Debating Doctor Who

Sorry for the delay on posting this. We'd say we spaced because of the Independence Day holiday, but doesn't really seem like us. Anyway, Alasdair and Allison try to get their energy up for an early Saturday recording. It's a more manageable task, admittedly, with an episode as good as this one, which mostly addresses Allison's concerns about Bill from "World Enough And Time." We talk about the joys of multi-Master storytelling, take a look at how Bill and Nardole's stories ended up, and consider what's ahead for the Doctor(s) at Christmas.

We do what we probably should have been doing from the start and jump straight into discussing the episode, as Allison has some potentially serious issues with "World Enough And Time." Does this episode make the same mistake in its handling of Bill that Sherlock did with one of its female characters? We'll have to wait for "The Doctor Falls" to find out, but Allison is worried. Alasdair is generally feeling better about the episode (which means we got our second straight debate, hooray!), especially since this is a long overdue opportunity to do some unapologetic John Simm stanning. All that plus an in-depth discussion of just what the point of TV criticism is that may or may not get ridiculously insular and self-indulgent!

We’re unlocking our first exclusive episode, in which we answer all your questions. We do some fantasy casting of a new TARDIS team from previous guest stars. We discuss whether Steven Moffat or Russell T. Davies might ever pen a story for Chris Chibnall. We offer our picks for the best performances from each of the four new series Doctors. We read out some seriously brilliant takes on Doctor Who as cyberpunk and fantasy author Brandon Sanderson’s approach to character development. All that plus Alasdair gets seriously heartfelt when asked if the Doctor is a good role model.

Hallelujah, we have a debate on our hands! Alasdair goes to bat for this week's episode as a weird, thoughtful episode bristling with ideas, while Allison finds the whole thing to be a bit less than the sum of its parts. (Honestly, even now we're not exactly vociferously disagreeing, but baby steps!) Plus we have three terrific emails, including thoughts on "Empress Of Mars," where the season is headed, and what it would be like for a companion to come back as an antagonist.

We kick off with the news that Alan Cumming says he was twice asked about playing the Doctor, but just wasn’t up for living in Cardiff. (We’re sure Cardiff is lovely, even if only Allison has actually been there.) Steven Moffat dropped some hints about a distinctive regeneration in the Christmas special. Listener Adam mentions another issue with “The Lie Of The Land.” And then we get into “Empress Of Mars,” which was… it was okay. Not bad or anything, and maybe not flawed in the way “The Lie Of The Land” was, but mostly just a bit dull. Which is a shame really, because the potential was there for this to be something fun and weird and special. Ah well, at least Alasdair does a terrible impression of a stereotypical Victorian soldier at one point, that’s something to listen for.

There's not much Doctor Who news this week, give or take word that Rachel Talalay is directing Peter Capaldi's Christmas swansong, so we get straight into this week's episode. Which... well. Hmm. This one was disappointing! We're both big fans of the first third of the episode or so, but then "The Lie Of The Land" just seems to keep abandoning its own most intriguing ideas. Are Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie, and Michelle Gomez actually too good for this episode? Can someone shoot the Doctor and then just kind of brush it off like it never happened? Shouldn't the Doctor or Bill actually, you know, talk to the Monks at some point? This wasn't a truly bad episode, but yeah, this was a misstep.

We open by discussing the big announcement about BBC Worldwide reaching an agreement with a Chinese production company, complete with an apparent announcement of seasons 12 to 15. We explain why the announcement probably shouldn’t be understood in quite that way, but also there’s pretty much zero chance the show doesn’t reach a 15th season. Then we get into this week’s story, which is… you know what, it’s okay. It’s not bad at all. But after the dizzying heights of “Extremis,” this one is just sort of there, at least until an utterly amazing ending. But hey, if anything that gives us even more to discuss!

Allison and Alasdair field a question from our patron Delia, who totally blows up our spot by pointing out we never actually debate anything. This is... a known problem with the title of our podcast. We'll get there eventually, probably, maybe, but first we agree on how great Michelle Gomez is and discuss her future on the series. Then it's time for "Extremis," which Allison found just staggeringly good and thought-provoking... and yeah, Alasdair was pretty much right there with her. This was a real good one, everybody, and quite unlike any other Doctor Who story we can think of.

We’re here to discuss tonight’s episode, a pretty good 45 minutes of television that sure feels like it could have been a fantastic two-parter. We run down the couple dozen or so fascinating ideas on display in Jamie Mathieson’s latest efforts, even if many of them don’t get developed much beyond the thumbnail sketch. Also, those spacesuit zombies are maybe on the wrong side of ridiculous? Seriously though, we liked this episode quite a bit. Also, we have a reader email on how the Doctor’s later incarnations could echo previous ones, and we wonder what that might all mean for the 13th Doctor. Enjoy!

This week, we offer our takes on “Knock Knock,” which we generally agree is a pretty good episode with a wonky genre shift and amazing work from Pearl Mackie, Peter Capaldi and David Suchet. All in all, another good one! But first, we respond to Steven Moffat’s new quote from Doctor Who Magazine on the mystery of the vault, run down all the possibilities (it’s a Master, surely it’s got to be), and then branch into a largeAr discussion about the various season-spanning mysteries.

We open with some big announcements, as the podcast has now got its own Patreon page at www.patreon.com/debatingdoctorwho! We’ve got some cool rewards and goodies if you’re interested in giving a little of your hard-earned money to support the show, so do check that out. Then we keep talking 13th Doctor, with Alasdair busting out some seriously pointless data journalism to let us know how this wait for a new Doctor stacks up with previous ones. Allison reveals her favorite episode and favorite companion, and then we get into a good, long discussion about how much we loved “Thin Ice.” Which was a lot. Seriously, we’re all in on this one.

The bold new era of Debating Doctor Who officially begins! Alasdair and new cohost Allison fight through some crazy technical difficulties to give you the first episode in months. Allison introduces herself, her work, and her credentials as a Doctor Who fan. We tackle the 13th Doctor casting rumors and run down some of the current betting favorites. Then we dive into the first two episodes of series 10, praising both “The Pilot” and “Smile” for how they spotlight Bill and the Doctor, albeit with some criticism for how inconsequential the stories feel. Plus we hand out our Danielle Fan Email of the Week to someone who wrote us (in December) a great mini-review of the spin-off show Class. Also, seriously everyone, it’s so nice to be back. You can tell by how excited we are in that prologue sequence we left in.

It’s been awhile, but Debating Doctor Who returns this week! Admittedly, much like Doctor Who after a long hiatus, things won’t look exactly the same. Alasdair is still here, but Caroline is stepping away from the podcast. In her places comes fellow AV Clubber and generally awesome personal Allison Shoemaker. You’ll hear from Allison on her first episode later this week, but Alasdair records this quickie solo outing to catch you up on the state of the podcast. See you real soon!

We’re back with some discussion of two of this summer’s most talked-about blockbusters. But first, Alasdair and Caroline discuss the reasons behind their latest podcast right now, which gives Alasdair yet another opportunity to mention he’s moved to Brooklyn and likes wrestling now. (Don’t worry, he’s got another podcast now where he’s free to discuss those things.) Then we break down which Who actors should play which royals before seguing into some extended discussion of the new Ghostbusters and Star Trek Beyond. We tackle head-on the toxic reception of the former and then have rather more fun marveling at how much of Star Trek Beyond is kind of a love letter to Enterprise. Enterprise!

We’ve got a whole lot of ground to cover this week. We open with a brief remembrance of Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin. We discuss Steven Moffat’s recent comments on diversity, and Alasdair wonders whether the world is finally ready for a #WokeMoff hashtag, because this is some good stuff. We also sort through general updates on series 10 filming and the 10th Doctor and Donna’s return at Big Finish, before finally getting into our most anticipated discussion ever, as we look at the generally terrible episodes “Love And Monsters” and “Night Terrors.” We each mount at least a quarter-hearted defense of one of the episodes, and we both agree that Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler is the damn MVP of this week’s selections. She’s great. Everything else? Eh…

What started as a fun digression into the world of superhero movies turns into our longest episode ever - no joke, you could watch the entirety of Captain America: Civil War and still have a couple minutes left over on this one - as we dive deep into all things Marvel (with a little bit on Supergirl’s move to The CW thrown in for good measure). Caroline considers an open challenge to a fellowDaredevil reviewer, we give our very positive takes on the new Captain America movie, we discuss Marvel’s not great (being charitable there) record of representation and why a whole lot of other big blockbuster franchises are actually doing way better there (including DC and Warner Bros!), Alasdair disputes the idea that casting certain roles is a “no-win situation,” and we close things out with a ranking of our respective top five Marvel movies, because dammit, even if we have a whole bunch of issues with the MCU, they do know how to make some wonderfully entertaining movies.

Alasdair’s still in Chicago (well, at least when we recorded this, which was immediately after the last episode) for a special mailbag episode! We run through all your emails and missives that have accumulated while we’ve been taking all our hiatuses. What’s our favorite music? What’s the best pairing of Doctor and companion? And, given how long it took us to reply, is one listener with a newborn already looking into colleges? Listen on and find out!

We’re together in Chicago to record this episode, as Alasdair decided it was easier to drive 12 hours than to edit together a couple different Skype recordings. (We’re kidding. Kind of.) Anyway, today’s episode looks at the most series six story to ever series six, as Alasdair and Caroline consider the bold, ludicrous, frustrating, yet exhilirating season-opening two-parter that is “The Impossible Astronaut” / “Day Of The Moon.” We agree the Silence are terrifying, Richard Nixon is surprisingly great, and Mark Sheppard is all kinds of awesome as Canton Everett Delaware III, but beyond that? Honestly, just figuring out half the things that happen in this story is a bit of a challenge, so we’ve got our work cut out for us in this epic two-hour podcast.

We return with an episode so bold and powerful it received an impromtu, mid-episode promotion from podlet to podcast! Pearl Mackie has officially stepped into the TARDIS as the Doctor’s newest companion, and Alasdair and Caroline are here to tackle this story from every feasible angle, including: Accents! Clothing choices! Fine-level parsing of lines in a promo video! So yeah, pretty much business as usual for your intrepid Debating Doctor Who team. And, just to really get back in the swing of things, we return to a topic we explored way back in our very first podcast, as we look at Caroline’s recent article for Quartz on diversity and Game Of Thrones and use it as a springboard to discuss diversity in genre television more generally. Our takes may or may not be fiery. We’re back and we mean business!

Caroline and Alasdair look at a pair of devastating farewells, as they tackle Rose’s swansong in “Army of Ghosts” / “Doomsday” and Amy’s (and Rory’s, don’t forget Rory’s) departure in “The Angels Take Manhattan.” Which one makes Caroline cry harder? What’s the only part of either of these episodes that truly melts Alasdair’s stone heart? (Hint: It involves Jackie.) And how weird is it that Freema Agyeman is in one of these as not-Martha?