Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s the final instalment of the ‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon on ‘Bradley’s Basement’ today, so let’s talk about Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor. 🙂 Ncuti has just begun his era, which includes his introduction in ‘The Giggle’ and his first full-on adventure in ‘The Church on Ruby Road’.

At this point, we’re just getting to know him, but I think Ncuti Gatwa has made a very good impression so far. I’ve enjoyed his tremendous energy in playing the Fifteenth Doctor and he works well with Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday. I’m looking forward to checking out more of his adventures.

Before checking out Ncuti as the Doctor on TV, I wrote cameos of the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby in my 60th anniversary story ‘The Thirteen+ Doctors’. I didn’t know what their characters would be like then. I judged from the interaction between Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson in videos. 🙂

Hopefully, I’ve done the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby justice and they match well to how they’re portrayed in ‘The Church on Ruby Road’. The Fifteenth Doctor comes across as very likeable. He’s very fond of Ruby, as established when saving her as a baby from the goblins on Christmas Eve in 2004.

It’s clear that Ncuti as the Fifteenth Doctor is a musical Doctor. This is demonstrated in the juke box that the Fifteenth Doctor has in his TARDIS, as seen in ‘The Giggle’, and when he and Ruby are singing and dancing to the goblins in ‘The Church on Ruby Road’. This is to be illustrated again in the upcoming Beatles story. 😀

The Fifteenth Doctor also seems to like changing outfits when having adventures. This is previewed not just in the upcoming Beatles story, but also when he and Ruby are seen to be visiting Regency England. How the stories will turn out remains to be seen, but it’ll be exciting to see the Doctor and Ruby’s adventures in the past.

There’s not much to go on in terms of summarising the Fifteenth Doctor’s character when we’ve just started his era, but hopefully, Ncuti Gatwa will deliver some brilliant performances as the Doctor. I’m looking forward to how he and Millie Gibson as Ruby will fare well in being the new TARDIS duo.

Now let’s summarise how the past 60 years of ‘Doctor Who’ have been. For me, ‘Doctor Who’ began in 2005 and 2006 with Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. Since then, I’ve been able to get into the classic TV series and I’ve enjoyed it a lot as well as more of the new TV series over the years.

I’ve also enjoyed ‘Doctor Who’ in its other mediums, including the Big Finish audios, books and comics. From my enjoyment of ‘Doctor Who’ in the TV series – both classic and new – and other mediums, I’ve formed my preferences regarding what eras of the TV show I’ve enjoyed very greatly.

My favourite Doctors are Peter Davison, David Tennant and Jodie Whittaker and my absolute favourite ‘Doctor Who’ companion is Sarah Sutton as Nyssa. It’s also been nice to enjoy various other eras of the TV series with Doctors such as William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Tom Baker, etc.

There’s no denying that I have my ups and downs about every era of ‘Doctor Who’. I’ve shared my thoughts on them in the various reviews I’ve published on ‘Bradley’s Basement’, including on the TV stories and other mediums like audios, books and comics. Some of my reviews can be very critical. 😐

But hopefully, most of my reviews have had good balances of positives and negatives throughout them. Very often, the positives outweigh the negatives. There are bound to be things that I criticise a lot about certain ‘Doctor Who’ stories, including how certain continuities don’t match up to others.

Regardless of that, I still hold ‘Doctor Who’ in high regard and continue to enjoy it through the TV show and other mediums. I’ve a lot to be thankful for in terms of checking out ‘Doctor Who’ as a TV series – both classic and new. I’ve enjoyed going to conventions and I’ve written my own ‘Doctor Who’ stories.

And of course, I’ve created my ‘Doctor Who’ timelines, which have been very popular on ‘Bradley’s Basement’. ‘Doctor Who’ as a TV series has earned its place in its 60-year-run, with a variety of stories told by many writers and performed by many amazing actors who’ve played their characters.

And thus, we’ve come to what is a bit of an end on ‘Bradley’s Basement’. Back at the start of January 2023, I began sharing my ‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon with my review on the very first ‘Doctor Who’ TV story with William Hartnell called ‘An Unearthly Child’. Here is where the marathon ends. 🙂

“It’s the end, but the moment has been prepared for.” We started with William Hartnell as the First Doctor in the marathon, and here we end the marathon with Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor. I didn’t think I would get to complete the 60th Anniversary Marathon and I’m very pleased that I did.

I want to thank everyone who has been very supportive in joining me on this endeavour on my blog. The 60th anniversary celebrations have kept me very busy, and it’s been a challenge to balance the marathon with other things, including writing up my 60th anniversary story ‘The Thirteen+ Doctors’.

Thankfully, the hard work paid off and I’m very glad I kept everyone entertained with me sharing my thoughts on every story in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series – both classic and new – as well as sharing summaries on every season and sharing reflections on the many incarnations of the Doctor on TV. 🙂

Hopefully, 2024 will be a less busy year for me in terms of sharing ‘Doctor Who’ reviews and stories and I’ll be able to catch up on things I haven’t been able to do reviews on, including the upcoming ‘Nyssa Challenge’ mini-review season and updating reviews on stories based on the latest ‘Collection’ Blu-ray box sets.

There are also more stories to tell on my blog, including the upcoming ‘Sunfire Chronicles’ stories as well as me sharing the rest of the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Billy series. Please feel free to check out my reviews and stories on ‘Bradley’s Basement’, including both ‘Doctor Who’ and non-‘Doctor Who’.

The ‘Doctor Who’ TV series will continue in 2024, and it’ll be Series 14 with Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson as Ruby. I’m sure you’re looking forward to that as much as I am. In the meantime, please keep safe; go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I’m not mistaken in mine.

Many thanks for reading and best wishes!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂