We engage in a counterfactual discussion, speculating about what would have happened to Doctor Who if Russell T Davies had not been charged with bringing back the series to BBC1 in late 2003. We discuss what was happening with Who in 2003 — "The Scream of the Shalka" — and wonder what would have happened next. Would Who have returned to BBC1 later in the decade? Who would have been showrunner if not RTD? Or, would the programme have died a slow death as its fandom aged and slowly faded from memory? Opening music is "O'Carolan's Farewell" performed by Derek Bell and used in the opening of Death Comes to Time. Closing music is the Shoestring theme, composed by George Fenton. We recorded this episode on 8 October 2023.

#234 - Viewing Fumes

An ongoing conversation about Doctor Who with Ben and David.

TV & Film

TV Reviews

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.

#244 - Tractators and Weeping Boom Mics

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.

#243 - Stendhal Syndrome

Ben checks in before heading back to the UK to give our listener and David the scoop on what happened this year at the GallifreyOne Convention. Opening music is "Dancing Across Space and Time" and closing music is "Nothing Is Forever", both composed by Segun Akinola. We recorded this episode on 10 March 2024.

#242 - No Actorial Flim-Flam

Ben chats with Lena Barkin and Jess Jurkovic about the upcoming GallifreyOne convention this week in Los Angeles. Lena recently contributed to Adventures Across Space and Time: A Doctor Who Reader a chapter about fandom and Tumblr and will be presenting and signing autographs, plus celebrating Blake's 7. Jess wrapped up the second season of his Dudley Simpson is Doctor Who Project this past year and will be interviewing composers, including Segun Akinola and Dominic Glynn, on the main stage in Program A. Opening music is "You Shall Not Disrupt Our Mission" and closing music is "We Have Everything We Need", both composed by Segun Akinola. We recorded this episode on 6 February 2024.

#241 - Gally Ho!

We wrap our mini-series looking at production design in Doctor Who with our own top-five design picks from stories broadcast from 2011 through to 2020. Listen in to hear which stories design work overseen by Michael Pickwoad, Arwel Wyn Jones, or Dafydd Shurmer will make our cut and why we picked them. Opening music is "Up the Shard" and closing music is "A Fly on a Painting", both composed by Murray Gold. We recorded this episode on 14 January 2024.

#234 - Viewing Fumes

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