Debating Doctor Who

Alasdair has had a hankering to talk about the two Russell T. Davies-era spinoffs, so here's the first of a pair of bonus episodes looking at two very different shows. First up, "Talking Who to You" cohost and friend of the show Kevin Koeser joins Alasdair to talk about Torchwood, which can only be described as the horniest show ever made. But what do you expect when you build a show around Captain Jack Harkness, even if he does occasionally try to be all moody and angst-ridden? Alasdair and Kevin have both plenty of praise and plenty of condemnation for the series. The first two seasons: Some good, some staggering awful! The "Children Of Earth" miniseries: Unbelievably excellent! The "Miracle Day" fourth season: A thing that allegedly exists, but you didn't hear that from us! Anyway, we have some general discussion of the show, then run through some specific episodes from the first two seasons to get a more specific sense of what works and what doesn't.

We open with reading an email from David about Rachel Talalay's direction and with acknowledging that David Tennant and Billie Piper have returned as the 10th Doctor and Rose. Then we turn our attention to a pair of stories linked by the rather wonderful guest character Rigsy. Allison remembered "Flatline" as just the tiny TARDIS episode, but it's so much weirder and scarier and better than all that. Then we look at "Face The Raven," which keeps seeming like it's going to be whimsical, yet steadfastly refuses to do anything but keep the audience off-kilter. Mostly, we realize these are two of the very best Clara episodes ever, and it forms part of our unplanned Jenna Coleman tribute tour with a lot of the other recent series eight and nine episodes we've discussed. Then join us next week for the start of some yuletide festivities as we look at a pair of Christmas-set, Charles Dickens-centric stories, "The Unquiet Dead" and "A Christmas Carol"!

We take a look at a pair of two-parters that are all about war, but first we consider all we can from the recently released preview clip for the upcoming Christmas special, "Twice Upon A Time." Overall, we really like what we see from Mark Gatiss and David Bradley, and it goes without saying we're going to be good with pretty much anything Peter Capaldi does at this point. Then, to business! The Sontaran two-parter has some good things going for it, but it has maybe the worst, most obnoxious guest character in the entire new series, and it's all so dumbfoundingly superficial in its ideas about war. That's not a problem the Zygon two-parter has, which maybe isn't quite as clever as it seems to think it is but does do a bunch of legitimately incredible things... including that speech. Yes, Alasdair has thoughts on that speech. And then join us next week for a look at Clara and Rigsy in "Flatline" and "Face The Raven"!

The BBC unveiled Jodie Whittaker's outfit as the 13th Doctor, so we decided to table our discussion of the Sontaran and Zygon two-parters for next time so we could really dig into her look. We had about an hour's worth of thoughts! Short version: We're big fans, and we're excited to see it all in action. (Also we mention some set photos of Jodie Whittaker in the 12th Doctor's clothes, but they may have since disappeared for copyright reasons, we'll keep monitoring.) Then we take on some great reader mail! Dan asks us who we would cast as an American Doctor if we absolutely have to, friend of the show J.G. offers some classic series thoughts, and Delphine has so much to say about the Master that we only get through half of her email, with a promise to continue.

We look at a pair of action-heavy companion introductions, neither of which quite ends with the companion joining the Doctor at the story's end. (Though admittedly Clara needed rather less time to come round.) First up, we consider Donna very much at the rough draft stage for her character, and how she works alongside a 10th Doctor still grieving Rose. There's some good and serious stuff here, but there's also a bunch of deeply silly business with the Racnoss and the Santas and what have you. Then we look at "The Bells Of Saint John," which has some good ideas here and there but has so little sense of character, and what there is just tends to make the 11th Doctor look like a creep. We wrap up with a discussion of Time Lord footwear and how this helps explain which Doctors do and do not work in action movie contexts, because of course we do.

We're overdue to work through our inbox, so Alasdair and Allison get cracking through your amazing emails. We have a bunch of brilliant listener responses to recent episodes, plus some seriously tricky questions to consider. Such as: Has there *ever* been a good companion exit? Like, not just in the new series, but in all 54 years? Maybe not? Plus we consider an outlandish but amazing proposal to spring a legitimate surprise regeneration on fans, and much more!

After weeks of Master-related, extended-length two-parters, we're not complaining about finally getting to keep things simple this week with a pair of standalone stories. Well, tightly linked standalone stories, if we're being technical, as we look at either side of the great mystery of the 12th Doctor's face. Before all that, we read an email from listener Chris following on from our discussion of the expanded TARDIS team promised for series 11. Then we dive into just why both these stories represent historical Doctor Who at its absolute best, with Alasdair vaguely restraining himself from gratuitous Peter Capaldi praise. This... this is not the week for him to try to promise to do that! Anyway, we try to tease out the connections both structural and thematic between these two excellent stories, while also marveling at how different epiodes made seven years apart can feel. Then join us next week for a pair of previously undiscussed companion introductions with "The Runaway Bride" and "The Bells Of Saint John"!

We reach the end of three-part, in-depth look at the Master with watching just such a ludicrous amount of Doctor Who. Alasdair turns the mike over to Allison for a solid five minutes for her to talk some more about how much she loves "Extremis" (he's also still a fan), but then we mostly focus on what all these episodes have to say about the Master and Missy. Alasdair offers about as impassioned a case for the John Simm Master as you're likely to hear, as we try to dig into how both his incarnation and Michelle Gomez's have arcs that culminate in the Series 10 finale. Then we just generally discuss both parts of "The End Of Time," one of which is flawed but brilliant and the other is just sort of silly and largely unnecessary. Try to guess which! Then join us next week for a much more manageable look at just two episodes that are all about Peter Capaldi's face, "The Fires Of Pompeii" and "The Girl Who Died."

The BBC just revealed the cast members joining Jodie Whittaker's 13th Doctor for series 11, so Alasdair and Allison did a late-night emergency podcast to talk all about it. Are we really headed for a four-person TARDIS team? Alasdair engages his "absurd encyclopedic facts and figures" mode to talk about past instances of this, though he totally blanks on the name of the companion who replaced Susan. (Vicki, Alasdair! It's Vicki!) Anyway, we look at the actors' filmographies, what this will mean for a presumably very busy series 11 premiere, and much more!

As part of Alasdair's Chicago visit, we take an hour to talk all about dressing up like Doctor Who characters, and who better to bring in for such a chat than cosplay maestro Kate Kulzick? Alasdair reveals he's doing a Halloween costume for the first time in about 15 years, and he's mostly doing it because it's super easy to justify the 9th Doctor's clothes as stuff he'll just add to his regular wardrobe. We then break down the pros and cons of dressing up like other Doctors, the gendered differences in cosplay, and how it's damn near impossible to dress up like most of the companions in a way that anyone will be able to tell who you're supposed to be.