You know how when you sometimes want to change species? Like we all do. Well, Doctor Who takes a hard line on that one and says definitively… maybe not? The scarecrows are a’marchin’, the schoolkids are a’shootin’, and everyone is a’stickin’ it to World War I as the Doctor becomes human and Martha once again gets screwed over. Will Porter be overcome with emotion at this beautiful testament to the beauty of a lifetime of true love? Will John smugly work into the discussion that he already knows what happens because anyone who’s a real fan read this story when it was a New Adventure back in 1995? You’ll find out as our Podcasters breakdown the fundamentals of Human Nature and flee from the Family of Blood.
Right, so who wants to become human when you can become a Time Lord?! Note, however, that becoming a Time Lord may (may, mind you) cause your brain to start poking out of your skull. But who has time to contemplate consequences when this classic 5th Doctor story is firing plot points at you like little kids machine-gunning a scarecrow – Nyssa and Tegan, Turlough‘s first story, Brigadier 1983, Brigadier 1977, the subsequent UNIT dating CHAOS, the Black Guardian, and just generally the wild excitement that is the 20th anniversary season. But such is the firehose of plot when you open the spigot that is the catchily entitled… Mawdryn Undead.