By Chip Sudderth
Concentrated Commentary on the Worlds of Doctor Who
In which your interlocutor admits that he wishes to hear less of a composer he loves. A graphics whiz, Chip was not, when he shared this on social media years ago
After "The Church on Ruby Road," there should be no question that Ncuti Gatwa will master the role of The Doctor. However, we do need to address the fact that this is now a show with goblins and flying wooden...
Celebrating a regeneration, a retirement, and a renewal of the whole darn series. On to Christmas!
How do you make a special episode "special" when you only have two actors and a big spaceship? Russell T Davies has a pretty good answer.
Meep? What I wouldn't have given for the Meep to give an order to "reticulate the splines." (Oh, yeah: I loved this one.)
You can't expect David Tennant to not be David Tennant, but I really want the Fourteenth Doctor to be meaningfully different from the Tenth. I have my hopes, but the Fourteenth Doc comic in Doctor Who Magazine and even the...
The hiatus between Doctors is near an end, and a podcast born out of a love of David Tennant and Russell T Davies comes out of its own hiatus for their return.
On great last words, blossomest blossoms, emotional truth, and whether the plot is king.
Bringing the podcast out of mothballs on The Eve of The Power of the Doctor...
Is RTD2 a nostalgia trip? Some thoughts on last week's announcement of Ncuti Gatwa, today's announcement of Catherine Tate and David Tennant, and the merits of old mistakes vs. new mistakes.
Jason Snell, co-host of Downstream on Relay FM and head of The Incomparable network of pop culture podcasts, joins me for a look at Doctor Who's future in a world where TV networks struggle to stay relevant and Netflix is...
When you're the sort of person for whom the meaning of "fine" turns from "good enough" to not so much, and maybe you start surrendering to pessimism, even after an honestly revolutionary conversation between Yaz and the Doctor.
The most tortured podcast episode title I've ever created, plus my Thasmin wishlist for "Legend of the Sea Devils."
Thoughts from the heart about a New Year's special that was a small story, coming at a time when I was struggling to come to terms with the last two years--and how I hope to look at Doctor Who anew...
Sometimes the best TARDISes are crowded I'm not entirely sure who "The Vanquishers" applies to, TBH. Anyhoo, I took a little extra time to think about Chapter 6, and Flux as a whole, and why I ultimately think this effort to...
Tomorrow's the finale. Has the moment been prepared for? Chapter 5 left me a little worried.
Recapture the essense of the Weeping Angels from "Blink"? Chibnall and Alderton understood the assignment.
Space opera? Narrative connections and context emerging? Yes, please: this is the episode that gave me faith in Chris Chibnall's arc. (This episode dedicated to the memory of NPR Books editor Petra Mayer.)
In which the laudable advancement of the Doctor Who: Flux story and the "rehabilitation" of the Sontarans as villains bumps straight into how I feel about war movies.
Now this is a story all about how. My life got flipped turned upside down. Big, bold, and entirely un-self-contained, Doctor Who: Flux's first chapter may not have been the most welcoming to new viewers but is a very proper lead-off...
Nicole Hill of @BlackTARDIS and @blkgirlscreate stops by for a conversation about their hopes and cautions for the new/old showrunner.
No one saw that coming. Russell T Davies's first era of Doctor Who is my favorite. What are some of the traps to avoid with his upcoming return as showrunner?
From the April 29, 2021, Guardian (UK): ‘Sexual predator’: actor Noel Clarke accused of groping, harassment and bullying by 20 women You can enjoy Mickey Smith the character in Doctor Who Series 1-4. But don’t defend Noel Clarke the actor. In an article...
Ten months of silence--ten months of waiting and coping--for Yaz, Ryan, and Graham: When "Revolution of the Daleks" was made BEFORE the pandemic, who knew how relevant it would be DURING it?
"Always, scribble, scribble, scribble! Eh! Chloe Webber?" After a couple of months away to recharge the batteries, there's no more jarring compare-and-contrast to Doctor Who of 2020 than Doctor Who of 2006's "Fear Her."
Why is it difficult for so many fans to engage with Doctor Who's politics? Constance Gibbs: "For Black Doctor Who fans, the TARDIS is a legendary, loaded image"
There's been a lot of great Doctor Who content that speaks to the global pandemic thanks to creators recruited and organized by folks such as Chris Chibnall and Emily Cook. But 2015's "Heaven Sent" seems particularly relevant as well...
Graeme Burk, co-author with Robert Smith? of WHO IS THE DOCTOR 2, stops by to talk about slow-cooker episode criticism in a time of lightning-fast hot takes (not that I'm familiar with that at all) and staying connected with Doctor...
Suddenly, there's much, much more to the Doctor--and yet this new "retcon" to the Doctor's past winds up being staggeringly respectful to everything that's gone before on television. Let's talk about a challenge to The Master--and to Doctor Who fans...
Execution: pretty darn good! Cybermen: terrifying! Confidence that Part Two will stick the landing: (flailing gestures)?
On emotional Cybermen and erstwhile flat team structures.
Sometimes, the plot isn't the point and the bad guys are a side issue. Sometimes, the point is how humans treat other humans.
A mostly solid story by McTighe and Chibnall, but I'm REALLY here for a Doctor-ish Yaz and a Doctor-ish Ryan. Joy Piedmont on representation in "Praxeus" (Twitter thread) Sage Young's recap at Head Over Feels
That sound you heard was a podcaster's brain exploding, trying to figure out how to compress everything from "Fugitive of the Judoon" into roughly two minutes. Listener, this episode was A LOT.
Would you believe, Nikola Tesla in the TARDIS? Now that's just nuts. (See also theincomparable.com/radio)
It took longer than two minutes to explain--heck, longer than six days to figure out--why "Orphan 55" confounded me.
"Spyfall Part Two" was a strong conclusion to the opening Series 12 two-parter, but there was one creative decision I'm wary of, and another that really should have been done differently.
Chris Chibnall and company knocked the first episode of Series 12 out of the park but there's a caution: where there is a Part One, there must always be a Part Two. Here are three things to look for in...
Celebrating the impending advent of Series 12, and also the best fandom advent calendar ever: Radio Free Skaro's Fluid Links on YouTube.
Behold, The Dr Who Annual 1977 in all its bonkers glory.
There's not a lot of distance between covering ELO songs with a band of Tenth Doctor investigators, and enjoying Doctor Who fandom culture. You just have to watch out for the Abzorbaloffs in both places. Check out Reality Bomb Live in...
Are you stuck with me in the between-series Doctor Who doldrums? Check out the now-complete first year of Thirteenth Doctor stories by the top-notch creative team of Jody Houser, Rachael Stott, Roberta Ingranata, and Enrica Erin Angiolini! ALSO: Please join...
Prompted by Erik's remembrance of Terrance Dicks in 2MTL 435, some thoughts about the modern moral character of the Doctor: how Doctors 9-12 changed the game from Terrance Dicks's model, and how the Thirteenth Doctor changes the game again.
A Mail on Sunday article previews Christopher Eccleston's revelation in his new book I Love the Bones of You: he lived with mental health issues while launching Doctor Who as the Ninth Doctor.
"Like all truly great writers, Terrance Dicks is a moralist." So begins Erik Stadnik of The Writers' Room: The Outer Limits and The Real McCoy podcast, the week after the legendary Doctor Who script editor and writer passed away.
Shannon Sudderth, podcasting partner and co-habitationist of your humble host, returned to Doctor Who with Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker. She shares her joy about reconnecting with Doctor Who fandom in ways large, small, and totally accidental. Find Shannon on Twitter...
I loved Series 11 but one of its areas of improvement is emphatically Yaz. What needs to happen to give this underused character her turn in the spotlight?
Den of Geek US's Kayti Burt saw herself in Rose Tyler, and watched as the TARDIS changed Rose just as Kayti's experiences--and her slowly growing distance from her working-class background--changed her. (You can listen to Kayti and Chip every week, along...
While Doctor Who will never become so obscure that it can only be found with a hunting dog and a Ouija board, Chip is definitely on the pessmistic side when it comes to Doctor Who's next streaming home: HBO Max.
If you're searching for a Significant Other, how important is it that they be into the same things you are? If you're as immersed in Doctor Who fandom as Reality Bomb co-producer Joy Piedmont is, should a potential partner get...
