Ladies and gentlemen, Human Resources is our favourite 8th Doctor Adventure thus far. If you haven't heard the audiobook yet, and you're at all concerned about spoilers, then do so before you listen to our review. As per usual, we spoil the living daylights out of it on the podcast, and this audiobook is absolutely worth adding to your collection.

Remember Lucie mentioning, back in A001 Blood of the Daleks, that she was on her way to her first day at a new job when she suddenly found herself with the Doctor? Well, Human Resources starts off with her waking up on that first day at work. It's as though her adventures with The Doctor never happened, and he, the TARDIS, the Daleks and (thankfully) even Tommy Tomorrow's freaking stylophone were all just a figment of her imagination. The Headhunter (played by Katarina Olsson) is there to show her around, too, and soon Lucie meets her new colleague/social doppelganger, Karen (played by Louise Fullerton), and her line manager, Jerry (played hilariously well by Owen Brenman).

It transpires she's been brainwashed to work a boring data entry job, weirdly not in London as she was lead to believe, but in Telford, of all places, which – by the way – is actually also not where she really is. Confused? Not half as confused as The Doctor is about to be when, meanwhile in England, a fellow Timelord by the name of Straxus (played by Nickolas Grace, screenshot on the website) pops up to give him a Time Ring and send him off to retrieve his companion...

... which he does. Once in her office, however, he realises something's amiss, re-brains Lucie and has all of his worst fears confirmed by Hulbert (played by Roy Marsden, screenshot on the website), the head of the company.

Throw in some classic Cybermen and a handful of giant robot warrior office complexes, and you've got 'Human Resources.' Treat yourself to a listen. It's fantastic.

The Ratings-and-Reviews section of this podcast episode starts at:

1 hour 26 minutes

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Check out WHOBACKWHEN.COM for more information, Doctor Who TV Serial and Audiobook reviews, ratings and ramblings, and loads more podcast episodes.

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Toodle-Pip!

The Doctor, Barbara, Ian and not-short-for-Victoria unfreeze on Xeros, are about to be frozen again, and then help some kids kill lots of grownups.

The Doctor, Barbara, Ian and Vicki, who were frozen in time at the end of the last TV serial, materialise on the planet Xeros and promptly unfreeze. Turns out, the planet is now used as a space museum, even though it ought to be said we only see a few rooms in one building and a total of maybe 25 people, so goodness knows what it's like on the entire rest of the planet!

The Space Museum, which most likely to accommodate tourists presents all of its signs in English, is run by the Moroks, an evil alien race who have taken over Xeros and enslaved its indigenous adult population while leaving the local adolescents to roam free until they come of age. The latter, however, hormonal brats thirsting for freedom that they are, are obviously going to take up arms, and the arrival of Vicki & Friends is just the impetus they've been waiting for. If the Moroks don't get to them first and turn them into museum exhibits.

Also important is that the troupe has jumped a time track, a pleasant consequence of which is that they now have the chance to McFly their respective futures so that their parents kiss at the big dance, by which is meant that they may beat the Moroks yet.

This is an action-packed thrill-ride of a Doctor Who serial, with plenty of marvellous props, techno babble, WBW tropes and some of the dumbest plot devices hitherto witnessed on the show, including *spoilers* a re-enactment of the deus ex machina from Edge of Destruction (aka Descrution). From the blatant wardrobe change in the beginning that could really only have been accomplished, had the troupe been violated by the Morok, to the fact that Vicki – Freaking Vicks Vaporub! – takes up the reigns as resident Che Guevara, leading a bloody revolution while hacking super computers along the way, this serial is, with little to no exception, absolutely bonkers. You'll love it.

All in all, a romp worth watching!

The Ratings-and-Reviews section of this podcast episode starts at:

1 hour 3 minutes

In case you're struggling to find something of merit in this Doctor Who serial, check out the video embedded at www.whobackwhen.com/015-space-museum/, in which Doctor Who writer Rob Shearman defends 'The Space Museum'. Big thanks to Evan for sending us the link, and of course for tuning in to Who Back When to begin with!

The 8th Doctor and Lucie Miller crash a garden party, ride Pterodactyl-like creatures and meet Miss Marple in this lovely audiobook adventure.

This audiobook kicks off mid-action with The 8th Doctor and his trusted companion Lucie Miller aboard a spaceship in hot pursuit of a time-tech thief who, despite being an extra-terrestrial, is called Dr Zimmerman. Zimmerman, played by veteran actor Nigel Havers (sans Doctor Who connection, but avec Sarah Jane Adventures connection – see the screenshot on the website), has inadvertently lead a bunch of time-eating, Vortisaur-riding Tar Modowk warriors to the spaceship as well, and escapes, leaving Doc and Lucie to fend for themselves.

Happily, McGann Doctor and Lucie make it back to the TARDIS alive, follow Zimmerman's time track to – surprise, surprise – Earth, more specifically England, where they are greeted by Inspector Gordon Davidson, played by none other than Doctor Who veteran Tom Chadbon, who's in charge of security at the party, but eventually relents and lets them enter without an invitation.

Soon they discover that (a) Zimmerman has aged 30 years and is now happily married to Rachel, played by Marple star Julia McKenzie, whose birthday garden-party is happening right then and there, and (b) there's something very odd going on with the local temporal energy, which in turn is luring the Tar Modowk out of the Vortex and onto the lawn.

Looks like they have no choice but to crash the party.

The Ratings-and-Reviews Section of this Podcast episode starts at:

56 minutes 30 seconds

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Check out WHOBACKWHEN.COM for more information, Doctor Who episode reviews, ratings and ramblings, and loads more podcast episodes, and feel free to direct any feedback to [email protected].

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Toodle-Pip!

Doc and Lucie materialise in a Scooby Doo episode and wade through snow, battling fake monsters and avoiding holes of both the worm and plot variety.

Cowabunga! It's time for a Scooby Doo episode, literally and it appears also intentionally, as it even includes an "And I would have gotten away with it, too"-type line of dialogue.

The Doctor and Lucie materialise on the Martian moon of Phobos, which in the future is essentially a skiing resort run by hippies and overrun by adrenalin junkies with questionable accents. Also on Phobos, atop a mountain, is a wormhole down which said adrenalin junkies (or "Drennies" as they prefer to be called) enjoy bungee jumping. For some time now, though, the camp "elder", Kai Tobias (played by Timothy West) has been telling stories of monsters, aka Phobians, living in the wormhole and occasionally coming out and killing tourists. His partner, Eris (played by Nerys Hughes, see screenshot here below), however, thinks this is all a load of utter nonsense. Well, Eris, that's something we have in common.

In addition to The Doctor and Lucie we get to meet a few more of Phobos' visitors, namely, the Githean Farl (a big, furry chauvinist played by Tim Sutton) and his presumably human girlfriend Amy (played by Katarina Olson, whom we've previously encountered in the form of The Headhunter, and *spoiler alert* whom we will encounter again as such in a short cutscene at the end of this one). We're also introduced to Drew (Ben Silverstone) and Hayden (John Schwab, screenshot below), two bodacious dudes who are there to enjoy the thrills of Phobos, and who are, it transpires, "just friends".

Anyway, when Doc and Lucie arrive, a faux-Australian Drennie has just been brutally murdered, the above-mentioned tourists' lives are threatened by the Phobians and something just ain't right.

The Ratings-and-Reviews Sections of this podcast episode kicks off at 1 hour 5 minutes 55 seconds

... and lasts for a good few minutes before we start congratulating ourselves on being so witty.

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Check out WHOBACKWHEN.COM for more information, Doctor Who episode reviews, ratings and ramblings, and loads more podcast episodes, and feel free to direct any feedback to [email protected].

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Toodle-Pip!

'Tis the season to be jolly, so here's our little gift to you: The 2013 Who Back When Blooper Reel. Happy Holidays, everybody!

As 'tis the season to be jolly, how better to warm those cold winter nights than with this Christmas Special?

It's the 2013 Who Back When Blooper Reel!

Thank you all for making 2013 such a wonderful start for Who Back When. It's time we gave something back... ;) Thus, here's a behind-the-scenes insight into the machinations of our little Doctor Who podcast.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year

From all of us to all of you!

Enjoy.

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Check out WHOBACKWHEN.COM for more information, Doctor Who episode reviews, ratings and ramblings, and loads more podcast episodes, and feel free to direct any feedback to [email protected].

WEB:

WhoBackWhen.com

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Toodle-Pip!

The Doc and Lucie interrupt suicidal star-crossed lovers and get entangled with divine pervs who communicate via walkie-talkie