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‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Twice Upon a Time’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time to check out the final story of the Peter Capaldi/Twelfth Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’ and it’s the final story of the Steven Moffat era. Here we are on the 2017 Christmas Special called ‘Twice Upon a Time’ by Steven Moffat. As well as Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, he gets to meet and team up with David Bradley as the First Doctor. David Bradley played William Hartnell in the 2013 docu-drama ‘An Adventure In Space and Time’. Since then, he’s played the First Doctor more than once in the Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’. Also in ‘Twice Upon a Time’, there’s the return of Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts and the introduction of Mark Gatiss as the Captain. There are guest returns of Rusty the Dalek from ‘Into the Dalek’, Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald and Matt Lucas as Nardole. There are also small appearances of the First Doctor’s companions, including Polly (played by Anneke Wills/Lily Travers) and Ben (played by Michael Craze/Jared Garfield). With this being the last story of the Peter Capaldi/Twelfth Doctor era, does ‘Twice Upon a Time’ conclude it on reassuring and satisfying notes? ‘Twice Upon a Time’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘World Enough and Time’/’The Doctor Falls’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

We come now to the two-part season finale in Series 10 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, Pearl Mackie as Bill and Matt Lucas as Nardole. This is ‘World Enough and Time’/’The Doctor Falls’ by Steven Moffat. This two-part adventure has Michelle Gomez as Missy actively involved in the season finale for a change, and there’s the return of John Simm as the Master, who was last seen in ‘The End of Time’ with David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. There’s also the return of the Mondasian Cybermen, who made their debut in ‘The Tenth Planet’ with William Hartnell as the First Doctor, and they’ve been in the Big Finish audio story ‘Spare Parts’ with Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor. Clearly, ‘World Enough and Time’/’The Doctor Falls’ is supposed to be a dramatic and emotional finale to Series 10, especially considering what happens to our three main heroes: the Twelfth Doctor, Bill and Nardole. Do I think this two-part story is worthy enough to be considered a dramatic and emotional finale in Series 10 of the new TV series? ‘World Enough and Time’/’The Doctor Falls’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Pyramid at the End of the World’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

We’re on the second half of Series 10 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series today, and we’re checking out the second episode of ‘The Monks Trilogy’. It’s time for us to check out ‘The Pyramid at the End of the World’ by Peter Harness and Steven Moffat. Peter Harness previously wrote ‘Kill the Moon’ for Series 8 and he co-wrote ‘The Zygon Invasion’/’The Zygon Invasion’ with Steven Moffat for Series 9. Will ‘The Pyramid at the End of the World’ be more like ‘Kill the Moon’ or more like ‘The Zygon Invasion’/’The Zygon Inversion’? The episode stars Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, Pearl Mackie as Bill and Matt Lucas as Nardole. There’s also Rachel Denning as Erica and Tony Gardner (who I’ve seen in ‘Young Hyacinth’ and ‘The Larkins’ as well as heard in the Big Finish audio story ‘The Wrong Doctors’) as Douglas. And there’s Tim Bentinck who returns to voice the Monks in the episode. I revisited the final scene of this episode on YouTube recently and found it very good. Does that reflect my overall feelings about ‘The Pyramid at the End of the World’? The episode can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

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

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Today, we’re starting off a trilogy of loosely-connected ‘Doctor Who’ episodes in Series 10 of the new TV series, which happens to be ‘The Monks Trilogy’. The first episode is called ‘Extremis’ by Steven Moffat, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts and Matt Lucas as Nardole. Following on from the end of ‘Oxygen’, the Doctor is now blind and he wears his sonic sunglasses to conceal the fact that he’s blind from Bill Potts. Nardole is the only one who knows the Twelfth Doctor’s secret. In the episode, the Vatican calls upon the Doctor to investigate the Veritas, which is a book whose readers typically kill themselves after reading it. The guest cast includes Joseph Long (who was in ‘Turn Left’) as the Pope. There’s also Tim Bentinck (who’s done some Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’) as the voice of the Monks. And there’s Michelle Gomez who returns as Missy in Series 10 of the new TV series. ‘Extremis’ is rated highly by the critics. Do I consider ‘Extremis’ to be a good beginning to ‘The Monks Trilogy’ of ‘Doctor Who’ episodes? ‘Extremis’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

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

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

We’re on the second episode of Series 10 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series today. It’s time for us to check out ‘Smile’ by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Pearl Mackie as Bill. Matt Lucas as Nardole briefly appears at the beginning of the episode. In ‘Smile’, the Twelfth Doctor and Bill visit an off-world Earth colony in the far future. There are robots called the Emojibots that give the Doctor and Bill badges, which record their emotions to the Vardy – nanobots that are meant to maintain the colony. Our heroes discover that are series of deaths are caused when negative emotions are reported to the Vardy via the emojis on people’s badges. Can the Doctor and Bill solve the mystery as well as save the colony’s inhabitants? The guest cast includes Mina Anwar (who’s been in ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’) as Goodthing, Ralf Little (who I’ve seen in ‘Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My Donkey?!’ and he plays Michael in WF92’s ‘Fifth Doctor’ series of ‘Doctor Who’ stories 😀 ) as Steadfast, and there’s Kiran Shah (who’s been scale doubles in ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ films) as one of the Emojibots. ‘Smile’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

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

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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 Peter Capaldi’s third and final season as the Twelfth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’ – Series 10 of the new TV series. In the first episode called ‘The Pilot’ by Steven Moffat, the Twelfth Doctor is joined by a new companion – Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts, who happens to be an openly gay character. There’s also Matt Lucas as Nardole, who helps the Doctor to protect a vault under St. Luke’s University in Bristol. This is Nardole’s third ‘Doctor Who’ TV appearance since being in ‘The Husbands of River Song’ and ‘The Return of Doctor Mysterio’. Apparently, the Doctor has been living the life of a university professor and Nardole has been his assistant at the university for 70 years. Throughout the episode, Bill finds herself falling for a girl – Stephanie Hyam as Heather – who turns out to be an alien water puddle. 😀 There’s also a brief appearance of the Daleks and the Movellans from ‘Destiny of the Daleks’ in the episode. Is ‘The Pilot’ a worthwhile introduction to Bill Potts as a new ‘Doctor Who’ companion? Is this a very good opening episode to Peter Capaldi’s third season as the Doctor? ‘The Pilot’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Return of Doctor Mysterio’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

There was only one ‘Doctor Who’ episode shown on TV in the year 2016, and that was the 2016 Christmas Special called ‘The Return of Doctor Mysterio’ by Steven Moffat, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. This ‘Doctor Who’ adventure goes into superhero territory, as the Doctor meets Justin Chatwin (who you may have seen in 2005’s ‘War of the Worlds’ with Tom Cruise as well as ‘Dragonball Evolution’) as Grant Gordon who becomes the superhero called the Ghost. There’s also Matt Lucas as Nardole, who was last seen in ‘The Husbands of River Song’ and has now become a companion of the Twelfth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’. And there’s Charity Wakefield (who I’ve seen in the 2008 BBC production of ‘Sense & Sensibility’) as news reporter Lucy Fletcher who becomes Grant Gordon/the Ghost’s love interest in the Christmas Special. As you’re probably aware, I’m into superheroes (both Marvel and DC). So, does ‘The Return of Doctor Mysterio’ satisfy me as being a ‘Doctor Who’ take on the superhero genre. ‘The Return of Doctor Mysterio’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Hell Bent’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

And here we are on the season finale of Series 9 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. This is also the third and final episode of the three-episode story arc that depicts the end of Series 9. It’s time for us to check out ‘Hell Bent’ by Steven Moffat, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. There’s the resolution of Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald and her death in Series 9 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. There’s also the return of the Time Lords and Gallifrey. This means the episode has special guest stars like Donald Sumpter as Rassilon, the Time Lord President – previously played by Timothy Dalton in ‘The End of Time’. There’s also Ken Bones as the General, who made his debut in ‘The Day of the Doctor’ and he soon regenerates into T’nia Miller in the episode. There’s the return of Clare Higgins as Ohila, who previously appeared in ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’, and there’s the final appearance (for now) of Maise Williams as Ashildr. The story arc featured throughout Series 9 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series has been about the mysterious Hybrid. Is the story arc resolved in a satisfying manner in this episode? ‘Hell Bent’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Heaven Sent’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

We’re now on the second episode of the three-episode story arc in Series 9 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. It’s time for us to check out ‘Heaven Sent’ by Steven Moffat. Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor is now alone, since Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald was killed off at the end of ‘Face the Raven’. 😦 This is a unique ‘Doctor Who’ episode in the new TV series, since it mostly features Peter Capaldi as the Doctor who is trying to get out of a waterlocked castle. The only other person that’s in the episode is a shrouded creature called the Veil, played by Jami Reid-Quarrell, who is pursuing the Doctor in the castle. There’s also Jenna Coleman as Clara appearing to the Twelfth Doctor as a vision. ‘Heaven Sent’ is arguably one of Steven Moffat’s best episodes in the new TV series and it’s possibly one of the best in the Peter Capaldi/Twelfth Doctor era. This and ‘The Zygon Invasion’/’The Zygon Inversion’ are rated highly. Is ‘Heaven Sent’ a ‘Doctor Who’ episode worth talking about? Do I still hold it in high regard, after watching it for the first time on BBC TV on the 28th of November 2015? ‘Heaven Sent’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Zygon Invasion’/’The Zygon Inversion’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Here we are with another two-part story in Series 9 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald. Today, it’s time to check out ‘The Zygon Invasion’/’The Zygon Inversion’ by Peter Harness (who previously wrote ‘Kill the Moon’ in Series 8) and Steven Moffat. This is a ‘Doctor Who’ story that follows up on a plot point that was established in ‘The Day of the Doctor’ with the Zygons. As well as being a Zygon story, this happens to be a U.N.I.T. story, which means there’s the return of Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart and Ingrid Oliver as Osgood. There’s also Jaye Griffiths as Jac, who made her debut appearance in ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’. There’s special guest stars like Rebecca Front (who I’ve heard in ‘The Jupiter Conjunction’ and I’ve seen in a Series 6 episode of ‘Grantchester’) as Colonel Walsh. And there’s Nicholas Asbury (who I’ve heard in Big Finish audios like ‘Out of Time’ and ‘The Melting Pot’) as Etoine. This ‘Doctor Who’ story contains a spellbinding performance from Jenna Coleman as not only Clara, but also a Zygon disguised as Clara called Bonnie. There’s a brilliant speech made by Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor in the story, which you can watch on YouTube. 🙂 Could this be one of the best ‘Doctor Who’ stories ever made in Series 9 of the new TV series. ‘The Zygon Invasion’/’The Zygon Inversion’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer. Continue reading →