Tag Archives: nikki wilson/smith

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

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 – ‘Face the Raven’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

For this instalment of the ‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon, we’re starting off a three-episode story arc in Series 9 of the new TV series. This is the first of the last three episodes of Series 9, and they depict the departure of Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald. I had an emotional reaction to ‘Face the Raven’ by Sarah Dollard as soon as it was transmitted on BBC TV on the 21st of November 2015. In ‘Face the Raven’, Clara is reunited with Joivan Wade as Rigsy, who previously appeared in the episode called ‘Flatline’ in Series 8. Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor agrees to help Rigsy, who has a number tattooed on the back of his neck that seems to be counting down to zero. This leads the Doctor, Clara and Rigsy to a trap street in present-day London, where they’re reunited with Maisie Williams as Ashildr (Yes, she still calls herself ‘Me’ in the TV series by this point, but I refuse to call her that since she’s Ashildr, whether she likes it or not). This episode also features Robin Soans, who played Luvic in ‘The Keeper of Traken’, playing the ‘Chronolock Guy’. 😐 There’s Letitia Wright (who would go on to play Shuri in the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’) as Anahson. And there’s Jenny Lee (who played Auntie Liz in ‘Monarch of the Glen’) as an elderly woman. How emotionally effective is ‘Face the Raven’? Does it see Clara Oswald off on a high note? ‘Face the Raven’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Sleep No More’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Today, we’re looking at an interesting experiment of a ‘Doctor Who’ episode in Series 9 of the new TV series. Here we are on ‘Sleep No More’ by Mark Gatiss, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara. This is a ‘Doctor Who’ episode that’s presented through a series of found footage. There’s also no opening titles sequences for this ‘Doctor Who’ episode. And this happens to be an episode that was shown in November 2015, not at the end of October 2015 as you would expect (That honour was of course given to ‘The Zygon Invasion’ – the first episode of the two-part Zygon story in Series 9 😀 ). As well as Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, this ‘Doctor Who’ episode features special guest star Reece Shearsmith as Rassmussen. Reece Shearsmith is no stranger to ‘Doctor Who’, since he’s been in the ‘P.R.O.B.E.’ series by BBV, playing Andrew Powell in the episodes ‘The Devil of Winterborne’ and ‘Ghosts of Winterborne’. He also briefly played Patrick Troughton in the 2013 docu-drama ‘An Adventure In Space and Time’. There are monsters in the episode that happen to be called the Sandmen (No, not Sandman in ‘Spider-Man’. And not the Sandmen in the Big Finish audio drama ‘The Entropy Plague’ 😀 ). Is this a ‘Doctor Who’ episode that wins me over completely? Do I find this experiment of a ‘Doctor Who’ story truly satisfying? ‘Sleep No More’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

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

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 – ‘The Caretaker’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

We’re now on the ‘Doctor Who’ episode in Series 8 of the new TV series where Danny Pink finds out that Clara Oswald is living a secret life of space-and-time travel with the Twelfth Doctor in the TARDIS. This ‘Doctor Who’ episode is called ‘The Caretaker’ by Gareth Roberts and Steven Moffat, and it’s where Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor gets to be the caretaker at Coal Hill School. It took him this long since he was Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor in ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’, but he’s finally become the caretaker at Coal Hill School at last. 😀 As well as Jenna Coleman as Clara and Samuel Anderson as Danny, there’s Ellis George as Courtney Woods, who is one of the pupils at Coal Hill School. There’s Nigel Betts as Mr. Armitage, the head teacher at Coal Hill School, and there’s Jimmy Vee as the robot-like Skovox Blitzer in the episode. Will the Twelfth Doctor accept Danny as Clara’s boyfriend in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series? Will it be constant arguing and the Doctor utterly dismissing Danny for most of the episode? Could it mean the end of Clara’s relationship with Danny? ‘The Caretaker’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Robot of Sherwood’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

In today’s instalment of the ‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon, we have the Doctor meeting Robin Hood for the first time (at least on TV that is 😀 ). This new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series episode from Series 8 is called ‘Robot of Sherwood’ by Mark Gatiss. This happens to be one of my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ episodes from Series 8 of the new TV series. Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor gets to fight Robin Hood with a spoon rather than a sword ( 😀 ), and Jenna Coleman gets to dress up in a nice outfit and look like Maid Marian for a bit. 🙂 The guest cast includes Tom Riley as Robin Wood and Ben Miller as the Sheriff of Nottingham. There’s Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Quayle and Sabrina Bartlett (who later starred as Mariette in Series 1 of ‘The Larkins’ as well as the Christmas Special) as Quayle’s ward, who turns out to be Maid Marian in the episode. There’s Robin Hood’s Merry Men, including Ian Hallard as Alan-a-Dale, Trevor Cooper as Friar Tuck, Rusty Goffe as Little John and Joseph Kennedy as Will Scarlet. Oh, and there are robot knights in this ‘Doctor Who’ episode. 😀 ‘Robot of Sherwood’ 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

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Deep Breath’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time for us to begin the Peter Capaldi/Twelfth Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’ and we’re starting off with the first episode of Series 8 in the new TV series called ‘Deep Breath’ by Steven Moffat. I saw this ‘Doctor Who’ episode on TV when I was on holiday in Scotland in August 2014. This episode was also released at cinemas. Joining Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor is Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald, who is coming to terms with the newly regenerated Doctor. There’s the return of the Paternoster Gang, including Neve McIntosh as Madame Vastra, Catrin Stewart as Jenny and Dan Starkey as Strax. There’s also the debut of Michelle Gomez as Missy at the end of the episode. Lately, I’ve seen a video clip of this episode on YouTube featuring a phone call conversation between Clara and a certain surprise character. There was a lot of hype surrounding Peter Capaldi’s arrival as the Twelfth Doctor, especially in the promotion that built up to Series 8 in 2014, including a World Tour. Is this reflected in the ‘Doctor Who’ episode? Is ‘Deep Breath’ a worthwhile ‘Doctor Who’ episode? ‘Deep Breath’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Eleventh Hour’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

And welcome to the Steven Moffat reign of ‘Doctor Who’ where we begin the Matt Smith/Eleventh Doctor era. Both the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi eras of ‘Doctor Who’ are a mixed bag for me, but more will be unveiled as we go through each era. Today, we’re starting off with the first episode of Series 5 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, which is Matt Smith’s first season as the Eleventh Doctor. It’s time for ‘The Eleventh Hour’ by Steven Moffat, where Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor crash-lands to Earth and he meets Caitlin Blackwood as Amelia Pond, who soon grows up to become Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, the Doctor’s new companion. This episode also introduces us to Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams, Amy’s boyfriend. Can the Eleventh Doctor work out the mystery of Prisoner Zero whilst recovering from his regeneration and identifying who he is, and will he win Amy Pond over before she becomes his new companion? ‘The Eleventh Hour’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Waters of Mars’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

We’re on the penultimate story of the David Tennant/Tenth Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’ and it’s the third of the 2008-2010 Specials in the new TV series. It’s time for ‘The Waters of Mars’ by Russell T. Davies and Phil Ford. This autumn special was shown on the 15th of November 2009. Joining David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor is special guest star Lindsay Duncan as Captain Adelaide Brooke. In the special, the Doctor visits the planet Mars in the year 2059. He ends up at Bowie Base One where the crew led by Adelaide are soon attacked by alien water called the Flood. This is a proper full-on water-zombie adventure that ends on a rather tragic note for David Tennant’s Doctor, who’s on his way for his song to end. The cast also includes Peter O’Brien as Ed Gold, Aleksander Mikic as Yuri Kerenski, Gemma Chan as Mia Bennett, Sharon Duncan Brewster as Maggie Cain, Chook Sibtain as Tarak Ital, Alan Ruscoe as Andy Stone, Cosima Shaw as Steffie Ehrlich and Michael Goldsmith as Roman Groom. And of course, there’s Gadget the robot. 😀 ‘The Waters of Mars’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading