Doctor Who: The Metebelis 2
- Description:
- The Metebelis 2 is a transatlantic conversation about "Doctor Who" with Ben the Brit and David the American. Follow along as two old friends talk about their lifelong fandom of Doctor Who dating back to the 1970s and 1980s into the 21st century.
RSS Feed: http://metebelis2.com/metebelis2.rss
- Episodes:
- 315
- Average Episode Duration:
- 0:0:47:28
- Longest Episode Duration:
- 0:2:07:10
- Total Duration of all Episodes:
- 10 days, 9 hours, 11 minutes and 36 seconds
- Earliest Episode:
- 19 June 2016 (7:32pm GMT)
- Latest Episode:
- 7 October 2024 (12:20am GMT)
- Average Time Between Episodes:
- 9 days, 14 hours, 56 minutes and 54 seconds
Doctor Who: The Metebelis 2 Episodes
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#256 - Marter Makes It Seem So Effortless
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 43 minutes and 9 secondsIn this podcast we talk about Ian Marter's first two stories after his character, Harry Sullivan, joins the TARDIS crew: The Ark in Space and The Sontaran Experiment. We discuss the ease at which Marter portrays Sullivan as a decent, square-jawed Englishman. We also lament what could have been if the Doctor Who production team better utilised the character since he was an effective foil and compatriot of Tom Baker's Doctor. At the end of the podcast are two brief convention panel answers from Marter (on Harry being "naff" and "clumsy") in 1983 in Chicago celebrating 20 years of the programme. Opening music is from The Ark in Space soundtrack and closing music is from The Sontaran Experiment soundtrack, both composed by Dudley Simpson. We recorded this episode on 16 September 2024.
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#255 - Marterology
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 34 minutes and 6 secondsWe continue with our Ian Marter discussion with a brief conversation about the debut of Harry Sullivan in "Robot"! But, before we get underway, we pick up where we left off with new details about Marter's time at St. Edmund Hall at Oxford University with the discovery that there is a recording on vinyl of Marter singing in You Can't Do Much Without a Screwdriver, an original musical staged by the Oxford University Experimental Theatre Club at the Oxford Playhouse in May 1965. Marter played the lead character, Guy Ffolkes, an Amnesian nationalist, and sings "Bang On" with Jack and Harry, described as two villains in the playbill. There's a photograph of Ian with Adèle Geras née Weston on stage during the production. We also uncovered a photograph of young Ian with fellow Oxford students, Tamara Ustinov, John Dodgson, Anne Bibby, and Nick Elliott rehearsing for another play. Plus a photograph of Marter with actor Richard Burton in a local pub. Opening and closing music is "Mysterious Robots," composed by Dudley Simpson. We recorded this episode on 26 August 2024.
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#254 - The Freewheelin' Ian Marter
Episode Duration: 0 days, 1 hours, 4 minutes and 0 secondsWe kick off our Ian Marter retrospective with a look at his time at Oxford University. Thanks to back issues of St. Edmund Hall Magazine, we uncover new information that places Marter at Oxford three years earlier than is widely and incorrectly reported in other published sources. From our research, we found that Marter was at St. Edmund Hall, aka Teddy Hall, from 1963-1966 and was heavily involved with drama in the college's John Oldham Society and the Oxford's drama cuppers.Before Oxford, Marter went to school at the Beckenham and Penge Grammar School in Greater London and went to Oxford on a scholarship to study English language and literature. Among other highlights, Marter directed a well received production of John Osbourne's Luther in 1964 during the Trinity Term of his freshman year at the Oxford Playhouse. He also acted in productions of Fire in Heaven, The Sport of My Mad Mother, and Anton Checkov's The Cherry Orchard. In his final year at St. Edmund Hall, Marter co-starred in Samuel Beckett's play, Waiting for Gadot and was in Richard Burton's production of Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe which was also released as a film in 1967, giving Marter his first screen credit. Marter was awarded a Class III degree from St. Edmund Hall, which may help explain why he never corrected the record about his time at Oxford.
After leaving Oxford in 1966, he landed an assistant stage manager job at the Bristol Old Vic and by the following year, he was acting once again. We briefly talk about his small role in the Vincent Price horror film, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, and his reoccurring role in ITV's Crown Court where he played a police constable and then barrister, Quentin Ingrams, QC. Finally, we discuss being cast as Lt. John Andrews in "Carnival of Monsters" and how Doctor Who may have been different if he landed the role of Capt. Mike Yates a few years earlier. The opening and closing music is "Sinfonietta: IV. Allegrteto," composed by Leoš Janáček and performed by the Pro Arte Orchestra, which was the opening theme for ITV's Crown Court. We recorded this episode on 12-13 August 2024.
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#253 - Push It
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 47 minutes and 32 secondsWe discuss the recent animation of the William Hartnell story, The Celestial Toymaker. Overall, we think it successfully presented a boring, at times, story that is hard to follow with moving images for episodes 1–3 missing. Ben would like to see the animators push it even further away from the original broadcast visuals. David would have preferred the guest cast's likeness to be better expressed in the animation designs for the clowns, cards, and toys. The opening music is from The Celestial Toymaker, incidental music composed by Dudley Simpson. The closing music is "Push It" by Salt-n-Pepa. We recorded this episode on 22 July 2024.
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#252 - The Original Leading Man
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 45 minutes and 6 secondsWe pay our respects to William Russell, the actor who played Ian Chesterton, Doctor Who's original leading man. With Russell, Ian proved to be a solid and dependable man of action and reason. Along with Jacqueline Hill, who played Barbara Wright, the two provided the moral centre for the early show, which relied on their decency, normality, and dependability to guide the viewers in the early mid-1960s along this amazing adventure in space and time. The programme will likely never see another character like Ian again. The opening music is from "The Chase" soundtrack composed by Dudley Simpson and the closing music is from "The Aztecs" composed by Richard Rodney Bennett and performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra in 2021. We recorded this episode on 15 July 2024.
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#251 - A Real Mother
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 49 minutes and 59 secondsAn entertaining enough finale, but with big enough plot holes that you could drive a pyramid through. Something went wrong with this season in more ways than one and with Empire of Death, Davies seemed oblivious and tone death to some of the underlying messages his drama was sending. Basically, nothing in it really makes sense, and many of the story's emotional beats were insensitive or unearned. The opening music is from the soundtrack composed by Murray Gold. The closing music is Johnny "Guitar" Wilson's 1977 song "A Real Mother For Ya". We recorded this episode on 25 June 2024.
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#250 - Like Joe Camel on Acid
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 42 minutes and 2 secondsSkidding into your UNIT-approved podcatcher is the pod on "The Legend of Ruby Sunday," and, oh boy, do we have questions. Has Unit become the earth-based research office for Doctor Who? Why would Unit drop everything to find the Doctor's new friend's mother? How would the Tennant Doctor react if he saw Susan Triad's big reveal on television? And what is Sutekh without the Egyptian / Osirian backstory to lean on? All this and more as two grumpy old fans come to terms with the penultimate episode in Ncuti Gatwa's first season. The opening music is "Hazy Shade of Winter," covered by The Bangles, and the closing music is "Walk Like an Egyptian," by The Bangles. We recorded this episode on 19 June 2024.
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#249 - The New Sexy Friend
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 38 minutes and 38 secondsIn this podcast we talk about Rogue, the Doctor's new sexy friend, who we met along with some dubious bipedal bird cosplayers or LARPers. Ben gives a brief background on Oliver Frey, aka Zack's Rogue in Him magazine and connects the dots between the comic and RTD. David muses on watching a show for young people and wonders if adventure plots are a thing of the past. The opening music is Vitamin String Quartet's version of Billie Ellis's "Bad Guy," and the closing music is VSQ's version of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face." We recorded this episode on 12 June 2024.
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#248 - A. Eye Finetime
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 43 minutes and 21 secondsWe meet the first real monster in this season of Doctor Who and no, we don't mean the slugs of doom, aka Mantraps. RTD catches us a little flat-footed with the surprising ending, but the subtle hints were there all along. With a wave of the hand, we excuse any plot holes and applaud what may be the best episode of Ncuti Gatwa's first series of Doctor Who. The opening music is the episode's soundtrack by Murray Gold and the closing music is "Slugs of Love" by Little Dragon. We recorded this episode on 3 June 2024.
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#247 - It's a Vibe
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 38 minutes and 46 secondsRussell T Davies has written a new Doctor Who story that he describes as Welsh folk horror in which he packs in a lot to 45 minutes, including the obligatory Susan Twist, creepy pub denizens, and an homage to other ghostly stories. We were a little surprised to have a Doctor-lite episode in a season that is a mere eight episodes long. What caused the Doctor to vanish? Is the fairy circle in the shape of the TARDIS console? Did that mysterious space and time machine somehow create the circle and the time loop? The opening is from a Wales tourism advertisement, and the closing is from "Witchy Woman" by the Eagles. We recorded this episode on 28 May 2024.
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#246 - Gloria-Mundi
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 57 minutes and 22 secondsWith Moffat back writing for who and RTD as showrunner does it feel like 2005 all over again? Well, maybe? We discuss the latest Doctor Who episode, Boom, complete with the requisite fatherly love, casting surprises, LED scenery, returning vicars, twist speculation, and a dose of handwavium to resolve this tight, immersive bottle episode. Opening Music is "Skye Boat Song" performed by Martine Mussies. Closing music is from "Let's Go Crazy" by Prince and the Revolution. We recorded this episode on 20 May 2024.
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#245 - We've Got Wigs Galore!
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 53 minutes and 57 secondsDoctor Who, aka Ncuti Gatwa, is off in space and time with Ruby, his new traveling companion. So what does Russell T Davies have in store for a new generation of Who fans, and what do two old Who fan podcasters make of all of it? Opening Music is "My Dog Fred" by Murray Gold. Closing music is "Scream & Shout" by will.i.am and featuring Britney Spears. We recorded this episode on 13 May 2024.
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#245 - We've Got Wigs Galore!
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 53 minutes and 57 secondsDoctor Who, aka Ncuti Gatwa, is off in space and time with Ruby, his new traveling companion. So what does Russell T Davies have in store for a new generation of Who fans, and what do two old Who fan podcasters make of all of it? Opening Music is "My Dog Fred" by Murray Gold. Closing music is "Scream & Shout" by will.i.am and featuring Britney Spears. We recorded this episode on 13 May 2024.
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#244 - Tractators and Weeping Boom Mics
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 54 minutes and 13 secondsKicking off this pod, Ben recounts his visit to Gunnerysbury Museum to see "Set to Stun: Designing and Filming Sci-Fi in West London". Then we watch and discuss the two teaser trailers put out by the BBC in anticipation of Ncuti Gatwa's first season of Doctor Who with our usual spoiler-free rampant speculation, wild theories, spotting of the pre-title sequence clip, and more. Opening music is from "Bowie" by Flight of the Conchords and closing music is from David Bowie's demo of "Changes". We recorded this episode on 21 April 2024.
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#243 - Stendhal Syndrome
Episode Duration: 0 days, 1 hours, 3 minutes and 11 secondsBen is in England where he had the opportunity to visit the "Adventures in Time and Space - 60 Years of Doctor Who Art" exhibition at the Weston Museum in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. This impressive collection spans the show's history and features original art from novelisations, VHS covers, annuals, and other visual treasures, including works from Chris Achilléos, Andrew Skilleter, Roy Knipe, and Colin Howard. Ben has shared some pictures he took of the overall exhibit and artwork on his Instagram, including Knipe's "Death to the Daleks" Target cover and Achilléos' "Loch Ness Monster", "Kklak", and "Seeds of Doom" covers. Plus the portait of Ace from 'Silver Nemesis' done in the style of Thomas Gainsborough. In addition to being agog as a fan, Ben also shares his curatorial view of the exhibit's strengths and weaknesses. Opening and closing music is by Dudley Simpson from his score to The Android Invasion. We recorded this episode on 1 April 2024.
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#242 - No Actorial Flim-Flam
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 45 minutes and 0 secondsBen checks in before heading back to the UK to give our listener and David the scoop on what happened this year at the GallifreyOne Convention. Opening music is "Dancing Across Space and Time" and closing music is "Nothing Is Forever", both composed by Segun Akinola. We recorded this episode on 10 March 2024.
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#241 - Gally Ho!
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 46 minutes and 35 secondsBen chats with Lena Barkin and Jess Jurkovic about the upcoming GallifreyOne convention this week in Los Angeles. Lena recently contributed to Adventures Across Space and Time: A Doctor Who Reader a chapter about fandom and Tumblr and will be presenting and signing autographs, plus celebrating Blake's 7. Jess wrapped up the second season of his Dudley Simpson is Doctor Who Project this past year and will be interviewing composers, including Segun Akinola and Dominic Glynn, on the main stage in Progam A. Opening music is "You Shall Not Disrupt Our Mission" and closing music is "We Have Everything We Need", both composed by Segun Akinola. We recorded this episode on 6 February 2024.
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#240 - Room for the Imagination to Fill in the Blanks
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 52 minutes and 23 secondsWe wrap our mini-series looking at production design in Doctor Who with our own top-five design picks from stories broadcast from 2011 through to 2020. Listen in to hear which stories design work overseen by Michael Pickwoad, Arwel Wyn Jones, or Dafydd Shurmer will make out cut and why we picked them. Opening music is "Up the Shard" and closing music is "A Fly on a Painting", both composed by Murray Gold. We recorded this episode on 14 January 2024.
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#239 - Bimbley-Whimbly
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 49 minutes and 44 secondsWe discuss The Church on Ruby Road, Scuti Gatwa's first solo-starring story as the Doctor. It was great watching Doctor Who once again on Christmas Day and think it was a fun story with a strong case. We also like the science-fantasy direction that RTD appears to be taking with this first series and think Disney's input has been so far positive. Ben likes the Goblins and wonders if one might become a companion of the Doctor. David's is enjoying the delight and joy Davis appears to be having writing for the show once again. Opening music is the fifteenth Doctor's theme and closing music is the Goblin Song, both composed by Murray Gold. We recorded this episode on 29 December 2023.
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#238 - Doctor Who and the Creepy Laugh
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 49 minutes and 54 secondsWe discuss The Giggle, the closing chapter of Doctor Who's 60th anniversary specials. High marks for Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker who nearly stole every scene he was in until the arrival of Ncuti Gatwa as the bi-generated Doctor. But, thumbs down on the Vlinx, and thought Mr. Smith, Mel Bush, or even BOSS would have been a better narrative choice. We're cautiously optimistic about the future, but we wonder if Disney is stealthily aiming for a total reboot of Doctor Who in a similar way that they created an alternate continuity for Star Wars to give the current creative team a clean slate (and to make it easier to market), and thus Garwa's Who is to be series/season 1. Opening music is composed by Murray Gold from The Giggle soundtrack, and the closing music is an excerpt from "Two of Us" by The Beatles. We recorded this episode on 11 December 2023.
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#237 - A Song for the Mari Lwyd
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 47 minutes and 9 secondsWe discuss Wild Blue Yonder, the middle story of the 60th anniversary specials of Doctor Who and share our thoughts on Russell T Davies latest adventure for the Doctor and Donna Noble. Ben relays Paul Scoones' suggestion that the ship's captain may have been a nod to the Equinans, from "The Wreckers!", a 1975 Who story in The TV Comic. David notes that with the inclusion of Flux and other pieces of the Chibnall canon, RTD is removing the Bobby Ewing retcon, as Ben puts it, that the last 13 years were all a dream. This podcast concludes with a lively discussion of The U.S. Air Force Song, which was featured not only in this story's title, but also referenced musically. Opening music is "Silver Caravan" composed by Tim Clark and closing music is "The U.S. Air Force Song" also known as "Off We Go". We recorded this episode on 5 December 2023.
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#236 - Nice to Meep You, Skinny Man
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 51 minutes and 39 secondsWe discuss The Star Beast, the 60th anniversary special of Doctor Who and share our thoughts on Russell T Davies' retelling and updating of this classic weely comic serial from 1980. Opening and closing music is from this episode's incidental music composed by Murray Gold. We recorded this episode on 27 November 2023.
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#235 - It Helps to Have Great Sets
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 52 minutes and 48 secondsOur discussion of set design continues with a conversation about the designs overseen by Edward Thomas, who was Production Designer for most of Series 1 through Series 5 of Doctor Who. How television was made changed in significant ways since the McCoy Doctor and Ace left our screens. With the debut of 'new Who', an executive level position, the art department head, oversaw the appearance of all physical elements in the programme. When things accidently clicked in the classic era was when television magic was made. Now the overall vision of how the episode would look would be centrally controlled by one man, Edward Thomas, so design in 21st century Who should always click, right? We talk about this change and what each of us see as his five best designed stories. Opening music is "Sycorax Encounter" and closing music is "Pandorica", both composed by Murray Gold. We recorded this episode on 5 November 2023.
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#234 - Viewing Fumes
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 52 minutes and 30 secondsWe engage in a counterfactual discussion, speculating about what would have happened to Doctor Who if Russell T Davis had not been charged with bringing back the series to BBC1 in late 2003. We discuss what was happening with Who in 2003 — "The Scream of the Shalka" — and wonder what would have happened next. Would Who have returned to BBC1 later in the decade? Who would have been showrunner if not RTD? Or, would the programme have died a slow death as its fandom aged and slowly faded from memory? Opening music is "O'Carolan's Farewell" performed by Derek Bell and used in the opening of Death Comes to Time. Closing music is the Shoestring theme, composed by George Fenton. We recorded this episode on 8 October 2023.
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#233 - Weirdly Convincing
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 53 minutes and 1 secondWe first chat about the 60th anniversary trailer and then continue on with our discussion of top sets and their designers with a look at 1980s Doctor Who. What share which stories make our respective top five lists and why, and then explore why we overlap in selections in this decade than in any prior era of the show. Opening music is from "The Warriors of the Deep" soundtrack, composed by Jonathan Gibbs. Closing music is "Hungry Like the Wolf," the 182 hit single from Duran Duran. We recorded this episode on 25 September 2023.
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#232 - Coalescing on Consensus
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 49 minutes and 30 secondsWe wrap up our conversation about the Doctor Who Magazine readership story rankings with our assessment of how the Tennant, Smith, Capaldi, and Whittaker stories lined up. We comment on how fandom seems to be coalescing upon a consensus of what is the best (and worse) of the modern Doctors Who's stories. There are a few stories that we feel should be higher (and lower), but generally the order seems pretty spot on. Opening music is "I am the Doctor," composed by Murray Gold and closing music is "Thirteen," composed by Segun Akinola. We recorded this episode on 3 September 2023.
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#230 - Dedicated Followers of Fashion
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 49 minutes and 21 secondsWe talk about "Ncuti Gatwa on Doctor Who", the August/September 2023 RollingStone UK article. We try to tease out what sort of Doctor will Gatwa be and chat about what we hope his time in the TARDIS will be like. Opening and closing music is excerpts from the 1966 song of The Kinks, "Dedicated Follower of Fashion", written by Ray Davies. We recorded this episode on 17 July 2023.
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#230 - A Weird Jungle in Space
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 57 minutes and 59 secondsThe Metebelis Two's lazy summer look at Doctor Who sets and their designers continues into the 1970s with a top five discussion. What five sets will David choose, and will that throw Ben off his carefully balanced selections spread between designers and Doctors Who? Why are multi-level sets so great? Why is, like monsters, the color of sets green more often than not? What about other colors? And, what years actually make up the 1970s? All this and more, as Ben and David pick their top 5 sets and designers of the 1970s. Opening music is from The Sun Makers soundtrack and closing music is from the Genesis of the Daleks soundtrack, both scores composed by Dudley Simpson. We recorded this episode on 9 July 2023.
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#229 - Statistical-Blips-and-Blobs
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 42 minutes and 11 secondsBen and David continue their look at the Doctor Who monthly rankings by discussing the results of the 1980s Doctors, plus the Chris Eccleston stories. We theorize to why there is so little movement in the rankings over the years and lament the voting preferences of the DWM readership. The music for this episode is from The Mark of the Rani, composed by Jonathan Gibbs of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. We recorded this episode on 2 July 2023.
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#228 - This Is a Place Designed for Daleks
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 48 minutes and 16 secondsThe designers of 1960s Doctor Who contended with small budgets and even smaller studios to create the places and alien worlds that Doctor Who and his travelling companions visited. What are our top set designs of the b&w era? Why do we think they're great? And, who designed them? Opening music is "Dalek City Corridor" created by Brian Hodgson of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and closing music is "Space Adventure, Part 2" composed by Martin Slavin. We recorded this episode on 25 June 2023.
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#227 - The Magical Who Story Tour
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 42 minutes and 24 secondsIn this podcast, Ben shares his experience in Bristol at the Lawless Comic Con from earlier in the month, and then answers David's question about what his idea would be for a new Doctor Who exhibition. Ben gives a brief summation of his Who exhibition experiences and pitches a Magical Who Story Tour from London, across the south England, to Cardiff visiting the filming locations of Doctor Who. The opening track is "Magical Mystery Tour" composed by Lennon and McCartney and performed by Ryohei Kanayama. The closing track is Dudley Simpson's Bessie traveling tune from "The Three Doctors" and "The Time Monster" with a dash of dialog from "The Dæmons" to knit the two together. We recorded this episode on 6 June 2023.
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#226 - A Couple of Rankers
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 41 minutes and 1 secondBen and David continue their look at the Doctor Who Monthly readership rankings with a chat about where the Troughton, Pertwee, and Tom Baker stories stacked up. We share our theories, such as the Web Planet Affect, to why the stories ranked in the order that they did and discuss on which stories do we think are underrated, overrated, and correctly placed? We notice too that animations do not seem to make a difference with a missing story's popularity. The opening track is "Gentlemen, Good Luck" and closing track is "Mahogany", both from The Sun Maker soundtrack composed by Dudley Simpson. We recorded this episode on 22 May 2023.
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#225 - Can Ncuti Sing?
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 38 minutes and 15 secondsRTD has revived the Doctor Who hype machine and Ben and David have been lapping it up. They enthuse over the many costume reveals for Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor and other members of the cast. Ben, who has been in England this past month, liked the Doctor Who trailer that dropped before EuroVision this year on BBC and is picking up a palpable buzz about the coming 60th anniversary series. Plus speculation if there will be a musical episode with Ncuti? Then, in the second part of the podcast, at about the 20:30 mark, we chat about the 2023 William Hartnell story rankings in Doctor Who Monthly. The intro and outro music is "Love Don't Roam" featuring Neil Hannon and composed by Murray Gold. We recorded this episode on 19 May 2023.
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#224 - Bring the Beep Back
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 43 minutes and 0 secondsBen presents to David a crash course in UK comics and all things related to The Star Beast, the 1980s comic serial that started Doctor Who Weekly #19, which was written by Pat Mills and John Wagner, and drawn by Dave Gibbons — all legends of UK comics. Toss in a dash of speculation of how RTD will bring Beep the Meep and the Wrarth Warriors to our television screens, and a sprinkling of speculation about other Marvel universe cross-overs with Doctor Who and there's your podcast! Opening music is "Cartoon Heroes", the 2000 (A.D.) song by Aqua and closing music is "That Beep", the 2008 song by Architecture in Helsinki. We recorded this episode on 16 April 2023.
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#223 - There Is No Doctor Who Universe
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 50 minutes and 6 secondsDiscussion of a possible UNIT spin off and then broaden our discussion to what can make a Doctor Who spin off successful and brainstorm spin-off ideas to pitch to RTD — from live action Paul McGann Doctor Who to steam punk Who to animated further adventures starring the Hartnell, Troughton, or Pertwee Doctors Who. What made the Sarah Jane Adventures successful and why was there a fourth series of Torchwood? We try to answer these questions and more in this episode. Opening music is "UNIT Rocks" composed by Murray Gold and closing music is "The UNIT Theme" composed by Dudley Simpson. We recorded this episode on 19 March 2023.
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#222 - Gallifrey One 2023 Wrap-up: A Giant Bowl of Doctor Who Flavoured Ice Cream
Episode Duration: 0 days, 1 hours, 1 minutes and 54 secondsBen is joined by writer Lena Barkin and pianist Jess Jurkovic to chat about their experiences at the 2023 Gallifrey One convention. Opening music is "Summons to Gallifrey" composed by Paddy Kingsland and closing music is "Jelly Babies" composed by Dudley Simpson. We recorded this episode on 27 February 2023.
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Bonus - Day 1 - Gallifrey One 33 - Backstage Monster Videos
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes and 8 secondsA bonus episode! Ben's report from the first day of Gallifrey One 33 in Los Angeles and how impressive Tim Dane Reid's presentation of his behind-the-scenes account of portraying many of the monsters in Doctor Who. Opening music is from The Claws of Axos and closing music is from Fuldans by Fulkultur. We recorded this episode on 17 March 2020.
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#221 - The Games of Rassilon
Episode Duration: 0 days, 1 hours, 14 minutes and 30 secondsA double feature in this podcast. First up, Ben gives his report from the Worlds of Wonder Doctor Who exhibit currently running at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Next David is joined by John (elvwood) and Peter (forpetessake), two quiz masters on the Games of Rassilon subforum on Gallifrey Base Doctor Who forum, where they discuss forum games and culture and the challenges and rewards of hosting forum games. Opening music is "The Axons Approach" by Brian Hodgson and closing music is "Scorched Earth" composed by Trevor Duncan and performed by the Group-Forty Orchestra. We recorded this episode on 28 January and 10 February 2023.
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#220 - Gallifrey One 33 Preview - Going for the Vibes
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 56 minutes and 20 secondsWe are joined in this podcast by writer Lena Barkin and pianist Jess Jurkovic to chat about the upcoming Gallifrey One 33 convention to be held in February in Los Angeles. Ben, Lena, and Jess will all be panelists. Lena will present "Want You or Want to Be You: Companion Relationships in New and Classic Who" as part of the Tardis Talks Academic Symposium. She'll also be a panelist on "Coats of Many Colors", "Why Not a Singing Doctor?", and hosting the Blake's 7 Meet-up. Jess Jurkovic will be a panelist on "Sixty Years of Doctor Who Music" and giving a talk and performing "Dudley Simpson's Doctor Who Theme". Last, but not least, Ben is on two panels: "Stop Me Before I Collect Again" and "Bring the Cheese! Our Love Affair with Bad Movies". All-in-all, it sounds like a fun con! The music for this podcast is arrangements from Jess' Dudley Simpson IS Doctor Who project: opening music is "In An Atlantean Market" and closing music is "Liz's Tune". We recorded this episode on 21 January 2023.
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#219 - Yeti Are Scooby-Doo Kind of Monsters
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 51 minutes and 43 secondsThe Abominable Snowmen Doctor Who animation is the centerpiece of this episode's discussion that ranges from the recent animation choices made by Gary Russell and Digitoonz to the original story by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln. Together they make a complex juxtaposition of early 2020s progressive sensibilities and late 1960s reactionism. What works and what, for lack of better words, is more Scooby-Doo than Doctor Who? The opening music is "Dakto Karpo" and closing music is "Rinchen Chabum" both from the 1975 recording Tibetan Folk Songs from Lhasa and Amdo. We recorded this episode on 8 January 2023.
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#218 - Perfectly Adequate
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 38 minutes and 41 secondsWe are trapped in a time loop in an "elf" storage in Manchester this podcast and are back on New Years Day 2022 to discuss the holiday special, Eve of the Daleks. David likes how Chris Chibnall writes his Dalek specials, but wonders why Nick was written to be so creepy. The name "Nick" certainly must have been a production team joke. Ben wonders what it is like to be killed by a Dalek, repeatedly. And we ask what about the mysterious Jeff? All-in-all, the two find this to be a quite serviceable hour of Doctor Who and wish more of this era could have been more like this. Opening and closing music by Segun Akinola from the Eve of the Daleks soundtrack. We recorded this episode on 7 December 2022.
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#217 - Here Comes Sutekh Claus
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 54 minutes and 3 seconds'Tis the time of giving gifts and Sutekh Claus has a sleighful of presents for Doctor Who fans! Ben and David exchange twelve things they're thankful for in the world of Doctor Who and its fandom. Opening music is a mash-up of Bernard Archer's Marcus Scarman and Bing Crosby's White Christmas. Closing music is from Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody". We recorded this episode on 27 November 2022.
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#216 - Doctorless Who
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 55 minutes and 4 secondsCan the show Doctor Who work without Doctor Who? In this episode, David suggests that Doctor Who is not required and that the real only constant needed for the series is the TARDIS and a crew. Ben entertains this thesis and we discuss what such a show would be like and how it could work and its limitations. We ask if the show has evolved to such a place where the Doctor may be superfluous… or maybe not. Opening music is "My Beautiful Ghost Monument", composed by Segun Akinola. Closing music is the intro theme to Blake's 7, composed by Dudley Simpson. We recorded this episode on 13 November 2022.
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#215 - Group Therapy
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 49 minutes and 20 secondsJodie Whittaker's final episode tears the lid off the Doctor's companion's life after leaving the TARDIS. Ben and David discuss the former companions banding together to support one another and pitch ideas for an expanded Whoniverse series. We share our reactions to seeing former Doctors Who again and what we think of the return of David Tennant to the lead role. Opening music is the "The Thirteenth Doctor's Theme" composed by Segun Akinola. Closing music is "Rasputin" the 1978 Eurodisco hit by Boney M. We recorded this episode on 4 and 15 November 2022.
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#214 - What the Flux?
Episode Duration: 0 days, 1 hours, 13 minutes and 5 secondsWe talk about The Flux in one marathon podcast. What worked for us, what didn't capture our imagination, and what we would have done differently; including conversation about Sontarans, Weeping Angels, the teeth of Dan Lewis, understanding Scouse, Ben's dislike of dogs, Thasmin, and not letting Jo Martin have more screen time. Opening and closing music is from the soundtrack of Flux by Segun Akinola. We recorded this episode on 9 and 14 October 2022.
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#213 - The Monkey Wrench of Rassilon
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 31 minutes and 38 secondsAfter a month's hiatus due to travels and Ben's bout with COVID, we're back talking about Jodie Whittaker headlining the GaliffreyOne convention next year and a look at her finale trailer. What are Tegan and Ace up to? Is the Master using his CTE on the Doctor's friends? Is that the UNIT logo or an upside down Death Star? Much speculation about what it all could mean and possibly even spoilers if we're right. (We're not… probably.) Opening and closing music is from the soundtrack of Flux by Segun Akinola. We recorded this episode on 9 and 14 October 2022.
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#212 - Journey Into Colour
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 57 minutes and 32 secondsIn a wide-ranging discussion, Ben and David talk about the use of colo(u)r in Doctor Who and elsewhere in television and film. We also reflect on our own experiences watching black and white Doctor Who episodes on television and VHS. We also debate whether or not 1960s stories should be officially colourised. Opening music is "Technicolour Dreams" by Status Quo. Closing music is a song by Mihâly Vig, from Bela Tarr's film "A Torinoi Lo" (The Turin Horse). We recorded this episode on 21 August 2022.
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#211 - The Wombles and Mr Benn 2150 A.D.
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 48 minutes and 16 secondsTo mark the sad passing of Bernard Cribbins, we journey back to 1966 to look at his first role associated with Doctor Who, which was PC Tom Campbell in Daleks' Invasion of Earth 2150 A.D. Ben reflects how Cribbins and Ray Brooks, who played David, were the voices of his childhood. Cribbins voiced all of the Wombles and Brooks narrated the Mr Benn animated shorts. When watching the movie as a child, Ben was annoyed by these crossover performances, but now he finds it quite cool. David, for his part, cannot remember when he first saw this movie and concludes this may be his first time viewing it all in one go. Opening music is the theme from Daleks' Invasion of Earth 2150 A.D. composed by Bill McGuffie. Closing music features Bernard Cribbins singing back in 1963, "The Bird on the Second Floor" with accompaniment directed by Johnnie Spence. We recorded this episode on 9 August 2022.
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#210 - RTD2
Episode Duration: 0 days, 1 hours, 2 minutes and 49 secondsThe Metebelis Two are excited to welcome Brian Jacob and Jess Jurkovic back to the podcast for a discussion about the return of Russell T Davis as showrunner and Ncuti Gatwa as Doctor Who. We share our thoughts and concerns about RTD's second chance and wonder what 2023 will bring for our favorite Time Lord. (Also, to help support season two of the Dudley Simpson IS Doctor Who Project, please visit Jess's Patreon page.) Opening and closing music is from The Voyage of the Damned score, composed by Murray Gold. We recorded this episode on 10 July 2022.
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#209 - Exploitation of the Daleks
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 55 minutes and 33 secondsIt's the summer lull! So what better time to persuade their respective better halfs to sit down with them to watch the 1965 movie adaptation of the first Dalek adventure known by all as Dr. Who and the Daleks, starring Peter Cushing as the inventor, Dr. Who. Along with his granddaughters Susie Who, played by Roberta Tovey, and Barbara Who, played by Jennie Linden. They are joined by Barbara's boyfriend, Ian Chesterton played by Roy Castle. Ben remembers how his 8-year-old self was unsettled by seeing the host of Record Breakers on the BBC playing Ian. He also watching this not-Who movie made his boyhood self seethe with rage. Meanwhile, David wonders what the movie would have been like if Bill Hartnell and the other original members of time team reprised their roles and how he would have reworked the script for the big screen. Opening music is the theme to Dr. Who and the Daleks, composed by Malcolm Lockyer. Closing music is the 1961 45" single, "A Lonesome Cup of Coffee", sung by Roy Castle and featuring Wally Stott and his Orchestra. We recorded this episode on 3 July 2022.