When David Bradley, the veteran British actor behind such memorable roles as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films, was cast as William Hartnell in the 2013 TV movie, An Adventure in Space and Time, it was an inspired choice. Watching that film, he had Hartnell’s mannerisms down pat.
So the next, natural step would be for Bradley to play the First Doctor, in-continuity, which he will in the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special. But, one little ol’ episode can’t possibly be enough when you have the First Doctor himself, right? Audio drama producers Big Finish agree, and on Friday have announced a short series of First Doctor audio plays, starring Bradley.
The announcement was made on Friday via Big Finish’s blog, sharing the above artwork for the first set of two adventures, which will drop in January 2018 (presumably to capitalize on the First Doctor Frenzy that will no doubt happen at Christmas). Those stories are called “The Destination Wars” by Matt Fitton and “The Great White Hurricane” by Guy Adams. The second set of two (“The Invention of Death” by John Dorney and “The Barbarians and the Samurai” by Andrew Smith) will drop in July.
What’s additionally cool about this—besides getting Bradley to play the First Doctor some more—is that his companions Ian, Barbara, and his granddaughter Susan, will be played by Jamie Glover, Jemma Powell, and Claudia Grant, respectively, who also played actors original William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, and Carole Ann Ford in An Adventure in Space and Time. That’s a really great way to capitalize on people who’ve already a.) played those characters, really, and b.) did a great job at it.
Now if we could just get a series of Third Doctor adventures with Jon Pertwee’s son Sean Pertwee (Gotham) playing his father’s iconic role, I’d REALLY be a happy camper.
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