Fresh Start - “Christmas Invasion” & “Spearhead from Space”
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Blithely ignoring the fact that we’ve actually completed a full season in this Podcast, we barrel into The Christmas Invasion excited to meet the 10th Doctor for the first time – 35 minutes later. Will Porter fall in love with the new Who? Will John fall in love with the UNIT call-back to the classic series? Will we lament a society where we throw the word “love” around so casually?
But take not the time for such reflection as we have to nip backwards to another debut episode, Spearhead from Space, the introduction of one Jon Pertwee as Doctor #3. But that’s not all – for the same low, low price you also get the introduction of Cambridge scientist, Liz Shaw, and the re-re-introduction of the legendary Brigadier. Will Porter notice the subtle, blink-and-you-miss-it similarities to Rose? Will John revel in the first glimpse of the legendary Season 7? Well, yes, probably, as it would be weird if the answer to these questions was, “No.”
London Underground - “Runaway Bride” & “Doctor Who and the Silurians”
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Yes, we meet Donna Noble, and what a great companion she would have been, yes? But, here we are, fated to meet her but once. (*Snicker* Shhh. Shhhh. Don’t tell Porter! What a sap!) Anyway, she’s a bride and she’s run away (as in, been kidnapped by alien time particles), hence we meet The Runaway Bride! Will Porter thrill to one of the best realized Police Box car chases in television history? Will John discard his rose-colored nostalgia goggles and rank a new series episode as one of the best? Would we ask these questions if the answer was no?
Meanwhile, if you are keeping track, the center of the Earth is a nest of alien baby spiders, then there is a layer of superhot green slime that turns you into a werewolf, and then there are the Silurians (except they should be the Eocenes). Yes, we meet the Silurians for the first time for the second time and also the Doctor is in it and thus we have the aptly named Doctor Who and the Silurians. Will Porter’s crush on the great Liz Shaw be further inflamed? Will John really spend more time than is necessary flagging the odd inclusion of “Doctor Who” in the story title? And will they both take the listener on a magical journey through the technological witchcraft that is… EXCEL!
Stand Clear of the Closing Doctor - "Planet of the Dead" & "Time-Flight"
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It’s Easter and we’re on a London bus with a rich lady cat burglar and Lee Evans. Tell me if you’ve heard this one before? Well, you have if you’ve watched the next in our series of 10th Doctor specials forming David Tennant’s lap of honor. The bus has, as is typical of mass transit, been delayed due to a wormhole that leaves it in a desert that looks a lot like Dubai but is in fact an alien planet! Now it’s a race against time for the Doctor, Lady Christina, an Oscar winner, a wise and slightly psychic black woman, and some fly people as they work with UNIT and the great Malcolm to get back to Earth before a bunch giant flying manta rays can escape… the Planet of the Dead!
It’s then back to the 5th Doctor era, which then takes us back even further to prehistoric Earth in a classic Who episode that takes on the tough issues of the day and drives home the important message: “Hey! We got a Concorde!” After taking the requisite 30 seconds to mourn the death of Adric, the Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa head to Heathrow where they get involved in the hunt for a missing Concorde. Will Porter and John resolve the mystery of the inexplicably (and slightly racist-ly) disguised Master? Will they become embroiled in the intriguing mystery of the Xerpahin – namely, who the Hell are they and what is this story actually supposed to be about? To find out, grab your carry-on and park yourself in the Group 2 line (if you are a frequent Prober), and don’t be late to catch your Time-Flight!
Life on Mars - "The Waters of Mars" & "The Ambassadors of Death"
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Yes, John and Porter are gallivanting off to Mars and crossing their fingers not to run unto Elon Musk – just because he seems like he’d be a bit awkward and there’s already enough trouble there without having to deal with uncomfortable social situations. But, our internationally diverse (don’t worry – all still attractive) crew of Bowie Base would probably wish the worst they had to endure was a few uncomfortable silences instead of one-by-one being picked off by malevolent alien water. Fortunately, the 10th Doctor is on hand to save them – only he can’t because he saw that episode where Barbara learned she can’t do that – only maybe he can because he’s the Time Lord Victorious – only no, never mind, because companion-of-the-month Adelaide is so hell-bent on winning an argument that she’ll kill herself to do it. It’s a lot to talk about, so if you are feeling parched then slake your thirst on The Waters of Mars!
Turns out that Mars – like Australia – is full of things that are trying to kill you, as the Third Doctor, Liz, and the Brigadier discover in the sprawling epic that completes NNTMP’s run of the Seventh Season of classic Who. In the classic British fashion of downplaying their own abilities, Doctor Who posits the existence of a British space program that appears to be a complete disaster in terms of driving astronauts insane and/or losing them in space. This leads to a fiendishly clever plot (revealed almost entirely in Episode 7) in which Liz Shaw keeps failing to escape from a cellar while the galaxy’s worst emissaries keep accidentally killing anyone they touch. Fortunately, there is a lot of fighting, shooting, and hijacking to keep us amused. Porter and John set the best china, bone up on their protocol, and put out the little flags as they prepare to receive… The Ambassadors of Death!
Time, Lord, Is On Our Side - "The End of Time" & "The War Games"
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Clear your calendars, Probers, because we have got 7 (SEVEN!) hours of Who to discuss… which turns out to only need about 20 more minute in the Podcast.
We kick off our epic look at epics with the epic conclusion of David Tennant’s epic run as the 10th Doctor (which itself is really just the two-part epic finale to his epic lap of honor). Yes, he doesn’t want to go, and we can tell because he has been saying goodbye for about 6 episodes at this point. But, as we say, there’s one more epic to get under our belts and it’s a doozy as John Simm returns as a resurrected Master who can really tuck into a turkey. He’s got a diabolical plot to save the BBC on casting and actor salaries by becoming EVERYONE, which would in itself be a heck of a cliffhanger, but then – BAM! – out of nowhere we get James freakin’ Bond himself, Timothy Dalton, just bustin’ in all, “Hey, guess what? Gallifrey’s back and I am Rassilon. Bitches.” And then we still get Wilf, Donna, Sylvia Noble, Sarah, Martha, Mickey, Jack, Alonzo, and soom Ood. Oh yeah, and then Matt Smith shows up. It’s a heck of a story and we could go into more detail if we hadn’t already reached… The End of Time!
A two-hour Doctor regeneration story?! That has to be one heck of a grand finale! Pshaw, say Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks from back in 1969. Feast your eyes on 10 (TEN!) episodes of classic Who as Patrick Troughton ends his reign as Doctor #2. It’s a gradual reveal (I mean, they had the time) as the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe find themselves caught up in World War I… and the US Civil War… and some vague Roman war thing…. We quickly learn never to trust people with glasses as we discover a fiendish alien plot to build the universe’s greatest fighting force. A plot slightly marred by some really bitchy interoffice rivalry between the War Chief and the Security Chief. And, as if that’s not enough… once again the Time Lords show up in the epic conclusion! Only, this time, it’s the FIRST time they’ve ever shown up in Doctor Who. Porter and John can barely contain the excitement as they take sides on The War Games!
