We conclude our look at Ian Marter's time on Doctor Who with a chat about the role of Harry Sullivan in Terror of the Zygons and The Android Invasion. Harry starts out strongly in Zygons, but is treated poorly in his final appearance. Harry was the third wheel to the Sarah and the Doctor relationship, and he was bullied by both of them in the Seaso…

We continue on with our leisurely-paced examination of Ian Marter's time on Doctor Who by looking at Harry Sullivan's role in Genesis of the Daleks and Revenge of the Cybermen. The character starts out strong with Terry Nation's sidekick / buddy writing for Sullivan in Genesis, but by the time Bob Holmes writes Revenge, Harry is on the chopping blo…

In this podcast we talk about Ian Marter's first two stories after his character, Harry Sullivan, joins the TARDIS crew: The Ark in Space and The Sontaran Experiment. We discuss the ease at which Marter portrays Sullivan as a decent, square-jawed Englishman. We also lament what could have been if the Doctor Who production team better utilised the c…

We continue with our Ian Marter discussion with a brief conversation about the debut of Harry Sullivan in "Robot"! But, before we get underway, we pick up where we left off with new details about Marter's time at St. Edmund Hall at Oxford University with the discovery that there is a recording on vinyl of Marter singing in You Can't Do Much Without…

We kick off our Ian Marter retrospective with a look at his time at Oxford University. Thanks to back issues of St. Edmund Hall Magazine, we uncover new information that places Marter at Oxford three years earlier than is widely and incorrectly reported in other published sources. From our research, we found that Marter was at St. Edmund Hall, aka …

We discuss the recent animation of the William Hartnell story, The Celestial Toymaker. Overall, we think it successfully presented a boring, at times, story that is hard to follow with moving images for episodes 1–3 missing. Ben would like to see the animators push it even further away from the original broadcast visuals. David would have preferred…

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 dep…

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 stor…

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 wh…

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 …

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 Doct…

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 t…

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 M…

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 Spea…

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-ti…

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 fro…

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.…

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 Dud…

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 mus…

We discuss The Church on Ruby Road, Ncuti Gatwa's first solo-starring story as the Doctor. It was great watching Doctor Who once again on Christmas Day and think it was a fun story with a strong cast. We also like the science-fantasy direction that RTD appears to be taking with this first series and think Disney's input has been so far positive. Be…

We discuss The Giggle, the closing chapter of Doctor Who's 60th anniversary specials. High marks for Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker who nearly stole every scene he was in until the arrival of Ncuti Gatwa as the bi-generated Doctor. But, thumbs down on the Vlinx, and thought Mr. Smith, Mel Bush, or even BOSS would have been a better narrative c…

We discuss Wild Blue Yonder, the middle story of the 60th anniversary specials of Doctor Who and share our thoughts on Russell T Davies latest adventure for the Doctor and Donna Noble. Ben relays Paul Scoones' suggestion that the ship's captain may have been a nod to the Equinans, from "The Wreckers!", a 1975 Who story in The TV Comic. David notes …

We discuss The Star Beast, the 60th anniversary special of Doctor Who and share our thoughts on Russell T Davies' retelling and updating of this classic weekly comic serial from 1980. Opening and closing music is from this episode's incidental music composed by Murray Gold. We recorded this episode on 27 November 2023.…

Our discussion of set design continues with a conversation about the designs overseen by Edward Thomas, who was Production Designer for most of Series 1 through Series 5 of Doctor Who. How television was made changed in significant ways since the McCoy Doctor and Ace left our screens. With the debut of 'new Who', an executive level position, the ar…

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 …

We first chat about the 60th anniversary trailer and then continue on with our discussion of top sets and their designers with a look at 1980s Doctor Who. What share which stories make our respective top five lists and why, and then explore why we overlap in selections in this decade than in any prior era of the show. Opening music is from "The War…

We wrap up our conversation about the Doctor Who Magazine readership story rankings with our assessment of how the Tennant, Smith, Capaldi, and Whittaker stories lined up. We comment on how fandom seems to be coalescing upon a consensus of what is the best (and worse) of the modern Doctors Who's stories. There are a few stories that we feel should …

We talk about "Ncuti Gatwa on Doctor Who", the August/September 2023 RollingStone UK article. We try to tease out what sort of Doctor will Gatwa be and chat about what we hope his time in the TARDIS will be like. Opening and closing music is excerpts from the 1966 song of The Kinks, "Dedicated Follower of Fashion", written by Ray Davies. We recorde…

The Metebelis Two's lazy summer look at Doctor Who sets and their designers continues into the 1970s with a top five discussion. What five sets will David choose, and will that throw Ben off his carefully balanced selections spread between designers and Doctors Who? Why are multi-level sets so great? Why is, like monsters, the color of sets green m…

Ben and David continue their look at the Doctor Who monthly rankings by discussing the results of the 1980s Doctors, plus the Chris Eccleston stories. We theorize to why there is so little movement in the rankings over the years and lament the voting preferences of the DWM readership. The music for this episode is from The Mark of the Rani, compose…

The designers of 1960s Doctor Who contended with small budgets and even smaller studios to create the places and alien worlds that Doctor Who and his travelling companions visited. What are our top set designs of the b&w era? Why do we think they're great? And, who designed them? Opening music is "Dalek City Corridor" created by Brian Hodgson of th…

In this podcast, Ben shares his experience in Bristol at the Lawless Comic Con from earlier in the month, and then answers David's question about what his idea would be for a new Doctor Who exhibition. Ben gives a brief summation of his Who exhibition experiences and pitches a Magical Who Story Tour from London, across the south England, to Cardiff…

Ben and David continue their look at the Doctor Who Monthly readership rankings with a chat about where the Troughton, Pertwee, and Tom Baker stories stacked up. We share our theories, such as the Web Planet Effect, to why the stories ranked in the order that they did and discuss on which stories do we think are underrated, overrated, and correctly…

RTD has revived the Doctor Who hype machine and Ben and David have been lapping it up. They enthuse over the many costume reveals for Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor and other members of the cast. Ben, who has been in England this past month, liked the Doctor Who trailer that dropped before EuroVision this year on BBC and is picking up a palpable buzz about t…

Ben presents to David a crash course in UK comics and all things related to The Star Beast, the 1980s comic serial that started Doctor Who Weekly #19, which was written by Pat Mills and John Wagner, and drawn by Dave Gibbons — all legends of UK comics. Toss in a dash of speculation of how RTD will bring Beep the Meep and the Wrarth Warriors to our …

Discussion of a possible UNIT spin off and then broaden our discussion to what can make a Doctor Who spin off successful and brainstorm spin-off ideas to pitch to RTD — from live action Paul McGann Doctor Who to steam punk Who to animated further adventures starring the Hartnell, Troughton, or Pertwee Doctors Who. What made the Sarah Jane Adventure…

Ben is joined by writer Lena Barkin and pianist Jess Jurkovic to chat about their experiences at the 2023 Gallifrey One convention. Opening music is "Summons to Gallifrey" composed by Paddy Kingsland and closing music is "Jelly Babies" composed by Dudley Simpson. We recorded this episode on 27 February 2023.…

A bonus episode! Ben's report from the first day of Gallifrey One 33 in Los Angeles and how impressive Tim Dane Reid's presentation of his behind-the-scenes account of portraying many of the monsters in Doctor Who. Opening music is from The Claws of Axos and closing music is from Fuldans by Fulkultur. We recorded this episode on 17 Feb 2023.…

A double feature in this podcast. First up, Ben gives his report from the Worlds of Wonder Doctor Who exhibit currently running at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Next David is joined by John (elvwood) and Peter (forpetessake), two quiz masters on the Games of Rassilon subforum on Gallifrey Base Doctor Who forum, where they discuss fo…

We are joined in this podcast by writer Lena Barkin and pianist Jess Jurkovic to chat about the upcoming Gallifrey One 33 convention to be held in February in Los Angeles. Ben, Lena, and Jess will all be panelists. Lena will present "Want You or Want to Be You: Companion Relationships in New and Classic Who" as part of the Tardis Talks Academic Sym…

The Abominable Snowmen Doctor Who animation is the centerpiece of this episode's discussion that ranges from the recent animation choices made by Gary Russell and Digitoonz to the original story by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln. Together they make a complex juxtaposition of early 2020s progressive sensibilities and late 1960s reactionism. What w…

We are trapped in a time loop in an "elf" storage in Manchester this podcast and are back on New Years Day 2022 to discuss the holiday special, Eve of the Daleks. David likes how Chris Chibnall writes his Dalek specials, but wonders why Nick was written to be so creepy. The name "Nick" certainly must have been a production team joke. Ben wonders wh…

'Tis the time of giving gifts and Sutekh Claus has a sleighful of presents for Doctor Who fans! Ben and David exchange twelve things they're thankful for in the world of Doctor Who and its fandom. Opening music is a mash-up of Bernard Archer's Marcus Scarman and Bing Crosby's White Christmas. Closing music is from Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody". We…

Can the show Doctor Who work without Doctor Who? In this episode, David suggests that Doctor Who is not required and that the real only constant needed for the series is the TARDIS and a crew. Ben entertains this thesis and we discuss what such a show would be like and how it could work and its limitations. We ask if the show has evolved to such a …

Jodie Whittaker's final episode tears the lid off the Doctor's companion's life after leaving the TARDIS. Ben and David discuss the former companions banding together to support one another and pitch ideas for an expanded Whoniverse series. We share our reactions to seeing former Doctors Who again and what we think of the return of David Tennant to…

We talk about The Flux in one marathon podcast. What worked for us, what didn't capture our imagination, and what we would have done differently; including conversation about Sontarans, Weeping Angels, the teeth of Dan Lewis, understanding Scouse, Ben's dislike of dogs, Thasmin, and not letting Jo Martin have more screen time. Opening and closing m…

After a month's hiatus due to travels and Ben's bout with COVID, we're back talking about Jodie Whittaker headlining the GaliffreyOne convention next year and a look at her finale trailer. What are Tegan and Ace up to? Is the Master using his CTE on the Doctor's friends? Is that the UNIT logo or an upside down Death Star? Much speculation about wha…

In a wide-ranging discussion, Ben and David talk about the use of colo(u)r in Doctor Who and elsewhere in television and film. We also reflect on our own experiences watching black and white Doctor Who episodes on television and VHS. We also debate whether or not 1960s stories should be officially colourised. Opening music is "Technicolour Dreams" …

To mark the sad passing of Bernard Cribbins, we journey back to 1966 to look at his first role associated with Doctor Who, which was PC Tom Campbell in Daleks' Invasion of Earth 2150 A.D. Ben reflects how Cribbins and Ray Brooks, who played David, were the voices of his childhood. Cribbins voiced all of the Wombles and Brooks narrated the Mr Benn a…

The Metebelis Two are excited to welcome Brian Jacob and Jess Jurkovic back to the podcast for a discussion about the return of Russell T Davis as showrunner and Ncuti Gatwa as Doctor Who. We share our thoughts and concerns about RTD's second chance and wonder what 2023 will bring for our favorite Time Lord. (Also, to help support season two of the…