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Pull To Open

157 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago -

There are many Doctor Who podcasts. Only one dares review the entire show... in entirely random order!

Join journalists Pete Pachal and Chris Taylor as they summarize stories in record time, play the Whomoji game, enter the History Corner, answer the Four Questions to Doomsday, and cower in fear before the almighty Randomizer.

New episode every Saturday! Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pull-to-open/support

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Episodes

Faust Return Switch (Corrupting “The Keeper of Traken”)

March 23, 2024 10:00 - 1 hour - 71.5 MB

May the Source be with you! Tom Baker’s regeneration eve story The Keeper of Traken starts strong with a Shakespearean wedding on a utopian world of niceness — but soon devolves into a slap fight between drama nerds and science nerds over a strangely buff statue. Even its surprise reveal is far from the most masterful. So can the Doctor and Adric’s double act, plus manic pixie dream Nyssa and too-good-to-be-true Tremas, deliver this nostalgia fest from evil? Grab an eggplant and claim consul...

Doctor Who Canon Doesn’t Matter. Or Does It?

March 16, 2024 10:00 - 38 minutes - 35.5 MB

The Toymaker may have made a "jigsaw” of the Doctor’s history, but truthfully it was well jigsawed when he got there. As any fan who has tried to make sense of Doctor Who canon knows (and there have been many), the show’s 60-year run is full of contradictions, retcons, and flat-out nonsense that paying attention to it seems like a waste of… er, time. However, it’s equally true that continuity, when done well, bestows greater weight to stories. Ongoing storylines give us a reason to tune wee...

How to Get Ahead in Megalomania (Dismembering “The Brain of Morbius”)

March 09, 2024 11:00 - 1 hour - 79.3 MB

Time for the yarn on Karn that unravels the Doctor’s entire history — while cramming in more cranial puns than you can shake an oversized amygdala at. The Brain of Morbius is like a New Who embryo in a jar: a self-aware homage (to Frankenstein), a feminist fable (sort of) with a serious theme (immortality) that’s laced with laugh-out-loud lines, and bold changes that go beyond even the Timeless Child. Grab an elixir, don’t touch the wine, and let’s all stare at the magnificent headcanon.  G...

Sick Burn (Deadlock-Sealing “42”)

March 02, 2024 11:00 - 1 hour - 74.9 MB

A clock that ticks down in real time. A fiendishly difficult pub quiz. And a creature that lives in a sun. Chris Chibnall’s first Doctor Who story, 42, has many intriguing elements — but also a lack of focus that foreshadows his time as showrunner. Does 42 add up to more than the sum of its parts? Phone your friends at Pull To Open and find out!  Give your own rating for 42 on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Gravity Kills (Fortifying “The Moonbase”)

February 24, 2024 11:00 - 1 hour - 86.2 MB

Ground Control to Gravitron: Take your coffee sweet and put your space suit on…. The Moonbase isn’t just the first Cybermen reboot, it’s the template for every base under siege story since. Undoubtedly, Patrick Troughton grows in the role before our eyes. But what about sick jealous Jamie, chemistry expert Ben, and the rest of this Polly cocktail? Join us as we throw an explosive bottle of 2024 straight at the Cybermen of 2070! Give your own rating for The Moonbase on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Rear Window (Revisiting the 60th Anniversary Specials)

February 17, 2024 11:00 - 42 minutes - 39.3 MB

Time and tide may melt the snowman, but it also allows things to sink in. It’s been a few months since we kicked off the new era of Doctor Who, and now that we’ve had time to absorb the 60th anniversary specials, how do we feel about them? More to the point, how do we feel about Russell T. Davies 2.0 — the opening salvo of his second at-bat as showrunner? The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder, and The Giggle have set the tone, and it’s definitely a very new Who. But does it also evoke another wor...

Dream Scheme (Confronting “Amy’s Choice,” with guest Damla from Come Along Pond)

February 10, 2024 11:00 - 1 hour - 79.7 MB

The Dream Lord makes the team … work? Amy’s Choice is fondly remembered as a pivotal point for the TARDIS trio of Amy, Rory and the Doctor, elevating the future Mr. Pond from gooseberry to hero. But does it give short shrift to Toby Jones as the Doctor’s alter ego? With Damla from “Come Along Pond,” a Pull To Open trio decides which reality we’re waking up in. Give your own rating for Amy's Choice on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Ple...

Bastille-ing History (Overthrowing “The Reign of Terror”)

February 03, 2024 11:00 - 1 hour - 86.5 MB

Allons-y into French history! The Reign of Terror is said to be the Doctor’s favorite era *ever* on Earth — so why isn’t “The Reign of Terror” a fan favorite? Is it just that it’s hard to find (boo, BritBox!) or did its plot go the way of the Scarlet Pimpernel? Take a seat in the history corner, citizen, and maybe you’ll survive your encounter with Madame Guillotine …  Give your own rating for The Reign of Terror on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

A Splatter of Faith (Consuming “The Curse of Fenric”)

January 27, 2024 11:00 - 1 hour - 83.9 MB

When you sit down to watch Classic Doctor Who, you need to have faith — faith that intellect with triumph over violence, faith that poor production values will be made up for by fascinating storylines, and faith that the people making the show actually know what they’re doing. The Curse of Fenric makes you question that faith (for at least 3 episodes anyway), but at least it has the good sense to distract you with layers of plot about WWII code breaking, ancient Viking curses, and a bloodsuc...

Sewers & Serpents (Conjuring “The Magician’s Apprentice and The Witch’s Familiar”)

January 20, 2024 11:00 - 1 hour - 80.2 MB

Did someone order a hybrid? The combo of The Magician’s Apprentice and The Witch’s Familiar take us on our deepest dive into Dalek territory yet. While Davros auditions for an EGOT, it’s Missy who steals the show. And hey, who turned on the HADS? Join us as we sort the overstuffed Moffat extravaganza from the weighty emotional drama!  Give your own rating for The Magician's Apprentice and The Witch's Familiar on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

The Power and the Quarry (Betraying “Death to the Daleks”)

January 13, 2024 11:00 - 1 hour - 81.7 MB

Daleks are used to being large and in charge, casually exterminating anything that moves with their ray guns and cruising over slave groups in their flying saucers. Take all that away from them, and what have you got? Basically a bunch of scared children, ready to freak out the moment a native gets a little too close with a spear. You get the sense the Doctor would laugh about his enemies' predicament in Death to the Daleks except he's too busy doing a little exterminating of his own, throwi...

Trivial Pursuit (Following “The Chase”)

January 06, 2024 11:00 - 1 hour - 87.3 MB

Daleks, Dracula and a dancing Doctor, oh my! The Chase is pretty weird and wacky, even if the original idea was even weirder (Beatles in old age makeup, anyone?) Join us live from London, 1965, as we attempt to headcanon everything in this melange of madness — right down to Peter Purves’ Alabama accent.  Give your own rating for The Chase on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Subscribe to our newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pulltoopen.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for extende...

Subcontinental Divide (Bordering “Demons of the Punjab”)

December 30, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 91.6 MB

Demons of the Punjab is not your average pseudo-historical. It’s a highly effective introduction to one of the biggest 20th century catastrophes that the developed world knows little about — and a showcase for what Who can do. Join us for a very special History Corner: everything you wanted to know about Partition of India, but were too afraid of alien assassins to ask!  Give your own rating for Demons of the Punjab on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

It’s a Plunderful Life (HOT TAKE: “The Church on Ruby Road”)

December 26, 2023 01:50 - 37 minutes - 34.5 MB

If Ncuti Gatwa didn't win you over as the Fifteenth Doctor in his debut in The Giggle, he has scene after satisfying scene in The Church on Ruby Road to do the job. From his first moments twirling in a kilt in a London club, Gatwa is in full command of the role, talking his way past policemen and ready to do battle with baby-devouring goblins. But it's his connection with Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday, a fellow "foundling," where the story really shines — maybe even brightly enough to get us t...

What Doctor Who Got Us for Christmas

December 23, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 56 MB

Christmas came early for Doctor Who fans this year, with not one, not two, not twenty-seven, but THREE specials to celebrate the show's 60th anniversary. As we look forward to our true Christmas gift in The Church on Ruby Road, now seems like a good time to show some gratitude. Not only has the show fully transitioned to the streaming universe via its partnership with Disney+, but the takeover of new-old showrunner Russell T. Davies has bestowed hardcore fans with a not-so-secret gift: a sin...

O Come Let Us Deplore Him (Extolling “A Christmas Carol”)

December 16, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 65.3 MB

If you remember A Christmas Carol as “Scrooge in space,” remember again — before the Doctor changes your memories for you. Steven Moffat’s first Christmas special for Doctor Who is a seasonally delicious timey-wimey layer cake of Michael Gambon, Matt Smith, and nightmare sharks, with a sonic microphone song on top. Is it a Banger, or will the Bah Humbug corner convince us that Eleven interfered too much? Let’s head down the chimney and find out! Give your own rating for A Christmas Carol on...

Laff-A-Lympics (HOT TAKE on "The Giggle")

December 10, 2023 00:31 - 44 minutes - 40.6 MB

Did you laugh? Did you cry? Did you bigenerate? The Giggle is here, and nothing in Doctor Who will be the same again. Join us as we share our full-throated reactions to Ncuti Gatwa’s debut and David Tennant’s … continuation? Remember, in the wake of the Toymaker, all opinions are now correct, especially ours. Subscribe to our newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pulltoopen.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please consider ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠becoming a patron⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ of Pull To Open on Patreon. Please review Pull To Open on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Doom With a View (Orbiting “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit,” with guest Ellie Blackwood)

December 09, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 81.3 MB

Doctor Who meets God. No, that’s dumb, and besides — Star Trek already did it. But Doctor Who meets the Devil? That could be something, especially if you keep the precise identity of the antagonist opaque, blow up the stakes with a cosmological Rube Goldberg machine, and generally make the whole thing creepy as, uh, hell. The two-parter of The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit ticks all of those boxes and includes a bonus: the Ood, one of NuWho’s most indomitable monsters in more ways than...

Wildly Brilliant (HOT TAKE on "Wild Blue Yonder")

December 03, 2023 03:41 - 42 minutes - 38.5 MB

It's the one we don't know anything about — except now we do! Wild Blue Yonder is here, and it's so, so different from The Star Beast. After a 17th century detour to set up a, uh, weighty running gag, the real event begins: a suspenseful mystery that's rests completely on the shoulders of the cast, which in this case is only David Tennant and Catherine Tate. All's in good hands, then. Subscribe to our newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pulltoopen.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please consider ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠becoming a patron⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ of Pu...

Dope Opera (Freebasing “Nightmare of Eden”)

December 02, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 73.5 MB

How could Doctor Who get out of the 1970s without doing a story about the perils of drug use? Nightmare of Eden may have its roots in gritty thrillers like The French Connection, but once the lumbering Mandrels enter the picture, things start to look more like Cocaine Bear. Despite the higher-than-average creativity — the ide of physically preserving environments in “laser crystal” storage is inspired — absolutely no one in the cast looks like they’re having any fun, which, if you think abou...

Meep Impact (HOT TAKE on "The Star Beast")

November 26, 2023 03:45 - 38 minutes - 35.7 MB

Beep the Meep is back... for the first time! Yes, it's The Star Beast, the first of three specials for the 60th anniversary, and at long last Pull To Open is jamming the Randomizer so we can give our extremely scorching takes on the first brand-new Doctor Who in a year. The Doctor has his old face! Donna is back — with a daughter! And Beep the Meep is here to kick ass and be cute, and it's pretty much done with being cute. Let's engage our dagger drives and dig in. Subscribe to our newslett...

You Only Live Thrice (Amalgamating “The Three Doctors”)

November 25, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 81.8 MB

Anniversary episodes are tricky things. You want to make a big, enjoyable show of things to attract an even larger audience than normal, but they’re by definition a celebration of everything that’s come before, so the need to please loyal fans is extreme. Threading that needle can be tough, but Doctor Who figured it out early: bring back previous actors who played the Doctor, get them all on screen together, and see what happens. You can see that throughline all the way to last year’s The Po...

Beast Mode (Retracing “The Star Beast” Comic Strip)

November 18, 2023 11:00 - 45 minutes - 41.5 MB

If cats have nine lives, Beep the Meep must be part cat. The titular character of The Star Beast comic strip and 60th anniversary special has already had at least two lives in Doctor Who: First as a featured player in the comic strip of Doctor Who Magazine, where he (it?) encountered the Fourth Doctor twice — in Beep’s 1980 debut and the 1996 sequel. Then Beep made the jump to audio in The Ratings War for Big Finish, meeting the Sixth Doctor where we finally got to hear the creature’s catchp...

Identity Theft (Bifurcating “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood,” with guest Steven Schapansky)

November 11, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 81.8 MB

In Doctor Who’s early years, there were many episodes where the Doctor was noticeably absent, usually because William Hartnell or Patrick Troughton needed a holiday from the grueling shooting schedule. But Human Nature is the only episode of Doctor Who where the Doctor doesn’t appear at all outside of flashbacks. Of course, David Tennant is front and center, giving a performance for the ages, literally, in John Smith. There are many reasons this episode, along with the conclusion, The Family...

Futures Trading (Contradicting “Day of the Daleks”)

November 04, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 82.2 MB

Perhaps no classic episode has benefited more from a “special edition” than Day of the Daleks. Although it tells a solid timey-wimey paradox story, the original version didn’t do justice to Doctor Who’s No. 1 monsters. They only made three rather diminutive props for the story, and the voices made Lumbergh from Office Space sound good. But when you add some convincing disintegration effects and dub new cries of “Exterminate!” from the incomparable Nicholas Briggs, it really levels up this ad...

The Pull To Open Hot 100 (Ranking Our First 100 Random Stories)

October 29, 2023 10:00 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MB

OK, you've got us — not all 100 stories were randomly picked. That's because when we were but a wee newborn Doctor Who podcast, we weren't random. Series 12 was underway and, after reviewing every single Christmas episode, we zeroed in on the current season. But that was predictable, common, perhaps even a little basic. Pull To Open needed something more. So in 2021, we wired in the Randomizer into our podcast and haven't looked back. Since then we've done 100 different stories from almost ...

Pods and Monsters (Germinating “The Seeds of Death”)

October 21, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 97.2 MB

Instantaneous teleportation between any two points on Earth? Sounds pretty convenient — so convenient that it might lead to a stagnant society ripe for conquest by the next passing alien force. Yes, The Seeds of Death tees up the planet quite nicely for the Ice Warriors, but it’s hard to close the deal when your troops faint when they get close to a radiator, your diabolical bioweapon fizzles the moment it starts to rain, and your space fleet is being steered by Mr. Magoo. Sure, it doesn’t t...

The 10 Best Cold Opens in Doctor Who

October 14, 2023 10:22 - 1 hour - 82.8 MB

Plenty of casual viewers of Doctor Who have been hooked into becoming fans because of the cold opens. Well, we don’t have stats or anything, but that feels true — because there are just so damn many great ones in the show that have gotten viewers to cancel plans, skip trips to the bathroom, or leave something burning on the stove because you just have to watch. A good cold open doesn’t necessarily mean a good episode will result, but it doesn’t hurt. So what makes a good cold open? It shoul...

The Horse Awakens (Venerating “The Myth Makers”)

October 07, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 105 MB

What exactly is the Doctor’s attitude towards changing history? With all the pure historicals of the era, William Hartnell’s Doctor actually has a lot to say about this. While The Aztecs makes clear his reluctance to interfere in history, The Myth Makers shows his bemusement at becoming a part of it — and his regret at seeing the consequences of that participation. It’s a surprisingly mature takeaway from an otherwise lighter take on the Trojan War, one that at times rivals The Romans for mo...

Red Con (Recovering “The Ambassadors of Death”)

September 30, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 102 MB

If you want hard evidence that the UNIT era — when Jon Pertwee’s Doctor was exiled to Earth after being put on trial by the Time Lords — was set in the “near future,” look no further than The Ambassadors of Death. With routine missions to Mars, nuclear fuel available in factories on the British countryside, and space capsules that can land on solid ground no less, this is a version of the future that the 20th century never delivered on, and much of the advances are still stubbornly out of re...

In It to Twin It (Imitating “Meglos”)

September 23, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 84.9 MB

An intelligent cactus? A society that worships a giant 12-sided shape? Barbara, but not Barbara? You don’t have to get very far into Meglos to begin to feel this story is the result of a drunken session of Doctor Who mad libs, complete with its own game show segment: How Do Time Lords Get Out of a Time Loop? One thing you can’t take away from Megos — it thoroughly and completely goes for it, and Tom Baker’s double act as both the Doctor and his prickly doppelganger provides a nice throughlin...

In It to Twin It (Imitating “Meglos,” with guest Mark Cockram)

September 23, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 84.9 MB

An intelligent cactus? A society that worships a giant 12-sided shape? Barbara, but not Barbara? You don’t have to get very far into Meglos to begin to feel this story is the result of a drunken session of Doctor Who mad libs, complete with its own game show segment: How Do Time Lords Get Out of a Time Loop? One thing you can’t take away from Megos — it thoroughly and completely goes for it, and Tom Baker’s double act as both the Doctor and his prickly doppelganger provides a nice throughlin...

Impending Boom (Diffusing “Kerblam!”)

September 16, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 91 MB

Doctor Who has its share of metaphors, but perhaps none so naked as the eponymous company featured in Kerblam! (the only TV story so excited to feature an exclamation point in the title). With its motivational corporatespeak, closely monitored warehouse workers, and super-efficient delivery robots (that may or may not be homicidal), Kerblam is an obvious stand-in for Amazon — just projected out several thousand years. As you’d expect, Kerblam! certainly has some things to say about Bit Tech,...

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (Sacrificing “The Aztecs”)

September 09, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 92.3 MB

It’s not a good idea to bet against the Doctor. There are lots of lessons learned in Doctor Who’s second “pure” historical, The Aztecs, but the folly going against the instructions of the curmudgeon with the time ship is probably the biggest. Of course, Barbara’s attempts to rewrite history by softening the more barbaric instincts of the eponymous civilization are what gives this particular story its weighty drama, so we’ll forgive her for not getting the memo. But the true lesson of this se...

Monk History (Revising “The Time Meddler”)

September 02, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 90.8 MB

Two full seasons in, Doctor Who finally gave viewers a hint of where its mysterious main character came from in The Time Meddler, a story that introduced the Doctor’s first time-traveling rival, the Monk. If the War Chief was a Master prototype, the Monk is the concept phase — the Doctor’s ideological opposite at a time long before the character became a righter of wrongs on a cosmological scale. Sure, the Monk is simply mischievous, but the fact that he’s morally closer to the Doctor than l...

The 5 Best Classic Doctor Who Stories for NuWho Fans

August 26, 2023 10:00 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MB

When your show goes on hiatus for 15 years, the result is a literal generation gap of fandom. If you happen to be one of the many fans who have grown up on the series “Doctor Who” that began in 2005, you’re certainly aware of the Classic series but you may also be intimidated by just how much of it there is. Twenty-six seasons comprises a whole hell of a lot of television, so it’s difficult to know where to start. Well, we’ve got you covered: Chris and Pete have picked out the five stories f...

It Came From E-Space (Acclimating “Full Circle”)

August 19, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 102 MB

Doctor Who rarely did season-long arcs in the Classic series, but sprinkled here and there are mini storylines like the E-Space trilogy. After all, what better way to raise the stakes a bit AND introduce a new companion than to maroon your regulars in a pocket universe for a few episodes? Well, if you’re going to use cliche marsh creatures and sad plastic spiders as your chief antagonists, that might be a sign your mini arc isn’t starting on the right foot. Yes, there’s a bit too much nonsen...

Who Is the Best Actor to Play the Doctor?

August 12, 2023 10:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MB

Doctors come and go, and each leaves their mark on the role — one as iconic as Sherlock Holmes or James Bond. But outside of their undeniable impact on Doctor Who, some of the actors who have played the Doctor go on to impress and find audiences in other roles. Even if those parts may not match the level of notoriety a franchise like Doctor Who bestows, those performances sometimes demonstrate a range and expertise in their craft few can match. Who are the actors who best fit that descripti...

Dutch Ado About Nothing (Bending “Arc of Infinity”)

August 05, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 108 MB

Returning to Gallifrey to fight an old enemy sounds like a surefire formula for a Doctor Who epic. So why then is Arc of Infinity so bland? Kicking off the show’s 20th anniversary season, this story seems determined to undermine the memories of classics like The Deadly Assassin and The Three Doctors, turning the formidable Omega into a cowering refugee and completing the Time Lords’ reduction from gods to members of a squabbling afterschool club with ostentatious collars. Even the refreshing...

10 Times the Doctor Was Cruel or Cowardly

July 29, 2023 10:00 - 53 minutes - 48.6 MB

We don't always live up to our own ideals. Doctor Who's main character is no exception: The Doctor's mantra is "never be cruel or cowardly" — created by writer Terrance Dicks as an off-screen guideline during the classic series until it became official in the new series, with Peter Capaldi's Doctor going so far as to remind Jodie Whittaker's of the catchphrase in his dying moments. But there have been numerous times in the Doctor's adventures that he's acted in ways that contravene this phi...

Plane of Terror (Deepening “Flatline”)

July 22, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 103 MB

Being the Doctor is a tough job, but when he’s unavailable, few are better qualified to fill in for him than Clara Oswald. Flatline’s clever script thrusts her into the position after the Doctor is trapped in the TARDIS by one of the most ingenious monsters of the series, a group of silent two-dimensional invaders the Doctor names the Boneless. Building on its intriguing role reversal, Flatline is a suspenseful thriller packed full of smart visual gags, an excellent guest cast, and pertinent...

Sinking Out Loud (Capsizing “Legend of the Sea Devils”)

July 15, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 100 MB

Is it possible for Doctor Who to have too much time and money? Judging by Legend of the Sea Devils — one of just three stories made since 2021 — the answer is, “Aye!” Boasting some of the biggest sets Doctor Who has ever had and the return of a mostly well-remembered classic        monster, this pirate adventure seemed destined to be a treasure. But nobody’s heart seems in this outing — not the inept villain, nor the creatively dressed Team TARDIS, nor the diverse and capable guest cast read...

A Lice Place to Live (Renovating “Knock Knock,” with guest Bryan Young)

July 08, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 84.7 MB

Finding a new place to live takes a lot out of you. Between the lease, the hassle of moving, and the endless viewings, you hardly have any time left to comb the flat for glowing bugs from space that might want to absorb you into the walls. Luckily for Bill, she’s got a… uh, “granddad” to do that, and Knock Knock nicely sets up its tale by starting with the pleasant banality of college life before sucking us into a Doctor Who mystery about a creepy landlord, even creepier insects, and somethi...

A Lice Place to Live (Renovating “Knock Knock”)

July 08, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 84.7 MB

Finding a new place to live takes a lot out of you. Between the lease, the hassle of moving, and the endless viewings, you hardly have any time left to comb the flat for glowing bugs from space that might want to absorb you into the walls. Luckily for Bill, she’s got a… uh, “granddad” to do that, and Knock Knock nicely sets up its tale by starting with the pleasant banality of college life before sucking us into a Doctor Who mystery about a creepy landlord, even creepier insects, and somethi...

We Aren’t Marshall (Decolonizing “The Mutants”)

July 01, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 90.2 MB

There are struggling planets, there are troubled planets, and then there’s Solos: a world so uniquely unlucky in the cosmos as to inherit a ruler like the Marshall, one of the most uniformly evil dictators to ever appear in Doctor Who. Set in a bleak future where Earth has seen better days, The Mutants is in no way subtle in its criticism of colonization and the racist policies that often result. But it wouldn’t be a Doctor Who story if there wasn’t a bug-eyed monster, a mystery involving an...

We Aren’t Marshal (Decolonizing “The Mutants”)

July 01, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 90.2 MB

There are struggling planets, there are troubled planets, and then there’s Solos: a world so uniquely unlucky in the cosmos as to inherit a ruler like the Marshal, one of the most uniformly evil dictators to ever appear in Doctor Who. Set in a bleak future where Earth has seen better days, The Mutants is in no way subtle in its criticism of colonization and the racist policies that often result. But it wouldn’t be a Doctor Who story if there wasn’t a bug-eyed monster, a mystery involving anc...

Rage of Empires (Beguiling “Frontier in Space”)

June 24, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 106 MB

If you have two enormous, powerful entities, sure as hell someone will think it’s a great idea to have them fight. If they’re galactic space empires, so much the better for raising the stakes — at least on paper. But what Frontier in Space is really about is fear: fear of the unknown, the unfamiliar, the notion you might be wrong, and how that fear can lead people (and Draconians) to do terrible things. Oh, it’s also about getting captured repeatedly, and the varying ways one can escape from...

A Bug’s Strife (Sterilizing “The Ark in Space”)

June 17, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 97.3 MB

We’ve all been there: After waking up from a long sleep, you open your eyes only to witness a buzzing insect that’s invaded your bedroom. So we can all relate to the human refugees on Nerva Station, although when the pest is a man-sized space parasite that wants to consume you and absorb your memories PLUS you and your friends are the last of the human race — well, the stakes get a bit raised. There’s no question The Ark in Space sets up a suspenseful tale for the ages, and even functions as...

Sphere of Fear (Plundering “The Pirate Planet”)

June 10, 2023 10:00 - 2 hours - 115 MB

The hottest sci-fi writer on the planet in 1978 was Douglas Adams. Not only was he about to bestow upon the world the original radio plays of The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, he also wrote his first Doctor Who adventure, The Pirate Planet. There are so many similarities — in tone, plotting, and effortlessly clever dialogue — that it’s easy to tell this story came out of the same creative spigot as Hitch Hiker’s, but the recycling doesn’t detract from this incredibly ambitious story abo...

In Dickens and in Gelth (Reanimating “The Unquiet Dead”)

June 03, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 102 MB

How does a family show like Doctor Who do a zombie horror story? You start by subtracting (most of) the gore, then add a sci-fi twist. That’s good, but what would really make it stand out is if you take a real person from history and cast the best possible actor to play the role. The Unquiet Dead ticks all those eerie boxes, deftly telling a tale of walking corpses, teasing the show’s (then) new mythology of the Time War, and showcasing the show’s central premise of time travel by involving ...

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