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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

‘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.

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

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.

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

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Here we are on the season finale of Series 6 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. This isn’t a two-part story as you would expect. The finale happens to be a single episode. 😐 This is where theoretically mostly everything that’s been going on in Series 6 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series comes together in the episode. It’s time for ‘The Wedding of River Song’ by Steven Moffat, starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams and Alex Kingston as River Song. This ‘Doctor Who’ episode also features the return of Frances Barber as Madame Kovarian, along with the Silence. There’s also the return of Simon Fisher-Becker as Dorium Maldovar, Ian McNeice as Winston Churchill, Richard Hope as Malokeh and there’s even Simon Callow as Charles Dickens. Was this is a satisfying ‘Doctor Who’ season finale for me? Were all the unanswered questions that went on in Series 6 answered in this episode? ‘The Wedding of River Song’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Closing Time’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time for us to check out the ‘Doctor Who’ episode called ‘Closing Time’ by Gareth Roberts. This is a sequel to the Series 5 episode called ‘The Lodger’ and it features the return of James Corden as Craig Owens. Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor is without Amy and Rory (though Karen Gillan as Amy and Arthur Darvill as Rory do appear briefly in the episode). Instead, Matt Smith’s Doctor teams up with Craig, as they work together to thwart some Cybermen hiding underneath a department store. And this is while Craig is looking after his baby son called Alfie – or Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All as he likes to be called, according to the Doctor. 😀 This episode also features the return of the Cybermats (well, one of them 😀 ), having last appeared in stories like ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’, ‘The Wheel In Space’, ‘Revenge of the Cybermen’ and ‘Spare Parts’. There’s also special guest star Lynda Baron (who played Captain Wrack in ‘Enlightenment’) as Val at the department store. ‘Closing Time’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The God Complex’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

We’re checking out another ‘Doctor Who’ episode in Series 6 of the new TV series today, and it happens to be ‘The God Complex’ by Toby Whithouse. In this episode, Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams find themselves trapped in what appears to be a 1980s hotel with constantly changing corridors (Not like ‘The Space Hotel’ then 😀 ). There’s also a Minotaur-like creature (played by Spencer Wilding) walking about the corridors of the hotel, as it feeds off the faith of the Doctors, his companions and other guests in the hotel. And yes, the Minotaur happens to be distantly-related to the Nimon from ‘The Horns of Nimon’. 😀 This ‘Doctor Who’ episode also features David Walliams (well-known for being in ‘Little Britain’) as Gibbis. There’s also Caitlin Blackwood, who briefly appears as Amy Pond in the episode. ‘The God Complex’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘The Girl Who Waited’

Hello everyone! 🙂

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

In today’s instalment of the ‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon, it’s time for us to check out the ‘Doctor Who’ TV episode called ‘The Girl Who Waited’ by Tom MacRae. This is Tom MacRae’s second contribution to the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, since he wrote ‘Rise of the Cybermen’/’The Age of Steel’ in Series 2. In the episode, Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams visit the planet Apalapucia for a holiday, but they soon find that the planet is under quarantine as there seems to be a deadly plague about. Amy accidentally gets separated from the Doctor and Rory, and soon there are two Amys, including the younger Amy and an older Amy. This episode also features the Handbots, who are likely to kill our heroes, despite them saying that what they’re doing is ‘a kindness’. ‘The Girl Who Waited’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer.