We pay our respects to William Russell, the actor who played Ian Chesterton, Doctor Who's original leading man. With Russell, Ian proved to be a solid and dependable man of action and reason. Along with Jacqueline Hill, who played Barbara Wright, the two provided the moral centre for the early show, which relied on their decency, normality, and dependability to guide the viewers in the early mid-1960s along this amazing adventure in space and time. The programme will likely never see another character like Ian again. The opening music is from "The Chase" soundtrack composed by Dudley Simpson and the closing music is from "The Aztecs" composed by Richard Rodney Bennett and performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra in 2021. We recorded this episode on 15 July 2024.

An entertaining enough finale, but with big enough plot holes that you could drive a pyramid through. Something went wrong with this season in more ways than one and with Empire of Death, Davies seemed oblivious and tone death to some of the underlying messages his drama was sending. Basically, nothing in it really makes sense, and many of the story's emotional beats were insensitive or unearned. The opening music is from the soundtrack composed by Murray Gold. The closing music is Johnny "Guitar" Wilson's 1977 song "A Real Mother For Ya". We recorded this episode on 25 June 2024.

Skidding into your UNIT-approved podcatcher is the pod on "The Legend of Ruby Sunday," and, oh boy, do we have questions. Has Unit become the earth-based research office for Doctor Who? Why would Unit drop everything to find the Doctor's new friend's mother? How would the Tennant Doctor react if he saw Susan Triad's big reveal on television? And what is Sutekh without the Egyptian / Osirian backstory to lean on? All this and more as two grumpy old fans come to terms with the penultimate episode in Ncuti Gatwa's first season. The opening music is "Hazy Shade of Winter," covered by The Bangles, and the closing music is "Walk Like an Egyptian," by The Bangles. We recorded this episode on 19 June 2024.

In this podcast we talk about Rogue, the Doctor's new sexy friend, who we met along with some dubious bipedal bird cosplayers or LARPers. Ben gives a brief background on Oliver Frey, aka Zack's Rogue in Him magazine and connects the dots between the comic and RTD. David muses on watching a show for young people and wonders if adventure plots are a thing of the past. The opening music is Vitamin String Quartet's version of Billie Ellis's "Bad Guy," and the closing music is VSQ's version of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face." We recorded this episode on 12 June 2024.

We meet the first real monster in this season of Doctor Who and no, we don't mean the slugs of doom, aka Mantraps. RTD catches us a little flat-footed with the surprising ending, but the subtle hints were there all along. With a wave of the hand, we excuse any plot holes and applaud what may be the best episode of Ncuti Gatwa's first series of Doctor Who. The opening music is the episode's soundtrack by Murray Gold and the closing music is "Slugs of Love" by Little Dragon. We recorded this episode on 3 June 2024.

Russell T Davies has written a new Doctor Who story that he describes as Welsh folk horror in which he packs in a lot to 45 minutes, including the obligatory Susan Twist, creepy pub denizens, and an homage to other ghostly stories. We were a little surprised to have a Doctor-lite episode in a season that is a mere eight episodes long. What caused the Doctor to vanish? Is the fairy circle in the shape of the TARDIS console? Did that mysterious space and time machine somehow create the circle and the time loop? The opening is from a Wales tourism advertisement, and the closing is from "Witchy Woman" by the Eagles. We recorded this episode on 28 May 2024.

With Moffat back writing for who and RTD as showrunner does it feel like 2005 all over again? Well, maybe? We discuss the latest Doctor Who episode, Boom, complete with the requisite fatherly love, casting surprises, LED scenery, returning vicars, twist speculation, and a dose of handwavium to resolve this tight, immersive bottle episode. Opening Music is "Skye Boat Song" performed by Martine Mussies. Closing music is from "Let's Go Crazy" by Prince and the Revolution. We recorded this episode on 20 May 2024.

Doctor Who, aka Ncuti Gatwa, is off in space and time with Ruby, his new traveling companion. So what does Russell T Davies have in store for a new generation of Who fans, and what do two old Who fan podcasters make of all of it? Opening Music is "My Dog Fred" by Murray Gold. Closing music is "Scream & Shout" by will.i.am and featuring Britney Spears. We recorded this episode on 13 May 2024.

Kicking off this pod, Ben recounts his visit to Gunnerysbury Museum to see "Set to Stun: Designing and Filming Sci-Fi in West London". Then we watch and discuss the two teaser trailers put out by the BBC in anticipation of Ncuti Gatwa's first season of Doctor Who with our usual spoiler-free rampant speculation, wild theories, spotting of the pre-title sequence clip, and more. Opening music is from "Bowie" by Flight of the Conchords and closing music is from David Bowie's demo of "Changes". We recorded this episode on 21 April 2024.

Ben is in England where he had the opportunity to visit the "Adventures in Time and Space - 60 Years of Doctor Who Art" exhibition at the Weston Museum in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. This impressive collection spans the show's history and features original art from novelisations, VHS covers, annuals, and other visual treasures, including works from Chris Achilléos, Andrew Skilleter, Roy Knipe, and Colin Howard. Ben has shared some pictures he took of the overall exhibit and artwork on his Instagram, including Knipe's "Death to the Daleks" Target cover and Achilléos' "Loch Ness Monster", "Kklak", and "Seeds of Doom" covers. Plus the portait of Ace from 'Silver Nemesis' done in the style of Thomas Gainsborough. In addition to being agog as a fan, Ben also shares his curatorial view of the exhibit's strengths and weaknesses. Opening and closing music is by Dudley Simpson from his score to The Android Invasion. We recorded this episode on 1 April 2024.