Debating Doctor Who

Sorry for the delay on posting this. We'd say we spaced because of the Independence Day holiday, but doesn't really seem like us. Anyway, Alasdair and Allison try to get their energy up for an early Saturday recording. It's a more manageable task, admittedly, with an episode as good as this one, which mostly addresses Allison's concerns about Bill from "World Enough And Time." We talk about the joys of multi-Master storytelling, take a look at how Bill and Nardole's stories ended up, and consider what's ahead for the Doctor(s) at Christmas.

Sorry for the delay on posting this. We'd say we spaced because of the Independence Day holiday, but doesn't really seem like us. Anyway, Alasdair and Allison try to get their energy up for an early Saturday recording. It's a more manageable task, admittedly, with an episode as good as this one, which mostly addresses Allison's concerns about Bill from "World Enough And Time." We talk about the joys of multi-Master storytelling, take a look at how Bill and Nardole's stories ended up, and consider what's ahead for the Doctor(s) at Christmas.

We do what we probably should have been doing from the start and jump straight into discussing the episode, as Allison has some potentially serious issues with "World Enough And Time." Does this episode make the same mistake in its handling of Bill that Sherlock did with one of its female characters? We'll have to wait for "The Doctor Falls" to find out, but Allison is worried. Alasdair is generally feeling better about the episode (which means we got our second straight debate, hooray!), especially since this is a long overdue opportunity to do some unapologetic John Simm stanning. All that plus an in-depth discussion of just what the point of TV criticism is that may or may not get ridiculously insular and self-indulgent!

We’re unlocking our first exclusive episode, in which we answer all your questions. We do some fantasy casting of a new TARDIS team from previous guest stars. We discuss whether Steven Moffat or Russell T. Davies might ever pen a story for Chris Chibnall. We offer our picks for the best performances from each of the four new series Doctors. We read out some seriously brilliant takes on Doctor Who as cyberpunk and fantasy author Brandon Sanderson’s approach to character development. All that plus Alasdair gets seriously heartfelt when asked if the Doctor is a good role model.

Hallelujah, we have a debate on our hands! Alasdair goes to bat for this week's episode as a weird, thoughtful episode bristling with ideas, while Allison finds the whole thing to be a bit less than the sum of its parts. (Honestly, even now we're not exactly vociferously disagreeing, but baby steps!) Plus we have three terrific emails, including thoughts on "Empress Of Mars," where the season is headed, and what it would be like for a companion to come back as an antagonist.

We kick off with the news that Alan Cumming says he was twice asked about playing the Doctor, but just wasn’t up for living in Cardiff. (We’re sure Cardiff is lovely, even if only Allison has actually been there.) Steven Moffat dropped some hints about a distinctive regeneration in the Christmas special. Listener Adam mentions another issue with “The Lie Of The Land.” And then we get into “Empress Of Mars,” which was… it was okay. Not bad or anything, and maybe not flawed in the way “The Lie Of The Land” was, but mostly just a bit dull. Which is a shame really, because the potential was there for this to be something fun and weird and special. Ah well, at least Alasdair does a terrible impression of a stereotypical Victorian soldier at one point, that’s something to listen for.

There's not much Doctor Who news this week, give or take word that Rachel Talalay is directing Peter Capaldi's Christmas swansong, so we get straight into this week's episode. Which... well. Hmm. This one was disappointing! We're both big fans of the first third of the episode or so, but then "The Lie Of The Land" just seems to keep abandoning its own most intriguing ideas. Are Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie, and Michelle Gomez actually too good for this episode? Can someone shoot the Doctor and then just kind of brush it off like it never happened? Shouldn't the Doctor or Bill actually, you know, talk to the Monks at some point? This wasn't a truly bad episode, but yeah, this was a misstep.

We open by discussing the big announcement about BBC Worldwide reaching an agreement with a Chinese production company, complete with an apparent announcement of seasons 12 to 15. We explain why the announcement probably shouldn’t be understood in quite that way, but also there’s pretty much zero chance the show doesn’t reach a 15th season. Then we get into this week’s story, which is… you know what, it’s okay. It’s not bad at all. But after the dizzying heights of “Extremis,” this one is just sort of there, at least until an utterly amazing ending. But hey, if anything that gives us even more to discuss!

Allison and Alasdair field a question from our patron Delia, who totally blows up our spot by pointing out we never actually debate anything. This is... a known problem with the title of our podcast. We'll get there eventually, probably, maybe, but first we agree on how great Michelle Gomez is and discuss her future on the series. Then it's time for "Extremis," which Allison found just staggeringly good and thought-provoking... and yeah, Alasdair was pretty much right there with her. This was a real good one, everybody, and quite unlike any other Doctor Who story we can think of.

We’re here to discuss tonight’s episode, a pretty good 45 minutes of television that sure feels like it could have been a fantastic two-parter. We run down the couple dozen or so fascinating ideas on display in Jamie Mathieson’s latest efforts, even if many of them don’t get developed much beyond the thumbnail sketch. Also, those spacesuit zombies are maybe on the wrong side of ridiculous? Seriously though, we liked this episode quite a bit. Also, we have a reader email on how the Doctor’s later incarnations could echo previous ones, and we wonder what that might all mean for the 13th Doctor. Enjoy!