Category Archives: Sci-Fi

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

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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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Hello everyone! 🙂

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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Hello everyone! 🙂

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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Hello everyone! 🙂

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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Hello everyone! 🙂

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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Hello everyone! 🙂

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 →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – Season 23 Summary

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Season 23 of classic ‘Doctor Who’ is unique for many reasons. It was the first season truncated from 26 episodes to 14 episodes. It also replaced a cancelled Season 23, since ‘Doctor Who’ had been rested for 18 months in 1985 following concerns made by BBC executives on the show’s creditability. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time to check out Season 23 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. Season 23 is a fourteen-part story called ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’, and it’s Colin Baker’s second and (sadly) final season as the Sixth Doctor. ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’ is divided into four segments, including ‘The Mysterious Planet’ by Robert Holmes, ‘Mindwarp’ by Philip Martin, ‘Terror of the Vervoids’ by Pip and Jane Baker and ‘The Ultimate Foe’ by Robert Holmes & Pip and Jane Baker. As well as Colin Baker, there’s Michael Jayston as the Valeyard and Lynda Bellingham as the Inquisitor. There’s also the Doctor’s companions Nicola Bryant as Peri and Bonnie Langford as Mel. ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox. Continue reading →