Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
Where do I start?! I had a fantastic time last weekend at the ‘Folkestone Film, TV and Comic Con’, held inside the Leas Cliff Hall from Saturday the 12th of May to Sunday the 13th of May. It was my birthday weekend and I’m glad I got to celebrate my birthday with my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ stars.
The highlight of the weekend was of course seeing Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding who played the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan in ‘Doctor Who’ during the 1980s and for Big Finish. I was thrilled to see the three of them and I got to have some nice chats with the stars. There were also some other exciting things that happened that weekend which I’d like to share with you today.
I attended both days of the Folkestone comic con. Saturday was the main highlight for me since Peter, Sarah and Janet only attended that day. I enjoyed Sunday as well, though I attended just the morning and left early in the day. I managed to achieve everything I wanted to do for that weekend.
Saturday 12th May 2018
Saturday started off well with me waiting in the queue. It was a gloriously sunny day before it got cloudy later on. There was also an ‘Earthshock’ Cyberman on patrol whilst the queue of convention goers was waiting to go inside. That Cyberman was definitely very intimidating when he came by. 😀
I got to see Sarah Sutton, Peter Davison and Janet Fielding early that day. I had a photo taken with each of them on my Samsung phone. There weren’t any photo shoots and panel talks going on that weekend. I also shared some birthday cakes with Sarah, Peter and Janet that day which they liked. 🙂
Sarah Sutton was a joy to meet that weekend. She wished me a “Happy Birthday!” and is my best friend at these conventions/comic cons. I enjoyed chatting to her about stuff in general and ‘Doctor Who’ of course. Sarah told me about a Big Finish audio she made lately. What is it? Wait and see! 😀
I asked Sarah what she thought of the Disney live-action versions of ‘Alice In Wonderland’ and ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’. I’ve not seen them but they can’t be as good as Sarah’s ‘Alice’, hey? 🙂 I shared a joke with Sarah and she found it funny. 😀 Apparently her new greenhouse is doing rather well. 😀 I am pleased that I achieved all that I wanted to say to Sarah for that particular exciting day!
It was great to see Peter Davison at that comic con too. I feel comfortable chatting to Peter, nowadays, since I’ve seen him more than once and he knows me well. I shared with him that I’d started re-watching ‘All Creatures Great and Small’. He was pleased to hear this. I saw his first episode when I came home.
I enjoyed seeing Janet Fielding at the event too. I don’t know Janet very well compared to knowing Sarah and Peter very well. But she was pleasant to chat to when I saw her. I allowed Janet to see what she looked like in ‘Little Miss’ form in ‘Dr. Fifth’ and letting her see a ‘Complete History’ book. 🙂
Peter, Sarah, Janet signed the CD covers of ‘Kingdom of Lies’, ‘Ghost Walk’ and ‘Serpent In The Silver Mask’ for me that day. Janet wished me a “Happy Birthday” on all three of them. Sarah also signed a photograph of Nyssa, Tegan and the Fifth Doctor in ‘Snakedance’ for me as a birthday gift. 🙂
By the way, I did ask Sarah, Peter and Janet about whether they thought the Fifth Doctor was too grumpy and out of character in ‘Time Crash’ with the Tenth Doctor. They didn’t seem to think so. Peter shared his thoughts on the subject with me and all three of them found it a good ‘Doctor Who’ comedy.
The biggest highpoint for me that day was me recording some conversations between me, Sarah, Peter and Janet where I said “Hello!” to them and had casual chats with them. They gave their consent for this and I’ve now compiled these conversations into this YouTube video for you to enjoy!
The other stars I saw that Saturday included director Graeme Harper, who I had a great time chatting to. He signed the ‘Doctor Who – Series 4 – Volume 2’ DVD cover for me featuring ‘The Unicorn and the Wasp’. I did enjoy chatting to him about Daleks, Catherine Tate and David Tennant.
I also saw Frazer Hines who plays Jamie in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series with Patrick Troughton’s Doctor. Frazer signed ‘The War Games’ DVD cover for me. I shared how much I enjoyed that epic 10-part TV story with him, Patrick and Wendy Padbury. He seemed intrigued about the DVD’s extras. 🙂
I also saw Richard Franklin who plays Mike Yates in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series with Jon Pertwee’s Doctor. Richard is a gent and he wished me “Many Happy Returns!” too. He also signed the CD cover of ‘Last of the Gaderene’ for me, to which I was so surprised to learn he recorded it all in one day. I also received a signed copy of Richard’s book called ‘Operation H.A.T.E’ which was very kind of him.
That weekend, I met one of my ‘Bradley’s Basement’ fans named Tom Mitchell. I met him and his mum Bev before at ‘The Capitol II’ convention in May 2017 and I saw Tom previously at the ‘MCM Birmingham Comic Con’ last November. He’s also commented on my review of ‘The Entropy Plague’.
I know Tom’s reading this blog post already. 😀 I was honoured to be shown a ‘Doctor Who’ story he did with pictures of LEGO characters based on his favourite things called ‘The Doctor’s Son’. He’s also included my Billy Walker character in his story, since he said he’d like Billy to meet him in his stories.
I was thrilled and amazed to be immortalised in LEGO form by Tom. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the LEGO likeness of me. I had to take a photo of it on my phone. I signed the LEGO likeness of Billy for Tom and I showed this to Sarah Sutton on my phone. Thanks Tom. 😀 I’m glad you enjoy my blog.
That Saturday, I had some photos taken of me on the U.S.S. Riker’s Beard bridge, which was a project created by a group of ‘Star Trek’ fans. I found the U.S.S. Riker’s Beard bridge impressive. I had some photos with a Starfleet uniform on and I did some ‘serious’, ‘silly’ and ‘engage’ poses. 😀 I even showed these photos to Sarah on my Samsung phone. She said that I could get a part on TV. 😀
I took some photos of the Folkestone beach in the area where the comic con was taking place at the Leas Cliff Hall. I also took some photos of the Folkestone comic con’s merchandise hall which was very amazing. There was the giant-sized ghost character from ‘Ghostbusters’ on the hall’s main stage.
I also had a photo taken with Doctor Four, who was a cosplayer that had his own tiny TARDIS set with classic roundels as a backdrop at the event. I also purchased some merchandise at the event including two ‘Doctor Who’ novels, ‘Deep Blue’ and ‘Storm Harvest’, and a ‘Pokémon’ Pikachu toy. 😀 I also purchased the brand-new Special Edition DVD of ‘The Enemy of the World’ whilst in Folkestone.
Sunday 13th May 2018
Sunday wasn’t a busy day compared to Saturday, as I left early during the day. But it was still nice to attend and I got to see some stars I wanted to meet that day. The day started with me in the queue again and that ‘Earthshock’ Cyberman patrolling again. Had that Cyberman been outside all weekend?! 😀
The stars I wanted to see that day included Paul McGann and Katy Manning. I was thrilled to see Paul McGann who played the Eighth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’. Paul signed ‘The Light At The End’ box set for me as well as having a photo. He was cheerful and chatty that day and I got to ask him what it was like working with Keeley Hawes in ‘Our Mutual Friend’. He found himself falling in love with her.
Katy Manning, who plays Jo Grant in ‘Doctor Who’ was delightful to see that day. She remembered me and we had a nice chat during a signing session. She loves her hugs and cuddles of course. Katy signed the DVD covers of ‘Frontier In Space’ and ‘Planet of the Daleks’ for me and also wished me a “Happy Birthday!”; signing a photo of her and Elisabeth Sladen in ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’ show.
I also saw David Warner at the comic con that Sunday. I hadn’t planned on seeing David that day but since I’d met him before, I thought why not. I had a lovely chat with David and eventually I had a signed photo of him as Chancellor Gorkon from ‘Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country’ as well as having a photo with him on my Samsung phone. David and Paul McGann had a reunion that Sunday too.
The ‘Folkestone Film, TV and Comic Con’ was a wonderful birthday weekend for me. Everything went according to plan for me that weekend and I’m glad I got to see Sarah, Peter and Janet for my birthday treat. I’m also pleased they were glad to see me when I met them for that special Saturday.
One thing I regret from this comic con is that I didn’t get a chance to chat to Carolyn Seymour properly at the event. I shook hands with her and said “Hello!”, but I never got a chance to talk her about her roles in the ‘Doctor Who’ Big Finish audio ‘Ghost Walk’ and in episodes of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’. Ah well, maybe next time.
Another thing. How come Peter Davison didn’t tell me he was going to be in ‘Harry Hill’s Alien Fun Capsule’ this coming weekend on ITV1?! That’s something I need to ask him next time I see him! 😀
I’m also glad Sarah said to me that ‘it was always nice to see me’ and that she hopes to see me again at another signing event. Sarah reassured me that there will be some future signings that she’ll be going to later in the year. I can’t wait to hear when they’ll be announced. Where will they take place? Will I get to go to these events and see Sarah with Peter and Janet? I’ll have to wait and see.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim. 🙂
Bradley's Basement 