Doctor Who: The Metebelis 2

We discuss season 16, the Key to Time, where for David, Doctor Who mingles freely with Dungeons & Dragons. Ben explains how writing a season arc always seems easier than it is and that it's important to know how the arc will conclude before running out of money. David explains why he believes Philip Madoc was not miscast in The Power of Kroll and Ben wishes that the production team of Graham Williams and Tony Read had done a better job of crafting stories for Mary Tamm so she would have stayed for season 17. Opening music is Dick Mill's sound scape for the "White Guardian's Windbells". Closing music is from "The Stones of Blood" soundtrack composed by the Dudley Simpson. This episode was recorded 15 August 2020.

We discuss the big news from Big Finish of Christopher Eccleston reprising his role as the Doctor with the first stories to be released in May of 2021. We speculate on companions, writers, and more. Opening music is "Westminster Bridge" and closing music is "I'm Coming to Get You" both from Series 1 and composed by the Murray Gold. This episode was recorded 9 August 2020.

A discussion about the Leela years in Doctor Who focusing in on Tom Baker and the behind-the-scenes change in the production office and how Leela's character's arc imploded in season 15, where ambition hit the hard wall of lack of money. Ben theorizes that K9 is the talking cabbage that Tom always wanted as a companion and may explain why he stayed on for season 16. While David wonders why Boucher and Holmes dropped Leela's "Pygmalion" storyline in their season 15 scripts. Opening and closing music is from "The Invasion of Time" soundtrack composed by the incredible Dudley Simpson. This episode was recorded 5 August 2020.

Through the millennia, the Podcasters of Metebelis Two led a life of peace and ordered calm, protected from all threats from other podcasts by their great obscurity. But this was to change. Suddenly and terribly, the Podcasters faced the most dangerous crisis in their long history... Opening music is Alice Cooper's "Welcome to My Nightmare" from the same-titled 1975 album. Closing music is from "The Deadly Assassin" soundtrack composed by Dudley Simpson. This episode was recorded 27 July 2020.

We say hello to season 14 and goodbye to Sarah Jane as we talk about The Masque of Mandragora and The Hand of Fear. Ben wishes there was a monster in Masque and David recalls being inspired to research the Cult of Demnos at the library. Despite our appreciation of Stephen Thorne, Ben wishes Eldrad remained portrayed by the otherworldly Judith Paris, or possible by Lis Sladen. David questions whether the Bristol Boys' story was strong enough to support the darker themes of the story. Opening music is "Basse danse La brosse, Tripla / Tourdion" performed by the Ulsamer Collegium. Closing music is "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow", composed by Joseph Tabrar, and sung by Helen Mirren and Peter Sellers from the ill-conceived movie: "The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu". This episode was recorded 19 July 2020.

Tomfest 2020 continues with our discussion of last two stories of season 13: The Brain of Morbius and The Seeds of Doom. David tries to explain why Brain never clicked for him to a disbelieving Ben, who simply adores the story! A brain in a jar, what's there not to love? Then off to Antarctica and Dorchester, which are geographically speaking in Doctor Who's earth, to be about as close as the Thal and Kaled cities are from one another. Ben is startled to learn that Boyce had his own spin-off series and wonders what a Morbius and Solon spin-off from Big Finish would be like. In conclusion the two pick their top story from the season. Opening, "Molotov Cocktail", and closing music, "Amelia Ducat's Theme", is from The Seeds of Doom; both composed by Geoffery Burgon. This episode was recorded 12 July 2020.

Continuing on with our look at Tom Baker's Season 13 with a discussion of Pyramids of Mars and The Android Invasion. Ben dismisses fan-suggested back story that Sarah learned to fire a rifle on her aunt's farm and rather champions Sarah as just being a totally competent and kick ass woman who rises to the occasion. David gushes over Dudley's Simpson's score for Pyramids and praises Paddy Russell's direction and ability to bring out great performances from her leading man. Ben defends ginger beer (pop) and thinks Sarah's one weakness, aside from her ankles, is her dislike of stuff and David finds Devesham, a.k.a, East Hagbourne as a lovely Oxforshire village with beautiful hollyhock flowers. Opening music is from "Clement and the Mummies" composed by Dudley Simpson and arranged and performed by Heathcliff Blair. Closing music is also composed by Simpson and taken from the score to The Android Invasion. This episode was recorded 28 June 2020

We begin a look at season 13 with a discussion about Terror of the Zygons and Planet of Evil. Ben loves the Zygon's spaceship and fondly remembers building his own model as a kid from Lego bricks. David explains why he thinks the Zygons in their original soft and blobby form is creepier than their later toothy and muscular design. Ben touches upon the shift of received mysticism of Pertwee's Doctor to where Tom Baker's Doctor is mysticism itself. David appreciates Prentis Hancock's portrayal as Salamar and Ben remembers how he also built an oculoid tracker from his Lego bricks. We bemoan what we see as the only flaw in this season; the poor exit for Harry, the Brigadier, and UNIT. Opening music is "The Destruction of Charlie Rig" composed by Geoffery Burgon and closing music is "Nightfall on Zeta Minor" composed by Dudley Simpson and arranged and performed by Heathcliff Blair. This episode was recorded 20 June 2020.

This episode was recorded 14 June 2020 and the actual Doctor Who discussion begins 11:54 into the podcast where we talk about Tom Baker the Doctor who caught alight in the United States and opening up to his tenure in the programme. But first, leading off the podcast, Ben celebrates his team's, the Four-to-Zoomsday's, triumph in the Quiz of Rassilon. David then asks a simple question about a sporting metaphor and the two get mired the two get mired in cricket talk for a good five minutes. After that, the two discuss Churchill in light of statues coming down across the UK and the US; this part of the podcast was shunted off to the end of the podcast and begins after a musical interlude from Heathcliff Blair and begins at 34:34. (Think of it as studio floor Blu-ray extra footage.) Once that discussion runs it course, we talk about Tom Baker's tenure as the Doctor beginning 11:54 running through to the aforementioned musical interlude. All rather confusing isn't it. Oh, and we briefly mention the December 1981 i

Ben and David reminisce about growing up watching Season 12 of Doctor Who. David talks about how Who met his sci-fi fix and seemed like a natural progression from the 1977 movie: Star Wars. Ben recalls playing in motorway construction sites and school hallways battling Daleks and explains how Sontarans were a lot like teachers. Opening music is "Sarah Pursued" composed by Dudley Simpson and the later realized by Heathcliff Blair. Closing music is from Carey Blyton's score for The Revenge of the Cybermen.

After a brief discussion on the Quiz of Rassilon and the new action figures to be released featuring Sarah Jane Smith, Ben and David begin their discussion on Tom Baker about 12 minutes in to the podcast. We talk about his early roles in film and life as a jobbing actor. Ben recalls his and his friends' reaction to the regeneration of the Pertwee Doctor into a dark-haired chap with a long scarf. Opening music is "Mysterious Robot" and closing music is The Violation", both composed by Dudley Simpson and the later realized by Heathcliff Blair.

We further our discussion of sideways stories and posit that all of Who, or at the very least, all of Who set on Earth are sideways stories that diverge from our earth's timeline. The time of closest intersection with our own timeline is when new companions enters the TARDIS, but as they adventure with the Doctor their timelines grow further apart from reality. Opening music is from Castrovalva and closing music is from Meglos, both composed by Paddy Kingsland.

In this episode, we discuss sideways Who and how this story type was not too common in the classic Who era, but has come into its own with the show's revival and is, perhaps, in its golden age under Chibnall's tenure as showrunner. Opening music is "Univers Sideral" composed by Paul Bonneau and closing music is the main title theme for the "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" composed by Ronald Stein.

We land on the Galápagos Islands with the Doctor and Evelyn to review Bloodtide from Big Finish. And since this is a Silurian story, we try to cobble together a timeline of their history and are flummoxed by the inconsistencies. A story overflowing with historical characters and ideas, we wonder if Silurian Tulok's real crime was genetically engineering lady bumps on Silurian women. Opening music is "Tried" and closing music "The Cave"; both pieces composed by Alistair Lock for Bloodtide.

After a quick recap of our afternoon playing the Quiz of Rassilon with fellow teammates Greg and Jess, we discuss space opera. We explore which stories fit the genre and what does it take to make a space opera story in Doctor Who? The conventional wisdom is Doctor Who is a genre machine, so how frequently does it dip into space opera like other popular sci-fi franchises like Star Trek and Star Wars? Opening and closing music is from "The Frontier in Space," composed by the incomprable Dudley Simpson.

Since Big Finish made The Maltese Penguin a free download last week, we decided what better time to give it the ol' Metebelis Two listen. We discuss how the view of the writer, Rob Shearman, may have changed on his story over the past nearly two decades since its release. Discussion on acting, sound design, and why recommend BF create more Frobisher adventures in this week's episode. Opening and closing music is from David Darlington's score and sound design for the story.

The Metebelis Two is joined by Eliot, David's son, to talk about the new DVD and Blu-ray release of The Faceless Ones in animated form. Opening music is "Pacific Dawn" by Tom Dissevelt from his 1963 LP Fantasy In Orbit, which used as the Faceless Ones soundtrack. Closing music is Slade's 1984 hit, "Run Runaway".

Ben and David brainstorm on which one-off monsters from Doctor Who should return for series 13 and find that they are more than a little stir-crazy after just one week of quarantine, aka "sheltering at home." Opening and closing music is the 1972 "Delaware version" of the theme realized by Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson with Paddy Kingsland.

A bonus episode discussion on the fourth episode of the original Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio drama on BBC Radio 4, which is 42 years old this month! We find ourselves on prehistoric Earth, admiring Slartibartfast's signature on a glacier and trying to teach cave men how to play Scrabble. Opening music is an excerpt from "Journey of the Sorcerer" by The Eagles. Closing music is a 1968 live recording of Louis Armstrong singing "What a Wonderful World".

A bonus episode discussion on the fourth episode of the original Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio drama on BBC Radio 4, which is 42 years old this month! In which we dine at the Restaurant at the end of the Universe. Opening and closing music is excerpts from "Journey of the Sorcerer" by The Eagles.