Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
September was an exciting month for me in 2023. 🙂 I’ve attended two conventions where the ‘Doctor Who’ stars were there, and I’ve been on holiday in West Wales. I’ve enjoyed September 2023 greatly. 🙂 I’d like to share with you what my convention experiences and my holiday were like.
Firstly, I attended the ‘Popcorn TV, Film & Comic Con Sheffield’ at the Magna Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham on the 10th of September 2023. I stayed overnight at the local Premier Inn in Meadowhall, Sheffield. There was a heatwave going on at the time. I’m thankful for the open windows and the fan in my hotel room. 😀
At the ‘Popcorn TV, Film & Comic Con Sheffield’, I saw my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ stars, including Sarah Sutton (Nyssa of Traken) and Peter Davison (the Fifth Doctor). There were also guests like Michael Carter, Patricia Quinn, Madeline Smith, Kenneth Cranham, Ian McCulloch, Shauna MacDonald and Oliver Smith. Some have been in ‘Doctor Who’ too. 🙂
My main priority was seeing Sarah and Peter at the ‘Popcorn’ event, as this was my first comic con/convention in 2023. It was good to start off the 60th anniversary celebrations of ‘Doctor Who’ at conventions by seeing my favourite Doctor and companion before going on my West Wales holiday.
As well as ‘Doctor Who’, there were other sci-fi related celebrations, including ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel superheroes like Spider-Man. I took photos of cosplayers dressed up as Captain America, Spider-Men, Darth Vader and even the Mandalorian. It was fun to see these cosplayers at the event.
I immediately saw Sarah Sutton as soon as I walked into the main hall where the signings took place. It was lovely to see Sarah again and she was pleased to see me, especially as it’d been a long time since we last saw each other in Newcastle in 2022. I had some great chats with Sarah at ‘Popcorn’. 🙂
Sarah signed my first ‘Forty’ CD box set cover (which contains ‘Secrets of Telos’ and ‘God of War’) as well as my ‘Timeslip’ box set cover for ‘The Age of the Death Lottery’. I gave Sarah a new version of ‘The Nyssa Challenge’ and Nyssa’s timeline, and I informed her about my 60th anniversary stories. 🙂
I reassured Sarah that ‘Interdimensional Rescue’ and ‘The Thirteen+ Doctors’ featured Nyssa in them. Sarah liked ‘The Thirteen+ Doctors’ as the title for my epic three-part 60th anniversary ‘Doctor Who’ story. I had my selfie photo taken with Sarah. Buggles and Cuddles had their selfie taken with Sarah too. 😀
It was also good to see Peter Davison at ‘Popcorn’. Peter signed my first ‘Forty’ CD box set cover as well and he signed one of my Blu-ray covers for ‘The Power of the Doctor’. Apparently, Peter had his Panama hat from ‘The Power of the Doctor’ at the event. He wore that hat during the photo shoots.
I chatted to Peter about him being in ‘A Very Peculiar Practice’, which I’d seen recently on Britbox. It was intriguing to get his insight into the series and how he found Andrew Davies’ writing better than some of the writing featured in ‘Doctor Who’. I told Peter that I found it to be ‘a very peculiar’ series.
I’m glad I made Peter laugh at that when I said it. We also commented how his appearance in ‘The Power of the Doctor’ clashed with his appearance in Series 2 of ‘The Larkins’ at the same time on TV. Apparently, he and Bradley Walsh discussed this fact too. 😀 I also had a selfie photo taken with Peter that day.
I attended the panel talk featuring Peter and Sarah, conducted Bunny Galore. I enjoyed the panel talk, especially as I got to ask Peter and Sarah a question about whether they would have liked to have done Christmas Specials in their time in ‘Doctor Who’. Both of them said “Yes” to that question.
Peter discussed how Christmas Specials can often be challenging to produce, especially when they’re being filmed during the summertime. Sarah mentions that she technically did do a Christmas Special when she played Alice in 1973’s ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’. So, I believe that does count here.
There was a moment where a Dalek interrupted the panel talk and wanted to ask Peter and Sarah a question. It asked what their favourite monsters in ‘Doctor Who’ were. Peter and Sarah gave different answers like Cybermen and such. I don’t think the Dalek was pleased with their answers. 😀
Later, I had a photo shoots with Peter and Sarah. I had one with Peter only, then one with Peter and Sarah, and then one with Sarah only. If you’re wondering why Peter is doing that pose in the threesome photo, I don’t know either. Perhaps he’s wondering why I don’t have my arm around him as well as Sarah. 😀
I also managed to conduct an interview with Sarah, which I recorded on my phone. We did the interview under an arch. I’m amazed that Sarah copes well when we do our interviews in peculiar places. She told me that we’re professionals. 🙂 I’m very happy that I got to interview Sarah that day.
Please feel free to check out my latest interview with Sarah Sutton in the YouTube video below.
The day finished with me saying goodbye to Sarah and Peter. I gave Sarah a copy of the picture of Snuggles, Bethan and Puddles I recieved earlier this year, since I know she likes dogs and I thought she would like the picture. She certainly liked the picture, and it was the first time she became aware that I once had a sister. 🙂
She told me, “In all the years I’ve known you, I didn’t know you had a sister.” It was nice to share with Sarah about Bethan, since I didn’t know when the right time was to tell her about my sister at a convention. I wished Sarah well and told her I was looking forward to seeing her at the next event. 🙂
‘Popcorn TV, Film & Comic Con Sheffield’ was a successful day for me in seeing Sarah Sutton and Peter Davison at a convention. I’m glad I got to see them again after such a long while. I’m currently looking forward to seeing Sarah and Peter again at the ‘Scarborough Comic Con’ later this year in November.
It was good to see my two favourite ‘Doctor Who’ stars before I met up with my parents for our family holiday in West Wales. I’m pleased I got to have my photos taken with Sarah and Peter, and the highlight for me was chatting to Sarah, especially throughout the interview that we did together.
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for my holiday report on Amroth, West Wales in September 2023, which is coming soon.
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
Bradley's Basement 
Thank you for this very special Doctor Who update, Tim.
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Hi scifimike,
Glad you enjoyed my latest convention report on the ‘Popcorn TV, Film & Comic Con Sheffield’ in September this year.
Tim 🙂
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