Tag Archives: black guardian (dw)

Week 52a – ‘The Nyssa Challenge’

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

Happy New Year everyone! 🙂 And on the 1st of January 2026, it’s time for the final instalment of the latest ‘Nyssa Challenge’ mini-review season of ‘Doctor Who’ stories, which I’ve shared from December 2025 to January 2026. It’s time for the BBC Children’s Books adventure called ‘Doctor Who in Wonderland’ by Paul Magrs, featuring the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Turlough, which is set between ‘Mawdryn Undead’ and ‘Terminus’. I’d been meaning to read this story for the 2024 to 2025 ‘Nyssa Challenge’ mini-review season when the book was published in July 2024. I wasn’t able to find the time to check out the book, but thankfully, I’ve been able to find time and read the book for the 2025 to 2026 ‘Nyssa Challenge’ mini-review season. Continue reading

Season 20 of ‘Doctor Who’ with Peter Davison on Blu-ray #6

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

We’re now on the sixth story of Season 20 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series and, as it turns out, the season finale. Technically, anyway. Don’t worry. There’s still ‘The Five Doctors’ for us to check out next week. In the meantime, let’s check out this two-part story by Terence Dudley, featuring the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Turlough. It’s Terence Dudley’s third ‘Doctor Who’ contribution as a writer and it’s the first and only one to be directed by Tony Virgo. The story also introduces Kamelion, a new robot companion for the Fifth Doctor, voiced by Gerald Flood, who also plays King John in this adventure. There’s also the return of Anthony Ainley as the Master in ‘The King’s Demons’. The story’s special guest stars include Frank Windsor, Isla Blair, Christopher Villiers and Michael J. Jackson. The story was filmed at Bodiam Castle, as it takes place in medieval England in the year 1215. Continue reading

DVD/Blu-ray Special Feature Review – ‘Winner Takes All’ (Doctor Who)

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

In case you missed it yesterday, I’ve updated my review on ‘Enlightenment’, the fifth story of Season 20 in the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series and the third and final story of ‘The Black Guardian Trilogy’ in the Peter Davison/Fifth Doctor era. In doing so, I’ve shared a brand-new review on the ‘Winner Takes All’ making-of documentary on ‘Enlightenment’, featuring behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew, including Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Keith Barron, Christopher Brown, Leee John, writer Barbara Clegg, director Fiona Cumming, etc. Continue reading

Season 20 of ‘Doctor Who’ with Peter Davison on Blu-ray #5

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

Yes! We’re back with Season 20 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series! After checking out Series 15 of the new TV series with Ncuti Gatwa, it’s time to pick up where we left off with our look into Peter Davison’s second season as the Fifth Doctor. Today, we’re checking out the fifth story called ‘Enlightenment’. It’s also the third story of ‘The Black Guardian Trilogy’. ‘Enlightenment’ is a four-part adventure by the late Barbara Clegg. This is his first and only contribution to the TV series. The story is directed by the late Fiona Cumming, who previously directed ‘Snakedance’. ‘Enlightenment’ stars Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan and Mark Strickson as Turlough. Valentine Dyall returns for his third appearance in Season 20 and we have the return of Cyril Luckhman as the White Guardian, who previously debuted in ‘The Ribos Operation’ in ‘The Key to Time’ season (Season 16). Continue reading

DVD/Blu-ray Special Features Reviews – ‘Breaking Point’ & ‘Finding Sarah Sutton’ (Doctor Who)

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

In case you missed it yesterday, I’ve updated my review on ‘Terminus’, the fourth story of Season 20 in the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series and the second story of ‘The Black Guardian Trilogy’ in the Peter Davison/Fifth Doctor era. In doing so, I’ve shared a brand-new review on the ‘Breaking Point’ making-of documentary on ‘Terminus’, featuring behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew, including Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Mark Strickson, Martin Potter, writer Stephen Gallagher, etc. I’ve also updated my review on the ‘Finding Sarah Sutton’ featurette with Sarah Sutton. Continue reading

Season 20 of ‘Doctor Who’ with Peter Davison on Blu-ray #4

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

Here we are on what I consider to be a very significant story in Season 20 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. Today, we’re checking out the fourth story of the season called ‘Terminus’, and it’s the second story of ‘The Black Guardian Trilogy’. ‘Terminus’ is a four-part story by Stephen Gallagher, who previously penned ‘Warriors’ Gate’ in Season 18. The story is directed by Mary Ridge, who previously directed six episodes of ‘Blake’s 7’. ‘Terminus’ is the final TV adventure to feature Sarah Sutton as Nyssa in ‘Doctor Who’. It’s a very special story for me, as it began what prompted me to go to ‘Doctor Who’ conventions and meet people like Sarah Sutton, Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson who appear in this story. Valentine Dyall returns as the Black Guardian in this ‘Doctor Who’ story and there’s also the introduction of the Vanir and the Garm. Continue reading

DVD/Blu-ray Special Features Reviews – ‘Who Wants to Live Forever?’ & ‘Finding Mark Strickson’ (Doctor Who)

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

In case you missed it on Monday, I’ve updated my review on ‘Mawdryn Undead’, the third story of Season 20 in the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series and the first story of ‘The Black Guardian Trilogy’ in the Peter Davison/Fifth Doctor era. In doing so, I’ve shared a brand-new review on the ‘Who Wants to Live Forever?’ making-of documentary on ‘Mawdryn Undead’, featuring behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew, including Peter Davison, Nicholas Courtney, Mark Strickson, David Collings, script editor Eric Saward, etc. I’ve also shared a brand-new review on the ‘Finding Mark Strickson’ featurette with Mark Strickson. Continue reading

Season 20 of ‘Doctor Who’ with Peter Davison on Blu-ray #3

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

In the third week of our look into Season 20 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, it’s time to check out the third story of the season called ‘Mawdryn Undead’, which is also the first story of ‘The Black Guardian Trilogy’. This is a four-part story by Peter Grimwade, who previously directed ‘Full Circle’, ‘Logopolis’, ‘Kinda’ and ‘Earthshock’ and wrote ‘Time-Flight’. The story is directed by Peter Moffatt, who previously directed ‘State of Decay’ and ‘The Visitation’. ‘Mawdryn Undead’ stars Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa and Janet Fielding as Tegan. The story features the return of Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, the introduction of new ‘Doctor Who’ companion Mark Strickson as Turlough, and the return of Valentine Dyall as the Black Guardian. There’s also David Collings as the titular Mawdryn. Continue reading

Basement Update & Quick Review – Season 20 of ‘Doctor Who’ on Blu-ray

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

You may have noticed the inactivity that’s occurring on ‘Bradley’s Basement’ so far in January 2024. Rest assured, I haven’t been idle. I’m currently putting together my ‘Nyssa Challenge’ mini-review season for Easter in March and April and I’m working on ‘The Sunfire Chronicles’ set of short stories. Continue reading

Page Update – ‘The Fifth Doctor by Tim Bradley’

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

For those of you new to ‘Bradley’s Basement’, I’ve been sharing my ‘Doctor Who’ fan-fiction stories featuring the Fifth Doctor, as played by Peter Davison in the classic TV series, in ‘The Fifth Doctor by Tim Bradley’ series. There’s also Nyssa of Traken (played by Sarah Sutton) and Billy Walker (played by me 😀 ). I’ve updated my page on ‘The Fifth Doctor by Tim Bradley’ to connect to ‘Doctor Who by Tim Bradley’ on ‘Bradley’s Basement’. The four sections featured in ‘The Fifth Doctor by Tim Bradley’ include ‘Before the Fifth Doctor by Tim Bradley’, ‘The Fifth Doctor by Tim Bradley’ series itself, ‘Beyond the Fifth Doctor by Tim Bradley’ and ‘The Fifth Doctor by Tim Bradley (Unbound)’. I’ve yet to share ‘The Thirteen+ Doctors’, which will feature the Fifth Doctor, joined by his companions Nyssa and Billy. Continue reading