Strangers in Space: Recent Episodes
J.R. Southall
Broader and deeper than just Doctor Who
Main episodes: talking about Doctor Who so you don't have to Film Club: reviewing and contextualising a popular movie or film director TV Club: ditto but TV Film Club Lite: focussing on a particular movie for a shorter, more focussed review Music Club: the hosts talk about artists that have been influential in their lives Who Review Extra: choosing an older Doctor Who story for the shorter review routine Desert Planet Picks: once in a while, a special guest chooses the eight items they'd take with them, if they were about to be marooned on a desert planet
In which Steven Spielberg goes back to the early days of his career and produces a new spin on Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Well, we say "new"; he updates it to the themes and concerns of the mid-1990s at least.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ian Winterton
Who Review Extra takes us right back into The Avengers again, and this time into the middle of Season Four to find Mrs Peel settling in nicely and the format fully up and running...
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Christopher Nolan's latest is another updating of the movies he no doubt caught during summer holidays when he was a kid; the fidelity of his vision isn't important, so much as the quality of the outcome
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ian Winterton
Warning: there are big spoilers to significant plot developments in our review of the latest from the MCU, so make sure you've seen Spider-Man: Brand New Day before you listen to this episode
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Ryan Blake and Simon Brett
It's been possibly the cinema sensation of the summer; we finally took a look at Curry Barker's low budget, big box office, high concept horror film Obsession
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ian Winterton
For this year's summer quiz we have invited the Trap One Podcast to join us in our low-jinks, as we once more lean into the House of Games pastiche express
Presented by J.R. Southall
Representing Strangers in Space: Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
And for Trap One: Si Hart, Dan Hollingsworth, Mark McManus and Tom Newsom
Warning: the quiz plays better as a visual experience and you can do that here: https://youtu.be/lvSCVP3urUU
A pair of low budget horror films from YouTubers have created a sensation (and upset the box office spectrum) this summer, so in the first of two reviews we take a look at Kane Parsons' Backrooms (warning: contains spoilers)
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ian Winterton
We talk through some of the names who might be expected to be putting in bids to become the new artistic director on Doctor Who, after BBC Studios confirmed its hat would be in the ring
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
You don't have to have watched Citizen Vigilante in order to appreciate our review of it, in fact we recommend you don't
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ryan Blake
On the day Andy Burnham becomes Prime Minister, we go back to his Party Pieces interview with The Quietus in 2022, and ask whether we think the man who chose to be represented by these thirteen records is the right man to represent us in the highest office in the country. Or maybe just give our opinions on his opinions.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Simon Brett and Eric Drass
Party Pieces: https://thequietus.com/interviews/bakers-dozen/andy-burnham-bakers-dozen-favourite-music/
In the first half (albeit recorded second) of a Too Hot for TV crossover, we take a look at the ill-fated 1980s TV adaptation of John Christopher's The White Mountains trilogy
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ryan Blake and Dylan Rees
On tomorrow's episode of Too Hot for TV (recorded first), we'll be looking at the prequel novel and various comic strip adventures: https://linktr.ee/Dylan_Rees
With The Avengers now in the randomiser we take Who Review Extra all the way back to February of 1963, a time before Doctor Who even existed, to check out the Season 2 episode School for Traitors and see how it stands up against the style the series would hit later on
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
In the aftermath of MayGann, we take a look at Smart Money, the 1986 TV movie that predicts the hacker dramas of the 1990s and which is the first collaboration between TV movie writer Matthew Jacobs and Candyman director Bernard Rose
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
You can watch Smart Money here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1wVSRDFWc9E
England's chances in the World Cup, Nigel's farrago in Clacton, Ann Widdecombe's surprising connection to Doctor Who and more in this emergency unstoppable edition of Private Members Club
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
Paul McGann's very first screen appearance was in a Play for Today written by Wally K Daly (author of the ill-fated Doctor Who story The Ultimate Evil), and so we extended MayGann in order to take a look
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Ryan Blake
The results of our listeners poll to find the most loved stories of the Jon Pertwee era
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
The second film in the DC Gunniverse seems to have stalled at the box office, and it can't just be down to embittered Snyder fans casting a hex upon it - indeed, our review team of four shrank to half its promised size when two didn't even bother to go see it. We decided to make up for their absence by talking longer
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ryan Blake
Films about filmmakers are always intriguing, and back in 1990 the director of The Graduate collaborated with Carrie Fisher to tell a fictionalised account of her relationship with her mother
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Simon Brett
Now that we've hit July, we can no longer claim it's MayGann, and so by way of saying goodbye we join Sylvester McCoy for his 1996 video diary in which we find him Bidding Adieu to the role of Doctor Who
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Steve Hatcher
We talk about RTD's latest, with a little bit about Doctor Who at the start
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Ian Winterton
Our summer of celebration of the TV movie and the surrounding wilderness years brings us to the last licensed-but-unofficial spin-off mini-movie that was made before Doctor Who returned to our screens in 2005, Dæmos Rising
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Ryan Blake, Steve Hatcher and Dylan Rees
Now that we're actually in May Week, here's a little bit more MayGann in the form of Geoffrey Sax's 2005 hit horror film White Noise
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
It only took three days from Andy Burnham's election in Makerfield, to Sir Keir Starmer resigning in Downing Street; for the second time in a week, there are too many developments in government for us not to talk about them
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Ian Winterton
As May week kicks off in Cambridge, MayGann spreads its wings to include Steven Moffat's first turn behind the Doctor Who TV typewriter, The Curse of Fatal Death in 1999
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Ryan Blake, Simon Brett and Steve Hatcher
The game of Prime Ministerial musical chairs appears to have begun again, and so we've dusted off our politics strand in order to have a conversation about it - once we can get onto the subject
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Steve Hatcher
He-Man is once again holding aloft his magic sword and so we thought we would compare the new Masters of the Universe movie with its 1987 counterpart, to see which has the most fabulous secret powers
Presented by Dylan Rees, with Ryan Blake and J.R. Southall
We take a look at three TV episodes Matthew Jacobs wrote for television after his work on the 1996 Doctor Who movie, a feature-length adaptation of Lorna Doone, an episode of Wexford and the Screen Two instalment Mothertime
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
The results of our quest to find our listeners' favourite tenth Doctor stories
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
Christmas is cancelled, and so we convened to discuss what this might mean for the future of Doctor Who
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
We catch up with Geoffrey Sax's career a decade after he directed the TV movie, to find him undergoing yet more behind-the-scenes interference on another adaptation of a beloved children's franchise
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
By way of tribute to the recently departed Anthony Head, our review of the early David Tennant story
Presented by J. R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
We name the stories we think Matthew Jacobs might have chosen, had he been asked to supervise a season of Paul McGann episodes in the wake of the TV movie
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Simon Brett and Steve Hatcher
MayGann continues - if May Week hasn't happened yet, then we still consider it May - with our review of Paperhouse, Bernard Rose's beguiling but terrifying fantasy that was written by Matthew Jacobs
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
As the tumbleweeds gather around the forthcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special, and a year passes since the show was last being broadcast on television, we take stock of the situation and the swirling rumours surrounding the lack of production
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber and the ghost of Steve Hatcher
Matthew Jacobs, writer of the TV movie, stops by for a chat about his career, his process and his influences - and of course about Doctor Who
Presented by J.R. Southall
It's thirty years since Paul McGann's sole outing in a full-length Doctor Who story hit British television screens, so it's about time we took another look to see what we think of it in 2026
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
Geoffrey Sax, director of the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie, talks about his career, his process and his influences, and a bit about Doctor Who too
Presented by J.R. Southall
The Disputation (as mentioned), in fuzzy vision, on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p3WlesJgaI
We take a look at a couple of episodes Matthew Jacobs had written for television prior to his work on the Doctor Who TV movie, one for The Jim Henson Hour and the other an instalment of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Dylan Rees
A conversation about the "new" elements that comprised Doctor Who in the 1990s, and whether it was the right time for them
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
Written by Meglos' Flanagan and McCulloch and overseen by Verity Lambert, and with Michael Gough, David Calder and Alan David among the supporting cast - not to mention Nigel Havers and Warren Clarke as the two leads - Sleepers appeared five years before the Doctor Who TV movie with Geoffrey Sax in the director's chair
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
Our appreciation of the work of Paul McGann continues as we try and find him in 2002's rights-grab Interview With a Vampire sequel Queen of the Damned, or indeed anything of merit
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Ryan Blake and Dylan Rees
The TV movie helped us make it through the wilderness years, but it's far from the only Doctor Who that was produced during the period
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Ryan Blake, Steve Hatcher and Dylan Rees
MayGann continues to rifle through the Paul McGann back catalogue, today's selection being the 1986 Alan Bleasdale serial that was largely responsible for launching McGann's screen career
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
MayGann continues with another movie starring Paul McGann, this time as a lesbian vampire hunting priest alongside Hall and Corden, in a film that couldn't possibly be as bad as we remembered it being - could it?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Ryan Blake, Luke Molloy and Dylan Rees
MayGann wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Old West, and the Doctor Who set that TV movie writer Matthew Jacobs visited as a child to watch his father as an actor
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Steve Hatcher
MayGann continues with Paul McGann appearing in a 1997 film called Downtime, as reviewed here by the author of Downtime: The Lost Years of Doctor Who
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Dylan Rees
Watch Downtime on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hwgXW7UHUpE
With new rumours swirling about where the future of Doctor Who might lie, we take a look at the latest evidence and discuss its potential
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
MayGann begins in earnest, with our review of Andrew Davies' 2002 adaptation of Sarah Waters' debut novel Tipping the Velvet, as directed by Geoffrey Sax
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
It's Dave Robicheaux agogo in an accidental double bill, after we decided to talk about Heaven's Prisoners (1996) to give Eric Roberts a little coverage before MayGann kicks off in earnest, and ended up recording a whole nother episode on its follow-up film, 2009's In the Electric Mist
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Iain Martin and first Matt Barber then Ryan Blake
The randomiser decided that MayGann should begin a few days earlier than planned, so we find ourselves reviewing the eighth Doctor's six-minute resurrection during Doctor Who's fiftieth anniversary celebrations
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
Our thoughts on the recent live action adaptation of Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary, from the duo who almost made Solo: A Star Wars Story
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
The results of our quest to find our listeners' favourite second Doctor stories
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
As we await the third adaptation in the modern Dune film series, we cast our minds back to David Lynch's badly received 1984 version and wonder if it's better than its reputation would suggest
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Scrubs is back after a sixteen year gap, but is it still doing its all on its own...?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ryan Blake and Iain Martin
We go back back to 1988 to discuss the best-selling albums and singles and wonder what else people were listening to
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Simon Brett and Eric Drass
The randomiser brings us to one of the lesser Sarah Jane Adventures, but will we get lost in Lost in Time?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
After 999 episodes on the podcast feed, we decided the 1,000th should be something momentous and mind-blowing - and then we recorded this instead.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Ryan Blake, Mark Donaldson and Iain Martin
A bit of a cult classic in a very Steven Moffaty sense, we went back for a second look at Christopher Smith's Triangle so you don't have to
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Dylan Rees
In a repeat of our Series One poll from 2021, we countdown our listeners' favourite ninth Doctor stories
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
It's 75 years since The Thing from Another World crawled onto movie screens, so to celebrate this seminal year in sci-fi cinema we've taken another look at that, The Day the Earth Stood Still and When Worlds Collide
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
Our thoughts on the recently recovered Doctor Who episodes, the quality of the story in general, and the prospect of more in the future
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
Two adaptations of The Werewolf of Paris for the price of one, as our journey through the Hammer horror back catalogue reaches The Curse of the Werewolf, and we pair it up with Tyburn's later adaptation Legend of the Werewolf to find out if the same story was worth telling again
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Ryan Blake, Steve Hatcher and Dylan Rees
DRASS' new concept work On the Hill is like a musical War of the Worlds for the modern age. So we tuned in for a listen, and a chat with the man himself to find out what it's all about.
Find the record here: https://drass.art
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Simon Brett and Eric Drass
As we approach our 14th birthday and pass the revived series' 21st, we wonder how Doctor Who might have differed if Russell T Davies hadn't taken it on in 2005 and it had been left to Steven Moffat to resurrect it a few years later instead
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and witnessed by Jon Arnold and Steve Hatcher
In the first of a new strand, Music Club goes back to 1991 to discuss the best-selling albums and singles and wonder what else people were listening to
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Simon Brett and Eric Drass
The randomiser has chosen Sarah's last story, and you'd think they'd have conjured up something special for her to go out on
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Ryan Blake and Steve Hatcher
We braved the hype and went to see Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights, so you don't have to
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
Our quest to find the most popular first Doctor stories among our listeners comes to an end, with a surprising result
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Iain Martin
It's fifty years since The Man Who Fell to Earth landed in cinemas, but was the combination of Nicholas Roeg and David Bowie a match made in heaven or a mess made in hell?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Ryan Blake
Our reaction to the results at the 98th Academy Awards
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
A mixed reaction to the BBC's latest adaptation of William Golding's 1954 debut novel
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Ryan Blake
We take a look at the new Myth Makers interview with Ian Levine, so you don't have to
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Five years after Nomadland won Best Picture, Director and Actress at the Academy Awards, Chloé Zhao is back to potentially repeat the feat. But what would we make of the last of this year's ten Oscar hopefuls?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
Our Oscars watch-through arrives in Brazil, for the political thriller The Secret Agent
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Our journey through this year's Academy Awards Best Picture nominees continues with Josh Safdie's first solo project as director, featuring Timothée Chalamet as Marty Supreme
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Iain Martin
We turn our microphones to the subject of deadly plants in the 1960s, with particular attention to episodes of The Outer Limits, Out of the Unknown, The Avengers and Lost in Space
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Dylan Rees and Steve Hatcher
What were the problems in the most recent era of Doctor Who - and what solutions might have avoided them?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Our Hammer watch through arrives at a choice of Frankenstein sequels, The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Ryan Blake, Steve Hatcher and Dylan Rees
Our Oscar conversation moves onto one of the year's less likely nominees, the racing car movie F1
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Iain Martin
We talk through Doctor Who's modern era spin-off shows, pitting them against each other in an effort to decide which is the more justified
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Mackenzie Crook returns with a new series about a man growing homunculi in his garden shed
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Simon Brett
With the second season of Prime's hugely successful series Fallout having recently come to a conclusion, we look back at the whole thing with an eye on which bits worked and which might have worked better
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ryan Blake
It's getting on for a decade since Mark Gatiss wrote his last Doctor Who, but how does it stack up against his earlier episodes?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
Joachim Trier's film Affeksjonsverdi - or Sentimental Value - about an aging film director's two daughters and the different paths they take, is our next Best Picture nominee ahead of this year's Oscars
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
We count down the greatest "love" songs of all, so you don't have to
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Simon Brett and Eric Drass
Which were the bits of the Chris Chibnall era where fandom thought it overstepped the mark - and did it really?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Our watch through of this year's Best Picture nominees arrives at Train Dreams, the story of the unacknowledged folk who built what would become modern America
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
It's fifty years since Robert De Niro first rolled Martin Scorsese's cab onto the mean streets of New York, so we thought that was the perfect time to go back and take another look
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Luke Molloy
The randomiser chooses what is widely considered to be the runt of one of Doctor Who's greatest ever seasons - but is either of those things really true?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ben Verth
Our journey through this year's Academy Award Best Picture nominees continues with a look at Ryan Coogler's vampire movie Sinners
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
After our conversation about the Dracula films at Hammer, we decided to carry on and watch two further instalments: Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) and Dracula A.D. 1972
Presented by Steve Hatcher, with Matt Barber, Dylan Rees and J.R. Southall
The second half of our conversation in which we choose the individual stories we think might have made for decent Peter Cushing-style movies, this time going into the 1980s
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
We start a watch through of this year's Best Picture nominees with Yorgos Lanthimos' latest Bugonia, following a chat about its competition in various categories
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
We take a look through Malcolm Hulke's lesser known back catalogue in order to help us understand the writer's work on Doctor Who. Including an Armchair Theatre, a Danger Man and a Gideon's Way plus two b-movies (all available to watch on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD7MPHXjCYVW6_yBTNvzdHYj0IX4dm-gM)
Presented by Dylan Rees, with Jon Arnold and J.R. Southall
We pay our respects (in our own irreverent fashion) to two significant guest actors from the original run of Doctor Who, by watching the stories in which they appeared: The Robots of Death and Battlefield
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Steve Hatcher and Ben Verth
After our recent trip through the various Jurassic Parks, we went on to discover what the subsequent Jurassic Worlds had to offer
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Our Hammer watch through concentrates on the continuation of the Count this time, with our thoughts on Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), Scars of Dracula (1970), The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Steve Hatcher and Dylan Rees
In response to a question from the General Witchfinders on the last Radio Free Skaro advent calendar, we were prompted to wonder what might have happened if the Cushing movies had carried on on an annual basis throughout the original run of Doctor Who, and therefore to pick one story from each season that they might have adapted for the silver screen
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
We talk about our first experiences of the three Jurassic Park movies and discuss how well they stand up today
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Our sister podcast, republishing our back catalogue:
https://strangersinspace.weebly.com/from-the-archives.html
Oliver Stone's first political thriller is the story of North American interference leading to regime change in Latin America, so what on earth possessed us to think of reviewing it right now is a mystery
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
Now that the plastic has been cleared away, some more thoughts on the qualities of the latest Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Steve Hatcher and Ben Verth
We take a look at Edgar Wright's recent adaptation of Stephen King's Richard Bachman novel The Running Man, after going back to the first film adaptation by Paul Michael Glaser back in 1987
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
We induct Blakes 7 into the Who Review Extra randomiser by taking a look at the sixth episode of the third series, in which Paul Darrow and Colin Baker come face to face for the first time, and Vila cops off with a Carry On girl.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Our listener James Wheildon asked if we could get down to the brass tacks of why we came to like Doctor Who in the first place. So we gave it a go!
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Simon Brett, Iain Martin and eventually, Ryan Blake
Two of the four biggest-selling singles of the 1980s, a massive Christmas single, that range of t-shirts and an album that was more a statement of art than something to be listened to; we end the year with our memories of the phenomenon that was Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Simon Brett and Eric Drass
(Eric's Shardcore website)
Another year, another Christmas Eve - and another Mark Gatiss A Ghost Story for Christmas. Was this latest one any good? We take a look at The Room in the Tower.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
It's thirty years since Brad Pitt appeared in two movies that have influenced cinema in immeasurable ways in the three decades since, but how well have Seven and 12 Monkeys stood the test of time?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
As part of our journey through the Hammer back catalogue, we take another wander off the beaten path to look at two 1966 movies that were both made on the same sets (and include a number of shared actors too): The Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Steve Hatcher and Dylan Rees
This year for Christmas we decided to watch a pair of British holiday romances, with a surprising connection to our very own podcast!
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Luke Molloy
During the original run of Doctor Who, there were nine stories whose broadcast spanned Christmas Day. But which of them is the most Christmassy?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
The Disney Doctor Who deal comes to a conclusion (in the UK at least) with the final chapter of the latest spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea, but is it a fitting end to a troubled time?
Presented by J.R. Southall and Ryan Blake, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
With an odd number of participants there's something a little different about the make-up of the teams in this year's Christmas quiz - but the quality of the questions hasn't changed
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Steve Hatcher, and Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
We turn our attention to Hammer's iconic first attempts at their three staple horror characters, in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958) and The Mummy (1959)
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Steve Hatcher and Dylan Rees
Craig, Daniel is back as Benoit Blanc in the latest Knives Out Mystery from Rian Johnson
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
We check in on episodes 3 and 4 of the latest Doctor Who spin-off, to see how it's progressing
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Links to our various new homes here: https://strangersinspace.weebly.com/links.html
After our episode about Nigel Kneale's famous TV scientist and his portrayal at the movies, we decided to go the full Hammer with a run-through of the highlights of the film series - starting with this duet of two Quatermass-adjacent early horrors
Presented by Matt Barber, with Steve Hatcher and J.R. Southall
In which we watch Matt Smith's final episode and wonder if it's a fitting way for the eleventh Doctor to go, and then choose the first Blakes 7 episode we're going to talk about after having added the series to the randomiser
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Giving the creator of Coupling and Joking Apart the Doctor Who showrunner job was bound to bring problems - unless of course that's the man the BBC wanted in charge of the programme.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Our mixed reaction to the first two episodes of the latest Doctor Who spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
With highly inappropriate language right from the very start
It's exactly half a century since Stanley Kubrick followed A Clockwork Orange with his stately, painterly picture Barry Lyndon. But will we be impressed by its languid pace and artistic aspirations?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Steve Hatcher and Luke Molloy
The last time Russell T Davies went five-part serial with a Doctor Who spin-off was Torchwood: Children of Earth, and at the time it was a great success. We went back and took another look.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Dylan Rees
In which we turn our minds back twenty years to the moments when the first RTD era overstepped the mark, and wonder whether it was ever unacceptable as family viewing
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
The Stephen King adaptations continue to roll in, the latest being this adaptation of his cheery 1979 Richard Bachman novel The Long Walk. Did we go along for the stroll though, or would we grind to a halt?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
Paul Thomas Anderson has made what Wiki are describing as a "black comedy action thriller film", but would we find it as hard to describe how we felt about One Battle After Another as they struggled to say what it is?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Luke Molloy
The randomiser has chosen the Series 2 finale of Torchwood, Doctor Who's first major spin-off drama, for us to take a look at - but will it fare any better than the Series 1 finale as chosen by the very random randomiser just a few weeks ago?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Steve Hatcher
You might think script editor Eric Saward's tenure on Doctor Who coincided with a period of calm rather than controversy, but we're here to pull back the covers and see if we can't find something to that doesn't smell quite right
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
Our thoughts on the photo of Billie Piper and Paul McGann on the TARDIS set that emerged at the weekend, leading onto a conversation about what we are expecting for the 2026 special
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
Nearly half a century (and eight further films) on from Ridley Scott's original, the Alien franchise comes to television. But is it a natural fit, and is that where it belongs?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
A conversation about Reeltime Pictures' Myth Makers series of interviews, concentrating on two releases in particular, in honour of Dylan's recently published book
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Dylan Rees
Doctor Who Myths and Legends: The Reeltime Pictures Story at Telos
Our review of Tell Me It's Not True, the debut album by indie band Silk Cuts
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Simon Brett
Vinyl edition at Rough Trade
Download edition at Bandcamp
YouTube channel
Linktree
Guillermo del Toro and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein ought to be a match made in Heaven, but what would we make of it ahead of our patchwork Hammer watch-through starting next week?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Simon Brett and Steve Hatcher
We're about as far on now from Tremors, as that was from 1954's Them! when it came out in 1990 - but are giant worms in the Sierra Nevada still such a fun concept in 2025?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Dylan Rees
Our imaginary reboot of Doctor Who, created entirely from remakes of stories of the past, finds itself under the auspices of a new showrunner - and with a new Doctor in the form of Michelle Terry
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Simon Brett
Two films with aliens masquerading as human beings from either side of 1990, one being Abel Ferrara's take on (Invasion of the) Body Snatchers, and the other from the director of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Mark Donaldson and Dylan Rees
We mark the passing of founder member Dave Ball, by looking back at his time in Soft Cell alongside Marc Almond
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Simon Brett and Eric Drass
Eric's Shardcore website
It's over half a century now since the Doctors' timelines first crossed in something resembling what we might know now as an "anniversary special", and certainly the lustre has come off The Three Doctors somewhat in those fifty-odd years - according to some reports at least. But how does it stand up five decades on? The randomiser has decided we take a look
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
Austin Butler in a crime comedy from the director of Black Swan, Mother! and Requiem for a Dream? That couldn't possibly work... could it? (Warning: contains spoilers for major plot developments.)
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Ryan Blake
In which we divide into teams in order to choose the Doctor Who story that is the most appropriate for its Halloween broadcast slot
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Steve Hatcher, Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
Doctor Who is back, and this time it's just for Christmas - or is it? We try to get to the bottom of yesterday's announcement countering the premature death notices for RTD's Doctor Who
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Simon Brett
An overview of the three films directed by the Monkeypaw Productions man: Get Out, Us and Nope
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
When we discovered that Zack Snyder and James Gunn, the two titans of DC, were both credited on the 2004 remake of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead, we just had to investigate. And then when we noticed that the creator of the Final Destination franchise had also been partly responsible for the remake of follow-up Day of the Dead four years later, we decided to watch that one too.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Richie Morgan and Dylan Rees
Ron Howard's latest is set among German colonists on the Galapagos Islands between the wars of the last century, with Sydney Sweeney, Ana de Armas and Vanessa Kirby (not to mention Jude Law) falling out in the Equatorial sun. What could possibly go wrong?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Ryan Blake
Philip Hinchcliffe might have suggested that Mary Whitehouse was "somewhat over-hysterical", but Barry Letts admitted that when she complained about Doctor Who, the viewing figures went up. So was the temptation in the mid-1970s to push the series too far in order to attract viewers? And how far is too far?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Ian Fleming's debut novel Casino Royale has been adapted for the screen three times, in wildly different versions. After having spoken about the other two, we decided it was time to take a look at the first, a live US TV play broadcast while the novel was barely off the press.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Steve Hatcher and Dylan Rees
The star of Four Weddings, the writer of Andor, Carrie from Sex and the City, the director of Seven Up! and Gene Hackman - not to mention produced by Elizabeth Hurley - is quite the line-up of talent. Can Extreme Measures live up to its promise?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Dylan Rees
The randomiser brings us to Earth in 2164 (or so), exactly-ish two centuries in the future after a plague has wiped out the majority of the population of the planet and it's almost like WWII never stopped happening. But will the BBC manage to convey all this from the confines of a little TV studio?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
There's been a lot of love for the recent Tim Key comedy about a reclusive music fan who tries to get his favourite folk duo back together again. But what would we make of it?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
You'd think Doctor Who news might be a bit thin on the ground with no production currently underway nor very much likely to be any time soon. But the rumours and gossip just keep on coming.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Ryan Blake, Mark Donaldson and Steve Hatcher
How will our current mascot Danny Dyer take, to starring in a more bucolic version of Doctor Who? Our reimagined history of the series enters its seventh season.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
When we realised that the director of The Sword and the Sorcerer had also made the 1990 Captain America, we couldn't resist going back for another look at both
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Dylan Rees
We travel back to the 1990s, before even The Curse of Fatal Death was a twinkle in Steven Moffat's eye, to look at some of the writer-for-hire and one-off projects he completed before he became a household name
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Dylan Rees
The randomiser takes us to yet another isolated workplace in the 1960s, but will Victoria's screaming save the day, or is Fury from the Deep just a load of old gas?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
After Amazon MGM Studios announced Denis Villeneuve as the director who would take the helm of their first Bond movie, we decided to have a look back at his non-franchise English language movies to see if we could see why.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
It's seventy years since Nigel Kneale's most famous creation made his way from the small screen to the big, but how successful was the transfer to Quatermass at Hammer?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
In tribute to Robert Redford we've taken another look at the movie he and Dustin Hoffman, plus director Alan J. Pakula and screenwriter William Goldman, made about the Watergate break-in
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
When does pushing the boundaries become going too far?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
The only way we could talk about what the title means, is to get heavily into spoiler territory - so if you haven't seen Together yet, then set this review aside until you have
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
It's Ryan's turn at the wheel of our fictional Doctor Who recreation, and he's here to pick up the idea of a Danny Dyer Doctor and imagine where that might lead the series... much impressionations ensue
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ryan Blake
Warning: if you haven't seen Weapons yet and are thinking of doing so, this review contains major spoilers to all of the film's big plot developments
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Having discovered a run of form in the latter half of the first season, would Torchwood stick the landing with its first series finale?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
How well would Liam Neeson perform following in the shoeprints of Leslie Nielsen? And could the revival of The Naked Gun live up to the gag-a-minute reputation of the original?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
How would you script edit the problematic stories of the past in order to deproblematise them, but without removing the problematic elements? Or: how do you fix a problem like The Talons of Weng-Chiang?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
Would the Graham Linehan of Doctor Who's first TV story take flight, and would our reviewers bewitched or be what-what-what?-ed?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Ryan Blake
If you woke up on January 1st and persuaded yourself that what you needed most this year was a further instalment of I Know What You Did Last Summer, then bingo you're in luck. For everybody else, here's our review.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
There's a new Doctor aboard the TARDIS as we enter the fifth season of our imaginary Doctor Who remake - and Mark is here to explain the choice and talk through the stories we've selected for him to experience.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Mark Donaldson
Dan Jennings of the Paul Weller Fan Podcast joins us to review The Blow Monkeys' new album Birdsong, their first for Alan McGee and Youth's record label Creation Youth
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Simon Brett and Dan Jennings
Creation Youth Paul Weller Fan Podcast
There had already been three adaptations of Jack Finney's The Body Snatchers by the time Disney's Hollywood Pictures went back to the source, and produced a version of Robert Heinlein's original alien parasite novel The Puppet Masters. Should they have left well alone?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ryan Blake and Dylan Rees
The quotes coming out of Edinburgh this week might have made it feel like we're stuck in 1989 all over again (or is that 1985?), but this is a different century now - so what did we make of the idea that the TARDIS is "going nowhere"?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
In this edition we're pairing up a couple of very different but equally unlikely vampires; firstly there's David Niven's urbane and terribly British Count Dracula, and then Alicia Silverstone in an undead rematch with Amy Heckerling, her director on Clueless. What can possibly go right?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Ryan Blake
Our odyssey through the mid-range monster movies of the 1990s fetches up at The Relic, Timecop director Peter Hyams' museum-set variation on Alien. But would any of us remember the film for long enough to talk about it?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ryan Blake, Simon Brett and Dylan Rees
It's the fourth "season" of our imaginary Doctor Who reboot, and a surprise is about to be sprung
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Mark Donaldson
After a run of indelible, critically adored movies culminating in The Last Seduction, was it hubris on John Dahl's part to call his fourth Unforgettable?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ryan Blake
After making a splash in his native Mexico with Cronos, Hollywood invited Guillermo del Toro to come and helm another in its cycle of mid-90s monster movies. The result was Mimic, but what do we think of it now?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Simon Brett and Steve Hatcher
Shakespeare might, according to the tenth Doctor, be the most human human being who ever lived - but that isn't going to stop the tenth Doctor himself from having a go.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
It's thirty years since Natasha Henstridge made her film debut as the sexy alien who's looking for the perfect partner with whom to make beautiful human hybrid babies, but what does Species look like in 2025?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Ryan Blake, Simon Brett, Steve Hatcher and Dylan Rees
Our imaginary rebooted Doctor Who reaches its third season, showing that even after a misunderstanding about what the concept entails, interesting choices can still occur
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Steve Hatcher
Could Jurassic World: Rebirth live up to its name and breathe new life into the dinosaga?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Mark Donaldson
Our now traditional seasonal quiz returns for a summer instalment, pitting our three teams' wits against some House of Games styled Doctor Who themed rounds as the grudge between two particular hosts deepens
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Steve Hatcher as Delta Free, Ryan Blake and Iain Martin as Thoros Belter, and Matt Barber and Luke Molloy as Terror Alpha
A round-up of some recent TV, starting with Murderbot, taking in Bookish, and finally some thoughts about Poker Face
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
It's doing great box office from mostly positive reviews, but what would our team make of the new Fantastic Four film - fourth time lucky?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Ryan Blake and Simon Brett
Our - fairly spoilery (especially in the latter case) - thoughts on two recent superhero pictures: James Gunn's revitalisation of Superman; and now arriving on streaming services, the MCU's new team Thunderbolts*
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Ryan Blake and Simon Brett
It's Season 2 of our own, rebooted Doctor Who, and someone else's turn to have a go at creating a themed series of episodes telling a compelling, coherent story out of the concept of only remaking the stories of the past
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
From the writer of Scream and the director of From Dusk Till Dawn, The Faculty debuted underwhelmingly but seems to have picked up cult status over the years. So what would we make of it?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Ryan Blake, Simon Brett and Dylan Rees
Our thoughts on recent off-camera developments and the future - or lack thereof - of Doctor Who
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Ryan Blake, Simon Brett and Steve Hatcher
From the King Bees to Tin Machine and beyond, Davie Jones had quite the career in pop. We assembled a team of six to choose our Top 5 Bowie songs, eventually narrowing down our choices till we arrived at what might be his greatest single of all.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Ryan Blake, Simon Brett, Iain Martin and Harry Palmer
It was the Daleks' first appearance in Steven Moffat's Doctor Who and the first time Matt Smith's Doctor had come face to face with them - and it was very much Amy's first time too - but Victory of the Daleks has always divided opinions. The question is, after fifteen years would that still be the case?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Ryan Blake and Simon Brett
There can't be many horror films where it's the Japanese who've remade it in their own language rather than the other way around, but the original Cube is one. We take a look to see how it stands up nearly thirty years later
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ryan Blake and Dylan Rees
Deep Rising was the last film Stephen Sommers made before he went stratospheric with The Mummy, but while it's basically Aliens on an abandoned ship, is it actually any good?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Simon Brett and Dylan Rees
In the first on a new strand, we ask the question: if Doctor Who were to be rebooted from scratch (with our mascot Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the Doctor), which of the stories that it has already told would stand up to being told again?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
It's four decades since Doc Brown's DeLorean DMC-12 whisked Michael J. Fox back in time to meet his parents when they were youngsters, but how does the Back to the Future trilogy look forty years into its own future?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ryan Blake and Steve Hatcher
An alternative Earth with a parallel Pete (and Jackie), and a new origins story for the Cybermen. But how does The Age of Steel stack up almost two decades later?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Ryan Blake
We went to see Alex Garland and Danny Boyle's return to the 28 Laters saga, so you don't have to
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ryan Blake
Spoiler warning: right from the beginning of this conversation, we'll be talking about all the major developments of the film, including its ending
Our listeners listed their favourite to least favourite stories of the latest season of Doctor Who, so we got someone in who hadn't seen many of them, to try and help understand the results
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Iain Martin
Legopolis himself, Mr Steven Schapansky, joins us to talk about the future of Doctor Who: who will be making it, who will be running it, who will be the star and more urgently for right now, which streamer will the BBC pair up with to publish it?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Mark Cockram, Steve Hatcher, Iain Martin and special guest Steven Schapansky
A conversation about Andor, with particular emphasis on the recent second season
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Ryan Blake and Simon Brett
To lose the rights to one Bond might be considered unlucky, to lose the rights to two looks like carelessness. Our thoughts on the two non-Eon Productions 007 movies, Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again
Presented by J.R. Southall, with a rotating cast of Bond co-hosts, including Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Ryan Blake and Dylan Rees
We each choose our favourite five Simon and Garfunkel songs
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
Thirty-five years ago, Alan Parker made a film about the internment of American citizens during WWII, because their ethnicity didn't fit the current political climate
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Noe that the latest season of Doctor Who has finished its run, we convened a team of mostly people who didn't make it to the individual episode reviews, to look back over the last eight weeks and say what they thought
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Simon Brett, Luke Molloy and Dylan Rees
We were planning to get together to discuss how Doctor Who functions in a world where it's both streamed and broadcast, but given how much uncertainty there is about the series' future right now, we decided to make that the spine of the conversation.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Dylan Rees
Is she or isn't she? Billie Piper seems to have been cast as the next Doctor - so we get into the possible how and why (and who) of it.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Ryan Blake, Simon Brett and Steve Hatcher
Our thoughts on the Season 2 (or Series 15) finale
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber (and a little Steve Hatcher cameo)
Our preview of this year's Doctor Who season finale, spoiler-free (until a short well-announced section at the very end) and filled with as much nonsense as we could possibly muster
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
Our thoughts on Wish World, this year's penultimate episode and the first half of the two-part finale
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Iain Martin
An EXTREMELY SPOILERIFIC round-up of this week's news and gossip
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Steve Hatcher and Iain Martin
We turn our microphones to the subject of the Eurovision Song Contest pastiche in our latest review
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Mark Donaldson, Luke Molloy and Jon Arnold
In between the Kenneth McKellars and the Jeminis, the UK has actually won Eurovision five times and come runner-up a further sixteen. But which of those songs was the overall best performing?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Simon Brett
Doctor Who Season Two Five Review
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
As we reach the mid-point of this latest (last?) series of Doctor Who, are we any nearer to discovering what it's all been about and how it's all going to end?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
It's the first episode this year to feature a writer other than RTD in the credits, but was it a case of "well played" or "oh well" Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
It's just over forty years since The Sisters of Mercy's debut album came out, and more than three decades since the still-active band released their third and most recent. So we convened a panel of people for whom the band had meant something special back in the 1980s, for a meandering chat about Andrew Eldritch and his ever-changing cohort.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Mark Couperthwaite and Eric Drass
Mark's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOxsDAgGEqsf9VKcG6SR82g
Eric's website: https://www.shardcore.org/spx/
N.B. Includes some audio issues given that J.R. forgot to turn his microphone on
The one person guaranteed not to be able to answer the question "What's it all about?" is Alfie himself - although he'd surely tell you otherwise. We cast a 21st century eye back at the 1966 film, it's astonishing 1975 sequel, and even the 2004 remake
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Jim Cameron
Cartoon characters stepping out of cinema screens is just the start of the weirdness this week, but does it all add up to a lick of sense and does it matter if it doesn't?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Just as Doctor Who was returning to our screens twenty years ago, The League of Gentlemen were signing off - with what would turn out to be a divisive (albeit ultimately temporary) full-stop on their canon, a film that turns the original concept on its head; our thoughts are somewhat mixed
Presented by Dylan Rees, with Mark Donaldson, Steve Hatcher and J.R. Southall
As his latest, the Hitchcockian thriller Drop arrives in cinemas, we take a look at what director and writer Christopher Landon has been up to since the Happy Death Day movies and Freaky: recent Valentine themed slasher Heart Eyes, and the Netflix family film We Have A Ghost
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
Doctor Who is back and there's a brand new companion to introduce, but was The Robot Revolution as slight and fluffy as RTD's previous season openers?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Among the many much more successful films that Val Kilmer appeared in, the pone that we've chosen by way of marking his passing is The Island of Dr. Moreau, the fascinating and ill-fated Richard Stanley adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Further thoughts about the shape of Season 2, and the potential longevity of Doctor Who, ahead of the launch next weekend
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
It's not only the subject matter that makes Adolescence compelling, it's the production choices too; we take a look under the bonnet and try to figure out why it's getting such a positive reaction
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
Two modern audio adaptations of Triffids novels come under the microphones as part of our slowly-expanding Apocalypse UK strand, the first a 2001 BBC World Service radio version of Wyndham's original The Day of the Triffids, the second Big Finish's 2014 The Night of the Triffids, its official sequel as adapted by the author of the novel, Simon Clark
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jim Cameron and Dylan Rees
With Eurovision (and indeed, the interstellar version) on the horizon once again, we thought it high time we took a look back at the debut Bucks Fizz album from 1981, which followed in the wake of their own Eurovision success
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
The third Doctor gets back into space after a long lay-over on Earth, only to find himself stuck inside a miniscope with Drashigs, Leslie Dwyer and Major Daly; the randomiser brings us to the Carnival of Monsters
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Our slow crawl through the Alien universe takes in a couple of fan projects, last year's Australian short No Man's Land, and the recently streaming documentary Alien On Stage about - you guessed it - a stage production of the first Alien movie in Dorset (and Leicester Square)
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Mark Donaldson
No Man's Land is available for free on YouTube
It's two decades since Doctor Who returned - but has it lived more in those twenty years than others do in eighty? We talk about the best and the worst of the revival, plus a little quiz.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Steve Hatcher, Iain Martin and Harry Palmer
DJ and author Iain Key chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Simon Brett
Our return visit to Royston Vasey continues with Series Three and the anniversary specials, plus a chat about The League of Gentlemen live
Presented by Dylan Rees, with Mark Donaldson, Steve Hatcher, Harry Palmer and J.R. Southall
Warning: includes one use of a very naughty word, from Mark Pottyface Donaldson
After we discovered the existence of a children's film based on a novel by Bad Monkey and Striptease author Carl Hiaasen, we just had to take a look. And what an array of surprises we found there...
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Iain Martin
A comparison of the film that began life as the pilot for what could have been a Twin Peaks spin-off series, but which went on to become regarded as perhaps David Lynch's best work, and that original TV movie which has of course subsequently surfaced online
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
The randomiser brings us to the beginning of Season 18, and the dawn of a brand new era - albeit with the same lead actors and one of the same writers who had been working on Doctor Who for the last couple of seasons. So how does The Leisure Hive look now?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
We take a look at two of the low-budget British films that came out in the wake of Alien, and rather foolishly - or otherwise - said "I can do that!"
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Dylan Rees
In the first instalment of a three-part retrospective of The League of Gentlemen, we cast our microphones over the radio show, the first two TV series and the Christmas Special
Presented by Dylan Rees, with Mark Donaldson, Steve Hatcher, Harry Palmer and J.R. Southall
The randomiser has found us an episode from Torchwood's second series, but will we be more impressed with Adam than we were with some of the stories from Series One?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Luke Molloy
Our reaction to the 97th Academy Awards, the winners and the ceremony - and a review of Best International Feature winner I'm Still Here
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Mark Donaldson
Two more Best Picture hopefuls come under the spotlight, immigrant drama The Brutalist and Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, plus we give our final predictions ahead of the ceremony itself
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Luke Molloy
The original miniseries of V rocked the world back in 1983, but how is it looking over forty years on?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Dylan Rees
Robbie Williams eventually made it out from under the shadow of Take That, but can he escape his own demons? That's the question the auto/biographical film Better Man poses - but after it flopped in America, all we want to know is, is it any good?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Simon Brett
A start date for the new series, and more rumours about it being Ncuti Gatwa's last
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
How will 007 make out now he's moved to Amazon MGM Studios?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
Bargaining tactics or kissing Putin's ass? It's just another week in Trumpton
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
Peter Jackson's second film, the one it seems he most wishes everyone would forget, is the "adult" puppet comedy Meet the Feebles. We took a look, so you don't have to
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Mikey Smith
Also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Nickel Boys is the next Best Picture nominee from this year's Academy Awards on our list. But does the film's unusual format - which has brought it a shedload of awards already - mean it's more or less likely to pick up the Oscar?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
There's a new Wolf Man pic on the block, as part of the revised Monster Universe. And one of our extended team just happens to be watching his way through the original Universal horror collection... So what would he, and we, think?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
Recorded just moments before Elon Musk's attempted buyout of Chat GPT, a new voice joins us on the feed to try and make sense of just three weeks' worth of Trump.2
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Mikey Smith
How does David Tennant's first (of at least sort of three) regeneration hold up nearly two decades later? The randomiser brings us the Series 4 finale
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Two films we've caught up with recently, one terrific and one terrible, which illustrate Hollywood's recent interest in sexual boundaries
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
After a previous pairing of the original Nosferatu and its fictionalised creation in Shadow of the Vampire, we decided our review of Robert Eggers' 2024 adaptation should include Werner Herzog's 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre to round out the story
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Jackson Rees
The randomiser brings us to the surprising opening instalment of Series 7B, and so we coupled up Asylum of the Daleks with Pond Life in order to lessen the impact real life sometimes has on our fan brains...
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Jack Rees
What do you get when the streamer behind Slow Horses asks the producer of Ted Lasso to adapt a novel from the writer of Striptease to feature one of the stars of The Wedding Crashers?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Iain Martin
Our thoughts on Anora, the latest from indie writer-director Sean Baker which has catapulted him into the Oscar conversation
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
More rumours about what might be happening (and Who might not be a part of it) in the worlds of Doctor Who.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
Our reaction to and predictions for the nominations for this year's Oscars.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
It's Donald J's first week back in the White House, so how's he doing?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
We catch up with a handful of recent movies that are in this year's Academy Awards conversation: Wicked, Emilia Pérez, A Real Pain and Dune: Part Two
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Award-winning writer and Big Finish contributor David K. Barnes chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford
David's website
Overlooked gem or mismatched misfire? We turn the clocks back thirty years to take another look at Kathryn Bigelow's follow-up to Point Break, the VR thriller Strange Days
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Some thoughts about film director David Lynch
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
In which we talk about three largely British space horror movies - Event Horizon, Pandorum, The Last Days on Mars - as part of our ongoing conversation about the Alien franchise and its influence
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Dylan Rees
We head back to the penultimate episode of Torchwood's second series to see how the series is looking, in the latest choice from Doctor Who's back catalogue as made by our randomiser
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Dylan Rees
In a case of Christmas leftovers, here's something we recorded for the festive season but didn't get around to publishing thanks to a surfeit a last minute reviews: it's another surprise discussion about yet another randomly selected movie poll from the thoroughly random YouGov website.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Mark Donaldson
In which we catch up with Ridley Scott's latest belated sequel and fail to wonder whether Thelma II Louise could be up next
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Including some bonus thoughts on Joy to the World and the arrival of last year's AI figures, mostly we end up going over the latest internet buttlescut about the forthcoming second series writers, story titles and broadcast dates
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Dylan Rees
A catch-up on some of the more striking Christmas TV, mostly focussing on the latest A Ghost Story for Christmas, with a short conversation about the latest Wallace & Gromit and the final Gavin & Stacey too
Presented by Matt Barber, with Steve Hatcher and J.R. Southall
Dr Simon Exton of The ExtonMoss Experiment chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford
Our thoughts on this year's Christmas Doctor Who offerings from the BBC (the ones set in the fictional universe, that is!), Joy to the World and first, The War Games in Colour
Presented by Matt Barber, with Steve Hatcher, J.R. Southall and Ian Winterton
He's pretty much synonymous with Christmas these days, and there's been a lot of commentary about George Michael and Wham! this year; here are our thoughts
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Simon Brett
Three teams, six-minus-one quizzers, and seven rounds culminating in the now traditional quadruple answer smash - Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without the slightly awkward Strangers in Space Christmas Quiz
Hosted by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Iain Martin, Luke Molloy and Harry Palmer
As a little Yuletide extra, we thought we'd add this to our seasonal schedule: it's a poll conducted by the YouGov website a few years ago to discover the nation's favourite festive songs
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Simon Brett
On the eve of (the eve of) Steven Moffat's last Doctor Who Christmas special, our attention turns to his first: A Christmas Carol
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
When it was discovered that one of us had never seen 1984's big success Ghostbusters (at least not all the way through), we decided to put that right and find out what he thought...
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
A round-up of two recent movies which might have half an eye on awards season, but which might have suffered because of their split personalities
The conversation about Heretic begins at 25:30
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Mark Donaldson and Matt Barber
The randomiser takes us back to 1964 and only Doctor Who's seventh story, but in an episode recorded in person, will we be able to dredge up some Christmas spirit for The Sensorites?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Dylan Rees
In which Nicholas Hoult turns up for a remake of Twelve Angry Men, and instead finds that he's become an episode of Columbo
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ian Winterton
Our preview of this year's Christmas special soon segues into talk about the latest rumour of Doctor Who's untimely demise, some chat about the Blu-ray Collection and of course the subject of The War Games in Colour - plus the usual thoughts on RTD-2
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Steve Hatcher
Our slow but more in-depth journey through the Alien franchise continues with a side tour into the two movies in which the Predators make an appearance
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Luke Molloy
In what could be an early contender for next year's Best Picture awards, Ralf Fiennes lays intrigue on top of irresolution as he takes charge of the conclave of old men tasked with choosing a new Pope
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Mark Donaldson
What is it about Doctor Who that can engender the kind of fans who'll post YouTube videos decrying it as "Too woke!" or fill the comments on social media with the claim that it "died in 2017"?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
As it approaches its twentieth birthday, we look back at the big screen adaptation of Douglas Adams' ubiquitous novel/radio series/TV show/towel rack, and ask whether it's better than its reputation suggests and if not, why not
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Iain Martin
We take a look at a film which started life as a student project essentially remaking parts of 28 Days Later - or The Day of the Triffids - but which proved such a calling card for its director, he went on to work on movies like The Martian and Alien: Covenant
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Dylan Rees You can watch Darkest Day on Amazon Prime for 99p
We ask if Doctor Who has become a cultural phoenix, destined to rise again from its own ashes every time it burns itself out - and whether that makes it a story that keeps being retold, or keeps being added to
Presented by Matt Barber, with Jon Arnold and J.R. Southall
There's a new Gladiator in town, so what better time to take a look at where it came from, in our review of Ridley Scott's first go around the amphitheatres of ancient Rome
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
After our review of The Ninth Gate, based on - or maybe inspired by - Arturo Pérez-Reverte's novel The Dumas Club, we decided to take a look at an earlier adaptation of another of his novels The Flanders Panel, which Jim McBride filmed as Uncovered with Kate Beckinsale in only her second big screen outing
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
The entire film is up on YouTube: Uncovered (1994)
Having covered the first BBC adaptation of John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids in our Apocalypse UK mini-strand, it would have been remiss of us not to talk about the one that followed in 2009
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jim Cameron and Dylan Rees
We take a look at Annie 'The Book Club' Griffin's only theatrically released film Festival from 2005, which one of our number has an unusual connection with
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Ben Verth
Doctor Who was only twelve stories old when they decided to mount a production as ambitious as The Web Planet, but was that a mistake or was it a decision justified by the enormous audiences The Web Planet achieved? Our thoughts on Schrödinger's Doctor Who story
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Jim Cameron and Harry Palmer
Our occasional Apocalypse UK mini-strand takes a sidestep into a film that might have been made by Nostradamus, painting a terrifying portrait of the kind of Britain we're not quite living in now
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Simon Brett and Dylan Rees
In which half the world wants Arthur Fleck to pay for his crimes, while the other half wants him telling more jokes - but all Arthur wants to do is sing for his sweetheart. Our thoughts on Joker: Folie à Deux
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Luke Molloy
Creepy folk horror tale starring ex-Doctor Who Matt Smith, of course we're going to take a look at that
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Jim Cameron
The latest film in the Alien franchise has been described by some as the best for nearly 40 years, so we took a closer look
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Ian Winterton
Recorded on Saturday (2nd November) shortly after the result of the Tory leadership election was announced, our thoughts on that and the recent Labour budget, and our predictions for the US General Election
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Everybody's got to start somewhere, and Chris Chibnall's first Doctor Who story was 42. Eighteen years on, here's what we think of it now.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
For Halloween this year, we've watched three films from the late twentieth century involving unwitting protagonists going on a journey they wouldn't have wanted to undertake... Angel Heart (1987), The Devil's Advocate (1997) and The Ninth Gate (1999)
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Another decade, another cinematic Hellboy reboot - but is this one any good and why can't they seem to get it right?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Richie Morgan
It wasn't long after the untimely death of Roger Delgado, that his most enduring creation was being resurrected - and soon after that he had a new full-time replacement. But do these subsequent iterations of the Master fulfil the brief that was laid down back in 1971?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Mark Donaldson and Iain Martin
We asked our listeners to name their favourite Doctor Who novelisations, and here are the results
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Luke Molloy
Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley bare all in this new(-ish) body horror from French director Coralie Fargeat - but is there more substance to The Substance than it might seem?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Luke Molloy
They're one of Doctor Who's Big Five alien races, but what did the various writers who've told their stories bring to the concept of the Ice Warriors?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Ben Verth
We asked our listeners to name their Top 5 Alien films, and some of them even managed it. Here are the results.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber, Simon Brett and Dylan Rees
We're in the middle of a wave of sequels, prequels and creep-quels to the iconic horror films of the 1970s (or thereabouts) which redefined the genre for the modern generation - but what would we make of the latest attempt to film Stephen King's vampire story, and the new go at Rosemary's Baby?
Presented by J.R. Southall with Matt Barber
What better way to introduce another pair of new voices to our feed, than to ask them their thoughts about the quality of current Doctor Who
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Luke Molloy and Harry Palmer
It's 75 years since the book was published, and now forty years since the year itself - and indeed the film version that was released that October. We look back over the various screen adaptations of George Orwell's most influential work, and try and sort the snow globes from the rats
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jim Cameron and Dylan Rees
Terry Nation's return to the Doctor Who universe in 1973 is widely regarded as something less than a success, but will nostalgia overcome any questions of critical failure?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
Our thoughts on the BBC's first screen adaptation of John Wyndham's 1951 novel
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jim Cameron and Dylan Rees
We asked our listeners to vote for their favourite Star Wars films, and here are the results
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Dylan Rees
It hasn't even been 100 days since Labour arrived back in government, much of which has been the summer recess. Yet Chris £260k-per-annum Mason already has Keir Starmer in the BBC's sights... Plus some thoughts on the imminent US election and an afterword about the situation in France.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Stephen Hatcher.
Our conversation about the use of the Cybermen in Doctor Who focuses on the modern era, and asks the question of whether the recent showrunners have made the most of them
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Ben Verth
Ian Smith, founder of independent record label Last Night From Glasgow, chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by J.R. Southall
It's the 750th episode on the Strangers podcast feed, and we've gone and reviewed Bruce Robinson's two 1980s films (Withnail and I and How to Get Ahead in Advertising) by mistake
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Simon Brett and Mark Donaldson
Arriving as it turns out at almost exactly the mid-point of the Jodie Whittaker era, how does Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror stand up nearly half a decade on?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
We asked our listeners to vote for their Top 10 James Bond films, and only one failed to get any votes at all
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
The brains behind Flight of the Conchords and The Inbetweeners (and Jojo Rabbit) have taken on our childhoods and created a television adaptation of Terry Gilliam's legendary film Time Bandits, but have they succeeded in pulling off the impossible and doing a good job?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Simon Brett
Ahead of a deeper dive into the Cyberman stories of the modern revival, a brief look at the way the Master has used the creatures in a variety of recent finales
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Ben Verth
Playwright, podcaster and producer Tom Salinsky chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford
Tom's website
We catch up on four thriller movies from 2024 that we haven't reviewed yet
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
We talk about: I Saw the TV Glow from 00:00 Longlegs from 19:38 Trap from 34:18 and Monkey Man from 46:31
Mark Gatiss' Robot of Sherwood was the third episode in the twelfth Doctor's first series, but was it an easy fit with the likes of Listen and Into the Dalek? And how does it stand up ten years on?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Ben Verth
Big Finish director John Ainsworth chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford
With all the turmoil that's been going on in current affairs so far this year, and with an American election on the increasingly-near horizon, we travel back to a time of simpler politics when Kevin Kline could accidentally become PotUS, and discover a message that resonates even today
Pres(id)ented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
Did the people who made Doctor Who during the 1970s and 1980s know what to do with the Cybermen, or did they appreciate and develop their legacy well?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Ben Verth
Voice actor, audio producer and of course podcaster Ken Moss chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned in space
Presented by Joe Ford
Ken Moss on X
Rogue One and Solo were the first big budget, not made-for-TV movies to be produced for the Star Wars saga, but somehow the story stopped there (for now). What went wrong? And weren't they any good...?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Simon Brett
We take another look back at the Disney era sequel trilogy, to see how the final three Star Wars Saga films have settled now a few years have passed
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Simon Brett
Podcaster Lucy McCaul chooses the eight items she would take with her, if she was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford
Lucy on Twitter
The Apocalypse UK strand continues with Danny Boyle's lo-fi reinvention of the zombie genre, and its very different sequel
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Dylan Rees
Doctor Who decamps to the provinces for the production of Graham Williams' first story as its newly installed producer, but how would that go?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ben Verth
Everyone's favourite podcaster Nathan Bottomley takes a flight to entirety, and chooses the eight items he would take with him if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Hosted by Joe Ford
Nathan on Twitter
What do you get if you strip the demonic possession out of Evil Dead, and replace it with sci-fi instead? Our thoughts on the 2011 horror comedy The Cabin in the Woods
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Mark Donaldson and Dylan Rees
It's Doctor Who's first mid-season cliffhanger at the break in Series 6, but how does A Good Man Go to War stand up by itself over a decade on?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Doctor Who writer (among other things) Stephen Wyatt chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Stephen's website
It's Marvel's biggest hit for for some while, but what would our team make of the team-up between two ex-Fox characters under the Disney Marvel banner?
Presented by Dylan Rees, with Simon Brett and Mark Donaldson
Taking place a century earlier in the universe's timeline, The Acolyte is the first Star Wars product not to rely on characters or situations created in the Skywalker Saga - but did Disney choose the right people to make it?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Simon Brett
Podcaster Daniel Knight chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford
A round-up of recent news stories in the Doctor Who telesphere, including thoughts on the announcement of The Land Between the War and the Sea
Presented by Dylan Rees, with Jon Arnold and J.R. Southall
A genuine contender for the Best Doctor Who Story Ever Made - or just the fourth best story of 1975? Thanks to the recent repeat, we've slotted in Pyramids of Mars
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and J.R. Southall
Composer James Lark chooses the eight things he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford
James on Twitter James Lark's website
Now that we've had chance to catch up with it, our thoughts on the fourth film in the current Planet of the Apes sequence and the tenth overall
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Our thoughts on Alex Garland's final film as director, which wonders what a Civil War in 21st century America would look like - plus some more specific thoughts (beginning at 26:10) on last weekend's assassination attempt on Donald Trump
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Voice artist and podcaster Daniel Rawnsley chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet Presented by Joe Ford
Daniel on Twitter
A conversation about the five movies based on Stieg Larsson's Millennium series of books about Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, including both versions of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
For the final time* we head back to the first full (your mileage may vary) season of RTD's second coming, to discuss the highs and the lows as pointed out by our listeners, as we run down the stories in the order they preferred them
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jim Cameron
(* probably)
Champion of the Damned Frazer Gregory chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford
Frazer on Twitter
It's been 27 years since an outgoing Conservative Prime Minister handed the keys to Downing Street to his Labour replacement, so here are our thoughts on the results of the latest General Election
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Ian Winterton
Spoiler warning: if you're two episodes into Douglas is Cancelled on ITV, we'll be talking about the whole thing (albeit not overtly revealingly) in this review of Steven Moffat's latest comedy drama - with the emphasis more surprisingly on the drama rather than the comedy
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
Author and screenwriter Adam S. Leslie chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford
Adam's Twitter (plus further links)
Our thoughts on the announcement, the campaigns, and the likely results
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Four of the team who had mostly missed the individual episode reviews, come together to discuss the 2024 series of Doctor Who
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Simon Brett, Mark Donaldson, Dylan Rees and Ben Verth
All-round good egg and 'occasional' podcaster for hire (and You and Who author!) Si Hart chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford
the Trap One podcast
It's been a long time since RTD has written a season finale, but how will it stand up to scrutiny? Warning: prepare for swears as we get a bit hot under the collar pulling it apart and trying to piece it all back together again
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Iain Martin and Ian Winterton
For a time it felt like Mozart and Madigan were the sound of the 1970s, but how does Bo Widerberg's romantic tragedy stand up in 2024?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
A conversation about the second Doctor and the actor who played him, Patrick Troughton
Presented by Matt Barber, with Jon Arnold, Mark Donaldson and Dylan Rees
Podcaster at large Luke Molloy, chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford
Luke's Twitter
We've talked about the original 1970s TV series and its shorter lived 2000s revival, but in this podcast we're turning our attention to the stories that were too hot for TV - but spoiler warning, Terry Nation's 1976 novelisation includes twists you might want to discover for yourself, that we can't avoid bringing up before we discuss John Eyers' two spin-off books Genesis of a Hero and Salvation
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jim Cameron and Dylan Rees
Iris Wildthyme creator and author of Strange Boy, Paul Magrs chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford Paul's YouTube channel
After our conversation about The Devil's Chord, we found ourselves inexplicably materialising in 2019 in a world where The Beatles had never existed - aka Richard Curtis' film Yesterday
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
It's the penultimate episode of this year's series, so it's time to pull the chords together that Russell T Davies has been dangling since Wild Blue Yonder - but what would we make of it all?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
The randometer lands on the final story of the original run, Survival - but is it a Masterful end to the classic series?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Mark Donaldson and Dylan Rees
The audio edition of our freewheeling and irreverent conversation about William Russell Enoch, who passed away last week at the age of 99
Presented by Dylan Rees, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Mark Donaldson and J.R. Southall
Former child actor, Big Finish co-founder and Doctor Who renaissance man Gary Russell chooses the eight items he would take with him to a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford
Gary's wiki page
It hardly seems like we've got to know our two regulars at all yet, and now here we are enjoying their penultimate adventure together - for now at least. Our thoughts on Kate Herron and Briony Redman's Rogue
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Ian Winterton
In the space of just three weeks, we've recently had two films about young American nuns fetching up in Italy only to suspect sinister conspiracies afoot in an echo of the Roe vs Wade reversal - so of course we put The First Omen and Immaculate together for a review; major spoiler warning: impossible to talk about these films without discussing where the conspiracies go, so watch them before listening
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Jim Cameron
Part-time football pundit and multiple Black Archive author Jon Arnold chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Jon's Twitter
Ian Winterton of Cutaway Comics joins us for our review of the second Doctor-lite episode in a row
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Ian Winterton
Ian on Twitter
Transposing the premise of The Wicker Man to a six-part TV serial set in Wales, is Toby Whithouse's latest any good?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Jim Cameron
The Red King on Wiki Where to Watch The Red King
The host of the Strictly Come Hamster podcast chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by Joe Ford
Rod on X Hamster on Apple
We're halfway through the first series of the new era of Doctor Who and the talking points - and comparisons - are mounting up
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Mark Donaldson and Iain Martin
Were the Cybermen treated right during their first few years in Doctor Who - or did the makers of the programme come up with a brilliant idea and then have no clue what to do with it?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Ben Verth
Joe Ford, of the podcast A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife, chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Presented by J.R. Southall
A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife Joe Ford on Twitter/X
Joe's photo choice (hiding somewhere behind 15-year-old him!):
Steven Moffat returns to Doctor Who to write his first episode for over six years, but does he still have the old magic or has he lost his touch?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Dylan Rees
It's a quarter of a century since George Lucas released the first of the Star Wars prequels, but how is that film trilogy looking twenty-five years on?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Simon Brett
After our discussion about the Sam Raimi trilogy last week, we turn our attention to the two modern resurrections, and ask if they are worthy successors - or indeed, whether the spirit of Evil Dead is really in them at all
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Mark Donaldson and Dylan Rees
It's the first series of RTD's second era but is it a new dawn or just back to old habits - or is it indeed a fresh start at all?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Lee Rawlings
In 2018 YouGov made a survey of British adults to discover how they felt about the various actors who have played Doctor Who - so we've gone back to the website five years later and sifted through the data to see if those opinions have changed in the meantime...
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Mark Donaldson
Sam Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy takes itself far less seriously than most of the rest of its contemporary "video nasty" movies, but how does it stand up four decades on?
Presented by Dylan Rees, with Mark Donaldson and J.R. Southall
Was the Master's introduction into Doctor Who in 1971 (every story for the entire year) too much? Or do his eight (would have been nine) stories across the era justify their existence every time?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Iain Martin
In the first of two episodes covering the live action Resident Evil saga, we turn our attention to the first three films, 2002's original, it's 2004 sequel Apocalypse and Extinction from 2007
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Dylan Rees
We went back to the YouGov website to find out what their sample survey said about the most popular horror films in the UK, and suffice it to say there were some mysteries along the way.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
In a new mini-strand attempting to find out what Doctor Who writers get up to when they're not writing Doctor Who, we take a look at some of Terry Nation's other work, including episodes of Hancock, Blakes 7 and The Avengers
Presented by Dylan Rees, with Jon Arnold and J.R. Southall
The middle story in Series 7A (like, don't get excited man) is Toby Whithouse's Western, A Town Called Mercy: but will we find it OK Corral, or Last Chance Saloon?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Apple TV+ seems to have made itself a home for sophisticated sci-fi of late, but how does this story of what happens to the people who've stepped out of Earth's atmosphere compare?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Constellation on Wiki
With Season One now fairly imminent and series previews appearing the press, we thought we'd round up some recent news with rumours, summaries and - spoilers! - some spoilers too
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
We asked Chat GPT to tell us why Terrance Dicks was the worst writer in the history of Doctor Who, in the hope it would at least provide illuminating evidence for the contrary...
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Citizen Kane meets Amadeus, but is Gary Oldman going to be enough to get us through Bernard Rose's period biopic?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
A conversation about characters and creatures who could or should make a return to Doctor Who, in this episode focussing on the villains and monster species
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Mike Bartlett switches from Doctor Foster to Doctor Who, but can David Suchet lift a story with an ending that takes an unexpected left turn towards pleasantville
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
A remake of the 1989 Patrick Swayze film from the director of The Bourne Identity sounds like exactly the kind of thing we needed to report back on - so duly here are our views on Amazon Prime's Road House
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
A conversation about characters and actors who could or should make a return to Doctor Who, in this episode focussing on Doctors, companions and fellow Time Lords
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
A listener question about the value of multi-Doctor stories begins a conversation over the next few weeks about returning characters and whether they are worth it
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Dylan Rees
Sean Connery as a middle ages monk with Christian Slater as his sexually awakened sidekick in this medieval mystery, for which Matt's friend Will re-joins the team as we embark upon an epic conversation - with a few sound issues, which hopefully won't mar the experience
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Will Travis
Now that they've released the episode titles, we take a deep dive into the expectations and speculations we have for RTD's first full series back at the helm of Doctor Who; but be warned, we will be talking spoilers here (although be aware, we'll probably be getting most of this wrong anyway)
Hosted by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
We thought it would be interesting to find out what happens when you ask Chat GPT to behave like a Doctor Who fan, and this is the result...
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Iain Martin
Our Apocalypse UK occasional season begins with some thoughts on Cornell Wilde's 1970 adaptation of the John Christopher novel The Death of Grass, a film which prefigures Survivors in the afterglow of Easy Rider
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Jim Cameron and Dylan Rees
The first substantial trailer for BBC & D+ RTD-2 S1 has dropped, and so we start the conversation with some more thoughts about Steven Moffat's involvement
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber
One thousand episodes ago, we produced our first podcast on the Blue Box Podcast feed. In order to mark the passing of another 999 episodes since then, a double-header of nostalgic significance presented by a roll-call of hosts: The Dominators, and first Death to the Daleks
Introduced by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Simon Brett, Jim Cameron, Mark Cockram, Dylan Rees and Iain Martin - and the spirit of Uncle Kev
A quarter of a century on, Twin Peaks fans were rewarded with another 18 episodes to round out the mystery and explain what the hell was going on. But was Twin Peaks The Return akin to Midi-chlorian madness, or did it leave us scratching our heads all the more?
Presented by Matt Barber, with Jon Arnold, Iain Martin and J.R. Southall
You might have thought a simple announcement of the date that the new series of Doctor Who would launch on would elicit little more reaction than "That's nice, wonder what I'm doing that day" but no, the future is here and the past is unforgiving
Presented by J.R. Southall with Jon Arnold
The Celestial Toymaker is soon to be with us, meanwhile Ian Levine is publishing bits of his own animated reconstructions and the BBC have decided to use AI to promote Doctor Who... Or are things not actually quite as wild as they might seem.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Dylan Rees
Our reaction to the winners and this time the ceremony itself, at the 96th Academy Awards
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
A breakthrough role for Reese Witherspoon and a break-back part for Matthew Broderick in Alexander Payne's second feature Election
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Malcolm Hulke's final Doctor Who serial returns to some of the themes of his first solo story, but in this post-Brexit populist age of isolationism, does Invasion of the Dinosaurs start to look frighteningly prescient?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Jim Cameron
Our thoughts on the tenth and last of the Best Picture nominees from this year's Academy Awards; spoiler: it isn't exactly Barbie.
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Mark Donaldson
It's the Top 25 sci-fi - and fantasy - films like you've never seen it before, direct from the YouGov website
Countdown by J.R. Southall, witnessed by Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Mark Donaldson
Not a contender for Best Picture at this year's Oscars, yet possibly the best film of the year, is Andrew Haigh's All Of Us Strangers - so to do it justice, we've paired it up with a couple of obvious antecedents (Haigh's 45 Years and Summer Among the Zombies aka The Discarnates, the previous movie adaptation of the Japanese novel Strangers) so we can give it the attention it deserves
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Mark Donaldson
You can watch The Discarnates at the Wayback Machine
Our journey through this year's Best Picture nominees arrives at Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone's next collaboration after The Favourite, and an adaptation of the 1992 Alasdair Gray novel. But can it win?
This episode presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Mark Donaldson
Poor Things
Once more we had back into Doctor Who history, to choice a nexus point or three, and guess what might have happened had things played out in a different way; this time three listener questions
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Our links page
Iain 'Sodcast' Martin chooses one film in each of ten categories, that has made a significant impression upon him - and Matt gives his opinion on Iain's choices
Presented by Matt Barber, with Iain Martin
Iain on Threads
Another Best Picture nominee, this time we turn our attention to Bradley Cooper's biopic of Leonard Bernstein, Maestro
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Patrick Troughton's third and final series as Doctor Who began with a whimper - but then landed a bang, as Peter Ling set the new TARDIS team adrift in the Land of Fiction. But how does The Mind Robber hold up, over half a century on?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Our links page
It's a two-in-one podcast this time around, as the conversation we were having about Michael bay's first Transformers movie suddenly transforms into quite another conversation we had about Michael Bay's Transformers movie, at the half-way stage
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold. Or Iain Martin. Or both - or each
Who would have thought that Anatomy of a Fall would become this year's most contentious Best Picture nominee?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
It's Jamie Mathieson's second episode in a row, and his second in a row where he's had to write out one of the two main characters for the majority of the recording time. But what will he do to 'minimise' the Doctor's role in Flatline...?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
After our conversation about the original Terry Nation created series from 1975, we obviously had to have another chat about the 2008 version, as reimagined by the creator of Primeval
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Jim Cameron and Dylan Rees
Our attention turns to another of this year's Best Picture Oscar nominees, and this week it's Jeffrey Wright in American Fiction; warning: we try not to spoil the way this film goes but if you are planning on seeing it, do that first before you listen to this
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Mark Donaldson
Once more we throw ourselves back into the Doctor Who timelines, to investigate how we think things might have turned out differently had alternative choices been made; two conversations this time, firstly regarding the mystique of the missing episodes, and then concerning the effects of Covid on Flux
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Mark Donaldson, and Matt Barber
Seven was one of those films it's almost impossible to follow, so instead David Fincher went on to make something very different. But how does The Game look, more than a quarter of a century on?
This episode presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Mark Donaldson
The Game
Our links page
Celine Song's debut as director is a film about two adults trying to reconnect after being separated as children, but the bigger question is: will it connect enough with the Academy to bring home an Oscar?
This episode presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Mark Donaldson
Given the gossip and rumour surrounding the eventual, inevitable change of companion, we returned to our microphones to give some further opinions on the state of play in Cardiff
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Mark Donaldson and Dylan Rees
The latter 1990s were a new golden age for smart and unusual thrillers, and even John Frankenheimer was getting in on the act; but more important than whether we liked it, what's with De Niro's pronunciation of Hereford?
Ronin
This episode presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Mat Barber and Mark Donaldson
Our links page
The field of contenders for this year's Best Picture Oscar just narrowed, with the announcement of the ten nominated films; our reaction to the Academy Award nominees and our predictions of the potential winners
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold
Recorded just before the Mirror broke its latest gossip about the companion merry-go-round, here's a mid-month digest of our thoughts about recent developments and potential future ones
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Iain Martin and Dylan Rees
What happens when Terry Nation scribbles the idea for a story on the back of a fag packet, and it is of all people Douglas Adams that thereafter takes up the mantle?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Jim Cameron, Iain Martin and Dylan Rees
We were at a loose end, and this is how we filled the time
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Iain Martin
Martin Scorsese's latest is another three-hour epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, but will it be in serious contention for this year's Best Picture Academy Award?
This episode presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Mark Donaldson
Alexander Payne's latest The Holdovers feels like a traditional Christmas tale told using some equally traditional trappings, but does it have enough about it to get it into this year's Academy Awards conversation?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Mark Donaldson
Saltburn: is it as sticky as it sounds?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Mark Donaldson
Our listeners voted on their favourite stories from the last two years of Doctor Who, and these are the results
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber and Mark Donaldson
Our podcast links page
Recorded at the end of last year, but now oddly even more relevant thanks to preva-Rishi-cation's comments about an autumn election, here are our thoughts on what 2024 might bring in the world of UK and US politics
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
A look back at this year's ghostly Yuletide fare, the latest A Ghost Story for Christmas (this time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Lot 249), the final episode of Ghosts, and Imagine - Russell T Davies: The Doctor and Me
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
Guest question-master Rod sets a fiendishly difficult (and unseasonably lengthy) post-Yuletide quiz, which mostly tests our stamina and summons forth more smut than solutions
Presented by Rod Brown, with Jon Arnold, Mark Cockram, Joe Ford and J.R. Southall
He's been a permanent fixture in the musical firmament for over half a century, so we couldn't think of a more appropriate way to end the year than with a tribute to Elton John after his retirement this summer
This episode presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Iain Martin
It's the fifteenth Doctor's full debut, and the introduction to his new companion Ruby Sunday, but was the new era born in a blaze of glory...?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Matt Barber
A Christmas miracle... Our review of Torchwood: Miracle Day - so you don't have to
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Dylan Rees
Some additional thoughts on the post-anniversary mini-series - also known as the 14th Doctor Specials - now that we've had a little time to digest them
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Dylan Rees
It wouldn't be Christmas if we weren't talking about some more M.R. James adaptations in a TV Club, and this year it's the period in the late twenty-hundreds when the strand was tentatively returning to the BBC. Covering:
A View from a Hill (2005) Number 13 (2006) Whistle and I'll Come to You (2010)
Presented by Matt Barber, with Jim Cameron and Lee Rawlings... and one other
Once we found out that Colin Baker was going to be in a cheap and cheerful British answer to the Hallmark-style Christmas movie, we couldn't spend our holidays without taking a look
Christmas at the Holly Day Inn
This episode presented by J.R. Southall, with Mark Donaldson, Iain Martin and Dylan Rees
Our podcast links page
In the year the fifth Indiana Jones film finally happened, we look back over the entire saga
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Simon Brett
Some more critical nexus points from the history of Doctor Who; we ask what the series might have looked like if it hadn't been made by the BBC, who a single year showrunner might have been, and what impact RTD's bi-generation might have...
This episode presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Simon Brett and Iain Martin
Our podcast links page
A bigger than usual panel talks through the final end for David Tennant's Doctor Who, and the beginnings of a brand new era This episode presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Simon Brett, Lee Rawlings and Iain Martin
The eleventh Doctor's second Christmas Special takes a trip to Steven Moffat's first attempt at doing a Christmas planet, but what will we find when we get there?
This episode presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Matt Barber, Jim Cameron and Dylan Rees
Our podcast links page
We missed out on podcasting about Barbenheimer at the time, so what better way to spend Christmas than by recreating the phenomenon in the depths of winter?
Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Mark Donaldson
Our podcast links page
Something new for Doctor Who, or just 2008 times two? Presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold, Simon Brett and Iain Martin Also available on YouTube: Reviews playlist News playlist
Links page
Our thoughts, unabridged and unswayed by popular opinion, on the live action Starship Troopers films, beginning with the Paul Verhoeven adaptation in 1997, including 2004's Hero of the federation and concluding with Marauder (2008) - just in case we neglect to name them during the conversation
This episode presented by J.R. Southall, with Jon Arnold and Iain Martin
Our podcast links page
The Starship Troopers franchise
Director Martin Brest's follow-up to Beverly Hills Cop was a comic road movie starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, but did it live up to its predecessor's reputation?
Midnight Run
This episode presented by J.R. Southall, with Matt Barber and Iain Martin
Our podcast links page
Doctor Who is back, and so are Lee and Simon, so what would we all make of the first Tennant-Tate special The Star Beast? Presented by Matt Barber, with Jon Arnold, Simon Brett, Lee Rawlings and J.R. Southall Also available on YouTube: Reviews playlist News playlist
Links page
The anniversary so far could probably best be described as something old, something new, something borrowed and several things broken. But the question is, how much are we enjoying them all...? Our review of Destination: Skaro, The Daleks in Colour and the updated An Adventure in Space and Time
This episode presented by: Matt Barber
With: Jon Arnold Jim Cameron J.R. Southall
The video playlist of our Doctor Who reviews A links page for our entire feed, hosts, etc
It's Day Seven, the final edition (for now!) of the audio version of our Anniversary Quiz, and today it's the turn of the challengers to come and see if they can team up to take down our reigning champion. Or basically just turn the whole thing into a big old smut fest
Watch the whole thing instead here, in our Quiz Playlist
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Joe Ford Jon Arnold Rod Brown
It's Day Six (the weekend edition if you were watching on YouTube) of the audio version of our Anniversary Quiz, and today therefore it's the turn of the celebrities to come in and be bamboozled by ill-explained brain-tweezers - and maybe bring some friends along to help. Or confuse matters even more
Watch the whole thing instead here, in our Quiz Playlist
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: John Dorney Peter Harness Steven Schapansky
It's Day Five (nominally the final day) of the audio version of our Anniversary Quiz, and today's edition is ostensibly our Doctor Who variation on House of Games - with a few tweaks and extras
Watch the whole thing instead here, in our Quiz Playlist
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber Iain Martin
It's Day Four of the audio version of our Anniversary Quiz, and today's edition is our Doctor Who variation on University Challenge
Watch the whole thing instead here, in our Quiz Playlist
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Mark Donaldson Matt Barber
It's Day Three of the audio version of our Anniversary Quiz, and today's edition is our Doctor Who variation on University Challenge
Watch the whole thing instead here, in our Quiz Playlist
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Dylan Rees Iain Martin Matt Barber
David Fincher's latest takes him back to the world of crime, so obviously we're on the scene investigating...
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Matt Barber Mark Donaldson
It's Day Two of the audio version of our Anniversary Quiz, and today's edition is our Doctor Who variation on Impossible
Watch the whole thing instead here, in our Quiz Playlist
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Dylan Rees Iain Martin Mark Donaldson
More tumult in the corridors of power can only mean one thing: more talking about the tumult in the corridors of power
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber
It's Day One of the audio version of our Anniversary Quiz, and today's edition is our Doctor Who variation on Pointless
Watch the whole thing instead here, in our Quiz Playlist
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Dylan Rees Mark Donaldson
Our thoughts on the ever-more-imminent Tennant and Tate Specials about to land on our television screens, plus discussion of other pressing, prescient or merely just depressing matters. Includes talk of Daleks and viewing figures.
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Dylan Rees
You might think it's Doctor Who's sixtieth anniversary that we're currently celebrating, but in some quarters it's the thirtieth anniversary of the thirtieth anniversary that's of more relevance. And so here is our review of that period, with particular emphasis on the first old new (not-quite?) Who since the original run came to an end, Dimensions in Time
This episode presented by: Dylan Rees
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber Mark Donaldson Iain Martin
In the second half of our conversation, we discuss Russell T Davies' work in television, in the years between his first stint and recent return to Doctor Who - and consider how this might impact upon his forthcoming episodes
Russell T Davies
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Dylan Rees
With Russell T Davies' return to our Doctor Who screens imminent, it's unsurprising that the randomiser has chosen one of the lesser lights of his first stint for us to review this month. But is Fear Her really as bad as all that?
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber Iain Martin
Recorded just about the news of the Colour Cut-down broke, a round-up of a bunch of other news plus reviews of the things we've already watched, as we head into the anniversary month
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber Dylan Rees
Fifty years on from The Exorcist, there's a new demonic possession in town and this time it's a two-for-one
The Exorcist: Believer
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Matt Barber
For Halloween this year we're looking back to the 1970s, when the BBC's Play For Today strand would occasionally err into The Wicker Man territory and tell stories of townsfolk adrift in the countryside...
Robin Redbreast (1970) Penda's Fen (1974) Red Shift (1978)
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber Jim Cameron
We discuss Russell T Davies' work in television, in the years before he first became showrunner of Doctor Who
Russell T Davies
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Dylan Rees
As we approach the anniversary month, the news of what to expect accelerates. And also, as it turns out, the news of what not to expect. Our thoughts on the new music, the new side-show, and the An Unearthly Child situation
Also available on YouTube
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber Iain Martin
Another entertainingly high concept teen slasher from Blumhouse, this time with a Back to the Future twist, this time with TV's last teenage witch in the lead; of course we watched it:
Totally Killer
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Matt Barber
We examine another critical juncture in Doctor Who history - the appointment of JN-T - and ask what the series might have been like without him
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber Dylan Rees
Our reaction to the BBC's new dramatisation of the life and crimes of Jimmy Savile
The Reckoning
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Matt Barber Dylan Rees
Menahem Golan's rock opera with a hint of sci-fi was his attempt to break Hollywood by putting together a musical allegory of the Biblical birth of humankind. What we got instead was a movie widely regarded as one of the worst ever made. Clearly, we were meant to investigate! (Warning: includes explicit language right at the beginning)
The Apple
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Dylan Rees
It's nearly half a century since Terry Nation's story about the aftermath of a genocidal virus, so how's it looking in 2023?
Survivors
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Jim Cameron Dylan Rees
Season 22, Sontarans, Saward and Spain plus Robert Holmes, Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines and Servalan herself; The Two Doctors is a must-see recipe for success. Isn't it?
The Two Doctors
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Simon Brett Iain Martin
Our attention falls on U2, as we go back through our history and the band's, and try to figure out what makes them work and, when they don't, what doesn't
U2
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Simon Brett Iain Martin
What if Eric Saward had done this, what if Eric Saward had done that - and what if Eric Saward had done the other? We just couldn't help ourselves
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber Mark Donaldson Iain Martin
Chilean black comedy that reimagines Augusto Pinochet as a 250-year-old vampire? Don't mind if we do!
El Conde
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Matt Barber
Brian Duffield's follow-up to Spontaneous has quietly appeared on Disney+ (here in the UK) to growing acclaim among The Kids. But what would we "adults" make of it?
No One Will Save You (2023)
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber
We hop back in time twenty years to the first Second Coming of Russell T Davies, to his last TV drama before the announcement that he was to resurrect Doctor Who, and see whether it stands up given all we've learned of Davies' work since
The Second Coming
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Dylan Rees
Our thoughts on the new 60th anniversary trailer, and the reveal of Neil Patrick Harris' villain's identity, all digested into a handy near sixty minutes
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber Iain Martin
It's been another one of those weeks in politics, so we couldn't go the weekend without putting our thoughts on the record about it
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Matt Barber
Our conversations about British TV energy industry thrillers turns to the two American remakes released at the turn of the 2010s
State of Play (2009) Edge of Darkness (2010)
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber
Our thoughts on Wes Anderson's feature debut, Bottle Rocket, in which the Owen brothers play friends who want to be gangsters and there's a large side helping of romcom
Bottle Rocket
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber Simon Brett
More Doctor Who What Iffery, this time concentrating on the question of whether America should be making, or should have made, the series
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber Mark Donaldson
Arriving around the same time as Edge of Darkness, this was another energy industry adjacent conspiracy thriller, albeit more in the classic Hollywood style; but man, the cast and credits
Defence of the Realm on YouTube Defence of the Realm on Wiki
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Matt Barber Mark Donaldson
Ken Stott as a dour Scottish detective solving themed religious murders in a rain-soaked city (for four series, before regenerating into Marc Warren), should be right up our street you would think... We (mostly) watched all of Messiah, so you wouldn't have to
Messiah
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Matt Barber
Mark Donaldson
In which we ignore the controversy that is Gareth Roberts, and instead concentrate on the merits of the first series Sarah Jane Adventure which introduces the character and concept of the Trickster
Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?
This episode introduced by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber Jim Cameron
A comparison of the two big Nazi hunter films of the 1970s, each starring Laurence Olivier in very different roles
Marathon Man (1976) The Boys from Brazil (1978)
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Matt Barber
In another episode discussing a modern TV conspiracy thriller relating to the energy industry, we focus our attention on Paul Abbott's 2003 BBC One series State of Play
State of Play (2003)
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold
A double helping of Doctor Who What Iffery in this edition, as first one team and then another discuss what might have happened if we'd travelled into the series' past and radically altered the course of its history
These episodes presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber Simon Brett Iain Martin Dylan Rees
Our review of Jennifer Lawrence's recent romantic comedy, Gene Stupnitsky's follow-up to Good Boys
No Hard Feelings
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Mark Donaldson
Fans of 1973's The Wicker Man are divided over its two follow-ons; divided over which is worse, the remake or the sequel. So we watched them again, only to discover that one wasn't as bad as we'd thought it was...
The Wicker Man (2006)
The Wicker Tree (2011)
And our original review of The Wicker Man (1973)
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jim Cameron
Dylan Rees
Our August news dispatch, in which we look at the stories behind the stories in the world of Doctor Who this month
Our YouTube news playlist
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
The fans hated one, but audiences ignored the other. So which Judge Dredd film is better - and what would they have needed to start a franchise?
Judge Dredd
Dredd
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Iain Martin
Dylan Rees
In which we take Troy Kennedy Martin's story apart strand by strand, before finally declaring how great we think it is
Edge of Darkness
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Our Time-Space Visualiser tunes into January 1965 so we can take a look at Doctor Who's first story post-Susan, The Rescue
The Rescue
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Matt Barber
Dylan Rees
A conversation about Wes Anderson and review of his latest, Asteroid City
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Simon Brett
Links page for the podcast:
Strangers in Space
It's won multiple awards as a comedy and it's currently one of the most talked about TV shows of the last year or so - but is The Bear really a comedy? Well, here we are, talking about it some more...
The Bear
This episode presented by:
Dylan Rees
With:
Mark Donaldson
J.R. Southall
It's 25 years since the big screen version of The Avengers opened to massed indifference among both critics and audiences, but is a quarter of a century enough time to turn that negativity around?
The Avengers (1998)
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Matt Barber
Iain Martin
Dylan Rees
The nexus point we'll be visiting in this double episode of Doctor Who what iffery is 2005, where we will be removing first one and then another of the icons involved in the series' rebirth and wondering what it might have looked like without them
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Matt Barber
Simon Brett
Iain Martin
Author and artist Andrew-Mark Thompson chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
This Is A Fake! A Collection of Unreal Things
This episode presented by:
Jon Arnold
With:
Andrew-Mark Thompson
Our random journey through Doctor Who arrives at the revival in 2005, and Rose's first trip into history; it's the first story of the modern era to be written by someone other than the showrunner himself
The Unquiet Dead
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Matt Barber
In which we tune our listening ears into the sounds of Blur's ninth and latest studio album, The Ballad of Darren, and wonder where the sounds came from, and whether we like them
The Ballad of Darren
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Simon Brett
Iain Martin
Our summer of investigation into the energy industry begins with a review of The China Syndrome
(Includes bonus thoughts from Iain after he failed to take JR's best advice and went ahead and watched Tales of an Ancient Empire anyway)
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Iain Martin
Our second regular monthly news dispatch, in which we give our opinions on the potential implications of the month's top stories - and anything else that's piqued our interest
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Matt Barber
The Strangers in Space Links Page
It's just shy of 75 years since Carol Reed made The Third Man, an extraordinary thriller from a screenplay by Graham Greene that looks at the state of Europe in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War with something of concern
The Third Man
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
She might only have appeared in fractions of a couple of episodes, but don't let that stop us from profiling the lives and times of Jo Martin's Fugitive Doctor
This episode presented by:
Matt Barber
With:
Jon Arnold
Mark Donaldson
Iain Martin
In which we dig into the series that Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts made back when their time on Doctor Who was coming to an end, and ask whether it was really worth it
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Dylan Rees
Jim Cameron
Mark Donaldson
A second helping of Doctor Who themed what iffery commences with the question of how the series might have shaped up, had it been Raymond Cusick rather than Ridley Scott who was on holiday for the birth of the Daleks
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Matt Barber
Our links page:
Strangers in Space
Eight years after their last one, Blur have a new studio album out this week. So what better time for us to look back over their career and examine our opinions of the band
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Simon Brett
Iain Martin
Which is the bigger scandal, the BBC, their presenter or The Sun?
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Matt Barber
By way of tribute to Alan Arkin, our review of Mike Nichols' 1970 big screen adaptation of Joseph Heller's Catch-22
Catch-22 (1970)
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Iain Martin
In which we travel to an alternative universe to ask whether Don Houghton's Season 7 story is still everybody's favourite Pertwee
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Matt Barber
Our review of the latest dystopian future from Apple TV+, a series about an underground society of humans with no idea what's going on outside...
Silo
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Matt Barber
Iain Martin
Fifteen years after the fourth film in the franchise, a fifth Indiana Jones picture has finally appeared; here are our thoughts
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
This episode presented by:
Matt Barber
With:
Iain Martin
Jon Arnold
Fortunately we're only discussing the programming rather than re-enacting any of its key scenes, as we turn the clocks back just over a decade to focus on ITV's 2010 series Whitechapel
Whitechapel
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Matt Barber
Jim Cameron
The Strangers team travels back in time to 1966, to a critical nexus point in the evolution of Doctor Who, and ask what if history had unravelled somewhat differently
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Dylan Rees
Mark Donaldson
Matt Barber
Our links page:
Strangers in Space
Can Iain and Dylan talk fast enough to turn time backwards and wipe out the DCEU-so far?
This episode presented by:
Iain Martin
With:
Dylan Rees
Was there any reason to remake Robert Fuest's 1970 France-set thriller (and relocate it to South America) other than because you wanted the names Terry Nation and Brian Clemens in your credits? And was it worth it...?
And Soon the Darkness
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Dylan Rees
The first in a regular series of episodes looking at recent news stories from the world of Doctor Who and digging a little into what's behind them
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Mark Donaldson
Peter Hyams' 1983 thriller wonders what happens when good men feel forced into being bad - and asks whether they can make their way back once they've walked on the dark side. We just wonder whether it's as bad as A Sound of Thunder
The Star Chamber
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Iain Martin
Our mini Kingsley Amis season concludes with a look at three movie adaptations of his work; one underwhelming, one whelming, and one very much overwhelming...
Lucky Jim (1957)
Only Two Can Play (1962)
Take A Girl Like You (1970)
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Matt Barber
Going, going, gone? The Conservative parliamentary party's love affair with Boris Johnson has definitely soured, but is he really gone for good this time? And what's the truth behind Nadine Dorries' decision to not-resign with immediate effect?
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Matt Barber
Iain Martin
The first Sarah Jane Adventure to come out of the proverbial hat is the very first one, Invasion of the Bane. But how will it look sixteen years on?
Invasion of the Bane
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Jim Cameron
Our thoughts on the third and final season of Ted Lasso, plus a prediction about its future...
Ted Lasso
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Simon Brett
Boris is gone again ... but what was he thinking?
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Simon Brett
Ahead of next week's Film Club episode, a conversation about the author, his work and his politics
Kingsley Amis
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jon Arnold
Matt Barber
In order to fully appreciate this review-that-isn't-a-review, it will help if you haven't seen the film in question - and it will help even more if you've never even heard of it. For this edition of the podcast takes the form of a warning - and a warning that will not be heeded at that.
Tales of an Ancient Empire
This edition presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Iain Martin
It's back to 1974 and ITV's Haunted anthology this time, for an adaptation of Kingsley Amis' spooky ghost story The Ferryman. Can a young Sherlock Holmes save the day...?
The Ferryman at imdb
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber
You may not have noticed, but Adam Driver is fighting dinosaurs in downtown Cretaceous this year, in a film thrillingly called 65. Here's what we thought!
65
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber
Warning: Matt doesn't care whether you're spoiled for the story or not, so freely reveals a huge plot twist without warning during the course of our conversation
Second warning: unfortunately we lost one of our audio tracks during the recording of this episode, so there are some issues with the sound quality which unfortunately probably won't raise your enjoyment of our discussion too much
We all know the iconic John Barry theme, but is there more to The Ipcress File than the music?
The Ipcress File
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With:
Jim Cameron
Iain and JR travel back to 1982 to relive Albert Pyun's cheap but cheerful Conan the Barbarian alternative, a movie that wears its hearts quite literally in its hands
The Sword and the Sorcerer
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Iain Martin
A short Kingsley Amis retrospective begins with a chat about the BBC's 1990 adaptation of the author's 1969 novel
The Green Man (1990) The Green Man (1969) Kingsley Amis
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Jon Arnold Matt Barber
How does Peter Cushing's alternative 1960s take on the Doctor, fit in with other interpretations of the character?
Peter Cushing's Doctor Who
This episode presented by: Matt Barber
With: Dylan Rees Jon Arnold Mark Donaldson
It's another bad/good movie this time, as Arnold Schwarzenegger hunts down the devil in New York at the turn of the millennium. But is the Guns N' Roses song the best thing about it...?
End of Days This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Iain Martin
Ray Bradbury's short story A Sound of Thunder introduced us to the expression The Butterfly Effect and the concept of chaos theory (plus it's got DINOSAURS!), and has twice been adapted for the screen (because it's got DINOSAURS!). But did one version stick too closely to the original text, and the other deviate too much? A Sound of Thunder
The 2005 film
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall With: Iain Martin
The first episode of Torchwood to come up as part of our Who Review Extra strand is the exact mid-point of the first series, in a review that is not for the faint-hearted
This episode presented by:
J.R. Southall
With: Jim Cameron
Jon Arnold
Matt Barber
After our look at the Dr Phibes movies, a retrospective of some of the rest of their director's work
Robert Fuest
Films under review: And Soon the Darkness (1970)
The Final Programme (1973)
The Devil's Rain (1975)
This episode hosted by: J.R. Southall With: Dylan Rees
Mark Donaldson
A reboot for the role-playing franchise's cinematic arm, but is it any good?
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Matt Barber
Iain and J.R. go looking for the Donald Trump allusions (and find one that's really on the nose) in Andrew Bergman's less than stellar 1996 adaptation of Carl Hiaasen's Striptease - in what becomes the accidental first instalment in a series of reviews of entertainingly underperforming movies
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall
With: Iain Martin
Our review of the much-delayed (92 years) sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 Dracula, with Nicolas Cage as the Count and Nicholas Hoult as his long-suffering servant, emerging from under his master's shadow
This episode presented by: J.R. Southall (Twitter)
With: Matt Barber (Twitter)
Our review of Chris Boucher's short-lived police procedural in space, 1987's Star Cops Star Cops Star Cops on YouTube This episode presented by J.R. Southall With Jim Cameron Jon Arnold
A review of the new album by Mary Hopkin in collaboration with her daughter Jessica Lee Morgan
Two Hearts is available now from: http://www.maryhopkin.com/
https://jessicaleemorgan.com/
Singer-songwriter Jessica Lee Morgan chooses the eight items she would take with her, if she was about to be marooned on a desert planet Jessica's new album, a collaboration with her mother Mary Hopkin, is available this week from: http://www.maryhopkin.com/
https://jessicaleemorgan.com/
We got there in the end; Mark and JR watch Jim (no relation) Cameron's original 2009 Avatar and it's first sequel, last year's The Way of Water, so you don't have to... Links page for the podcast: https://strangersinspace.weebly.com/links.html And a quick guide to our hosts: https://strangersinspace.weebly.com/the-team.html
A late addition to Russell T Davies' first series of the Doctor Who revival, Boom Town asks questions about the Doctor's involvement in other people's affairs. But does it have any answers - and what's going on with Mickey?
Our mini Robert Fuest season begins with a look at his two Dr. Phibes films of the early 1970s, starring Vincent Price as the abominable character, a role he reprised for its return
There's a new devil doll in town and she seems to have been quite a success. But what would we make of the new Blumhouse horror, Megan?
A conversation about the Pet Shop Boys, Simon's favourites, and one of the defining bands of the 1980s and beyond
There have been a bunch of rumours flying about regarding who is going to show up for the sixtieth anniversary specials, so instead of talking through which particular click-bait YouTube channel might have the most reliable info, instead here is a discussion about which actors we think might most plausibly have accepted an invitation to appear
The question for this edition, is this: will our resident Lynch sceptic be able to make it from one end of the Twin Peaks prequel to the other?
It's Tom and Lis unleashed, after a season with Harry Sullivan - but is Planet of Evil any good?
In the first part of our Twin Peaks retrospective, Matt leads the conversation through a discussion of the original two television series from 1990 and 1991 - but can the sceptic on the team be convinced to embrace the damn' fine coffee?
Matt and the team turn their focus to the twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi, in this episode beset with technical issues which we hope won't ruin your enjoyment of the conversation
Iain and JR discuss the three attempts to bring Lara Croft to the silver screen, and the various pros and cons of each
We all know the EU subtext, but does The Curse of Peladon still stack up as a Doctor Who story?
A comparison between the current situations of three "populist" politicians and leaders, for each of whom the past might be catching up Note: this was recorded before the news broke about Donald Trump's indictment
In tribute to Burt Bacharach, we choose our Top 5 Bacharach compositions and the artists whose versions we prefer
Winner of Best International Feature Film at this year's Academy Awards, Edward Berger's All Quiet on the Western Front is the third adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque novel and the second time the story has been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar
Our thoughts on the new Luther TV movie, in which Idris Elba's character gets the boot from the establishment where he's been working these last years, and fetches up as a special agent for Netflix instead
Our recent addition Dylan chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Now that Inspector Morse's origins have been fully explored - or as fully as writer Russell Lewis is going to - we turn our microphones to the prequel series Endeavour, and ask if it's a spin-off that lives up to its predecessor
Dylan and JR give their thoughts on the new and recently concluded post-apocalypse drama The Last of Us
It's the final day of our Doctor Who-themed House of Games-styled quiz, with Matt, Jon and Iain challenging to be the ultimate victor
Until Round Tow, whereafter JR's challenge is to inject some sense of jeopardy back into the competition; in the end, the only winner is you, of course, the listener
Our thoughts on the winners and occasionally losers, after this year's Academy Awards were announced
Ahead of our reaction on the Oscar results themselves, here are our thoughts on the latest from Darren Aronofsky, The Whale, for which Brendan Fraser has been nominated Best Actor
The last Best Picture nominee we're going to get to before the Oscars announce their winner, is Ruben Östlund's Triangle of Sadness, a satire on status mostly set on a ship
It comes to a pretty pass when football's 'Mr. Nice Guy'™ gets sent off from his own television hosting job, but that's thirteen years of Tory government for you: not so much football sponsorship as footballer censorship; our thoughts
Top Gun: Maverick might perhaps be the most unlikely candidate for this year's Best Picture Academy Award, but does it stand a chance in hell of winning?
Having talked about She Said earlier in the year, we now turn our microphones to Plan B films' other MeToo movie, Sarah Polley's latest, the Best Picture-nominated drama Women Talking
It's the penultimate edition of our Doctor Who-themed House of Games-styled quiz, as Dylan, Iain and Matt go five rounds in an evenly paced competition
Baz Luhrmann's glitterball biography of Elvis Presley - or of Colonel Parker perhaps - is the latest review in our rundown of this year's Best Picture nominees
It's been a curious week in UK politics, what with Rishi Sunak's Windsor framework and Matt Hancock's double-dealing ghost writer; obviously that was how we wanted to kick off Oscars week
Martin McDonagh's film about a feud on a remote Irish island exactly a century ago is the latest of this year's Best Picture nominees to come under our microphones
It's the third day of our Doctor Who meets House of Games style quiz, and this one's a guest edition as podcast hosts Phil from Who's He? and Harry from Who Can Convince You challenge our own Jim from the Krynoid Pod
Cult classic or tangerine nightmare? Only in the 1980s could Michael Mann go to the studio with a three-hour cut of his second feature, a demonic horror set in an East European castle during WWII and all playing out to the sound of a synth-pop score. What on Earth would we make of that?
What's more important, art or humankind-ness? That's the question Todd Field asks in his latest, the Best Picture nominated Tár - but does the film provide any answers? Matt and JR go looking
A Doctor Who-themed House of Games rip-off, it's Day Two of our 'new' quiz format as JR sets the questions in another series of five rounds
Can also be watched like a real television programme, as part of our YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD7MPHXjCYVXbrHHyQOFvRu-Oy5EEaFGZ
Our co-host Jon chooses films in ten categories, that have made a significant impression upon him
If you hadn't had enough Groundhog Day already, then here's a contemporaneous television take on the idea, although this second adaptation of Richard Lupoff's short story hasn't aged nearly as well according to (most of) our panel
A Doctor Who-themed House of Games rip-off, it's Day One of our 'new' quiz format as JR sets the questions in a series of five rounds
Can also be watched like a real television programme, as part of our YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD7MPHXjCYVXbrHHyQOFvRu-Oy5EEaFGZ
Poet, journalist and mentor Mark Blayney chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Photo by Dave Daggers
It's three decades since Harold Ramis' romantic comedy turned the time-loop twist into a genre in its own right, but how does it stand up thirty years later? JR and Dylan chat about Groundhog Day
It's three decades since Harold Ramis' romantic comedy turned the time-loop twist into a genre in its own right, but how does it stand up thirty years later? Iain and Mark talk Groundhog Day
It's three decades since Harold Ramis' romantic comedy turned the time-loop twist into a genre in its own right, but how does it stand up thirty years later? Matt leads the gang through a conversation about Groundhog Day
Following our review of the TV drama Severance, here's our review of the film Severance, Christopher Smith's 2006 comedy-horror starring Danny Dyer
Our thoughts on Tom Baker's appearance as Sherlock Holmes in Letts and Dicks' classic serial adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles
Watch along: https://archive.org/download/the-hound-of-the-baskervilles-1982
Obsolete even before it hits the feed, here are our thoughts as they stood on Saturday evening, regarding the then-still-serving Zahawi situation - plus Boris' motivation in visiting the Ukraine, can Labour win an overall majority at the next election, and more
Big spoiler warning: our review of The Menu, from The Web of Caves director Mark Mylod, is a conversation about all aspects of the film - which you should definitely see before listening
Our vague thoughts on the likely contenders for the top honours at this year's Academy Awards, plus (at 33.56) a review of Steven Spielberg's latest and most autobiographical picture, The Fabelmans
An overview of the seventh Doctor era, led by Matt, in which we ask the time honoured question: Which is better, Season 25 or Season 26?
Mark and J.R. take a look at Park Chan-wook's latest, the double BAFTA-nominated romantic murder mystery Decision to Leave - in a mainly spoiler-light review
Dylan asks the team if James Gunn can be the saviour the DC movie universe requires, or whether Zack Snyder has already led it too far down the wrong path
A (moderately spoilery) conversation about Severance, Apple TV+'s series actualising the work-life balance in modern society
Maria Schrader's film about the investigation into cinema mogul and sexual predator Harvey Weinstein
Our thoughts on Noah Baumbach's adaptation of Don DeLillo's apparently timeless postmodern consumerist satire on death, recently released by Netflix
A profile of the recently departed television writer and script editor, whose works include Blakes 7 and Star Cops, as well as three highly regarded Doctor Who serials
The first instalment of a fairly breezy (but nevertheless quite explicit) conversation about how we got to where we are now
A round-up of some of the television we watched over the Christmas holiday, including Inside No 9, A Ghost Story for Christmas, Ghosts and Detectorists. Spoiler warning: we will be talking about plot developments and resolutions
Simon and Jon enjoy a leisurely post-Christmas chat about Richard Lester's two Beatles movies from the mid-1960s, by way of a (slightly belated) celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of them releasing their first single
Two films whose reputation has exploded over the years - one an overachieving Will Ferrell Yuletide comedy, the other a Muppet reinvention of a seasonal classic - but which will we choose to talk about in our Christmas Film Club Duet? (Clue: it ain't called a Duet for nothing.)
Matt leads Team B back through the last five years of Doctor Who, as they examine the Jodie Whittaker era
With the Chris Chibnall and thirteenth Doctor era now over, it was time to find out which bits of it you liked the best - and to discuss which aspects of it worked and which didn't.
Is it really fifteen years since Kylie Minogue helped make David Tennant's third Christmas Special modern Doctor Who's most watched episode? Question is though, was it actually any good?
In this year's TV Club Christmas edition, we talk about the BBC and Mark Gatiss' revival of the M.R. James Ghost Stories for Christmas strand
In our Music Club Christmas Special, Simon, Jon and JR each choose their Top 5 Christmas Songs - or in Jon and Simon's case, each other's. But will Cliff Richard win the day? And what's the difference between a Christmas song and a song at Christmas...?
It's 45 years since Star Wars arrived in the UK, high time we revisited the original trilogy and gave our thoughts on George Lucas' paradigm-shifting films, then and now
There's a new Doctor Who spin-off in the pipes and we're pretty sure we know what it is - what's more, we think they've already been making it for several months, and that it'll be with us sooner than we imagined
Our review of Matthew Jacobs and Vanessa Yuille's film about the legacy of the 1996 Doctor Who TV Movie, in terms of Jacobs' personal legacy, and (particularly American) fandom's too
Marionettes, mysterious doubles and murmuring hearts; it can only be Krzysztof Kieślowski's 1991 French-Polish drama The Double Life of Veronique, in the latest edition of Film Club Lite
Matt leads the conversation through a review of BBC1's 1992 Halloween special, in which a bunch of unlikely television stars go ghost-hunting
We're going tangential in this edition, turning our attention to the infamous 2008 independent spin-off video Zygon (aka Zygon: When Being You Just Isn't Enough)
Our thoughts on the unveiling of the new Doctor Who companion Millie Gibson, as well as the obligatory Coro vs Corrie debate
Our review of the latest series from Hartswood and Amazon Prime, starring Peter Capaldi and Jessica Raine in The Devil's Hour
Winterhill author and co-host of the All of Time and Space podcast, and venerable member of this very parish, Iain Martin chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
All of Time and Space podcast
Iain's books
A lengthy discussion taking in all the latest Doctor Who news, from the Disney+ deal to the DWM comic strip
Misunderstood, or simply a mistake? The second segment of the Trial of a Time Lord has long been one of Doctor Who's lesser regarded stories - but what will the Strangers team make of it?
JR and Ross discuss Francis Coppola's trilogy of mafia epics, and ask if our received wisdom is correct about the order in which we value them
Who do you cast to follow the first Doctor ever to take Doctor Who to number one in the national TV charts? The seasoned pro, or the little known youngster who turns up and wows you during the audition process? Matt leads the conversation through a discussion of the eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith
JR and Mark watch Olivia Wilde's second feature Don't Worry Darling, in an attempt to separate the art from the controversy
A conversation about FW Murnau's 1922 silent classic Nosferatu and its fictional making of, 2000's Shadow of the Vampire
A round-up of the less celebrated adaptations of Philip K Dick's writing, including reviews of A Scanner Darkly, Next, The Adjustment Bureau and more
We had so many contributors to our review of the final thirteenth Doctor story, we had to split into two groups to record it. So here's our 2-for-1 episode on The Power of the Doctor; first JR, Matt, Simon and Lee (yes, Lee!), and then Iain, Jon and - uh - Matt again take over for the second half of the podcast
Boris drops out of the race and Rishi becomes the only runner of note, and so now we have a new Prime Minister, a real Man of the People. Ahem. It's another edition of Private Members Club
JR and Matt chat about The Midnight Club, Netflix' latest addition to its "Flanaverse Collection"
We're back again (two of us, at least), because it's been yet another hectic day in Downing Street; the Prime Minister has resigned. The second one this autumn. This is starting to look like carelessness...
Another day in parliament, another rash of manoeuvres in the ministerial merry-go-round that might be better known as Drowning Street
Simon leads the conversation through a discussion of the latest from Marvel and Disney+, the rather divisive She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
Another tumultuous week in Downing Street seems to have opened the door for yet another change in leadership in the UK, potentially the third this parliament. So of course we took to our microphones to wag lyrical our feelings on these latest developments.
This time it's Matt's turn to choose his ten favourite songs before the team discuss his choices
Matt and Mark review Peter Strickland's latest, Flux Gourmet, a film about sonic catering and the power struggle between artist and sponsor
I'm fairly sure "Moffat" must mean "mixed-reaction" in a Scottish-English dictionary, because everything the man writes turns to equal parts furrowed brows and religious fervour - but what were we to make of his latest screen endeavour, a tall tale of potential murder in a suburban vicar's cellar?
David A Stewart of the Eurythmics directs three of the All Saints in a post-Lock Stock gangster movie set in the swinging 'sixties ... what could possibly go wrong?
With the fourth series now out in the wild, it was high time we took a look at the BBC sitcom Ghosts
Elizabeth Taylor might have dubbed him the King of Pop, but what do we think of Michael Jackson? Following the format of our ABBA episode, we each choose our five favourite (or least favourite) Jacko records
Elizabeth Taylor might have dubbed him the King of Pop, but what do we think of Michael Jackson? Following the format of our ABBA episode, we each choose our five favourite (or least favourite) Jacko records
Looking ahead to the thirteenth Doctor's final story, and some thoughts on the journey so far
Looking ahead to the thirteenth Doctor's final story, and some thoughts on the journey so far
Three TV films from the noughties this time, each one an education in what it takes to become (and in one case stop being) Prime Minister: The Deal (2003), The Long Walk to Finchley (2008) and Margaret (2009)
Three TV films from the noughties this time, each one an education in what it takes to become (and in one case stop being) Prime Minister: The Deal (2003), The Long Walk to Finchley (2008) and Margaret (2009)
Matt introduces a new member of the Strangers team and leads the conversation through a discussion of Peter Davison's time as the fifth Doctor Who
Matt introduces a new member of the Strangers team and leads the conversation through a discussion of Peter Davison's time as the fifth Doctor Who
Nigel Kneale's version of a Christmas ghost story in 1972 was this attempt to explain away the phenomenon through a revised exploration of the concept of residual haunting - but how does The Stone Tape look (and sound) fifty years later?
Nigel Kneale's version of a Christmas ghost story in 1972 was this attempt to explain away the phenomenon through a revised exploration of the concept of residual haunting - but how does The Stone Tape look (and sound) fifty years later?
What better way to fill the power vacuum left behind by Johnson's exit than with Liz Truss, right? Our thoughts on the new Prime Minister (delayed by a week after the news cycle overtook us).
What better way to fill the power vacuum left behind by Johnson's exit than with Liz Truss, right? Our thoughts on the new Prime Minister (delayed by a week after the news cycle overtook us).
With Crimes of the Future, David Cronenberg returns to the body horror that made his name - and even uses the name of one of his own films (despite this not being a remake). But now that it's landed in the UK, what did we think of it?
With Crimes of the Future, David Cronenberg returns to the body horror that made his name - and even uses the name of one of his own films (despite this not being a remake). But now that it's landed in the UK, what did we think of it?
Dr Robert, lead singer and chief songwriter of The Blow Monkeys, chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Robert's Patreon page (to which JR contributes):
https://www.patreon.com/drrobert/posts
Autumn live dates (JR will be at the Worthing gig):
https://www.theblowmonkeys.com/live-dates
Dr Robert, lead singer and chief songwriter of The Blow Monkeys, chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Robert's Patreon page (to which JR contributes):
https://www.patreon.com/drrobert/posts
Autumn live dates (JR will be at the Worthing gig):
https://www.theblowmonkeys.com/live-dates
A fan, a lapsed fan and an agnostic form the panel for this discussion of Atlanta, Georgia's finest song-workers, R.E.M.
A fan, a lapsed fan and an agnostic form the panel for this discussion of Atlanta, Georgia's finest song-workers, R.E.M.
Now that we've all had chance to digest Jordan Peele's third offering as director, was Nope the dope, or was there scope for improvement...?
Now that we've all had chance to digest Jordan Peele's third offering as director, was Nope the dope, or was there scope for improvement...?
Recently debuting on Netflix, a new South Korean zombie thriller from Jung Byung-gil - but when does a lot of action become too much action, and how realistic does that action need to be?
Matt and Simon discuss the Disney+ series about Industrial Light and Magic, the special effects company formed by George Lucas in order to make the Star Wars films
Comparing and contrasting two original Sherlock Holmes films of the 1970s, Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, based on the novel by Nicholas Meyer
Comparing and contrasting two original Sherlock Holmes films of the 1970s, Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, based on the novel by Nicholas Meyer
Nigel Kneale looks ahead to the future of television from the vantage point of 1968, predicting text speak and Love Island among other things. But is The Year of the Sex Olympics as dated as Ekin-Su, or standing test of time like laughing out loud, you only live once?
Our review of the latest from Roland Emmerich, a sci-fi rescue mission-cum-disaster movie about the moon falling from the sky, that's called Moonfall
Matt and Mark travel to an alternative timeline where the space race is still ongoing, in order to discuss the Apple TV+ series For All Mankind
Our thoughts on the fifth film in the Predator franchise, and whether it's a successful reinvention of the series
There's been a little flurry of Neil Gaiman related screen activity of late, the most recent being this Netflix adaptation of the late 20th century DC comic book The Sandman. But what will Jon and Matt make of it?
The passing of David Warner prompted us to take another look at Nicholas Meyer's 1979 film Time After Time, in which Warner plays a Jack the Ripper pursued to modern San Francisco by Malcolm McDowell's H.G. Wells
Our random journey through short-form Doctor Who reviews takes us back to the very beginning, 1963's An Unearthly Child
Road testing a new strand, JR chooses his ten favourite songs and the team discuss the choices
A YouTube playlist of the ten songs
A YouTube playlist of the ten that got ruled out
A conversation about the Swedish pop sensations AᗺBA, during which JR, Jon and Simon each choose their five favourite songs
He arrived in a blaze of ill-temper and departed in much the same way, but what is the sixth Doctor's legacy? Matt leads Jon and Mark through a discussion of the short life and times of Colin Baker's incarnation of Doctor Who
The reaction to Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok follow-up has been somewhat Marmite, but how will the Strangers team react to it? Simon leads the discussion in our review of Thor: Love and Thunder
A short tribute to the career of David Warner, whose distinctive voice and face graced many a fine film or TV project and who improved those things immeasurably when he did
A short tribute to the career of David Warner, whose distinctive voice and face graced many a fine film or TV project and who improved those things immeasurably when he did
There's something evil in the Magic Garden and it isn't Robbie Williams... In this edition of Film Club Lite, we turn our microphones to Dougal and the Blue Cat (released in 1972 in the UK), the first long-form spin-off from The Magic Roundabout
Simon and JR chat about Bill Plympton's debut feature, the 1992 animated musical The Tune
Our first tentative steps in the direction of reviewing books, this initial instalment is a potted bibliography of renowned science fiction author John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, author of The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos and Chocky
Now that we've covered Pistol, here's a very much pre-Pistol biography of The Sex Pistols from inside their own camp, an apparent collaboration between manager Malcolm McLaren and director Julien Temple who tell the almost-sort of-true story of what really might have happened but probably didn't
The highs and lows and very very highs of the Oxford art-rock outfit with the Exeter connection
Matt and Mark travel back in time to India a hundred years ago for a rollicking bromance about two frenemies united in a single cause, that bust out of Bollywood to become an international success on its release earlier this year; S.S. Rajamouli's RRR
Our reaction to a momentous day in British politics and our answers to the question of who and what comes next
It's a new Alex Garland film and he's prodding at the outer edges of modern morality once again, so we sat and watched it and here are our impressions
With the news that a second season has now been cancelled by HBO, this review - recorded a week ago - becomes our post mortem on Steven Moffat's adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's book about a woman who is married to an accidental time traveller, The Time Traveler's Wife
Simon and Matt watch the new, dramatised biography of the Sex Pistols on Disney+, examine the legacy of the band, and ask whether it's a better use of Danny Boyle's time than the Richard Curtis pic Yesterday
Matt hosts a conversation about the latest Star Wars streaming series on Disney+, the story of what happened to Obi-Wan before the original trilogy and after the prequels
Mark and JR exchange differing opinions on the latest outing from Karen Gillan, Riley Stearns' film about a woman who ends up with an unwanted clone, Dual
On its fortieth anniversary we ask if Ridley Scott's Blade Runner was all it's cracked up to be, and if Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049 is a worthy sequel
Mark and JR discuss the latest film in the Jurassic Park-World franchise, and ask if it might have been better off left stuck in the amber
Matt, Jon and Mark discuss the short-lived era of the first modern Doctor, Christopher Eccleston's ninth
A retrospective of Mark Hollis' synth-rock outfit Talk Talk, who gradually morphed from a post-punk keyboard band into something much more singular. Including contributions from one host who is experiencing most of the music for the very first time.
It's 65 years since the publication of John Wyndham's classic story about an invasion of alien babies, and so here's our review of Sky TV's latest adaptation
It's been a long wait, but it's finally time for us to rewatch Malcolm Hulke's Season 10 story Frontier in Space, and decide whether it's a scintillating political thriller or just two-and-a-half hours' worth of going around in not very interesting circles
Now that we've all had chance to see it, here's our review of the Daniels' follow-up to Swiss Army Man, the multi-universe comedy drama set in a laundry, Everything Everywhere All At Once
A conversation about the brief but influential musical career of singer-songwriter Nick Drake
Simon, Jon and Matt discuss the second season of the Star Trek The Next Generation spin-off Picard
JR springs a surprise subject for the latest Music Club episode, leading to a hunt through some forty year old memories and a few revelations about our favourite Madonna songs
It's forty years since Steven Spielberg's horror film for kids about a friendly resurrecting alien who gets stranded on Earth, was first released. So here we are looking back on it, with mostly fond eyes
A moderately spoilery round-up of some Doctor Who casting and shooting news, after the first week of outdoor recording on Russell T Davies' return to the programme
Ahead of the fortieth anniversary of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, we look at Steven Spielberg's first four movies from The Sugarland Express to 1941, taking in Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind along the way
Unhitched from our James L Brooks conversation, a separate discussion on the musical he made with songs by Prince, Sinead O'Connor and Carole King, which were subsequently removed before the movie's release - begging the question, was I'll Do Anything any better without them?
Fifteen years after they took their final trip in the TARDIS (by the time their new episode is broadcast, that is), David Tennant and Catherine Tate return to Doctor Who. That's right, it's another Sunday and another casting announcement, so here are our immediate thoughts on the reveal
Is it too early to invent the expression Doctor Whuti? Our thoughts on the casting of the new Doctor Who
You'll have seen his name attached to every episode of The Simpsons, his directorial debut won Best Picture at the Oscars and he once did a musical without any songs with Prince (but that's another story); we turn our attention to Jack Nicholson's most long-term employer James L Brooks
Thirty years ago it looked like they might be about to replace sliced bread, but things didn't go quite that far for Suede. Our latest Music Club profile, primarily focussing on their imperial phase in the 1990s
Matt, Jon and Mark take a look at the tenure of the fourth Doctor Tom Baker, in the first of a series of Doctor retrospectives that will look at the legacy of the actors and the characters they created in the role
As a postscript to our Man With No Name episode, Simon chooses Sam Raimi's 1990s Western The Quick and the Dead as a subject for conversation in the latest Film Club Lite
Jane Lovering, biscuit-loving author of A Cottage Full of Secrets and winner of the Romantic Novel of the Year award, braves a less than ideal internet connection in order to undergo a series of occasionally tailor-made (but largely off-the-peg) pop culture challenges - before getting rudely cut-off by a disturbance in the host's neighbourhood
Gallifrey Most Wanted's Ross returns to chat with JR about Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood's Spaghetti Western trilogy, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Our review of Chris Atkins' new documentary about the KLF, telling the story of how they progressed from being an art-house Jive Bunny to deleting their entire back catalogue and burning a million quid before finally releasing it all on a streaming service nearly three decades later; it's quite a story, but does the film live up to it?
Playwright, author and ex-Doctor Who script editor Andrew Cartmel undergoes a series of sometimes tailor-made pop culture challenges
Our review of Legend of the Sea Devils, the penultimate story for Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall, and that trailer for the Centenary Special
Dr Robert of The Blow Monkeys participates in the inaugural set of challenges in the first edition of our new interview format, Pop Culture Clash
A comparison between Alejandro Amenábar's 1997 film Abre los Ojos - aka Open Your Eyes - and Cameron Crowe's 2001 remake Vanilla Sky
Tim Dorney of Republica and Tin Gin, chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Tin Gun on Twitter
Mark Cockram sticks around after his appearance on our anniversary episode, and chooses Edgar Wright's 2010 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World as his selection for a Film Club Lite
It's ten years since the first Blue Box Podcast turned up in people's ears, so to celebrate here we (almost all) are, running down our listeners' favourite stories according to our poll of the various individual season poll winners. With a very special guest, returning from the very beginning
Back in 2012 we decided it might be an idea to bank a Blue Box Podcast for a rainy day, so early that June JR, Mark and Simon convened to record a couple of commentary tracks, pairing a single original run episode with a complementary modern story. We weren't particularly pleased with the result, though, so we never did publish that podcast. Until now
Back in April 2012, after our first recording session (in which we ploughed through all of our first three episodes), Lee suggested we add his friend Simon to the team to make sure there were still enough of us to hold a conversation on the off-chance there were occasions when one or other of us wasn't able to come along. So we invited Simon to our second recording session - and Lee didn't turn up. And try as we might to be welcoming and to include Simon in the conversation, as soon as that dreaded red light went on things didn't quite go the way we'd hoped. And so the following week, we decided to re-record that episode with Lee, and ditch the one with just JR and Mark and a little bit of Simon.
Ten years later, we were looking for something old or previously unheard that we could publish to celebrate a decade of podcasting, and lo, here's that very episode.
A review of this year's Academy Award Best Picture winning film, CODA, plus a catch-up on a few of the other Oscar nominees in that category
A review of the latest Spider-Man movie, No Way Home, as it comes to home media; warning: if you've somehow managed to avoid the spoilers surrounding this film, we will be discussing them here
There's a waft of fin de millénaire on this edition of Film Club, as we head back to 1998 to investigate existential angst among the parallel realities of Dark City, The Truman Show and Pleasantville
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A discussion of the band They Might Be Giants, formed in New York in 1982 by Lincolnites John Flansburgh and John Linnell
In an admittedly perhaps ill-advised tribute to the career of William Hurt, we decided to go back to the movie that firmly put him on the Hollywood map, Lawrence Kasdan's 1981 directorial debut, the steamy thriller Body Heat. And there is lots of steam. Lots of it
JR and Simon look back to the turn of the 1990s and "rave culture", and discuss The Stone Roses' place in taking indie music overground
By way of an appetizer for our forthcoming millennial angst Film Club episode, here's a short review of an existential thriller from the 1960s: John Frankenheimer's Seconds
It's our very last season poll, and we're going back to 1976 to talk about Philip Hinchcliffe's third and final year as producer of Doctor Who: Season 14
Mark and Matt turn their attention to the subject of comic Czech sci-fi, with particular emphasis on Jindřich Polák's 1977 film Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea, aka Zítra Vstanu a Opařím se čajem
Once planned to be the last season for Steven Moffat, our journey through the Doctor Who back catalogue reaches its final destination of the modern incarnation: Series Nine
(With apologies to mimikeyu for co-opting the art)
JR and Simon take a trip back to the 1980s to talk about playgrounds, peer pressure and programming, and to examine the differences and similarities between The Cure and Depeche Mode
Another music-themed Film Club Lite review, and this time it's JR's choice: New Zealander Jason Lei Howden's 2015 comedy horror with a heavy metal theme, Deathgasm
Triumph, or travesty? It's the Trial of a Time Lord, as Season 23 goes under the scrutiny of our own particular Whodiciary
Matt and Mark take a look at the films nominated for Best Picture at the 2022 Academy Awards
It's time to wind the clocks back to 2007; David Tennant was enjoying his middle series as the tenth Doctor, Martha was stepping into Rose's shoes (or not) and Steven Moffat had just delivered Blink. But what did we make of it all?
In the second half of our discussion about the use of incidental music in Doctor Who, we concentrate on our feelings around the use of incidental music in the revived series
Plus ten minutes at the beginning on the latest anniversary casting rumour concerning David Tennant
Lee and Matt mark Ian Anderson's Blackpool-born band Jethro Tull's 55 years of existence by discussing their history and reviewing their new album
A comparison between the two recent movie versions of Macbeth, and a discussion of Shakespeare on film
Matt and Simon discuss Once, John Carney's 2007 Irish musical romantic drama starring Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová
With JR absent, Matt and Simon convene to discuss the rumours of a certain actor's possible return to the role of Doctor Who...
A conversation about the first half of the third phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the introductions of Spider-Man and Black Panther
Our "music month" round of musically themed film reviews begins with Simon's choice, the Pet Shop Boys' absurdist memoir It Couldn't Happen Here
It's the first half of our discussion about the use of incidental music in Doctor Who, this time focussing on our memories of the classic series
Mark Donaldson of On the Time Lash joins us now that the dust has settled on Flux, to talk about the thirteenth series of Doctor Who
We did eventually manage to record our review of Eve of the Daleks, but only after ten minutes' worth of interruptions from JR jr.
Simon talks to Matt and guest Jon Arnold about their work writing Black Archive titles for Obverse Books. Yes, Matt has written one - about The Dæmons!
Mark Donaldson of the On the Time Lash podcast rejoins us to discuss the new Matrix movie, Resurrections
Ahead of our review of the latest instalment in The Matrix franchise, we look back at the very first film along with guest reviewer Mark Donaldson
A retrospective review of the first Christmas Special of the modern revival - and the tenth Doctor's debut - 2005's The Christmas Invasion
Lee and Matt travel back to the 1970s to talk about the BBC's spooky seasonal strand A Ghost Story for Christmas, plus its progenitor, 1968's Whistle and I'll Come to You. Warning: there may be gushing
As chosen by our listeners, we are joined by Ross Aitken (of the Gallifrey's Most Wanted podcast) and Mark Donaldson (of On the Time Lash) in order to ask of this year's Yuletide feature: is Die Hard a Christmas movie, or simply an action flick with festive trimmings? And after a painstaking process of argument and counter-argument - and a legally watertight margin of three votes to two - we think we've come up with an objectively decisive answer.
Mark Donaldson rejoins us for this episode, to talk about David Cronenberg's grim fairy tale (or should that be fairly grim tale) eXistenZ, which arrived in 1999, the Year of Our Matrix
A rundown of the eleventh and twelfth Doctor Specials according to our listeners' preferences. With a really most unsurprising winner!
Ahead of the release of the new sequel, Mark Donaldson joins us to look at The Thirteenth Floor, one of many similar films which appeared around the time of the first Matrix film back in 1999
Mark's own podcast
Jon Arnold joins Matt and Simon for a review of Get Back, Peter Jackson's new eight-hour Disney+ documentary on the making of The Beatles' final album Let It Be
A review of the early Film On Four presentation The Ploughman's Lunch, starring Jonathan Pryce and Tim Curry
Our review of Doctor Who Flux Chapter Four: Village of the Angels. Just two of us this week; Simon has gone back in time while Lee is dealing with cherubs
A review of Edgar Wright's latest
Featuring guest reviewer Mark Donaldson of the On the Time Lash podcast
Tom Hanks with a robot in a post-apocalyptic landscape? Of course we were going to review that
Is all-Master too much Master? That's just one of the questions we ask in our Season Eight retrospective. Warning: includes bonus book-plug
Coming under the microscope in this edition, is Richard Fleischer's 1966 medical drama Fantastic Voyage
What better way to mark Halloween than with a review of three classics of the demon child genre, Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist and The Omen
A bonus extra Film Club Lite in the run-up to Halloween, it's Bill Watterson's (not that Bill Watterson) shoestring fantasy horror comedy from 2017, Dave Made a Maze - spoiler-light for those who haven't seen it
Matt's latest choice of movie review is Jacques Tourneur's 1957 British horror Night of the Demon (aka Curse of the Demon west of the Atlantic), in which runes are cast, seances will be held and souls must be taken...
A slightly shorter edition of Film Club this time, as we go back to Hogwarts to run check out the second half of the Harry Potter saga
Series Thirteen is almost upon us, but what can we expect from it? In this far from definitive guide to the next six episodes, we predict the precise viewing figures, pull the trailer apart, discuss the BBC's promotional efforts and discover the truth about Ranskoor Av Kolos
It's just like so Totally Doctor Who, to go on an infinite quest ... for just three data-chips
A conversation about the director of Moon and its semi-followup Mute, Source Code and Warcraft (not A Beginning)
It's back to London 1965 in this episode, except by the long way around. We're turning our microphones to the subject of the first Doctor's middle series, Season Two
Daniel Craig returns as James Bond in No Time to Die, the 25th Bond film from Eon and definitely Craig's last. But what will we make of this much delayed entry in the 007 canon, in this extremely spoiler-heavy review?
A video version of this podcast can be watched here
If it's January 1987 and it's murder among the dons in rural Oxfordshire, then it must be Screen Two's fondly remembered black comedy After Pilkington, starring Bob Peck and Miranda Richardson
Not content with Wrexham, looks like Ryan Reynolds has his sights set on the entire internet too. It's The Truman Show meets The Matrix meets TRON meets Ready Player One as we turn our microphones to Free Guy
Our reaction-cast to the news of Russell T Davies' forthcoming return as Doctor Who showrunner.
It's forty years since The Blow Monkeys formed, and to celebrate they've just released their eleventh studio album. What better way to kick off a new strand of the podcast than with a review of Journey to You
With Matt away, Simon and JR seem to have accidentally recorded another edition of Music Club, and they've stayed in Manchester for this overview of their feelings about Oasis.
It's back to 2005 for the first year of the revived series this time around, as our journey through the Doctor Who back catalogue arrives at Series One
Artwork 'borrowed' from Si Hodges
A short review of the new neo-noir starring Karen Gillan, with support from the likes of Lena Headey, Michelle Yeoh, Carla Gugino and Angela Bassett
Genius, or self-parody? Or just a new strand of the podcast in which we talk about some musical artists that were culturally or personally significant on our arrested development. First up, The Smiths.
With Simon away watching Fiction Factory, it's down to Matt and JR to talk about a fiction factory of a different kind: it's our review of the movies we've seen through 2021 so far.
After looking at the original pentalogy, and the Tim Burton calamity, we've finally arrived at the modern Planet of the Apes trilogy. But will it be a Caesar salad or a Koba cabana?
It's back to the spring of 1964 for our second short-form Doctor Who review, our subject being Terry Nation's sophomore script The Keys of Marinus. But will we judge it a Velvet Web, or a Sea of Death?
Katsuhiro Ôtomo's 1988 adaptation of the 1982 manga is the latest movie selected for the Film Club Lite treatment
It was the end, but it prepared for a moment of new beginning... Our journey through Doctor Who arrives at Season 26
It's back to 1988 as we take a look at Hallmark's prestige adaptation of Graham Greene's recently unearthed psychological drama, The Tenth Man
As J.R.'s maiden voyage through the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues, we pause to talk about the films that make up Phase Two, including the introductions of Ant-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy
In this episode of Film Club Lite, we turn our attention to Fame (Fame!), Alan Parker's movie about wannabe Glee club members in 1980 New York
The whole of Peter Capaldi's third season - Steven Moffat's last - in ninety minutes, as our trawl through Doctor Who's past lands on Series Ten
Artwork 'borrowed' from FunnyNWittyReferenc
A short review of the latest from James Gunn, in which Harley Quinn returns as part of a mission movie ensemble in this latest offering from the DC Universe
As suggested by listener Andy Van Kay, here's a short bonus quiz in which we try and sort our Acrids from our Agents
We set the randomiser for this edition of Film Club Lite, and it chose us the 2001 Jet Li-starring martial arts multiverse actioner from James Wong, The One
Our American correspondent Ross Aitken returns for a conversation about George Miller's (to date) four Mad Max movies
Ross on the Gallifrey's Most Wanted podcast
Our reaction to the news that showrunner Chris Chibnall and current Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker will be leaving the series in 2022
This time on Film Club we're looking at English villages playing host to Nazi invaders in the middle of a World War, in Went the Day Well? (1942), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Eye of the Needle (1981) and The Spy in Black (1939)
In honour of the Film Stories project's recent Blu-ray release, we've snuck in a bonus review of Phil Alden Robinson's 1992 comedy thriller Sneakers, starring Robert Redford
Our season-by-season journey through the history of Doctor Who arrives at the fourth Doctor's penultimate series, the somewhat divisive Season 17. But was 1979 an annus mirabilis, or just anus?
(Artwork 'borrowed' from FunnyNWittyReference)
The latest short Film Club Lite review is of Kaneto Shindo's precursor to J-horror, a medieval tale of spirits and civil war from 1964; warning: moderate spoilers (Onibaba can be watched for free on YouTube)
A short bonus episode looking back on Season One of the latest Marvel Universe endeavour on Disney+, Loki
It's back to school on Film Club this time, as we take the train straight from platform 9-and-whatever all the way to Hogwarts and the first four Harry Potter films. But did we enjoy them...?
It's been two years since the MCU was last in cinemas, but now it's back - and back five years ago, as it happens. But what did we think of Natasha Romanoff's long overdue solo outing?
The first instalment in our new strand features Season 20's Snakedance, Christopher Bailey's 1983 sequel to Kinda
Because Tim Burton directed the first remake of Planet of the Apes, it wouldn't have been right for us to move directly from the original franchise to the new without making this stop-off in between - taking in Mars Attacks! and Ed Wood for good measure. But oh boy, this was not the layover we would have wanted...
Simon's first Film Club Lite choice is a spoiler-light review of Anthony Harvey's 1971 adaptation of James Goldman's play, with George C. Scott as a man who believes he's tilting at Moriarty
A short bonus - and spoiler-free - review of Freaky, the new body-swap horror from Christopher Landon, director of the Happy Death Day movies
The spotlight of our microphones this time around is Peter Davison's third term as Doctor Who, but our biggest question is of course what will win our listeners' poll - and which story will come last?
Pixar's latest - an homage to Italian cinema of the middle of the last century - dropped straight onto Disney+, but is it a sea monster or cinema heaven?
The second edition of Film Club Lite turns its attention to 2017's Groundhog slasher from Blumhouse Productions, and its 2019 sequel Happy Death Day 2U
Cy Endfield's 1957 toxic male melodrama Hell Drivers is the first film randomly selected for our new, shorter single-movie review strand
As JR embarks upon his maiden voyage through the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what better way to mark his progress than through the medium of podcasting?
A short (and very much spoiler-free) review of Love and Monsters writer Brian Duffield's directorial debut, the 2020 film Spontaneous
Man vs nature is kind of the theme of this (spoiler lite) instalment of Film Club, as we cast our attention towards three very different reinterpretations of the basic Robinson Crusoe story: Cast Away, Man Friday and Swiss Army Man.
With his new Netflix zombie apocalypse, Zack Snyder goes back to his roots - only bigger, longer and uncut. So what did we make of Army of the Dead? Did we agree with the rest of the internet that it's an egregious waste of everybody's time - or did we make our own minds up?
TV Club turns its attention to three recent superhero series from beyond the usual Marvel / DC stable, primarily a couple adapted from Image Comics including the recent Netflix release Jupiter's Legacy
Tom Baker might have thought a talking cabbage adequate company for his TARDIS travels, but the reality is that a television programme needs characters for the audience to recognise and identify with or care about. But how has that role changed over the years? In the first half of our discussion, we talk about the Doctor's companions during the original series.
In a discussion that has literally taken over a week to conclude, here are our further thoughts on David Tennant's third year in the TARDIS, Series Four.
Artwork 'borrowed' from Douglas Sommerville
In a discussion that literally takes over a week to conclude, here are our thoughts on David Tennant's third year in the TARDIS, Series Four.
Artwork 'borrowed' from Douglas Sommerville
After four sequels, two reboots and two television versions, Planet of the Apes is the adaptation of a novel that just keeps on coming. But just what is it that keeps on coming? That's the question we accidentally end up asking in this latest edition of Film Club, the first of four (non-consecutive) episodes dealing with the Apes saga.
A short bonus Film Club, in which we discuss the eight movies nominated for Best Picture this year - plus a few others - and select our own favourites from the field
A short bonus Film Club episode, reviewing the new film from the Lord and Miller stable
Gallifrey's Most Wanted's Ross Aitken rejoins us for this edition of Film Club, in which the subject is director Walter Hill, with particular emphasis on Southern Comfort, Streets of Fire and Last Man Standing.
As a warm-up for our forthcoming discussion on Walter Hill, I put Gallifrey's Most Wanted's Ross Aitken through his paces with fifty-nine seconds each on a variety of randomly chosen film directors.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Podcast
There have been thirteen Doctors Who - give or take - and each has brought their own unique interpretation to the character. But what is the Doctor's character across all thirteen interpretations - and what are the differences?
Yet another short bonus round of the game in which Doctor Who story titles are run through the synonym-o-meter and the co-hosts have to guess what the stories really are
It's fifteen years since Torchwood (dis)graced our screens; what are our memories of watching it, what were our favourite (and least favourite) bits, and would we like to have seen more?
In which J.R., while recording his recent appearance on the Who Can Convince You podcast, surprises host Harry Whitley with a round of Doctor WhoSaurus - and things don't quite go as expected. Happily, Harry gave his blessing for the results to be published... so here they are.
The Who Can Convince You Link Tree
It's back in time to 1974 and Jon Pertwee's final go-round as the Doctor, as our journey through the history of Doctor Who arrives at Season Eleven
Original artwork by Huw
A short bonus episode in which we send a bunch of Doctor Who story titles through the anagram generator, and then try and decipher which stories they belong to
Forty years ago the werewolf movie got a nip in the neck when three examples were released into cinemas with months of one another. But which has survived best, Wolfen, The Howling or An American Werewolf in London?
Should Doctor Who start remaking itself? And if so, which stories should it remake? More to the point, what is a remake anyway?
A discussion of the adaptations of Geoffrey Household's 1939 novel Rogue Male, both official and unofficial, including the 1976 TV movie, Fritz Lang's film Man Hunt, and First Blood.
It's another round of Doctor WhoSaurus - only this time with a difference: it's the substitute review team who got together to talk about The Stand who face the questions instead. But who will win, Tim Allman, Iain Martin or James Wheildon...?
It's time to take a look at Patrick Troughton's middle year, the "monster season", in our random journey through the history of Doctor Who
Artwork 'borrowed' from Jeremy Bonwick
Another short bonus round of the game in which Doctor Who story titles are run through the synonym-o-meter and the co-hosts have to guess what the stories really are
During modeller Millie's recent visit to Strangers HQ, these are the challenges we forced her to undergo before she was allowed to record her Desert Planet Picks appearance...
Millie's Twitter
Millie's Instagram
A review of WandaVision, the Disney+ satire-cum-sitcom (let's call it a satcom) that kicks off Phase IV of the MCU.
What if the actors who played Doctor Who hadn't left when they did? What if, for example, Colin Baker had stayed on to become Andrew Cartmel's Doctor Who...? Or Matt Smith's Doctor had met Missy...
Author and playwright - and former television script editor - Andrew Cartmel chooses the ten items he would take with him, in this fiftieth edition of Desert Planet Picks, if he was about to be marooned in outer space...
Andrew on Twitter
Andrew's Facebook
The Vinyl Detective
Stacey Smith?, pandemic modeller and co-author of OutsideIn and Who is the Doctor, chooses the eight items she would take with her, if she was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Stacey's website
The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
The Cloister Library
A discussion of the two cinema adaptations of Anthony Schaffer's play Sleuth, in 1972 and, latterly written by Harold Pinter and directed by Kenneth Branagh, in 2007, and the 'spiritual remake' Deathtrap ten years after the first which was directed by Sidney Lumet from Ira Levin's play. All three of which starred Michael Caine.
Our journey through the Doctor Who back catalogue reaches 2012 and the run-up to the series' fiftieth anniversary, and the content we will be discussing is Series Seven. Buckle in, there's a lot of it
A mildly spoilery (stop when we get to the 'elephant in the room' if you don't want to hear about the new ending) look at Stephen King's The Stand and its television adaptations, in which J.R. is joined by Iain Martin, James Wheildon and Tim Allman
Iain on Twitter
James' The Movie Lighthouse on Twitter
Tim on Twitter
Millie McKenzie, the crazy cat lady with the love of polymer clay, chooses the eight items she would take with her, if she was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Millie on Twitter
Millie on Instagram
BBC news reporter Tim Allman chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Tim's Twitter
Tim on YouTube
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Another new game to while away a dull fifteen minutes, in this short bonus episode in which we guess the Doctor Who story from three clues
A conversation about the various writers who only have one Doctor Who story to their credit
Original photo: Tim Drury
This short bonus episode introduces a new quiz format in which Doctor Who story titles are run through the synonym-o-meter and the co-hosts have to guess what the stories really are
Film Club celebrates a changeover between American Presidents by travelling back in time to the late 1990s, and watching three films that sent up American politics during Bill Clinton's term in the Oval Office: Wag the Dog, Bulworth and Primary Colors
Actor, comedian and film-maker Richard Sandling stops by to talk about his ten Film Club Favourite choices, his new movie Phase and all sorts of other film and comedy related stuff
Phase on Vimeo
Richard's website
Richard's Twitter
Our randomly-ordered season-by-season discussion of the history of Doctor Who arrives at Tom Baker's final year as the fourth Doctor, and it's a conversation that's not for the faint-hearted
Iain and Mark of the All of Time and Space podcast get put through their paces in the usual series of not-quite challenges
All of Time and Space on Twitter
All of Time and Space home
Ross Aitken, aka Old Who from the Gallifrey's Most Wanted podcast, guests once again to chat about another three dystopian future visions from the 1970s, in Z.P.G., Westworld and Rollerball
Gallifrey's Most Wanted on Twitter
A review of Pixar's latest production Soul, and a round-up of some of the Christmas TV treats that were on offer this year
Another short bonus instalment to take us into the new year, as we randomly select pairs of Doctor Who stories and then try and divine the connections between them
From The Christmas Invasion to The End of Time, the Russell T Davies era saw Doctor Who become established as a Yuletide family favourite. But were the tenth Doctor specials any good?
Clay figures created and photographed by Millie McKenzie
Our Christmas film of 2020 is Frank Capra's 1946 classic It's a Wonderful Life. Plus a rundown of the films we reviewed in 2020; what was our least favourite - and will this one top the list?
Matt and Simon review the second series of The Mandalorian from Disney+, and discuss the latest Star Wars announcements
Old Who (that's Ross) and New Who (that's Vic) from the Gallifrey's Most Wanted podcast, go On the Spot for sixty seconds at a time, on randomly selected Doctor Who stories, so you don't have to
Gallifrey's Most Wanted on Twitter
With no new arrivals and no departures, Doctor Who in 1972 was very much like Doctor Who in 2015; business as usual. But was Jon Pertwee's third term any good?
Clay figures created and photographed by Millie McKenzie
It's been on the radar for most of the year, but now that Christopher Nolan's latest has arrived on DVD, it's time to level up on our thoughts about Tenet. Top spot, or dud?
A review of Mank, David Fincher's new film for Netflix, a comparison with its predecessor, RKO 281, and a brief detour into the legacy of Orson Welles and Citizen Kane
A short bonus episode, in which we look ahead to the 2020 Doctor Who holiday special, Revolution of the Daleks. Warning: contains potential spoilers and speculation
The twelfth Doctor's first season comes under the spotlight as we travel back to 2014 for Series Eight
Artwork borrowed from "JwMnMaso"
Dan and Mike of the Fifteen-Minute Film Fanatics podcast go On the Spot for sixty seconds over a randomly selected variety of movie titles ... so we don't have to.
Fifteen-Minute Film Fanatics on Twitter
Fifteen-Minute Film Fanatics Podcast
Ross Aitken of the Gallifrey's Most Wanted podcast returns, to discuss three more movies from the 1970s: No Blade of Grass, Electra Glide in Blue and The Stepford Wives
An experiment in talking about Doctor Who without mentioning specific stories or anything connected with them ... so you don't have to.
The nadir ... or the renaissance? We had back to 1987 to check out Sylvester McCoy's first season as Doctor Who, to find out how we feel about it 33 years later.
Millie McKenzie on Twitter
It's time for RTD's second series, David Tennant's tenth Doctor's first, to go under the spotlight, as we turn our microphones back to 2006 and Series Two
(Artwork borrowed from Wario64I)
A discussion on the merits - or otherwise - and meanings of the three motion picture adaptations of the novels of John Fowles, The Collector, The Magus and The French Lieutenant's Woman
J.R. and Matt chat about the new Netflix adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, and absolutely avoid comparing it with the 1940 Alfred Hitchcock film, which we also talk about just incidentally. Honest.
With actual Halloween on general hiatus this year, we head back instead to our pagan past and take a Venetian holiday in 1973, to talk about the horror double bill of The Wicker Man and Don't Look Now
Warning: contains swears
(Three of) the regular hosts each talk for sixty seconds on a variety of randomly selected Doctor Who stories.
Artwork from a photograph by Scott Sebring
It's the final season of the 1960s, and the last for second Doctor Patrick Troughton. We turn our microphones to Season Six, perhaps the most inconsistent till the fifth Doctor's first.
Artwork 'borrowed' from FunnyNWittyReference
The first in a three-part story by Stephen Muppet, in which the TARDIS lands fifty years into the future to find all is not well.
To find out what happens in the following two instalments, visit Beermat Productions at Wordpress.com
A short bonus episode in which we select random pairs of Doctor Who stories and then struggle to find connections between them
Our foreign correspondent Ross Aitken returns to help examine what the filmmakers of the 1970s seemed to think we had coming; it's the turn of Soylent Green, A Boy and His Dog and Logan's Run to go under the Film Club microphones
Ross on Twitter
Ross' podcast
In the second instalment of our look at Doctor Who's curtain raisers and finales, we focus on the first and last episodes of the late 1970s and 1980s
A shorter than usual edition of Film Club this time, looking at Peter Jackson's epic trilogy of adaptations of The Lord of the Rings books. But which of us are the friendly hobbits and who turns out to be the irksome Orc...?
It's back to Matt Smith's debut season in this episode, our retrospective of Steven Moffat's first year in the showrunnership, Series Five
A short bonus podcast today, in which we play another round of 'Guess the Doctor Who story'
A profile of genre director John Carpenter, with particular emphasis on reviews of Halloween and Escape from New York
Examining the role of the opening and closing stories in a season; in the first part of this feature we look at the curtain raisers and finales in Doctor Who between 1963 and 1974
J.R. and Matt head back to the 1980s to remember the TV series that came to define how we watch TV detectives
Opening theme: And Also the Trees
It's time to turn our microphones to 1975, and the first year of Doctor Who with Tom Baker in the role
The final instalment of our returning characters conversation turns to (mostly) the Steven Moffat era
Charlie Kaufman's new film goes under the Film Club microphone, in this short bonus review episode
It's time to turn our attentions to the subject of returning characters in modern Doctor Who, and in this first of two episodes, generally more specifically during the Russell T Davies era
3,067 days (or eight years, four months and 23 days, or 499 podcast episodes) ago, Mark Cockram, Lee Rawlings and J.R. Southall published their first Blue Box Podcast. Today, 3,067 days (or eight years, four months and 23 days, or 499 podcast episodes) later, and with the help of new regular podcasters Simon Brett and Matt Barber in place of the waylaid Mr Cockram, it's time to publish our 500th. With a very special guest, and ostensibly in order to talk about our listeners' Top Ten TV (Other) Sci-Fi shows (that aren't Doctor Who).
Normal service will resume shortly. (Theme music by Unilever.)
All of Time and Space on Apple Podcasts
The TV writer of Kill the Moon, The Zygon Invasion/Inversion and The Pyramid at the End of the World stops by for a chat about surviving the pandemic, the intersection between whimsy and seriousness, writing movies, deleting Kenneth Branagh's jokes and of course, his Doctor Who stories
Opening theme: Unilever
Earlier this year I recorded one of my little Doctor Who quizzes to go out on YouTube; here's the audio for that quiz, for anyone who might like to play along without the video element...
From Terror of the Autons to The Timeless Children and all points in between (except the ones we ruled out), we asked our listeners to name their Top Ten Master Stories - and here are the results.
Ross Aitken of the Gallifrey's Most Wanted podcast joins me to look at the three film adaptations of Richard Matheson's debut novel I Am Legend, including The Last Man on Earth and of course, The Omega Man
Gallifrey's Most Wanted on iTunes
Gallifrey's Most Wanted on Twitter
It's back to the beginning as we reach the end of our initial run of revisitations, with a look at Doctor Who's very first season from 1963/4
(Artwork borrowed from Jeremy Bonwick)
With the release of Tenet coming up on August the Septemberth, we thought it was time to turn our focus on the film career of Christopher Nolan, and sort out the Interstellar from the Prestige
By way of a preamble (and it's very amble) to our Season One review next week, J.R. takes a dive into the Cuttings Archive, to look at how those earliest of the Doctor Who serials were promoted in the press
The Doctor Who Cuttings Archive
It's all change in the producer's chair as Doctor Who enters its fifteenth year, but can Horror of Fang Rock achieve the highest percentage score yet?
(Art borrowed from mimikeyu)
From the Master to the Mara via the Monk (but not the Megara), we turn our attention to the returning Time Lords and other villains that plagued the Doctor throughout the original series
As a prologue to doing something a bit more substantial on Steven Spielberg later on, we decided to each choose our top five movies of his career
It's back to Doctor Who's twentieth season for this week's listeners' poll, as we ask if Enlightenment was the choice they made, and whether Terminus was the last thing on their list.
Is there more to the giant ape picture than meets the eye? It's time for Film Club to take a stroll back to 2005, then 1976, and finally 1933, to find out...
Our listener polling reaches Season Four, wherein some important new Doctor Who lore is created and the historicals are phased out. But will the Daleks be victorious - and if so, with which story?
Artwork 'borrowed' from embersfieldfilms
Caustic comedies author Rob Shearman chooses the ten films that have been the biggest influence on his life and career, in a variety of "randomly chosen" categories.
Opening theme: Unilever
We All Hear Stories in The Dark hardback
We All Hear Stories in the Dark paperback
So, this thing happened, a bit like that scene in Blink where Sally Sparrow gets a letter from the past.
The latest episode is the first half of a two-part examination of the legitimacy and effectiveness of bringing characters back from Doctor Who's past. This week, we look at the Doctor's friends.
We asked our listeners to name their ten favourite Dalek stories. This is what they said.
It's back to the 25th anniversary, as Season 25 of Doctor Who comes under the microphone
Our host Simon chooses films in ten categories, that have made a significant impression upon him.
Our wanderings through Doctor Who's past bring us to the series' tenth anniversary. But will it be the one with the three Doctors, the one with the maggots or the one with the chap who looks suspiciously like Harry Sullivan, that our readers vote best in Season Ten?
An off-the-cuff edition of Film Club, as we take a stroll through the various movies written (and sometimes directed) by Charlie Kaufman, including the likes of Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Another week, another trip to the past - and this time, we're visiting the recent past. It's 2011, and it's the turn of Matt Smith's second series to come under the microphone.
Our host Matt chooses films in ten categories, that have made a significant impression upon him.
Opening theme: Unilever
Is Tom Baker's second series as Doctor Who the best season ever? It certainly has a huge claim on being the most popular. Time, then, for us to head back to the autumn of 1975 and rediscover what it has to offer for ourselves.
With apologies to herbarianband (aka Andy Walker) for borrowing the art.
With most of the rest of the Best Picture nominees - and some other interesting titles - turning up on home media platforms of late, and after we turned the spotlight on Joker a few months ago, we thought it was time to give our thoughts on the likes of Jojo Rabbit, Once Upon a Time .,.. in Hollywood, and of course Parasite.
Join the Strangers in Space team as they head back to early 1985, in order to re-examine Doctor Who's first attempt at moving to 45-minute episodes, as producer JN-T nears the end of his Eric Saward experiment. It's our re-review of Season 22 folks!
With apologies to FunnyNWittyReferenc for borrowing the art...
Having quizzed quite plenty about Doctor Who, we thought it was time to try out some questions on our other big love: the movies.
The last few years of modern Doctor Who have proposed the question, Do the Cybermen only really 'work' if they're the henchmen of one iteration of the Master or another? We decided to ask our listeners a different question entirely: What's your favourite Cyberman story? Here be the answers.
Our host J.R. chooses films in ten categories, that have made a significant impression upon him.
Opening theme: Unilever
Our season by season wander back through the meanderings of (mostly) original run Doctor Who fetches up in 1965/6; it's time for William Hartnell's final full season as the eponymous character to go under the Strangers in Space microphone.
With Lee, Simon and Matt having each won a heat, it's time to find out which of the three knows their Doctor Who the best. So join us for the grand final of our coronavirus quiz, in which lockdown starts getting to Simon, Lee takes it all in his stride and CyberMatt's will to win almost sees him breaking a sweat.
A special lockdown episode chewing the lean over some mini-topics as suggested by our listeners. Well, we say "special", you'll have to determine that for yourselves.
Matt is joined by JR this week to compare the French romantic thriller L'Appartement, with its American remake Wicker Park, a film that Steven Spielberg was at one point attached to, and that ultimately ended up being made by the director who went on to create the visual style for Moffat and Gatiss' Sherlock
The first (and possibly only genuine) companion death, a whodunit without a "who" (although it does feature two Doctors, one of which doesn't even bother to show up) and an alien world that was only conjured into being just in time to turn up on the telly; it's back to 1982 this week as the Strangers in Space podcast revisits the rudderless season that was Peter Davison's first.
With everybody else having won a quiz (except for JR, who sets the quiz), you'd think Matt would have an easy time of it in this last of the three preliminary heats. But oh no, it's not as simple as that; Matt still has competition, even if only of the virtual variety - so can he beat everybody else off and emerge triumphant?
Can Season One and Series Three live together in perfect harmony? Or: which is reallest, the original run or Nu Who? We don't know, but we thought it would be fun to find out.
After Lee's unexpected victory in the first quiz, Simon and Matt battle it out to see who will be the worthiest challenger in the next round. Surely it's got to be Matt this time, right?
It's back to Jon Pertwee's first series of Doctor Who this time around, as we invite our listeners to vote the four stories into order of preference and work our way through the results.
(with apologies to Douglas Sommerville for borrowing his Blu-ray-inspired artwork)
It's eight years since Lee and J.R. first published a podcast together, so it's only right that for our anniversary, J.R. should set the Strangers a quiz for Lee to make a right hash of. Can Simon make up the ground, or will it be Matt's academic training that sees him triumph?
Seven years on from the Blue Box Podcast's dissection of The Key to Time, the Strangers in Space head back to 1978 for another look at Season 16 - this time with input from our listeners!
Looking back over the highs and low of Series 12, now that we're able to see the whole thing in context
A short bonus podcast before we get back on track next week, with a solo J.R. reading out the listeners' feedback and revealing the Series 12 poll results
A look at the films of Alfred Hitchcock, with particular emphasis of The 39 Steps and Psycho as examples of the two genre types he was most associated with
There's a lot to talk about this week, so as you'll probably expect, we take a lot of time to talk about it... It's our review of the Series 12 finale episode, The Timeless Children.
Actors' agent and audio producer Clare Eden chooses the eight items she would take with her, if she was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Clare's website
The John Thaw Foundation
Clare on Twitter
Clare on Facebook
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
A review of the ninth episode of Series 12 of Doctor Who, plus a bunch of speculation about what might happen in episode ten.
A review of the eighth episode of Series 12 of Doctor Who, The Haunting of Villa Diodati.
Series 12 reaches its seventh episode and we're back to four members - about which much more in the Easter Egg - for this review of Can You Hear Me? Which also includes mentions of Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran and The Peanut.
With guest host Christopher Bryant, editor of featured publication You On Target, plus readings from Stephen Hatcher, Jef Hughes and Miles Northcott
Buy You On Target
A review of the sixth episode of Series 12, plus more rumour debunking, then later on some speculation and eventually some consideration (involving loaded knives) as to what actually constitutes rumour
Mark Donaldson and Ben Verth of the On the Time Lash podcast, reveal which eight items they would each take with them, if they were about to be marooned on a desert planet
Warning: there are swears!
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
On the Time Lash on Wordpress
On Twitter
And on Facebook
A review of Mackenzie Crook's recent adaptation of Barbara Euphan Todd's children's novel.
Well now. It's the Strangers in Space review of the fifth episode of the twelfth series of what we like to call modern Doctor Who. And blimey, that was something wasn't it.
Our review of the fourth episode of the twelfth series of the second incarnation of Doctor Who, featuring its thirteenth Doctor.
What did we think of the latest episode of Doctor Who you ask? Well, I guess this is the place to find out...
A review of the BBC's recent three-part adaptation of Dracula, written by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat
Opening theme: And Also the Trees
Could the second half of Spyfall live up to the promise of the first episode? Find out in our in-depth review.
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
The Strangers in Space booked themselves onto a three-for-two flight to the USA, so we could bring you our review of Disney's first live-action Star Wars TV series, The Mandalorian
TV Club theme: And Also the Trees
Twelve months on from Resolution, has Chris Chibnall's second series started in a way that makes good on the promise made by that episode?
J.J. Abrams returns to the director's chair for the final instalment of the Skywalker franchise. Was it everything we hoped it would be? Find out in this in-depth review.
Nerdology host and president of the palindromes Mark Cockram, chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Nerdology
Nerdology on Twitter
Nerdology on Facebook
With no new Christmas Specials to talk about, and with pantomime season in full swing, we ask if The Creature from the Pit might be turned into something seasonally appropriate instead?
With much thanks to our special guests:
The Movie Lighthouse
On the Timelash
Who's He?
Diddly Dum
Progtor Who
Iain Martin's A to Z
Something Who
The Krynoid Podcast
A short look ahead to what may or may not be ahead in Series 12, given how little information has actually been released!
Warning: contains spoilers. And probably also a fair amount of poppycock.
Is Joe Dante’s Gremlins, originally released on the 8th of June 1984, really a Christmas film? And how does Gremlins 2 match up? Plus, find out what our best – and worst – reviewed films of 2019 were
Some pre-Christmas games and quizzes, as the Strangers team find themselves with half an hour to spare and only JR's bag of trickery to keep them occupied. Playing along at home is only recommended in a safe environment
Actors, writers and podcasters John Dorney and Tom Salinsky choose the eight items they would each take with them, if they were about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
The Best Pick Podcast
Dorney's Twitter
Tom's Twitter
The Spontaneity Shop
Tom's Blog
Beginning a new strand reviewing television, we turn our attention to the BBC's adaptation of H.G. Wells' iconic book
Opening theme: And Also the Trees
With The Rise of Skywalker looming, Film Club goes back to George Lucas' pre-1977 movie career and examines THX 1138 and American Graffiti, with a view to working out where the first Star Wars came from
A new trailer, new and old news, speculation, rumour, wild imaginings... (Half of) Strangers in Space look forward to Doctor Who Series 12.
Artist and author Robert Hammond chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Rob's Twitter
Rob's Instagram
Rob's website
Miloš Forman's 1984 Mozart biopic comes under the scrutiny of the FCI team, plus bonus Simon, this time around.
"Sweary Scientist" Emma Byrne chooses the eight items she would take with her, if she was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Emma's Website
Emma's Twitter
Profile Books
Could Doctor Who be about to regenerate more significantly than at any point since the original death of the series and its successful rebirth a decade and a half later? We discuss the latest rumours Chinese Whispering their way around the internet.
Award-winning TV writer Emma Reeves chooses the eight items she would take with her, if she was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Emma's Twitter
Three returning guests each choose the three items they would send to a desert planet, if they were given the opportunity
Opening theme by Yummy Fur, incidental music by Jesus Couldn't Drum
Filmmaker Ashley Thorpe chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Ashley's Twitter
Borley Rectory on Blu-ray
Hell Tor Festival on Facebook
It's Halloween, so travel with the Film Club International crew back to the year 1971, as they review Harry Kümel's Daughters of Darkness, aka Les Lèvres Rouges aka Le Rouge aux Lèvres aka The Red Lips aka The Red on the Lips aka Dorst Naar Bloed aka Blood Thirst...
Art designer Matt Sanders chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Matt's website
Author Jane Lovering chooses the eight items she would take with her, if she was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Jane's website
Jane's Twitter
Jane's Facebook Page
How to Write Romantic Comedy
Join us one year on from the debut series of new showrunner Chris Chibnall and new Doctor Jodie Whittaker, as we re-watch The Tsuranga Conundrum (and the other episodes too, of course) and revisit our feelings on this most divisive of Doctor Who seasons. Was it as bad / good / indifferent as we had at first thought?
Author Rhoda Baxter, who also writes as Jeevani Charika, chooses the eight items she would take with her, if she was about to be marooned on a desert planet.
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Rhoda's website
Jeevani's website
Rhoda's Twitter
An overview of The Terminator film series, plus a more in-depth review of the 2015 instalment in the franchise
Marc Atkinson and Bob Fleming, accomplished musicians and erstwhile co-podcasters, choose the eight items they'd (each) take with them, if they were about to be marooned on a (separate) desert planet (from one another)
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Progtor Who
Marc's Bandcamp Page
It's a case of "What would you have done?" this month, as three of the four Strangers discuss the (potential) new showrunner and launch into listeners questions regarding an alternative last few years of Doctor Who - or a future the way we'd rewrite it ourselves.
J.R. and Matt found themselves at a loose end, so a short bonus podcast of our random sixty-second Doctor Who monologuing ensued.
Journalist and magazine editor Tom Spilsbury chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Inside Soap
A short bonus episode in honour of Doctor Who royalty Terrance Dicks, who recently passed away
The host of the Bad Wilf podcast chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
The Bad Wilf Podcast
Martyn on Twitter
Our listeners asked which were the worst production decisions of each era and which stories were the most reflective of their times, and as there were only two of us available to record we decided to answer those questions more fully than we really thought sensible
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
A short bonus discussion with the Bad Wilf podcast's Martyn Havell, on the subject of whether the next Doctor Who ought to be another woman or not
Author and editor Kara Dennison chooses the eight items she would take with her, if she was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Opening theme by Jesus Couldn't Drum
Kara's Twitter
Altrix Books
A wander through the opening and closing scenes of the various Doctors Who, in an attempt to evaluate what the writers were trying to say about their characters
Theme music: Richard Judge
Artist and illustrator Jemima Williams chooses the eight items she'd take with her, if she was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Jemima's website
Jemima's Twitter
Hibernate With Me on YouTube
Hibernate With Me on Amazon (UK)
Record distributor, National Album Day advocate and part-time guitarist Pat Howe chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
National Album Day on Facebook
Pat on Twitter
It's our 400th episode, so here's a short bonus podcast we recorded a little while ago - featuring another of our patented (by other people) Doctor Who games - followed by a more recent recording in which we celebrate our millstone by running down our collective Top Ten Doctor Who Stories.
Have the reports of the death of Doctor Who been greatly exaggerated? Find out in this bonus episode.
With guest host Kara Dennison plus readings from David Busch and Drew Meyer
Original cover art by Andy Lambert
Actor and co-founder of the Graeae Theatre Company, Nabil Shaban chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet.
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Nabil's YouTube channel
Nope, the title "Expanding Returns" is not some clever reference to another batch of missing episodes turning up, rather it's a play on the expression diminishing returns, as half of the Strangers in Space team (that's all who turned up this month I'm afraid) ask whether recurring monsters are always better on their first time out.
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
The Film Club International team turn their attention to Taika Waititi's 2010 New Zealand film Boy...
Horror author Mark Morris chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Mark's Facebook
Mark's Twitter
Mark's Website
Convention organiser, writer and potential after dinner speaker Stephen Hatcher chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Film and TV writer, director and producer Matthew Jacobs chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Matthew on Twitter
Doctor Who Am I on Facebook
Your Good Friend on Vimeo
The guest for this episode is Stephen Hatcher, who joins J.R. to chat through the links between some more readings from the You and Who books
Television producer/director and restoration expert Paul Vanezis chooses the eight items he would take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet.
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Paul's Twitter.
A look at the various varieties of cliffhanger that have tempted us back to watch the next week's episode of Doctor Who over the years, plus our listeners' vote as they choose their favourites.
Artist and writer Sophie Iles chooses the eight items she'd take with her, if she were about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
A short bonus podcast (plus an even shorter bonus bonus podcast within the bonus podcast) as the Strangers in Space team go On the Spot in this episode (plus in the bonus bonus podcast Logan's dad sums up the classic era of Logan's Look).
A review of the first full-length computer animated movie Toy Story, and an overview of Pixar's subsequent output
Matt and a revised gang dive straight into the middle of Jean Cocteau's Orphic Trilogy with an instalment devoted to its middle film, the 1950 picture Orphée
Host of the Something Who podcast Richard Smith chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Something Who Podcast
Richard's Twitter
A discussion about which modern Doctor Who stories might make good viewing for fans who gave up watching the series back when Boris Johnson was still studying for his 2:1 at Oxford.
Host of the Who's He podcast, Phil Cannon chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Editors J.R. Southall and Dan Barratt talk through some brand new readings of You and Who essays by the authors themselves, explain the new miscellany volume One More Lifetime - and announce a brand new series of books.
Audio dramatist Jack Bowman chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Jack's Twitter
Jack's Facebook
Home Front Audio
Matt Barber's breakaway Film Club group turns its attention to Ingmar Bergman's 1966 psychological drama, Persona
A review of Casino Royale, and a discussion about Daniel Craig's Bond, his first two films as 007, and the changes made to the series when he was cast
A rundown of the various spin-offs, charity shorts and alternative media versions of Doctor Who, that have played alongside the television series
A short-ish bonus Film Club instalment, with reviews of the two recent home video releases of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Mary Poppins Returns, and a few thoughts on Avengers: Endgame
One Man Bond, playwright and graphic novelist Brian Gorman chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Brian's Facebook
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Closing theme arrangement: Richard Judge
A short bonus podcast, in which the Strangers team randomly selects Doctor Who stories and then tries to connect them thematically
Gallifrey Base forum owner and co-author of Red, White and Who, Steven Warren Hill chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
A review of the 1958 Karel Zeman film Invention for Destruction (US title The Fabulous World of Jules Verne), and a discussion about other films which mix live action and animation.
Opening theme arrangement: Finn Talisker
A short conversation with Nicholas Briggs (recorded in March 2018) about the Koch Media re-releases of Reeltime's Myth Makers Doctor Who interview compilations
A review of Philip Kaufman's 1978 adaptation of the Jack Finney novel The Body Snatchers, and a discussion around the various other film versions of the book
A review of the new animated version of The Macra Terror
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
A conversation about the role of the showrunner in Doctor Who, and who the next one might be
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
Actor, writer, director, sound designer, composer and voice actor Nicholas Briggs chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
A review of the 1962 film and a discussion about other adaptations of John Wyndham's work, those of John Christopher, and end of the world television in the 1970s
Popular actor, writer and comedian Toby Hadoke chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
A conversation about the stories that have changed the direction of Doctor Who.
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
Screenwriter Peter Harness chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet.
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
TV screenwriter Peter Harness discusses his forthcoming adaptation of War of the Worlds.
Opening theme: Brian Hodgson
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
Author and screenwriter Rob Shearman chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was going to be stranded on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
A discussion of the relative merits of two literary tropes often cited in conjunction with modern Doctor Who
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
A review of Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, and an overview of various other adaptations of H.G. Wells' work
Opening theme: Dudley Simpson
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
Cartoonist Jonathan Lemon chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Jonathan's Twitter
Alley Oop
Rabbits Against Magic
Opening and closing themes: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Lemon's photo choice:
Mani-talented word wrangler Paul Cornell chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
Paul Cornell's website
Paul Cornell on Twitter
The Strangers in Space choose the original run stories they'd show a modern series fan, with a cruel caveat or two and with the occasional surprise choice
James McLean of the PodKast (with a K) chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
PodKast (with a K)
Radio Free Skaro's Steven Schapansky chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
Steven's Twitter
Radio Free Skaro
Nathan Bottomley from Flight Through Entirety chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be marooned on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
Flight Through Entirety
Doc Whom of the Diddly Dum Podcast chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
Diddly Dum: https://diddlydumpodcast.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/diddly_dum?lang=en
The Doctor Who Show's David Kitchen chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn't Drum
The Doctor Who Show: https://thedwshow.podbean.com/
A review of Brian De Palma's 1976 film Carrie, and an overview of the director's career
Opening theme by Dudley Simpson
Theme arrangement by Richard Judge
A review of the New Year's Special, plus the results of our listeners' votes on Series Eleven
Theme arrangement by Richard Judge
Support us!
Ko-fi.com/strangersinspace
patreon.com/strangersinspace
Internet security champion (and Doctor Who fan) Graham Cluley chooses the eight items he’d take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Twitter: twitter.com/gcluley
Website: grahamcluley.com
Smashing Security Podcast: smashingsecurity.com
Opening theme: Jesus Couldn’t Drum
Theme arrangement: Richard Judge
JR chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Matt Barber chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Simon chooses the eight items he'd take with him, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
The second of two 'unreleased' Blue Box Podcasts, a review of the ninth episode of Series Eleven
The first of two 'unreleased' Blue Box Podcasts, a review of the eighth episode of Series Eleven
Lee chooses the eight items he'd take, if he was about to be stranded on a desert planet
Sound Zero of the new podcast from J.R. Southall, Lee Rawlings, Simon Brett and Matt Barber, in which we review the Doctor Who Series Eleven finale, The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos.