The Twelfth Doctor. Is he a "Good Man?" Is he the "Grumpy Cat Doctor?" Is he another Moffat "Plot Device?" Take a "Deep Breath" and join us for our discussion of lifelong Who fan, Peter Capaldi's introduction as the Doctor.
Wow. You know it's a good finale when you want to say something clever like, "The Master and Missy and Nardole, oh my!" but Moffat crafts such a complex and beautiful goodbye to some of Doctor Who's best characters that "clever" feels trite.
Wherein Stephen Moffat takes our favorite companion in a generation and ZuZu's Petals her. But first we talk about the beautiful Picts vs Romans story, "Eaters of Light." Bill finds the 9th Legion and the Doctor finds an alien menace. And then they travel with Nardole and Missy toward a distress signal (the Doctor's theme tune) which winds up with Bill making a sacrifice and/or the Doctor failing to save his friends. It's a cliffhanger and we need a serious therapy session about it.
A New Doctor, a new Show Runner. The Moffat and Matt Smith eras begin. A crack in the wall has a little girl very scared, so scared that a Mad Man in a box doesn't rattle her at all.
The Monks Trilogy wraps up on a moody, atmospheric note with "The Lie of the Land," and Mark Gatiss wraps up his time as contributor to the show (Say it ain't so!) with the retro-Ice Warriors/Zulu tribute, "Empress of Mars."
For the first time, many New Who fans experienced a Regeneration when the Ninth Doctor gave way to his Tenth incarnation, played by David Tennant. Rose returns home with a strange looking man who insists he is the Doctor, before he passes out. Now the Earth is under attack by an alien race, and the Doctor can't be roused. Prime Minister Harriet Jones and UNIT try to handle the menace on their own, and Rose even gives it a go, but the Doctor wakes up just in time to play the role of Earth's Champion, even as he tries to figure out who he is this go-round.
Can you imagine the Pope arriving and spoiling a first date? This is Bill's life with the Doctor in it. Or is it real life? Or is it Moffat messing with us? Again? We react to Extremis, Missy's return, Nardole saving the day, Nardole with permission to dole out punishment, a pyramid that shows up out of nowhere, bacteria running amok and Bill doing what needs done to save the Doctor. And that's just the first 2 of a 3 parter!
It's New Who!! Show Runner Russell T. Davies brings Doctor Who back to television with a vengeance -- exciting stories, new sets and big adventure. It all begins with Rose Tyler, shop girl from a housing estate who has the misfortune of being in the basement of Henrick's, on the night that an alien consciousness brings plastic mannequins to life. But there to save her life, and the lives of thousands of Londoners is the Doctor. This is the episode that introduced whole new generations to the wonder of Doctor Who.
Gun fights, explosions, high speed motorcycle chases! It's Doctor Who, American-Style. But it's also the TARDIS, a Regeneration, the Master and certain people were starving for Doctor Who way back in 1996. Ross takes us back to those barren days and we talk about what is really, really good about the Eighth Doctor and some of what is not so great about Doctor Who, the TV Movie.
It's HERE! Series 10, a new companion, a last hoorah for a Doctor and a Showrunner. These can be some of the most exciting series with heightened drama on-screen and off. We have restrained ourselves as much as we can, but we can wait no longer. We have got to talk about our reaction as fans to the first three episodes of Series 10. SPOILERS! We just react, and so we hold nothing back as we discuss "The Pilot," " Smile" and "Thin Ice." Enjoy!
Part 2 of our discussion of the things we saw and people we met at ReGeneration Who 3 Con in Baltimore. Highlights include Comics, Simon Fraser, George Mann, a Tribute to the War Doctor, Heather McHale on Kit Pedler, Feminist perspectives on Companions from the crew at Coal Hill Consulting and Alyssa Franke of Whovian Feminism and a wonderful discussion of Ace where that companion's loving community talked with her creator, Andrew Cartmel, about what she meant to them. It was a fantastic Con, one we recommend everyone try for themselves. These comments represent our experiences only and we only saw a fraction of what there is to see, experience and enjoy at ReGeneration Who. And wait till you see who will be at ReGenWho4!
The Doctor is back, facing his old nemesis, the Rani. This time, it's the Puck-ish, Sylvester McCoy as the seventh incarnation of the Doctor and we see the whole, "Pick a Costume" routine, but with great comic flair and timing. This is the beginning of the end of the Old Who years, but some of the best stories and writing are featured in these last couple of seasons. Is "Time and the Rani" one of those greats? Sit back, and listen as we break it down.
It's Six and Peri. And some creepy twins, weird looking monsters and the regeneration isn't going well. It's Doctor Who in the 80s! We were there. We survived it. But how well does this episode do over time? How does it age?
Two Nerds go to a Con . . . and love what they see and who they meet and the stories they hear. They love it so much, they want to share stories of their adventures there with you. And urge you to join them at ReGenerationWho Con 4 next year in Baltimore. But for now, enjoy their tales of meeting the Doctor, Steven Taylor, Mike Yates, and plenty of writers, artists and fellow Who fans. They even tell the Pasternoster Gang of their recent foray into American politics.
Finally, we see what all the fuss has been about! It's Ross' Doctor, Peter Davison. The new Doctor is young, but his regeneration is rough. He has new companions -- Adric, Nyssa (from Trakken) and Tegan (from Brisbane). It's the beginning of some rough years, lots of costumes instead of clothes, but some genius stories sprinkled in with some crowded control rooms. Listen while Ross explains why this Doctor resonated for him.
Books! We are exploring yet another new medium. This time it is a novel from the Missing Adventures of the Doctor published originally in 1996 by Virgin. The Doctor, Romana, and K-9 arrive in London in 1930 during a heat wave and a time vortex has been hijacked (along with a few bodies of local Englishmen) by an alien menace. It reads like an Agatha Christie novel. The characters are straight out of Noel Coward, and it's a jolly good romp. As usual, we take a few sidetracks that are relevant to us and we talk about next week's Doctor Who Convention, ReGeneration Con!
Everyone's favorite Doctor, Tom Baker introduced in his first story, along with everyone's favorite companion, Sarah Jane Smith. It's a UNIT story, so the Brig and Benton are involved as well. We break down this Terrence Dicks story, script edited by the great Robert Holmes. Join us as we launch into the beginning of the phenomenon, when Doctor Who became a worldwide hit.
Together in the same room! Ross and Victoria take time away from a family get-together to talk Who, and this time, rate and rank the New Who Companions. Nardole gets a nod and Mickey gets props from Ross and Vic waxes poetic about Rose and River.
Another regeneration! Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, in his first adventure. We meet scientist, Liz Shaw and Brigadier Alexander Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. Ross gets the synopsis down to about 14 minutes. The discussion is the first recording we ever made -- our test podcast. We liked the feel and pace of that conversation and didn't think we could recreate it. So please forgive the early days audio standards and enjoy Spearhead from Space!
Comics! We discuss all incarnations, from weekly two page strips found in "TV Comics" and "Countdown" to multi-page, multi-parters in Doctor Who Weekly and Doctor Who Magazine, to modern comic books from publishers like IDW and Titan. Just 20 mins of background and take on what we love about Doctor Who comics.
For the first time since it originally aired in 1966, we were able to watch the Power of the Daleks in its entirety. Ross condensed all 6 episodes into a 16 minute synopsis, so the rest is discussion about the first ever regeneration, the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, The Daleks as great villains, the story behind the reconstructed episodes and more. Also, check out our Supplemental episodes that we are doing in between Story Episodes. They are fun and highly nerdy.
Breaking News, further introductions and talk about our favorite doctors.
Synopsis, review and discussion of first story of Doctor Who -- An Unearthly Child, aired November 23, 1963. Ross and Victoria discuss what drew them to the show, or what helped overcome resistance to the original episodes. They discuss show history, budget, and how the story holds up more than 50 years later.
But why another Doctor Who Podcast, you ask?
Because we think we bring unique, informed perspectives to our experience and enjoyment of Doctor Who. And we want to share those with you.
But firstly, who are we?
Ross is the long-time fan. He's that guy who talked about Doctor Who before you'd ever heard of the show, who got angry when people talked about cheesy sets and funny accents and all the reruns. His brothers introduced him to the show on a fuzzy black and white TV and he was hooked (after enduring a lot of Tom Baker episodes). It took the fifth Doctor to turn him into a passionate Doctor Who fan, and he began collecting all the magazines, books, audios and video tapes he could find. The internet made it possible to order things all the way from the UK and share audio files and reconstructions of missing episodes all over the world (bless, the BBC). And all this before Christopher Eccelston noted how many places have "a North."
Ross brings his extensive theater background to his love and analysis of Doctor Who. He's designed and built professional sets, stage managed, directed and tech'd live professional theater productions. He studied acting and has appeared in shows as diverse as 1776 and Comfort and Joy. He knows great story-telling and credits his early fandom of Doctor Who with honing that skill.
Vic is the new fan. She's the idiot who mocked Ross' passion for the cheesy sets and had to endure his harangues about the "eternal quality of great stories." She was a reluctant convert. But one day, having reached the end of the internet, she clicked on the Doctor Who thumbnail on Netflix, and was transported to new galaxies. After gobbling up everything new, she demanded more and Ross had the decency not to laugh (though he might have said, "I told you so" once or twice . . . or a hundred). And then she moved on to the books and comics and magazines . . . the whole new worlds that Doctor Who introduces.
She brings her training in history and law to her analysis. So while partial to the time travel fun of Doctor Who, she also loves his love of humanity (whether earthly or otherwise) and his deep and abiding sense of fairness.
So come listen as these old friends share their love of, knowledge of, and analysis of all things Doctor Who.