Monthly Archives: June 2023

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Silver Nemesis’

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

Whilst ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’ is one of the stories of the 25th anniversary season of ‘Doctor Who’ – Season 25 – it’s not the actual anniversary story to celebrate 25 years of the show. It’s actually ‘Silver Nemesis’, a three-part adventure by Kevin Clarke, starring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace. The TARDIS duo find themselves up against Neo-Nazis, Lady Peniforte and Cybermen, when on a quest to search for a living metal statue called Nemesis. Is this a worthy anniversary story to celebrate 25 years of ‘Doctor Who’, or do I think ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’ is better? ‘Silver Nemesis’ can be checked out on DVD and Britbox. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Happiness Patrol’

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

We’re now on the second story of Season 25 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. It’s time for ‘The Happiness Patrol’, a three-part story by Graeme Curry, starring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace. This is quite a politically-charged ‘Doctor Who’ adventure that has the Doctor and Ace visit a world where ‘unhappiness is a crime’. They have to thwart the efforts of Sheila Hancock as Helen A and there’s the monstrous Kandy-Man, that looks like he’s made out of liquorice allsorts and not jelly babies. 😀 Is this is a ‘Doctor Who’ story that wins me over? ‘The Happiness Patrol’ can be checked out on DVD and Britbox. Continue reading

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

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

It’s time for the 25th anniversary season of ‘Doctor Who’ – Season 25 – starring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace. We begin with my absolute favourite story from the Sylvester McCoy/Seventh Doctor era called ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’, a four-part adventure by Ben Aaronovitch. This story has the Seventh Doctor and Ace travelling back in time to the year 1963 where they visit Coal Hill School in Shoreditch, London. We’re also introduced to the Counter-Measures team, including Simon Williams as Group Captain Gilmore, Pamela Salem as Rachel and Karen Gledhill as Allison. ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’ can be checked out on DVD and Britbox. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – Season 24 Summary

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

Season 24 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series is rated as the worst season ever made. Whilst I agree there is too much humour in the four stories of Sylvester McCoy’s first season as the Seventh Doctor and there needs to be balance of drama and humour, I don’t find this season to be terrible. 🙂 Continue reading

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

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

Here we are on the fourth and final story of Season 24 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, starring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Bonnie Langford as Mel. Gosh, this season went by quickly, didn’t it? 😀 We’re also introduced to new companion Sophie Aldred as Ace, and there’s the departure of Bonnie Langford as Mel. This is ‘Dragonfire’, a three-part adventure by Ian Briggs. The story also features the return of Tony Selby as Sabalom Glitz, and it features guest stars like Edward Peel and Patricia Quinn. Many ‘Doctor Who’ fans rate this story as being the best one out of Season 24. Do I agree with that notion? ‘Dragonfire’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Delta and the Bannermen’

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

It’s time for us to have a look at my favourite story out of Season 24 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, starring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Bonnie Langford as Mel. Today, it’s time for ‘Delta and the Bannermen’, a three-part adventure by Malcolm Kohll. Most of this story takes place at a holiday camp in South Wales in 1959. There are special guest stars like Don Henderson, Belinda Mayne, Richard Davies, Stubby Kaye, Morgan Dearne, Hugh Lloyd, Sara Griffiths and of course Ken Dodd. This is definitely a classic ‘Doctor Who’ adventure to check out during a summer heatwave. 😀 ‘Delta and the Bannermen’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Paradise Towers’

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

We come to one of my favourite stories in Season 24 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series (Yes, I know what I said 😀 ), starring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Bonnie Langford as Mel. This is ‘Paradise Towers’, a four-part adventure by Stephen Wyatt. This story takes place in a futuristic tower block and features special guest stars like Richard Briers, Clive Merrison, Brenda Bruce and Judy Cornwall. Despite this being one of my favourite stories in Season 24, does that mean I can’t identify faults in some of the writing and the performances of the cast? ‘Paradise Towers’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Time and the Rani’

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

And welcome to the Sylvester McCoy/Seventh Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’! 🙂 Let’s begin by taking a look at Season 24, Sylvester McCoy’s first season as the Seventh Doctor. This is considered one of the worst seasons ever made in the entire ‘Doctor Who’ series? Do I agree with that, or do I find something of value in each story of Season 24? Well, let’s check out the first story of the season called ‘Time and the Rani’, a four-part adventure by Pip and Jane Baker. Sylvester McCoy is joined by Bonnie Langford as Mel and Kate O’Mara as the evil Rani. There’s also the introduction of the monstrous Tetraps. ‘Time and the Rani’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox. Continue reading

CD Review – ‘Vampire of the Mind’ (Doctor Who)

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

We’ve finished checking out the Colin Baker/Sixth Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’ in the 60th Anniversary Marathon, so it’s fair we close things off by checking out one of the Big Finish audios, starring Colin Baker’s Doctor. We do that by continuing to check out ‘The Two Masters Trilogy’, a multi-Doctor audio trilogy released by Big Finish in 2016. We’re checking out the second story today! Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – Reflection on the Sixth Doctor

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

Many would argue that Colin Baker’s era as the Sixth Doctor is one of the shortest eras in ‘Doctor Who’, especially since he did at least two seasons in the TV series. Thankfully, Colin Baker has been able to make so many ‘Doctor Who’ stories through the Big Finish audios compared to the TV series. Continue reading