Tag Archives: frances barber

Tim Bradley’s Convention Memories and Reports – 2010-2023

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

To celebrate Sarah Sutton’s birthday today, I’ve put together a list of all the conventions I’ve attended over the years from 2010 to 2023, which includes ‘Doctor Who’ conventions, multi-purpose conventions and a ‘Star Trek’ convention. You can check out my ‘convention memories’ blog posts and my convention reports by clicking on the images below. Continue reading

Convention Report – ‘Regenerations 2023’

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

After enjoying our holiday in Amroth, West Wales, my parents and I attended the ‘Doctor Who’ convention ‘Regenerations 2023’, organised by Cary Woodward and held at the Village Hotel in Swansea from Saturday the 23rd to Sunday the 24th of September 2023. We had a pretty good time. Continue reading

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

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

Here we are on the season finale of Series 6 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. This isn’t a two-part story as you would expect. The finale happens to be a single episode. 😐 This is where theoretically mostly everything that’s been going on in Series 6 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series comes together in the episode. It’s time for ‘The Wedding of River Song’ by Steven Moffat, starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams and Alex Kingston as River Song. This ‘Doctor Who’ episode also features the return of Frances Barber as Madame Kovarian, along with the Silence. There’s also the return of Simon Fisher-Becker as Dorium Maldovar, Ian McNeice as Winston Churchill, Richard Hope as Malokeh and there’s even Simon Callow as Charles Dickens. Was this is a satisfying ‘Doctor Who’ season finale for me? Were all the unanswered questions that went on in Series 6 answered in this episode? ‘The Wedding of River Song’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

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

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time for us to check out the ‘Doctor Who’ episode called ‘Closing Time’ by Gareth Roberts. This is a sequel to the Series 5 episode called ‘The Lodger’ and it features the return of James Corden as Craig Owens. Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor is without Amy and Rory (though Karen Gillan as Amy and Arthur Darvill as Rory do appear briefly in the episode). Instead, Matt Smith’s Doctor teams up with Craig, as they work together to thwart some Cybermen hiding underneath a department store. And this is while Craig is looking after his baby son called Alfie – or Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All as he likes to be called, according to the Doctor. 😀 This episode also features the return of the Cybermats (well, one of them 😀 ), having last appeared in stories like ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’, ‘The Wheel In Space’, ‘Revenge of the Cybermen’ and ‘Spare Parts’. There’s also special guest star Lynda Baron (who played Captain Wrack in ‘Enlightenment’) as Val at the department store. ‘Closing Time’ 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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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 Rebel Flesh’/’The Almost People’

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

We’re now on the last two-part story to ever be featured in the Matt Smith/Eleventh Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’. It’s time for ‘The Rebel Flesh’/’The Almost People’ by Matthew Graham, who previously penned ‘Fear Her’ in Series 2 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. In this ‘Doctor Who’ adventure, Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams meet the Gangers on Earth in the 22nd century. There are special guest stars like Mark Bonnar (who would go on to play the Eleven in the Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’) as Jimmy, Sarah Smart (who’s been in ‘At Home with the Braithwaites’ with Peter Davison and the Big Finish audio drama ‘The Crooked Man’ with Tom Baker) as Jennifer, and there’s Raquel Cassidy (who’s been in the Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’ and the ‘Downton Abbey’ TV series and movies) as Cleaves. ‘The Rebel Flesh’/’The Almost People’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Curse of the Black Spot’

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

Today in the ‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon, we’re checking out the Series 6 episode in the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series called ‘The Curse of the Black Spot’ by Steve Thompson (who has also written for the ‘Sherlock’ TV series run by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss). This is a ‘Doctor Who’ episode where Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams find themselves on a pirate adventure. They board a pirate ship in the 17th century, which happens to be captained by Hugh Bonnerville (well-known for being in ‘Downton Abbey’ and the two ‘Paddington’ films) as Captain Henry Avery. Apparently, there’s a connection between this episode and the 1966 TV story called ‘The Smugglers’. 🙂 Will this be like a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ adventure, even though the pirate crew are cursed with the Black Spot and there’s a female Siren about? ‘The Curse of the Black Spot’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Impossible Astronaut’/’Day of the Moon’

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

Series 6 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series begins with a two-part adventure called ‘The Impossible Astronaut’/’Day of the Moon’ by Steven Moffat. This ‘Doctor Who’ two-parter stars Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams and Alex Kingston as River Song. Our heroes visit the USA in 1969 where the landmark event of the first man to walk on Earth’s moon takes place. An astronaut appears on Lake Silencio in Utah and kills the Doctor. This two-part story starts off an arc in Series 6 in terms how the Eleventh Doctor ended up being killed by a mysterious astronaut and the Silence make their presence known in this ‘Doctor Who’ adventure. The story also features Mark Sheppard as Canton Everett Delaware III and Stuart Milligan as President Richard Nixon. ‘The Impossible Astronaut’/’Day of the Moon’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

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

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

This is the season finale of Series 6 in ‘Doctor Who’. It’s a story that should’ve been a two-parter with everything crammed in at the end. It features the return of River Song as well as the Silence. Can the Doctor stop time collapsing with the world now seemingly jumbled up with many time zones? Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ Marathon – ‘Closing Time’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Matt Smith’s Doctor reunites with James Corden as Craig in this ‘Doctor Who’ episode called ‘Closing Time’ by Gareth Roberts. In this episode, Craig is now a father and his baby is called Alfie (or ‘Stormageddon’). The episode also features the return of the Cybermen as well as a scary Cybermat. Continue reading