Perpetual Outsider Podcast: Recent Episodes
John Bensalhia
Join John Bensalhia as he looks back on some classic TV from the '60s, '70s and '80s. As well as podcasts on sci-fi TV such as Doctor Who and Blake's 7, John will be revisiting vintage comedies, gameshows and more. My podcasts are free to download, but if you like them, I'd be hugely grateful for a donation as a gesture of support/appreciation at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnBensalhia. Thanks for looking and listening in.
Dragon's Den meets Doctor Who!In this pilot episode, four businesses are offered to the Dragons including a virtual reality gizmo, a plastics factory, a robotics company and a big world-domineering electronics giant.
John kicks off a new series in which he browses his record collection from the 1960s to the 1980s with Genesis' 1981 album.
The Perpetual Outsider podcast is back! Join John as he looks at the highest rated episode of The Generation Game. Are the producers trying to poison the contestants? Is Billy Bunter making a comeback? And can the finalists keep up with the all-new Brother Lees routine?
It's the final showdown on Fang Rock as John looks in to this stone cold Doctor Who classic. Did Vince steal Ben's voicebox? Should Mr Scream from Wayne's World 2 be hired for scream coaching? And why is the Everybody Dies approach a healthier one than Moffat's tedious Everybody Lives?
John's stuck on a lighthouse with no way out - cheers for that, Doc. Is it a case of Karma Shameleon? Who would win the battle of the death screams? Come to that, who would win the battle of the death facial expressions?
John revisits his 3rd birthday by spending it on Fang Rock Lighthouse. Does Horror have the edge over Talons when it comes to grisly remains? Which actor has a very tenuous link with Danny Kendall from Grange Hill? And could Reuben do with a tummy tablet or two in the cliffhanger?
It may be sunny on the outside but indoors it's gloomy time as John pays a visit to a lighthouse for Doctor Who classic Horror Of Fang Rock. Why are the haircuts too long for the turn of the century? Is John becoming a modern-day Reuben? And why did an attempt to record the story off UK Gold onto video go awry?
Join John as he revisits the '20s (1920s, not 2020's) with some help from Ted Rogers and Dusty Bin.
John's eardrums take a pasting as he lands on Cygnus Alpha where the Great God Neil (played by Brian Blessed) holds court.
John returns to the 1920s as he ponders on Part Two of the Doctor Who story, Black Orchid. Is Ann actually Penelope Pitstop? Have the local policemen been eating enough porridge to lug the TARDIS down the street? And is being defeated by Mr Plod from the Noddy books the ultimate insult for The Doctor?
John travels from the 2020s to the 1920s as he explores the Peter Davison Doctor Who story, Black Orchid. Why wasn't 9 year old John's Black Orchid book not a bestseller? Will Tegan progress beyond Round 1 of Strictly Come Dancing? How does Justin Fletcher manage to barge his way into proceedings?
Back to 1984 for a classic episode of The Young Ones, which John hasn't seen for 30-odd years.
Brucie's off ill, so Roy Castle steps into the breach for this episode of The Generation Game from 1975. Can Roy's nerves overcome lippy guests, bagpipes and a grumpy haggis filler? Find out with John!
It's scorching! On a boiling hot day like today, why not chill out with John as he settles down to look at the last part of Dragonfire? Why doesn't McLuhan want to be in a Pudding club? Is Iceworld taking a frozen Internet signal to extremes? And is Kane's grisly melting head the most unpleasant demise in Who history?
With the heatwave in full flow, John cools down in Iceworld for another instalment of the Doctor Who adventure, Dragonfire. Where has the quirk gone? Is Kane's melted statue a blessed improvement? And can John make it third time lucky recording the commentary?
John attempts to get cool on a boiling hot day by selecting Doctor Who Dragonfire. Would Zed from the Police Academy movies worked as a man on the run? Is a certain sorry excuse for a Prime Minister hiding in the freezer? And what is the deal with that literal cliffhanger?
John looks at another sci-fi series, Space 1999. Is it heresy to prefer the funky new Season 2 theme tune? Where's Clouseau when you need to crack a smile? And is Helena's Barry Manilow obsession being taken that bit too far?
London calling as John boards the prison ship en route to the Liberator for the 2nd Blake's 7 episode. Would Blake make a good Marcie from the Charlie Brown cartoons? What's on tonight's Top Of The Pops with your host, Raiker? Will you like Vila's magic, or not a lot?
It's a fair cop, guv, as John looks back at an early episode of 3-2-1, first broadcast in October 1978.
More wanton Atlantis destruction in the final episode of The Underwater Menace. Why is a NO a classic yes for doomed baddies? Will Polly ever stop her sobbing? And can John make it through the slide show?
You demand? You demand?? An Underwater Menace Episode 3 podcast?? You got it! What's the Atlantis equivalent of Friends' Central Perk? Is Lolem a relative of Biggins? Would Zaroff make a good Hell's Kitchen judge?
Hurray! Moving images again as John looks at the earliest surviving Patrick Troughton episode. Why is Zaroff's birthday buffet a flop? How have we moved on from the back pages of Peter Haining's Celebration book? And how brilliant is it to see Troughton's facial expressions and Buster Keaton-style tribute on screen?
John looks at an alternative view of Atlantis with the 1967 story, The Underwater Menace. Is Brigadier Bambera threatening to hijack the podcast? What are Jamie and Ara listening to in the record booth? Can John sit through a slide show?
John begins his Blake's 7 odyssey with the dystopian nightmare of The Way Back. Which actress lectured at John's (best forgotten) university? What's with the clerk's Upper Class Twit Of The Year voice? And can John actually work out what El Tel's obsession with the name Tarrant was?
Goody Goody Yum Yum! It's back to 1977 for this classic bit of Goodies wackiness. Warning: Includes off-key warbling.
More classic Generation Game as John settles down to watch an episode from 1978. Guest starring K9 from Doctor Who!
John reaches the end of The Time Monster. How did John get the Minotaur's autograph? Where have all the guest cast gone? And is the Daisiest Daisy speech the ultimate Moment of Pertwee Charm?
Functioning DVD permitting, it's off to Atlantis with John for Episode 5 of The Time Monster. Did JoJo Grant inspire CBeebies? Would Prue-fessor Sorenson have made a good Sarah Jane? And can John actually stop laughing his head off?
The Doctor and Jo are on the trail of The Master and Krasis as John looks at another episode of The Time Monster. Can Mike Yates hold out against the Barry Sheene of Doom? Did Forbes from Spearhead From Space actually live another day and become a farmer? And how does Macca influence the big central concept of this episode?
Chow down on a marmalade sandwich with John as he reaches the halfway point of The Time Monster. Can Percival hack a lifetime of non-existence? Should there be a Doctor/Master school spin-off? Why do first names add a bit of cliffhanger drama?
The postman makes a cameo as John continues to look at The Time Monster. Which Elton John LP isn't much cop? Can Jon Pertwee cope with a weathered boa? Does chickenpox improve your opinion of the story?
Simmer down, John, for Pete's sake. It's time to talk about the 1972 Jon Pertwee story, The Time Monster. Is The Doctor still haunted by the events of Inferno? Why is John so rubbish at sales pitch? And is this story aggorant nonsense?
The name's Bensalhia. John Bensalhia. With a licence to kill - the mood in the room with too many bad jokes. John changes channels to ITV to big up the channel's gameshow mainstay of the late '70s and early '80s, 3-2-1. This commentary remembers a February 1984 edition starring Don Estelle as a somewhat unlikely James Bond substitute. Will the contestants be left shaken and stirred by the prize that they go home with or is it a case of From Dusty With Love?
John Bensalhia looks at the ultimate John Sullivan comedy experience Only Fools And Horses in a classic episode from 1986.
Power To The People! In the 1st of 2 John Sullivan-themed podcasts, John Bensalhia remembers the revolution of 1979 with an episode of classic comedy Citizen Smith.
Gear up your shiny new Blu-rays (or in John's case, old DVD) and return to Necros as John comments on the final thrilling instalment of Revelation Of The Daleks Part Two. How does the story pre-empt daytime telly adverts? Why does it feel like the end of an era? And was Grade right to put the show on ice for 18 months?
John visits the forbidding climes of Necros as he recalls the classic season 22 finale. Was JNT's famous face casting on the money? Why were the 1990s repeat seasons a frustrating experience? And will John ever be tempted to go Blu-ray?
Good game! Good game! All right, my loves? John Bensalhia is your host as he travels back in time to the shivering cold of December 1977, where he takes a look at a classic edition of Bruce Forsyth & The Generation Game. Why don't modern day entertainers come and offer you free show tickets at your place of work? What does David Dickinson know about Punch & Judy? And why are so many classic archive telly shows sitting around gathering dust?
John Bensalhia comments on the final part of this Master-piece from 1976. Would the Eye of Harmony make a good centrepiece? How is Engin's cocktail making skills? And what's The Master crowing "Hoo boy!!" about?
Revisit the world of the Matrix with John Bensalhia as he ventures into the murky locale of The Deadly Assassin Part Three. What's with the goofy eyes on the cliff? Did the Whitehouse Manifesto win in the long run? Why is Saturday Night not alright for fighting on telly, ratings wise?
Scream and scream again with John Bensalhia as he looks at Part Two of the Doctor Who horror-a-thon, The Deadly Assassin. Would the Tom Baker version of John Kettley Is A Weatherman have made the charts? Do Time Lords hatch from eggs? Is there a risk of taking fan fiction too far?
John Bensalhia travels back in time to revisit Part One of the classic Tom Baker adventure, The Deadly Assassin. How would social media have reacted to this story if it had been around in the 1970s? Should Gallifrey have its own organist rising out of the Panopticon floor like in the days of the old cinemas? And can John stop doing terrible Spandrell and Engin impersonations?