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

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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’

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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 – ‘Hell Bent’

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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.

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

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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.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Face the Raven’

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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 Woman Who Lived’

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

It’s time to check out the second of the two-episode story arc featuring Maisie Williams as Ashildr in Series 9 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. Today, it’s time to check out ‘The Woman Who Lived’ by Catherine Tregenna. This is Catherine Tregenna’s first and (so far) only contribution to the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, having written ‘Torchwood’ episodes like ‘Out of Time’ and ‘Captain Jack Harkness’ in Series 1, and ‘Meat’ and ‘Adam’ in Series 2. In this ‘Doctor Who’ episode, Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor reunites with Ashildr (Yes, I know she calls herself ‘Me’ in the TV series from hereon, but she’s Ashildr whether she likes it or not 😐 ) in England in the year 1651. This ‘Doctor Who’ episode also features guest star Rufus Hound (who would later play the Monk in the Big Finish audios) as Sam Swift. There’s also Ariyon Bakare as Leandro, a leonine alien who’s stranded on Earth and he happens to be Ashildr’s ally in the story. Leandro could have been a Tharil from ‘Warriors’ Gate’ if the new TV series was brave enough to do that. 😀 Is this a ‘Doctor Who’ episode that endears me to Ashildr more, especially after the Doctor saved her from death in ‘The Girl Who Died’? Or is there something about Ashildr that rubs me up the wrong way in how she’s developed as a ‘Doctor Who’ character? There’s a brief appearance of Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald at the episode’s end. ‘The Woman Who Lived’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer.

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

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

We’re back to single episode stories in Series 9 in ‘Doctor Who’, although we have the first of what is considered to be a two-episode story arc linked together by the introduction of a new character in the series. Today, we’re looking at ‘The Girl Who Died’ by Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat. This ‘Doctor Who’ episode has Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara visiting a Viking village where the alien Mire, led by David Schofield (who I’ve heard in ‘The Doomsday Quatrain’) as Odin, make their attack. The titular ‘girl who died’ happens to be Maisie Williams (well-known for being Arya Stark in ‘Games of Thornes’ and I’ve seen her as Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane in ‘The New Mutants’) as a Viking girl called Ashildr. This story also features Simon Lipkin (who played Mr. Poppy in ‘Nativity! The Musical’ and has been in the 2018 film ‘Nativity Rocks!’) as Nollarr, one of the Vikings in the Viking village. There’s Ian Conningham as ‘Chuckles’, Tom Stourton as ‘Lofty’, Alistair Parker as ‘Limpy’, Murray McArthur as Hasten, and Barnaby Kay (husband of Nicola Walker who plays Liv Chenka in the Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’) as ‘Heidi’. With Ashildr’s introduction in ‘The Girl Who Died’, she becomes a prominent character for the rest of Series 9. But does she win me over in her debut episode? Does she become a worthwhile character to be enjoyed in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series? ‘The Girl Who Died’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer.

‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – ‘Under the Lake’/’Before the Flood’

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

It’s time to check out another two-part story in Series 9 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. Today, it’s time for ‘Under the Lake’/’Before the Flood’ by Toby Whithouse, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara. This ‘Doctor Who’ adventure has the Doctor and Clara visiting an underwater mining base in Caithness, Scotland in the year 2119, where the crew discover an alien craft in the ruins of a submerged town. Ghosts start to appear aboard the base and the Doctor and Clara must help the crew to solve the mystery. The base’s crew includes Colin McFarlane (who’s been in the ‘Torchwood’ story ‘Children of Earth’ and the Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’) as Moran, the base’s commander, who gets killed off early in the story. There’s Sophie Stone as Case, who happens to be deaf both in real-life and in the story, and Zaqi Ismail as Lunn, who interprets on Cass’ behalf when she communicates in sign language. There’s Morven Christie (who’s been in the first three seasons of ‘Grantchester’) as O’Donnell, Arsher Ali as Bennett and Steven Robertson as Pitchard. There’s the introduction of a rock music version of the ‘Doctor Who’ theme in ‘Before the Flood’. This ‘Doctor Who’ story is meant to be a scary ghost story with the Twelfth Doctor and Clara. Does it work on all levels? Is it truly satisfying as a scary ‘Doctor Who’ ghost story? ‘Under the Lake’/’Before the Flood’ can be checked out on DVD, Blu-ray and BBC iPlayer.