Debating Doctor Who

We kick off the podcast this week with an epic mail roundup of listener responses to our “Day Of The Doctor” podcast, as Caroline continues to try her darnedest to keep the discussion focused on the 10th Doctor’s hair. We then take a deep dive on the morality of “The Zygon Invasion” and “The Zygon Inversion,” with Alasdair admitted he both wants Peter Harness to be the new showrunner and wants him to never write another episode, because it’s just too much trouble. We agree this is a great, ambitious story that’s messy in the way Doctor Who probably ought to be, but what precisely is this two-parter trying to say? All that and some more general praise for how great Peter Capaldi has been this year.

An epic 50th anniversary special demands an epic podcast, as Caroline and Alasdair obliterate the two-hour barrier (without even taking a break!) debating “The Day Of The Doctor.” But first, we read a couple emails, give some quick thoughts on the first half of the current Zygon two-parter, and discuss how the 12th Doctor has really come into his own this year, and it’s probably all down to Peter Capaldi growing his hair out. As for “The Day Of The Doctor,” Caroline has some contrarian takes on this largely beloved special, and she and Alasdair discuss how 75 minutes as masterfully executed and endlessly entertaining as this can still have some really misconceived elements. We agree everything with Queen Elizabeth I is … not great, but what about John Hurt’s War Doctor and the return of Gallifrey? And will anyone remember that, hey, Billie Piper is in this thing?

Our attempt to keep these podcasts shorter and more manageable totally fails as we come so, so close to the two-hour mark. But fear not, for it’s all in a good cause! We’ve got our latest Danielle Fan Email of the Week Award winner dropping some serious rare books knowledge, a very special round of Who Alum theater looking at David Tennant’s latest projects, and some general Big Finish talk. We then go long on “The Woman Who Lived,” which is really great, but maybe not the greatest of all time? Oh, you better believe we’re doing some nitpicking this week! Plus, a random digression into some of the show’s more notable directors, as Alasdair punches up his five favorite directors more or less on the fly. Yeah, this week is a journey.

Caroline is back! And she regales us with stories of her recent trip to New York, while Alasdair details his recent stay with a Who-loving family in San Francisco. Then we read maybe our favorite fan email ever (and when you hear the last line, you’ll instantly agree), kick around the question of what would happen if a Doctor or companion just didn’t work at all, and talk the latest Star Wars trailer. Then: “The Girl Who Died,” guest starring Game Of Thrones’s own Maisie Williams! Alasdair is on record as almost aggressively loving this episode, but how does Caroline feel? As the 12th (and 7th) Doctor so eloquently put it: Time will tell. It always does.

Friend of the show Kate Kulzick fills in as cohost this week as she and Alasdair break down the latest two-parter, "Under The Lake" / "Before The Flood." But first, we award the Danielle Fan Email of the Week award to listener Caroline S. (no, wait, that’s too obvious, let’s say a Ms. Siede), whose question is so good that (a) we’ll probably invite her on the show next week and (b) Kate and Alasdair take like 25 minutes to answer it, despite it just being, "What’s your favorite and least favorite 12th Doctor story?" Also, the team discusses the newly announced Doctor Who spinoff and the news of John Hurt-starring War Doctor audios, which Alasdair feels people aren’t sufficiently irrationally exuberant about.

It’s Caroline’s birthday … and she’s not here! But here’s a little present for you all, as Alasdair shares a recent live episode of the podcast at the DSI Comedy Theater in Chapel Hill, N.C. It’s a deeply silly bit of fun as Alasdair and two Who-loving improvisers discuss the show, including a worrying amount of discussion of the 1996 TV movie. We’ll be back soon as a special guest co-host joins Alasdair to chat about “Under The Lake” and “Before The Flood.”

We’re back (again)! Busy schedules and crashing computers kept us away, but here we are to give our thoughts on the opening two-parter of the new season. (Spoiler alert: We liked it!) (Double spoiler alert: We *really* liked Michelle Gomez and Julian Bleach!) Also our thoughts on the comings and goings of the Doctor’s friends, as Jenna Coleman announces her departure and River Song returns at Christmas.

We get back into the swing of things with a news wrap up: We discuss all the Doctor Who-related happenings at San Diego Comic Con, share our thoughts on the new trailer, look ahead to season nine, and chat about some major developments in the world of Big Finish Audiobooks.

We’re sorry, we’re so, so sorry that we’ve been away for so long. But we’re finally back, chatting about what we did on our podcast vacation.

We’re back with a very special episode we recorded IN THE SAME ROOM when Alasdair came to visit Chicago. Even better, friend of the show Kate Kulzick makes her triumphant return to Debating Doctor Who! We chat about Clara’s arc in season 8, the possibility of River Song’s return, and our favorite one-off characters and concepts.

Then in our second half, we make a last minute adjustment to our plans (we’ll discuss “The Bells Of St. John” and the Sontaran two-parter next week) to take a look at the RTD bonanza that is “Stolen Earth” / "Journey’s End." Kate, Alasdair, and Caroline examine the good, the bad, and the very bad of this epic two-parter.