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Tag: Fourth Doctor
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Yes… solve the greatest mystery ever… how is it possible Porter and John are actually married to other sentient beings?! Well we ARE. And we’re so confident in our marriages that we’ll allow them in front of a microphone where they could easily cry out for help. But they DON’T. In the final edit.
Anyhooo… it’s time for a Who-dunit and where else to start but with the all-time Queen of Mystery Writers, Dame Agatha Christie. The Doctor and Donna crash a party and come face-to-face with some classic mystery tropes (except for the part where the murderer is a giant alien bug). They’re name-checkin’ Christie novels left, right, and center as Porter, John, Mike, and Mrs. Probe try to unravel the puzzle that is The Unicorn and the Wasp.
We then slow the pace down – WAAAY down – as we stay in the 20s time period (in fictional terms) and time travel back (in production terms) to the 5th Doctor era (did everyone follow that?). Yes, the Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa, Adric, Paul, John, and Ringo suffer the horrible consequences of mistaken identity: attending a costume party! But not before there is some cricket. A LOT of cricket. So much cricket that it’s not really until Part 2 that we are presented with the Victorian Gothic thrills and chills of a secret-passage riddled house concealing dark family secrets. But it’s a good thing they got to it in Part 2 because there is no Part 3 or 4 and we wrap things up tidily(ish) without falling afoul of the curse of the Black Orchid.
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And so enters Dr. Elizabeth Corday… erm (or should I say, ERm?)… Dr. River Song. A character destined to return again and again to New Who (except of course that she dies here… or not really dies, sort of). And if Porter and John weren’t confused enough by this single character, you’ve got Steven Moffat just really being annoyingly brilliant as he hurls enough clever ideas at you in the first ten minutes to sustain the entire career of lesser writers (looking at you Illiam-Way Akespeare-Shay). You’ve got shadow piranhas, sentient computers, soul-echoing communicators, possible future Doctors, an entire virtual life for Donna, and… most bizarre of all… a place where information is stored on bound collections of paper stored on shelves. Now, shut your pie hole, because our Podcasting duo needs Silence in the Library as we explore the Forest of the Dead.
We then rocket back to days of 4th Doctor yore to find our hero (sadly sans talking cabbage) visiting his legendary home planet of Gallifrey for an epic encounter with a burned out husk with ping pong ball eyes (which is how John used to describe himself on hookup Apps). But there’s no time for hookups here as the Doctor’s non-pepperpot shaped arch-enemy has returned – the Master is his name and assassinatin’ is his game as he takes potshots at the Time Lord President in a confusing attempt to steal his fashion accessories. Fortunately for our podcasters, this involves a 3rd episode left-turn into the surreal world of the Matrix thereby justifying this episode pairing. Join Porter and John and an eerie laughing clown reflection as they contemplate the redundancy of the title The Deadly Assassin.
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Yes. Yesssss. To broadcast our thoughts across the Internet to dozens of people. To hold in our hand, a device that would contain such power. To know that the tiny pressure of our fingers – enough to hit the “Post” button – would share… everything. Yes. We WOULD do it. AND THROUGH THIS PODCAST WE HAVE THAT POWER!!!!
Look, if you don’t like ranting, then you probably should skip these episodes because they both feature the Ranty McRanterson of Doctor Who: Davros. Or probably Dr. Davros, right? He must have a PhD. Anyhoo, we kick off with 21st Century Who’s precursor to The Avengers as they gather everyone who has ever even thought about appearing in Who and shoehorn them into a rollicking romp featuring: Sarah. Captain Jack. Martha. Rose. Torchwood. Harriet Jones. Dalek Caan. Sylvia and Wilf. Jackie and Mickey. TWO David Tennants. The afore-mentioned Davros. Oh, and a fake-out regeneration. Is it too much for our intrepid Podcasters to handle? Find out as they contemplate The Stolen Earth before reaching Journeys End.
Having had a taste of Davros, we crave more (who wouldn’t – he’s so charming!) so we head back to the 4th Doctor era where we meet him for the very first time. We find our mad scientist buddy beavering away in his lab creating the Daleks and only taking quick breaks to commit not one but two genocides. He is only occasionally disturbed by the Doctor, Sarah, and Harry popping in to deliver some dialog and then ultimately even they just watch the riveting final episode on TV. Now, John has seen this episode 30+ times so we might have a hint of his feelings toward it. Will Porter share his fondness for the book of Genesis of the Daleks?
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But it’s more than just robots as this pairing gives NNTMP the opportunity to break its silence on the VERY common phenomenon of powerful women wanting to rampage around cities via ginormous mechanical penis proxies. We’re in favor. So, we’re fully on board for some Victorian age shenanigans involving a (maybe) prostitute and some Cybermen and their Temple of Doom homage versus a companion-less David Tennant accompanied by a companionful David Morrisey. There’s also Rositas and hot air balloons in the meta-titled head fake that is The Next Doctor.
We’re then back to the enormously popular Season 12 for the debut of the one, the only, the legend whose legacy shapes Doctor Who to this day: Professor Kettlewell! Also, Tom Baker shows up for his first paycheck. Which is a bit ironic as he is basically in a Third Doctor story, joining the Brigadier, Benton, Sarah Jane Smith, and Bessie (along with newcomer Harry Sullivan) tussling with the sinister Think Tank and their power mad leader, Hilda Winters. The UK has all the world’s nuclear codes for… reasons… and a disintegrator gun-wielding robot wants them hence the direct opposite of a meta-title, the straight-forward and to the point title, Robot. Also, John and Porter then mansplain feminism. You’re welcome, ladies.
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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!
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Yes, it’s raining spaceships – hallelujah! – but the Doctor is there to pick up the pieces. First, Doctor #11 and Amy Pond rescue the gorgeous and glamorous River Song, who returns to the series after dying in a library but not really dying (and trust us, it only gets more complicated from here). Porter and John are running out of superlatives for the great Matt Smith by this point, which is ironic (sort of) as this is his first actual performance (in terms of recording order). Yes, this sort of electrifying trivia is only part of the excitement as the Doctor, his friends, and some gun-totin’ Church folk tangle with a whole heapin’ helpin’ of Weepin’ Angels. Check your watches, Probers, because it’s The Time of Angels (and Flesh and Stone).
It takes a little longer for the 4th Doctor and Romana to arrive at the scene of their spaceship crash (a number of generations, in fact), but per usual once they arrive they manage to up-end an entire civilization within hours. It’s a lesson in evolution on Alzarius, which makes sense because the story is written by then 18-year old Andrew Smith, a Doctor Who fan who had probably only just studied evolution when he mailed in his script to the Doctor Who production office. John is thrilled with some mildly homoerotic opening scenes, while Porter is delighted by the return of K-9 with whom he has been enamored since our very first, as yet unaired NNTMP Pilot episode. So excited that even as he was dragged into a swamp (long story), he had the wherewithal to shout, “Tell John, we’ve come Full Circle!”
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