNELL DOCTOR.......

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/the-hartnell-doctor.566/


Or on to the Troughton Doctor......

THE TROUGHTON DOCTOR........

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/the-troughton-doctor.1915/

 

[Doctor Omega]

Synopsis
"10/10. The First Doctor promised to come back one day, and it’s great he’s done it in such a tour de force!” - Blogtor Who

"If you want to hear the First Doctor written correctly, and performed brilliantly, then I would recommend this without a shadow of a doubt (on The Destination Wars). This box set of First Doctor Adventures has made me see the original in a whole new light, and I can’t wait for the next volume in July!" - Gallifrey Archive

"With so many layers it really is a wonderful job...This really is all you want in a First Doctor set." Indie Mac User

"9/10 Overall, this set delivers on almost every level." - Big Blue Box podcast

"It all just works brilliantly. Big Finish have, again, used their vast reserves of professionalism and love to produce something amazing – an homage to the original world-builders that builds new worlds of its own. Genuinely, I can’t wait for volume two." - Outpost Skaro

"A very brave move by Big Finish that has paid dividends – authenticity from there scripts, professionalism in the new interpretation of the leads, pacy direction and excellent sound design, I cannot wait volume 2 to find out how things proceed. 9/10." - Planet Mondas

"‘The Destination Wars’ portrays the Master at his most dangerous" - Doctor Who Reviews

"A really promising start to a whole new era of full cast Doctor Who early adventures, futuristic human cities in space & an American gang rivalry historical, its 60's Doctor Who summarised within two stories" - The Host Productions

"James Dreyfus is instantly one of the Best Masters of all time. An inspired performance in a classic audio." - Tin Dog

"5/5 It might not seem the most obvious of ideas, but this is Big Finish and it works superbly." Cultbox

"After almost 20 years of audio production and almost 2000 Doctor Who episodes, Big Finish have managed to create something quite magical: stories which look backwards but are also refreshingly, inspiringly new. What a thrill."Doctor Who Vews

1.1 The Destination Wars by Matt Fitton

The TARDIS arrives in a gleaming utopia in the Space Year 2003. Has the Doctor truly brought Ian and Barbara home, to glimpse their future?

The world owes much to its legendary Inventor, and Susan finds herself face to face with the great benefactor. But soon, the time travellers are in a world at war and the Doctor must confront his past.

1.2 The Great White Hurricane by Guy Adams

Rival gangs turn streets into battlegrounds, and the Doctor and his friends are caught in the crossfire. They find themselves separated, and lost in the cold.

As the hunt for a fugitive turns ever more desperate, a blizzard descends. The snow keeps falling. And soon it will prove as deadly as any weapon...



Producer David Richardson
Script Editor John Dorney
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Written By: Matt Fitton, Guy Adams
Directed By: Nicholas Briggs

Cast
David Bradley (The Doctor), Claudia Grant (Susan), Jemma Powell (Barbara Wright), Jamie Glover (Ian Chesterton), James Dreyfus (The Master), Raymond Coulthard (Robac / Servers / Dalmari), Sian Reeves (Tanna), Deli Segal (Reena), Jackson Milner (Patrick), Cory English (Daniel), Carolina Valdes (Rosalita), Ronan Summers (O'Connell), Christopher Naylor (Policeman / Man with Ladder / Gang Member / Henry). Other parts played by members of the cast.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Hartnell may have had some deep faults as a man, but I think that he was a brilliant Doctor in his own right. Or rather, THE Doctor.

Richard Hurndall created his own version of the character, lacking any real authority, but being a charming creation in his own right.

Bradley is missing something in my opinion, but he has replaced it with nothing. I see no edge, no energy, no understanding of what that first Doctor was all about.

Moffat's script did not help him, but the fact that Bradley was fine with signing on to play the running gag of the Doctor being a sexist idiot suggests, to my mind, that his understanding and studying of that first Doctor, was essentially zero.

It may have seemed a great idea to take the man who had played Hartnell so well and give him an actual adventure as the character he played, but I don't think it really worked.

Maybe it was the script. Maybe it was the actor.

I suspect it was both?

I have no desire to dish out money to buy any Big Finish with this new first Doctor, but I suspect I am missing little. Just more of Bradley sounding like a confused man who has misplaced his packet of cough drop sweets, accompanied by inadequate talents trying to replace those classic companions.

* I have yet to recover from the rubbish Ben's flat bland announcement of "Wakey wakey!" from the Christmas "Special".Michael Craze may not have been the world's greatest actor, but at least he gave it some welly!

 

[Gavin]

Bradley is missing something in my opinion

I agree. I thought he captured Hartnell brilliantly in An Adventure in Time and Space, but it just didn't carry through in Twice Upon a Time. I suspect the script didn't help him, but perhaps there's also an element of him wanting to capture the memory of a real person in An Adventure in Time and Space and him wanting to put his own touch on a fictional character in Twice Upon a Time? It's hard to tell. I can rarely afford the audio stories anyway so I'll continue to save my purchases for original cast productions and unless this comes up as really good special deal it's unlikely to get my money.

 

[ant-mac]

I agree. I thought he captured Hartnell brilliantly in An Adventure in Time and Space, but it just didn't carry through in Twice Upon a Time. I suspect the script didn't help him, but perhaps there's also an element of him wanting to capture the memory of a real person in An Adventure in Time and Space and him wanting to put his own touch on a fictional character in Twice Upon a Time? It's hard to tell. I can rarely afford the audio stories anyway so I'll continue to save my purchases for original cast productions and unless this comes up as really good special deal it's unlikely to get my money.

His performance - as far as it went - was fine. The script was the problem.

It forced him to say things and display opinions that simply weren't present in William Hartnell's original performance.

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

It forced him to say things and display opinions that simply weren't present in William Hartnell's original performance.

I get the feeling that Moffat took a throwaway line from The Five Doctors and stretched it out for a 21st Century audience. As I had forgotten until recently being reminded of it, there's a scene where Doc Numero Uno tells Susan and Tegan to get tea ready for them all, and as Tegan is about to go all 80s feminist on him, the Wet Vet Doc tells Tegan that he will help, just to get her to shut up. Hartnell's Doctor had his "foolish girl" and other little quips, but he never seemed over-the-top sexist, at least not more than anyone else on 60s BBC seemed. I firmly believe that Moffat overplayed it simply to fit the narrative he wanted to tell.

Boy, Eric Seward never would have gone to such extremes. [/sarcasm]

 

[Gavin]

I get the feeling that Moffat took a throwaway line from The Five Doctors and stretched it out for a 21st Century audience.

I think that's true. I'm struggling to remember anything else in the Hartnell era that could have been construed that way. There are probably some instances but only because of the era. The Doctor has generally been relatively progressive. The only similar line was when the 2nd Doctor told Polly to get some coffee in The Moonbase, and that was only because he wanted her to hang around and spy for him.

 

[michaellevenson]

I must disagree, I thought Bradley was excellent and gave us a hitherto unknown side of the first Doctor.
There's no point bringing Doc1 back just to have a Hartnell clone. We saw a different first doctor, one alone, with no friends to gain strength from. There's nothing to prove the first Doctor wouldn't have acted like this divested of companions. How it will work in the Big Finish plays is anyone's guess but I might just give it a go.
Meantime here is Bradley sounding Davros like in IDEAL,

 

[Gavin]

I thought Bradley was excellent and gave us a hitherto unknown side of the first Doctor.

I won't disagree that he gave a great performance (as he does in everything he's in) and it was definitely an interesting approach to the character. It might be that I just need to watch the episode again to fully appreciate it. First viewing I was taken out of the story by what felt like an out of character First Doctor. It may be that on repeat viewings I'll lean more towards your viewpoint.

 

[Doctor Omega]

THE FIRST DOCTOR ADVENTURES VOLUME 01


Synopsis 1.1 The Destination Wars by Matt Fitton

The TARDIS arrives in a gleaming utopia in the Space Year 2003. Has the Doctor truly brought Ian and Barbara home, to glimpse their future? The world owes much to its legendary Inventor, and Susan finds herself face to face with the great benefactor. But soon, the time travellers are in a world at war and the Doctor must confront his past.

1.2 The Great White Hurricane by Guy Adams

Rival gangs turn streets into battlegrounds, and the Doctor and his friends are caught in the crossfire. They find themselves separated, and lost in the cold. As the hunt for a fugitive turns ever more desperate, a blizzard descends. The snow keeps falling. And soon it will prove as deadly as any weapon...

Producer David Richardson Script Editor John Dorney Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs Written By: Matt Fitton, Guy Adams Directed By: Nicholas Briggs

Cast David Bradley (The Doctor), Claudia Grant (Susan), Jemma Powell (Barbara Wright), Jamie Glover (Ian Chesterton), James Dreyfus (The Master), Raymond Coulthard (Robac / Servers / Dalmari), Sian Reeves (Tanna), Deli Segal (Reena), Jackson Milner (Patrick), Cory English (Daniel), Carolina Valdes (Rosalita), Ronan Summers (O'Connell), Christopher Naylor (Policeman / Man with Ladder / Gang Member / Henry). Other parts played by members of the cast.

 

[Doctor Omega]