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‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Day of the Doctor’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

The time has come for ‘The Day of the Doctor’ by Steven Moffat – the 50th anniversary special of ‘Doctor Who’. This was shown on BBC TV on the 23rd of November 2013. It stars Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald, Billie Piper as the Moment and John Hurt as the War Doctor. There are special guest stars like Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, Ingrid Oliver as Osgood and Joanna Page as Queen Elizabeth I. The story also features the Daleks as well as the return of the Zygons, who previously appeared in their first TV story ‘Terror of the Zygons’. There are surprise guest cameos of Doctors and companions that a keen ‘Doctor Who’ fan would need to look out for. 😀 This is a ‘Doctor Who’ anniversary special that’s highly rated by the fans. Do I agree with that? Do I think that this is a better anniversary special than ‘The Five Doctors’, the 20th anniversary special? Does it cover everything that I want to celebrate about 50 years of my favourite TV show? Are there things that I like about ‘The Day of the Doctor’? 😀 ‘The Day of the Doctor’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Name of the Doctor’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

And thus, we have come to the season finale of Series 7 in the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. This is also where the 50th anniversary celebrations of ‘Doctor Who’ begin in the new TV series. It’s time for us to check out ‘The Name of the Doctor’ by Steven Moffat, starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald. This is where the mystery of ‘the impossible girl’ is resolved, as the Doctor finds out who Clara is and how she died twice in ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ and ‘The Snowmen’. The episode features the Paternoster Gang, including Neve McIntosh as Madame Vastra, Catrin Stewart as Jenny Flint and Dan Starkey as Strax. There’s also the return of Alex Kingston as River Song, and there’s Richard E. Grant who returns as the Great Intelligence. This time, it’s not Yeti or Snowmen that the Great Intelligence are controlling, but it’s the Whispermen. 😀 There are nods to previous Doctors in the classic and new TV shows of ‘Doctor Who’ and we have the introduction of a unique incarnation of the Doctor that our time-travelling hero chooses to not talk about. ‘The Name of the Doctor’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Crimson Horror’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time for us to check out ‘The Crimson Horror’, which happens to be the second contribution made by Mark Gatiss in Series 7 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series (the first one being ‘Cold War’). In this ‘Doctor Who’ episode, Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara visit Victorian London in the year 1893. There’s the return of the Paternoster Gang, including Neve McIntosh as Madame Vastra, Catrin Stewart as Jenny and Dan Starkey as Strax. Interestingly, the Paternoster Gang mostly appear in the first half of the episode, since the Eleventh Doctor and Clara don’t appear until the episode’s second half. 😐 An unnerving mystery takes place at a utopian community in Yorkshire called Sweetville, led by the late Dame Diana Rigg (well-known for playing Emma Peel in the 1960s TV show ‘The Avengers’) as Mrs. Gillyflower. There’s also Rachael Stirling (Diana Rigg’s real-life daughter) as Ada. Can our heroes solve the mystery as to what’s happening with ‘the crimson horror’? ‘The Crimson Horror’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Snowmen’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

We’re starting on what is arguably labelled the Clara Season – the second half of Series 7 in the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. This is where Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor gets to meet his new companion – Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald. Jenna Coleman previously played Oswin Oswald in ‘Asylum of the Daleks’. However, it turns out Matt Smith’s Doctor doesn’t get to meet Clara quite yet in this 2012 Christmas Special. This is ‘The Snowmen’ by Steven Moffat. I’m certain that the special was inspired by ‘The Snowman’ – both the book and TV special – by Raymond Briggs. 😀 The special takes place in London in the year 1892. It also features the return of the Paternoster Gang, including Neve McIntosh as Madame Vastra, Catrin Stewart as Jenny Flint and Dan Starkey as Strax, who previously appeared in the Series 6 episode ‘A Good Man Goes to War’. There’s special guest star Richard E. Grant (who played one of the Doctors in ‘The Curse of Fatal Death’ and the Doctor in ‘Scream of the Shalka’) as Dr. Simeon. And there’s Ian McKellen (who played Gandalf in ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ film trilogies and Magneto in the ‘X-Men’ films) as the voice of the Great Intelligence. ‘The Snowmen’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘A Good Man Goes to War’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Here we are on the mid-season finale in Series 6 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. Yes, this is where Part 1 of Series 6 comes to an end. In this episode called ‘A Good Man Goes to War’ by Steven Moffat, Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams have to rescue Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, who gives birth to her daughter Melody and is a prisoner aboard an asteroid base called Demon’s Run. This is where we properly meet Frances Barber as Madame Kovarian, who’s been appearing throughout the first half of Series 6. We’re also introduced to the Paternoster Gang from Victorian London, including Neve McIntosh as Madame Vastra, Catrin Stewart as Jenny Flint and Dan Starkey as Commander Strax. We also have the return of Simon Fisher-Becker as Dorium Maldovar, who appeared briefly in ‘The Pandorica Opens’. And there’s Christina Chong (who’s recently been in ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’) as Lorna Bucket. Will the Doctor and Rory also receive help from Alex Kingston as River Song to save Amy and her baby? ‘A Good Man Goes to War’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The End of Time’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

And here we are on the final ‘Doctor Who’ TV adventure starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. This is a two-part story called ‘The End of Time’ by Russell T. Davies, with ‘Part One’ originally shown on Christmas Day in 2009 and ‘Part Two’ originally shown on New Year’s Day in 2010. In this two-parter, David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor reunites with Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott, as they team up to tackle the return of John Simm as the evil Master. This special adventure also features special guest star Timothy Dalton as Rassilon, the Lord President of the Time Lords of Gallifrey. There’s also Catherine Tate as Donna Noble and Jacqueline King as Sylvia Noble. There are special guest stars like June Whitfield as Minnie Hooper, David Harewood as Joshua Naismith, Tracy Ifeacher as Abigail Naismith, Sinéad Keenan as Addams and Lawry Lewin as Rossiter. There are also special guest cameos of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler, Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler, John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones, Noel Clarke as Mickey Smith, Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, Jessica Hynes as Verity Newman, Thomas Knight as Luke Smith and Russell Tovey as Midshipman Alonso Frame in the story. ‘The End of Time’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

Convention Memories – ‘Bournemouth Film & Comic Con 2015’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time for me to share my final set of ‘convention memories’ on ‘Bradley’s Basement’. 🙂 Today, I’m sharing my memories of attending the ‘Bournemouth Film & Comic Con’ at the Bournemouth International Centre from Saturday the 29th to Sunday the 30th of August 2015. A terrific weekend! 😀 Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Sontaran Stratagem’/’The Poison Sky’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time to check out the first two-part story in Series 4 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. This is ‘The Sontaran Stratagem’/’The Poison Sky’ by Helen Raynor, starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna. This two-parter also features the return of Freema Agyeman as Martha, who now works for U.N.I.T. There’s also the return of the potato-headed Sontarans in the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, including Christopher Ryan as General Staal and Dan Starkey as Commander Skorr. This story also features Jacqueline King as Sylvia, Donna’s mum and Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred, Donna’s granddad. There are guest stars like Rupert Holliday-Evans as Colonel Mace of U.N.I.T. and Ryan Sampson as Luke Rattigan. ‘The Sontaran Stratagem’/’The Poison Sky’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

Audio Review – ‘Agents of Chaos’ (Doctor Who)

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Our look into John Hurt as the War Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’ has been quick so far in the 60th Anniversary Marathon. We finish it off by checking out the third story of ‘The War Doctor’ series of Big Finish audios called ‘Agents of Chaos’. There are more ‘War Doctor’ stories to check out, but this is the penultimate box set audio adventure featuring John Hurt as the War Doctor. I’m sure they will be a point when I’ll be checking out ‘Casualties of War’, the fourth box set audio adventure with John Hurt, as well ‘The War Doctor Begins’ audios featuring Jonathon Carley. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The TV Movie’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time for us to check out the Paul McGann/Eighth Doctor era, which is technically the shortest-lived ‘Doctor Who’ era ever on TV. Thankfully, Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor has had a long life in the Big Finish audios. 😀 Let’s check out ‘The TV Movie’, which was shown on UK and USA TV in May 1996. The ‘Doctor Who’ TV Movie is by Matthew Jacobs and was directed by Geoffrey Sax. As well as Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, there’s Daphne Ashbrook as Grace Holloway, Yee Jee Tso as Chang Lee and Eric Roberts as the Master. This story also features the regeneration between Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor into Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. ‘The TV Movie’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and Britbox. Continue reading →