Doctor Who: Radio Free Skaro: Recent Episodes

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A Doctor Who podcast featuring three charming Canadians.

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It’s the end of an era but the moment has been prepared for as the trailblazing Verity! crew release their final episode capping more than a decade of smart talk about Doctor Who from six awesome ladies. Pay tribute to their work and the community they built, as we do in this episode! Plus Gallifrey One announces Mat Irvine and Waris Hussein as guests, more Circuit Breaker and Big Finish fun, various Kickstarters and neat obscurities, and an interview with Stephen James Walker, the editor of the keenly anticipated Doctor Who Production Diary – The Troughton Years!

Links:

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The last episode of Verity!
Mat Irvine, Waris Hussein announced for Gallifrey One 2027
Projections in Time – Battlefield happening Sep 13 at Riverside Studios, tickets sold out in 10 minutes
Circuit Breaker 2 from Titan Comics available now
Circuit Breaker: Lost In Time mobile game segment Castling available for a limited time
The Six Doctors novelization by Simon Guerrier coming Jan 21, 2027
The Vampire Mutation novelization by Steve Cole coming Mar 4, 2027
The Monster of Fang Rock, featuring Peter Cushing’s Doctor, due Sep 2026 from Obverse Books
New “lay flat” book-style Blu-ray sets coming November 3 for the Smith, Capaldi, and Whittaker eras
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill released
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Wings of Steel released
Adventures on Bannerman Road kickstarter
Just Sarah by Candy Jar Books released

Interview:

The Doctor Who Production Diary – The Troughton Years
Stephen James Walker

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We’re breaking circuits once more as we cover both the new Audiobook Doctor Who: The Deadliest Weapon and preview a new Titan comic in the sprawling saga of Circuit Breaker starring Jo Martin as the Fugitive Doctor! Spoilers: we’re enjoying Circuit Breaker! Plus books, Big Finish tomfoolery, more Dalek 63-88 goodies, and Part the Fourth of our Classic Series Commentary for the special edition of “Warriors of the Deep”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Graeme Harper announced as guest for Gallifrey One 2027
Circuit Breaker: Doctor Who: The Deadliest Weapon released July 30
Doctor Who Circuit Breaker #2 available August 5 from Titan Comics
Circuit Breaker Big Finish stories now available for pre-order, due Sep 30
Big Finish: The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: The Beautiful and the Damned available now
Big Finish: The Worlds of Doctor Who – Space Security Service: Bret Vyon Lives! available now
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Shock and Awe due Sep 2026
Colin Baker on The Whoniverse Show
The Black Archive :The Invasion by Steve Hatcher due Aug 2026
The Mind of the Doctor: Across the Neurodiverse Universe of Doctor Who available in August
Dalek 63-88: The Original Plans for Daleks’ Master Plan 3
Film is Fabulous launches Patreon page
Tom Chadbon (1946-2026)
Duggan by Pip Madeley

Commentary

Warriors of the Deep Part Four

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The TARDIS is in Glasgow this week as both the King and Queen of England opened the Commonwealth Games and Sylvester McCoy (in costume and adorned with a traffic cone) calls out all the Scottish Doctors by name, as is his right), and in February of next year both Carole Ann Ford and Anita Dobson will be in Los Angeles for Gallifrey One! Also, we discuss the future of Doctor Who alongside a new DWM article, Dugga Doo action dolly madness, a strange digression into the work of Giorgio Moroder, and is The War Between The Land and the Sea coming to Disney+ in January? If you can get past all that, we also have Part Three of our Classic Series Commentary for “Warriors of the Deep”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The TARDIS Is On A Royal Mission To The Commonwealth Games
Sylvester McCoy being an icon for 26 seconds
Carole Ann Ford, Anita Dobson announced for Gallifrey One 2027
Doctor Who Magazine #632, including the next chapter of Circuit Breaker
First look at Circuit Breaker story ‘The Honourable Society’
What has the BBC ever done for me?
No TWBTLATS on Disney+ schedule for August
Russell Tovey hints at 2027 Disney+ release for The War Between
DisneyBeat fan site predicted January 9, 2027 as TWB premiere
Character Options The Fifteenth Doctor Set with Mr Ring-a-Ding & Dugga Doo available Aug 3
Doctor Who: The Key to Time novelization series, including three new books, coming Oct 29
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: The Broken Man available now
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident released
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: A New Occupation due Sep 2026
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Greatest Train Robbery due Sep 2026
Network DVD returns to business with new ownership

Commentary

Warriors of the Deep Part Three

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Do you want to hear about MRAHHH BUSINESS regarding BBC Studios and the BBC’s annual report for the better part of an hour? Well, you’re going to, along with keen insights into the NHK man prowling Tokyo looking for license fee avoiders, James Bond musings, the continued myth of Christopher Nolan films having minimal CGI and more! Plus exciting Jo Martin sonic screwdriver news, more Big Finish analysis, and the exciting second part of our “Warriors of the Deep” Special Edition Classic Series Commentary with a new, pizazz-filled Myrka!

Links:

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BBC Studios Boss Confirms It Will Compete To Become The Next Producer Of ‘Doctor Who’
Broadcast: BBC Studios revenues stable as profits rise
BBC Boss Says ‘Doctor Who’ Disruption Is Opportunity For Creative Regeneration
BBC 2026 Annual Report released
BBC License Fee Payers Plummet By Half A Million
How BBC Studios’ CEO Thinks About Mega-Mergers Reshaping the Media Landscape
New Fugitive Doctor sonic scredriver unveiled, will debut in “The Kaleidoscope” book
Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker producer confirms why Fugitive Doctor has a sonic screwdriver after fan confusion
Circuit Breaker #1 on Hoopla
Doctor Who on Pop Culture Jeopardy
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: The Second Death released
Big Finish: Doctor Who – Rutans vs Sontarans: Peace at Last released
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill due August 2026

Commentary

Warriors of the Deep Part Two

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The UK is awash in televisual Mrrahhh Business this week as Sky is set to purchase ITV for $2.13 billion and what better “experts” to weigh in on the subject than three Canadians with a passing familiarity with the industry? Plus a surfeit of Troughton-era goodness in the form of a massive production diary of the era by author David Brunt and a Doctor Who: Legends special featuring Ol’ Two himself. We also have blatant foreign election interference as we endorse Count Binface and poorly explain what Ceefax is to the younger generations who do not in any way care! All this AND part one of our Classic Series Commentary for the newly released special edition of “Warriors Of The Deep”!!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
‘Doomsday’ 20 years on – remembering the final adventure of the Doctor and Rose
Sky acquires ITV for $2.13 billion
BBC “Discussing” Partnership With Channel 4 in Streaming Race for Scale
Doctor Who: Legends – Patrick Troughton available July 16
The Doctor Who Production Diary: The Troughton Years available August 14
Dalek 63-88: How One Director Made ’60s Doctor Who Look Like Cinema
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Fixers available now
Big Finish: Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master – Part One released

Commentary

Warriors of the Deep Part One

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We’re Breaking Circuits over here at Radio Free Skaro Towers, with a web-based UNIT story setting up the whole shebang and a new Titan Comics adventure (which we have read in preview form) soon to come! While TWBLATS has yet to grace North American bandwidth via Disney+, the BBC Writers Room site has provided scripts for you to peruse! Plus Steven Moffat continues his unofficial Doctor Who appreciation tour with a guest appearance on Peter Purves’ podcast, Blake’s 7 Series C Blu-Ray available for preorder in the US, and the conclusion of our Classic Series Commentary for part four of Spearhead From Space!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Circuit Breaker: An Introduction
Doctor Who Circuit Break #1 available July 8 from Titan Comics
Doctor Who: 20 Years On – The Tenth Doctor BFI event Aug 15, tickets on sale July 9
The War Between the Land and the Sea scripts available on the BBC Writers Room site
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Thirteen O’Clock released
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Dark Tides due August 2026
Steven Moffat on Peter Purves’ podcast
Target Book Club 2026 happening October 24 in London
Blake’s 7 Season C available for US preorder, quotes Dec 1 release
Blake’s 7: Revenge of the Mutoes & Other Stories audiobook coming July 23
Justin Richards obituary
Big Finish tribute to Justin Richards

Commentary

Spearhead From Space, Episode 4

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It’s a bumper crop of news this week despite a complete lack of Doctor Who…except for Circuit Breaker, which begins by way of an online game where you join UNIT! Plus a fine interview with Steven Moffat on the Whoniverse Show, some fine Big Finish Zaprudering, and some truly insane talk about both a possible (but thankfully never followed up on) Doctor Who-Star Trek crossover and a deep investigation into the Happy Days animated universe! Don a leather jacket and say “Wonzie” with us!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Bad Wolf producing The Other Bennet Sister Christmas special in July
There were ideas for a Doctor Who/Strange New Worlds crossover
Doctor Who Magazine #631
Jo Martin DWM interview excerpt
Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker begins
Steven Moffat on The Whoniverse Show
Steven Moffat improvs a Doctor Who story
Big Finish: The Worlds of Doctor Who – Gallifrey: War Room: Loyalties available now
Big Finish: Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon released
Big Finish: Torchwood: Legacy due Sep/Oct 2026
David Daker died April 30
Whocast (German Doctor Who podcast) celebrates 20 years on July 3
Simon Guerrier delivered a talk about David Whitaker and Terrance Dicks at the York Festival of Ideas

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If you thought a complete vacuum of Doctor Who news would stop the Three Who Rule from prognostication based on the vapours and some recent UK media podcast analysis about the BBC tendering process, boy howdy you would be wrong! Thrill to our educated guesses as to where we go from here in a fractured media landscape! Puzzle over the tender process! Draw no real conclusions! Plus part the third of our Spearhead from Space Classic Series Commentary!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Rest is Entertainment podcast on the Doctor Who farrago
The War Between not in the Disney+ schedule for July
How I Filmed This – Rachel Talalay – Regenerating Doctor 12 to Doctor 13
First Doctor Who Collect & Build Set to be released June 29
Big Finish: Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks – Part Three released

Commentary:

Spearhead From Space, Episode 3

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It’s (not) the end, but the moment has been prepared for! Well, not as such but a press release from the BBC confirms what we long suspected: there will not be a Christmas special nor were plans for one ever seriously pursued. Sad news to be sure, but we’ve cobbled together industry and wider fan reaction along with our own lengthy takes tinged with what we’d like to think is both optimism and realism. More importantly, we have former Doctor Who Magazine editor Tom Spilsbury to give us his rather more informed take on the whole situation. Brave Heart, Tegan, after all somewhere the tea is getting cold.

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
An update on the future of Doctor Who
‘Doctor Who’ Set To Be Off Air For Years Amid A Creative Regeneration That’s Failing To Spark Enthusiasm Among Producers
Russell T Davies on Instagram: “For the record, there was no script”
Russell T Davies: Doctor Who hasn’t been cancelled
Bad Wolf Studios post on Instagram
Steven Moffat on the Doctor Who news
Andy Pryor also leaving Doctor Who
Variety: ‘Doctor Who’ Christmas Special Not Going Forward as Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf Exit Series
‘Doctor Who’ Christmas Special Canceled, As Russell T Davies & Bad Wolf Exit BBC Sci-Fi Series
Vinay Patel on the stress of making Doctor Who
BBC tendering process explained
Doctor Who’s Billie Piper Stunt Was Never Going to Pay Off by Kyle Anderson
Doctor Who premiered on AMC+ in the US only
Recovered: Doctor Who Special with Film Is Fabulous in Leicester Aug 15
The Queerest of Folk: A Life in Television by Russell T Davies due Oct 8
Big Finish: Planet Krynoid – Survivors released
Big Finish: The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Reunion due Aug 2026
Big Finish: The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill due August 2026
Nicola Bryant did the narration for The Ultimate Evil
Lifelong Doctor Who collection fetches £49,000
Sir Sherlock – The Sickle and the Sea Kickstarter, fully funded in less than a day
Michael Keating obituary by Toby Hadoke
Gene Shalit died

Interview:

Tom Spilsbury

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The rumours and nonsense continue to bubble up from the internet swamps this week with claims of the Christmas Special shot in a minimal style, a fake news release to irritate us all, and actual footage of RTD saying there will be a BBC press release in a week or two. The Three Who Rule dig deep and are quite skeptical of all this torpor (other than RTD’s almost certainly correct claim) as well the usual Big Finish and Dalek 63-88 updates and Part the Second of our Classic Series Commentary for Spearhead from Space!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
RTD says to expect a press release about Doctor Who in the next couple weeks
“BBC Announces Doctor Who Christmas Special to Mark End of an Era” fake press release
The Doctor Who Gossip No One Is Talking About – Because No One Knows About It
Dalek 63-88: Why The Daleks’ Master Plan Makes No Sense – The Galactic Warfare Problem
Big Finish Day 2027 will be April 17, 2027
Big Finish: The Fourth Doctor Adventures: Lethal Progress released
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Eighth Doctor Adventures: New Pathways due Nov 2026
Big Finish: The Death and Life of River Song: River and Rory due Jan 2027
Anthony Stewart Head 1954-2026

Commentary:

Spearhead from Space, Episode 2

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Jingle bells are probably silent this Christmas as, if RTD’s hinting in the UK media has led the Three Who Rule to conclude, after Mr. Davies stating he won’t be filming anything this year, so…whither Doctor Who Christmas Special? We get after it! We also look into the spectacular looking 4K release of the 1996 TV Movie, our thoughts on the Mandolorian and Grogu, the usual Big Finish Zaprudering, and an interview with Sophie Aldred, Paul Cornell and author Adrian Tchaikovsky and their involvement in the Salvation’s Child graphic novel! Space Comics!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Radio Times report on supposed upcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special
Russell T Davies on LBC: “I’m not filming anything until 2027”
Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann on the Whoniverse Show
Jonathan Helm on the Doctor Who TV Movie pre-titles sequence
Doctor Who TV Movie 4K review
Doctor Who Magazine 630 released
Doctor Who (1963-1996) coming to Britbox in Australia in June
Doctor Who Adventures: Save the Humans! due Aug 18
Cybertropolis The Art & Times of the Cybermen from Andrew Skilleter due autumn 2026
Big Finish: Torchwood: Fare Well released
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Fixers due July 2026
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident due July 2026
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Third Doctor Adventures: The Planet Killers due October 2026
Paradise Towers: Unalive the Multiverse Kickstarter from Cutaway Comics
Marcia Lucas passes away

Interview:

Salvation’s Child graphic novel
Paul Cornell
Sophie Aldred
Adrian Tchaikovsky

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The fallow times continue as the Three Who Rule murmur about the shifting media landscape that led to the Mando and Baby Yoda Movie not getting quite the cultural cachet of blockbusters of yesteryear and what, if anything, this portends for Doctor Who. (Still no War Between on Disney+, by the way)! Plus we discuss Ncuti Gatwa’s SNL monologue, remember the life of Michael Keating, pass on Film is Fabulous news, and crawl even further into the rose-tinted World of the Past with the first part of our Classic Series Commentary for Spearhead From Space!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Daleks’ Master Plan screening in Manchester from May 23
Film is Fabulous panels from Manchester screening
SNL UK cold open with Ncuti Gatwa
No The War Between The Land and the Sea on Disney+ in June
Big Finish: The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light available now
Big Finish: Doctor Who – Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition available now
Big Finish: The Worlds of Doctor Who – Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Parts One to Three due Jul 2026
Michael Keating 1947–2026
Blake’s 7 Production Diary Series C available May 25

Commentary:

Spearhead From Space, Episode 1

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Doctor Who is back! At least in the United States, by way of AMC+ which will be the exclusive streaming home of Doctor Who (2005-2022). No word if it’ll show up on AMC+ Canada, which does in fact exist, but we’re used to being the forgotten child of media. Plus we have more BFI and Big Finish news, a nice little BF tribute to Gareth David-Lloyd, and we travel back to the Jodie Whittaker era with a Miniscope examining the directing work of Lee Haven Jones on Spyfall Part Two, Orphan 55, and Revolution of the Daleks!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
AMC+ Acquires exclusive US streaming rights to Doctor Who (2005-2022)
Doctor Who: Projections in Time – Black & White & Silver at Riverside Studios, sold out
BFI screening of The TV Movie delayed to May 17
Man and Cyberman: Memoirs of a Cyberleader by David Banks due Sep 5
Doctor Who Magazine Doctor Who: The Time Museum – The Story of Doctor Who in 100 Objects due Jun 11
Big Finish Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis released
Big Finish – Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks – Part Two available now
Big Finish Interview with Gareth David-Lloyd as Torchwood and Ianto’s Shrine wind down
The Ultimate Evil: 6th Doctor Novelisation Audio CD – Unabridged due Sep 3
Jill Curzon died

Miniscope:

Lee Haven Jones
Spyfall Part Two
Orphan 55
Revolution of the Daleks

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There’s new stirrings in the world of Doctor Who production, one being an official BBC search for new producers of an new animated Doctor Who series for Time Tots on CBeebies, and a much more tenuous rumour about discontent between Russell T Davies, a potential streaming suitor, and a push for a grittier, aged-up series. Join the Three Who Rule who cogitate on the possibilities of Doctor Who’s future, along with Big Finish news, the improbable return of 80s laff-fest Spaceballs, and Part One of our Classic Series Commentary for The Visitation!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who – The TARDIS is set to land on CBeebies
Doctor Who pre-school animation: invitation to pitch
Doctor Who Season 2 coming August 18 to DVD, Blu-ray and Steelbook (UK)
Report: BBC and RTD at ddds with potential new Doctor Who partner
Excerpt from the new Fifteenth Doctor novel ‘Shirley Jackson and the Chaos Box’, available now
Big Finish Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Last Queen of the Nile, due Sep 2025
What if the Classic Doctors Regenerated like Modern Day Doctors? by Rob Ritchie
Spaceballs 2 announcement
Pik-Sen Lim died

Commentary:

The Visitation Part One

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Doctor Who Season 2, and the Ncuti Gatwa era, are over, Billie Piper is The Doctor (maybe?) and the Three Who Rule are left to pick up the pieces and look at the Doctor Who Unleashed – 20 Years in Wales retrospective, Amanda-Rae Prescott’s critique of the Fifteenth Doctor era for Den of Geek, more Dugga Doo shenanigans, a look at friend of the show Rachel Talalay’s use of the “oner” in the TV show Without a Trace, and more, merely setting the stage for the return of Fluid Links!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Steph de Whalley appearing at Gallifrey One
Doctor Who Unleashed – 20 Years in Wales
Season 2: Epilogue
Amanda-Rae Prescott’s critique of The Fifteenth Doctor era
A Tour of the Rani’s Bone Palace with Jonah Hauer-King
Dugga Doo Jumps Into the Doctor’s Timestream
Doctor Who and the Dugga Doos (Reconstruction)
Rachel Talalay: How a One-er becomes Whatever: Without A Trace
Who Me! by David J Howe due Oct 9
Doctor Who: Jubilee Paperback due Mar 5 2026
Doctor Who: The Chimes of Midnight Paperback due Mar 5 2026
Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster: 4th Doctor Novelization Audio CD – Unabridged due Sep 4
Big Finish Sixth Doctor Adventures: Bad Terms due Aug 2025
Prentis Hancock 1942-2025
Fluid Links

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It’s the end, but the moment is prepared for as Steven, Warren, and Chris give their varied takes on “The Reality War”, the final episode of Season 2 and the last bit of Doctor Who on our screens until we’re graced with The War Between the Land and the Sea, presumably later this year(?) A marathon session covering a controversial-ish regeneration, RTD’s storytelling habits, speculation on the Disney+ deal, further speculation on the future of Doctor Who and television in general, and so much more as the discussion spans more than two hours! Listen if you dare!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who S2E08 “The Reality War” Review
Ncuti Gatwa Says Goodbye to Doctor Who
Doctor Who’s Ncuti Gatwa says final farewell to the TARDIS as the Fifteenth Doctor regenerates
Doctor Who S2E08 Unleashed
Doctor Who S2E08 Behind the Scenes
“Doctor Who has ‘changed lives’ of LGBT people”
The War Between the Land and the Sea teaser
Lorne Balfe doing music for TWBTLATS, offering recording session viewing
Doctor Who Unleashed: 20 Years in Wales airing June 7 at 7pm on BBC One, 6am on iPlayer
Extract from the Fifteenth Doctor original novel ‘Fear Death by Water’, book out now
Preview of new Fifteenth Doctor and Belinda adventure ‘Spectral Scream’, book out now
Catherine Tate announced for Edmonton Expo
Big Finish The First Doctor Unbound: Knights of the Round TARDIS due Sep 2025

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It’s “Wish World”, the penultimate episode Season 2 of Doctor Who, but the moment has been prepared for! What did Steven, Warren, and Chris think of this lead-up to next week’s finale “The Reality War” and all the many campy bits therein? Will the Doctor regain his identity and crack the code of a 1950s inflected dystopia? Will Ruby work out the mystery of a forgotten world? Will Belinda get anything to do? Tune in and find out! Plus Barbie, Big Finish, and more!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who S2E07 “Wish World” Review
Doctor Who S2E07 Unleashed
Doctor Who S2E07 Behind the Scenes
Varada Sethu Interviews Carole Ann Ford
Dugga Doo full version
Dugga Doo 24/7
Fifteenth Doctor Barbie due July
Ruby Sunday Barbie due July
Doctor Who Magazine 617 released
Doctor Who: River Song Choose Your Own Adventure Hardcover due Feb 12, 2026
Big Finish Call Me Master: Monsters due September 2025
Big Finish Doctor Who: Alixion due September 2025
Bonnie Langford & Colin Baker answer Big Finish listener questions
Big Finish: Star Cops – Conflict returns in 2026
Peter David died
BBC arts broadcaster Alan Yentob dies aged 78

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It’s finally time for us to face up to the fact that the Eurovision in Space episode is here. So what did the Three Who Rule think of the glitz, glitter, and glamour of The Interstellar Song Contest? You may be surprised at the results! Join us as we muse over surprising cameos, the return of an iconic villain, and our descent into cynicism as we speculate on RTD’s current approach, the remaining two episodes and what lies in wait for Doctor Who generally. Plus minor snippets of news, missing episodes yelling, and more! Next week…Wish World, featuring both The Tripods and the Sandbaggers!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who S2E06 “The Interstellar Song Contest” Review
Archie Panjabi joins Doctor Who as legendary character the Rani
Radio Free Skaro #979, on the casting of Archie Panjabi
Russell T Davies teases Wish World
Richard Price behind the scenes bloot 1
Richard Price behind the scenes bloot 2
Doctor Who S2E06 Unleashed
Special episode of Doctor Who: Unleashed announced celebrating 20 years of revival
Doctor Who S2E06 Behind the Scenes
Ncuti Gatwa did not announce UK jury points at Eurovision, Sophie Ellis-Bextor took his place
Sue Malden on Doctor Who missing episodes at Film is Fabulous event
Doctor Who’s next two series already written despite ‘Disney funding cuts’, reports The Mirror
Jane Tranter on US co-productions
The Happiness Patrol: Unhappily Ever After kickstarter from Cutaway Comics, threshold met

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The Three Who Rule weigh in on an episode full of of firsts as The Doctor and Belinda head to 2019 Nigeria in “The Story and The Engine,” a mix of mythology, storytelling, and a big ol’ spider! What did they think of this psychological thriller set in a barbershop that also wanders through a web of dimensions? Plus what were Millie Gibson and RTD on about on The One Show and Morning Live, respectively? And what’s Eric Roberts’ Master up to? All these questions won’t be answered, but enjoy anyway!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who S2E05 “The Story & the Engine” Review
Doctor Who S2E05 Unleashed
Doctor Who S2E05 Behind the Scenes
The Story & the Engine prequel
Compilation of past Doctor clips and the source stories
“The Reality War” simulcasts on Disney+, iPlayer, and BBC One at 7pm UK time on May 31
Millie Gibson on The One Show talking about the finale
RTD on Morning Live
The Jon Pertwee Collection Audio CD due July 4
Big Finish Paul Spragg Memorial Short Trip Opportunity 2025 competition open, closes mid-June
Big Finish: The Worlds of Doctor Who – Dark Gallifrey: Master! begins July 2025

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Doctor Who delves into the fetid swamps of online discourse this week as Ruby Sunday returns to Doctor Who and the UK experiences seesawing public sentiment in “Lucky Day!” Did the Three Who Rule enjoy it, or more to the point, how much did they not like it? Listen and learn! Plus the aforementioned Millie Gibson is set to grace Gallifrey One, Ncuti Gatwa is announcing UK scores at Eurovision, whatever that means (Chris explains), The Savages and The War Games in Colour are on their way to Blu-ray in North America, books, Big Finish and more! Next Week: The Story and the Engine!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Millie Gibson Makes Her North American Convention Debut at Gallifrey One
Janet Fielding Added to Guest List for Gallifrey One 2026
Gallifrey One LAX Marriott block opens May 9
Doctor Who “Lucky Day” Review
Doctor Who Unleashed S2E04
Doctor Who S2E04 Behind the Scenes
Doctor Who YouTube channel hits 2M subscribers
Ncuti Gatwa to announce UK scores at Eurovision
Doctor Who Season 2 finale coming to cinemas across the UK & Ireland
Doctor Who: Season One Blu-ray coming to North America on June 24
The Savages available for Canadian preorder (May 20)
The War Games in colour available for Canadian preorder (June 24)
Doctor Who – Time and Space for Everyone goes out May 19
Big Finish The Death and Life of River Song: The Dissolution of Time due August 2025
Doctor Who Myths and Legends: The Reeltime Pictures Story due Aug 30, released at Whooverville
Exterminart! The Doctor Who Dalek Art of Andrew Skilleter updated edition available for preorder
Classic Who on U&Eden in the UK starting May 5

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Russell T Davies returns to cosmic horror, a medium in which he excels, in “The Well”, an episode full of invisible enemies, reigns of terror, and a need to listen! What did the Three Who Rule think of this scary excursion 400,000 years into the future? And more to the point, did you know Steven helped get HD footage into The War Games In Colour? Plus new Big Finish including Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill’s first audio adventure, a book about Kangs (who don’t conquer), a big ol’ Quatermass box set, and more! Next week, will it be our Lucky Day?

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Daphne Ashbrook & Yee Jee Tso Celebrate 30 Years of the TV Movie at Gallifrey One
Doctor Who “The Well” Review
Doctor Who Unleashed S2E03
Behind The Scenes S2E03
Doctor Who Magazine 616
The War Games in Colour Blu-Ray coming to North America on June 24
The War Games footage comparison
Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Vampire Weekend due July 2025
Big Finish Doctor Who: Time War – Uncharted: Pursuit due June 2025
Big Finish Doctor Who: The Ruins of Kaerula due June 2025
“As A Kang Should Be” by Dale Smith released by Obverse Books
The Quatermass Xperiment Limited Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray coming in June

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It’s “Lux” time at Radio Free Skaro Towers and the Three Who Rule have thoughts about both the two-dimensional (mostly) villain of the title and more including RTD and Murray Gold song crimes, whether or not this whole Pantheon thing is panning out, how ring-a-ding good The Doctor and Belinda are together, that fan scene and more! Plus news of books, DWM, and more Gallifrey One news!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Gallifrey One 2026 Hotel Reservations Open May 9
Anita Dobson at Gallifrey One 2026
Doctor Who “Lux” Review
Doctor Who Unleashed S2E02
Behind the Scenes: Lux
Alan Cumming and director Amanda Brotchie on bringing Mr Ring-a-Ding to life in Doctor Who
Russel T Davies has “no time” for Doctor Who too woke criticisms
Russell T Davies hints at ideas for Seasons 4 and 5
The Well on BBC One Apr 26, 7:20pm
Q&A with Michael van Kesteren who designed Scoot
Doctor Who Magazine 616 due Apr 24
Black Archive #76: Logopolis due April 2025
Doctor Who: Shirley Jackson and the Chaos Box coming June 12
Doctor Who: One Night Only (A Fela Kuti Story) coming August 21
Season 7 Blu-Ray available for order in Canada
Jean Marsh dies, aged 90

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It’s new Doctor Who time! Steven, Warren, and special guest Heather Berberet of the Free the Squee fame have thoughts to share about The Robot Revolution, the first episode of Season 2 and the debut of new companion Belinda Chandra as played by Varada Sethu! Robots! Roommates! Rebels! Plus Doctor Who Unleashed talk, Graham Norton appearing in the show as himself, RTD being cryptic about the future of Doctor Who on CBCC Newsround, the debut of World of Telly from the House of Tachyon, and more! Next week, Mr. Ring-a-Ding terrorizes 1952 Miami!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who S2E01 “The Robot Revolution”
Doctor Who Unleashed S2E01
Behind the Scenes: The Robot Revolution
Graham Norton to Appear In “The Interstellar Song Contest”
Ncuti Gatwa presents answers on Jeopardy!
Russell T Davies on CBBC Newsround
“73 Yards” and “Dot & Bubble” Named Finalists for the Hugo Awards
History of Doctor Who on The Front Row on Radio 4 Extra on April 14
Murray Gold to appear on In Tune on Radio 3 on April 17
Doctor Who: 20 Secrets From 20 Years on BBC Radio 2 on April 20
Big Finish: The Worlds of Doctor Who – Space Security Service: The Voord in London coming June 2025
Big Finish: Special edition Robert Shearman novelisations due October 2025
World of Telly Episode 1: Moonbase 3
Jess Jurkovic: Reuniting Roman Theme (from The War Games)
The Quatermass Experiment: The Making of TV’s First Sci-Fi Classic by Toby Hadoke coming May 12
Next Week: Lux, airing April 19 at 715pm on BBC One

Guest:

Heather Berberet on Free The Squee

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It’s that time of year again, our pre-Gallifrey One rundown of the greatest convention on Earth as we go through the schedule with a fine tooth comb, examine which panels and other events we and others are excited about, and as a special bonus this year you’ll get to hear Steven go completely off the rails about UK television stalwart Z-Cars!

Next stop: Gallifrey One, and Episode 1000 with Steven Moffat and Julie Gardner LIVE on stage on Friday!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Gallifrey One Preview
Gallifrey One schedule
Gallifrey One convention map
Gally changes due to escalator issue
Catherine Tate announced as guest at Calgary Expo April 24-27
The War Games in Colour got 0.43M viewers
‘Doctor Who’ Producer Jane Tranter to Chair 50th Edinburgh TV Festival
The Tenth Planet coming to vinyl for Record Store Day on April 12
Ace Jacket: A Doctor Who Celebration for Fans and Cosplayers coming July 2025
Doctor Who: The Encyclopedia due Oct 29, 2026
BF Doctor Who – The Fugitive Doctor: Dead or Alive due July 2025
BF Doctor Who – The Sixth Doctor Adventures: The Cosmos and Mrs Clarke due May 2025

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It’s an exciting week for Doctor Who news with more Gallifrey One updates, a list of Doctor Who Season 2 writers released to an eager public, a frankly insane amount of Doctor Who props coming up for auction, Big Finish releases all over the dang place, and the concluding episode of our Classic Series Commentary for “The Moonbase”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Meet the new writers of Season 2
Gallifrey One update January 28
Gallifrey One update January 30, schedule complete
Steven Moffat addresses possibility of another return to Doctor Who
Doctor Who charity auction for Children in Need
Doctor Who Magazine #613 released
Doctor Who: Chronicles Issue 10: 1970
Big Finish: The Fugitive Doctor: Most Wanted is out now
Big Finish The Paternoster Gang: Trespassers 4 – Last Stand due March
Big Finish: Susan’s War: Grandfather Time due in March
Big Finish: Torchwood Rictus due March

Commentary:

The Moonbase Episode 4

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The Swarm is vicious and malignant this week, consuming Steven’s vocal chords in a perilous fashion, so it’s up to Warren and Chris to help with news descriptions about the Radio Free Skaro Gallifrey One live show, episode 1000 featuring Doctor Who showrunner and writer/producer Steven Moffat and executive producer Julie Gardner for an hour of wit and wisdom. Plus, the aforementioned Gallifrey One schedule is out in the wild, news from Russell Tovey on The War Between The Land and The Sea, a new trailer for the Season 7 Blu-Ray Collection, tat, exhibitions and Episode Three of our exciting and smooth-voiced Classic Series Commentary for “The Moonbase”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Radio Free Skaro: Mystery Science Theatre 1000 announcement
Gallifrey One programming
Russell Tovey talks The War Between the Land and the Sea and more with Variety
Season 7 Collection trailer
Doctor Who Magazine 613 due Jan 30
The Daleks in Colour Music by Tristram Cary and Mark Ayres coming February 21 on vinyl
The Science of Doctor Who exhibition heads to the US starting March 15
Me and Him and Who – JNT day at the Burgess Institute in Manchester on February 1
Toby Hadoke’s obituary for Barbara Clegg

Commentary:

The Moonbase Episode 3

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The Swarm (but not the COVID kind) has befallen a husky-voiced Steven this week and yet in spite of that (or because of it?) he made an appearance on Edmonton radio, one 880 CHED, and explained to local norms both the exciting world of Doctor Who and the mysterious practice of Radio Free Skaro-ing, which you can listen to on this very episode! Plus we have even more Gallifrey One news, an interesting and free TARDIS diary for UK folk, and Episode Two of our exciting and very focused Classic Series Commentary on “The Moonbase”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Steven on 880 CHED radio
New Gally guests announced
Gallifrey One update, main program schedule coming in a week or so
Debut of Telefantasy Time Jump with Paul Cornell and Liz Myles
Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill appearing at Calgary Expo (April 24-27)
Lovarzi free slim TARDIS pocket diary (UK Only)
Big Finish Day 2025 will be on June 21 at the Derby QUAD
Christopher Benjamin died

Commentary:

The Moonbase Episode 2

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This week Radio Free Skaro gets POLITICAL (not really) as we interview three-time mayor of Calgary and current Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi as he relates his massive love for one Doctor Who! Join us as we wax nostalgic about KSPS, his fondness for a certain scarf-wearing Doctor, and his take on amongst other things the latest Doctor Who Xmas special! Plus a Gallifrey One update, stats and media analysis, praise of Tubi, classic Canadian TV chatter, and more!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Gallifrey One Update, including 2026 and 2027 date changes
RFS Gallifrey One Live Show Announcement
Doctor Who finished 6th for Christmas Week with 5.911M viewers
Classic Doctor Who removed from BritBox UK and ITVX Premium
First weekly Dalek 1:2 scale kit is out now
The Chimes of Midnight hardcover adaptation by Robert Shearman due Oct 9
Jubliee hardcover adaptation by Robert Shearman due Oct 9
Things Are Not Always What They Seem: The Writings and Politics of Malcolm Hulke by Michael Herbert due later in 2025 from Telos Publishing
Barbara Clegg died Jan 7

Interview:

Naheed Nenshi

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It’s a glorious day as Tom Baker becomes a Member of theOrder of the British Empire and the Three Who Rule are here to celebrate this momentous occasion along with news of further Gallifrey One guests, Phil Collinson trolling us all with War Chief intrigues, Toby Hadoke’s annual In Memoriam, Big Finish news as usual and Episode One of our Classic Series Commentary of “The Moonbase”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Tom Baker awarded MBE for Services to Television
More New Guests at Gallifrey One 2025
Doctor Who Magazine 612
Spearhead From Space screening at the BFI on February 1
The Savages screening at the BFI on February 28
Phil Collinson fuels the War Chief/Master link
Toby Hadoke’s 2024 In Memoriam
Toby Hadoke’s Arnold Yarrow obituary
Jess Jurkovic: Record, Reuse, Recycle – 60s Doctor Who Incidental Music
Big Finish The Stuff of Legend – The Live Show released
Big Finish The Stuff of Legend – The Live Show behind the scenes
Big Finish Paul Spragg Memorial Doctor Who – Short Trips: War Stories released

Classic Series Commentary

The Moonbase Episode One

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It’s the annual tradition of our Radio Free Skaro livestream with Steven, Warren, and special guest Kyle Anderson as they look at “Joy to the World,” the latest traditional Xmas special written by Steven Moffat, along with a tsunami of other Doctor Who content including the Doctor Who Proms, behind the scenes fun like Unleashed and The War Games in Colour! Also, Thrill to fulsome praise of The Space Pirates, and less enthusiastic about The Savages, which has nothing to do with any of the above!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
“Joy to the World” Review
Doctor Who Season 2 Teaser
Doctor Who Season 2: First Look
Everything We Know About Doctor Who Season 2
Doctor Who Unleashed: Joy to the World
Doctor Who overnight viewing figures on BBC One – 4.11m, 6th for the day
“The War Games” in Colour review
The War Games in Colour available for pre-order in the UK
Doctor Who at the BBC Proms review
Toby Hadoke’s Absent Friends goes out December 29 at 4:45pm

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 24.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 23.

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Sad news this week as we mark the passing of both novelist David A McIntee and fellow podcaster Siobahn Gallichan, and we extend our sympathies to their loved ones at a difficult time. There’s also news of Season 7 coming to the Doctor Who Collection Blu-ray series, the lead up to Doctor Who Christmas Week (culminating in “Joy To The World” on Christmas Day), extended badinage about a mail order Dalek model kit that extends over the next decade(!), Tom Baker’s Xmas message, and an interview previewing “The War Games in Colour” with Mark Ayres and Kieran Highman!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
New trailer for “Joy to the World”
Steven Moffat on the Doctor Who Podcast
Russell T Davies and Writer Steven Moffat Tease Christmas Special
Rose Ayling-Ellis MBE to guest star in Doctor Who Season 2
Build your own 1:2 scale Dalek
Season 7 Collection blu-ray set announced
Season 7 PDF content, courtesy Richard Bignell
Doctor Who Season 25 Canada preorder link, North American release due Feb 25
Radio Times Tom Baker 50th Anniversary Bookazine
Tom Baker Christmas 2024 message
Big Finish The Worlds of Doctor Who – Dark Gallifrey: Missy Parts One to Three starts April 2025
David A McIntee died
Siobhan Gallichan died

Interview:

Chicago TARDIS
Mark Ayres
Kieran Highman

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 22.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 21.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 20.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 19.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 18.

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It’s an exciting week for Doctor Who content as a new “Joy to the World” clip surfaced on Children in Need featuring snark, dinosaurs, and a Silurian in a briefcase along with a teaser from the episode’s writer, one Steven Moffat! Plus a “Coming in 2025” trailer for Disney+ that does not feature Doctor Who at all? Controversial? Not really. Plus Ncuti Gatwa in Vanity Fair being handsome as usual, a sneak peek at updated Blake’s 7 effects, and an exciting adventure in space and time as we present a special anniversary-themed Classic Series Commentary of the raw pilot recording of “An Unearthly Child”, a flub-filled exploration of early 1960s television production!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Gallifrey One now on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads
Gallifrey One call for panelists
Doctor Who teaser on Children in Need
Children in Need raised over £39M
Steven Moffat teases “Joy to the World”
Doctor Who not listed in Disney+ “Coming In 2025” Trailer
Ncuti Gatwa profiled in Vanity Fair (paywall)
Gatwa posted some clips of the Vanity Fair photoshoot
Blake’s 7 Series 1 Updated Effects
Colin Baker reunited with his Doctor Who title sequence
Big Finish: Faithful Friends due Jan 2025
Big Finish: The Worlds of Doctor Who – Call Me Master: Inner Demons due Feb 2025
AMC completes purchase of BBC America for $42M

Commentary:

An Unearthly Child – The Pilot
RFS Commentary on YouTube

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Things have taken a turn for the truly awful in the world this week, but Radio Free Skaro is here to assuage your worries (Steven) or at least acknowledge them (Warren). If you’re looking to distract yourself from the latest grim fandango, we have news of deleted scenes coming November 23, unaired footage of David Tennant running around the TARDIS set in “The Star Beast”, props on the auction block, Big Finish art critiques, and an interview with Blake’s 7 Series 1 Blu-Ray contributors Jonathan Helm, Chris Chapman, and Chris Thompson!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who deleted scenes coming November 23
Doctor Who Magazine 610 released
Doctor Who: Daleks – The Ultimate Guide due November 21
TARDIS prop from “Eve of the Daleks” up for auction for Children in Need
Doctor Who Unaired footage: introduction to the TARDIS from the Star Beast
Big Finish Companion Chronicles: Families due Apr 2025
Big Finish Short Trips 2024 winner announced, will be released for free Dec 29
Blake’s 7 Production Diary – Series B available now
The Andrew Skilleter Doctor Who Art calendar 2025 available

Interview:

Blake’s 7 Series 1 Blu-ray
Jonathan Helm
Chris Chapman
Chris Thompson

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It’s a Current Producer-Palooza at Gallifrey One this coming February with Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson, and Joel Collins announced as guests for Gallifrey One, and that’s not all on the news list including a “world exclusive preview” of “Joy to the World” coming to Children In Need on November 15, some Robert Banks Stewart iPlayer controversy, Sylveste(r) McCoy missing episodes discovered, an action dolly report and more, including the concluding Terry Nation Miniscope segment, covering “Genesis of the Daleks”, “The Android Invasion”, and “Destiny of the Daleks”! Do you have the right to listen? You do!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson, and Joel Collins announced as guests for Gallifrey One
“World exclusive preview” of Joy to the World on Children in Need on November 15
Terror of the Zygons and The Seeds of Doom removed from BBC iPlayer
Blake’s 7 Production Diary – Series B available now
Luke Harrison interviews Richard Martin from 2018
Two missing 1978 TV episodes featuring Sylvester McCoy have been found
Doctor Who: Titan Bi-Generation Figurine Set
Doctor Who: Titan Fifteenth Doctor Figurine
Doctor Who 15th Doctor Calendar
Black Archive: Under the Lake/Before the Flood released
Doctor Who: Fear Death by Water hardcover by Emily Cook due May 29
Big Finish: Doctor Who: The Stuff of Legend – The Live Show due December
Big Finish: The Worlds of Doctor Who – Zygon Century: Infiltration due January 2025

Miniscope:

Terry Nation, Part 4
Genesis of the Daleks
The Android Invasion
Destiny of the Daleks

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It’s time for some overanalyzing, pondering and intellectual cogitating as the Three Who Rule examine the second anniversary of the Disney+ and Doctor Who agreement, as well as a fascinating survey from the UCLA (partially funded by Disney) of what teens are both watching and want to see! Plus, a detailed hashing-over of where to start watching Doctor Who if you’re a novice, some random tat, and Part Three of our Terry Nation Miniscope covering Planet of, and Death to, the Daleks!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Two Years since Doctor Who/Disney+ Partnership was announced
Teens Want To See Less Sex, More Friendship In Movies & TV Shows, UCLA Study Finds
Disney Unveils First Star Wars And Marvel TV Show 4K Blu-Rays With Dolby Vision
Official Doctor Who website: Where to start with Doctor Who?
Ncuti Gatwa wins Best Actor at the Welsh BAFTAs for DW; Euros Lyn wins for directing Heartbreaker
Doctor Who: The Collection Season 2 Standard Edition due Dec 2
Big Finish: The Worlds of Doctor Who – Gallifrey: Echoes Through Eternity due November 2024
Doctor Who – The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Deadly Strangers due December 2024

Miniscope:

Terry Nation, Part 3
Planet of the Daleks
Death to the Daleks

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Controversy stalks the BBC as the question is asked: did they censor Ncuti Gatwa’s comments on The Graham Norton Show about a possible third season of New New Doctor Who? And the answer is…likely not. What is much more probable is the Three Who Rule excoriating the current state of television while referring to a recent Deadline story on that same topic, but enough of these dour matters! There’s a new Gallifreyan translator that can turn your words into circles, an Adventures in Type and Space book on the way featuring the work of Sid Sutton, and part two of our Terry Nation Miniscope, where we delve into his work on “The Chase”, “Mission to the Unknown”, and “The Daleks’ Master Plan”! Assemble the Galactic Council!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The BBC allegedly did not censor Gatwa’s remark on The Graham Norton Show
Katherine Pope of Sony Pictures laments gaps between TV seasons
Official Doctor Who Gallifreyan Translator
Adventures in Type and Space: The Sid Sutton Collection due November 25
Alvin Rakoff died

Miniscope:

Terry Nation, Part 2
The Chase
Mission to the Unknown
The Daleks’ Master Plan

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It’s a new and wonderful era as Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday action dollies are both announced and will trounce your bank account! That’s in addition to intrigue and mumblesuch on the set of the Graham Norton Show as insight-sharer Ncuti Gatwa mentions movement on the Series 3 front, which was then mysteriously absent from the broadcast! There’s a contest to see the upcoming Xmas special “Joy to the World” in your local cinema, unless you live in Canada, in which case you can go to hell, and ITV is now premiering Coronation Street online previous to broadcast, a move sure to perturb elderly Corrie-heads! All this and part one of the Terry Nation Miniscope multi-part spectacular awaits.

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Ncuti Gatwa says he’s filming Doctor Who Season 3 in 2025 (not included on Graham Norton)
Doctor Who Magazine #609
Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday action figures coming October 17
BBC contest to win local cinema screening for “Joy to the World” (UK/US only)
ITV premiering episodes of Coronation Street and Emmerdale on ITVX before evening broadcast
The War Machines screening is and Q&A at Riverside Studios on November 2
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Audio Novels: The Lord of Misrule audiobook due Jan 2025
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Third Doctor Adventures: Doctor Who and the Brain Drain due Feb 2025
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Hellwood Inheritance starts March 2025

Miniscope:

Terry Nation, Part 1
The Daleks aka The Dead Planet aka The Mutants
The Keys of Marinus
The Dalek Invasion of Earth

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It’s a banner week for VAM enthusiasts as comedian, writer and Blu-Ray documentary impresario Toby Hadoke joins the show for a wide-ranging discussion and mutual Doctor Who actor identification session with Steven, plus we have some ruminating on both a Variety article about toxic fandom and foment a conspiracy about the lack of 1980s Cybermen in Big Finish! Could it be an audio phonic conspiracy to commit David Banks erasure? Listen…and find out nothing!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who Magazine 609
Variety article on toxic fandom
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Lost Stories: Genesis of the Cybermen due March 2025
Big Finish: The Worlds of Doctor Who – Planet Krynoid: Nightfall due April 2025
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Hooklight Parts One and Two due April and May 2025

Interview:

Toby Hadoke

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It’s a banner day for filmic snipping enthusiasts as we have an exclusive (we emailed, he said yes) interview with film editor and 1960s Doctor Who alumnus Chris Hayden, who speaks with Steven about working on “Planet of Giants” and “The War Games”, hanging out with New Hollywood legends in the early 1970s, and more! Plus we have Big Finish news, bookywook updates, and a special project that Steven has worked on in tribute to the late and great James Earl Jones. That’s right, Sally!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Nicola Bryant, Wendy Padbury, Andrew Smith, Nev Fountain added to Gallifrey One guest list
Andrew Smith Just Giving page
Mark Ayres added to guest list for Chicago TARDIS
TWBTLATS filming in Mallorca, Spain in October
Blake’s 7 Series 1 Blu-ray coming to North America on December 10
Fifteenth Doctor Sonic Screwdriver now (officially) on sale
Ncuti Gatwa appearing on The Graham Norton Show on October 11
Doctor Who: Frida Kahlo and the Skull Children due October 24
Doctor Who: Charles Darwin and the Silurian Survival due November 21
Doctor Who: Into the Vortex now available
Big Finish: Doctor Who: The Doctor and Carnacki due in November
Big Finish: New monthly Torchwood stories revealed for October-January
The Box of Delights 40th Anniversary Blu-Ray due Nov 25 in the UK
Vader Sessions (Remastered)

Interview:

Chris Hayden

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On this week’s show, Archie Panjabi is playing a new Doctor Who villain (probably not The Rani) next season, plus Russell T Davies and Disney+ teasing a TARDIS set pic (and potential Season 3 renewal?) on Instagram, but the key to this whole endeavour is the flights of fancy on our latest Fluid Links where we invent not one but two imaginary Doctor Who media properties! Lights, camera, nonsense!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
RTD posts (cryptic?) photo on the TARDIS set; Disney responds with (cryptic?) eyes emoji
Archie Panjabi Set To Play ‘Doctor Who’ Villain In New Season
Big Finish The War Doctor Rises: Unknown Soldiers, due Dec 2024
Big Finish Most Wanted due Jan 2025
Film is Fabulous GoFundMe: Help restore a missing episode of b&w television
Geoff Hinsliff died
David Graham, voice of the Daleks, died

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Despite a dearth of real news, and because of one glorious piece of fake news from the Onion, the Three Who Rule faff on less than usual this week, with a look at various Blu-Ray controversies, David Banks in Doctor Who magazine, a Classic Who event at the cool-name-having Electric Palace movie theatre. Plus our Classic Series Commentary for the final episode of “Planet of the Spiders”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Onion: Moscow Expels 6 British Diplomats Who Would Not Shut Up About ‘Doctor Who’
Doctor Who Magazine #608
Doctor Who Series 1-4 Blu-ray due October 24
Blake’s 7 Series 1 collection available for pre-order (Amazon US)
Classic Doctor Who night on September 19 at the Electric Palace
Doctor Who Limited Edition Tankard

Commentary:

Planet of the Spiders Episode 6

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A Gallifrey One guest announcement tops the RFS headlines as Jenna Coleman aka Clara Oswald is set to arrive in Los Angeles this upcoming February! Plus Russell T Davies is in the latest SFX to explain how TV works to you nerds, so what better time for the Three Who Rule to add their uninformed insights to the pile? An Emperor Davros dolly is on the way from B&M, Ncuti Gatwa’s theatrical spectacular The Importance of Being Earnest heads for cinema screens and more, before a Classic Series Commentary on the penultimate episode of both “Planet of the Spiders” and the Jon Pertwee era!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Jenna Coleman announced as guest of Gallifrey One
RTD says Season 3 renewal won’t come until after Season 2 airs
BFI redux screening of The Happiness Patrol on September 29
B&M 2024 Remembrance of the Daleks – Emperor Davros
B&M 2024 The History of the Daleks #18
Ncuti Gatwa’s The Importance of Being Earnest getting UK cinema release
Doctor Who finalists for five BAFTA Cymru Awards (aka The Welshies)
Breakdown of the first scene of The Power of the Daleks

Commentary:

Planet of the Spiders Episode 5

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The Radio Free Skaro crew dips further into their nostalhia-tinged well of archive videotape fetishism this week, in addition to deep analysis of the Youtube algorithm, Star Wars Outlaws, and Steven’s never ending quest to ignore current media trends and lose himself in production minutiae. And just to add to the second-hand smoke, rampant alcoholism and leaded gasoline, it’s back to 1974 for our Classic Series Commentary of “Planet of the Spiders”, Part the Fourth!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who BBC Proms
RTD mentions the DW Prom will be on UK TV at Christmas
BFI Blake’s 7 screening happening October 5
Blake’s 7 Series 1 Collection PDF Archive
BBC Videotape editing training film c. 1967
1969 print interview with Frazer Hines discovered, with rehearsal shots from The Space Pirates
Big Finish Doctor Who – The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Deadly Strangers due December 2024

Commentary:

Planet of the Spiders Episode 4

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Warren has returned from his European travails, and just in time as casting for The War Between the Land and the Sea (henceforth known as TWBTLATS) is announced to much fanfare, A Disney poobah nods approvingly at Doctor Who as an idea, Catherine Tate herself hosts the BBC Proms, and Blake’s 7 news takes the internet (well, us) by storm with an amazing box set on the way for the UK (and North America?). All this as a preamble for some of the greatest acting in British televisual history as we commentate on Part Three of Planet of the Spiders!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Cast announcement for The War Between the Land and the Sea
The War Between the Land and the Sea readthrough of all 5 eps happened Mon Aug 19
Disney Chief Backs ‘Doctor Who’ As “Really Good Fit” After Ncuti Gatwa’s First Season
Catherine Tate hosting the 2024 Doctor Who Proms Aug 26
Radio Times’ Doctor Who Proms preview with Murray Gold
Doctor Who: The Adventures Before Hardcover – 3 Oct. 2024
Doctor Who: The Sequels Hardcover – 20 Mar. 2025
Doctor Who Icons 1 Paperback – 24 Oct. 2024
Doctor Who Icons 2 Paperback – 21 Nov. 2024
Doctor Who Icons 3 Paperback – 24 April 2025
Bad Wolf launches the Blaidd Writers Program, RTD will mentor winners
Big Finish Jenny – The Doctor’s Daughter: Saving Time due Oct
Blake’s 7 Series A coming to Blu-ray on November 11 (UK)
Blake’s 7 Series A collection trailer

Commentary:

Planet of the Spiders Episode 3

None

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While Warren tours Europe, after having chatted with Doctor Who scribes Paul Cornell and LM Myles at Worldcon (which you can hear on this podcast), Doctor Who composer (and Edmonton native) Sam Watts steps in as co-host! Hear of Tales of the TARDIS, Sarah Jane Adventures, and other audio delights as news of a new Jodie Whittaker Blu-ray set is announced, overseas filming for The War Between the Land and the Sea is confirmed, and is a renewal for a third season of Doctor Who or perhaps another new spinoff in the works?

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who Magazine 607
Doctor Who: Jodie Whittaker Years on Blu-ray due November 5 (US)
Doctor Who: Jodie Whittaker Years on Blu-ray due November 5 (Canada)
The Tom Baker Collection Deluxe 4CD Set due Sep 27
Big Finish to temporarily roll back website to previous version
Doctor Who: On Ghost Beach: 15th Doctor Audio Original due November 7
Doctor Who: Sting of the Sasquatch: 15th Doctor Audio Original due Nov 7
Doctor Who: The Official Quiz Book due Mar 20, 2025
David Whitaker by Simon Guerrier Paperback Edition Who Shop pink and grey cover variants

Guest:

Sam Watts

Interview:

Paul Cornell
Liz Myles

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With Warren galavanting around Glasgow for WorldCon, and Chris on assignment, the Three Who Rule are augmented by two of Verity!, namely Erika and Deb, for this episode, wherein such delights as Doctor Who archival chatter and praise for the 1975 BBC serial “The Legend of Robin Hood” are central to the discussion. But Warren does check in with an interview with noted author and Doctor Who writer Ben Aaronovitch, recorded in Glasgow!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Los Angeles awarded hosting duties for WorldCon 2026
Official Doctor Who Podcast SDCC Panel
Doctor Who Cyberman Episode screening at Riverside Studios on August 17
David Whitaker postscript / Terry Nation party from Simon Guerrier
Steven on the Who’s He Podcast

Interview:

Ben Aaronovitch

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It’s an international podcast of mystery as Warren radiophonically joins the podcast from Edinburgh in his continued journey across Europa as he and the other Two Who Rule discuss the latest news from Doctor Who about Catherine Tate’s return to Gallifrey One, the full Who and Trek SDCC panel is new viewable by all and sundry, Steven guests on the Nerdist’s Laser Focus podcast with esteemed colleague Kyle Anderson, and we return to the longest chase scene in Doctor Who history in Part Two of our Classic Series Commentary of “Planet of the Spiders”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Catherine Tate Returns to Gallifrey One
Doctor Who x Star Trek: Full SDCC Panel with Russell T Davies and Alex Kurtzman
60th Anniversary Episodes due on Blu-Ray Dec 10
BBC set to edit disgraced Huw Edwards out of Doctor Who episode after guilty plea
Doctor Who Magazine Special 67: The Missing Doctor Who
Steven on the Nerdist’s Laser Focus podcast talking about Old British Sci-Fi
Doctor Who at The BBC Who Are We? Audio CD coming December 5
Two new dates added for Big Finish live story recording
Cubicle7 RPG Humble Bundle

Commentary:

Planet of the Spiders Episode 2

None

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What do you do to follow up on a historically spectacular Olympics opening ceremony in Paris, France? Why, you head to San Diego Comic-Con where Ncuti Gatwa, Millie Gibson. and Russell T Davies kept a hall (H, in particular) enthralled with hints of the second Disney+ season of Doctor Who, a preview of the Xmas special, casting and confirmation of the existence of The War Between The Land and The Sea, and more! We not only have our own meagre insights into things SDCC but also a report on the ground from Drs. Heather Berberet and Stacy Watnick of the Free The Squee podcast, who were in Hall H and have much, much more to tell us about goings on at the con! As another SDCC fixture once said, Excelsior!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who – Into The Whoniverse panel from SDCC
‘Doctor Who’ Spinoff ‘The War Between the Land and Sea’ Announced
“Joy to the World” preview clip and Nicola Coughlan introduction
Ncuti Gatwa and Russell T Davies Tease Season 2, ‘Epic Danger and Epic Growth’ As Well As ‘Growing Danger’
New Fifteenth Doctor Sonic Screwdriver from Character Options revealed at SDCC
Doctor Who segment at Entertainment Weekly
Doctor Who/Lower Decks crossover game event coming August 1
Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder: Where Science Meets Fiction coming to Comic-Con Museum in March 2025
BBC Commercial Reports Dip in Sales and Earnings Amid Market Challenges
Doctor Who Season 1 now on RTE Player in Ireland
Doctor Who – The Daleks In Colour (Original Television Soundtrack) coming September 13
Doctor Who “The Crusade” vinyl coming October 4
BF The First Doctor Adventures: The Living Darkness due Jan 2025
BF Zygon Century due Jan 2025
Annette Badland added to the guest list at LI Who
Ysanne Churchman, voice of Alpha Centauri, dies, aged 99

Report:

Heather Berberet and Stacy Watnick (Free the Squee)

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San Diego looms as 2024’s Comic Con and all the attendant Doctor Who goodies within await! We’ve got news of official merchandise, hints of special correspondents from said Con of Comics, Louise Jameson returning to Doctor Who, Disney intrigues and a controversial Deadline article, and a special bonus tirade from Chris about Madame Tussauds in London followed by a warm restorative bath in Star Trek novel nostalgia by both Chris and Warren as Steven looks on in confused silence. Plus the beginning of our Classic Series Commentary for “Planet of the Spiders”! Prepare yourselves, Two Legs!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who heads to San Diego Comic-Con 2024
Titan reveals SDCC exclusive merchandise
Louise Jameson & Seán Carlsen at Gallifrey One 2025
Disney leak: Doctor Who a “low budget show” for Disney, Season 2 appears to premiere March 28
Deadline: ‘Doctor Who’s Regeneration: Has The Disney Gamble Paid Off?
Doctor Who Magazine #606
The Fifteenth Doctor has arrived at Madame Tussauds London
The Gold Archive: Invasions of Earth: A Secret History due October 31
Big Finish: Goth Opera (by Lizbeth Myles, adapted from Paul Cornell’s book) now available
Big Finish – The Paternoster Gang: Trespassers – No Place Like Home due Dec 2024

Classic Series Commentary:

Planet of the Spiders Episode 1

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Thasmin Returns! That’s right, Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill are back in audio form in just announced Big Finish adventures, just one of the many highlights of a busy week of Who news, including a Doctor Who panel at San Diego Comic Con, D23 without Who content, and detente has been reached as Doctor Who’s Russell T Davies and Star Trek guy-in-charge Alex Kurtzman share a panel at SDCC title “Inaugural Intergalactic Friendship Day!”! A shocking lack of Farscape and Starlost representation, but here we are. Also even more audio news, Susan Twist materializing at Gallifrey One, and an interview with Doctor Who Blu-Ray High One and Nothing at the End of the Lane creator Richard Bignell!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill return to Doctor Who in new Thirteenth Doctor adventures
Doctor Who panel in Hall H at SDCC on Friday, July 26
Star Trek and Doctor Who come together for Inaugural Intergalactic Friendship Day on July 30
No Doctor Who programming at Disney D23 event
Doctor Who wins Outstanding achievement in family programming at TV Critics Association awards
Susan Twist appearing at Gallifrey One
Scene explaining sudden burst into song was cut from The Devil’s Chord
The Happiness Patrol screeing at the BFI on August 31, on sale Jul 9
DWM Special #67 The Essential Guide to Missing Doctor Who due Oct 30
The Time-Travelling Almanac by Simon Guerrier due Oct 3
Big Finish – Once and Future Coda coming November 2024
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Curse of Time, celebrating 50 Years of The Fourth Doctor, due Dec 2024
Peter Davison on 25 years of Big Finish

Interview:

Richard Bignell
Season 15 Blu-Ray
Season 25 PDF Content

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It’s time again for some televisual detective work as Tim Burrows of the Missing Episodes Podcast joins Steven for a fulsome discussion on the latest news in the ongoing search for lost Doctor Who episodes and the collectors hoarding, curating, and preserving them. Plus we’ve got news of Russell T Davies discussing new companion Varada Sethu, the first block of Gallifrey One guests for 2025 is announced, Ncuti Gatwa heads to London Comic-Con in November, Season 25 coming to Blu-ray, endless tangents about letterboxing versus 4:3 and more!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Showrunner Russell T Davies talks casting the Doctor’s new companion
First Gally 2025 guests announced – Colin, Sylvester, Katy, Frazer, Gooderson, etc
Ncuti Gatwa appearing at London Comic-Con in November
Season 25 announced as the next instalment in The Collection Blu-ray range, coming October 21
Paul McGann to star in special live recording of Big Finish’s Eighth Doctor Adventures

Interview:

Tim Burrows from The Missing Episodes Podcast
42 To Doomsday podcast on Melbourne-based videotape collection
Film is Fabulous

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With the end of Season One of Doctor Who, the Three Who Rule fall back on old habits (not unlike a certain showrunner) and return to the fertile fields of Fluid Links! Nothing will be solved but a whole lot will be discussed as they blather in a confused fashion about questions sent in by you, the viewer! Plus some new information about upcoming spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea, pondering on the very nature of a modern Doctor Who showrunner, some very quick cogitating as Marvel returns to Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, and more!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The War Between The Land and the Sea starts shooting in September
The War Between The Land and the Sea, director Dylan Holmes-Williams, producer Edoardo Ferretti
Radio Times poll for Doctor Who Season 1 episodes
BBC defends Doctor Who ratings as show is “top drama for under-35s this year”
Doctor Who Season 1 coming to Blu-ray on August 12 (UK Only)
Marvel Studios Heading Back To Hall H At San Diego Comic-Con
Big Finish – The War Master: Future Phantoms due November 2024

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The moment has arrived for the Doctor, Millie and their big fluffy dog Sutekh as the universe gets dusted, mysteries are solved to varying degrees of success, and the Three Who Rule reach unforetold levels of Grumpy Old Man-ism as they discuss “Empire of Death”, the finale to Doctor Who, Season 1! What did they think of the first finale of the RTD2 era? Were their memories jogged by a certain cramped TARDIS? Who’s pointing at what, and why? Abase yourselves, insects, and find out!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Review: Doctor Who S1E08 “Empire of Death”
“Empire of Death” in-vision commentary
Tales of the TARDIS: Pyramids of Mars
Gabriel Woolf interview
Doctor Who Magazine #605
Big Finish – Third Doctor Adventures: The Quintessence due October 2024
Dalek 63-88 “The Lost Toymaker Scripts”
Kickstarter for Starlost Unauthorized and the Quest for Canadian Identity

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It’s the penultimate episode of Doctor Who Season 1 and the mysteries are piling up in UNIT HQ! Who or what is Susan Twist? What about the cloaked lady who may or may not be Ruby’s mum? Why in the name of all the gods in the pantheon is Sutekh causing trouble and blinged out in Disney finery? The Three Who Rule don’t have the answers but they do have baseless speculation and a bunch of irrelevant Classic Who references to tide us over until next week! Plus some book and comic and Big Finish stuff but let’s be real…..SUTEKH’S BACK!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Magna Carta Day
Review: Doctor Who S1E07 “The Legend of Ruby Sunday”
Reminder: A new Tales of the TARDIS episode airing on BBC Four on June 20
Doctor Who: Print The Legend now available
BBC Books to publish four Target Doctor Who novels featuring the Fifteenth Doctor
Doctor Who: The Official Guide coming August 15
Doctor Who: Annual 2025 coming September 5
Doctor Who: Fifteen Doctors 15 Stories coming September 19
Cutaway Comics Paradise Towers: Volume 1: Paradise Found graphic novel due Oct 30
Cutaway Comics Lytton: Volume 1 graphic novel due Oct 30
Big Finish: Doctor Who – Conspiracy of Raven due July 2024
Big Finish: The Worlds of Doctor Who – Susan’s War: Family Ties due August 2024
Next Time: “Empire of Death”, Saturday, June 22 at 640pm on BBC One

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It’s Regency drama, gossip, and scandalous dances on this week’s Doctor Who adventure, “Rogue!” The Bridgerton fans are losing their minds at this episode, including one Ruby Sunday, but what did the Three Who Rule think of this theatrical and romantic undertaking? Plus we pay tribute to William Russell, Doctor Who’s original Man of Action and Knight of Jaffa, and we encourage you to listen to our own interview with Mr. Russell from 2012. Plus Big Finish celebrates 25 years, Tales of the TARDIS mystery, and this very podcast gets called out for both its numerous crimes and its place as one of the best Doctor Who podcasts! Will wonders never cease?

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Review: Doctor Who S1E06 “Rogue”
Returning to the Regency
William Russell, Doctor Who legend, dies aged 99
Carole Ann Ford’s tribute to William Russell
RFS 298 with William Russell interview
A new Tales of the TARDIS episode airing on BBC Four on June 20
Radio Times: Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson star in Tales of the TARDIS
Big Finish: Doctor Who: The Sirens of Time – Redux due November 2024
Big Finish: Dark Gallifrey: The War Master starts in July
Big FInish: Doctor Who – The Lost Stories: Deathworld due in July
Next Time: S1E07 “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” June 15, 630pm on BBC One
Radio Times lists RFS and The Memory Cheats as one of the best DW podcasts

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Doctor Who shows its range again with “Dot and Bubble,” an adventure that goes from the superficiality of social media all the way to some very real-world issues in what’s ostensibly a Doctor-lite episode but is in fact very heavy. Does it seem like we’re dancing around the content of the story? Well, we are! Tune in and listen to our takes, then find out about a new visual guide chronicling the adventures of Character Options dollies, a sneak peek at the first 15th Doctor comic, the further exploits of the Terry Nation Army, more Big Finish excitement including Christopher Eccelston’s final audio adventure (for now), and more! Don’t slide us!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Review: Doctor Who S1E05 “Dot and Bubble”
Indiegogo for Go Figure! A Visual Guide to Character Options Doctor Who Action Dollies
Terry Nation Army: Every Mistake in “Planet of Decision”
Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder: Where Science Meets Fiction moves to New Zealand
Big Finish: Doctor Who – Star-Crossed, the last Ninth Doctor box set (for now), is now available
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Sixth Doctor Adventures: The Trials of a Time Lord due August 2024
Titan Comics Official Trailer: The Fifteenth Doctor Comic Book
Next Time: “Rogue” – June 8, 6:45pm, BBC One

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A very divisive episode of one Radio Free Skaro as the Three Who Rules review “73 Yards,” a parable of Welsh magic, loopy time conundrums and craven Prime Ministers (well, one at least). What did they think of this Millie Gibson acting tour-de-force and what in the dickens is the mysterious lady saying? Listen and find out! Plus DWM 604, virtual production, a rabbit hole discussion of 4K Blu-Rays and much, much more! Also, why not metric?

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Review: Doctor Who S1E04 “73 Yards”
Doctor Who Magazine 604
DWM Print the Legend bookazine due June 6
Bringing Virtual Production to Doctor Who
2-part finale of Season 1 to be screened in cinemas across the UK
Doctor Who wraps production on Season 2
Pertwee’s Take-Away shirts now on TV Cream’s Redbubble store
Big Finish: Doctor Who: Time War – Uncharted 1: Reflections due October 2024
Next Time: Dot and Bubble 650pm June 1 on BBC One

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Steven Moffat returns to the world of Doctor Who with Boom, a tension-filled episode with land mines, Anglican Marines, many a trope from his previous era, and more! The Three Who Rule are well-known Moffat-ites to be sure, but did this measure up to their thoughts and prayers? Plus the media blitz continues with Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Time Magazine (of all things) and a halfhearted stab at the increasingly irrelevant…stats! Ahhh-aahhhhh!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Ncuti Gatwa on how to pronounce his name: “n-SHOO-tee”
Review: Doctor Who S01E03 “Boom”
Pertwee’s Burgers
Doctor Who’s Steven Moffat on returning with Boom and putting the Doctor “on a knife’s edge”
Doctor Who #4 on Disney+ on opening weekend (paywall)
BBC One overnights for Space Babies 2.6M, The Devil’s Chord 2.4M, Boom 2.04M
Ncuti Gatwa on the cover of Time Magazine
The BIG Interview: Doctor Who’s Steven Moffat
Hollywood Reporter Interview with Steven Moffat
Hollywood Reporter Interview with Russell T Davies
How ‘Doctor Who’ Exec Producers Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner Helped Transform South Wales Into a Buzzing Hive of Production
Big Finish: The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words due August 2024
Big Finish: The War Doctor Rises: Morbius the Mighty due August 2024
Brandon Schatz and Danica LeBlanc nominated for an Eisner Award
Next Time: “73 Yards”, 650pm Saturday May 18 on BBC One

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Doctor Who returns! Two new episodes dropped this weekend as we enter both the wacky madcap hijinks of “Space Babies” and the outright lunacy of “The Devil’s Chord”! What did the Three Who Rule think of CG baby mouths, Jinkx Monsoon vamping all over the place, Beatles instrument accuracy and more? Listen to our multi-hour discourse but know this: the twist at the end is that song isn’t very good. Plus the media onslaught continues with Ncuti Gatwa on Canadian radio, RTD dropping secret controversies in Men’s Journal, Big Finish fun and golden sonic screwdriver tat, and more! Next week, we see how it all goes…Boom!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Review: Doctor Who S1E01 “Space Babies”
Review: Doctor Who S1E02 “The Devil’s Chord”
Doctor Who Unleashed is available for purchase on iTunes in North America
Men’s Journal: Russell T Davies Interview: Giving “New Energy” to a “Classic Show”
Russell T Davies confirms more diverse writers for Season 2
Ncuti Gatwa, Millie Gibson & Russell T Davies Talks New Series with Kyle Anderson
Ncuti Gatwa on CBC Q Radio
Special Doctor Who BBC One ident aired May 6
Doctor Who: The Fourteenth Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver (Exclusive Gold Metallised Edition) coming July 5
The Doctor Who Production Diary: The Hartnell Years now available
Doctor Who – Death in the Stars by Bonnie Langford with Jacqualine Rayner due Aug 22
Big Finish annual Paul Spragg Memorial Short Trip opportunity now open until the end of June
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: Dominant Species due September 2024
New Titan Comics DW Humble Bundle
Long Island Who: August 23-25, 2024
Gallifrey One: February 14-16, 2025
“Boom” airs Saturday, May 18 at 6:50pm on BBC One

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It’s less than one week until Doctor Who enters a new era on Disney+ and BBC iPlayer, and the Disney+ money machine has been busy bussing Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson all around New York City to promote the show, look generally gorgeous wearing many different looks, and riding a Doctor Who-themed NYC subway car! There’s also chatter about Doctor Who: Unleashed, the TARDIS at Disneyland, theatre productions, and more, with our friend Sarah Murphy sitting in as guest host!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Ncuti and Millie on Good Morning America
Ncuti and Millie on ABC News
Ncuti Gatwa on “Late Night with Seth Meyers”
Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson on their “great chemistry”, loving Jon Pertwee and the future of Doctor Who
Rolling Stone: ‘It’s About Time’: Ncuti Gatwa on Becoming the New Face of ‘Doctor Who’
“Space Babies” airs at 6:20pm on BBC One; “The Devil’s Chord” at 7:05pm on May 11
Ncuti Gatwa’s Message to the Fans
Doctor Who segment on Blue Peter airing May 10
Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa set for Madame Tussauds
Ncuti Gatwa appearing in “The Importance Of Being Earnest” from November-January
Paul Cornell awarded Terrance Dicks Award for lifetime achievement in Doctor Who writing
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Lost Stories: Deathworld due July 2024
Big Finish: The Doctor’s Daughter returns for four new adventures in October
Companions: Sixty Years of Doctor Who Assistants due later in 2024
Ice Hot, a collection of stories set in Paradise Towers, coming May 20
The Incomparable 714: You Can’t Protect People From Doctor Who
Andrew Orton YouTube

Guest:

Sarah Murphy
Is It Camp?

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The Doctor Who publicity machine is slipping into second gear with Gatwa and Gibson making the rounds of a BBC premiere, chat shows, Variety Magazine, and more, but that doesn’t stop the Three Who Rule from marinating in questionable nostalgia as they recall viewing The Phantom Menace for the first time 25 years ago, aka the Dawn of Anticipointment. Plus we issue an all hands on deck alert for next week’s Gallifrey One Hotelmageddon, and Warren emerges from the Metaverse to give his take on the just released PS VR2 version of The Edge of Time! Don your own Helmet of Pretend and join us!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Gallifrey One 2025 hotel block on sale May 3
BBC Press Launch of Season 1
Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson on The One Show on April 26
Variety: Doctor Who Regenerates
Doctor Who Magazine #603
Doctor Who Magazine Special: 50 Years of the Fourth Doctor coming May 2
“The Church on Ruby Road” will be under Season 1 on Disney+ starting May 10
Doctor Who Season 1 to be released on Blu-ray in the UK on August 12
Doctor Who Prom coming August 26; tickets on sale May 17
Doctor Who: The Edge of Time now on Playstation VR2
Film is Fabulous pilot study reveals previously missing BBC treasures
Big Finish: The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Star-Crossed due May 2024
Big Finish: The Trials of a Time Lord due August 2024
Big Finish Doctor Who – The Fifth Doctor Adventures: The Great Beyond due September 2024
Big Finish Torchwood due July – October 2024

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The hype train has left the station for Doctor Who as Entertainment Weekly, SFX, Attitude, and other pulp-based data products celebrate the impending Full-On Ncuti Gatwa Era along with the BBC and Disney+ releasing promo illustrations, and most importantly of all the release of Movellan action dollies, which caused spontaneous disco-infused celebrations across the United Kingdom. There’s also the quite suspicious timing of a restored Let It Be hitting Disney+ two days before the two-part premiere of Doctor Who, and most exciting of all, Episode Four of our Classic Series Commentary for “Terror of the Autons”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Gallifrey One 2025 Tickets Now Available; Hotel Reservations on May 3
New BBC promo image promoting Doctor who launch
New Disney+ promo image promoting Doctor who launch
Entertainment Weekly: A new (re)generation: Inside Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor Who
Entertainment Weekly: Doctor Who’s Ncuti Gatwa Breaks Down Every Doctor in the Show’s History
Doctor Who Season 1 preview in SFX Magazine
Ncuti Gatwa on the cover of the 30th anniversary issue of Attitude magazine
Disney+ streaming the original “Let It Be” on May 8, two days before The Devil’s Chord
Doctor Who Ruins of Skaro Collector Figure Set
Character Options Ruins of Skaro reveal video
The Prisoner Retro Style Action Figures Wave 2 Kickstarter
BBC Books to publish three original Doctor Who novels featuring Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The First Doctor Unbound begins September 2025
The Game of Rassilon finale being released April 24

Commentary:

Terror of the Autons Episode 4

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We’re less than a month away from new Doctior Who on Disney+ and the BBC and to help us navigate this stormy sea of streaming madness is professor, media expert, and all-around lovely fellow Derek Kompare as we look into the BBC’s inevitable admission that Varada Sethu is joining the cast of the show, a fascinating Beatles-centric (or lack thereof) interview in Empire Magazine with Ncuti Gatwa and one Russell T. Davies, archive film musings, Chicago TARDIS news, and a very important televisual anniversary! Plus Episode Three of our Classic Series Commentary for “Terror of the Autons”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who – First Look at Ncuti Gatwa with Varada Sethu and Millie Gibson ahead of Season Two
Empire Magazine Interview with Russell T Davies and Ncuti Gatwa
Ncuti Gatwa, Millie Gibson, Russell T Davies in the Radio Times TV 100 list
The Celestial Toymaker to be released June 10/11 in the UK, North America
The Doctor Who Production Diary: The Hartnell Years available soon
Film is Fabulous! Pilot Study: Documenting Private Film Collections
Chicago TARDIS adds Jo Martin to guest list with Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann
Big Finish: Torchwood: The Restoration of Catherine coming June 2024
Twelfth Doctor, Cyberman ornaments coming from Hallmark for Christmas 2024
Stevie Wonder on Sesame Street (April 12, 1973)

Commentary:

Terror of the Autons Episode 3

Varada Sethu will join the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday in the second season of Doctor Who which will air in 2025. New pictures released today show the cast together at a read through for the second season.

Like many Doctors who have come before him, one is not enough for the Fifteenth Doctor and in season two, he will have two companions by his side as Varada Sethu steps aboard the TARDIS.

Varada joins the Whoniverse from a galaxy far, far away after starring in the Disney+ Star Wars series ‘Andor’. Now she straps in for another journey through time and space alongside Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday.

Sethu says: “I feel like the luckiest person in the world. It is such an honour to be a part of the Whoniverse, and I’m so grateful to the whole Doctor Who family – because that is what they are – for welcoming me with open arms and making me feel so at home. I couldn’t ask for a better team than Ncuti and Millie to be on this adventure with, this is SO much fun!”

Showrunner, executive producer and writer Russell T Davies says: “I first worked with Varada on a BBC production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and it’s a joy to welcome her on board the TARDIS. Right now in the studio, shooting for 2025, we’ve got Ncuti, Millie and Varada fighting side by side – we need all three, because the stakes are higher than ever!”

Sethu is best known for her standout role as Cinta Kaz in the Disney+ Original series “Andor.” Her additional credits include “Jurassic World Dominion,” “Annika” and “Strike Back.”

Currently in production, the second season of Doctor Who is set to debut in 2025 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK and Disney+ in the U.S. and around the world (where available).

Season one of Doctor Who will premiere simultaneously for the first time on BBC iPlayer and Disney+. In the UK, the first two new episodes of the season will premiere at 00:00 on May 11 on BBC iPlayer, and then on BBC One later that day. Episodes will drop on BBC iPlayer followed by a primetime slot on BBC One each week following that. Outside the UK, Doctor Who begins streaming 10 May at 7pm ET on Disney+, where available, giving audiences a simultaneous global launch.

Doctor Who is produced by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for the BBC and Disney Branded Television.
Russell T Davies is showrunner, executive producer and writer. Additional executive producers include Phil Collinson, Joel Collins, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter.

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Chris is a wandering vagabond this week, trolling both the Internet and ourselves with images of the real Magna Carta, but the real highlight of this week is the appearance of one Kyle Anderson of Nerdist fame for his thoughts on Doctor Who trailers, the current media landscape, and more! Plus we have news of one Dr. Who in Roblox form, the release of the Companions of Doctor Who on April 10, and River Song is back in Big Finish’s “Death and Life of River Song: Last Words”! Plus Past Chris returns in Episode Two of our Classic Series Commentary for “Terror of the Autons”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
BBC launches new Wonder Chase experience on Roblox
The Companions of Doctor Who Available April 10
Big Finish: The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words coming August 2024
Doctor Who’s WEIRD History of Regeneration

Commentary:

Terror of the Autons Episode 2

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Another new Doctor Who trailer! New episode titles unveiled! Golda Rosheuvel is in Episode 1! All this and more in a timey-wimey episode of the podcast, which contains much Mrrahh Business, more cast announcements, a light dusting of contempt for AI, a Steven Moffat conversation on Youtube, and Episode One of our Classic Series Commentary for “Terror of the Autons”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who – Golda Rosheuvel jumps aboard the TARDIS as episode titles are revealed
New BBC Doctor Who Trailer
Doctor Who Magazine 602
Two Doctor Who episodes nominated for Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Doctor Who 2024: BBC Confirms 4K For The Full Series
BBC Will Stop Using AI For ‘Doctor Who’ Promotion After Receiving Complaints
BBC Director General nevertheless revealed there are bold plans for AI going forward
Russell T Davies says end of BBC is ‘undoubtedly on its way’
BBC looks for commercial deals as it faces potential end of licence fee
Doctor Who cited as evolution of of how funding for high-end scripted drama could evolve in the UK
BBC must spend more on TV in Wales, says report
Steven Moffat in conversation at Glasgow University
Doctor Who: I, TARDIS: Memoirs of an Impossible Blue Box Hardcover due July 11
Doctor Who: I, TARDIS: Memoirs of an Impossible Blue Box Audio CD due July 11
Big Finish – The War Doctor Rises begins August 2024
Big Finish – Torchwood: Disco coming May 2024

Commentary:

Terror of the Autons Episode 1

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GOLDA ROSHEUVEL JUMPS ABOARD THE TARDIS AS THE EPISODE TITLES ARE REVEALED

As Doctor Who gears up for its highly anticipated simultaneous global premiere this May, the episode titles have now been revealed for the season, as well as another incredible guest star who has jumped aboard the TARDIS for the upcoming season. And, as another Easter treat, viewers will be given another official trailer that will launch on the BBC Doctor Who social channels at 1800 before its first airing on BBC One later today (Sunday 31st March).

Up first, in the Julie Anne Robinson directed ‘Space Babies’, is Golda Rosheuvel (Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story) who joins Doctor Who as Jocelyn, who the Doctor and Ruby collide with in their first adventure in the TARDIS together.

Russell T Davies, Showrunner added: “It’s been amazing to see the whole world appreciate Golda’s talents, because of Bridgerton, and it’s been an absolute joy to invite her to Cardiff to help launch Ncuti and Millie’s first season.”

Rounding out the explosive double bill is previously announced Jinkx Monsoon who stars in ‘The Devil’s Chord’, the Doctor’s most powerful enemy yet. In this episode the Doctor and Ruby step back to the sixties to meet The Beatles.

New episodes will then debut weekly across BBC iPlayer, BBC One and outside of the UK on Disney+ (where available), with the Steven Moffat penned adventure ‘Boom’ up next, followed by ‘73 Yards’, ‘Dot and Bubble’, ‘Rogue’, and a massive two part finale spread across two weeks titled ‘The Legend of Ruby Sunday’ and ‘Empire of Death’.

Over the rest of the season there are an array of brilliant guest stars jumping aboard the TARDIS, including Callie Cooke, Dame Siân Phillips, Alexander Devrient, Bhav Joshi, Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy, Tachia Newall and Caoilinn Springall. They join the previously announced guest cast: Michelle Greenidge, Angela Wynter, Anita Dobson, Aneurin Barnard, Yasmin Finney, Jonathan Groff, Gwïon Morris Jones, Bonnie Langford, Genesis Lynea, Jemma Redgrave, Lenny Rush and Indira Varma.

DOCTOR WHO – EPISODE TITLES

Space Babies: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Julie Anne Robinson

The Devil’s Chord: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Ben Chessell

Boom: Written by Steven Moffat, directed by Julie Anne Robinson

73 Yards: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Dylan Holmes Williams

Dot and Bubble: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Dylan Holmes Williams

Rogue: Written by Kate Herron and Briony Redman, directed by Ben Chessell

The Legend of Ruby Sunday: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Jamie Donoughue

Empire of Death: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Jamie Donoughue

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In an exciting adventure in time and mostly space, Chris joins Warren in Vancouver for a very special episode of Radio Free Skaro where we look at a new Disney+ Doctor Who trailer featuring dinosaurs, Ruby Sunday stepping on a butterfly, glimpses of upcoming mysteries, and clearly a whole lot of Disney+ money. Plus confirmation Steven Moffat is back for at least one Season 1 episode, Russell T Davies using a Canadian emoji to not only tease the audience but also confound us, Big Finish celebrating its 25th Anniversary with a very special day, some MRAHHH BUSINESS from Doctor Who producer Jane Tranter ,and our Miniscope examining the work of Thirteenth Doctor-era director Jamie Childs!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
New Disney+ Trailer
Steven Moffat writes episode for new season of Doctor Who with Julie-Anne Robinson directing
RTD uses emoji on his Instagram post about Moffat
First Big Finish Day 2024 guests announced
I, TARDIS coming from BBC Books July 18
Pre-orders are up for Titan Comics’ Fifteenth Doctor Issue #1
‘Doctor Who’ Producer Jane Tranter Says British TV Tax Credits Must Be Updated

Miniscope:

Doctor Who director Jamie Childs
Jamie Childs on Radio Free Skaro #676

Former Showrunner Steven Moffat makes an explosive return to the new series of Doctor Who as he writes an episode due to air in Ncuti Gatwa’s first season as the Fifteenth Doctor, which will simultaneously premiere across BBC iPlayer in the UK and Disney+, where available.

Steven has been lauded for his work on Doctor Who, first writing on the show when Russell T Davies revived it in 2005. He then went on to succeed as Showrunner, leading the show during the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi eras. Steven is known for penning some of the most praised episodes in the shows history as well as creating one of the most terrifying and iconic monsters, the Weeping Angels.

Outside of Doctor Who, Steven has been celebrated for co-writing and co-creating the multi-award winning series Sherlock. Now he’s back, returning alongside Showrunner Russell T Davies, as he writes a whole new adventure for the upcoming season debuting this May.

Directing the thrilling adventure will be BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Julie-Anne Robinson, who also kicks off the season by directing the episode that succeeds The Church on Ruby Road that aired at Christmas. Julie-Anne has previously directed some blockbuster television series including Bridgerton, Orange Is The New Black and Scandal, and is now jumping on board the TARDIS to front two of the episodes.

Speaking on his return to the Whoniverse, Steven Moffat says: “Yes, okay, fair enough – apologies to everyone I’ve very slightly misled – I am in fact writing an episode of the series of Doctor Who. Exactly like I said I never would. What can I tell you? There was begging, there was pleading but finally Russell agreed to let me have another go – so long as I got out of his garden. Working with old friends and a brand new Doctor I couldn’t be happier. Sorry I was a bit reticent on the subject for so long. It was all part of an elaborate plan that would have delighted millions but at the last minute I forgot what it was.”

Speaking on directing episodes in the new season, Julie-Anne Robinson says: “It was a tremendous honour to direct episodes of Doctor Who for the BBC and Disney+. This beloved franchise is 60 years old and still going strong. It is part of our collective memory as Brits. I’ve always admired Russell T Davies and Ncuti Gatwa is an unbelievably talented actor who has stepped into the role of the Fifteenth Doctor effortlessly, alongside the equally talented Millie Gibson. Steven Moffat gave me an intense challenge as a director. I asked him for a keyword to describe the overall tone of the episode he said: ‘Hitchcock’. I can’t wait to see what everyone thinks. I’m grateful to Bad Wolf, the BBC and Disney+. It was an incredible experience”.

The new season of Doctor Who will premiere simultaneously for the first time on BBC iPlayer and Disney+. In the UK, the first two new episodes of the season will premiere at 00:00 on May 11th on BBC iPlayer, and then on BBC One later that day. Episodes will drop on BBC iPlayer followed by a primetime slot on BBC One each week following that.

Outside the UK, Doctor Who begins streaming 10th May at 7:00 p.m. ET on Disney+ where available, giving audiences a simultaneous global launch.

Julie-Anne Robinson has also directed the first episode that will air on the BBC in the UK this May.

ABOUT “DOCTOR WHO”

Quintessentially British, “Doctor Who” is one of the longest running action-adventure television series in the world with legions of fans across the globe since its inception on the BBC in 1963. Airing on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the U.K. and Disney+ in the rest of the world, the critically acclaimed show was the UK’s most watched drama on Christmas Day 2023 as Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor took over the TARDIS in “The Church On Ruby Road.”

“Doctor Who” has a variety of licensees and partnerships spanning comics and collectibles, audiobooks, podcasts and magazines. Since 2012, over 17 million Sonic Screwdrivers and action figures, 19 million DVDs and over one million tickets for Doctor Who live events have sold globally. In 2023, BBC iPlayer launched the Whoniverse, a dedicated area where UK viewers can see more than 800 shows within the orbit of Doctor Who. https://www.doctorwho.tv/

ABOUT THE BBC

The BBC is the world’s leading public service broadcaster which is impartial and independent, and every day we create distinctive, world-class programmes and content which inform, educate and entertain millions of people in the UK and around the world. The BBC includes a portfolio of television services, national and local radio networks, and global digital services.

ABOUT DISNEY+

Disney+ is the dedicated streaming home for movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, along with The Simpsons and much more. In select international markets, it also includes the general entertainment content brand, Star, and in the U.S., Disney Bundle subscribers can also access extensive Hulu content, including next day TV and Hulu Original titles, on Disney+. The flagship direct-to-consumer streaming service from Disney, Disney+ offers an ever-growing collection of exclusive originals, including feature-length films, documentaries, live-action and animated series, and short-form content. With unprecedented access to Disney’s long history of incredible film and television entertainment, Disney+ is also the exclusive streaming home for the newest releases from The Walt Disney Studios. Disney+ is available as a standalone streaming service, as part of the Disney Bundle in the U.S. that gives subscribers access to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, or as part of Combo+ in Latin America with Star+, the standalone general entertainment and sports streaming service in the region. For more, visit disneyplus.com, or find the Disney+ app on most mobile and connected TV devices.

ABOUT DISNEY BRANDED TELEVISION

Disney Branded Television encompasses the creative storytellers and production and content marketing teams responsible for Disney-branded television series, movies and other programming spanning live-action, animated and unscripted formats. The group fuels the Disney+ streaming platform and Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior linear networks with content geared toward kids, tweens, teens and families, with stories that are imaginative, aspirational and reflective of their world and experiences.

ABOUT BBC STUDIOS

BBC Studios is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group with sales of £2.1 billion (2021/22: £1,630 million). Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, the business is built on two operating areas: the global Content Studio, which produces, invests and distributes content globally and Channels & Streaming, with BBC branded channels, services and joint ventures in the UK and internationally. Around 2,500 hours of award-winning British programmes are made by the business every year, with over 80% of total BBC Studios revenues coming from non-BBC customers including Discovery, Apple and Netflix. Its content is internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms, with brands like Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear, the Planet series, Bluey and Doctor Who. BBC.com is BBC Studios’ global digital news platform, offering up-to-the-minute international news, in-depth analysis and features.

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After a long and punishing era of North America tapping its toes and drumming its fingers waiting for the adventures of Doctor Who on their televisual devices, Disney+ has upended the universe with a global release on its streaming service with the result that North Americans will see the show Friday afternoon and the UK will suffer the INDIGNITY of having their beloved Gallifreyan arrive at midnight, a crime as monumental as the United States seceding from the Commonwealth. We also have Steven Moffat allegedly writing the 2024 Xmas special, man about town and Nerdist scribe Kyle Anderson’s look at regenerations, and an interview with Chris Chapman about his Graham Williams documentary on said collection,”Darkness and Light: The Life of Graham Williams”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who Returns May 10/11, Premiering on iPlayer/Disney+ at Midnight UK Time
BBC Press Release on Doctor Who Premiere
Radio Times: Doctor Who’s Steven Moffat ‘returns to write 2024 Christmas special’
Alison Sterling’s CV said Steven Moffat is writing the 2024 Christmas Special (directed by Alex Pillai)
From Nerdist: Doctor Who’s Regeneration Has NEVER Made Sense w/Kyle Anderson
Philip Hinchcliffe – the DNA of Doctor Who Vol 1 due June 1
Doctor Who The Adventures Before due Oct 3
Doctor Who: In Wonderland
Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Star-Crossed due May 2024
Titan Comics reveals artwork for Fifteenth Doctor’s debut issue
Season 15 Collection Launch Trailer
Richard Bignell’s List of PDF archive material on the Season 15 Collection

Interview:

Chris Chapman
Graham Williams documentary on the Season 15 Collection

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It’s time for a mea culpa about Magna Carta by the Three Who Rule (much less than before) before we move on to the news of the moment, including Rachel Talalay highlighting female Doctor Who directors and appearing in Edmonton to celebrate her film work, Mark Ayres going to bat for the Celestial Toymaker’s experimental animations, the BBC with an AI-generated foot in its mouth after it decided simple humans can’t possibly promote their Doctor Who material, Warren has news of scribbling for an RPG merchant ,and the second part of a completely historically accurate exploration Classic Series Commentary of Magna Carta AND shapeshifting robots in…”The King’s Demons”, Part the Second!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Radio Times: Rachel Talalay: Doctor Who’s female directors have defied the odds
Mark Ayres defends “experimental” Celestial Toymaker animation
BBC is exploring generative AI to increase experimentation and improve Doctor Who promotion
Big Finish: Bernice Summerfield: The Eternity Club series bundle starts September 2024
Kickstarter for The Laundry Roleplaying Game: Second Edition
Pamela Salem obituary in the Guardian, by Toby Hadoke

Commentary:

Classic Series Commentary “The Kings Demons” Part Two

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For the first time in almost 20 years, #WhoSpy has returned to give you all sneak peeks from behind the scenes of Doctor Who (from a year ago now, but still!) Plus we have new photos in EW that are ever-so-slightly different from what we’ve already seen of the three Tennant specials, a spurious rumor about Ryan Gosling in Doctor Who, and Jemma Redgrave saying “not really, no” to a UNIT spinoff, plus a BFI premiere, a yearbook, Dan Slott’s “Once Upon a Time Lord” is finally almost here, and Part the Second of our Classic Series Commentary for “Mawdryn Undead”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
WhoSpy returns
Entertainment Weekly Doctor Who preview contains new photos
Ryan Gosling in Doctor Who?
Jemma Redgrave confirms she’s back in Doctor Who, denies UNIT spin-off
Gallifrey One 2024 update
The Underwater Menace BFI premiere happening October 21
Doctor Who Magazine Special #65 2024 Yearbook due Jan 24
Titan Comics “Once Upon A Time Lord” by Dan Slott due October 24

Commentary:

Mawdryn Undead, Part Two

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It’s a bumper crop of news this week with confirmation of Ncuti Gatwa’s second season being built as you read this, Rose Noble as played by Yasmin Finney, more Marvel and Disney+ machinations, and hold onto your wallets because Doctor Who: Magic the Gathering is due to arrive in October, if you haven’t already spent your cash on audio annuals, new Big Finish releases and a plane ticket to Chicago TARDIS to see Doctor Who legend Carole Ann Ford! All this, and we also have an extensive interview with one Toby Hadoke about all things Quatermass!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Doctor Who Series 15 production underway, lasting from July 2023-May 2024
BBC confirms Rose Noble as the character played by Yasmin Finney
Doctor Who 60th anniversary musical celebration coming September 28
Marvel Shows Shift Premiere Dates Due To Strikes & New Disney+ Strategy
Disney+ passes on “The Spiderwick Chronicles”, non-Disney IP that was already completed
Disney also passes on Nautilus UK Series
Doctor Who Annual 2024 due September 7
Doctor Who: Magic the Gathering coming October 13
Doctor Who: The Phaser Aliens & Other Stories audio annual due March 2024
Big Finish Torchwood: Dog Hop due September 2023
Big Finish The Paternoster Gang: Trespassers – Rogues Gallery due October 2023
Carole Ann Ford added to Chicago TARDIS guests

Interview:

Toby Hadoke
The Quatermass Experiment 70th Anniversary

It’s a mystery that isn’t as the BBC publishes then pulls confirmation that Ncuti Gatwa’s first series will air in “Spring 2024”, as we all suspected. This had the unsurprising effect of clickbait farms pondering on Doctor Who’s future, which in actuality will also...

A new era of action dollies is upon us with more Daleks, Colin Baker with a new coat and and AND a Richard Hurndall dolly for all you devoted Hurndallists to enjoy (pineapple not included)! There’s also Blu-Ray uprez news, pointless banter about Supermen...

Animated adventures are back! At least, The Underwater Menace is coming soon to DVD and Blu-ray, both in colour and black and white! There’s also a 60th anniversary concert on the way, an illustrated edition of Rose arriving on November 23, the sad news...

The news remains fallow in these Times of No Who Yet, but we do have missives from the further adventures of Doom’s Day, colourization of old episodes on many fronts, an action dolly magazine spectacular, Tom Baker’s son’s Who-themed Nottingham pub and part one...

Unlike last week’s veritable tsunami of info, this week we have a quieter news offering, including a staggeringly expensive 14th Doctor sonic screwdriver replica, more bon mots from Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa via Rolling Stone, Gav Rymill noodling with AI to recreate missing episodes...

After subjecting you to an intense bout of trivia last week, we have a surfeit and indeed a tsunami of News Content for you, including a new sonic for the Fourteenth Doctor, promo pics, a pink TARDIS Barbie cross-promotion, Ncuti Gatwa being funny and...

Several self-styled Doctor Who “experts” in the form of Warren, Chris, Kat and Erika square off against trivia master and Smug Poltroon Steven in our semi-annual trivia showdown aptly named “Trivia, Mr Fibuli”! Based on Jacqueline Rayner’s Doctor Who – The Official Quiz Book...

The news is sparse this week, as sparse as the Thursday/Friday schedule for San Diego Comic Con, reflecting the general malaise of the entertainment media complex in these times of IP dominance and labour strife. But that won’t stop the Three Who Rule from...

It’s the end, but the moment has been prepared for…by the Three Who Rule who are ringing in Canada Day weekend by wringing out the very last vestiges of the Timelash, our popular(?) time-filling exercise in Doctor Who reflection. We also have news of...

It is a sad week for the media and for Steven as Disney and many Makers of Pretend aren’t going to San Diego Comic Con, which means Doctor Who likely won’t, which means Steven likely won’t. Curses! We do however have news of Doctor...

While we wait for news regarding Doctor Who at San Diego Comic-Con (or not), The Three Who Rule managed to squeeze out more than an hour of top quality banter at Ncuti Gatwa’s nudity skills, Lenny Rush joining the Doctor Who cast, and the...

The Classic Companion Reunion Victory Tour as one Melanie Bush aka Bonnie Langford is set to join Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor Who for an adventure in space and/or time next year! Doom has also started experiencing their first of twenty-four hours of mayhem and of...

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It’s time for a Return of the Omnirumour as mysterious film canisters are pored over by specialists to see if heretofore undiscovered missing Doctor Who episodes have emerged or in fact it’s all just the same copy of Match of the Day over and over. Intriguing! Also Waris Hussein chronicles a trip to Moscow while Doctor Who’s debut hits technical snafus, Blu-Ray, Big Finish and vinyl releases aplenty and as always we go deep into the past to give our own vague musings in the Timelash!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Terry Burnett film archive handed over
“Most of the reels are unlabelled”
Network Distributing closes
Waris Hussein diaries, part two
Season 9 Blu-Ray release delayed to July 11 in North America
Series 5 soundtrack coming to vinyl on July 7
Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy attending Chicago TARDIS 2023
The Seven Classic Daleks in the Asylum – Complete Histories Uncovered
Big Finish Doctor Who – Once and Future: A Genius for War due July 2023
Big Finish Doctor Who – The Second Doctor Adventures: James Robert McCrimmon due July 2023
Doctor Who The Target Book Club event July 16 at Bush Hall

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It’s the Eve of Doom’s Day as the BBC ramps up its transmedial multimodal whatsit starring Sooz Kempner for a debut on June 5th! The Three Who Rule cogitate on this monumental and somewhat confusing chronological crisis, along wth much more, including Indira Varma as the mysterious Duchess, Frazer Hines writing an Evil of the Daleks novelization, a contraband 1997 Doctor Who annual, Doctor Who and Top Gear going into the metaverse for some reason, the Revised Return of the Wife in Space, and the ever enjoyable Timelash!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Indira Varma joins Doctor Who as The Duchess
Doctor Who Magazine 591 released
Prepare for Doom’s Day
Four to Doom’s Day vinyl due Aug 25
Big Finish Doom’s Day details
Big Finish UNIT – Nemesis: Masters of Time due July 2023
Big Finish Torchwood Soho: Ascension due Feb 2024
BBC Studios takes Top Gear and Doctor Who into the metaverse
Evil of the Daleks to be novelized by Fraser Hines
Evil of the Daleks audio release due Oct 26
Jamie Mathieson’s first draft of Flatline released
ILLUMINART 2 The Doctor Who Art of Andrew Skilleter due Sep 2023
Unofficial Doctor Who Annual 1997 due May 30
Revised Adventures with the Wife in Space coming Nov 2023
60 Years of Doctor Who celebration at Jodrell Bank July 23

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It is one of the more fallow news weeks in recent memory as we have merely one Big Finish and a few novels to speak of, BUT that doesn’t stop the Three Who Rule from chewing up all of time and space with both the Timelash and and AND the return of Fluid Links! How does WKRP figure into the Tom Baker era? Why do Nimons wear loincloths? These questions and more are yours to hear and yell at in frustration!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Titles and covers released for 60th anniversary tie-in novels
Big Finish Audacity due late 2023
Chris on All of Time and Space podcast, released May 26

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We now have titles for the upcoming Doctor Who David Tennant specials, and a teaser trailer featuring Beep The Meep, Neil Patrick Harris as whoever he might be, and not a whole lot else! Still, it’s something, as is Regency costumes on Ncuti Gatwa and Co., Disney+ losing money due to cricket (so we’ll blame that on the fifth Doctor) , Big Finish, NFTs, analog NFTs in the form of Doctor Who themed Magic: The Gathering cards, and as ever the Timelash, where we decided Alec Baldwin has been hoarding 16mm prints of missing episodes! It’s Wednesday, Lemon!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
David Tennant specials episode titles revealed
New Doctor Who 60th Anniversary specials trailer
Gatwa, Gibson, and Jonathan Groff pose in new Regency-era outfits
Disney+ sheds subscribers
Doctor Who Chronicles #8 – 1963-64 due June 8
Make Your Own TARDIS Book Nook with Blue Peter
Big Finish Freebies start with an Eccleston episode
Big Finish Paul Spragg Memorial Short Trip Opportunity open to submissions
Doctor Who Magic: The Gathering Cards Are Up For Preorder
BBC files NFT trademark for Doctor Who logo

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It’s a race agains the clock as to the excitement of Chris and Steven and the consternation of Warren we recorded this episode right before Game Two of the Edmonton Oilers playoff series with Vegas and tensions were running high (except for Warren who couldn’t care less), but STILL we bring you news of a cryptic 60th anniversary teaser and Eurovision trailer yet to come, a fine Twitter thread from James Moran on the deplorable conditions UK television writers face as they watch the WGA strike in America, Jonathan Groff joins the Doctor Who cast to the delight of musical enthusiasts (not us) and of course we dive into history with The Timelash!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Doctor Who season 14 is so far “unaffected” by writers’ strike
James Moran thread on the WGA strike
Doctor Who airs new footage of 60th anniversary in cryptic teaser
New teaser breakdown
Jonathan Groff joins Doctor Who cast
The 1963 Doctor Who diaries of Waris Hussein – part one
Doom’s Day: Hours 14-11 due Aug 31
Artwork Revealed for 2023’s Doctor Who Target Novels
Kklak!: The Doctor Who Art of Chris Achilleos updated paperback released

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Award winning star of stage and screen Jonathan Groff is set to appear in the new series of Doctor Who in a key role.

Jonathan shot to fame when he landed the role of Jessie in musical comedy drama Glee. He has since been internationally celebrated for his work on-screen, from starring as Eric in the box office hit Knock at the Cabin, to playing Holden Ford in the critically acclaimed series ‘Mindhunter’. As well as having a leading role as the new Agent Smith in The Matrix Resurrections, Jonathan is renowned for his major voice acting roles in the ‘Frozen’ films

Jonathan has also made his mark on Broadway, dazzling audiences with his famous performance as King George III in Hamilton, where he was nominated for not only a Tony Award, but also a Primetime Emmy Award for the live stage recording.

And now he’s on his way to jump aboard the TARDIS in a mysterious and exciting guest role.

On joining Doctor Who, Jonathan Groff said: “I am so thrilled to jump into the extraordinary mind of Russell T Davies and watch the incredible Ncuti Gatwa soar in this iconic role!”

Showrunner, Russell T Davies said: “This is an incredible coup, and a great honour, to get such a huge star striding on to our set. So strap on your space boots, this is going to be a blast!”

Doctor Who returns in November 2023 with three special episodes with David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor to coincide with the 60th anniversary. Ncuti Gatwa’s first episode as the Fifteenth Doctor will then air over the festive period.

Doctor Who will premiere exclusively on the BBC for the UK and Ireland. Disney+ will be the exclusive home for new seasons of Doctor Who outside of the UK and Ireland.

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A beloved tunesmith is back in action as Murray Gold returns to Doctor Who, the latest in a string of RTDists to join their blue box pals once more. If horror and panic is more your thing, the LAX Marriott does HOTELMAGEDDON as the first Gallifrey One room block will be available May 12, so gird your loins appropriately! Also there’s a Blue Peter contest, David Tennant’s hair is completely out of control, The Ultimate Adventure has been restored, and The Timlelash gives your the musings of three creaking skeletons who like their stories. Allons and indeed…y

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Murray Gold returns to Doctor Who
Murray Gold re-introduction video
Doctor Who Magazine 590 released
Gallifrey One hotel block opens May 12
Blue Peter set visit contest
Blue Peter contest David Tennant video
Adventures Across Space and Time: A Doctor Who Reader coming in November
Doctor Who The Ultimate Adventure restored
Big Finish Doctor Who – Once and Future: The Artist at the End of Time due June 2023
Big Finish Doctor Who – Far from Home due June 2023
Big Finish The War Master: Solitary Confinement due June 2023
Blake’s 7 – Gambit

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It’s a week of casting and backsides this week as we see Jinkx Monsoon’s costume and Ncuti Gatwa’s…form-fitting costume dominate fan headlines, along with Fortnite news, Doom’s Day comic book shenanigans, a BBC brand manager job that involves driving a forklift(?), and perhaps the greatest heavy lifting of all…The Timelash!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
60s costumes revealed for Series 14
Jinkx Monsoon’s outfit revealed
Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa to perform Shakespeare at Coronation Concert
Is Fortnite getting Doctor Who content?
Job posting: Brand Asset Manager – Doctor Who
Spearhead From Space screening at the BFI on June 11
Brian Croucher, Richard Ashton, Mickey Lewis added to LI Who guest list
Doctor Who The Complete History Digital Editions Issues 81- 90 available
Doctor Who: Doom’s Day on sale from Titan Comics July 5

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It’s another fallow week of news in The Land of Who but that won’t stop us going on about Star Trek Picard, Star Wars Celebration and maybe even some BBC show where Steven Moffat won the Terrance Discks Award for Writers, a new batch of novels arrive for the 60th anniversary, Once Upon a Time Lord gains a cover, the Timelash does the thing it does (going through the years and making offhand remarks) and…for real this time, Part Three of our Classic Series Commentary for “Planet of Giants”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Moffat wins Terrance Dicks Award for Writers
Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary celebrated with new series of novels
Doctor Who Magazine 61-80 Bundle Complete History Special Issue
Doctor Who Once Upon a Time Lord from Titan Comics cover art released
Big Finish Star Cops – The High Frontier: 2 now available
Murray Melvin died

Commentary:

Planet of Giants episode 3 – Crisis

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Chris is absent this week due to a case of the Post-UK Vocal Swarm but in his stead steps in Verity co-host and eminent contrarian Kat Griffiths to discuss Jinx Monsoon appearing in upcoming Doctor Who, Big Finish releases, random Star Wars musings as a torrent of information emerges from Star Wars Celebration in London, and, of course, the Timelash! Fear not, Chris is also back through the magic of time travel as we continue on with our Classic Series Commentary for Part Two of “Planet of Giants”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Gallifrey One 2024 tickets now on sale
Jinkx Monsoon joins the new series of Doctor Who
Ncuti Gatwa tops Radio Times TV 100 list
Doctor Who: An Unlikely Heist available on Apple Arcade
Doctor Who: The Teeth of Ice featuring the 8th Doctor, due Aug 3
Big Finish Doctor Who – The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Conflicts of Interest due Sep 2023
Big Finish trailer for Once and Future: Past Lives
Peter Day died

Commentary:

Planet of Giants episode 2 – A Dangerous Journey

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Amazingly, we’ve reached episode 900 of this here internet audio programme and we celebrate with not only the news of the day, including DWM tidbits, Big Finish and more audio fun, and the ever-present Timelash, but with the first of three exciting Classic Series Commentaries about the 1964 William Hartnell classic “Planet of Giants!”

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Doctor Who Magazine 589 released
Directors discuss the new TARDIS set
Casting news from Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Am I available
Radiophonic Workshop videos on BBC Archive YouTube Channel
Serpent Crest 10 LP set due May 26
Big Finish Rani Takes on the World: The Revenge of Wormwood due April 2023

Commentary:

Planet of Giants

None

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It’s All-900 Episode’s Eve, and we have news of….Doom. What is Doom? Who is Doom? Why is Doom? Join the Three Who Rule who endeavour to piece together this multimedia mystery, discuss Chris’s recent sojourn to the UK and Wales, wander through the Timelash as per usual…and that’s before we dive into Part the Second of our Lennie Mayne Miniscope!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Doom’s Day coming soon

Miniscope:

Lennie Mayne
The Three Doctors
The Hand of Fear

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What is Doom’s Day and does it have anything to do with Urbankans? Nothing presumably, as it is a new audio adventure teased mysteriously as of this recoding, but Steven and Warren shall pick apart what few clues they have as Chris is on Special Assignment and absent from most of the proceedings this week. We also have news of Henry-Tennant regeneration hijinks on Red Nose Day, a simply wonderful trailer for the new Series 9 collection, the ever-present Timelash, and Part One of our Miniscope on Doctor Who director Lennie Mayne!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
BBC Doctor Who “Doom’s Day” teaser
Doctor Who: Four from Doom’s Day: Doom’s Day Audio Original
Doctor Who on Red Nose Day
Doctor Who bosses ‘planning UNIT spin-off with Jemma Redgrave’
New trailer for the Doctor Who Series 9 collection
DWM Special on Doctor Who Showrunners
BF Doctor Who – The War Doctor Begins: Comrades-in-Arms due May 2023
BF Torchwood: Among Us – Part 2 due June 2023
Kit Pedler in BBC story about pollution from 1971

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It’s another exciting week of Doctor Who news as various content mills continue to draw the last bits of blood from the stone that is our Chris Chibnall interview, Russell T Davies says he’s focused on Doctor Who for “years to come,” Doctor Who: Lost in Time, a new mobile game that’s been on our phones for months launches, and a very expensive teddy bear set to arrive in time for the 60th anniversary! All this and the Timelash, where we do deep dives into the kind of minutiae you only get here, on Radio Freaks Skaro!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Russell T Davies’s focus is on Doctor Who for ‘years to come’
Moffat to write for Series 15?
Red Nose Day to show off new 14th Doctor costume
Big Finish The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Pioneers due May 2023
Doctor Who Redacted renewed for Season 2, but not with Ella Watts as producer
Doctor Who Annual 2024 due Sep 7
Doctor Who: Lost in Time mobile game launches
The Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Bear by Steiff

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We continue to bask in the glow of our Chris Chibnall interview at Gallifrey One and lo, so has the internet as excerpts appear around and about the internet in the form of news articles and Youtube commentary. But we trundle on towards the future with director announcements for the impending Gatwa Era and indeed the past with the Timelash and our Modern Series Commentary from the Capaldi classic “The Lie of the Land!” Monkadelic!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Radio Times: Chris Chibnall wanted to bring back Doctor Who spin-offs
Radio Times: Doctor Who: Flux was almost axed, reveals Chris Chibnall
Julie Anne Robinson officially unveiled as director for Block Three
Ben Chessell announced as director for Block Four
Doctor Who Magazine 588 released
Fan animation of the first 10 minutes of The Celestial Toymaker
Part 2 of The Celestial Toymaker animation
Audio adaptation of The Making of Doctor Who coming June 1
Big Finish Doctor Who – Once and Future: Past Lives details announced due May 2023
Big Finish Doctor Who – The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Purity Unleashed due May 2023
Big Finish Doctor Who – The Audio Novels: Prisoners of London by Matthew Waterhouse due July 2023

Commentary

The Lie of the Land

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Below is a transcript of our interview with Doctor Who show runner Chris Chibnall. Big thanks to Erika Ensign and Graham Kibble-White for the transcription! (Note: the interview begins at 3:59 into the episode).

Chris Chibnall

Steven Schapansky

Hey there Patreon supporters. This is Steven from Radio Free Skaro here with a sneak preview of our full length interview with Chris Chibnall, former showrunner of Doctor Who this will come in on our main feed and a little bit, but we’re offering it early for you Patreon supporters for to thank you for your support. So here without further ado, here’s our interview with Chris Chibnall.

So we’re sitting here in our room — Hello, Warren.

Warren Frey

Hello.

Steven Schapansky

— with outgoing Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall.

Chris Chibnall

Outgoing

Steven Schapansky

Outgoing — as you described yourself on the commentary last night, “unemployed”.

Chris Chibnall

(laughter) Yeah. Will work for tips.

Steven Schapansky

Yeah. How are you enjoying things this weekend?

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, I’m really enjoying it. I really didn’t know what to expect, at all. Except I watched Matthew Jacobs’ documentary “Doctor Who Am I”, before I came, it was on ITVX streaming service in the UK. I thought, oh, it’s there. And I watched that. And I was like, I wonder if that’s, that seems like it’s a beautiful film — and I actually emailed him about it — but it’s such a beautiful film, and I thought “that feels like that possibly could have been made for like, three people, and I’m one of them, as a primer on what you might expect”, but it’s been so overwhelming in the most positive possible sense. It’s so emotional and emotive and the scale of it here – the organization — is astonishing. And the people are extraordinary. Extraordinary. It’s mind blowing.

Steven Schapansky

Yeah, it’s, I mean, what were you expecting? Like? Like, just the reaction? Did you do you have any indication at all what you think you would you’d be in for?

Chris Chibnall

No, no, because you’re so in a bubble making the show you know, we make the show in a — in studios in Cardiff, you’re going to work every day, you’re doing that stuff. But you’re not thinking about these moments. I mean, we’ve done Comic-Con in Jodie’s first season, both San Diego and New York, but obviously that’s — they’re a different beast in terms of purpose, and they’re broad.

Warren Frey

It’s a PR thing really.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, yes, it is PR. That’s exactly right. And those were amazing experiences. This is it’s like the experience of Comic-Con dialled up to 10 of intensity in emotion in a great way, because it’s um, because it’s all Doctor Who it’s not Marvel and Star Trek and all that kind of stuff. You know.

Steven Schapansky

I’m gonna dip back a little bit just because I want to mention it. And I want to have you time to sip your coffee. I’ll do these long-winded–

Chris Chibnall

You know the secret in the green room here there’s a secret stash of PG Tips tea bags from England that Tony, who runs the green room, has bought over. Every English guest comes in, he’s like, if you need the secret tea.

Steven Schapansky

Right.

Chris Chibnall

So slurp tea off mic.

Steven Schapansky

Right . I want to mention a show that has been recently brought to my attention that my wife Erika, who you met last night after the Power of the Doctor commentary.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah!

Steven Schapansky

She loves the show you did called Born and Bred.

Chris Chibnall

Oh my god! Where is she watching that?!

Steven Schapansky

She watched it like 20 years ago. She was going through a rough patch. And it was just the show that needed.

Chris Chibnall

Right.

Steven Schapansky

And I’ve seen a couple it just showed up on Kanopy, it’s a different streaming service here, and “Oh! There’s Born and Bred!” And she was so excited. And we started watching it. And of course, there’s your name in the “Created by” credits.

Chris Chibnall

Wow. So that’s the first show I ever did for TV, the first hour. It was when I was really starting out, so I’d done Fringe theatre, and some producers came and saw the show that I was doing. My agent put together a meeting, and they had like a piece of paper, like a piece of A4 paper going ahh… Sunday night, 1950s, trains…? (laughter all around) It was a bit more than that, and it was a bit of like we should — it was it was an idea that felt very like The Titfield Thunderbolt, the Ealing comedy. And then I sort of went away and developed it and reworked it and did it, and then I wrote the pilot, and then it got greenlit like really unexpectedly. And it was sort of “So what happens now? What… do I have to write episode two? I don’t know happens!” I’ve never — I’ve written plays… And then you go into Episode Two, I have to do that again, and figure out what it is and figure out what it is over seasons, and so it was a real — and obviously produced by Phil Collinson. And like, and then then subsequently produced by Chris Clough, who was the classic series director who directed some you know—

Steven Schapansky

McCoy episodes!

Chris Chibnall

Yeah McCoy and also some of Trial of a Time Lord, so you know so yeah, it was incredible. It had four seasons and that’s where I kind of learned to I mean, A) learn what an evolving TV series how you how you work on it, but also they were great producers because as time went on, I could go and be in the edits – I was, you know, involved in a lot of, you know, production conversations that sort of where I started doing that and learning that and I think the first time as a writer-producer that you go into the post process, it’s like the other half of the equation opening up and you’re like, ohhh we could ohhh right, okay, this is where you’ve, you’ve — everything’s created in the edit. It really is. And also, it’s the last draft of your script, because you’re working with the reality of the material you’ve got rather than the kind of …the theoretical map that the script is. It’s so when when it’s finally directed and shot and performed — to then go, okay now how do we sculpt this into a, into a thing.

Steven Schapansky

And that’s where you pretty much cut your teeth on it then like learning on the job.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah I mean, I hadn’t written — hadn’t had a broadcast hour of television, I had a 30 minute monologue. So James Bolam, who was the leading Born and Bred in the end had done this thing I’d written for local regional London television — London ITV called Stormin’ Norman, which I think is on YouTube. And it’s a 20 minute monologue about a tube driver on his last day at work. That was the only thing I’d had on TV. Oh, I did an episode of a rebooted Crossroads. So those are my two early credits. I was like, well, and then that thing got greenlit, and that went for four seasons. And I feel like it was somewhere around 20– no, hang on — probably about 30 episodes in the end? I don’t know, I can’t remember. Yeah. Something like that. So that’s my first four years of writing for television is just that every year, and it was Sunday night, and it was a big — was a big hit on BBC One. You know, it’s everybody’s, everybody’s mum and dad loved that show. None of my mates watch it. And it was very much I was like, oh, we should be doing — where’s All Creatures Great and Small on the BBC now?

Steven Schapansky

Yeah, it had that feel to it.

Chris Chibnall

It’s got all those homages and sort of loving for that sort of show that you can — the equivalent of sort of a warm bath really, so when you saying about your partner that it’s like, she was going through a rough time. Like, yeah, it was built for that.

Steven Schapansky

You know what it was charming because, you know, so much television these days is like just, you know, extended universe, and this ties into this, and everything’s dramatic and everything. And there’s something to be said for low stakes television, for just little simple stories in a 1950s English town that are just quaint and nice and lovely. And you know, it’s it is it is a warm bath, and you need those shows, you know.

Chris Chibnall

You do, and I think — I suspect they’re probably coming back into fashion a bit now, you know, so I’m not suggesting for a second that’s going to come back! (laughter)

Steven Schapansky

Is that it? Born and Bred: The Next Generation? (laughter)

Chris Chibnall

A reboot! That’s what we’ve come to talk about today. (laughter) I did not expect to start there.

Warren Fry

I’m curious, you mentioned how you’re able to sort of get in the mix with everything back with this show. And that used to be the case in the States, and it’s not apparently not as much – so what’s it like in England is it still the case that somebody start, let’s say starting out or lower level can kind of get in the mix to everything?

Chris Chibnall

That was really quite an exception at the time. But then obviously, with Russell coming in on Doctor Who, Paul Abbott as well, the work he was doing, there was a greater sense of the showrunner as a as a thing, but it wasn’t really a thing much before early 2000s, mid 2000s. But even then people have struggled to get — because people have producers have to give up power, space in the room, you know, has to be more of a conversation. And so they have to be open to it. But obviously, they hold a lot of the purse strings and the operational procedures. So it’s currently, there’s more demand for writer-producers and showrunners than has ever been in the UK. But there’s no training or anything like that. And so actually one of the things I’ve done post Doctor Who — my company has done and I wanted to I came out with this, what do I do with all this useless knowledge? (laughter)

Warren Fry

That’s a struggle we have every day. (laughter)

Chris Chibnall

And you know, I sort did Broadchurch straight into Doctor Who, there’s an overlap. And now I’m like, “Oh, well, I’m not going to sit at home and go, I’ll tell you how you do an edit. You know, my dog doesn’t care!” (laughter) So my company we’ve created a training programme for — backed by ITV for next generation of showrunners to come through so we’re doing a six month programme where every month we get together, and we sort of take them through every step of the production process from very first idea to broadcast and transmission and afterwards — and just talk about where does the show really fit into that, what questions will be asked, what — who do you need to work with, how do you build productions? How do you build teams? How do you do post? There are loads and loads of guest speakers – we’ve got a session next week with some really great guest speakers coming in. Some of whom will be familiar to you. And we meet up, and there’s seven amazing writers on it. And because there’s no showrunner training, so I really wanted to do something to sort of go: Have this knowledge, do with it what you want, you know, because it’s useless to, you know, to anybody but a very select group. So no, there’s no, there’s no training. That’s a very long answer to your question.

Warren Frey

That’s okay.

Chris Chibnall

But there’s absolutely appetite and space, but nobody knows how to work the system because there’s not a written definition of what a British showrunner is and how it works. It’s slightly different to the US. So one of the first things we did was create that sentence and go, “Alright, what’s the definition of the job? How do you do it? What are commissioners looking for? How do you find partners?” Yeah, it’s it’s a really, it’s a subject close to my heart, because I think you’re in charge of — you know, you get a show greenlit, you’re in charge of 30 million quid worth of…

Warren Frey

You’re an artist and a CEO at the same time.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, yeah. I mean, a little — what generally, in the UK is a bit more common is, is you have a co-CEO. So you’re not going you’re not going — where do we park the trucks? And when you’re across the budget and the schedule, and all that kind of stuff, but you’re not — you’re not ultimately wrestling with the kind of detail of those problems. But yeah, you need — you have responsibility for it, and you need to know that it’s going great and the money is being spent, not just wisely, but really creatively and specifically to do the things you want to do. So yeah, it’s tricky. There needs to be much more training. And that’s then also about making sure that there’s more diversity and inclusion in terms of people who are getting that access. So, so yeah, yeah, subject very close to my heart right now.

Steven Schapansky

Obviously, because you brought that into Doctor Who.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah.

Steven Schapansky

Such a diverse writing room and directing credits, I think got a lot more diverse in your — in your time, that was obviously a specific intention, on your part.

Chris Chibnall

It was the whole purpose of doing the job. I mean, really, because I was coming off Broadchurch where it had just been me, and the thing I had coming in was, I wanted to ensure that the show wasn’t about — for me, taking the job of showrunner was, it’s not about me, it’s what I can do in that role in terms of bringing in other voices, new voices, stories, and creatives who are coming from backgrounds that maybe haven’t told stories in Doctor Who. And I read a book called The Good Immigrant on recommendation of a couple of people. And a couple of writers in there, including Vinay, and also Inua Ellams, I think has an essay in there as well. And they both talk about watching Doctor Who as children, you know, and how important it was to them. And to read that, and to hear those perspectives, but also to know that — that they weren’t seeing people who looked like them, who came from their backgrounds who, you know, that it wasn’t there on screen?

Steven Schapansky

Right.

Chris Chibnall

It’s just a very clear and direct example and challenge to go, okay, these are massive opportunities. You know, we talked about untold stories — how you got a show that’s been running when I take it on –so that’s 20—2016-2017, when we’re starting to work on it. That’s what’s that? So that’s 54 years.

Steven Schapansky

Oh, well over 50 years.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah. And it’s been going that way, and you think there are loads of stories that haven’t even been touched upon, haven’t even been — so that’s a huge creative opportunity for the show. So it was about bringing in writers who could tell their stories with authenticity, specificity, personal investment — that could go “Have you thought about this story? Have you thought about this?” And then also directors yeah, like, Mark Tonderai and Nida Manzoor and that allow for Haolu Wang across the thing, I really feel like, they brought so much to the show, and I felt like we delivered on that promise. But that was the purpose is to go — all of the people who have not been as represented in the show as, as other people have, and as a, you know, a straight white male, I feel I’ve been well served by Doctor Who over the years. And it’s like, you know, none of this is – I was talking about this on an interview her yesterday, it’s like, none of it is a criticism of the show or anybody’s work. It’s the opposite of that. It’s going, it’s just it just felt like the moment to open that up and to do that. And, and, and to be to understand — you know, I ended up coming in, but my role, it’s a gatekeeping role, showrunning, essentially, and you make your choices there as to — as to what you do with that, but I was, I was aware of it and wanted to do it. And it’s — I can talk about it, but it was a massive team who did it and it’s a massive group.

Steven Schapansky

I was gonna ask about that actually because the writers room that you instilled in, in the first series, series 11 — I remember you mentioned to Gary Russell yesterday, you had to look into the legality of it even because it’s not a thing that happens in the UK like it does in North America.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, that’s right.

Steven Schapansky

What do you mean by the legality of it all?

Chris Chibnall

The BBC didn’t have a contract that would allow them to do that. So we had to go to the Writers Guild in the UK. So even when I was saying writers room, they’re like, we don’t — we can’t do that. We don’t do that. We’ve never done that, and they’ve done it, they’ve sort of on soaps, they’ve done something –not quite like that. But, it didn’t exist contractually. So it took a year, a year of discussions with contractual people and heads of business affairs and all this kind of stuff to go: We, we have to do this. And it’s… we had to go to the Writers Guild and go, we’re going to do this, how do we make it work financially? What are you paying people to come in for a day? Where’s ownership of the ideas? All that kind of stuff, which obviously all goes to the BBC anyway. But some… and they had to devise wording and a contract and because — it just didn’t exist. And then I think one of the Writers Guild people leaked to the press that Doctor Who were doing a writers room, I was like “thanks a lot!” I thought hose were confidential pieces of information. Yeah, but you know, we got that done, and it was an amazing thing, and also, part of the purpose of it was to create — when you bring in a lot of new people — was to create a team and an atmosphere in relationships between them and a kind of creative trust between all those people. And being in a room with whiteboards and – it just builds that really quickly. And also I had to communicate very quickly, that we were going to go places that the show hadn’t gone before, and how we were going to do that and what it felt like — you sort of if you’re just working on stories, and doing that, but you’re doing it all together, people believe it quicker. If you’re just going “yeah, and then over here, we’re going to do Rosa Parks…” And I remember being in front of the writers room when I go, so Rosa Parks, like Rosa Parks, but Speed, you know, like it’s basically get Rosa on the bus. It’s that — it’s Rosa, but sort of as a thriller? And I could see, like, 10 people in front of me are like “What is happening? How on earth… How would you ever make that work?” And so those moments, then start to spread through the group. And then also the productions go, oh, okay. And so how you’re building a kind of a tone right from the start. In terms of what you want to do, that it was really great for that. And also, they’re really, they’re really great people, all of them.

Steven Schapansky

Yeah, but it was your name that ended up on as you know, “by Chris Chibnall”. On a lot of the scripts, regardless. Was that a contractual thing? Was it a legality thing? Or you just were the one that ended up painting, the last brush across the whole thing to bring the product out?

Chris Chibnall

It varied script by script. My name… I mean, I think I did the last pass on every — on every episode apart from one, and then if my name is on the script, then I’ve done either a major pass or a reworking or multiple drafts or whatever… which is tradition I knew coming in, you know, it’s that’s true of Steven, that’s true of Russell in terms of, you know, pretty — 90% of the scripts on the show since it’s come back. There’s one episode, Tesla, that Nina Métivier wrote, that was the only one that didn’t go through — went through my computer, but actually — but it was the final draft was she got it into such a great place. I was like, it’s really, you know, it doesn’t need me, but we just, we just stood together, we went line by line through the — through the script, and I went, is that the exact line of dialogue? Is that the exact stage direction? Is that the exact thing? And so that’s the only one I didn’t type into scenes. She did it all herself. And we just had a kind of two-day discussion on the final draft of that, so, but yeah, yeah. So it’s you inevitably as a Doctor Who showrunner end up doing a lot of writing.

Steven Schapansky

Yeah, was that — I mean, you said you were the only person on Broadchurch.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah — Lou Fox co-wrote one episode because she came on board the project, when it was in really early stages, and it felt like — I was like, this is — like it’s gonna be quite episodic. It’s kind of serialized — and then we get into making it and episode three. I’m like ummmm I’m really sorry about this, but it seems to be really quite individual, and you know, so — right. And then in the second and third seasons, it was all just me, but obviously, storylining with people.

Steven Schapansky

So did you sort of say, you know, this is not what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to have to make a pass on every — or did you know you were getting into the fact that you were going to have to kind of bring every script into line into what your vision for the show was?

Chris Chibnall

You travel hopefully, so you hope not. But when you have to do it, it’s not like anybody’s failing. And it’s not like they can’t do it, it’s often just a matter of time, or it might be a matter of production, or just, you know, if you had another three months, or three days, or three weeks, like they’re gonna get it there, but it’s like, they’re not gonna get there quick enough because also they don’t have the experience. they might be working on a couple of other projects — it’s, you know, because nobody’s exclusive to Doctor Who when they’re writing on Doctor Who you know apart from the showrunner basically. So it was the conversation we had when they came on board as well was, you know, we will — we want you to get as far as possible and hopefully to, you know, read-through and production amends and shooting script. But it’s based on what we know about the production history of Doctor Who since 2005. And my conversations with Steven and Russell, and seeing, you know, when I’ve been writing episodically on it, which and I wasn’t — I didn’t get rewritten on those so all those mistakes are my fault. But although there are things in like Power of Three, where Steven’s come in, in a scene, because they’re like, they’re in the edit, and I was off doing something else, because “I’ve had to put this scene in and had to put this voiceover and I have to do that.” But the kind of conversation we have with the writers coming in is, “it is very possible-slash-likely this is where it will end up, there will be a showrunner pass. But we want to get you as far as possible. And also will — that doesn’t mean okay, you have to go now”, it’s like every — all those people had the offers to be on set, you know, we did read-throughs, even if — you know and some things, so with like Malorie on Rosa, you know, she’d done her drafts, but also she had other commitments as well, and we were working around that to get her onto the show. But she is so amazing we had such a collaborative working relationship with her. But then, when I did my parts, I was like, let’s reverse it, you know, you’ve been doing your drafts, and I’ve been giving you notes, I’ll do my draft, you give me notes and sort of doing that. And she was really part of it and came on set, and she’s extraordinary. And obviously then with some of the other writers — it’s — you hope that they then are taking on what that process so that when you’re doing a second season episode with them, it can go further, they’re more cognizant of the particular demands of the show. It also needed to be kind of educative and craft-giving to the people involved as well, you know, and it’s amazing. Now, when I look at Lockwood and Company and you see Ed Hime and Joy Wilkinson, who are basically, you know, the two main writers on that show, other than the, you know, Joe Cornish is doing one and eight, and it’s like them, you know, so and that’s thrilling.

Steven Schapansky

Yeah. It’s, I mean, Doctor Who’s kind of, you know, it was like 13 episodes for a while there, and then it started– dropped down to 12, for Peter Capaldi, and ended with a special and then yours was 10.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah.

Steven Schapansky

Did — was that just like BBC inflation, was that just the cost of making TV going up? Or was that…

Warren Frey

With COVID too.

Steven Schapansky

Well, that’s after the fact.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, with the first two seasons, it was when I came in — it 13 is a is a bit punishing. I mean, doing 11 was a — do, you know, I can’t remember — it was a way to — that I think the budget had been static for quite a while. So it was a way to go — there wasn’t any more money knocking about — if you do slightly less, you can amortise that, but so each episode gets a slightly higher budget and you can think about filming, you know, not in the UK occasionally and stuff like that, and putting it towards visual effects. But it was also — the thing you have to do on Doctor Who, you have to keep projecting sort of two or three years forward because A) it’s going to take you 18 months to make a series from when you start — first start thinking about it. I don’t mean sort of year on year, although sometimes turnarounds have been that. But you’ve also got to think where is TV going to be in that point. So actually, you know, by the end when we’re doing you know, even in our second season, you could feel the shape of TV series around the world conflating and sort of — not conflating – contracting!

Steven Schapansky

Yeah yeah.

Chris Chibnall

And becoming six and eight episodes. And we’re like doing 11., you go, “oh, I thought that was going to be a small version of a TV — a small version of a season compared to the 13s and 14s that, you know, Russell would be doing. But actually, it feels slightly out of step.” You know, and you’ve sort of actually suddenly it’s going out and you think ooh, that feels like every other show is a couple of episodes shorter than that now. So you kind of want to keep track of – you always want it to feel the right shape in terms of modern television. And that’s really, and I guess, and I would say, I would say this, but you know, particularly in the last five, six years, television has changed absolutely, entirely, and it will continue to evolve. But that’s why we were doing — we were questioning things like “Okay, should we should we try it on Sunday night? Should we try a New Year special?” You know, and they’re all just like elements to go: Does that keep it — does it keep the audience engaged and interested, but also is it — is it just making sure that it feels of a place in modern television? That’s the sort of big thing — you never really talk about that, but it’s that’s the conversations you have with the commissioners at the BBC is like, how do you keep it not feeling like a relic? Because the world is moving so fast.

Steven Schapansky

It is. I mean, I think, like, I think what — House of Cards I think debuted on Netflix, I think 2012, which is like the first prominent series that dropped all at once. That’s not necessarily the best model. But you know, people, the UK press, let’s face it will bash the ratings [of Doctor Who] because “Oh, it’s not getting Voyage of the Damned numbers”.

Warren Frey

Also it’s a remake of a UK series so they’re gonna bash it [House of Cards] for that.

Steven Schapansky

But you look at it, and you know, now you look at it and Doctor Who is the only one that’s sort of being broadcast on a terrestrial channel, everything else is going to Disney+ or Star Trek’s going out on Prime or Paramount+, I mean, this was the battle — this is what happened in the five years that you were doing Doctor Who.

Chris Chibnall

Completely, and that’s — you sort of have to not engage with the ratings, because also — but when I’m working with the producers of The Crown on something at the minute, and they’re amazing and spectacular, and that show is extraordinary. But the UK ratings for it are about 2 million now that they’ve started to be audited. So — and the Marvel shows are doing, you know, less than that. And so it’s really interesting is sort of, yeah, you’re — it’s not just comparing apples with oranges, but also it’s like, there’s no narrative around that, that’s a kind of 10- or maybe even 20-years-ago conversation is like, is like that, obviously you just — but how you evaluate a TV show is now — when I look at the final scenes of His Dark Materials on the BBC is getting 1.4 million and a 9% share. And it’s like, that’s like in a Sunday at seven o’clock. It’s an amazing show, it’s like, it’s beloved. It’s brilliant. And it’s an HBO co-production that has, you know, huge resources. And it’s like — but there’s not a “oh my god” you know —

Steven Schapansky

If it was Doctor Who that would have been kicked around in the ratings on Monday morning.

Chris Chibnall

Sure, yeah. So you have to absent yourself from that. I kind of look at it, and I go, like the only figure –the final overnights on Power of the Doctor, which is also a standalone, and it hasn’t been on i — like it’s the audience share that you’re really looking at because that’s the thing that you can compare like to like. You can’t get the actual figures because people are, you know, the top, the top show now on in the UK in terms of overnights really other than like a Happy Valley outlier or something — but a regular what’s in the top five shows — not dramas, which aren’t really big rating overnight things — is like about 3.5 million, 4 million. That’s number one on the day. That’s number one on the week.

Steven Schapansky

Wow.

Chris Chibnall

You know, and that’s, and I think, you know, Power of the Doctor was on the overnights was something like 28, 29% share, which is sort of what Doctor Who has been doing for — you know, ever since its come back. It’s you know, at points it’s gone massive and gone into like 42% or 46% share, but it kind of, you know, any drama now in the UK if you’re above… I mean, actually, if you’re sometimes now it’s really if you’re above 15, 16% share, you’re doing really well. But if you’re if you’re sitting in the 20s, right, you’re doing well. And so that’s the only thing that so you can’t get involved in the narrative. And I know it’s a real, you know, fans and you know, I totally understand that. When it you know, you follow and you obsess over it and you go “oh my god, this and that.” There was never a point in conversation with the Beeb, they were like, we want this. We want it on Sunday night. We want it — we want to try it out on New Year’s Day. You know, there’s lots of — one of the hardest — it’s not hard, but it’s one of the things about being a showrunner that you have to learn to accept is your intent is constantly questioned. You go “That’s not our intent. We’re not doing that for that reason.” And so, so that’s the sort of hardest thing. So you sort of have to move away from any conversation about the ratings or these things. You know, I know some people are really like, “Why is there no Christmas special with Jodie?” as if it’s like a militant policy. And it was like we had a conversation. At the start. I was like, I wonder if we should try — the BBC saying there’s been a lot of Doctor Who Christmas specials, there’s been a lot of stories with snow in, and maybe..

Steven Schapansky

Was that their subtle hint to sort of say maybe think of a different night?

Chris Chibnall

It was a commissioner you know, one of the – there’s about three commissioners, and there was a commissioner who just went, maybe, you know, maybe just think about that. And it’s like, we were just like, and also a lot of their big dramas were premiering on New Year’s Day – it had become a bit – Sherlock would play there, Dracula would play there, you know, Happy Valley plays there now. So it’s like, well, let’s try that the first year and see what happens, and it’s not like “I hate the Christmas specials.” I LOVE them. I love them. And actually Spyfall was going to go out on Christmas Day, and then it was too scary.

Steven Schapansky

Really?

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, they had a policy — Yeah. And also it’s like, where do you put the second part? So there was a moment where that was gonna be Christmas Day – Boxing Day.

Steven Schapansky

Oh, wow.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah. And so it wasn’t like a whole — every year it’s like, (mock sternly) “Do not come to me and mention the Christmas special!”

Warren Frey

“I hate Christmas.”

Chris Chibnall

I love Christmas!

Steven Schapansky

Chris Chibnall killed Christmas. (laughter)

Warren Fry

The other big takeaway — stats don’t matter.

Chris Chibnall

You know — yeah yeah, he [Warren] doesn’t care! So you’re having you’re having to keep up with the modernity of conversation. So yeah, so in the se– and then in the third season, they were like yeah, let’s do New Year’s Day. That one as one of the three final specials or — so it’s really – you are constantly questioning these things and testing them, and sometimes it comes down to logistics or how do you — if you launch Spyfall on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when it’s a series launching because then there’s a big gap, and how do you do a second series launch and does that help? You know and all that kind of stuff is you’re live — and I know it conditions people’s responses, and you sort of see it through that prism. But like I say, often you feel like you’re doing the work, and the decisions you’re taking, you’re taking them because you’re getting data. And you’re having conversations with people who really know which, you know, I think the move to Sunday night for Jodie’s era in the UK has been — it was a massive success in terms of — and it just refreshed everything and made people look at it again. But it’s like, it doesn’t mean now you do that ongoing or constant. It’s like you’re constantly you’re doing it for the moment you’re in as — to keep it live.

Steven Schapansky

Yeah, it was — I mean, your time sort of also saw a transition from just in the way the TV industry, but also the way that — like the position of brand manager sort of expired at the end of the Steven Moffat era, and everything’s sort of brought in house.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah.

Steven Schapansky

…for the BBC. And then BBC America, I think was starting to lose funds on their — you could kind of tell that they were kind of starting to fade into obscurity was this, was this a factor, was a problem perhaps, that you’re having to deal with in this sort of, you know, because, you know, in from my view, it was almost like the BBC promo department says, “Okay, we’ve promoted that show. Okay, what’s next on — Oh, Doctor Who is premiering in 10 days, let’s do a promo.” You know, it was kind of being treated like the other shows were when before it felt like it had a little bit more of a spotlight, I suppose when they had a specific promo team. I don’t know if that was — that matches reality?

Chris Chibnall

No, I don’t think it does. I mean, I think if you look at the work around our first series, particularly, there was a massive campaign, there’s a massive domestic campaign, BBC America were the ones who paid for us to come out to the comic cons do that and to do to get Hall H and a cover of Entertainment Weekly. And, you know, I think it’s inevitably with a second season and a third season of a Doctor, they’re kind of like, we did that in the first year. And also budgets are shrinking, the BBC is under attac. The BBC, you know, for sort of something like Flux, for example, they, their budget is they can only really advertise on the BBC. Because they, you know, that they have to make — keep doing the same amount of things with less money, it’s just the fact of where the BBC, is and you know, so it’s why, like, the Disney partnership is so amazing, and like five years overdue, you know, and yeah, yeah, everybody was really doing their best. But also, there was a transition to BBC Studios from BBC in-house, which was done while I was — before we even got into production I literally got an email going, by the way, you’re going to be employed by BBC Studios now, like, before I even started on the job I was like “O…kay?” (laughter) So yeah, but I think those marketing teams are really brilliant in what they do. But it’s, it’s hard to punch through, and you need big budgets. And also, I think, what promotion is, is another thing that has changed with television. You know, if you look at any show on Netflix, generally, there are exceptions, but generally, they don’t do…

Steven Schapansky

It just drops.

Chris Chibnall

It drops. And Netflix is its own marketing campaign. I was talking to somebody from next Netflix and they said everybody obsesses with posters and trailers, and all this kind of stuff. With Netflix, it’s like the biggest marketing asset of Netflix is Netflix. It’s on your TV every day. It’s like — that’s marketing. Netflix is marketing you Netflix, they’ve done this code, and everything else is now 10 years out of date. It’s not to say, trailers, posters, it’s not to say that stuff isn’t important and, and gives you a sense of it, and in the world, but it’s, it’s all of these things that you think are true, are not automatically true anymore. And so you’re constantly — and everybody in the TV industry is going, “What does this mean? How does this work? What is this?” It’s an amazing time, but yeah, you do have to keep up, and you have the resources you have. And we also had, you know, massive inflation, massive talent inflation, you know. So there’s all those sorts of things. But yeah, yeah. But also, it’s hard. It’s hard to talk about the show because you sometimes end up talking about only the challenges, you know, and only and it sounds like, you know, sort of — why I have to be really careful in interviews, and how many to give, because it’s like, those are the things people want to know, but actually, it’s not the experience of making it. It’s like that’s one day out of your year is like, when you’re talking about those things in that campaign and how many resources they do or don’t have, and you can influence it to a certain extent. But you also, if they’re coming to you going, this is the budget, this is the promotional budget, this is what we’re going to do, and you can work within those parameters, you know. There’s also things like with the BBC, the average age of the viewer on BBC One is now over 60.

Steven Schapansky

Wow.

Chris Chibnall

You know, so it’s like, people don’t come to the BBC at the moment, you know, and they’re trying to change it. They’re trying to do digital. There’s like, Doctor Who was the only show people — and I saw the presentation and the data on this, the only show that a certain portion of the audience come to the BBC to watch. They come to the BBC to watch, they watch Doctor Who and they go. That starts to fade because people are not in the habit of watching the BBC. But also how do you reach those people to let them know Doctor Who is on if you can only do a BBC campaign? Like, these challenges are real and extraordinary, and everybody’s trying to figure those things out. But it’s like, if you want to do that you got to spend X millions, which, and even then there’s no guarantee that will do that. So you’re constantly working in this evolving media environment, and, yeah, I think the brand manager — we had someone lined up to be a brand- executive, brand president, when – we had somebody amazing and when I took the job on — or just after I took the job on — and then they were – they didn’t, it didn’t get over the line. So the approach was gonna be very, very different and would have been fantastic, but they couldn’t — the studios couldn’t get the deal done in the end. So it’s like, you know, it, you’re working in the real world, and I know at times you go why are they doing this? Or why are they doing this? It’s like, it’s, it’s not like people haven’t thought about it or aren’t trying, or don’t want to do it. It’s like you are working against… Warner’s and HBO and, you know, The Wizarding World, all of who, which are unbelievably resourced, you know? But the thing we have, is we’re making Doctor Who and that — And to my point about, like, the best thing about doing Doctor Who is making Doctor Who and the joy of that is like, the thing that nobody says, “Is it really fun to do?” And you’re like, I can tell you a week of stories about how much fun it is to do, and to go, you know, and see Arwel and Daf sending me a WhatsApp of a junkyard Dalek mechanism that will mean we don’t have an operator, and you know, it’s like fun every day, you know?

Steven Schapansky

And we never focus on that. We’re nerds that we just think, well how…

Chris Chibnall

You want to see how the sausage is made.

Steven Schapansky

We do. We’re interested in logistics.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, it’s interesting, isn’t it? And I’m the same, but it’s like, but I think yeah, like, you don’t get many opportunities to go, “oh, goodness, me, this is amazing” you know. And I think it’s like, it ends up being — and then sort of narratives get placed on times, or eras, or what, or people or whatever. And it’s like, they’re not really true.

Warren Fry

Received fan wisdom has never been true.

Chris Chibnall

That’s really true, yeah.

Warren Frey

We didn’t think that for decades.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, it’s like, I mean, we were talking before you started recording because Steven, you’re wearing a Beatles t-shirt.

Steven Schapansky

I am.

Chris Chibnall

And we were talking about Get Back the, Paul Jackson…

Steven Schapansky

Peter Jackson.

Chris Chibnall

Peter Jackson… Paul Jackson? (laughing) And just saying, well, the received wisdom of the Let It Be sessions is misery. It’s quite brown. It’s, it’s grainy. They were all grainy on the day. And they were having a terrible time. And then you watch that and you go, it was joyous. It was delightful, and you see creativity happening in front of you. And it’s like, that’s, I sort of feel that it’s very easy for narratives around production on anything to be like, “Oh, I heard this thing. And therefore that’s true, and now all of that now that’s true of everything to do with it.” And it’s not true.

Warren Frey

It’s the only thing I have to work with so I’m gonna work with it.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah. And you get all sorts of things. I remember the thing that — and other people lie — is the thing, you know, and I remember the first week we were shooting, we had a call from a journalist when we were doing Woman Who Fell to Earth. We were doing the crane sequence first. Oof, that was AMAZING. We’re down in the docks, there’s two cranes because of you, Chris, and it’s, you know, 1 am and it was like we went down — it was the most joyous thing seeing Jodie, go up and scissor lift on a crane. I’ve never seen anyone happier in my life. I still have a video of that of her waving at everyone going “I’m going up!” But I remember we got a call from a journalist the next day, you know, and where they said, “Yeah, we’ve heard that everybody’s — the crew are refusing to work. Jodie’s making them work ‘til 2 am. There’s a really bad atmosphere on set.” And I was like, I will call that journalist and go “we are having the best time, like literally, the crew adore her. She’s having a great time. It’s sheduled to go to — we’ll send you the call sheets, it’s scheduled to go to 4am. We’re on night shoots”, but it’s like that’s, and that is a symbol of — that happens every couple of days on Doctor Who, forever. Somebody’s ringing up and going “I’ve heard this”, and it’s a negative story, and in order to get stories and stuff and so that’s also part of it. And that’s — then some of those come out and you go none of that is true, but it can become — but as fans you’re receiving that as “this is what’s happening on the show.” You know, so it’s — and I don’t know how you combat that. You know, you can combat it with lots of white noise, but — you also have to go “this is how the modern media works. This is how social media works is people can say things and they’re just not true.” I will say positive side of that is the Daily Star in the UK published an exclusive showbiz story saying — in the first season — saying that Jodie was about to get a talking cat companion. And I have that framed (laughing) because that’s my favourite. You can make that up. That’s great! Thank you Peter Dyke. I said that to him in the end. That’s fantastic. It was a full page in a newspaper.

Steven Schapansky

A talking cat?

Chris Chibnall

Yeah.

Steven Schapansky

Wow.

Warren Fry

I wouldn’t be against it.

Chris Chibnall

No, right? You know, oh yeah maybe we should have…

Steven Schapansky

That didn’t wind up on the bucket list then for Power of the Doctor?

Warren Fry

If it shows up in RTD’s era…

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, he can have that. No, no, I would have loved to have done K-9, but you know, we didn’t get – Jodie and K-9 was a thing I wanted.

Steven Schapansky

Oh really?

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, but you can’t get the rights.

Steven Schapansky

Oh yeah, of course. The rights. Wow. Was it always gonna be three years right from the get-go?

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, yeah, it was…

Steven Schapansky

Did you know just how much work it would be to say, you know three years — like Peter Davison walked into Patrick Troughton when he started Doctor Who, and he says “Only do three years.” Did you like run into Phillip Hinchcliffe and he said like “Only three years.” (laughing)

Chris Chibnall

I mean I did write to Philip Hinchcliffe, but not about that. I said “Come and visit the set because I’m here because of you.” And he did that. And that was that was amazing.

Steven Schapansky

Oh did he really? Oh wow.

Chris Chibnall

But I was — yeah, I think that that Patrick Troughton-Peter Davison thing is in my head from that that knowledge. But also there was a conversation with Jodie right at the start because you know, Broadchurch was the first returning show she’d ever done. She came from film, she — you know, so that, and that was — nobody was optioned off the first season of Broadchurch, she was just going to be one and, one and

Steven Schapansky

Done.

Chris Chibnall

Kind of one-and-done, although I was like, “I might have a couple more… anyway… No let’s just do this.” But even in conversations about that, it’s you had to talk to the actors and go, “Well, let’s try this.” And she was “I’ve never done a second season of something. That’s really weird.” And there were various things in terms of timings — in terms of family life for both of us, that it was, you know, that we knew we had things we wanted to do with our families, we had things coming up. My kids had their GCSEs and A-levels in the same year — in 2022, so for me, it was a hard end date of “I do not want to be working on the show in 2022.” I mean, I ended up doing a bit of post and stuff. But that was always from the start. And, but also with Jodie, it was just that we had a very clear conversation. It’s like, “Let’s do three years, because you can get a three-year arc or three seasons. And you know, and obviously even that ends up being disrupted or slightly different. You want the arc. And also, what we had a pact was we will go together as well, you know. And there were, like, light conversations about you know, the bit — there were conversations with the BBC at a certain point, and they were like “Are you sure? Is she sure? What do you want to do? You know, but it’s like, there wasn’t really a world where either of us would go for that. And actually, we ended up doing more because we ended up doing extra specials. And actually, once the pandemic comes in, it’s like, all bets are off. You know, really. So it’s like, again, it’s the sort of, “Did you have a plan? Did it work out?” It’s like, (laughing) there was definitely a plan kind of worked out? And we did sort of what we said we’d do? But it wasn’t in the same shape. So but yes, short answer. Yes. It was always that. And you know, I really did not want to do the 60th.

Steven Schapansky

Really?

Chris Chibnall

Yeah yeah yeah.

Steven Schapansky

Like, the episode itself, or just the act of making such a massive giant finale? Like, what? What drove you away from not wanting to do that?

Chris Chibnall

Because I thought well, I’d have been in for you know, X amount of years. And also, I’d’ve had to have done 2022…

Steven Schapansky

Right? And you’d be waiting a whole year. Yeah.

Chris Chibnall

But I’d have had to have done the, you know — but also it because I think it just the show thrives on energy, and the show thrives on regeneration, and it thrives — it was just not a — it was not a thing that I was like looking at and going — because also then, and — you know, then, if you were doing a new Doctor or something, then, but then you have to stay on and see that Doctor through, really, you know, you don’t HAVE to, but yeah, it just didn’t feel — That’s a long time. You know? So yeah, no, no, it wasn’t — And also that, you know, that’s what’s great about this year already. You can feel the crackle and the energy. And it’s 60th and it’s new. And yeah, and so then to have Russell doing it, and then David come out and then amazing Ncuti coming in. Yeah, that’s like that’s exactly what it needs, you know. So yeah, no, no, it was never… no.

Steven Schapansky

How did — I mean obviously, it affected everyone, but how did COVID…hit with you?

Chris Chibnall

It made it really easy. (laughing) Made it simpler.

Warren Fry

You were one of the few TV shows doing it?

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, we shot for a year. We short for a year continuously. We never shut down. I don’t think there was any other show that that kind of didn’t shut down. I mean, it was just really hard. It was less fun. Because you’re everybody’s distancing. Everybody’s masked. For — all of the story work was done over Zoom. You know, and we were also doing — we had to reformat the show entirely and go you know, okay, this — there’s certain things you have to — the big thing — And again, I was talking about this on stage yesterday here, was the sort of — we had to — we spent, I don’t know Nikki Wilson, Ceres Doyle, Matt Strevens, and me, we kind of — it took us four months to figure out — there was just a point where it’s like you can’t make Doctor Who in the pandemic. You can’t do it, like nobody’s doing it. And they’re struggling to make EastEnders, we would hear rumours it’s like “EastEnders tried to move a piece of scenery yesterday, and it took two hours, because of distancing and because of you know.” And it’s like, “Oh my goodness.” You know, and they, you know, the email trails across all of that will look like some weird historical document when you see all that. But it took four months to go “How could you make it? You know, where are the obstacles? Where are the obstructions? And how — what would that mean?” You know, and it was like, okay, you’d have to have a lot fewer sets, so they’re – Okay, but what if we reuse them, you know, and then you’re also at the back of your head talking about, you know, Troughton, Davison and the three years when you look at this, I’m going, okay, Ark in Space and Revenge of the Cybermen, they re-used, so that was okay. There’s always a precedent on Doctor Who where you go “It’s that.” You know, when somebody goes, “Oh, you’re doing these historicals?” I’m like, “It’s William Hartnell! Historicals!” So yeah, it was just okay. Well, these we would — and you could, you could have less characters, so some people are going to have to come back and you go, but what’s interesting with that, is you sort of go, you’re sort of going back to making an old fashioned six-parter, you know, really, but except, you want to make it as episodic as you can. So it’s a real weird hybrid of it. But what I loved about it is it then brings creative benefits, but also risk. Creative risk is where Doctor Who should live, I think, you know, and not everybody’s gonna agree with that. And, you know, some people would much prefer familiarity. And, you know, I understand that, but it was always coming in, it’s like, how do you keep a 54-year-old show fresh and doing things and startling sometimes, and, you know, and reassuring others, and bring a variety of tones in? So yeah, it disrupted everything. We had to reimagine the production of the show, reimagine the narrative structure of the show, reimagine how you brought actors in and out, had to reimagine how you do prosthetics with COVID. And, you know, people like Craige Els, and Swarm and Azure, you know, those guys were in at like, 3 am, you know. On days when they were shooting. Normally they’d be in at, I don’t know, five or, you know half 4, but it’s like, it’s another two hours on their day, because everything has to move slower and be distanced and everybody’s, being so…

Steven Schapansky

Because this is before vaccines essentially, so it’s all about distancing and masks at this point.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah. I think the first we — I think we started in October, November 2020. That right? Yeah. And then we had about six weeks shooting before Christmas, and then a two week stand-down, and those six weeks were the hardest I’ve known on anything ever, and everybody was so on-edge, so tense. And we were doing big things, you know, we were in the, I mean, in the Crimea in – it’s my fault, you know, they’re there in the rain in the fog, and all that whether you see on screen in the Sontaran episode, there’s not a lot of CG other than the soldiers. It was miserable. And then, but you’re also looking at rushes and going, this is fantastic, you know. But that was very difficult. Everybody was really scared, you know, because of the – but what it did, and the thing that’s the most kind of small, micro and macro stressful is, you’re in a job where every day, everything can stop, and everything can break. Because if one person gets COVID, everything stops. And if you — and also, there’s, there’s a whole thing with insurance that you might not be able to get the right insurance. So it’s like, if it stops, it maybe just stops, and you throw it all away. It was such high stakes producing. And the, you know, the reason that’s a year we shot, which I don’t think Doctor Who has ever shot that continuously for a year, maybe you know, not, not for long, not for a few years, at least — to make, especially to make that few episodes, you know. But the thing about that, and the thing that kept it going was Jodie, like she didn’t go out for a year. She isolated and bubbled with Mandip and John, and it’s like, the sacrifice that she made and the sacrifice the crews made. But also, you know, when the time the history of Doctor Who comes to be written, COVID supervisors may not get that much of a mention. There are three or four people on the show. Their responsibility was to keep everybody safe. And they did that for a year, and they did testing, and it’s like those things are what get the show on air, you know, so yeah. It was, yeah, everything was challenged.

Warren Fry

Speaking of Jodie isolating, was it her idea to do the thing in the closet? Which to this day is inspiring.

Chris Chibnall

Funnily enough, we – I should look on my phone, but we literally WhatsApped each other on the same morning, and I was like, I’m thinking… and it’s really… it’s really it’s gonna sound really grandiose, and I don’t mean it – it didn’t come from that place. But there was a point when it was, obviously there were national announcements. Everybody’s in lockdown, you know, and I just WhatsApped, Jodie going, feel like, everybody needs to hear from the Doctor right now. And it sounds ludicrous now as we talk in a place in LA, it’s like, but I just went, if I’m a kid, and we’re into lockdown, and there’s a pandemic, and you’re basically hearing on the news, this could be the end of humanity, if we don’t all stay inside. I really need to hear from the Doctor “It’s gonna be all right.” And I don’t know how we do this. And she was like, “that’s exactly” — I was, you know, she was like, “I was just typing the same thing.” But you know, when you’re on WhatsApp and you’re seeing somebody typing, I’m like — what’s happening here? And I was like, “Okay, how do we do this?” And we just said, let’s just keep it to ourselves for the moment, and what if I just write something for you? Maybe we could, you know, she’s like, “I’ve got the coat. I’ve got the coat at home.” Because we’re all in lockdown. We’re not making Doctor Who at this point, this is March is it?

Steven Schapansky

It’s like, very early days in this pandemic, yeah.

Chris Chibnall

I think it’s probably just after the big, you know, Boris Johnson announcement in the UK and stuff like that. I can’t remember what the dates are. And so she, she went to find the coat, which she’d got at home, because I think she did some hospital visits in the coat, and that’s why she had it. I mean, not COVID.

Steven Schapansky

Pre-COVID, yeah yeah.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, that’s why she had it. And so I sort of wrote something quickly, and then sent it to her. But just on Whats- like, everything was done by WhatsApp. So I sent that I’m like, okay, here’s a kind of a monologue, and she was like, “I could film it in my cupboard. I’ve got the coat, I could film it in my cupboard.” “So okay, yes. Okay. Right.” And so then she sent it back with, you know, a couple of things. And she went “We don’t need to say that; we could do that.” And it went back and forth once I think, and sent it back. And then she just sent it to me. She’s just like, see what this is, and then we can do it again. And I think that’s what that’s what we put out.

Steven Schapansky

Take one.

Chris Chibnall

So then I was like, I guess we have to tell some people or ask permission, or I don’t know, maybe need to tell the BBC that we have this thing and would it be okay? And you know, and then everybody at the BBC was like, and I sent it to Piers Wenger and Charlotte Moore, who’re like the big, you know, head honchos at the BBC in terms of their relationship to Doctor Who. And I think it took a couple of days for them to go, “Yeah, no, this is — Okay, we should do this.” And then it went out. And yeah, it was — yeah. So it was we just both had the same thought. And it was like, I don’t know, I don’t know if it’s right. And you didn’t want to be pompous or…

Warren Fry

You didn’t want the Imagine video. (laughter)

Steven Schapansky

Which had good intentions, but came across badly.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, but it was just like, I thought, it’s just that thing, you’re constantly as a showrunner, I think you’re constantly going, what is it going to feel? How am I at eight years old feeling like this? How are my kids feeling about this? How are my, you know, nephew and niece feeling about this? And what would anything help — to be, to have that role in Doctor Who at that point? I think we both felt well, this might just make a difference. And also was Jodie’s Doctor has that…um…

Steven Schapansky

…caring nature.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah – it’d be the first thing she would be doing! She was “Oh, I’m gonna send that message about the pandemic to 2020.” Yeah, you know? Yeah, yeah. So it was, it was sort of one of the things I’m most proud of, and actually, and then, you know, it goes out, and then I’m watching the 10 o’clock news for the pandemic updates and “Oh, Jodie’s on the news! That thing she filmed in her cupboard is played out on the news at 10 in the UK.” I was like, “This is insane.” You know, those incredible Doctor Who moments like her reveal video, you know, you’re just like, “Oh, this is, you know, you just never know when it’s, it’s gonna go.” So yeah, it was. Yeah, yeah. It’s the little things I forget about that. But it was so hugely important to us in that moment.

Warren Fry

Take it from me, it didn’t just inspire little kids.

Steven Schapansky

It inspired a lot of people.

Chris Chibnall

I’m sort of talking about in terms of writing to myself, you’re always writing to yourself, and it’s like, I kind of needed to hear from the Doctor. And, you know, you sort of have to go “I hope other people feel the same.”

Steven Schapansky

Did you have to hear from her?

Chris Chibnall

Yeah.

Steven Schapansky

I mean, at what point did you sort of like, you know, we all had dark thoughts in the early days, thinking “What is going to happen to the world?”

Chris Chibnall

Yeah.

Steven Schapansky

Did you have any doubts that your last season might not ever be made? Because of COVID just cancelling it?

Chris Chibnall

There was a week where it was not going to be made. There was a week where I was, I’d been offered another job. And because the BBC was just like — the BBC studios, and it’s like, where’s the money coming from? How are we going to do this? Is it too difficult? And it literally went down to the wire of like, yeah, there was an hour on one day when it’s like, it was done. And yeah, we had to do — there are certain things I had to do to get that season made. Because they couldn’t find a way to do it. And so yes, yes, there absolutely was, and it was like, “Okay, we might have to be going. Okay, so Revolution, the Daleks. That that’s it.” Because also Jodie, Jodie had a thousand job offers, and then everything was changing, you know, obviously she had a contract, an option, but also you know, I know what jobs she gave up to do the third season, which, obviously because it had moved in the schedule, you know, she had stuff lined up for when we were supposed to finish shooting, but then was delayed by the pandemic. And you know, she’s in demand, and so she sacrificed a lot. Everybody sacrificed a lot. But again, see now it’s like, we’re into that – everybody’s sacrifice and painful, but it’s not that at all! But yeah, we did have those moments. Yeah, completely. And there was, yeah, there’s some things like, I’ll just keep to myself. (laughing)

Steven Schapansky

Right.

Warren Frey

Of course, of course.

Steven Schapansky

Did you have like an idea mapped out for that third season before COVID came along and ruined everything?

Chris Chibnall

It was pretty nascent. But we were talking to writers. We knew which writers we were using. That was the hardest thing is like, you know, a lot of the people like Pete McTighe, and Ed Hime, and Nina, and Vinay, and all those people were, we were talking about what their stories would be. So that was really difficult. But it was quite early stages. Because you could see it coming for a — you could see the pandemic coming. You’re like, this is, you know, this is gonna be hard. So it never got that far. It’s not like a missing season – you know like sometimes you’ve got a missing season with all those scripts! And it wasn’t that, it was more like it — we stopped ourselves in our tracks. I remember, storylining with Vinay for one day, and going — at the BBC, in White City, and I remember going into the loos, and it was like, suddenly, every — there were just suddenly massive posters up on how to wash your hands. And it was like, just gone up like since, like, at lunchtime, everything up. I was like, “I don’t know, if we’re gonna get to make this.” We’re like, really early stages of it, you know, so it was just — it wasn’t like it came out of nowhere. It was like, even before Christmas there was the talk of something’s happening. And you know, so you could just feel the cloud approach. So yeah, yeah, we had. Yeah, that was hard not working with all those people knowing we would have to reduce episode count in order to get it done.

Steven Schapansky

But you did do it. You did get it done.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, yeah.

Steven Schapansky

And by the end of your last season of recording it, it was a lot, you know, you were quarantining in bubbles and stuff. By the end things have gotten a little more lax and hopefully a little more celebratory.

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, yeah, completely. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we were still doing COVID protocols, though on Power of the Doctor, so you know, but yes, yeah yeah yeah. And we had a — and we did have a proper wrap party, and you know, all that kind of stuff. So yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Steven Schapansky

Do you think you’ll ever write for the show again?

Chris Chibnall

(immediately) No. (all laugh)

Steven Schapansky

No?

Chris Chibnall

I’ve done a lot!

Steven Schapansky

Yeah, you have.

Chris Chibnall

You know, it’s like, and then Torchwood as well. And, you know, that’s it’s a lot of episodes. And it’s a lot of stuff. And it’s a lot of material, and I absolutely love it. But it’s also like… there are other things that I need and want to write, and it’s like you have to, you have to make those choices. So no, and also because, you know, like, it’s not like there’s anything about Doctor Who I’ve left unsaid, you know. I had the opportunity, and I had the control. And also it’s like, I don’t want to take up that slot. I want to see somebody who’s never written for Doctor Who coming in and doing and doing that under Russell or whatever, you know, and people you know, from backgrounds that haven’t yet got into the show, or the writing team or the directing, so that’s the most exciting thing is I’m going I want to see what their Doctor Who is. That’s always what is thrilling, because that’s like, that’s gonna give you something where you go, “Oh!” You know, the exciting thing about Ncuti that you just think, wow, where is that gonna go? Where? It’s so thrilling!

Warren Frey

He’s made entirely of charm, from what I can tell.

Chris Chibnall

And amazingness! Yeah. It’s like a wonderful, brilliant, perfect bit of casting. And I’ve, you know, only seen him in terms of Sex Education, other stuff that he’s done. But yeah, how fantastic is that? No, so no, I don’t want to go in. I want to I just want to watch it. And I’ve had to say to Russell, “Please don’t tell me…” Like he told me two things that I was like “Don’t tell me these things!” I want to, you know, so yeah, no, no, no, I’m much more excited to be a viewer.

Steven Schapansky

Did he tell you which Doctor was going to appear at the end of Power of the Doctor, because the Tennant regen- bit was shot well, after the fact – after you were done, right?

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, yeah it was. Yeah, absolutely, yeah. Yeah yeah yeah.

Steven Schapansky

Did he tell you who was gonna be or did you…?

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, oh yeah ‘cause I had to sign off the episode. I was actually – “Can you not tell me and can I not see that bit?” And Ceres who is our post-production exec. was like “You have to sign this. You have to watch it and approve. They’ll do it. But you have to sign off.” And I was like, I don’t — I was like, I don’t want to see anything. And then they sent it to me. I was like, “Ok that’s amazing.” That’s amazing. And now I’m back in the, I’m back on the sofa again. Yeah, it was. It was just perfect, you know, so, it was great. Yeah.

Steven Schapansky

Because Doctor Who’s the you know, it must just be that unique thing where you’re not, you know, you’re a caretaker but you’re also molding the future of it, but knowing that you’re leaving it for someone else because no one wants to be the person that finished off Doctor Who.

Chris Chibnall

No, and you’re always worried about that every year because also now the thing is, like, you know, like I did three seasons. Three seasons of any other show is really rare now, even to get a second season these days on a drama. Look at all the things that aren’t getting second seasons that are great shows. To do three seasons on a show is extraordinary. You know, I’ve written more Doctor Who than I’ve written Broadchurch. And you know, so yeah, you’re like, I think that’s, that’s a thing in terms of keeping up with modern television, a thing of how does the show keep evolving and keep continuing it? That’s a really interesting discussion and thing, and it will, because now the Disney thing is the perfect solution to opening up space, opening up budgets, opening up — being able to have places for spin-offs, which you know, we wanted to do, but there wasn’t the space or budgets for. So yeah, it’s, yeah, of course. Of course, you worry, and I remember when I got the job, I remember reading an interview with Steven, and the headline was, “I’m Just Glad I Didn’t Kill off Doctor Who”, and I was like, (deadpan) “Thanks. Thanks.” And it’s like, but, you know, yeah, you’re constantly thinking that. And it’s like, and also they were really secretive about the plan coming in after us, you know. Going “There’s a plan, there’s a plan, there’s a plan.” And then it’s like, oh okay, so okay, that’s fine. You know, you can’t be SURE that they’re telling you the truth. But yeah, yeah. So it’s, it’s just delightful and amazing.

Steven Schapansky

Just as our chat has been Chris; you’ve given us like an hour of your time today, and that is so amazing.

Chris Chibnall

Well we only have to stop because I have to go and do another panel. You know, I’d happily talk for another couple of hours.

Steven Schapansky

Part Two coming, uhh, next week. (laughing)

Chris Chibnall

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. (laughing)

Steven Schapansky

Chris Chibnall, thank you very much.

Chris Chibnall

My pleasure.

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It’s the week after Gallifrey One and we have an extra special treat for you, an hour-long interview with outgoing Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall! Listen to the man himself as he delves into the move from Xmas to New Year’s specials, dealing with COVID (and the making of the Doctor’s message to fans from her closet) and much, much more. We also have figurine and audio news, Doctor Who Am I on Blu-ray and the ever-present Timelash. Not bad for three exhausted malcontents!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Gallifrey One
Chris Chibnall
Scifi Collector to relaunch Doctor Who figurines
The Amazing World of Doctor Who record store day release
Doctor Who Magazine Complete History issues 41-60 collection released
Doctor Who Am I iTunes pre-order
Big Finish Doctor Who – The Doctor Chronicles: The Tenth Doctor: Defender of the Earth due November 2023
Big Finish Once and Future guest cast announced

Interview:

Chris Chibnall

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We wrap another year at Gallifrey One! And it’s a very special episode of the podcast because Deb, Erika, Kat, Liz, and Lynne from Verity! join Steven to recap their weekend as they head off on podcast hiatus, hopefully soon to return. Also, we have interviews with the great Bonnie Langford (attending her first Gallifrey One in 22 years!), Doctor Who comics artist Dan Slott, and Matthew Jacobs & Vanessa Yuille circle back on how much has happened since the launch of Doctor Who Am I.

Next week: a feature length interview with former Doctor Who show runner Chris Chibnall…

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Gallifrey One

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It’s the Sunday at Gallifrey One! Join us as Steven, Warren, and Chris recap the Friday and Saturday of the convention, from their live show hijinks on the Friday, Steven’s commentary panel with Chris Chibnall et al, Warren’s interview panels several actors from Who’s past, and the general vibe of Jodie Whittaker’s first ever Gallifrey One! And speaking of Whit(t)taker, Simon Guerrier tells us about the research he’s discovered about David Whitaker, Doctor Who’s first story editor!

And coming soon: a feature length interview with former Doctor Who show runner Chris Chibnall…

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Gallifrey One

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It’s Gallifrey One time! And once again, it is our great honour to kick off Gallifrey One on the main stage on the Friday morning of this simply superlative convention. Listen as Colin Baker plays musical chairs and makes a punching bag out of Warren! Hear Sophie Aldred and Janet Fielding tell tales of returning to the show decades later! Find out how director Jamie Magnus Stone and production Dafydd Charmer coped with COVID while making Flux! And laugh as the Three Who Rule vamp to cover for the initial absence of Craige Els and Patrick O’Kane!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Gallifrey One

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It’s the preamble to the most wonderful time of the year as we eschew the news of the week and go full bore with our annual Gallifrey One preview! Listen to us cogitate about the first Gally since 2020 (and the pandemic) to feature attendance by every single one of the Three Who Rule who will open the con with our live show Get Back at 11 a.m. Friday the 17th! As is tradition, we go through the stuffed to the gills schedule and highlight both things were looking forward to and panels, photo ops, commentaries and more that you might wish to attend, should you be in Los Angeles!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Gallifrey One
Gallifrey One latest update
Gallifrey One Attendee Guide
Gallifrey One map
Gallifrey One schedule

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It’s just under two weeks until the Three Who Rule descend upon the LAX Marriott for Gallifrey One….which is now sold out! In the meantime RTD hints at all of Doctor Who once again gracing the iPlayer, there’s mmmrahhhh business to speak of involving BBC Studios bigwig talk of growth, mergers and acquisitions and other such financial tomfoolery, along with an “impossible” new TARDIS set and The Timelash, where we travel back in time to guess and frankly make things up about the week in Doctor Who!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Gallifrey One sold out, latest update
All of Doctor Who on iPlayer?
BBC Studios boss talks Doctor Who
Doctor Who Magazine 587 released
New TARDIS interior set
Doctor Who Chronicles 7: 1988 due Feb 16
Planet of the Ood audio CD due July 13
The Waters of Mars audio CD due July 13
Kerblam! audio CD due July 13

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Finally our live show can be revealed as we Get Back to Gallifrey One in Los Angeles, CA! Plus the Gally schedule is out in the wild, there are updates afoot about said convention, and RTD is confirming spinoffs but not confirming Edgar Wright as a future director, whatever misleading GQ headlines may imply. And to continue the string of new and exciting content Jo Jones appears in a trailer for the Season 9 – The Collection set, news of LI Who guests, and of course the feature we love and you tolerate, The Timelash!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Radio Free Skaro: Get Back, live at Gallifrey One
Gallifrey One schedule released
Gallifrey One late January update
Doctor Who spinoffs confirmed?
Season 9 Blu-Ray announced
Season 9 US Amazon link
Season 9 Canada Amazon link
Defenders of Earth – Season 9 Bliu-Ray teaser
Doctor Who: A Complete History volume 2 issues 21-40 released
LI Who guests announced
Big Finish The Worlds of Doctor Who – The Eighth of March: Strange Chemistry due March 8
Big Finish The Paternoster Gang: Trespassers 1 due October 2023

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As we veer closer to Gallifrey One at the LAX Marriott, none other than Chris Chibnall, he who what ran Doctor Who most recently is on his way to Los Angeles to answer your (pre-approved, no comments please) questions! Plus we have news of new actors just announced by current/future Doctor Who showrunner Russell The Davies for upcoming Who, a tour of another showrunner’s writer’s room as Steven Moffat gave a tour of his scribbling nook and the Timelash, where we’ll probably talk about showrunners!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Chris Chibnall announced for Gallifrey One
Gallifrey One mid-January update
Anita Dobson and Michelle Greenidge guesting on Doctor Who
The Home of the WHOniverse
New Target books announced for the range’s 50th anniversary
A tour of Steven Moffat’s writing studio
Big Finish “Interludes” included with some 2023 releases

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It’s a slow week for Doctor Who news but that won’t stop the Three Who Rule from prattling on about Gallifrey One and Long Island Who updates, an upcoming book about Doctor Who story editor and writer David Whitaker by one Simon Guerrier, and a deep dive into both forgotten and unused Doctor Who story titles of days gone by and the extensive writing career of one Ingrid Pitt! Myrka kicker, actor, and novelist, oh my!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Gally guest announcement, Whittaker receptions
Katy Manning announced for LI Who
Jemma Redgrave and Aneurin Barnard join the new series of Doctor Who
David Whitaker in an Exciting Adventure with Television by Simon Guerrier due 2H 2023
Josephine and the Argonauts by Paul Magrs due Aug 24

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We have an extra special third chair this week, as Erika Ensign of Verity! substitutes for Chris, give us an update on the status of said Doctor Who podcast, and we discuss all manner of Who news including the benefits of combined virtual and in-person cons, new guests coming to Gallifrey One (mere weeks away!) and an onslaught of tat including box sets, audio, digital histories and more! All this and the ever-present Timelash and a staggering web of Who actors related to, partnered with or married to other Who actors that’s sure to confustigate you with befuddlement!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Doctor Who Magazine 586
Gallifrey One guest announcement
Verity! appearing virtually at Console Room
The Smugglers and The Underwater Menace being animated?
Doctor Who The Collection Season 2 coming to the US on March 28
Doctor Who The Collection Season 2 coming to Canada on March 28
Doctor Who: The Complete History being made available digitally, starting with issues 1-20
Vworp Vworp! Volume 5 available for pre-order
DWAS Celestial Toyroom Annual 2023 released
Series 13 Specials Soundtracks on CD due Jan 13
The Lagoon Monsters 10th Doctor Audio CD
BF 2022 Short Trip The World Tree available for download
BF Doctor Who – The Third Doctor Adventures: The Return of Jo Jones due Feb 2023
BF Doctor Who – The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Purity Unleashed due May 2023
BF Doctor Who – The Lost Stories: Daleks! Genesis of Terror due May 2023
BF Doctor Who – The Lost Stories: Doctor Who and The Ark due June 2023
BF Doctor Who – The Fifth Doctor Adventures: In The Night due September 2023
Doctor Who Relationships twitter thread from @DrWhoCastCrew
Toby Hadoke’s Doctor Who In Memoriam 2022

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Happy New Year! It’s the beginning of 2023 so what better way to ring in the new year with two things recorded in 2022! First we have the Timelash, and then we bring you the adventures of PCap, Bill, and a bunch of wacky termite infested kids as they take on a haunted house, a weirdo landlord and more in our Modern Series Commentary for “Knock Knock”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash

Commentary:

Knock Knock

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Happy Holidays all and especially a Happy Boxing Day to those in Canada and the UK. And quite a sock to the jaw it was to see a Doctor Who 60th anniversary trailer on Xmas Day! Still nothing new with Ncuti Gatwa’s incarnation of the Doctor but we do have more of Tennant’s Who the 14th, Donna Noble, and most importantly, Beep The Meep! If that wasn’t enough, we’re joined by Kat Griffiths of Verity! and Erika Ensign of Verity!, Lazy Doctor Who, Total Party Kill and more for the first and only Doctor Who Holiday Death Match where we decide once and for all the all-time champion Xmas/New Year special! Get ready for fierce debate, divisive opinions and…maybe some boxing? Tune in and find out!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
60th Anniversary Specials teaser
Ruth Madelay joins the cast
60th Anniversary Specials press release
Gallifrey One guest update
Mark Tonderai directing for Ncuti Gatwa’s first series
Doctor Who staying on HBO Max?
Big Finish Doctor Who —The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Shades of Fear coming February 2023
Big Finish Doctor Who – The War Doctor Begins: Comrades-in-Arms coming May 2023
Big Finish Blake’s 7 S1 Novelization box set due May 27, 2023
Stephen Greif died
Toby Hadoke’s Chris Boucher obituary

Deathmatch:

Verity! Xmas Deathmatch Extra
Erika Ensign
Katrina Griffiths

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 24.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 23.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 21.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 21.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 20.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 19.

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It’s beginning to feel a lot like Cosplayer Christmas as Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson aka The Doctor and Ruby Sunday’s respective costumes have been revealed! Listen to two fashion illiterates and one Certified Dandy speculate on what it all means and mostly just deciding they look neat. Also we mourn the loss of Chris Boucher, cogitate upon the mysterious winnowing down of Who content on many services worldwide as the Disney Plus transition looms, and the ever-popular Timelash!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
2022 Fluid Links Advent
Ncuti Gatwa/Millie Gibson costume press release
Ncuti Gatwa/Millie Gibson costume reveal video
Chris Boucher died
Is Doctor Who leaving Crave January 6?
Only three episodes left on TVNZ; Eve of the Daleks leaving January 1
Most of what’s left of Doctor on ABC iView is leaving by January 9
Some Classic Doctor Who specials leaving BritBox UK on December 25
New Season 2 Blu-Ray trailer from Benjamin Cook
Big Finish War Doctor stories on Radio 4 Extra & BBC Sounds from Dec 17
Big Finish Doctor Who – The Third Doctor Adventures: The Return of Jo Jones due February 2023
Big Finish Doctor Who – The First Doctor Adventures: The Demon Song due February 2023
Big Finish Worlds of Doctor Who – Rani Takes on the World: Beyond Bannerman Road due April 2023
Big Finish Torchwood: The Last Love Song of Suzie Costello due Feb 2023
Big Finish Torchwood: Among Us – Part 1 due May 2023
Jane Sherwin died

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 18.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 17.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 16.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 15.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 14.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 13.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 12.

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It’s another exciting week for fans of one Doctor Who as shooting begins on the Ncuti Gatwa era and the RTD hint-o-rama initiative fills the pages of Doctor Who Magazine. The BBC is planning to go online only over the next decade, saddening owners of CRT televisions all over the United Kingdom, and we have the usual tat and Big Finish news along with a Timelash celebrating(?) Warren’s upcoming birthday. All this and the concluding Classic Series Commentary for “Earthshock”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Filming begins for Ncuti Gatwa
Doctor Who Magazine 585
BBC preparing to go online only
The Curse of Clyde Langer’s iPlayer absence
First look at Edinburgh’s Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder Exhibition
Big Finish Short Trips 2022 winner announced
Big Finish Doctor Who – Short Trips Volume 12 due Feb 2023
Big Finish The Doctor Chronicles: The Eleventh Doctor: All of Time and Space due Feb 2023
Big Finish Torchwood The Last Love Song of Suzie Costello due Feb 2023
Big Finish Torchwood The Thirst Trap due Mar 2023
Big Finish Torchwood Launch Date due Apr 2023
Big Finish Doctor Who – The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Connections released
Big Finish UNIT – Brave New World: Visitants released
Doctor Who Production Diary Vol 1 due Summer 2023
This Is A Fake by Andrew-Mark Thompson due Sep 2, 2023
Toby Hadoke’s Absent Friends 2022 edition debuts Dec 25
Shirley Coward died

Commentary:

Classic Series Commentary – “Earthshock”, Part Four

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 11.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 10.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 9.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 8.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 7.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 6.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 5.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 4.

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With Warren in the Eastern Zone of Time, the Three Who Rule spend a late Friday night jabbering about Doctor Who like the cool guys they are (not). This consists of not only the rather light assortment of news for the week but also marvelling over the many and various streaming services giving us random Classic Who 24/7. Living the dream! And indeed you will be too as we also bring you 80s Cybermen waving their fists angrily in Part Three of our Classic Series Commentary for “Earthshock”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Gally call for panelists extended to Dec 10
History of the Doctor Who logo
Doctor Who Magazine 2023 Yearbook released
Eve of the Daleks soundtrack released digitally
The Sarah Jane Adventures on iPlayer
The Amazing World of Doctor Who: Doctor Who Audio Annual due Apr 20, 2023
Nightmare Fair audio CD due June 1, 2023
Silver Nemesis audio CD due July 6, 2023
Big Finish Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Shades of Fear due Feb 2023
Big Finish Doctor Who — The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Conflicts of Interest due Apr 2023
Big Finish Torchwood: Among Us Part 1, 2, and 3 due May – July 2023

Commentary:

Classic Series Commentary – “Earthshock”, Part Three

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 3.

This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 2.

This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 1.

It’s the 59th anniversary of one Doctor Who television program, and the Three Who Rule examine a cornucopia of celebratory material, including a new actual diamond (illustration) for the iconic diamond logo, Big Finish’s monumentally ambitious, a years-in-the-making multi-Doctor series coming in 2023, substantial...

The TARDIS just got a little more crowded, or at least it will a year from now when just-announced companion Millie Gibson AKA Ruby Sunday joins Ncuti Gatwa AKA The Doctor. We also have a look forward at Gallifrey One which just announced new...

Chris is back from an undisclosed location and mysterious activities (listen to find out) as we mull over the surfeit of news and views bursting forth from the latest Doctor Who Magazine, rumblings that Doctor Who’s budget could be $10 million an episode thanks...

The Radio Free Skaro Fluid Links Advent Calendar is returning! From December 1 to 24, each day we’ll answer a Fluid Links question submitted by you, the listeners! You can submit questions to us either on Twitter, using the hashtag #FluidLinks, or comment below...

On this thrilling episode of Radio Free Skaro, Chris is on assignment and in his stead the redoubtable Erika Ensign of Verity! fame joins in the fun as we examine the final incidence of Stats (cue the music), Ben Pickles’ amazing show reel from...

It’s an epic-length RFS this week as the predicted onslaught of RTD2 era-to-be news overwhelms us, including the surprise but not surprise that Disney+ will be the worldwide host of our favorite televsion show everywhere but in the UK, where it will remain on...

It’s the end of an era, but the moment has been prepared for! But have the Three Who Rule prepared for the cavalcade of companions, story threads (tied up) and FEELS of “The Power of the Doctor”? What do they think of our new...

There is only one week left in the era of the Jodie Whittaker era of Doctor Who! This week saw the (embargoed) premiere in the UK, a broadcast time (at last), and some promotional material, care of Doctor Who Magazine. Kyle Anderson from Nerdist...

All hail Jodie Whittaker, for she is the headlining guest of Gallifrey One 2023 and that is wondrous for all and sundry. We also, shockingly enough, have a new (but underwhelming) trailer for “The Power of the Doctor”, confirmed to grace our airwaves October...

It’s Part the Second of our Miniscope on Doctor Who director James Hawes, with our hot takes about shows from more than a decade ago, namely “The Christmas Invasion”, “New Earth”, and “School Reunion”! What are our thoughts? You’ll have to drum your fingers...

It’s Part the Second of our Miniscope on Doctor Who director James Hawes, with our hot takes about shows from more than a decade ago, namely “The Christmas Invasion”, “New Earth”, and “School Reunion”! What are our thoughts? You’ll have to drum your fingers...

A monumental episode as there are now more Radio Free Skaro episodes in the wild than there are Doctor Who episodes! And to celebrate this, Chip from Two-minute Time Lord joins us to give us a temperature check on the current state of Doctor...

A monumental episode as there are now more Radio Free Skaro episodes in the wild than there are Doctor Who episodes! And to celebrate this, Chip from Two-minute Time Lord joins us to give us a temperature check on the current state of Doctor...

After months of waiting, drumming our fingers, and alternating between hype and apathy, or hype-athy if you will, we finally have a title for Jodie Whittaker’s final story as the Thirteenth Doctor, and that title is…The Power of the Doctor. Not much to go...

After months of waiting, drumming our fingers, and alternating between hype and apathy, or hype-athy if you will, we finally have a title for Jodie Whittaker’s final story as the Thirteenth Doctor, and that title is…The Power of the Doctor. Not much to go...

It is a sad day worldwide as noted Doctor Who fan Queen Elizabeth II has passed onto her final rest, and at any rate we have very little Who news to discuss but we do have Big Finish updates, a Cubicle7 Doctor Who RPG...

It is a sad day worldwide as noted Doctor Who fan Queen Elizabeth II has passed onto her final rest, and at any rate we have very little Who news to discuss but we do have Big Finish updates, a Cubicle7 Doctor Who RPG...

The Fallow Times of No Doctor Who and Even Less Information continues, but our friends across the pond at least had events with real live Doctor Who people to meet at FCC Birmingham and Whooverville 13, Abominable Snowmen BFI excitement, and most importantly, our...

Yes, the moment you’ve all waited for is happening, the official airdate for the as yet unnamed Doctor Who Centenary Special is….sometime in October. No, what we’re ACTUALLY excited about is the return of the Timelash, where we hash over decades-old minutiae to paper...

What mysteries are in store for us with David Tennant’s already intriguing return in the year of 2023? A recent appearance by Ol’ Ten himself at a Boston convention hints at a lot while saying nothing, and a new trailer for the Doctor Who...

It’s the sixteenth(!) anniversary of Radio Free Skaro and what better way to celebrate than with a trivia contest with questions ranging from gimme to nigh-impossible about Doctor Who featuring not only the Three Who Rule but also Erika Ensign and Kat Griffiths of...

It’s been a week of HBO intrigues as the American home of Doctor Who (for now) goes through massive structural changes, ditches the $90 million Batgirl film for a tax writedown, and presumably turns everything it owns into a reality show. Here to explain...

It’s the return of the Three Who Rule as Chris rejoins the august Radio Free Skaro crew from his recent sojourns in the United Kingdom and it’s a tragedy that it is in the sad circumstances of the passing of acting titans and Doctor...

Two Who Rule (Steven and Warren) have returned from exile on Dulkis (vacation) this week and in lieu of Chris, who continues to explore the farthest corners of the United Kingdom, we have esteemed guest co-host Dr. Heather Berberet, psychologist and frequent guest host!...

It’s week two (of two) of our vacation, so her his our second episode composed entirely of Fluid Links! Your comments and questions, sent to us and randomly drawn, answered, deliberated, and discussed! Links: Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon

With the Three Who Rule taking a vacation in various parts of the world, for the first time since 2010, we’re banking a couple episodes composed entirely of Fluid Links! Your comments and questions, sent to us and randomly drawn, answered, deliberated, and discussed!...

It’s Vacations Eve for Steven and Chris and besides that the news of the week is weirdly enough Ryan Gosling wearing a Ncuti Gatwa T-shirt but hey, we’ll take what we can get! And what we get is pretty much the Timelash, a ton...

It’s the Time Before the Time of The RTD this week, as showrunner part deux Russels T Davies was a guest on the Triple C (Creative Confidence Collective) webinar and spoke of disability in the media, his writing process, creativity and the current state...

Plenty of news this week, including the arrival of one Neil Patrick Harris in some form or fashion for the 60th anniversary celebrations of one Doctor Who next year, playing…that would be telling. Also a ton of Target novelizations, audio dramas both Big Finish...

The fallow times continue with mere dribs (not even drabs available) of news this week other than one Big Finish adventure, Pluto TV arriving soon in the Great White North, and Steven appearing soon at a Doctor panel at Chicago Fan Expo, but somehow...

Have you ever wanted to manage the Doctor Who brand? Yes, the dream of many a British schoolchild can be yours if you have extensive experience in said management of brands and Doctor Who and probably a bunch of other stuff dummies like the...

We return to the Times of Fallowness after weeks of blockbuster news involving new and old Doctors and other such delights, but we still have cogent analysis of the BBC’s new digital machinations, insane tale-spinning about Steven traveling back to 1975 and saving missing...

The casting announcements will continue because morale improves! Official news from Auntie Beeb about Yasmin Finney joining the cast as Rose (but not THAT Rose, despite what Variety may say) as well as one Rachel Talalay AKA SuperWhoDirector back on the show! Plus the...

BREAKING NEWS KLAXON! Everything old is new again as only a week after the introduction of Ncuti Gatwa as the new Doctor, the BBC and Russell T Davies have announced the return of David Tennant and Catherine Tate to the show in a series...

Lo and behold, a new Doctor Who has appeared! Ncuti Gatwa is the new (but interestingly, not announced as the 14th) Doctor, as seen by an interview on the BAFTAs red carpet with Gatwa himself and one Russell T Davies. With months to go...

This week in the first (of two?) Radio Free Skaro episodes, it’s the final revenge of STATS! at least until the Autumn and the Three Who Rule examine how Legend of the Sea Devils did in a historical context, a gripping start to an...

To the dread of Warren and delight of Steven and Chris, STATS return (and they are abysmal) for “Legend of the Sea Devils”, which spins off into a multi-faceted diatribe on the current state of streaming, including the abject failure of CNN+ and the...

It’s a live episode of Doctor Who and a livestream of Radio Free Skaro as the Three Who Rule don their flippers and talk in low whispers about “Legend of the Sea Devils”, a veritable gumbo of Thasmin, piracy and pieced together but somewhat...

With a week to go before Sea Devils become Legendary, the Three Who Rule are trawling through what little promotion has eked out of the BBC and its subordinate broadcasters to divine just what we’re in for as of April 17. But that day...

Doctor Who fandom is aflutter this week with the release of a glorious new trailer announcing the casting of none other than Matt Berry as the new Doctor Who! Of course this was all a cunning April Fool’s jape by none other than Who...

Hugh Grant’s short national nightmare is over, as the dapper gent himself dismissed all speculation that he is in the running as the next Dr Who and thus sent the pondering hordes back to their speculations. But you, dear listener, need not ponder about...

Another fallow week of news and surprisingly little tat as we tap our toes and twiddle our thumbs in anticipation of “Legend of the Sea Devils” but we do have confused old person ramblings about Fortnite, nostalgic old person waxings in The Timelash, and...

It’s another week where the Doctor Who news is thin on the ground and Christopher Eccleston offhandedly calling multi-Doctor stories a “cash grab” is grist for the clickbait mills but hold on to your hats, because we have a Miniscope about Ian Stuart Black,...

This week on Radio Free Skaro: Russell T Davies teases imminent production of Doctor Who, a historic anniversary, more speculation on BBC America’s future with Doctor Who, a monumental day to look back at in The Timelash, and Emily Cook drops by to talk...

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It’s the week after Gallifrey One and Steven is full of stories, adventures and happy thoughts about his experiences at the con, as all three of those Who Rule look forward to the recently announced 33 1/3 edition of Gallifrey One in 2023. Plus we dip into the distant past via The Timelash, talk VCR archeology and network TV, and plow through a veritable mountain of audio and dolly tat, and more! Your ears are required!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Gallifrey One 2022 Recap
Gallifrey One 2023 will be February 17-19
Season 17 North American Blu-Ray moved up to April 5
Dead Air vinyl due on Record Store Day, April 23
The Code of Flesh audio due Oct 6, 2022
The Ice Kings audio due Jan 5, 2023
The Time Monster audio due Mar 16, 2023
Warriors of the Deep audio due May 4, 2023
The Fires of Pompeii audio due Jul 14, 2022
The Zygon Invasion audio due Jul 14, 2022
The Eaters of Light audio due Jul 14, 2022
Big Finish Rose Tyler: The Dimension Cannon due October
Big Finish Gallifrey War Room begins July 2022, wraps up Feb 2025
Big Finish Torchwood One: Nightmares due Apr 2022
Big Finish Bayban Ascending audio book available
Warriors of the Deep Character Options action dollies set
Hallmark itty bittys 4th Doctor and Dalek plush set available
Cubicle 7 announces Doctors & Daleks RPG, and a separate RPG using D&D 5e rules
Cutaway Comics Gods and Monsters kickstarter
Stewart Bevin died
Henry Lincoln died

Doctor Who: Tom Baker Complete Season Six (BD)

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Our last podcast of the weekend at Gallifrey One features an interview with journalist, writer, and TV critic Matthew Sweet, responsible for those stellar long form interviews on the Doctor Who Blu-ray sets. And Chip from Two-Minute Time Lord and Erika from Verity! join Steven to wrap up the day and the convention as a whole. It’s been a wonderful weekend of healing and togetherness and we hope the podcasts this weekend helped share the atmosphere here with you.

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Gallifrey One

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The second of three podcasts this weekend from Gallifrey One is all recorded outside in the balmy, sunny, COVID-safe surroundings of the LAX Marriott in Los Angeles! First up, guest host Paul Booth talks about both his experiences with the Doctor Who TARDIS Talks this year, as well as a similar 60th anniversary pilgrimage to what Steven is undergoing. Then, Rob Ritchie, ex(?) of the Doctor Who animated range talks about the future of the range and his work on it up until now. Sunglasses on!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Gallifrey One

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After a year away, Radio Free Skaro is happy and proud to be back at Gallifrey One in 2022! With two-thirds of the Three Who Rule unable to be here this year, it is up to Steven and trusty sidekick/tech producer Chip Sudderth to kick off the festivities with RADIO FREE SKARO: IN FLUX, the first live show of the weekend with guests Sylvester McCoy, Matt Strevens, Jon Davey, Jonathan Watson, and Stephen Gallagher!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
Gallifrey One

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It’s that time of year again, as Galllifrey 2022 arrives next week and with it will come the live show “Radio Free Skaro: In Flux” and with THAT will come the Two-Minute Time Lord himself, Chip Sudderth, who will be in Los Angeles along with Steven and is in fact here now on this very program! As is tradition we highlight the many highlights of the Gally schedule and the added twists of this year’s convention as we navigate the Ongoing Weirdness. But that’s not all! We also have an interview with Big Finish’s Steve Berry who reveals both that fine organization’s plans and presence at Gallifrey One but also lets slip some details on this very audiogram!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Gallifrey One update, COVID testing on-site
Gallifrey One preview
Forces TV to show 12 classic Doctor Who stories
Big Finish Third Doctor Adventures: The Annihilators released
Big Finish First Doctor Adventures: The Outlaws due April
Big Finish Companion Chronicles: The Second Doctor Volume 3 due April

Features:

Chip from Two-minute Time Lord
Steve Berry from Big Finish

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It’s the conclusion of our “Remembrance of the Daleks” Classic Series Commentary where we blatantly ignore foundation-shattering lore and Gallifreyan artifacts and yander on about something irrelevant, probably. Plus we have Gallifrey One news, the ever-present dip back into history with The Timelash, BFI screenings, and new Big Finish initiatives, and an interview with DWM’s Emily Cook where she reveals her righteous disdain for…stats! Ahhh-ahhhhh! STATS!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Gallifrey One update
Doctor Who Magazine 574
BFI Revelation of the Daleks screening
Big Finish Unbound: Doctor of War – Genesis
Doctor Who and the Daleks illustrated edition
B&M Dalek Assault Mini Bobble Set

Commentary:

Remembrance of the Daleks episode 4
“How I Made Ace’s Jacket”
@who_fx looks at Remembrance of the Daleks in 2016

Interview:

Emily Cook

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The rumours of The Return of Tennant strengthen and grow, driving at least two of the RFS-ians into states of pearl-clutching cold sweats and another into cautious optimism. Guess which ones! Plus we have news of Jodie Whittaker’s regeneration scene, the Gallifrey One schedule is released (including details of the Radio Free Skaro live show), a dip into history with The Timelash, and our Classic Series Commentary for Part Three of “Remembrance of the Daleks”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
The Tennant rumour persists and adds Catherine Tate
Jamie Magnus Stone talks about Whittaker’s regeneration
Gallifrey One 2022 programming on Sched
Radio Free Skaro: In Flux
Gally guest update: Bonnie Langford out, Eric Roberts and Sophia Myles in
Doctor Who voted second best BBC show ever made
Missing episodes held to ransom in the Middle East?
The John Nathan-Turner Production Diary 1979-1990 due May 1
Series 13 scripts added to the BBC Writer’s Room
New Doctor Who mobile game due in 2022 from ESGG
Big Finish The Eighth of March: Protectors of Time due on International Women’s Day
Spencer Chapman died

Commentary:

Remembrance of the Daleks episode 3
“How I Made Ace’s Jacket”
@who_fx looks at Remembrance of the Daleks in 2016

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This week the Three Who Rule has a grab bag of news including movement afoot on the upcoming RTD2 era, fan silliness as David Tennant is floated as the new Doctor for the umpteenth time to Warren’s monumental umbrage, Season 22 detective work by Chris and an interview between Steven, Joshua Bayer, and Peter Farrell of EVE Online as the massive strategy game crosses into the Whoniverse AND Part Two of our Classic Series Commentary for “Remembrance of the Daleks”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Gallifrey One January 19 Update
RTD2 era “in production”
Phil Collinson returns to produce Doctor Who
Tom Baker Season 6 Blu-Ray due for release in North America Apr 19
Season 22 will be the next Blu-Ray release
Season 22 Blu-Ray trailer
EVE Online/Doctor Who crossover
The Zygon Invasion Target novelization
Fires of Pompeii Target novelization
Eaters of Light Target novelization
Androids of Tara updated Target novelization
Stones of Blood updated Target novelization
Tales of Time and Space audio collection
Big Finish UNIT: Nemesis – Angels of the Vulpreen features Quarks
Big Finish Torchwood early 2022 titles announced

Commentary:

Remembrance of the Daleks episode 2
“How I Made Ace’s Jacket”
@who_fx looks at Remembrance of the Daleks in 2016

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It’s been a whiplash week of MRAHH BUSINESS news as BBC America is allegedly pulling out of Doctor Who missing episodes animation, Nadine Dorries threatens to end the license fee and thus doom the BBC, and Jo Martin gets her own Doctor Who comic for Free Comic Book Day! Plus we have Big Finish and book news, a new Weeping Angels board game, and Part One of our Classic Series Commentary for “Remembrance of the Daleks”! Cue the “little girl with a balloon” music!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Gallifrey One January 2022 update
Gallifrey One 2022 charity is the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
Jodie Whittaker at London Comic Con
Mandip Gill at London Comic Con
BBC America reportedly pulling funding from Classic Doctor Who animations
BBC license fee to end
Galaxy 4 due in Canada April 5
Galaxy 4 due in the US April 5
The Essential Terrance Dicks volume 1 paperback
The Essential Terrane Dicks volume 2 paperback
Jo Martin Doctor appears in the Doctor Who Free Comic Book Day issue
Big Finish Out of Time 3: Wink features the Sixth and Tenth Doctors
Season 14 Blu-Ray getting UK re-release in standard packaging
Doctor Who: Don’t Blink board game

Commentary:

Remembrance of the Daleks episode 1
“How I Made Ace’s Jacket”

Doctor Who - The Collection - Season 14 [Standard Edition] [Blu-ray] [2022]

Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 (BD)

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It’s a bumper crop of content this week as we dive into the works of Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell in the Miniscope including “Scream of the Shalka”, “Father’s Day”, and “Human Nature/The Family of Blood”! Plus we have our Doctor Who Magazine check-in with Emily Cook, a bunch of Big Finish news and Warren and Steven SQUARING OFF about nostalgia, streaming, and their own personal States of Decay, with Chris as the voice of reason! It’s all come Full Circle.

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Eve of the Daleks BBC One overnight viewing figures
Eve of the Daleks BBC AI
Eve of the Daleks BBC America overnights
Big Finish Fifth Doctor Adventures: Forty released
Big Finish UNIT: Brave New World Volume 1 brings back Bambera
Big Finish “interludes” to accompany Doctor ranges in 2022
Doctor Who Magazine 573
Doctor Who Magazine Chronicles 2007 due February
DWAS Celestial Toyroom Annual 2022
Doctor Who/EVE Online crossover

Miniscope:

Paul Cornell
Scream of the Shalka
Father’s Day
Human Nature
The Family of Blood

Interview:

Emily Cook

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It’s 2022, and that means a new Doctor Who New Year’s Day special and some Dalek shenanigans as tradition dictates, this time in the form of “Eve of the Daleks!” Join the Three Who Rule as they ruminate upon a Mametesque character piece starring Yaz, Dan, the Doctor, and two time looped guest stars and the aforementioned Daleks in a self storage romp! Plus the return of a much pined-for monster this Easter and the usual news, tat and dips into the past via The Timelash…and the on-screen manifestation of Thasmin!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Timelash
Eve of the Daleks review
Legend of the Sea Devils, this spring
14th Doctor casting underway, some Series 14 episodes written
Matt Strevens is done on Doctor Who
Flux storyline to continue through the Whittaker specials
Eve of the Daleks press pack
Gallifrey One guest announcement: Bonnie Langford, Anjli Mohindra
New/better negative of The Daleks ep 7 found
Revamped Season 17 Blu-Ray trailer
Abominable Snowmen Blu-Ray listed on Amazon.ca, no release date
Big Finish Third Doctor Adventures: The Annihilators due February
Big Finish Ninth Doctor Adventures: Old Friends due February
Doctor Who Magazine 573 due January 6
Doctor Who Magazine 2022 Yearbook available
Doctor Who Annual 2023 due September 1
Throwback enamel pin TARDIS set 2
Throwback enamel pin TARDIS set 3
Toby Hadoke’s In Memoriam 2021 video

Doctor Who Annual 2023

Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen

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A happy Christmas to all of you at home! It’s Christmas 2021, and thanks to the circumstances of the world, it may well be going off the rails for you! So let’s sit back, set the year-o-meter to 2005, and watch along with us as we provide for you a commentary for the first Doctor Who Christmas special – the original, you might say – Russell T Davies’ first foray into a Doctor Who Yuletide tradition, “The Christmas Invasion”!

Links:

Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
The Christmas Invasion

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 24.

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This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 23.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/freyburg/rfs2021advent22.mp3 Download MP3

This holiday season, Radio Free Skaro is presenting a Fluid Links Advent Calendar! Every day from December 1 until December 24, we’ll discuss one topic from our list provided by you, the listeners. Today: Day 22.