This Doctor Who season’s second episode, “Lux,” has given viewers a whole new aspect to The Doctor and his companion, Belinda Chandra. How will the Vindicator take Belinda home? Who is Mr. Ring-a-Ding? What happened to the 15 people who disappeared in the movie theatre? Will we see the Whovians, Lizzie, Hassan, and Robyn again? Why would The Doctor give Lux what he wanted?

The third episode, “The Well,” brings us back to a familiar planet. Midnight was a diamond-covered planet with an unknown entity that The Tenth Doctor faced 400,000 years earlier. Why has the planet gone silent? What happened to the people operating the mining operation? How did Aliss Fenly become the lone survivor? Where are the human race and Earth? Has the entity survived?

Listen to this week’s podcast as Mark Baumgarten, Vicky Jakubowski, Juan Sanmiguel, and Zion Quiros discuss these two episodes, the clues they leave behind, and the recurring Mrs. Flood appearances.

• To hear our older episodes from 2012 until now, including over 150 celebrity interviews from Doctor Who, Star Trek, Farscape, and more, go to our YouTube playlist and listen! Try one of our MarkWHO42 Classic episodes by clicking this link!

Our celebration of the New Series of Doctor Who is bittersweet as we learn of the passing of actress Jean Marsh. Best known to Doctor Who fans as First Doctor Companion "Sara Kingdom", Marsh found fame worldwide thanks to the hit show 'Upstairs, Downstairs'. We here at MarkWHO42 send our condolences to her friends and family.

As Episode 1 of the Second Season of the new Doctor Who arrives, the cancellation rumors are in a frenzy. However, as Mark Twain once said, "The report of my death was an exaggeration." Instead, we prefer to focus on this week’s episode.  Who is Belinda Chandra, and is she a new Impossible Girl? Why is she needed on Missbelindachandra One? What is the AI Generator? Will the temporal explosion have additional consequences? What happened to the Earth on 24th May 2025? Where will “The Long Way Around” take The Doctor and Belinda?  Listen as Mark Baumgarten and Vicky Jakubowski, with special guests Zion Quiros, Jarrod Cooper, and Neisha T Mulchan, ponder these questions and more.

One of our special guests on this episode is Neisha T Mulchan, aka Neisha M, Your Geek Mom to her friends, fans, and followers. She is a Nurse Practitioner Clinical Researcher, and author, with 26 years of experience in health care; with specialties in Family Practice,  Neuro-Psychiatry, Self-Care & Mental Wellness. As part of their dedication to address mental health disparities, she and her daughter founded Diversely Geek in 2011. Diversely Geek is a global SM-based non-profit mental wellness organization that promotes the ethos of "Embracing Our Inner Geek, which helps us to establish positive self-identity and to transform our fandom passions into positive action."

• To hear our older episodes from 2012 until now, including over 150 celebrity interviews from Doctor Who, Star Trek, Farscape, and more, go to our YouTube playlist and listen! Try one of our MarkWHO42 Classic episodes by clicking this link!

The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks has streamed. With its meta moments and subversive humor, this animated series has given fans another view of the Star Trek universe. Why did we enjoy this season, and what was different about the show as a whole?  How has Mariner grown as a character since the first season? What have we learned about the Orions beyond pirates and dancing?  Did the Upper Decks episode show us a deeper side to Ransom and Shaxs? Could one ever imagine a Klingon farmer? Was the final double episode an appropriate series ending? Will the fans succeed in getting their sixth season? Listen as Juan Sanmiguel and Vicky Jakubowski bid farewell to the U.S.S. Cerritos.

• To hear our older episodes from 2012 until now, including over 150 celebrity interviews from Doctor Who, Star Trek, Farscape, and more, go to our YouTube playlist and listen! Try one of our MarkWHO42 Classic episodes by clicking this link!

Tune in next week for the beginning of our Doctor Who season review of episode one of the new series, The Robot Revolution...

This week, MarkWHO42 looks back at 20 Years of Doctor Who, the new series. It first arrived on BBC One on March 26th, 2005.

Join Mark Baumgarten, Juan Sanmiguel, and special guests Jarrod Cooper and Sean Rivera, as they share some of their favorite moments from the last 20 years of the New Series. Oh, and see how long they can discuss New Who without talking about Classic Who... bad show host, bad show host...

This show is dedicated to the late Simon Fisher-Becker, a frequent guest of ours back in the day, who passed on March 9th, 2025.

• To hear our older episodes from 2012 until now, including over 150 celebrity interviews from Doctor Who, Star Trek, Farscape, and more, go to our YouTube playlist and listen! Try one of our MarkWHO42 Classic episodes by clicking this link!

It is award season for Hollywood – we have already had the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes not to mention a smattering of others. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the crowning jewel… their Oscar nominees. How does the Academy select its nominees and who gets to vote? Which performances have we seen and what did we think of them? Which movies have the most honors and why? Who do we think will win and who do we think should win? Listen as Juan Sanmiguel, Vicky Jakubowski, and Kim Farah discuss surprises, controversies, and expectations for the 97th Academy Awards.

• You can find Kim Farah's Letterbox review page at https://letterboxd.com/fastestpussycat/films/reviews/

• To hear our older episodes from 2012 until now, including over 150 celebrity interviews from Doctor Who, Star Trek, Farscape, and more, go to our YouTube playlist and listen! Try one of our MarkWHO42 Classic episodes by clicking this link!

What is Megacon Orlando? Who was there? What did we see? Simple questions, right? Well, Mark Baumgarten, Juan Sanmiguel, and special guest Sesn Forster make it even simpler by going through the answers on this, the latest episode of MarkWHO42's Universe!

Thanks to FanExpo for allowing us to cover the convention with our press credentials...

• To hear our older episodes from 2012 until now, including over 150 celebrity interviews from Doctor Who, Star Trek, Farscape, and more, go to our YouTube playlist and listen! Try one of our MarkWHO42 Classic episodes by clicking this link!

It’s award season in Hollywood…one of the films generating a lot of buzz is the musical Wicked starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Galinda. Your MarkWHO42 team takes a deep dive into this popular movie. Why did they break it into two films and does it work? How is this musical defying box office gravity? Where does this story fit into the 125-year history of Oz books, movies, and stage productions? How well did this production use practical and digital effects to create a world unlike any other? 

In this prequel, we meet Elphaba, later known as the Wicked Witch of the West. Why was she green? What is the impact of her family dynamics? Who is Galinda and why does she become Glinda? When do these two enemies become true friends? Shiz University is an amazing location (and a phenomenal movie set). Who wouldn’t want to be dancing through life or sneaking out to a club? Who is the Wizard? By the end of this first act, have we discovered if Elphaba is truly wicked or if Galinda is actually good? What will we see in the next movie for our magical duo not to mention the future of Nessarose, Fiyero, and Boq?

Join Mark Baumgarten, Vicky Jakubowski, and Juan Sanmiguel as they explore this alternative magical land of Oz.

--- Thought this all is worth repeating since it is this weekend:

• If you will be in Central Florida this weekend, why don't you go to MegaCon 2025, the long-running Sci-Fi Convention in Orlando from February 6th - 9th? Held at the Orange County Convention Center, there will be comic book creators like Todd McFarlane, Frank Miller, and Gerry Conway, voice actors, and many genre celebrities. Supernatural, The Flash, Smallville, Star Wars, and House of the Dragon will all be represented by the stars of those shows, plus Jude Law, Andy Serkis, and Dolph Lundgren. There will also be a Happy Days reunion with Ron Howard, Donny Most, and Anson Williams. Plus a Breakfast Club 40th Anniversary Reunion with Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall, and Judd Nelson!
• Oh, and didn't I mention the Doctor Who guests? Matt Smith (The 11th Doctor), Alex Kingston (River Song), Catherine Tate (Donna Noble), Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones), Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler), Mandip Gil (Yasmin Khan), and Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald)!
• MarkWHO42's own Mark Baumgarten and Juan Sanmiguel will be attending as fans and would love to meet and interview some of you.
• For tickets and information, go to https://fanexpohq.com/megaconorlando/

• To hear our older episodes from 2012 until now, including over 150 celebrity interviews from the worlds of Doctor Who, Star Trek, Farscape, and more, go to our YouTube playlist and listen! Try one of our MarkWHO42 Classic episodes by clicking this link!

How far did Philippa Georgiou go to become the emperor of the Terran Empire? What is the object being brought to Georgiou's space station? Can she and a group of Section 31 agents recover this object and save the Federation? Join Mark Baumgarten, Juan Sanmiguel, and special guest Shaun Duke from the Hugo-nominated Skiffy and Fanty Show, to unravel the secrets of  Star Trek: Section 31.

• If you will be in Central Florida at the beginning of February, why don't you go to MegaCon 2025, the long-running Sci-Fi Convention in Orlando from February 6th - 9th? Held at the Orange County Convention Center, there will be comic book creators like Todd McFarlane, Frank Miller, and Gerry Conway, voice actors, and many genre celebrities. Supernatural, The Flash, Smallville, Star Wars, and House of the Dragon will all be represented by the stars of those shows, plus Jude Law, Andy Serkis, and Dolph Lundgren. There will also be a Happy Days reunion with Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Donny Most, and Anson Williams. Plus a Breakfast Club 40th Anniversary Reunion with Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall, and Judd Nelson!
• Oh, and didn't I mention the Doctor Who guests? Matt Smith (The 11th Doctor), Alex Kingston (River Song), Catherine Tate (Donna Noble), Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones), Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler), Mandip Gil (Yasmin Khan), and Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald)! UPDATE: Jodie Whittaker has cancelled her appearance. The news was announced after the recording of this podcast!
• MarkWHO42's own Mark Baumgarten and Juan Sanmiguel will be attending as fans and would love to meet and interview some of you.

• To hear our older episodes from 2012 until now, including over 150 celebrity interviews from Doctor Who, Star Trek, Farscape, and more, go to our YouTube playlist and listen! Try one of our MarkWHO42 Classic episodes by clicking this link!

What is Megalopolis? Who are the key players in this world? What are the aspirations of one of the greatest filmmakers in history? Join Juan Sanmiguel, Vicky Jakubowski, and special guest Haley Zapal from the Hugo Girl! podcast, as they go to Megalopolis. 

• To hear our older episodes from 2012 until now, including over 150 celebrity interviews from Doctor Who, Star Trek, Farscape, and more, go to our YouTube playlist and listen! Try one of our MarkWHO42 Classic episodes by clicking this link!

The Doctor Who Christmas special, Joy to the World, has come to inspire the faithful and new companions. So, who wants a Ham and Cheese Toastee and Pumpkin Latte? Who spends Christmas alone in a hotel room? Well, if it’s the Time Hotel, I certainly would. Is there a bootstrap paradox or has The Doctor found a loophole? What is in the briefcase? Could Villengard be a red herring? Is the Star Seed a weapon or perhaps something unexpected? What is Joy’s purpose? Why does the star give comfort and hope to those who see her? And does anyone remember The Crystal Bucephalus? Join Mark Baumgarten, Vicky Jakubowski, Juan Sanmiguel, and special guest Jarrod Cooper as they look into these questions and examine one of the more peaceful and (dare I say) joyous Doctor Who episodes.

Plus, a look at the newly colourized and edited version of The War Games, starring Patrick Troughton as the 2nd Doctor. 

• To hear our older episodes from 2012 until now, including over 150 celebrity interviews from the worlds of Doctor Who, Star Trek, Farscape, and more, go to our YouTube playlist and listen! Try one of our MarkWHO42 Classic episodes by clicking this link!