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'Thrones' baddie David Bradley delighted to finally play 'Doctor Who'

By Karen Butler
David Bradley attends the world premiere of new Bond film "Spectre" in London on October 26, 2015. The actor says he has completed work on the "Doctor Who" Christmas special. File Photo by Paul Treadway/UPI
David Bradley attends the world premiere of new Bond film "Spectre" in London on October 26, 2015. The actor says he has completed work on the "Doctor Who" Christmas special. File Photo by Paul Treadway/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 24 (UPI) -- David Bradley says he has completed his work on the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas special, Twice Upon a Time, which will feature him as the First Doctor and Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor.

Best known for playing Argus Filch in the Harry Potter franchise and Walder Frey on Game of Thrones, the 75-year-old, British actor is no stranger to the Whoniverse.

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Bradley played original First Doctor portrayer William Hartnell in the television docu-drama An Adventure in Space and Time. Bradley then took over the late Hartnell's role of the First Doctor in the most recent Doctor Who season finale on the BBC and he will reprise the character in a series of First Doctor audio plays to be produced by Big Finish after the television Christmas special airs.

"It was such a pleasure because instead of playing an actor playing the part, I was playing the part and I can, at last, say, 'Yes, I will have been Doctor Who.' But, before I was playing William Hartnell, who played Doctor Who. So, it was great that they came up with such a great storyline for the Christmas special because it was such an honor and a pleasure to play [Hartnell] in Adventure in Space and Time, but to get the big Christmas episode with Peter Capaldi was such a pleasure to do. So, I am very excited about that, as well," Bradley told UPI in a recent phone interview.

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With credits that also include The Strain, Broadchurch and Spectre, Bradley admitted he is reveling in what he describes as his "recent good fortune, which has been surprising."

The actor has this month been on the promotion trail for director Brian O'Malley's gothic horror film The Lodgers, which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Irish period drama casts Bradley as the unlucky man who handles the finances for a pair of mysterious siblings.

Asked if he has been looking for respite from some of the darker material he has been a part of lately, Bradley replied: "Yes, I'd like one of those parts where you come to the French windows and ask if anyone wants to play tennis or have a gin and tonic or something, [wearing] a smart suit. ...

"Because I've been wearing a lot of grunge over the years," he laughed, adding he also did "a little bit" in a Channel 4 comedy series with Richard E. Grant in the United Kingdom. "It's nice to do something light and funny, but I just love the variation of work, really."

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