‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Eaters of Light’

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

It’s fitting that today’s instalment in the 60th Anniversary Marathon of ‘Doctor Who’ on the 60th anniversary date is an episode by a writer who’s written for both the classic and the new TV eras of the show. Today, we’re checking out ‘The Eaters of Light’ by Rona Munro, who penned ‘Survival’, the last story of the classic TV series featuring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace. ‘The Eaters of Light’ features Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, Pearl Mackie as Bill and Matt Lucas as Nardole. The story takes place in Scotland in the 2nd century, where our heroes investigate the fate of the Ninth Legion of the Imperial Roman army. As well as Romans, this story also features the Pict tribe, led by Rebecca Benson as Kar, who’s also the ‘Guardian of the Gate’. There’s a crow that happens to say words of English if you listen carefully. Nardole is in his dressing gown in this story ( 😀 ) and there happens to be a brief appearance of Michelle Gomez as Missy at the episode’s end. Is ‘The Eaters of Light’ as good as ‘Survival’ in being a ‘Doctor Who’ instalment by Rona Munro? ‘The Eaters of Light’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer.

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

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

Here we are on the fifth episode of Series 10 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Pearl Mackie as Bill. And this time, Matt Lucas as Nardole gets to join the Twelfth Doctor and Bill on an adventure for a change. Today’s instalment in the 60th Anniversary Marathon on ‘Bradley’s Basement’ is ‘Oxygen’ by Jamie Mathieson. In previous seasons, Jamie Mathieson wrote ‘Mummy on the Orient Express’ and ‘Flatline’ for Series 8 and he co-wrote ‘The Girl Who Died’ with Steven Moffat for Series 9. I enjoyed Jamie Mathieson’s episodes in Series 8 more than I enjoyed ‘The Girl Who Died’. Does ‘Oxygen’ as a ‘Doctor Who’ episode make up for the disappointment I had with the particular Series 9 episode? Is it as good as the Series 8 ‘Doctor Who’ episodes penned by Jamie Mathieson? Can something of value be taken away from watching ‘Oxygen’? The episode itself ends on a dramatic cliffhanger concerning Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, especially when it leads into the next set of episodes in Series 10. ‘Oxygen’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Human Nature’/’The Family of Blood’

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

Let’s check out another two-part story in Series 3 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones. It’s time for ‘Human Nature’/’The Family of Blood’ by Paul Cornell, based on his original 1995 book called ‘Human Nature’, which featured the Seventh Doctor. 😀 In the TV version of the ‘Doctor Who’ story, the Tenth Doctor decides to become human and calls himself ‘John Smith’ to hide from the alien Family of Blood whilst being a schoolteacher at Farringham School for Boys in England on Earth in the year 1913. Martha acts as a maid whilst at the school. This ‘Doctor Who’ story also features Jessica Hynes as Joan Redfern, John Smith’s love interest, and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Tim Latimer. And there are scarecrows in this ‘Doctor Who’ adventure. 😀 ‘Human Nature’/’The Family of Blood’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Shakespeare Code’

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

Today, we’re checking out the second episode of Series 3 – David Tennant’s second season as the Tenth Doctor – in the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series called ‘The Shakespeare Code’ by Gareth Roberts. In this ‘Doctor Who’ episode, David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones travel back in time to the Globe Theatre in London in the year 1599 where they meet Dean Lennox Kelly as William Shakespeare (Thankfully, a more heroic version of Shakespeare compared to the one depicted in the Big Finish audio ‘The Kingmaker’ 😀 ). Whilst meeting the playwright, the Doctor and Martha uncover the mystery about Shakespeare’s lost play ‘Love’s Labour’s Won’ as well as confronting the three witch-like Carrionites. There are guest stars like Christina Cole and Andree Bernard in the episode. ‘The Shakespeare Code’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Smith and Jones’

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

And welcome to Series 3 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series – David Tennant’s second season as the Tenth Doctor. In this season, David Tennant is joined by Freema Agyeman (who previously played Adeola Oshodi in ‘Army of Ghosts’ – Martha’s cousin in fact) as Martha Jones, a medical doctor-in-training. In ‘Smith and Jones’ by Russell T. Davies, Martha meets the Tenth Doctor at a hospital, which gets plucked out from Earth and is put on the Moon. There, the hospital is visited by a platoon of rhino-like aliens called the Judoon. The Doctor and Martha must find out why the Judoon have taken the hospital out from Earth before they can put it back where it was. This episode also features Anne Reid as Florence Finnegan and Roy Marsden as Mr. Stoker. There’s also Martha’s family, including Adjoa Andoh as Francine, Martha’s mum; Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Tish, Martha’s sister; Reggie Yates as Leo, Martha’s brother; and Trevor Laird as Clive, Martha’s dad. ‘Smith and Jones’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer.

‘Doctor Who’ Marathon – ‘The Eaters of Light’

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

It’s time for the return of a classic ‘Doctor Who’ writer to the new TV series. Rona Munro, who wrote the last story of the classic series called ‘Survival’ with Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, returns to write ‘The Eaters of Light’ with Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie and Matt Lucas. Is this as good as ‘Survival’ though?

‘Doctor Who’ Marathon – ‘Oxygen’

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

It’s time for another outer-space adventure with the Doctor, Bill and Nardole. This adventure has them in space suits and being chased by zombies aboard a space station. But the Doctor risks his life to save Bill that causes him to go blind. Will the Doctor gain his sight back and will things be clearer towards the end of the episode? 😀

‘Doctor Who’ Marathon – ‘Human Nature’/’The Family of Blood’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

David Tennant’s Doctor becomes human in this ‘Doctor Who’ story. This two-part story by Paul Cornell takes place at a school in 1913, a year before the First World War. Can Martha keep John Smith safe when the alien Family of Blood is out looking for a Time Lord? Will John Smith fall in love with a woman?

‘Doctor Who’ Marathon – ‘The Shakespeare Code’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time for Martha’s first adventure in the TARDIS with the Doctor. This is ‘The Shakespeare Code’ where the Tenth Doctor and Donna meet William Shakespeare himself as well as a number of witches. The episode is by Gareth Roberts and stars David Tennant as the Doctor and Freema Agyeman as Martha.

‘Doctor Who’ Marathon – ‘Smith and Jones’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Series 3 of new series ‘Doctor Who’ begins as David Tennant’s Doctor meets his new companion Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones. This is ‘Smith and Jones’ by Russell T. Davies and the Doctor and Martha first meet each other in a hospital that gets taken up to the moon by the rhino-like Judoon.