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‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Husbands of River Song’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Let’s check out the 2015 Christmas Special of ‘Doctor Who’ called ‘The Husbands of River Song’ by Steven Moffat, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Alex Kingston as River Song. This Christmas Special was the first ‘Doctor Who’ story I ever reviewed on ‘Bradley’s Basement’ from watching it on its initial BBC TV transmission on Christmas Day 2015. Since then, I’ve shared my in-depth review on the Christmas Special. ‘The Husbands of River Song’ also introduces Matt Lucas as Nardole, who would become a companion of the Twelfth Doctor in Series 10. The special also features guest star Greg Davis as King Hydroflax, along with Liam Cook as King Hydroflax’s body and Nonso Anozie as the voice of Hydroflax. After the horror aspects of ‘Last Christmas’ in 2014, this ‘Doctor Who’ Christmas Special decides to go into the realms of comedy. Does it work for me? Did I come away feeling happy from watching ‘The Husbands of River Song’? And does it feature a worthwhile interaction between the Twelfth Doctor and River Song? You can check out this ‘Doctor Who’ Christmas Special on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Flatline’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Here we are on the second of two ‘Doctor Who’ episodes by Jamie Mathieson in Series 8 of the new TV series. It’s time to check out ‘Flatline’, another one of my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ episodes in the Peter Capaldi/Twelfth Doctor era. In the episode, Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald discover that something has gone wrong with the TARDIS when they arrive in present-day Bristol. The space-and-time machine has been shrunk to size. The Doctor finds himself trapped inside the TARDIS and Clara must carry him in the TARDIS around in her handbag. There are also two-dimensional extraterrestrial creatures, which the Doctor eventually dubs the Boneless, causing trouble in Bristol. Clara acquires the help of a Jovian Wade as graffiti artist Rigsy, who makes his debut in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. Clara temporarily takes over the Doctor’s role of trying to protect humanity from alien incursions whilst investigating the Boneless. There’s another cameo of Samuel Anderson as Danny Pink, and there’s a cameo of Michelle Gomez as the mysterious Missy. ‘Flatline’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Time Heist’

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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 fifth episode in Series 8 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, which is ‘Time Heist’ by Steve Thompson and Steven Moffat. Steve Thompson previously contributed two stories in the Matt Smith/Eleventh Doctor era, which were ‘The Curse of the Black Spot’ and ‘Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS’. Here, we have a ‘Doctor Who’ episode where Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald find themselves having to rob a bank, and they’re joined by two allies, including Jonathan Bailey as Psi and Pippa Bennett-Warner as Saibra. There’s special guest star Keeley Hawes as Ms. Delphox as well as Madame Karabraxos. I’ve seen Keeley Hawes in the 1998 BBC TV adaptation of ‘Our Mutual Friend’ and the 1999 BBC TV adaptation of ‘Wives & Daughters’. Recently, she’s been in ‘The Durrells’ TV series. There’s also an uncredited cameo appearance of Samuel Anderson as Danny Pink, and there’s the alien Teller (played by Ross Mullan) who can turn people’s brains into soup. 😐 Oh, and the memory worms from ‘The Snowmen’ are back. 😀 ‘Time Heist’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Listen’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Listen up, everyone! 🙂 (See what I did there? 😀 ) It’s time to check out the fourth episode in Series 8 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series called ‘Listen’ by Steven Moffat. This is a ‘Doctor Who’ episode where Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor becomes concerned about the monster that lurks under people’s beds. This episode also has Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald on a date with Samuel Anderson as Danny Pink, who works at Coal Hill School with her. ‘Listen’ uncovers more about the Doctor’s past and his fears. It also has Clara getting to know Danny and his past as well as his future when she and the Doctor meet Orson Pink (also played by Samuel Anderson). This ‘Doctor Who’ episode has received a lot of praise over the years from critics, audiences and fans. Do I think it’s one of the best ‘Doctor Who’ episodes ever made in the new TV series? Is this a ‘Doctor Who’ episode worthy of my time? Apparently, Kirah Shah (who was in ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ films as well as ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ 2005 film) plays the figure under the bed in the episode. ‘Listen’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Cold War’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

The ‘Doctor Who’ episode that we’re checking out today is the one that features the return of the Ice Warriors (well, one of them anyway 😀 ) in the new TV series. This is ‘Cold War’ by Mark Gatiss. 🙂 ‘Cold War’ has Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara visiting a Soviet submarine in 1983 during the Cold War. It’s where the Ice Warrior called Grand Marshal Skaldak (played by Spencer Wilding and voiced by Nicholas Briggs) breaks loose and plots revenge against humanity. There are special guest stars in the episode like Liam Cunningham (who I’ve seen in the 2007 TV adaptation of ‘Northanger Abbey’) as Captain Zhukov. There’s the late David Warner (who I’ve met at conventions, seen in two ‘Star Trek’ films and heard in the Big Finish audios) as Professor Grisenko. There’s Josh O’Connor (who’s been in ‘The Durrells’ and the 2020 film ‘Emma.’) as Piotr, there’s Tobias Menzies (who’s been in the 2007 TV adaptation of ‘Persuasion’) as Lieutenant Stepashin, and there’s James Norton (well-known for playing Sidney Chambers in ‘Grantchester’) as Onegin. ‘Cold War’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Power of Three’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Let’s check out the fourth ‘Doctor Who’ episode in Series 7 of the new TV series, starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams. This is ‘The Power of Three’, which is the second of two episodes by Chris Chibnall for Series 7 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. The episode features another appearance of Mark Williams as Brian Williams, Rory’s dad, who previously appeared in ‘Dinosaurs on a Spaceship’. There’s the debut of Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, who is the daughter of Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart and is now the new leader of U.N.I.T. And there’s special guest star Steven Berkoff (who voiced King Herod in ‘It’s a Boy’) as the alien Shakri of Time Lord legend. This ‘Doctor Who’ episode features the slow invasion of the cubes on planet Earth. Can Amy and Rory balance out their normal lives when travelling with the Doctor whilst also having to contend with the slow invasion of the cubes? ‘The Power of Three’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. 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 →

Blu-ray Reviews – ‘Sherlock’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

Before we begin, I just want to give you a heads-up as to what you’re about to expect concerning these reviews I’m sharing today. These reviews are based on my personal experiences of a crime TV series I’ve watched on Blu-ray lately. They do not reflect other people’s opinions about ‘Sherlock’. 😐 Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ Marathon – ‘The Husbands of River Song’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

This was once the first ‘Doctor Who’ episode that I reviewed on my blog from watching it on the TV back in 2015. It’s time for the second Christmas Special with Peter Capaldi’s Doctor and he’s joined by Alex Kingston as River Song for the occasion. This episode also features the debut of Matt Lucas as Nardole. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ Marathon – ‘Flatline’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Here is the second contribution by Jamie Mathieson to Series 8 of ‘Doctor Who’! This is ‘Flatline’ and the Doctor’s TARDIS gets shrunk to size. Clara gets to be the Doctor for a change, has a companion called Rigsy and puts the TARDIS in her handbag. Will our main heroes defeat the menace of the Boneless? Continue reading →