Through the Vortex: Classic Doctor Who

This special edition of the podcast has my dear friend Hannah and I discussing "The Romans"....among other things!

This was an experiment for us and there were a few minor recording issues, but I think we ended up having a pretty interesting discussion that covers both this serial as well as other aspects of Classic and New Who.

Enjoy!
____
NEXT TIME:  The Web Planet (Episodes: "The Web Planet,""The Zarbi,""Escape to Danger,""Crater of Needles,""Invasion,""The Centre")


Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

The one where the Doctor has way too much fun....a perfect serial to introduce Newbies to the First Doctor! Commentary and analysis for Doctor Who's  "The Romans"

Team TARDIS has been chilling in a Roman villa when the Doctor and Vicki get bored and go to Rome to meet Nero! But there is conspiracy afoot. Meanwhile, Ian and Barbara are captured by slave traders and suddenly must survive their very own adventure.

DOCTOR: On my arrival, I was rather under the impression that there was some sort of intrigue going on here, hmm?
NERO: Well, nobody said anything to me. Nobody said a word and I am always informed of intrigues!
______
BARBARA: Oh, it isn't fair, Ian, is it?
IAN: No it is not. Still, got a funny side to it, hasn't it.
BARBARA: Yes.
____

William Hartnell, take a bow! We'll chat about how brilliant Dennis Spooner is at dark comedy, the horror the comedy conceals, how the lyre-scene reveals the truth, and what these pure historicals can do better than New Who historicals....


NEXT TIME:  Hannah & Brianna Talk Doctor Who--a special podcast in which my friend Hannah and I chat over The Romans some more!

The following week we will continue on with The Web Planet.


Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

My Dearest Vicki!!!!! A new companion is coming to the TARDIS. Commentary and analysis for Doctor Who's  "The Rescue"

On the planet Dido, Vicki and Bennett have been terrorized for months by Koquillion, a monstrous being whose race murdered the enter crew of their spaceship after they crash landed. The rescue ship is coming soon and they just need to survive a few more days. But everything is not as it seems....

DOCTOR: We can travel anywhere and everywhere in that old box as you call it. Regardless of space and time.
VICKI: Then it is a time machine?
DOCTOR: And if you like adventure, my dear, I can promise you an abundance of it. Apart from all that, well you'll be amongst friends. Hmm? Well? Now, suppose I leave you here for a moment to think about it, hmm?
____

This was the serial that sold me on the First Doctor my first go through Classic Who. For real. I talk about why in my commentary. I also discuss Bennett as a symbol of colonialism and the ways in which his relationship with Vicki exposes how abusive relationships work. We talk about Vicki, of course, particularly her relationship with the Doctor and why I think it special.


NEXT TIME:  The Romans (Episodes: "The Slave Traders," "All Roads Lead to Rome," "Conspiracy," "Inferno")


Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

BBC and BBC America recently dropped trailers for Season 13 of Doctor Who, and I thought I would share my thoughts in another installment of New Who News!


If you all are interested in short reactions to the new season of DW as it is coming out, do drop me an email to let me know! I'm super excited for it.

Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Let's Celebrate the complicated legacy of Susan Foreman, the Doctor's Granddaughter and First Companion!

I'll discuss Susan's (perhaps unfair) reputation as "The Screamer," what makes Susan special as a companion, her unique relationship to the Doctor, Mentor/Mentee relationships generally between the Doctor and Companion, the problematic aspects of Susan's development and departure, the deliberate parallels between her departure and Rose Tyler's, and her overall legacy within the history of the show.

One day, she shall come back. Yes, she shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties.


"Look, if they don't understand, they can't, they can't hurt us at all. I understand these people better than you. Their minds reject things they don't understand." (to the Doctor)
"I love your school. I loved England in the twentieth century. The last five months have been the happiest of my life." (to Ian and Barbara)
-An Unearthly Child

"Oh, look, Grandfather. I understand the Sensorites. They're timid little people. Because their minds and mine can communicate sometimes, they trust me."
 "Grandfather and I don't come from Earth. It's been ages since we've seen our planet. It's quite like Earth. But at night, the sky is a burnt orange, and leaves on the trees are bright silver."
The Sensorites

"I never felt there was any time or place that I belonged to. I've never had any real identity."
"One day you will. There will come a time when you're forced to stop travelling, and you'll arrive somewhere."
-The Dalek Invasion of Earth


NEXT TIME:  Serial #11 The Rescue (Episodes: "The Powerful Enemy" & "Desperate Measures")


Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Apocalyptic London. Daleks. Resistance Fighters. Robo-men. Companion-worthy side characters. Some of the most iconic shots of Classic Who....and an ending the changed the show forever. Welcome to commentary and analysis on Doctor Who's  "The Dalek Invasion of Earth!"

Arriving in a London seemingly devoid of people, Team TARDIS quickly realizes that the Daleks have invaded the planet and decimated the human race. Split apart from each other, the Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian end up embroiled with the human resistance as they race to stop the Daleks before the implement their "final solution."

SUSAN: I can't stay, David. I don't belong to this time.
DAVID: But I love you, Susan, and I want you to marry me.
SUSAN: You see, David. Grandfather's old now. He needs me. Oh, don't make me choose between you and him, please!
DAVID: But you told me! You said that you'd never known the security of living in one place and one time. Look, you said it was something that you always longed for. Well, I'm giving you that, Susan. I'm giving you a place, a time, an identity.
SUSAN: Oh David, I do love you! I do, I do, I do!
____
DOCTOR: Believe me, my dear, your future lies with David, and not with a silly old buffer like me. One day, I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine. Goodbye, Susan, goodbye, my dear.
____

There are A LOT of references to this serial in New Who and A LOT of firsts, so the commentary runs a little long on this one as we work through all the threads. I also briefly discuss the portrayal of the Daleks in this serial, the way in which humans react to stress/horrific situations, Terry Nation's desire to position the possibility of rebirth after horror, and, of course, Susan's departure.


NEXT TIME: We are going to pause and do a special episode Celebrating Susan Foreman. Because we should! We'll move on the following week to Serial #11 The Rescue!


Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

He is returning!

I thought I would share my thoughts on Russell T. Davies returning to New Who as showrunner upon Chibnail's departure. This is a departure from my regular scheduled programming, but I thought the news warranted some commentary.

If you like this sort of odd out of the blue episode, do let me know and I'll try to do more of them in future.


Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Honey, I Shrunk Team TARDIS. What a weird start to Season #2....Commentary and analysis on Doctor Who's  "Planet of Giants."

After the doors to the TARDIS open during materialization, Team TARDIS is shrunk to roughly the size of an inch. They must traverse a typical English backyard and house to safely return to the TARDIS. Meanwhile, the regular-sized humans who own the house are experimenting with a deadly insecticide.....and MURDER!

SUSAN: These things haven't been made bigger. We've been made smaller.
BARBARA: Smaller?
DOCTOR: We have been reduced roughly to the size of an inch.

I discuss the ways in which this serial interacts with the early environmentalist movement--particularly the work of Rachel Carson in Silent Spring.


NEXT TIME: Serial #10 The Dalek Invasion of Earth (Episodes: "World's End," "The Daleks," "The Day of Reckoning," "The End of Tomorrow," "The Waking Ally," "Flashpoint")


Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

We've made it through the first season of Classic Who!

This special episode looks at the first series overall and considers how the individual characters have grown, what makes the historicals great, the experimentation with the science fiction episodes, and what made this first season unique.


NEXT TIME: Serial #9 The Planet of Giants (Episodes: "The Planet of Giants," "Dangerous Journey," "Crisis")


Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Is this still a kid's show? Commentary and analysis on Doctor Who's  "The Reign of Terror!"

Attempting to return Ian and Barbara to their time and place, the Doctor accidentally lands the crew in the middle of the Reign of Terror just outside Paris. Soon Ian, Barbara, and Susan are being taken to the guillotine and the Doctor is impersonating a regional official trying to save them. Encountering English spies, revolutionaries, and counter-revolutionaries, Team TARDIS must navigate one of the darkest times in history....

BARBARA: We demand the right to speak.
JUDGE: You have no rights! You will be guillotined as soon as it can be arranged. Take them to the cells!
________
JULES: There are only two sides today, Barbara. Those who rule by fear and treachery, and those who fight for reason and justice. Anyone who betrays these principles is worse than the devil in hell!

I discuss the ways in which this serial builds an atmosphere of extreme distrust through both its writing and directing, the horror of what we don't see, how the comedy adds to the drama, the ways in which the serial addresses the complexities of the revolution, as well as the animation.


NEXT TIME: I will be doing a special recap of Season 1, discussing the first season overall, trends, and such, so no new serials next week. The following week we'll move on to Season 2 with Serial #9 The Planet of Giants (Episodes: "The Planet of Giants," "Dangerous Journey," "Crisis")


Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/ 

Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]