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‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’/’The Witch’s Familiar’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

And welcome to Series 9 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald. This, in my opinion, is the weakest season out of the three that Peter Capaldi did as the Twelfth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’. But do I think it’s worst than Series 6 – Matt Smith’s second season as the Eleventh Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’? I hope to unveil more about why Series 9 doesn’t work for me as a ‘Doctor Who’ season as we go through each story. Today, we’re starting off with the two-part story ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’/’The Witch’s Familiar’ by Steven Moffat. This ‘Doctor Who’ adventure features the return of Julian Bleach as Davros (who was last seen in ‘The Stolen Earth’/’Journey’s End’ in Series 4) as well as the dreaded Daleks. There’s also the return of Michelle Gomez as Missy, Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart and Claire Higgins as Ohila. Do I think ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’/’The Witch’s Familiar’ is worthwhile as a two-part opening story in Series 9 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series? ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’/’The Witch’s Familiar’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. There’s also the prologue to this story, which can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer, as well as ‘The Doctor’s Mediation’, which can be checked out on DVD and Blu-ray. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Dark Water’/Death In Heaven’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

And here we are on the two-part season finale in Series 8 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. This is ‘Dark Water’/’Death In Heaven’ by Steven Moffat. Samuel Anderson as Danny Pink gets killed off in the story, and he finds himself in an afterlife called the Nethersphere. Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald try to locate him and they soon meet up with Michelle Gomez as Missy, who unveils her true identity in the story. There’s the return of the ‘Nightmare In Silver’ Cybermen, who are a part of Missy’s plans in the Nethersphere. And there’s the return of U.N.I.T., including Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart and Ingrid Oliver as Osgood, who help the Doctor in thwarting Missy and the Cybermen. This ‘Doctor Who’ story has been praised highly by the critics, especially with regards to Michelle Gomez as Missy and the story’s darker and mature themes. Is this an assessment and an opinion I agree with? Is this a ‘Doctor Who’ story that truly satisfies me when it comes to revisiting it now and again? ‘Dark Water’/’Death In Heaven’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘In the Forest of the Night’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Today, we’re on the penultimate story in Series 8 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. It’s time to check out the first contribution made by Frank Cottrell-Boyce as a ‘Doctor Who’ writer in the new TV series. The episode is called ‘In the Forest of the Night’. In the episode, Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor meets up with Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald and Samuel Anderson as Danny Pink, as they take several Coal Hill pupils on an overnight school trip. They discover that London has been covered in a large forest that seems to have appeared out of nowhere the previous night. Can the Doctor work out what’s going on with the trees covering the entire planet Earth in one night? This episode introduces Abigail Eames as Maebh Arden, one of the pupils who went missing and is able to hear the voices of the large forest. There’s another cameo of Michelle Gomez as the mysterious Missy in the TV series. ‘In the Forest of the Night’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Into the Dalek’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Here we are on the second episode of the Peter Capaldi/Twelfth Doctor era as well as Series 8 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. This is ‘Into the Dalek’ by Phil Ford and Steven Moffat. In this episode, Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor has Jenna Coleman as Clara join him on an adventure where they go inside a Dalek. The Doctor also asks Clara, “Am I good man?”, which forms part of the Twelfth Doctor’s journey throughout Series 8. This episode features guest stars like Zawe Ashton as Journey Blue and Michael Smiley as Colonel Morgan Blue, who get involved with the Dalek that seems sick and wishes for all Daleks to be destroyed. Incidentally, the Dalek ends up being called Rusty in the episode. We’re also introduced to Samuel Anderson as Danny Pink, who becomes Clara’s love interest in Series 8 and he’s the new mathematics teacher at Coal Hill School where Clara works. There’s also Nigel Betts as Mr. Armitage at Coal Hill School and we have another appearance of Michelle Gomez as Missy in the TV series. Is ‘Into the Dalek’ a worthy episode to check out in Series 8? ‘Into the Dalek’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

Audio Reviews – ‘The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles: Volume Two’ (Doctor Who)

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

To close off our look into the Matt Smith/Eleventh Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’, it’s time to venture into ‘The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles: Volume Two’ by Big Finish, starring Jacob Dudman as the Eleventh Doctor. Back in 2019, I reviewed the first ‘Eleventh Doctor Chronicles’ box set on CD. Today, I’m sharing my reviews on the second ‘Eleventh Doctor Chronicles’ box set, which I’ve recently listened to as a download from the Big Finish website. Continue reading

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

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

Here we are on the final adventure of the Matt Smith/Eleventh Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’. This is ‘The Time of the Doctor’, the 2013 Christmas Special by Steven Moffat, starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald. It’s the fourth Christmas Special to feature Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor. The special also has Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, Sontarans, the Silence and plenty more monsters to finish off the Eleventh Doctor. There’s Orla Brady (who I’ve seen more recently in the ‘Star Trek: Picard’ series) as Tasha Lem, and there are guest stars like Sheila Reid (who was in ‘Vengeance on Varos’) as Clara’s Gran. Tessa Peake-Jones (well-known for being in ‘Only Fools and Horses’ and she would go on to be in ‘Grantchester’) makes a small guest role in the special as Marta. There’s also a couple of guest cameos, including a past face and a new face in ‘Doctor Who’. 😀 Will this be a satisfying swansong of a ‘Doctor Who’ adventure for Matt Smith’s Doctor? Can a single Christmas Special conclude the Eleventh Doctor era entirely on a worthwhile note? ‘The Time of the Doctor’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

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

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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 – ‘Nightmare In Silver’

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

Here we are on the penultimate episode of Series 7 in the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. It’s time for ‘Nightmare In Silver’ by Neil Gaiman, his second contribution to the TV series (the first being ‘The Doctor’s Wife’ from Series 6). Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara are joined by the Maitland children – Clara’s charges as a nanny. There’s Eve de Leon Allen as Angie and Kassius Carey Johnson as Artie. In the episode, the Eleventh Doctor, Clara, Angie and Artie visit an extraterrestrial theme park called Hedgewick’s World of Wonders on an alien world. Unfortunately, an army of Cybermen is about to wake up after their defeat in a war centuries ago. The episode’s guest cast also includes Jason Watkins as Webley. I’ve seen him in the first three ‘Nativity’ films and the BBC4 ‘Dirk Gently’ TV series. There’s Warwick Davis as Porridge. He’s well-known for being an Ewok in the ‘Star Wars’ film ‘Return of the Jedi’ and I’ve seen him in the BBC’s ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ TV series and the 2008 film ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’. And there’s Tamzin Outhwaite as Captain Alice Ferrin. Recently, she was in the Big Finish audio ‘Secrets of Telos’ with Peter Davison’s Fifth Doctor. ‘Nightmare In Silver’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

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

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 – ‘Asylum of the Daleks’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

And welcome to Series 7 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. Here we are on Series 7 – Part 1, starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams. This is what I would like to label as the Pond Season in Series 7 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. Series 7 – Part 1 depicts the five final adventures of the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory as a TARDIS trio. Will they be a satisfying final set of adventures featuring Eleven, Amy and Rory? We begin the season with ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ by Steven Moffat. This adventure features a variety of Daleks from both the classic TV series and the new TV series versions of ‘Doctor Who’. There’s also the introduction of Jenna-Louise Coleman as Oswin Oswald, whom the Doctor communicates via various intercoms throughout the adventure. Is ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ a satisfying Dalek adventure for me? Did I find it better than ‘Victory of the Daleks’ from Series 5? 😀 ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading