Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley.
I’ve had a great couple of weekends lately, as I’ve attended two conventions one after the other. At the end of March, I attended ‘MegaCon Live Birmingham’ at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham. At the start of April, I attended ‘Capitol Cutaway’ in Hammersmith, London.
I think it’s fair to say, I’ve enjoyed Birmingham more than London, but I still found the two weekends exciting and worthwhile. What was especially worthwhile in attending these weekends was seeing my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ star – Sarah Sutton (Nyssa of Traken). 🙂
Originally, I intended to see Sarah at ‘Capitol Cutaway’ in Hammersmith after seeing her and other ‘Doctor Who’ stars at ‘Happy Who Year’ in Epsom back in January. Then she was announced for ‘MegaCon Live Birmingham’ three weeks before the event happened.
Seeing Sarah for two convention weekends was irresistible for me. I’m pleased I saw her for both Birmingham and London, especially as she was there for both Saturday the 29th of March and Sunday the 30th of March at the NEC. It was a nice dream come true for me.
Sarah was also joined by Paul McGann and Sophia Myles for the weekend event. Paul McGann is well-known for playing the Eighth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’ and Sophia Myles played Madame de Pompadour in the ‘Doctor Who’ episode ‘The Girl in the Fireplace’. 🙂
Let me share with you how the two days went for me. Everything went according to plan for me, including seeing Sarah for signing sessions, chats, photo shoots and panel talks throughout the two days. I also recorded a special video sketch with Sarah that weekend.
I stayed overnight at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole hotel for two nights. I arrived via train on Friday and went home via train on Sunday. The train journey wasn’t far for me, and I’ve been to the NEC in Birmingham many times over the years to know the territory well.
The last time I attended a comic con event like ‘MegaCon Live Birmingham’ at the NEC in Birmingham was at the ‘Collectormania 27’ event featuring Jodie Whittaker as a guest in September 2022. I didn’t think I’d see Sarah Sutton again at another NEC comic con soon.
Day 1 (Saturday 29th March 2025)
Going into the NEC on Saturday, there was plenty to see including cosplayers and various merchandise stalls. As expected, there were plenty of Daleks patrolling the walkways of Halls 17 to 20 at the NEC. I’m thankful none of the Daleks exterminated me that weekend.
Even Davros was there. As well as a Silent and Weeping Angels. 😀 There was the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man from ‘Ghostbusters’ on display as well as plenty of R2-D2s from ‘Star Wars’. Spider-Man, my favourite Marvel superhero, also attended the event.
It was great seeing Sarah Sutton on Saturday. We had nice catchups throughout the day as well as having a selfie. Sarah signed my CD cover of the fourth and final ‘Timeslip’ audio story she was in called ‘The Time of the Tipping Point’. We enjoyed chatting about it.
I think the ‘Timeslip’ audio series by Big Finish has come to an end by this stage, although I hope there’ll be a return for Sarah as Charlotte Trent in her own box set. Sarah told me that she enjoyed working with Spencer Banks and Cheryl Burfield in the ‘Timeslip’ audios.
Sarah and I chatted about her website. Apparently, there’ll be a charity auction of Big Finish scripts coming soon via her website to raise money for the Elizabeth Foundation for Deaf Children. I’m looking forward to the auction, which I hope will be soon this year.
One of the biggest highlights for me with Sarah was that we got to record the April Fools sketch for my ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog this year. I’m pleased I got to record the April Fools sketch with Sarah to celebrate 10 years of my blog. I’m sure she enjoyed doing it too. 🙂
It was good to see Paul McGann. I got to chat to him, have my ‘Terror Firma’ CD cover signed by him, and have a selfie with him. Paul recognised me from the last time we met at the ‘Devcon Sci-Fi, Toy, Film & Comic Fair’ in Plymouth in March 2024, which is nice. 🙂
‘Terror Firma’ is a story that features the Eighth Doctor, Charley and C’rizz against Davros and the Daleks. It’s a shame Paul’s Doctor never got to confront the Daleks on TV, though he did tell me that he would’ve faced them if the ‘Doctor Who’ USA TV series happened. 😐
There were panel talks with Paul McGann’s at 11:15, Sophia Myles’ at 12:00, and Sarah Sutton’s at 12:30. I enjoyed all three panel talks and I got to ask them a question each. I asked Paul about him being in the ITV ‘Marple’ film ‘Sleeping Murder’ with Geraldine McEwan. 🙂
I asked Sophia about her being in ‘Nicholas Nickleby’ with Charles Dance and James D’Arcy. And I asked Sarah about whether she would’ve preferred ‘Black Orchid’ as a four-parter instead of a two-part story to allow her time to think more about Ann Talbot as a character.
I enjoyed all answers from all three of them at their panel talks. I especially found myself helping Sarah with remembering things during her panel talk, including that the Longleat ‘Doctor Who’ convention took place in 1983 and that she did 48 episodes of ‘Doctor Who’. 😀
During a catchup with Sarah, I helped her to sign a photo for a fan with a memorable line she said as Nyssa in the TV show. We workshopped ideas before we came up with “Like you, I’m indestructible” from ‘Terminus’. I’m very pleased that I helped Sarah with that. 😀
Later, I had professional photos taken with the guests. This includes a group shot of me with Sarah, Paul and Sophia, an individual shot of me with Paul, and an individual shot of me with Sarah. The three photo shoots I had with Sarah, Paul and Sophia were such a joy.
I also took some shots of a TARDIS console room display from the William Hartnell era, I believe, and a giant green dragon. I also met the Mandalorian from ‘Star Wars’ and took a photo of him. I told him, “This is the way”, and he replied, “This is the way”, which is great.
There was a fascinating display of bronze ‘Doctor Who’ items at the event, including a bronze Dalek, a bronze TARDIS console with a blue TARDIS top and a green dress (?), a Clockwork Droid and a bronze K-9. There was also a ‘Finding Nemo’-like display that day.
Day 2 (Sunday 30th March 2025)
Sunday was equally enjoyable as Saturday. At the Hilton Birmingham Metropole, I saw Sarah Sutton at breakfast that morning. We said hello to each other whilst having breakfast. Apparently, Sarah had the full works whilst I had a small breakfast that day. 😀
When me and the attendees were waiting to go into the comic con that day, we were met by R2-D2 from ‘Star Wars’, which was funny to see. Once we got in, I took a photo of a red Dalek as well as Davros. I found myself talking to the Dalek when I was taking its photo. 🙂
It was so good to see Sarah again at her signing table. I shared a Mother’s Day joke with Sarah, which she enjoyed, and we also chatted about Amsterdam. I shared with Sarah that I’m thinking about going to visit Amsterdam sometime and she gave me some travel tips.
It was interesting to hear from Sarah that she and the ‘Doctor Who’ crew didn’t have the Eurostar to get to Amsterdam to film ‘Arc of Infinity’, as they had to get there via plane. Sarah strongly advised me to get my passport first, as I’ll need that to go to Amsterdam. 🙂
There was a panel talk with Sophia Myles and Sarah Sutton at 11:00, which I enjoyed. It was intriguing to hear them share their experiences of being in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. I asked them how their appearances in the Big Finish audios compared to the TV show. 🙂
And yes, Sophia Myles has been in a Big Finish audio story of ‘Doctor Who’, which is the two-parter ‘Kill the Doctor!’/’The Age of Sutekh’ with Tom Baker and Louise Jameson. I’ve yet to hear that audio story. I hope I’ll get a chance to hear the story with Sophia in it soon.
There was then the professional photos with the guests, which I enjoyed. I had another group photo with Sarah Sutton, Paul McGann and Sophia Myles, I had an individual photo with Sophia, and I had a individual photo with Sarah. I’m happy I’ve had photos with them.
I saw Sarah Sutton again to have my CD box set cover of ‘The War Master’ story ‘Killing Time’ signed by her. It was nice to chat to Sarah about her ‘War Master’ episode with Sir Derek Jacobi as the Master. I know she greatly enjoyed acting opposite him in that episode.
I had another selfie with Sarah on Sunday, and we had Cuddles, my cute cuddly toy dog, joining us in the photo. 😀 Sarah and I also chatted about drama TV shows like ‘The Marlow Murder Club’, ‘Grantchester’ and the recent ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ TV series. 🙂
I got to meet Sophia Myles for the first time at her table. It was lovely to meet her. I believe she had her dog with her that weekend. 😀 We chatted some more about her in ‘Nicholas Nickleby’, and she signed a photo of herself as Lady Penelope in the 2004 film ‘Thunderbirds’.
I purchased a mini-toy version of the Blue Ranger from ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ on Sunday. I’m hoping I can get back to checking out and reviewing more ‘Power Rangers’ episodes as soon as possible, especially since I enjoyed ‘Power Rangers’ as a kid in the 1990s.
I took a photo of bronze Dalek that was almost like an Ironside Dalek from ‘Victory of the Daleks’ with the tray and the Empty Child standing nearby. 😀 I also took photos of some superhero cosplayers, including ones dressed as characters from the ‘Daredevil’ series.
Sarah was finishing early that day, so I got to see her for one more session before we parted company and said goodbye. I had a lovely time chatting to Sarah and I got to show her four of my latest YouTube reactions on two of the ‘Doctor Who’ stories that she’s in. 🙂
This includes me dubbing over Colin Baker as Maxil in ‘Arc of Infinity’, me reacting to Sarah as Nyssa screaming in ‘Arc of Infinity’, me reacting to Peter Davison’s Doctor throwing a chair in ‘Terminus’, and me reacting to Nyssa reading from a small print-out in ‘Terminus’.
Sarah enjoyed my reactions to those moments in the two ‘Doctor Who’ stories she’s in, saying that they’re funnier than the jokes I share with her, which is so ironic. 😀 We said goodbye, looking forward to seeing each other next week at ‘Capitol Cutaway’ in London.
As I was leaving, I saw Sophia Myles who waved at me. I couldn’t leave without having a selfie with Sophia and I’m very pleased that she agreed to let me have one with her. It was lovely meeting Sophia for the first time at a convention. I hope I will see her again soon. 🙂
‘MegaCon Live Birmingham 2025’ was a fantastic weekend for me. I greatly enjoyed seeing Sarah Sutton for both days and it was good to see Paul McGann and Sophia Myles that weekend too. I enjoyed the autograph sessions, the photo shoots and the panel talks.
I’m pleased I was able to record my April Fools sketch with Sarah a few days before I shared it via YouTube on the 1st of April itself. The chats I had with Sarah were very fruitful. I greatly cherish the friendship I’ve developed with Sarah over the years during those two days.
I was looking forward to seeing Sarah again the following weekend at ‘Capitol Cutaway’ in Hammersmith, London. It wouldn’t be the same as ‘MegaCon Live Birmingham’, but I hoped it would be a nice day to see Sarah again as well as some other ‘Doctor Who’ stars.
Stay tuned for my convention report on ‘Capitol Cutaway’ very soon.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
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