Tag Archives: michael stevens

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

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

Here we are on what is arguably a very good ‘Doctor Who’ episode in Series 11 of the new TV series, starring Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor, Bradley Walsh as Graham, Tosin Cole as Ryan and Mandip Gill as Yaz. This is ‘The Witchfinders’ by Joy Wilkinson, which happens to be another pseudo-historical adventure. In this episode, the Doctor and her three friends visit 17th century Lancashire where a witch hunt is taking place and it’s being held by a local landowner. The episode’s guest cast includes Alan Cumming (who I’ve seen in the ‘Spy Kids’ movies, ‘X-Men 2’ and ‘The Airzone Solution’) as King James, Siobhan Finneran (who’s been in ‘Downton Abbey’) as Becka Savage, and Tilly Steele (who’s recently been in ‘The Ninth Doctor Adventures’ Big Finish anthology ‘Lost Warriors’) as Willa Twiston. There are also mud witches in the episode. Whilst the episode received positive reviews from critics at the time of its BBC broadcast, do I consider this to be one of the best episodes from Series 11 of the new TV series as well as the Jodie Whittaker/Thirteenth Doctor era? ‘The Witchfinders’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

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

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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 – ‘The Five Doctors’

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

It’s time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of ‘Doctor Who’, as we take a look at the 20th anniversary special called ‘The Five Doctors’ by Terrance Dicks. ‘The Five Doctors’ stars Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, William Hartnell and Richard Hurndall as the First Doctor, Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor, and Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor. There’s also Janet Fielding as Tegan, Mark Strickson as Turlough, Carole Ann Ford as Susan, Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier, Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, Lalla Ward as Romana and more. I highly recommend watching the 101-minute Special Edition version of ‘The Five Doctors’, as that has more scenes and CGI effects in it. You can check out the Special Edition version on Disc 2 of the 25th Anniversary 2-disc DVD edition of ‘The Five Doctors’. There’s also the original 90-minute TV version of the story, which can be checked out on DVD and Britbox. Continue reading

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

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

We come to the end of ‘The Black Guardian Trilogy’ in Season 20 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, as we look at the third and final story called ‘Enlightenment’. This is a four-part adventure by Barbara Clegg, starring Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan and Mark Strickson as Turlough. As well as Valentine Dyall as the Black Guardian, this story also features the return of Cyril Luckham as the White Guardian. There’s also the introduction of the Eternals, including Keith Barron as Captain Striker and Lynda Baron as Captain Wrack. ‘Enlightenment’ can be checked out on DVD and Britbox. Continue reading

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

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

And now we come to the ‘Doctor Who’ story where we say goodbye to Sarah Sutton as Nyssa of Traken, my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ companion. It’s time for the second story of ‘The Black Guardian Trilogy’ in Season 20 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series called ‘Terminus’. This is a four-part story by Stephen Gallagher. As well as Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, this story also features Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan, Mark Strickson as Turlough and Valentine Dyall as the Black Guardian. There’s also the introduction of the Vanir and the wolf-like Garm. ‘Terminus’ can be checked out on DVD and Britbox. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Arc of Infinity’

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

It’s time to begin the second season of Peter Davison’s era as the Fifth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’ as well as the season celebrating the 20th anniversary of the TV show – Season 20. We begin with ‘Arc of Infinity’, a four-part story by Johnny Byrne where Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa end up on Gallifrey. They contend with the return of Omega from ‘The Three Doctors’ and soon head for Amsterdam on Earth where they reunite with Janet Fielding as Tegan. This story also features Colin Baker (before he became the Sixth Doctor) as Commander Maxil, the head of Time Lord security on Gallifrey. ‘Arc of Infinity’ can be checked out on DVD and Britbox. Continue reading

Novelization/Audiobook review – ‘Doctor Who – The Androids of Tara’

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

Just in case you missed it today, I’ve updated my review on the 2022 Target novelization/2012 BBC audiobook of the ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘The Androids of Tara’ by David Fisher. The story features the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K-9 on their quest to search for the fourth segment of the Key to Time. The audiobook for ‘Doctor Who – The Androids of Tara’ is read by John Leeson, who voices K-9 in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Androids of Tara’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time for the fourth story in ‘The Key to Time’ season (Season 16) in the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series and another one of my favourites from the season. This is ‘The Androids of Tara’, another four-part adventure by David Fisher, who previously wrote ‘The Stones of Blood’. The story stars Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Mary Tamm as Romana, and K-9, voiced by John Leeson. The story also features Peter Jeffrey as Count Grendel. This swashbuckling ‘Doctor Who’ story is inspired by ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’ by Anthony Hope. ‘The Androids of Tara’ can be checked out on DVD and Britbox. Continue reading

Novelization/Audiobook review – ‘Doctor Who – The Stones of Blood’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Just in case you missed it today, I’ve updated my review on the 2022 Target novelization/2011 BBC audiobook of the ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘The Stones of Blood’ by David Fisher. The story features the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K-9 on their quest to search for the third segment of the Key to Time. The audiobook for ‘Doctor Who – The Stones of Blood’ is read by Susan Engel, who played Vivien Fay in the story. There’s also John Leeson who provides the voice of K-9 in the audiobook. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Stones of Blood’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Here’s another one of my favourite stories in ‘The Key to Time’ season (Season 16) of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. It’s time to check out ‘The Stones of Blood’, a four-part adventure by David Fisher. In the story, Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Mary Tamm as Romana, and K-9, voiced by John Leeson visit the planet Earth to locate the third segment of the Key to Time. They come across a stone circle where alien stones come to life and suck people dry of their blood. This is another story that helped me with my ‘Doctor Who’ writing, particularly for the ‘Fifth Doctor’ adventure ‘The Railway of Time’. 🙂 ‘The Stones of Blood’ can be checked out on DVD and Britbox. Continue reading