Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
Last weekend, I attended ‘Film & Comic Con Cardiff’ at the Utilita Arena (formerly the Motorpoint Arena – Why did the name have to change?). It was a two-day event from Saturday 18th to Sunday 19th October, but I attended just the Saturday. I had a good time. 🙂
This was my third encounter with attending ‘Film & Comic Con Cardiff’ run by Showmasters Events. I’ve attended comic cons in Cardiff in 2014 and 2019. Both had Sarah Sutton (Nyssa) as a guest and many ‘Doctor Who’ guests for fans to meet and see.
‘Film & Comic Con Cardiff 2025’ at the Utilita Arena in Cardiff, October 2025
I enjoyed those events very much, especially since the event was (and is) close to home. Whilst I enjoyed ‘Film & Comic Con Cardiff’ this year, it wasn’t the same compared the previous two occasions back in 2014 and 2019, which I feel is a bit of shame, quite frankly.
Yes, Sarah Sutton wasn’t there for this event, and it would have been nice to have seen her too, but there weren’t so many ‘Doctor Who’ guests for me to see this time around. Showmasters seem to have scaled down in terms of ‘Doctor Who’ guests in recent years.
Or at least when they do, they tend to have more ‘Doctor Who’ stars at the London events as opposed to the smaller events like in Cardiff and Milton Keynes. Mind you, there sadly weren’t many ‘Doctor Who’ stars for the 60th anniversary at events run by Showmasters in 2023.
Plus, there were two things going on at the Utilita Arena. There was the comic con itself and there was the Cardiff Brick Festival involving LEGO, which you would’ve had to pay extra to go in. Both events were done on one floor. It made the place busy and crowded. 😐
It wasn’t ideal. Frankly, I wish the whole arena had been dedicated to just the comic con. In the past, people were able to gain access upstairs to have a sit in one of the balcony seats above. I couldn’t gain access to those seats with one end of the arena blocked off.
‘Film & Comic Con Cardiff 2025’ at the Utilita Arena in Cardiff, October 2025
There wasn’t much seating provided at the comic con. I ended up going out of the arena to have lunch somewhere, which is just as well, since I would’ve had to have had my lunch sitting on the floor. 😐 I did plenty of walking whilst I explored the merchandise stalls.
Not that’s a bad thing, but there wasn’t much for me to do in the morning, and I couldn’t sit in a café at the arena to take the weight off my feet. I recall the Cardiff Film and Comic Cons in 2014 and 2019 to have been better than that. How come things have changed? 😐
It’s also sad that ‘Doctor Who’ stars like Colin Baker and Maureen O’Brien had to cancel their appearances at the event. Whilst I wasn’t planning to go on Sunday to see Colin, I would’ve liked to have seen Maureen, since I’ve only met her once in Newcastle in 2015.
Did I say, “I had a good time”? Yes, yes, I did. Despite the issues I’ve raised about the event, I managed to enjoy myself. The event wasn’t so bad in the afternoon, especially with some photoshoots to enjoy. I also got to catch up with fellow fans whilst waiting for the photo shoots.
Inside the Utilita Arena, Woody and Buzz Lightyear from ‘Toy Story’ were at the event. 😀 I believe these were same Woody and Buzz Lightyear props I saw at ‘Collectormania Milton Keynes’ back in May this year. I took some photos of Woody and Buzz at the event.
There were some cosplayers I took photos of at the event. There was Wolverine, Deadpool and Harley Quinn. There was also the Green Goblin from the first ‘Spider-Man’ movie with Tobey Maguire. I’m amazed and thrilled I saw somebody dress up as the Green Goblin. 😀
I also purchased some merchandise whilst attending the comic con. I purchased two ‘Doctor Who’ books including ‘The Plotters’ by Gareth Roberts, featuring the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki, and ‘Rags’ by Mick Lewis, featuring the Third Doctor, Jo and U.N.I.T.
I also purchased the ‘Unbound’ story ‘Masters of War’ by Eddie Robson, starring David Warner as the Doctor, Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier and Terry Molloy as Davros. And I purchased a ‘Doctor Who’ notepad, which I’m hoping to make good use of quite soon. 🙂
At the event, I also purchased the first issue of the Boom Studios comic story featuring the Justice League and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I’ve heard good things said about this comic story. I’m happy I purchased Issue #1 as a souvenir from the comic con.
Tim Bradley and Millie Gibson at ‘Film & Comic Con Cardiff 2025’, October 2025
The highlight of attending ‘Film & Comic Con Cardiff’ in 2025 was seeing Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday in ‘Doctor Who’) again. This was the third time I’ve met Millie at a convention, having met her in London back in November 2024 and in Milton Keynes back in May 2025.
Millie, of course, remembered me from the previous events, and apparently, she was ‘hoping to see’ me ‘again’ at the Cardiff event. I’m very flattered that I was expected to be seen by her at the comic con. I’m pleased I’ve made a very good impression on Millie so far. 🙂
We had a lovely chat, and she said “Thank you” for the birthday chocolates I gave her back in Milton Keynes. We chatted about ‘The Forsytes’ (the new version of ‘The Forsyte Saga’) TV series, which I was looking forward to seeing on Channel 5 on the following Monday. I’ll be sharing a quick review on the series in November.
Millie signed my DVD box set cover for Series 15 of ‘Doctor Who’ as well as a photo of her as Ruby in her Regency costume from the episode ‘Rogue’. I purchased a diamond pass for Millie at the comic con. This included a free autograph as well as the ‘Rogue’ photo. 🙂
We chatted about the upcoming ‘Gallifrey’ convention she’s about to attend in Los Angeles in February 2026. I told Millie I couldn’t make that event, and she reassured me, “Don’t worry about it, babes!” 😀 I told Millie I was looking forward to seeing her in London in February 2026.
As well as Millie Gibson, I got to see Catrin Stewart (well-known for playing Jenny Flint of the Paternoster Gang in ‘Doctor Who’). This was my second encounter with Catrin at a comic con, as I first met her at a ‘Memorabilia’ event in Birmingham in November 2011. 🙂
Apparently, Catrin recognised me, and I told her how long ago it was when we last met. 😀 Back then, Catrin had only been in one ‘Doctor Who’ episode – ‘A Good Man Goes to War’. She’s come a long way since then, including both TV and Big Finish audio episodes.
I had a lovely time chatting to Catrin at the Cardiff event, especially as we recollected our time being in St. David’s Catholic College, which I attended at the same time as her from 2005 to 2007. I enjoyed chatting to Catrin about that cockney accent she put on for Jenny.
Catrin signed a photo of her as Jenny from ‘A Good Man Goes to War’, with a message saying, “Nice to meet you again!” We also chatted about ‘The Crimson Horror’ audiobook she read, which was released back in 2021. She recalled enjoying reading the audiobook. 🙂
I attended Catrin’s panel talk for a short while at around 12 o’clock that day. I took a couple of photos of Catrin’s panel talk before going to the first photoshoot at 12:20 with Millie Gibson. This was a prop photoshoot with the TARDIS, and Millie and I did a special pose.
I brought along the Target novelizations of ‘Space Babies’ and ’73 Yards’ (which I’ve yet to read) at the photoshoot. I suggested we pose like we were doing some serious reading. I read the ‘Space Babies’ book and Millie read the ’73 Yards’ book, which we enjoyed doing.
Tim Bradley reading ‘Space Babies’ and Millie Gibson reading ’73 Yards’ by the TARDIS at ‘Film & Comic Con Cardiff 2025’, October 2025
I know it’s not very clear in the photo and perhaps we should have held the books higher in the photo, but I’m pleased Millie enjoyed doing that pose with me in the photo as he held the ‘Doctor Who’ books. Millie even called me by name, thanking me once we did the photoshoot. 🙂
After having lunch at Burger King in Cardiff ( 😀 ), I returned to the Utilita Arena to have my photoshoot with Catrin Stewart at 13:35, which I enjoyed doing. The panel talk with Millie Gibson was up next. Unfortunately, all the seats had been taken and I ended standing up.
Thankfully, I asked Millie a question and she recognised me, which was great. 😀 I asked her about the ‘Ruby Red’ audiobook, which I enjoyed listening to before going to the Cardiff comic con, asking whether she enjoyed doing it and would do another audiobook.
She shared how challenging it was to read ‘Ruby Red’, thinking that she didn’t do a good job reading it, which was interesting. But she did say that she hoped to do another audiobook to redeem herself, and I hope she will since ‘Ruby Red’ is one of my favourites.
There was another photoshoot with Millie at 15:35. There was quite a lengthy queue for Millie’s photoshoot, but thankfully, with my diamond pass, I was able to have my photo with Millie early. We did a photoshoot pose where we stood back-to-back, which was nice to do.
The comic con ended for me that Saturday with one more photoshoot with Millie at 17:10. Originally, this was going to be a greenscreen photoshoot, but there was an issue with the technology. Thankfully, we were able to have the final photoshoot by the TARDIS again. 🙂
Tim Bradley and Millie Gibson pose for a toast with Coca Cola cans by the TARDIS at ‘Film & Comic Con Cardiff 2025’, October 2025
For this last photoshoot, I brought along a couple of Coca Cola cans. Because Millie as Ruby ordered a coke in ’73 Yards’, I suggested we pose for a toast in the photoshoot with the coke cans. Millie found that ‘so cute’ when we posed like we were chinking our coke cans.
Millie told me that I come up with great ideas for poses with photos. 😀 I suppose that means I’ll have to come up with some new ideas for special poses for photos next time I see her at a comic con. It’s something to think about before I see Millie again in February 2026. 🙂
The 2025 ‘Film & Comic Con Cardiff’ has been an enjoyable day out for me on the Saturday. It might not have been the busiest in terms of seeing ‘Doctor Who’ stars and the organisation might not have been the most ideal, but it was still quite enjoyable for me. 🙂
Seeing Millie Gibson again for a third time at a convention has been very worthwhile. I’m very pleased I’ve made a good impression on her so far when it comes to seeing her for autographs and photoshoots. It was also nice to see Catrin Stewart again at a convention.
The next convention I’ve got lined up is in November where I’ll be attending the ‘London Comic Con Winter’ and hope to meet Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald) for the first time. That’ll be it for me in terms of conventions in 2025 before I have my next two in early 2026.
The first one will be ‘Happy Who Year’ in Andover where I’ll reunite with Sarah Sutton. The second one will be ‘London Comic Con Spring’ where I’ll reunite with Millie Gibson. No more conventions planned after that, but I’m sure there’ll be something to look forward to.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
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