Doctor Who: Toby Hadoke’s Time Travels: Recent Episodes
Toby Hadoke
Four different Doctor Who Podcasts from award winning comedian Toby Hadoke, whose Edinburgh show Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf became a West End hit, toured the world, and became a Sony nominated BBC Radio series.
The podcasts are:
Happy Times and Places - episode commentaries (a video version is also available on You Tube). Released weekly.
Indefinable Magic - whimsical essays inspired by the show. Released at least once a month.
Too Much Information - an episode-by-episode examination of the making of the series. Released once a month.
(Far) Too Much Information - a spin-off from Too Much Information containing all the stuff deemed too geeky for the above... (initially available to Patrons only)
Please see www.patreon.com/tobyhadoke for early and bonus releases Please join the mailing list at www.tobyhadoke.com Please subscribe to Toby Hadoke’s You Tube channel.
A temporary director, a World War II hero and a future star of the Biritish classical stage all pop in this week, but one of the regulars is far from happy nd fires of a letter filled with grievances. And that's just offscreen - as far as the viewers are concerned it's all hunky-dory: except for today's viewers of course, because this is the first instalment without telesnaps or moving footage, so it's the earliest episode of the show for which we have no evidence at all of what it looked like on screen. A mystery inside an enigma inside a Reithean tale of travel and treachery.
Having sowed The Seeds of Doom with Chris Chapman, how about we enjoy some more fruits from this nourishing tale? Veteran actor Michael McStay, fresh from celebrating his 90th birthday, talks to Toby about his long career, and how his Doctor Who beard ensured he kept the job even after a disaster. Michael has just released a memoir, "Inconsequential and Irrelevant : A Worm's Eye View of Acting", which you can order from www.quoitmedia.co.uk : it's forthright, witty and honest, and contains all sorts of stories of interest to listeners of this podcast.
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
patreon.com/tobyhadoke
Or there is Ko-fi for the occasionally donation with no commitments:
ko-fi.com/tobyhadoke
Follow Toby on Twitter
@tobyhadoke
And these podcasts
@HadokePodcasts
And his comedy club
@xsmalarkey
www.tobyhadoke.com for news, blog, mailing list and more.
Well, you host Toby Hadoke has thoroughly enjoyed revisiting this story : always a favourite and age has not withered it. The difficulty here is restricting the favourite things to one per episode, and even with the bonus this week some key contributors still miss out. If this is your first time experiencing this story, then both Toby and special guest Chris Chapman (Blu-ray documentary director) are green with envy.
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
patreon.com/tobyhadoke
Or there is Ko-fi for the occasionally donation with no commitments:
ko-fi.com/tobyhadoke
Follow Toby on Twitter
@tobyhadoke
And these podcasts
@HadokePodcasts
And his comedy club
@xsmalarkey
www.tobyhadoke.com for news, blog, mailing list and more.
It's time for the vegetables to start eyeing up the meat, which they might like to wash down with a lovely Molotov cocktail. The Krynoid gets chatty, the Doctor gets ratty and Chase goes batty as the plants get a life of their own in this atmospheric and tense instalment. But will DVD documentarist Chris Chapman be on the same page as your host? Let's see eh?
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
patreon.com/tobyhadoke
Or there is Ko-fi for the occasionally donation with no commitments:
ko-fi.com/tobyhadoke
Follow Toby on Twitter
@tobyhadoke
And these podcasts
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And his comedy club
@xsmalarkey
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What a wonderful episode, it's so violent. The Krynoid has touched human flesh which is bad news for Keeler, but it is great news for your host Toby Hadoke and his guest Chris Chapman (the man behind some of the best DVD and Blu-ray extras) who are spoilt for choice. Oh, and apropos of nothing - "Scooby - get Dunbar!".
One of the patron viewers, many of whom started to watch along with this commentary so buoyed were they by its enthusiasm, described the Seeds of Doom as "The Sweeney has a love child with The Avengers". Oh yes, that sounds about right. But will host Toby Hadoke and guest Chris Chapman enjoy the Avengers stuff best, or the Sweeney vibe? Get yer trousers on, y'er in a Doctor Who story!
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
patreon.com/tobyhadoke
Or there is Ko-fi for the occasionally donation with no commitments:
ko-fi.com/tobyhadoke
Follow Toby on Twitter
@tobyhadoke
And these podcasts
@HadokePodcasts
And his comedy club
@xsmalarkey
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Ooh it's all a bit grown up and gritty. But fortunately, your host Toby Hadoke likes his Who grown-up and gritty (well, as grown-up as a show about a time traveller in a police box can be) and so does his brilliant guest, documentary maker Chris Chapman. But what on earth will the choose as their favourite thing in a story with an embarrassment of riches...?
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
patreon.com/tobyhadoke
Or there is Ko-fi for the occasionally donation with no commitments:
ko-fi.com/tobyhadoke
Follow Toby on Twitter
@tobyhadoke
And these podcasts
@HadokePodcasts
And his comedy club
@xsmalarkey
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It's off to the Arc... the Antarc... the snowy place for one of your host's favourites : as chosen by one of his favourite collaborators, Chris Chapman : Doctor Who blu-ray documentary director. The setting is cold, and so is the Doctor, but there's a chill in the air as well, thanks to director Douglas Camfield. But for some, this isn't quite Doctor Who ... well, it's fair to say that "some" are not in accord with your podcasters as Toby and Chris pretty much love every minute of this... (apart from Moberley's flapping beard).
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
patreon.com/tobyhadoke
Or there is Ko-fi for the occasionally donation with no commitments:
ko-fi.com/tobyhadoke
Follow Toby on Twitter
@tobyhadoke
And these podcasts
@HadokePodcasts
And his comedy club
@xsmalarkey
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Good laugh and excellent writer Steve O'Brien (or is it his uncanny double?) has chosen this historical interlude into the otherwise science-heavy Davison era as the story he would like to celebrate. What will he like best - the fact that the police sergeant is Odysseus from The Myth Makers? The slight overkill of trying to open a locked door by setting it on fire? Or maybe the line "strike me pink"? Who knows? Well, Steve does...
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
patreon.com/tobyhadoke
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Follow Toby on Twitter
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And these podcasts
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Esteemed science fiction journalist Steve O'Brien has chosen this odd little story as his pick of the list of stories that take him to his Happy Times and Places - times and places involving cricket, fancy dress, screwdrivers and murder! The show's first pure historical for many years, there's something fishy going on at the buffet and Nyssa is seeing double, but what will be chosen as the best thing on offer here? One thing's for sure : we will try to have a hoot!
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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Follow Toby on Twitter
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And these podcasts
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And his comedy club
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Things pick up a bit after last week (which was a bit of a struggle) and obviously Gav Rymill and host Toby Hadoke are united in their adoration of the universally admired comedy scenes featuring Delores Grey ... ahem. Well, maybe not, but they are actually spoiled for choice for favourite things in this action packed finale to the 25th Anniversary celebration story.
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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Cyber gloves! Skinhead facts! An excellent tree! It's not always plain sailing accentuating the positive points of this relatively uncelebrated celebratory story, and your host Toby Hadoke might not always be successful this time around. But he tries! And there is plenty to like - especially as super guest Gav Rymill is a fabulous advocate for all that is great about this Cyber-Nazi-LoonyWoman fest.
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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Oh, so it's the "other" anniversary story. The one that people don't seem to talk about so much. Writer, artist, Dalek Prop expert, podcaster and all round renaissance man Gavin Rymill chooses what he describes as the "least popular" (according to the last DWM poll) Cyberman story. It's not one that's ever been high on host Toby Hadoke's list of Who's greatest achievements but will he learn to stop worrying and love the Nazis ... and the mad woman ... and the Cybermen ... and all that jazz? Well, he has to, that's kind of the point of the podcast.
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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It's the third instalment of Marco Polo - William Hartnell is back to full health, but whilst history proves this to be one of the most admired Doctor Who stories, all that the press can talk about is the Daleks... although we get the first ever public indication that being a member ion the TARDIS crew is not a permanent gig. Even less permanent is one of the key crew members, who leaves this week after some "creative differences"...
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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Doctor Who researcher extraordinaire Richard Bignell is the guest for this trawl through the many merits if an acknowledged Doctor Who classic. But will he and host Toby Hadoke be acknowledging the same bits when choosing their favourites? There's definitely an embarrassment of riches to be uncovered in this very positive edition of Toby Hadoke's Time Travels.
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And don't forget to rate and review them - all the positivity that can be mustered is hugely appreciated.
For more about Toby go to:
www.tobyhadoke.com
Happy New Year! To celebrate the dawn of a new age here is the fiftieth story to be subjected to an overdose of positivity, stuttering and useless facts (not all of them correct) in Happy Times and Places. Talented animator and graphic artist Chris Cassell has chosen one of the series' landmark stories and so how better to celebrate this than with a landmark of our own? From when the series seemed to be everywhere, this feature length edition brings together a whole host of the Doctor Who's most popular elements... so how the hell will Chris and host Toby choose just five? I mean, they could just pick each of the Doctors as we are watching The Five Doctors(but they don't, so don't worry).
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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This one is about Missing Episodes - not a definitive history but rather a series of personal thoughts and experiences. If you want proper detective work I'd go to the Missing Episodes podcast which is excellent. This is more about how the absence of some of Doctor Who episodes adds, or takes away, from our experience of the show. It's quite long, sorry - it's a subject your host is rather passionate about.
A Christmas special with a very special bunch of guests : The Kids of Lamplighter School are a fabulous bunch of young American Doctor Who enthusiasts lending their thoughts to an after school Doctor Who club. Convened by their teacher for a very special edition of the podcast, this will melt your frozen cockles with festive cheer.
Oh, and incidentally... :)
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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And so now there's plenty of action - Sea Devils shoot, they tumble, they fall off the roof. It's not all bangs and flashed though - there's a hovercraft, a curious MP moustache dance, and of course the moment the Master stands around doing nothing for about three weeks as all hell breaks loose around him. This has been a most enjoyable watch-along though, and will Steve Hatcher and Toby Hadoke go out on a high by choosing exactly the same things as each other? Or will Steve just tell your host to get in the sea...?
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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The one instalment of this story is easy to overlook - because it's between the prison stuff and the final battle. There is loads to enjoy here though, including Sea Devil deaths, Sea Devil cloaks and Sea Devil eyes. And a guest star with lots of interesting stories to tell... if only host Toby Hadoke would stop interrupting himself. What will Steve Hatcher choose as his favourite thing, and can he and Toby get through the episode without wanting a full English breakfast...?
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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Well now, there's a lot of submarine chat which hopefully propels the conversation into interesting waters, and there's also a very welcome actor fact relating to one particularly likeable performer. But what do we think guest Steve Hatcher will like about today's instalment? There's plenty to choose from ... but not, alas, a safety catch.
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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The Doctor and the Master end their sword fight, the Master makes contact with his allies, and Donald Sumpter gets something in his eye. It's time to dive beneath the surface and see what special guest Steve Hatcher likes about this particular instalment of The Sea Devils, and whether your host Toby Hadoke agrees with him.
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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This has it all - a bit of comedy, a lot of character, and Roger Delgado looking pretty spiffing as a naval officer. Add to that some comedy wiring, an epic sword fight and the famous rebranding of the Silurians as the equally inaccurate Eocenes and there's a lot to talk about ... even before we get to Jabba the Hutt. But will special guest Steve Hatcher choose the same things as your host - Toby Hadoke - when it comes to nominating the best thing about this episode?
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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Well, there was something in the air... well, alright, in the sea (and on the land... so actually not in the air at all). And that something was the Sea Devils because of course they recently returned to Doctor Who. So I thought why not remind ourselves how they were originally done? And they were done well, as convention organiser and writer Steve Hatcher attests. He has a few personal connections with the story too, so will that make it easier or harder for host Toby Hadoke to identify his favourite things...?
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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We add a bomb to the bickering in part five of The Dominators, and muse at what might have been had this had the planned sixth instalment. Full Circle writer Andrew Smith has been a terrific guest - will the positives be shared between host and guest or will the differences of opinion be seismic? Hopefully there'll be a peaceful solution...
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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Well there's plenty of fun to be had here if your like exploding buildings and the destruction of cute robots. And two men arguing a lot whilst trying to remain dignified under big shoulder pads and tassled limbs. The Doctor is trying to save the planet Dulkis - but only inside. Outside, it's fair to say, he is not quite himself. Will Andrew Smith (a genuine Doctor Who writer who has written loads for Big Finish and, of course, TV's Full Circle) choose the same best thing about episode 4 as your host Toby Hadoke, or is their power running out?
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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There's a problem en route to Kublai Khan's palace both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. There's a sandstorm to negotiate in Studio D, but a key cast member falls in requiring a hasty change in direction. But they're a doughty lot who can improvise their way out of trouble, even if not everybody is on the same wavelength. On screen antics mirror off screen drama as Doctor Who's first lost adventure continues...
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These Indefinable Magic monologues are usually the result of writing, re-writing, recording, retaking, re-jigging and finally assembling. That's why they take a long time. However, something was needed for Doctor Who's birthday and this is the result - one go, one take, a word avalanche which attempts to capture the essence of the indefinable magic that Doctor Who possesses. It's entirely personal and barely structured (no time for a pilot to show what the mistakes are) but it's a celebration of a programme that started exactly 59 years before the release of this podcast. It's not perfect, it's a little rough, but it has great music and hopefully it's entertaining and quite fun: so a bit like Doctor Who then.
The TARDIS crew are on another planet but they aren't having much of a chance to play away as the council of Dulkis seem unable to defend themselves against the might of two men with very large shoulder pads and some squeaky robots who can destroy anything - inlcuding a hitherto happy relationship between a pair of writers and the BBC. A troubled production then - but is it one that Full Circle writer Andrew Smith and I can find some common ground on?
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So there's a pair of giant turtle men and their pet malevolent box-children sucking up the radiation from a planet inhabited by peaceful men dressed in ballgowns. What's not to love? Well, quite a lot according to general fan opinion. So can Full Circle writer Andrew Smith and host Toby Hadoke find a peaceful solution to the problems of The Dominators?
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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Well, even our guest admits that this isn't even one of his favourite stories, so host Toby Hadoke might well have out work cut out singing the praises of this Troughton story everyone seems to try to forget about. Said guest, by the way, is only the writer of Full Circle, Andrew Smith! He's canon! So he has set Toby the challenge of accentuating the positives of The Dominators and who is he to refuse? Command accepted!
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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Snogging, Booze, Love - that's not what Doctor Who is about! Is it? Well, this tuned out to be a very popular episode, but will comedian Kathryn Mather - from a different generation a female perspective - appreciate the same things as host Toby Hadoke, or are they doomed to be forever separated by fate, time, and history?
And so it ends... the very last episode of Doctor Who to be broadcast during its original run. And it might all be host Toby Hadoke's fault. Ben Cook is far too young, as he proves when he ages himself in this podcast - but that is nothing, Toby recently worked with someone who was born the day after this episode was shown - and that person now has children and a house and everything. What!?!. Anyway, let's watch to see if the show goes out with a bang - and will Ben and Toby agree, or will they fight like animals?
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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The last episode you host, Toby Hadoke, saw go out live - for reasons that will be explained. Who is on the Cheetah People's menu and how many of them have been Toby's neighbours? And why is Anthony Ainley smiling like the cat who has got the cream? Will special guest Ben Cook get in a flap about Survival, or will he and Toby agree on this story's best points?
Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, exclusive content (including a patron only podcast - Far Too Much information), regular AMAs and more. Tiers start form as little as £3 per month.
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It's the end ... of the Classic Series anyway. How can such a moment be prepared for? Well, with a very special guest : young over-achiever Benjamin Cook has given us a very cheery and effusive advocacy of Survival. Can he and host Toby Hadoke both reach across the generations and agree on what is best about this story: what do they think is the cat's whiskers? And let's not get in a flap disagreeing : this is surely where old series meets new?
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And so Doctor Who's fourth adventure kicks off with the first episode that we cannot actually see. But there's plenty to examine in terms of the large amount of filming done for this episode, the last minute changes to the script which give the story a unique flavour, and two of its actors who span from the top to the bottom of the guest guest list and who both had very different careers that coincided here, in Lime Grove Studio D, back in January 1964.
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Toby Hadoke can trace the moment he went from being a normal human being who liked Doctor Who, (you know, watching it on TV, reading the stories, enjoying it) to becoming a fan (you know, finding out about behind-the-scenes facts, learning the history, being unnecessarily angry with it). It was when he received a certain book, a gateway to unimaginable riches. The book was Peter Haining's Doctor Who - A Celebration, and it led him on a journey of discovery, of joy ... and eventually ... of disappointment. Will I ever learn to recapture that innocent love again? Have a listen and find out.
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Bergcast host and TV and film historian Jon Dear chooses and episode that has got a bad press in various parts. He defends it here, as does host Toby Hadoke. And if that weren't enough, we have a key member of the team behind adding his thoughts too. So, is it possible they could be egging you on to give this one a second chance? Go on, you know you want to...
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What a peculiar thing this story is, but this episode contains much enjoyable laser gun action and one of THE GREATEST EVER LINES IN DOCTOR WHO AND WE DON'T KNOW WHY. James Goss has to choose his favourite thing about this episode and the story as a whole, which he will do with his trademark insight and wit. Host Toby Hadoke has neither of those things, so Lord knows what he'll be choosing.
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So finally the story starts to tell us what it is all about but it's still quite difficult to get to grips with quite what is going on here. As Monarch meanders towards Earth with his myriad of dance troupes and pot plants, how easy is it going to be for host Toby Hadoke and his guest James Goss to agree on what the best thing about this episode is?
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Writer and wit James Goss has chosen a most beguiling slice of Doctor Who. But will host Toby Hadoke need much persuasion to choose the same best thing about the story as he has, or is the way to enlightenment fairly well signposted?
Well no-one is a big fan of this funny old story - well, apart from Doctor Who novelist and audio writer (and documentary maker and all sorts of other things) James Goss. Who could wish for a more charming advocate for this under-celebrated slice of 80s Who? And it is very 80s. So sit back and enjoy a (very) leisurely journey through some of Doctor Who's best ever corridors, as Chief Inspector Barlow off of Z-Cars inspires Tegan to become the best draughtsperson an airline could hope for.
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This bonus episode is being parachuted into the schedule because special guest Gemma Arrowsmith has a show out there right now so the gap between her recording her contribution and the release of this episode is perhaps the shortest ever (sorry anyone who has been waiting for their contribution to appear - some of you for two years!).
Gemma's a brilliant comedy writer and performer with a sketch series currently airing on Radio 4 (check it out on iPlayer : Gemma Arrowsmith's Sketched Out) : but as she proves in this episode, she also has a lot to bring to the table in terms of knowledge of TV history and several of the themes of this Doctor Who adventure. Let's hope it leaves you HUNGRY for more...
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There's going to be a bonus release in the middle of this week so here's an omnibus to keep you going until then.
Since partaking in the podcast - and, I'm sure, entirely as a result of doing so - our special guest Laurence Clark has written a comedy pilot that was aired on Dave recently and is now awaiting the green light for a series. Fingers crossed he gets one. It was called Perfect and featured Juliet Cowan from The Sarah Jane Adventures amongst others.
Anyway, as ever the brief with this podcast is to try enjoying even one of Doctor Who's less celebrated stories. And, in this case, one that was actually visited by our guest who, it's fair to say, has gone on to greater things.
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This one gets quite serious but, frankly, it is an extraordinary episode. Paul Litchfield - comedian, actor, vocal genius - is on hand to provide some much needed frivolity. But let's face it - this is a slice of Doctor Who that provokes much conversation: and host Toby Hadoke can certainly provide that, even in a room on his own: the motormouth.
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Wonderful idiot Paul Litchfield is the guest on this affectionate look at one of the modern classics of Doctor Who. What will be to his liking - the murder of a young girl, public schoolboys being racist, or our hero advocating capital punishment. Oh yes, there's much to recoil at in this episode, and all of it something that shows the dark side of...ahem... human nature. But Paul and host Toby Hadoke are jovial fellows so there's light amongst the darkness. Unless that is, they aren't quite being themselves...
Cannibalism, Spain, Melting Sontarans, Servalan, Johnny Ringo, Blood, Gore, Murder ... The Two Doctors has it all. But is there some of it that it shouldn't have had? Host Toby Hadoke and guest Matt Hayden throw themselves into this controversial fare like two gourmands at a feast. Just don't ask them to pay the bill...
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Well, there aren't many sets and those that are are in the TARDIS, there are no new actors among the cast, and we don't have any drafts, storylines, or even much production paperwork. So here is, literally, everything we know about The Brink of Disaster, including a detailed biography of its director Frank Cox.
So there's a wobbly set and the main villain is killed off very early on in the episode, but host Toby Hadoke still can't bring himself to be down on the Power of Kroll. But will he choose the same things to love as our guest, writer and journalist Ian Winterton? I mean, they're not exactly spoilt for choice, are they? Or is that blasphemy (if so, then by all means have us eaten by a tentacle)?
So things aren't looking too clever for our heroes, whilst the rest of the cast valiantly (depending on where they are) (a) try to maintain some shred of dignity whilst painted green or (b) try to inject some life into proceedings whilst looking at a monitor in a hastily constructed computer panel. Not all of them are successful. But come on, it's got big green tentacles and Tom Baker being silly, so surely writer Ian Winterton and host Toby Hadoke won't be stuck for things to enjoy here?
The swamps get swampier, the rain gets wetter and Philip Madoc gets grumpier... but what's this? Doctor Who's biggest monster yet? Why does no-one walk about this story? Writer Ian Winterton and host Toby Hadoke fly the flag for no-one's favourite Doctor Who story. Hail Kroll.
A host of familiar faces populate the swampy environs of Delta Magna's moon, but one of them is green and another is scowling. Writer and journalist Ian Winterton has chosen an oft neglected slice of Doctor Who - and what will he choose as his highlight of the first part of our visit to one of the show's wettest locations?
It is a parting of the ways between the Doctor and Rose but will it be a meeting of minds between host Toby Hadoke and guest Jenny@bluebox99 (that's Jenny with a "y" by the way). There's only one way to find out...
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Ray of sunshine internet presence Jenny@bluebox99 chooses her favourite things about this landmark episode. Will host Toby Hadoke end up as the weakest link, or will he choose the same things as her?
Please note: this episode was recorded before any press revelations about Noel Clarke and John Barrowman were made.
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Excellent comedian and Torchwood podcaster Steffan Alun has chosen this memorable Matt Smith episode. but what Toby Hadoke fears the most is not guessing any of the same this as his guest in this positively inclined commentary podcast. Oh, and stay tuned right until the end as a key member of the team who made this episode also has his say.
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If you gave your host Toby Hadoke £1 for every time he mentions the VHS compilation release of these story he'd be able to retire. There's much more to chat about though, as he and guest Jaye Butler Moore choose their favourite things about this story which has it all: foam, balloons, Ice Warriors of Hampstead Heath and ... those costumes...(!)
Princess Josephine receives a right royal proposal in the final episode of The Curse of the Peladons.
That might be an in-joke just for your host. But Toby Hadoke won't choose Australian continuity announcements as his favourite thing as events in court come to a bloody climax. Bona fide proper TV Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell has two goes at choosing something and he only has to pick one of the same things as Toby and ... Toby will be the winner!!!! Could he achieve a rare victory? Or is he cursed?
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You're not going to close even three of your eyes when watching this jolly adventure - the Ice Warriors are good, hey, even naughty Hepesh is well intentioned and the Doctor is in a fight to the death with Grun, the King's Champion ... and we like him too. The lines between good and evil are fuzzily drawn which makes for an intriguing adventure from which Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell needs to choose a favourite thing. Can host Toby Hadoke hypnotise him into choosing the same thing as he does?
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A host of monsters, Jo in love, and Pertwee cutting a dash amongst all the court intrigue. What is not to love? Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell is spoilt for choice so what will he choose as his favourite thing from this rare Pertwee foray into another world... How will host Toby Hadoke fare in this fight to the death with the story's champion?
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Well now, yer actual special guest this week is not only one of yer actual Doctor Who writers. Paul Cornell has been responsible for some pretty damned good Who himself so it's a joy to have him on board. The story he has chosen isn't really regarded as a classic or a clanger - it's meat and potatoes Doctor Who. Any yet... as we will discover, there's a reason that a lot of people like having meat and potatoes at every meal time. But the thing is, will Paul and host Toby Hadoke choose the same jersey royals at the same time, or does Paul say "potato" and Toby say ... um ... "a different potato"?
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The story that for many years was incorrectly said to be a last minute filler because the sets for Marco Polo weren't ready (not remotely true) has a fuzzy genesis, but it's largely to do with numbers, and the fact that the show itself might well be brought to an end. So this must be on script editor David Whitaker's mind as he writes the story that at one point might have been the very last anyone ever saw of Doctor Who. No guest cast, no new sets ... it's more a can of Is There Enough Information? Well, in true THTT style, your host has had a bash!
Well blimey. What an epic. But does it come to a suitable climax? No delegates, barely any Doctor, and in the case of Mavic Chen, no marbles. But how lucky have we been to have Ian McLachlan to guide us thorough this story - he watched it go out, and he has seen every episode of Doctor Who bar one. Plus he has letters from William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton! What a legend! Ian and host Toby Hadoke have to choose two things this time around - is there anything left? Or will we witness the Destruction of (Happy) Times and Places?
Sadly, Ian McLachlan passed away during the week this podcast was released. Hopefully this preserves just a little of what made this lovely, enthusiastic man (and fan) - who paved the way for the rest of us - so special. RIP Ian.
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The actor David Warner has died, so here is a tribute, written and recorded pretty much as the news of his death was breaking - so forgive a lack of polish. Indefinable Magic is not normally topical but host Toby Hadoke had a personal journey with David Warner - who himself had a series of connections with Doctor Who. This is not an objective, nor rigorous, assessment of his career - there will be plenty of those elsewhere, and rightly so - this is a set of personal observations and remembrances and, hopefully, a just tribute to a fine man and excellent actor.
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OK, the chase is over (and so is The Chase II, which is pretty much what has been happening these past few weeks in Masterplan Land). There's an eerie emptiness to this episode, plus one last hurrah for the delegates. But where the heck is TV's Doctor Who? Steven, Sara and Chen have to carry most of the episode but the Doctor better hurry because time is, literally, running out... Ian K McLachlan brilliantly takes us back in time in more ways than one, and his joyous celebration of this story, which has its genesis in the adventure's one and only broadcast, is infectious and fun. But , crucially, can a more modern fan (Toby Hadoke, modern???) possibly choose the same thing to like, or are the two viewers' time streams too far apart to ever converge?
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The last moving footage to survive from this story finds us in Egypt, which a film sequence, an impressive set design, and a ludicrously fabulous segue from one scene to another. And with actors like Peter Butterworth and Kevin Stoney on hand, guest Ian McLachlan - one of the pioneers of Doctor Who fandom - could choose anything to eulogise. And we haven't even mentioned the Doctor's hat!
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It's off to Egypt we go, and the Daleks have a pyramid scheme with which to ensnare the Doctor. And there's more Monk-y business too, with Peter Butterworth on fine form. What will guest Ian K McLachlan - one of the very first Doctor Who fans to chronicle the series and write to its stars - choose as his favourite thing about this sun drenched episode? And will Toby Hadoke - a Johnny Come Lately to the Whoniverse compared to Ian - agree with his illustrious guest's choice?
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And now it is Doctor Who's first New Year's Special. Though it wasn't considered especially special then (and, let's be honest, isn't now). Still, we get an amusing cricket flavoured interlude that wouldn't have been out of place last week, and the return of the delegates! Hooray! But for whom do the New Year Bells of Doom ring? Because not everyone is going to get to past midnight alive. Hopefully, host Toby Hadoke and guest Ian McLachlan (one of the pioneers of Doctor Who fandom and research) will though.
And a Happy Time and Place to all of you at home. Here is Doctor Who's first Christmas special. In July. Which shows just how organised this particular series of podcasts is. Will host Toby Hadoke and guest Ian McLachlan (who gives some great insight to this episode's ONLY actually broadcast) agree on what (if anything!) there is to like about this episode.
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The history of alcohol in Doctor Who is browsed over by host Toby Hadoke, who provides some personal insight via his complex relationship with the demon drink. Although, like all of these podcast, the tone is lighthearted, there are some serious issues discussed herein so please consider this a trigger warning.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this podcast then do reach out to your GP, to Alcoholic Anonymous, the Samaritans or other support groups.
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The Daleks' Masterplan's residence in Happy Times and Places will continue next week, but you probably won't mind the interruption by ...yet more Daleks!
It's time to digest Too Much Information about The Rescue.
Not that The Rescue, the other The Rescue. And so at last we get to the conclusion of the very first Dalek story. It's never really been properly assessed this story, as it is such a landmark, so it's really interesting to look at it as an adventure in context with he development of the show. And this is where the programme really began to become a cultural phenomenon - there are loads of newspaper reports and tie-ins with other media, and as a result we hear from William Hartnell himself as well as Verity Lambert and a host of cultural commentators. But never mind what's happening outside the programme, within it there is plenty to cover - an abandoned nuclear bomb, a very different ending, an on set injury and the vexing question of just where to store your galactic conquerers are all on the list of what we can comfortably call Too Much Information...
Back to Reconville again, we are on the planet Mira and Doctor Who looks set to hand the Tarranium core over to Mavic Chen. But what's this? Dennis Spooner? Oh, so Terry Nation's not even writing the script anymore? Will that mean that there are different positives for host Toby Hadoke and his guest, Ian K McLachlan, to battle over? There's only one way to find out. And while we are at it, shall we find out what the hell a Corona of the Sun actually is? Because you won't in the episode!
Yay! More moving pictures. Boo! No delegates. But we do have Karlton with his baldy head and jug ears and gorgeous voice, as well as a bunch of actors host Toby Hadoke have sadly never tracked down for interview... the mice! Yet more thespian memories we will never get to hear. But there's plenty to see in this episode - except for the denizens of the planet Mira, because they are the invisible Visions. Oh it is all go - what could guest Ian K McLachlan (fan from the days of yore) possibly choose as his favourite thing in this episode?
Host Toby Hadoke actually forgets the title of this episode in his introduction but when he does remember it boy does it come in helpful - as it's a title which could apply to several different people depending on your outlook. It is also special guest Ian K McLachlan's favourite episode of Doctor Who EVER : and he has seem them all except for Marco Polo episode 7. So no pressure then. He obviously likes death, as there's a lot of that here: and quite shocking it is too. So sit back , relax and press play but, no ... not that button...!
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Recorded in the aftermath of Eve of the Daleks this is an episode set in a dangerous environment which has the Daleks in pursuit of our intrepid heroes. There's not much to see but there are tantalising photographs and Ian K McLachlan was there at the time so doubtless has some fascinating insights. It's grim stuff this adventure - and quite an eye opener for those unfamiliar with the harsher side of 60s Who.
Don't write in about what Toby observes about Zephon until he does his clarification at the end!!! And then don't write in :)
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Oooh, this episode exists! Hooray. Host Toby Hadoke remembers when it didn't, so it still all seems a bit new to him. And what a gorgeous episode it is, with its superb aliens and its even more superb human villain, Mavis Chen. Make sure you've worked out your special hand movements as Toby sits down with long term fan Ian McLachlan and see if there's a bigger candidate for Silliest Sod in the Universe than stroppy alien Zephon, marvel and the odd delivery of Katarina, and fall in love with Nicholas Courtney all over again.
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Strap yourselves in - it's the start of an epic, largely missing Doctor Who story. We have 12 instalments of this, and being perfectly honest with you, host Toby Hadoke was worried this would be a bit of a chore. Yet thanks to the events of this mammoth tale, and the brilliant perspective provided by guest Ian K McLachlan, one of the fans who was there at the very beginning, this has proved to be one of the most popular commentaries in the series if feedback from patrons is anything to go by.
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Well this is an epic. Strap on your eyepatches as Doctor Who TV movie actor Jeremy Radick chooses, from an alternative universe, his favourite things about this classic tale. How close will he and host Toby Hadoke be in their choices - will they run parallel? Or will the whole thing turn out to be one massive bore?
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We can be an angry bunch, we Doctor Who fans. What is it about the unifying joy of a silly old show about fun and adventure that can cause so many scarlet faces and unpleasant outbursts? It seems odd that a show about a benign and kindly alien can cause such vitriol amongst its admirers. or is that seething anger within us all, and the programme just a healthy outlet for it. Host Toby Hadoke proffers some opinions - but don't be cross if they're not the same as yours!
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Your host Toby Hadoke is very tired on this one, so he barely has the energy for a Highland fling. Hopefully he makes up for his lack of energy in the post-commentary coda. And fortunately, brilliant guest Michael Dennis (who wrote for Mark Gatiss' excellent Queers anthology of monologues) is on hand to be far more interesting, eloquent and, well, awake than Toby is. Hopefully those of you less familiar with this story come away with a newfound appreciation for it after this. And that one of you has it in your attic.
It's funny doing these with the old telesnaps. Bit of a challenge. But fortunately we have an excellent guest in the form of writer and Man of the Theatre Michael Dennis, and the script and production of The Macra Terror throw up plenty of things to talk about. So hopefully host Toby Hadoke will be able to claw some enjoyment from this...
"There is no such thing as Happy Times and Place 37.2" etc.
Of course there is. And this is it. a rewarding look at an under appreciated story with special guest Michael Dennis, who has worked extensively in theatre as a company manager and is an excellent writer too. But will host Toby Hadoke manage to stay in control...?
Your host Toby Hadoke to work himself up to do this one - a story he has always enjoyed (and really had a good time with in his book Running Through Corridors). This time though, it felt like it was going to be a chore as it is all telesnaps and guesswork. So he grits his teeth and off he goes, with the delightful and insightful Michael Dennis - playwright and theatre fellow - as company... and boy are the results worth it. Not a story many people talk about, The Macra Terror, and that's a shame, because there's a lot to like. There's also a lot to guess!
And so the first Dalek story comes to the part of Terry Nation's storyline that took up the leats space in his initial breakdown. There's not a lot of plot but plenty of jeopardy as Ian and co traverse the maze of tunnels on the mountainside. Behind the scenes there's a new director and designer and the Daleks are starting t made an impact on surrounding popular culture. So enjoy the who, What and Where of the penultimate episode of this epic tale, and then drop in with one of its guest stars who enables us to make this perhaps the only classic Doctor Who podcast to mention Donatella Versace and Naomi Campbell.
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Now then, there is no doubt that this is one of the best Doctor Who stories of all time but... (whisper it) ... part four isn't really the story's finest 24 minutes. It's a lot of wandering around on a set. Your host Toby Hadoke approaches it with trepidation, not having had a lot of the padding of this episode as part of his childhood viewing on VHS (it was cut from the BBC release). So will this end on a damp squib, or can guest Richard Bignell's enthusiasm get everyone to the finish line?
Richard Bignell's contribution to this podcast is super - fact-filled, perceptive and brimming with enthusiasm. At there's a lot to wax lyrical about this week - humour, horror and heebie-jeebies ... but with so much to choose from, is there any chance that either Richard or your host Toby Hadoke will ever choose the same thing?
Death and devastation at Stargroves, with the king of locations himself Richard Bignell. One of Doctor Who's most acclaimed stories bears the microscopic treatment so have fun being scared to death.
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An all-time classic but interestingly, not one you host, Toby Hadoke, is familiar with in its broadcast form (even though he has watched it more than most stories) : don't worry, it's all explained in the course of this very upbeat jaunt back in time. And by upbeat of course, we mean lethal, scary and violent! Part of the reason for the perkiness amongst the terror is the superb contribution of this edition's guest, uber Doctor Who researcher Richard Bignell, who brings a lot to the table.
Your host Toby Hadoke has been in a Russell T Davies mood recently so rushed this one forward in the schedules. And he hasn't regretted it. Special guest Tom Neenan is a hugely accomplished writer (The Mash Report) and performer (Radio 4's The Haunting) and so it is an utter delight to have him abroad the carriage to accompany us on the journey through Midnight. Sometimes it can be tricky remaining positive throughout a whole episode of Doctor Who. This isn't one of those times. And we have a bonus contribution from Toby's friend Chris Dunford-Kelk too and so this becomes something of a feature length affair, but if it is half as enjoyable to listen to as it was to make then that shouldn't be a problem.
And so we get to the final episode of Terminus, which means only one thing .... that Laurence Clark and host Toby Hadoke have to choose two favourite things this time. So it doesn't mean one thing then... I means two. It's been a funny old trip but it's fascinating to re-explore one of Doctor Who's less discussed stories. But if you, in the course of your quest, choose the same thing as Laurence does for his bonus then we will be so surprised that we'll give you a million pounds*.
(*We won't actually give you a million pounds).
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The only episode of this story your host Toby Hadoke got to see when it first went out, for reasons he will probably explain at enormous length. So does it have a special place in his heart? It certainly does - but robbed of that context what will podcast guest Laurence Clark and Toby highlight as the best thing on offer here? Is it the jokes, the pace, the action....? Um, no. But there's bound to be something, isn't there? Isn't there?
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Comedian, writer and disability campaigner Laurence Clark has chosen a much maligned Doctor Who story - is there much fun to be had amongst the ill and the grumpy? Of course there is - there's a fat dog man, Jarvick from Blake's 7 and some kinky boots. But will any of these things make it to his favourites list, or to that of your host Toby Hadoke?
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This will surprise a few people. Someone chose Terminus? Yep, comedian Laurence Clark has fond memories of this story, for reasons he will explain in the episode. Unfortunately his memories aren't of watching the episodes go out, so he has a slightly different perspective from the rest of us. As for host Toby Hadoke - he's always had a soft spot for this story, but isn't sure if he actually likes it. So let's see what happens eh?
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Ever thought the universe was ignoring you? This is for anyone who has ever felt invisible, and is a deep dive into missing names, mis-spelled monickers and confused credits. It's also been one of the most popular episodes on the Patreon page so if you've never sampled Indefinable Magic before maybe it's worth puling this one out of the hat...
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You are expected to consume everything on the menu this time around, but will you be able to stomach the increasingly mangled Sontaran, the descent to savagery of Chessene and the very tonally askew murder of Oscar Botcherby? Not to everyone's taste perhaps, but will guest Matt Hayden and host Toby Hadoke be eating off the same plate?
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There can't be a more charming and enthusiastic advocate for one of the scariest slices of Doctor Who. Podcaster and radio type Nick Randall goes full of to celebrate this devilish tale, but will host Toby Hadoke be able to guess (Old?) Nick's favourite things?
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So, if you got left on a space station for a couple of days would you steal a garage mechanic's overalls and turn feral? Clearly that's all we can expect of Jamie. Matt Hayden has been left to his own devices for a while but fortunately he hasn't turned into a savage deviant, but rather an analyst of the best things on offer in The Two Doctors - butchery, Sontarans, an out of work actor, Spain, Servalan, Johnny Ringo, The Second Doctor ... what to choose? Well, it is all a matter of taste...
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All four episodes of The War, The War Mach, The War Machines in one go, as Twitter funster extraordinaire Pip Madeley puts host Toby Hadoke through his paces trying to identify the best things about the last fully surviving William Hartnell story. Will the pair agree on what aspect of Doctor Who is required to transport you to your Happy Times and Places? Or should we just never mention it again?
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A rare sighting for Colin Baker in Happy Times and Places. Our guest Matt Hayden is a very good friend of your host, Toby Hadoke. Unlike Toby, Matt is from the real world (he's not a Doctor Who fan but he knows his William Hartnell from his Richard Hurndell) and he gives this controversial story the once over. This is hated in some quarters but as Happy Times snd Places seeks to accentuate the positive, Toby will, ahem, operate the defence...
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You may remember that last November's special release was from this strand, (Far) Too Much Information, normally reserved for patrons. The job of tracking down all of the Coal Hill Schoolchildren from the very first episode was one that deserved a wider audience and so out it came. However, by November host Toby Hadoke still hadn't traced one of those history-making teenagers... and that one was a niggle. Well, she's a niggle no more, and so here is a re-edited and updated version of the first release which finally reveals what became of The Lonely Blonde. If you don't want to listen to the whole thing again, the new material is at 31.50.
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The cliffhanger is a vital component to the success of Doctor Who, so come and take a journey through the high and lows, the anomalies and the usual ones, and a ponder on why we love them so much...
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Our voyage through Doctor Who, episode-by-episode, continues. We have an advantage with The Expedition as there is quite a lot of paperwork specific to it that has survived. So it's a pretty deep dive - and there's also a few quotes from a now sadly departed actor, plus an illustration that some roads of research lead only to dead ends. So take a trip with Toby Hadoke to the Lake of Mutations - even though he can't guarantee that you will all get out alive...!
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So, Inferno comes to an end, but will it also be the end for special guest Jeremy Radick? We only have 25 minutes to save the world... of Doctor Who podcasts from going to the dogs. Are they dogs? Werewolves? Or unhygienic members of ZZ Top? Host Toby Hadoke is on hand with the answers... or has that hand accidentally touched some green slime...?
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Probably the most high stakes episode of Doctor Who of all time. It's the end of the world as we know it. But it's not The End of the World - that's a Christopher Eccleston episode and we've already done that. Things aren't looking good for the Inferno project, but they're looking even worse for our guest Jeremy Radick. Can Toby Hadoke cross over to save him, all will they both be dead by the episode's end?
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Benton has gone to the dogs, Sir Keith's life is a car crash, and everyone is living an alternative lifestyle. But that's nothing compared to what is going on at the house of our special guest, Jeremy Radick from The TV Movie. This podcast is on fire! Sadly, so is the world. Host Toby Hadoke is on hand with a bucket of water, but can he guess what Jeremy's favourite thing about the episode is?
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It's one of those ones where it's going to be difficult to choose a favourite thing. There's an obvious one - but should one go for the obvious choice or is there a need for gamesmanship? And what has happened to Jeremy Radick? Host Toby Hadoke turned around and suddenly he was wearing an eyepatch. Can they come up with a commentary between them that is penetrating? Let's hope so...
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"... and when I turned around, they were all doing podcasts". The TV Movie's Jeremy Radick is going above and beyond the call of duty for this one, and as we enter an alternative universe where - as things tend to be in alternative universes - everyone is a bit more badass and a bit more fetishy, things get a bit more dangerous for the Doctor. Yikes!
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The drilling is going at an alarming pace and things are getting out of hand as The TV Movie's Jeremy Radick and host Toby Hadoke get to grips with what is hot about Inferno. Can they agree on what is best or will they need to nip over to a parallel universe in order to get the opinions of their fascistic other selves??
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Our special guest this time around is an alumnus of Doctor Who!And he's a fan as well. Having been given a bit of advice by the 8th Doctor this fellow has gone from strength to strength, but who knows what would have happened had he not heeded the Time Lord's instructions. Well, that's an alternative future that doesn't bear thinking about, so it is appropriate that special guest Jeremy Radick (Gareth from The TV Movie) has chosen this particular adventure. Will he and host Toby Hadoke agree on Inferno;'s best qualities? Well one thing's for sure, the conversations about this story are definitely not going to be a bore.
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Big Finish and DWM scribe Jonny Morris has chosen and oft derided slice of Doctor Who that your host, Toby Hadoke, just happens to have a great big soft spot for. Will their tastes merge, or will the whole thing collapse under the weight of a great big sponge door? But remember, the aim here is to accentuate the positive, whether there should have been another way or not.
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A contributor with gusto - podcast, presenter and journalist Nick Randall - certainly makes for a colourful advocate for this thoughtful episode that gets more philosophical than the horrors of the previous instalment might have led us to believe. So will both Nick and host Toby Hadoke be of the same view, or is one of them worshipping at the altar of the Church of the Tin Vagabond whilst the other one is praying to Pash Pash?
And more importantly, will Sylvia/Sheila survive?
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What do you mean you don't know who that is?
Alex Moore, prolific Doctor Who You Tube interviewer and someone who has worked on loads of major TV and film productions (including Doctor Who itself!) has chosen a story not many people say nice things about: The Time Monster. Can he possibly choose six good things about it, and if he can, can your host Toby Hadoke choose the same ones? Or will they both end up making TOMTITs of themselves?
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Ooh. This, one of the most chilling episodes of Doctor Who was transmitted on one of the hottest days of the year. Not ideal with an ice lolly, it's a story best experienced in the dark. Special guest, podcaster Nick Randell, goes above and beyond the call of duty with his contribution outlining his love for these episodes - can guest Toby Hadoke guess what Nick's favourite things are? And what is the secret of Sylvia and Keith?
Take one of the most venerated Doctor Who classics of all time, a critically acclaimed comedy genius and ... um ... your host Toby Hadoke, and you have a feature length extravaganza of all that is great about Doctor Who as seen through the eyes of David Quantick - Veep, the Thick of It, Brass Eye and countless more superb TV satires. Will the things he chooses as his favourites be the same as those of your host? Well, there's only one way to find out ... Now we can begin...
Here's one of those whimsical essays that Indefinable Magic was design to specialise in ... and it's about DEATH! So not really the most apposite listening matter for a supposedly cheerful set of products but ... well, it's more positive than it sounds, promise. It comes to us all of course, and to our heroes, and as the series has mentioned, it's the Doctor's constant companion. So let's try to take the sting out of it eh?
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Omnibus release for this divisive Doctor Who story from Season 17, a period of the show that polarises Doctor Who fandom. Will it polarise guest Derek O'Brien and host Toby Hadoke, or will their opinions collide in the hyperspace of opinion?
Time for a deep dive into episode four of the first Dalek story. This podcast uncovers an interesting and previously unremarked upon fact/observation about an aspect of the episode caused by the knock on of the re-recording of the adventure's first episode. Your host Toby Hadoke also tells the story of one of the guest cast who was once described as Britain's Best Dressed Actor, and it gives a timeline to the development and eventual realisation of this, the first episode in which we see the Daleks take a life.
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For fans of a certain age (like your host Toby Hadoke, so that is certain as in "certainly getting on a bit") it is so hard to be objective about this story, so familiar is it from the VHS in all its unrestored, vacillating quality glory. But there has been plenty to enjoy, even though guest Jaye Butler Moore has outplayed Toby at nearly every turn. But there's still time some some plinky plonky music, some hissing aliens, and the sound of the story grinding to a halt. Your plucky duo have to come up with two things this time around - let's see if they can agree.
Toby Hadoke, your host, is up against a deadline so this one was recorded pretty close to the wire. Time waits for no man, and rain can stop play. What will guest Jaye Butler Moore make of this week's instalment? Will viewers blow hot or cold? Or can the story weather the storm? Feel free to add any more weather based puns of your own at this point.,..
What's Jaye Butler Moore's favourite thing about this episode? Well it won't be Patrick Troughton that is for sure - because he is not in it. The Tommy Laird Doctor takes centre snooze for this one: but that doesn't mean that there isn't plenty of action as the Ice Warrior is on the march, the foam machine is in overdrive, and Phipps tries to shoulder some of the story.
There's a lot of plinky-plonky piano music in this episode. Oh, and a seed. Right near the end. Finally, a seed in The Seeds of Death. Nearly halfway through! But what will Jaye Butler Moore choose to celebrate about this instalment, and will host Toby Hadoke agree? It certainly won't be Ronald Leigh-Hunt's terrible outfits that's for sure.
No Moonbase clearance is needed to hop aboard the podcast rocket and set off for episode two of The Seeds of Death, in which Commander Radnor's fuzzy felt costume continues to falter, whilst Miss Kelly's rubber armadillo gear draws the eye. But will either of those things be what guest Jaye Butler Moore likes best about this episode? There's only one way to find out - podcast sending now, audience receiving now, dispatch completed.
Ubiquitous for fans of a certain age - the first Troughton story released on VHS and so pored over so much that every line, every camera move, every Ice Warrior's tummy rumble still exists somewhere imprinted in the synapses of the young collectors of yesteryear. Of which your host Toby Hadoke is one, and so his guest Jaye Butler Moore will choose many things that chime with him - but will they all chime at the same time? This is the second Happy times and Places story in a row to be directed by Michael Ferguson. A coincidence at the time of recording, but as Michael has sadly passed away since then, it means that this month can be a small tribute to his work in this little corner of the internet.
So Ben and Polly complete their audition to be the new TARDIS crew, and the Hartnell era draws to a close in terms of stories we can actually see the whole of. So what does Pip Madeley, Twitter sensation, make of it all, and will he and Toby choose the same favourite thing as Frank Butcher from Eastenders, Skart from The Power of Kroll but not Mike Yarwood do battle against a giant computer and put a box in the ring.
There are a few bits still missing from this. probably runs and death and jeopardy - they don't like excitement, the censors. Still, that makes the re-insertion of little bits as exciting a part of this as the story itself, which features the military attacking the War Machine to no avail, but Doctor Who (as he is no longer called) being magnificently unperturbed by the advancing menace in the episode's climax. Will host Toby Hadoke be able to guess what special guest, the very silly Pip Madeley, likes best about this? Will you? Will WOTAN?
So this is the one in which he gets called "Doctor Who" a lot! Will that be Pip Madeley's favourite thing. Or your host, Toby Hadoke's? Or are they far too sensible for that? When Toby was a youngster this was the only episode of The War Machines in existence - oh how fans used to dream of having the full story. You lot don't know you're born!
Your hosts are watching Doctor Who - the programme and the person. Oh yes, is the story with the bit people like to pretend didn't happen. Popular internet scamp Pip Madeley (what do you mean you don't follow him on Twitter? Amend that immediately) takes a not entirely serious look at Doctor Who's first proper step into the kind of story we take into our stride these days : present day Earth, London landmarks, lots of soldiers. With added poignancy because of the recent death of Jackie Lane, let's see if Pip and host Toby Hadoke are on the same wavelength... Since this was recorded the story's marvellous director Michael Ferguson also passed away.
What was your most egregious pronunciation of a Doctor Who word - Sontaran? Mandragora? Metebilis? They are all here (hopefully) with a few memories, asides, segues and jokes thrown in for good measure. You know the kind of thing - verbal diarrhoea in an anorak, that's Toby Hadoke's Time Travels.
Everybody (well nearly everybody) dies! Oh it's a grim place to spend your time is Seabase 4, but there's fun to be had trying to spot Tarpok (who since this was recorded has popped up in Village of the Angels!) and mining this often unloved story for lots of positives. Whether there should have been another way or not, there's still plenty for host Toby Hadoke to talk about, especially with advocate extraordinaire Jonathan Morris.
Since this episode was recorded Toby's old chum, Vincent "Tarpok" Brimble popped up in Village of the Angels which is very exciting indeed!
Another festive treat for you all, recorded terrifyingly close to release, as Christmas comes again just as its afterglow threatens to vanish. This time, the young guest offers a Christmas past as your Christmas present, and brings with him hope of Christmas future - at 15 Joe is the youngest guest the podcast has ever had, and brings an insight rare for this type of thing. But bear in mind, he's a 15 year old whose Top Ten of Who has Davison, Troughton and Colin Baker stories in it : as well as this, the last episode of the Capaldi/Moffat area. Can your host Toby Hadoke get even close to being in tune with the attitudes of someone born just after Rose aired? There's only one way to find out...
Everybody was kung-fu fighting! Well, Ingrid Pitt was. This is an infamous episode, thanks to the Pitt/Myrka combo that has come in for a fair amount of stick - but that's not going to stop an outpouring of love from Big Finish and BBC Books scribe Jonathan Morris, and indeed your host Toby Hadoke, who is very keen to play Where's Wally with the mysterious Sea Base staff member Paroli...
Season's Greetings, and here is your podcast present. Here's hoping Christmas is a Happy Time and Place for you and that you can join host Toby Hadoke and guest, podcaster David Steel (The Power of 3) for this trip to this Special of Christmas Past. From a time where David Tennant could conceivably turn into David Morrissey, it has the return of the Cybermen, flashbacks to Doctors of old, Dickensian urchins, a plucky female sidekick, a delicious villain and a bonkers ending with a giant Cyber Crazy Thing stomping about Victorian (yes, Victorian) London. Oh, and as it is Christmas, there's a special gift for you at the end of the podcast in the form of... well, another guest, who provides some fascinating insights into the production... and might just swing the balance of the contest... Oh and incidentally, a happy Christmas to all off you at home...
Things are hotting up on Seabase Four, but my guest Jonathan Morris and host Toby Hadoke are not confining ourselves to events under the sea - Aliens and Fifty Shades of Grey both get a look in this week : so if you're into rubber then the sea base doors are for you, and if it's leather you're after then... well, you're probably a Myrka kind of guy or gal :) Oh dear. Brave heart.
Big Finish writer extraordinaire, comedy genius and researcher of the arcane Jonny Morris chooses a typically left field entry into this celebratory podcast. Fortunately, he is not the only one who has a soft spot for this much maligned story, so dust off your eye shadows and get in synch with your two hosts as they try to get to the bottom of what exactly is the best thing happening beneath the sea...
Not the easiest of tasks this, and it was very early on in the recording schedule of this podcast, so please indulge the baby steps. Anyway, for whatever reason it was held back, here it is (and on reflection it sounds fine), one of the least celebrated Pertwee stories: warts, Atlantis and all. You've had Time and the Raniand The Time Monster pretty close together, and we've already done Time-Flightand The Time Warrior, so we have all the Times in the world. For now. But so long as they are happy Times, that's OK. Oh, and nobody leaves Baby Benton in the corner.
This is the episode that famously scuppered Dalek writer Rob Shearman on the positive literary odyssey through Who that he wrote with your host Toby Hadoke, Running Through Corridors.The Time Monster episode 5 takes us, and the story, to Atlantis: there's eyeliner, bare chests, heaving bosoms and the mysterious Lord Crito... but what will there be to celebrate? And - crucially - will guest Alex Moore (who has been working on the latest series of Doctor Who!) and Toby agree on what it is that they have learned to love about this underwater excursion?
So, the final episode to have all the UNIT family together and there's a lot going on - the story is about to change location, and indeed performance style, as the TARDIS sets sail for Atlantis, but before that there's plenty of TARDIS based jeopardy, including the creation of a cliffhanger out of nothing. Will guest Alex Moore (host of The Unsung Heroes of Doctor Who) and host Toby Hadoke choose the same favourite thing or might they both be better off speaking backwards?
WARNING - this was one of the first podcasts Toby recorded and so he ate crisps during this episode. It has had some of the worst crisp eating edited out since the episode was originally released but there might be some residual chomping, so if you're sensitive to horrid sounds be warned. It's better than it was though, and mostly at the beginning, and Toby promises never to eat during a podcast again.
Well on paper this was the most exciting slice of Doctor Who imaginable - transporting all sorts of lethal threats from the past and plopping them into the present to cause havoc: exactly the kind of time bending, weird juxtaosition type stuff that the show should be doing. So why does The Time Monster not get the appreciation - and, crucially, can locations film guy and Doctor Who cast and crew interviewer Alex Moore and your host Toby Hadoke agree on the nature of the love they want to give to this poor neglected creature?
Special guest Alex Moore (who has actually worked on TVs Doctor Who you know) has chosen this rather unloved Pertwee tale of Toms and Tits and Corks and Squarks ... but will your host Toby Hadoke be able to find anything to like about it or will he have to make time stand still and hope that nobody notices?
One of the very earliest of these to be recorded but held back just to mix things up a bit, another unpopular story with "Time" in the title is thrust into the Happy Times and Places schedule. Locations runner (and someone who has tracked down many a Who alumnus for his interview series The Unsung Heroes of Doctor Who) Alex Moore has chosen this oft ridiculed tale - so he and your host Toby Hadoke hunker down to celebrate what is good about the story. That may require quite a lot of hunkering.
Now then, this will be interesting. A story hugely despised by many, and yet those that prefer to love than monster it will fight for its reputation and absorb any criticism aimed at it.
To finish the celebrations of Doctor Who's anniversary week it's definitely appropriate to examine an episode that puts fans under the spotlight. Our special guest, Chris Dunford-Kelk is one of you host Toby Hadoke's oldest friends - and probably his longest running Who pal, and he has done a cracking job advocating for a story that certainly divides fans. But will it divide Toby and Chris? Which one of them is Elton and which one is Victor Kennedy? Will they agree on what we like about this - and what about you? Can they convert a Love & Monsters hater? Well, they will certainly have a go in what has been one of the most rewarding recordings in the whole of Happy Times and Places. And to think, Toby was supposed to be doing Terminus ... but the RTD announcement happened and, heck, he went with what he was in the mood for... and he was in the mood for blue skies.
To celebrate a year of podcasting Toby Hadoke's Time Travels - not to mention 58 years of Doctor Who - here is one of the best bits of the Patreon exclusive podcast (Far) Too Much Information. This minisode is a re-recording - with loads of updates including new clips and interviews - of Toby's quest to find out everything about the Coal Hill Kids (the schoolchildren extras in the first episode), first released as part of the An Unearthly Child deep dive in (Far) Too Much Information.
This is quite a ridiculous thing to have done but that's just the sort of thing these podcasts are for. Look at that first episode, we know it so well - but who was the guy who does the funny Kenneth Williams noise? Who is the cool dark haired mystery girl with the arched eyebrow? And was one of this lot really the sister-in-law of Phil Collins? Oh yes. This is a work of lunacy that puts the lie to much of what is out there online, and speaks exclusively to one of the kids, the daughter of another and the widow of yet another.
Put it like this, it's unlikely you'll find anything this arcane anywhere else. It's time for a school reunion, with the Class of '63...
This time around your host, Toby Hadoke, delves into the third episode of the second Doctor Who story: which nearly, but not quite, features the first use of a word that will become forever associated with the show, has a bit of a turnaround of its guest cast (two of whom have present or future familial connections with the show) and introduces us to the other denizens of Skaro. The Daleks have changed their tyres (well castors), the Magnedon gets an unscheduled second outing, and Richard Martin, debuting as director, has some very odd ideas...
There is definitely a podcast to be made about the political opinions expressed in many a TV Doctor Whoadventure... but this isn't it. This is, instead, a look at many of those people who have sojourned in the Whonioverse who have dedicated at least some of their lives to politics. Forming parties, standing for parliament, serving on a district council - there are undercover government agents and wannabes in such stories as Carnival of Monsters, Time-Flight and Planet of the Spiders. There are liberals, UKIPpers, Labour and Tory, and even a genuine and unrepentant fascist among the cast and crew lists of Doctor Who. So here is a - not claiming to be exhaustive and definitely quite scattergun - guide to the characters, their policies and sometimes their very, very unconventional views. Hopefully it'll get your vote.
And so things come to a head in the bunker and the elite have to decide which side they are on. It'd pretty much the same in Podcastville - will top comedy writer David Quantick and your host Toby Hadoke end up on the same side, or will they end up being thrown into the path of a laser beam by a Nazi in a wig? Anything could happen, but one things for sure, out of a Doctor Who story this classy, there must come something good... (even if it is only David getting some extra sales for his book he is plugging!)
This episode of Doctor Who contains one of the finest scenes in the show's history, but your host Toby Hadoke might go off on one - and it needs the celebrated wit of guest David Quantick to bring a bit of sanity back to proceedings. But things take an unexpected twist when he chooses his favourite thing from this episode. How will Toby react? Will he cope, or will he just nip out and... never return...
Host Toby Hadoke has strapped David Quantick - writer of Veep, Danger Mouse, Brass Eye, The Day Today and much more - to a table and threatened to torture his best friends unless he reveals his favourite things about Genesis of the Daleks. The biggest challenge here is narrowing down what to most celebrate about one of Doctor Who's first hours. And will you, the listener, enjoy the same things as these two? You will tell me! You will tell me! You will tell me!!!
'Allo 'Allo, what is going on here then? You'd have to be suffering from distronic toxaemia not to enjoy this episode of Doctor Who even though it's full of not very nice people doing not very nice things. Special guest David Quantick doesn't do anything nasty though, he casts his expert eye over proceedings to choose his favourite thing, but will host Toby Hadoke approve of his choice?
David Quantick's new quiz book comes out a few days after the release of this podcast, that is why this lauded comedy writer's contribution to Happy Times and Places has been released so close to him recording it. Will he and your host Toby Hadoke like the same things ...? And more to the point, what will they choose? What's not to love about one of Doctor Who's most highly regarded stories?
A last minute juggle of the release schedule as this edition's special guest - hugely respected comedy writer David Quantick - has something coming out that he wants to plug, a book that'll hit the shops in early November 2021. So to sing for his supper he is crooning a ditty of praise for one of Doctor Who's most highly lauded and repeated stories, Genesis of the Daleks. David saw it first time around, whereas host Toby Hadoke knows it so well in edited, audio form thanks to having it on cassette.So will their different perspectives happen upon the same favourite thing? Grab the Time Ring and see...
We're not committing ourselves to this as a title - but you know what we mean. It's the cavemen episodes bereft of their history making opening instalment that have been chosen by monster maker Jim Sangster and he and your host Toby Hadoke find a lot of similarities about their favourite things presented by these oft neglected instalments. Orb be praised.
OK, so The Daleks started last time, but the Daleks start this time - and they had quite a lot of development, both vocally and physically, to get them to the shapes and sounds we know and love. And yet they arrived pretty much as we have them today. This is the last episode to be recorded before Doctor Who itself was aired and it was made in the immediate aftermath of a world shattering event. Oh it was quite a busy week - and The Survivors have quite a tale to tell...
Special guest Tom Salinsky and your host Toby Hadoke hide away from their families over the Christmas and new year period in order to watch Jon Pertwee stalking a potato headed alien whilst Dot Cotton lives in a castle with Boba Fett. It's also your host's birth story so holds a special place in his heart - but does that mean he and his guest will be on the same wavelength? Time (Warrior) will tell...
The special guest this time around is that delightful writer and comedian Iszi Lawrence. She has chosen a rare (for this podcast) New Who episode: the headline grabbing Dalek. And with Russell T Davies love rightly in the air it's worth reminding ourselves of the show's heady first year back. Will it retain its power after all these years and crucially, will Toby and Iszi agree on the same things when it comes to their appreciation of this undoubted classic...
A hurried release when put out as single instalments but for a good cause as guest Antoni Fletcher-Goldsmith has had a very serious health diagnosis which required a bit of support. And yet it hasn't diminished his glittery approach to life and what is more glittery than Time and the Rani? It's a tricky one for your host as it's not a favourite of his - the very opposite - but this podcast is all about celebrating Doctor Who even when it's not to your taste...
These Indefinable Magic podcasts just keep getting longer (unlike the credits on TV programmes, which are getting shorter and faster). Ah well. This one is about Toby Hadoke's hill, and it's one that he'll die on. Some fans care about this stuff, and some couldn't give two hoots but tough - here is Toby Hadoke Party Political Broadcast for the Readable Credits Party. From casts in order of appearance, to special guest star billing, here is everything you need to know about who goes where on that list of names that disappears ever quicker these days...
Your host TobY Hadoke was on such a roll with the first three parts that when he gets to part four, on a different day, his mojo seems to have got lost in the void. Maybe he needs to take drugs in order to enjoy EVERY episode of Doctor Who, or maybe he just needs to exercise a bit of self discipline... or maybe he just needs to "go away"... Fortunately, Star Trek fanfic writer Derek O'Brien is on hand to provide some positive analysis from a perspective honed across the Pond. So maybe this will end on a high!
Spaceships are fused and everyone on board is having a bad trip - some in more ways than one. But will there be enough positives aboard the Empress to make this a first class excursion for special guest Derek O'Brien, who brings the perspective of a visiting American discovering Doctor Who for the first time? And do he and your host Toby Hadoke stand any chance of finding common ground in their likes for this story, or is a there a big gap of nothing between them...?
So we have the perspective of and American Who Fan in England - prolific Star Trek fanfic fella Derek O'Brien - so how differently will he receive the good and bad of one of Doctor Who's less celebrated stories? And will your host Toby Hadoke have the same kind of Nightmare...?
Here's one your host Toby Hadoke remembers watching as a kid and, of course, loving ... and then learning as a teen that it was from the "awful Season 17" and that everyone should hate it. Then Toby finally rediscovered it as a grown-up and quite liked it. So how much will he enjoy it this time around, especially with US chum and uber-Star Trek fanfic guy Derek O'Brien acting as its advocate. But more importantly, will he remember what it is actually called.
And so the first Doctor Who story comes to a close - but will this be the first time that you r host, Tim y Hadoke, manages to guess more than half of his guest's favourite things? He's been doing pretty well so far. He wouldn't muck it up at this stage, having come so far ... would he? Well, we're not going to tell you, as we would rather end this on a cliffhanger - after all, that's what they did in the old days.
This series has already provided a Too Much Information about The Forest of Fearand now it gets the Happy Times and Placestreatment too. We've never been so verdant! But getting all excited about the early days of Doctor Who is easily done. But will special guest Jim Sangster and your host Toby Hadoke agree on the episode's high point, or will Jim try to murder Toby with a stone as he lies wounded...?
See how we neatly avoided giving a story title then? It's hard enough deciding what to call the first story (your host Toby Hadoke is an An Unearthly Child man himself, but he's no dictator) but what about if you strip it of its iconic opening instalment? Because that is what monster maker Jim Sangster, this edition's special guest, has done. He's chosen the first story, but the caveman episodes only - in order that the oft overlooked squabble about fire might ignite fresh passions in us all. But will he and your host be fanning the same flames or will they be left with a chill in the air?
Warning: when consumed all in one go this podcast contains more than the recommended level of piratical dialogue. Prolonged exposure to such dialogue will cause you to squint and yell "ahaaar" without warning. It's the little discussed Troughton historical that introduces Jamie and drag to the Doctor and provokes lots of jolly chat from guest Peter Ware. You will like a chat like that. Host Toby Hadoke tried to guess what cheerful Peter likes about this story (apart from, you know, everything - Peter is a very positive guy).
Originally released episodically to celebrate the release of the Season 24 Blu-ray, we've now packed it all neatly up into a single bundle so that you can enjoy all that Iceworld has to offer in just one trip. But the special guest this time around provides added insight into the story, because not only does he have four favourite things to highlight, he was responsible for some of them because he's only the flipping script editor, Andrew Cartmel, who gives a little interview at the end of each instalment as well as telling your host, Toby Hadoke, what he likes best about the 150th Doctor who story.
Its the second part of our trawl through the (other) beautiful game, looking at the cricketing Doctor's cricketing occasions as well as some real life connection between Doctor Who and the leather and willow - notably a batting Master, some villains announcing test matches and a Gallifreyan grandson hitting the international stage in his whites.
There's very little guest Gary Russell hasn't done for the series, so it's great to have him choosing his favourite things about a bona fide Doctor Who classic. For this omnibus version the opening and closing credits have been chopped off and the whole thing has been stuck together into one feature length presentation. A bit like the VHS release then, except that we haven't redone the credits in crappy red writing with too many people on one page.
Oh this is a good 'un. From its BBC one ident opening to its CGI werewolf and Sam Briggs as the Queen, there is much to discuss with this often overlooked episode of New Who. Film-maker Lisa Gledhill brings her historical expertise and Doctor Who trailer making to bear on this viewing - but will she and your host Toby Hadoke both identify the same things as worthy of celebrating about this horrifying instalment? Go on, have a listen, they won't bite...
No mention really of Kate Bush, nor any kinda/Kinda "kind of" jokes either, but instead a really interesting and literary take on one of Doctor Who's most fascinating scripts from top TV writer (The Bay) Daragh Carville. But, you know, it also has a big pink snake in it and Jack Meadows from The Bill going mad. So what will your host Toby Hadoke make of it all...? Careful though - you don't want to see the dark places of his inside.
And so we come to Doctor Who's second first night. But as we will soon discover, there's no guarantee that what gets written or planned for ends up being seen bu the public, as shirts change, scripts are juggled and a writer who doesn't really want to spend too much time ends up producing what the team need - and at a speed they appreciate. Join host Toby Hadoke as he presents the What, When and Who of the first episode of the Doctor Who story that changed the face of the series forever.
Relax, Hadoke has entered the fray - this was the first Doctor Who episode broadcast during your host's lifetime. Perhaps his mum had it on whilst rocking him to sleep? He wouldn't have nodded off during this though, as it is great fun, and special guest Tom Salinsky will have no trouble coming up with a host of favourite things this week: but will Toby - like Hal the Archer - hit the target?
An episode with a first and a last. The first Doctor Who episode to mention Gallifrey and the last one to be broadcast in a Toby Hadoke free world. Your host was born midway between this and episode four, so if everyone looks slightly less irritated and isn't looking over their shoulder worried they're going to be ambushed by a baby with lots of inane questions about cast lists then now you know why. It's a fun episode, this, with one of the worst performances in the show's history, and a personal connection to Toby as he has worked with someone who was standing very close to that terrible acting. It's doubtful that special guest Tom Salinsky, and Toby will be choosing the Sentry as their favourite thing but hey, you never know (cue unconvincing laughter).
A new companion and a new monster, both of whom prove to be extremely popular in the long run, plus some medieval villainy and a geographical location rather close to your host, Toby Hadoke - yes , it's one of the few Northern Doctor Who stories. And look, it's a perfectly balanced and fun adventure, and special guest Tom Salinsky has really thrown himself into the task of celebrating this very jolly Doctor Who adventure, but will Toby be able to guess what he has chosen as his favourite ting about it?
Just over half way through The Time Warrior your host, Toby Hadoke, came forth, claiming this planet and all its moons and satellites for his greater glory. So rather appropriately the man who chose the story, renaissance man Tom Salinsky, sent his thoughts over at around that time of year, so it seemed appropriate to watch it during the period it originally went out. Prior warning - Toby is a huge fan of this story, so it's not the trickiest of prospects to find the joy in this... in fact, the hardest thing will be deciding what to chose.
Slightly updated with a couple of "I Think You'll Find"s that weren't in the original episodic release, here is a chance to digest a whole three hours (nearly) of daft Dalek action with the delightful Darrell MacLaine in celebratory mode as he and your host Toby Hadoke try to identify Aridians, wonder why Columbo is on the Empire State Building, encounter some dubious baby based "comedy" on the Marie (Mary?) Celeste and eventually end up in London 1965. And Darrell knows a song about that.
It actually is cricket - a meander through the connections between Doctor Who and a sport with a long, sprawling history, one that inspires devotion in some and bafflement in others, is associated with a certain British eccentricity, and has a symbiotic relationship with BBC broadcasting. What is less well known is that cricket itself was been killed off by Doctor Who in the same episode that first featured it, and that a Doctor who you would think might have a strong connection with the game doesn't so much as mention it at all!
Three episodes in one week? Makes you sound... well, very lucky. It's three episodes of Time and the Rani though, so can you learn to be like your host, Toby Hadoke, and vow to try to love this rather strange matter? He's accentuating the positive because since recording their contribution to this podcast, special guest Anthony Townsend has received some difficult news. And what better way to celebrate Anthony than getting out the tinsel and the colour and camping it about in a quarry?
https://uk.gofundme.com/f/a-small-hand-for-antoni
You get an extra episode this week because this story has been unceremoniously hurled into the schedule because our special guest, Anthony Townsend, has, since advocating so strongly for Time and the Rani, become quite poorly. The two things are not related, however. Host Toby Hadoke sees is he can accentuate the positive in his least favourite Doctor Who story - so prepare yourselves for either a Damascene conversion or a man lying about how much he enjoys watching magnificent divas yelling at giant brains.
https://uk.gofundme.com/f/a-small-hand-for-antoni
https://uk.gofundme.com/f/a-small-hand-for-antoni
Excuse the continued pluggage but it is for a good cause. Special guest Anthony Townsend has had a life changing medical diagnosis and so your host, Toby Hadoke, has sat through the whole of this story of tinsel, big hair, even bigger vocabulary and painted rocks in order to bring attention to the fund set up to help someone who has done a lot for both fandom and the charity sector. But will the two of them agree on this story's strong points?
Yes, you have only just had a Season 24 story, Dragonfire, and it's all out on Blu-ray this month, but this rush release isn't overkill. It is because special guest Anthony Townsend has, since recording their admirably robust support for one of Doctor Who's less celebrated stories, received a life-changing medical diagnosis. So to draw attention to that and to help provide Anthony with a helping hand, we have bubble traps, high heels, impersonations and tinsel in a pipe. For decades now this has been pretty low on your host, Toby Hadoke's, list of things he likes. Can Anthony change his mind? To help Anthony at this difficult time please check out this Go Fund Me page..
https://uk.gofundme.com/f/a-small-hand-for-antoni
Well, this one went well - your host Toby Hadoke didn't have to re-record the end of the episode to give it a different ending. So history didn't repeat itself. That said, nor did the historicals, (well not for a very long time) - but on the evidence of this jolly romp that's a shame. Peter Ware, Deputy Editor of DWM has chosen it, and needs to pick his favourite thing about the episode plus one bonus thing. Are Peter's things the same as your host's things? There's only one way to find out.
All aboard The Annabelle as we set sail for the third instalment of this little-discussed Doctor Who story. Deputy Editor of Doctor Who Magazine Peter Ware thought it'd be fun to put hoist Toby Hadoke in chains and sail him into obscure waters to see if he can find anything positive to say about this episode - one which, Peter reveals, holds a unique place in Doctor Who history. Can you guess what it is? Will your host? One thing's for sure - this jolly episode is a lot of fun, and it certainly doesn't drag.
It's international Podcast like a Pirate day, because Captain Trask is making his presence known as episode 2 of The Highlanders demands your attention, thanks to DWM Deputy Editor Peter Ware. He has chosen this for many reasons, but can host Toby Hadoke guess what his favourite thing about this instalment is? He'd better not think too hard though, it might give him a headache.
One of the loveliest, cheeriest people from the Doctor Who universe has chosen the latest story to be scrutinised for Happy Times and Places. But behind that smile is a machiavellian mischief maker, as instead of choosing something straightforward he has picked one of the least talked about Doctor Who stories of all time. So join host Toby Hadoke and his guest, Deputy Editor of Doctor Who Magazine Peter Ware, as they escape the battle of Culloden for the last pure historical for many years... but will there be anything to talk about?
Well, if you enjoyed the trip to Ice World in which Toby and guest Andrew Cartmel discussed the 150th Doctor Who story Dragonfire (Happy Times and Places episodes 17.1 - 17.3), then you'll love this bit of bonus content. That fine actor Edward Peel chats about playing the story's villain Kane, and describes the highlights of his 55 year career as a busy actor in everything from RSC stage productions to cutting edge new theatre writing via TV favourites like Juliet Bravo and Cracker. Edward kindly gave his time for free so anyone who enjoys this can show their appreciation by donating to his chosen charity MacMillan Nurses.
Warning : there is one moment of strong language which is used to illustrate an occurrence of it occurring in real life which has been left unbleeped.
Something to listen to while you browse the freezer section immediately after a deadly massacre - and it's informed commentary as special guest Andrew Cartmel was there at the time. He has recently visited Svartos again in preparation for the Season 24 Blu-ray set, released this week, and he enjoyed it very much. Will he and your host Toby Hadoke agree on the best things about the 150th Doctor Who story?
The first of these podcasts to feature a guest who worked on the episodes in question, set sail for Svartos as your host Toby Hadoke and Doctor Who script editor discuss the semiotic thickness of Dragonfire's text, and see if they can agree about the best things in the story. Hopefully this will whet your appetite for the Blu-ray release of Dragonfire, which is scheduled for today. So pop this on as you wait for the postman...
A special occasion for a story that is itself a special occasion. The 150th Doctor Who story, also out on Blu-Ray this month, is the occasion of our first ever guest who actually worked on the episodes being eulogised. Does being in the thick of the action on Ice World give our illustrious contributor a different perspective from our host, Toby Hadoke, or do their Happy Times and Places share the same decor?
Former Doctor Who script editor, former editor of Doctor Who Magazine, and ever present writer, director, actor, and novelist Gary Russell chooses his final two favourite aspects of The Robots of Death this time, bringing him to a Famous Five of Favourite Things. It's Murder on the Sandminer Express as this series high point comes to an end: there's no way this one will give you Robots-phobia.
You heard a cry... of delight. Well, sorry if you're not a fan of The Robots of Deaths because this is a bit of a love in. From Toos' hand injury to Taren Capel's inability to disguise himself from the viewer, there is much to talk about here, but guest Gary Russell (former Doctor Who script editor amongst much else) and host Toby Hadoke are Super Voc-al about the extent to which they enjoy pretty much everything about this Tom Baker classic. But, the main question we have gathered you all here to answer is ... will we agree on the episode's greatest asset?
Some of the wittiest banter ever - no, not between host Toby Hadoke and special guest, Renaissance man Gary Russell (who has written, acted, scripted edited, novelised ... in fact there is nothing he hasn't done for Doctor Who). No, writer Chris Boucher makes the dialogue and characters sing but everyone is on form this week so it's a case of what, or who to choose... script, direction, acting, design? Which should be allowed into the special club of best bits? Well, one thing that won't be is the murder mystery element of the story as it happens. Not with those trousers.
There's nothing Gary Russell hasn't done - he's acted (not in Doctor Who, bar Big Finish, but he was Dick in The Famous Five), written, directed, edited, script edited, novelised ... the lot. And now, lucky for us, he is a guest on Happy Times and Places, and he has chosen one of the most celebrated Doctor Who stories of all time. There's an embarrassment of riches, but can your host Toby Hadoke sift the Lucanol from the ... er ... breakfast cereal type stuff that the Doctor ends up covered with at the climax? It's going to be enjoyable, this one, but choosing just one good thing about it? That's going to be murder.
All fans of a certain age will identify with this one, though of course, there are many fans these days who aren't of a certain age. Which is great. Unless you're a fan of a certain age, in which case it is terrifying. As the years fly by then, your host Toby Hadoke throws in a joke or two. But it's a personal and selective history of discovering Doctor Who through the written word - and the written word through Doctor Who of course. But don't worry if you are not a fan of a certain age - this is for anyone who has those colourful spines on the shelves, and enjoys the powerful memories that they evoke.
This story is a strange old thing - and it's all about mental health in a funny short of way. So watching it is an odd experience as we are all locked away in our own boxes, prey to those pesky serpents that manifest themselves in the dark places of our insides. Or maybe it's just the one with the bad snake. Who knows? It's an odd old ramble this podcast, but then it's an odd story. Brilliant, but odd. So this commentary is a bit odd too, because host Toby Hadoke is in an odd mood. Daragh Carville, fresh from success with series two of The Bay, is our special guest, bringing great insight and appreciation to one of Doctor Who's most fascinating productions.
Well, it's not the most straightforward of Doctor Who episodes, this. There's not really anything like much of this in the rest of Doctor Who's canon. So which part of it will be selected by special guest - and creator of The Bay, writer on Being Human - Daragh Carville. He is frankly spoilt for choice, but he had better choose quickly, because time is running out.... Wheel turns...
You're watching a man in a box watching people in a box giving a man a box. The man on the box who gets the box has his mind wiped of all nonsense, but what about the man in the box that you are watching? Will he - your host, Toby Hadoke - give you wisdom and clarity*? Anyway, this is not the most straightforward of stories but it has been nominated by a very clever and very successful writer so hopefully there's plenty for you to enjoy here. Enough to fill a box at least. Daragh Carville, creator of ITV's The Bay, is our special guest - talking about boxing clever.
*Um. NO!!!
Well now, The Bay on ITV has been quite the hit, a ratings busting success that has ensured itself a commission for a third run. And guess what? Its writer and creator Daragh Carville is one of us - he is not one of the Not We. So appropriately he has chosen this beguiling tale of Apples (not the computers), Snakes (not the game), and actors from The Bill (yes, the police series). It's a very special story for a very special guest. But what will his favourite thing about episode one be, and will his choice give your host Toby Hadoke nightmares?
The Moffat era episode and indeed the first Matt Smith episode to be featured in happy Times and Places, and it is right back to the beginning. So let's see what we can find out about Patrick Moore, Pingu, and Ponds as the TARDIS lands us in Leadworth where there is alien activity afoot and more than that, a completely new cast and production team. Oh, and Cully from the Dominators.
Well, not so much Series Two as The Next Bunch. There's no hiatus, but as you've had a big release already this week this one is just a snippet, with some previews of what's coming up (including a selection of the amazing special guests on Happy Times and Places) and a bit of insight into what exclusive material is available to Patrons. Normal service will resume on Monday.
Another instalment of this painstaking attempt to dissect each episode of Doctor Who, sometimes on a day-to-day basis. The TARDIS crew probably get as grubby as any TARDIS crew ever does in the series, the Doctor takes centre stage, and Ian gets the episode title as the series' first ever adventure comes to a close. Along the way there is ridiculous BBC demarcation about fire (it's not fire that will get us all in the end but red tape), a fight scene directed by the production assistant and the story of two people involved with the making of the episode - one of whom would return to Doctor Who, whilst the other would emphatically not.
There is less whimsy and more research in this instalment of Indefinable Magic - the series which promises to probe some random aspect of Doctor Who-dom for all it is worth. This edition focusses on the military service of the first three doctors and a few of their acting colleagues - and finds some surprising, sad, inspiring and shocking stories of actors at war.
Former Doctor Who Magazine writer and long time Blue Peter editor Richard Marson (who has also written books on Doctor Who producers John Nathan-Turner and Verity Lambert) decided he'd rather chat to your host, Toby Hadoke, about his favourite things from Terror of the Autons. And it makes for a most illuminating chat that reveals much about the early days of fandom from someone at the coalface. Richard also takes us on a trip through the many highs of a story full of inventive death and teatime horror.
This six week odyssey through some very odd bits of time and space comes to an end in London 1965 and boy does special guest Darrell Maclaine have a treat for you, going way above and beyond the a call of duty. There won't be an eye left dry or a rib left untickled by the time this is all over. Toby Hadoke is your host, and there's something in his eye. And as it's the 50th episode, it's appropriate that we end on a song!
The Daleks cunningly create a robot that is the double of Doctor Who provided you don't look too hard, and the TARDIS crew land on the planet of the Gubbage Cones which, if the soundtrack is to be believed, also has a jazz bar. And yet despite it's poor reputation host Toby Hadoke and guest Darrell Maclaine have great fun celebrating The Death of Doctor Who (which, by the way, is a big fat lie).
The Daleks chase the time travellers to a House of Horror - but don't worry, it's all good fun as this much maligned Doctor Who story receives cheerful advocacy from special guest, actor and musician Darrell Maclaine, who has plenty of good things to say. But will his good things be the same as host Toby Hadoke's good things?
The only Doctor Who episode in which the probable death of a baby is part of a semi-comedic sequence, but that's not the only thing to write home about. There's a Menoptra doing a Columbo impression, Peter Purves on the Empire State Building, and the only 360 degree classic series Dalek headspin. Comedian, musician and actor Darrell Maclaine is in high spirits celebrating this story he loves, and he has dragged your host Toby Hadoke along for the ride.
On the planet Aridius the only water on display is the tears wept by its lachrymose inhabitants, who include fur star Hywel Bennett and an extra with a Doctor shaped claim to fame. But this won't be a dry affair as actor and musician Darrell Maclaine is on hand to celebrate the positive aspects of this often maligned adventure. Can Toby Hadoke discern Darrell's favourite thing about this instalment, or can he not tell night from day (in which case he isn't alone)?
Dalekmania is at its height, and Beatlemania too, and both come together in this episode, alongside Abraham Lincoln, William Shakespeare, and the terrifying revelation of a Dalek clearing its throat. A story that divides opinion has been chosen by musician, impressionist and actor Darrell Maclaine, whose e You Tube clips are so entertaining that the TARDIS crew should train their Space Time Visualiser on them. Can he convince host Toby Hadoke that The Chase is worthy of love, and can they agree on what its best bits are?
Riding high from her recent success with My Mum Tracy Beaker (not to mention The Worst Witch and The Demon Headmaster), writer Emma Reeves chooses one of Doctor Who's least celebrated adventures - but who cares? It's one she loved as a child and very story means something to someone, so get your tinsel out and have a serving of ham as we grab this one by the Morlocks and see if Toby can undergo a conversion on Karfel. Omnibus edition for those of you who like these all in one go.
And so we get down to the nitty-gritty of the third ever episode of Doctor Who. There's more pre-filming, the Doctor proves that as well as being an old fashioned hero he is also a potential murderer, and his intended victim turns out to be an actor with a colourful and ultimately tragic personal story. Toby Hadoke is your host, with the When, What and Who of this instalment of TV's most iconic science-fiction series of all.
An apple a day doesn't keep the Doctor away, and yet a pear does? The Doctor's relationship with food says a lot about the character and about us, and Toby Hadoke has some pretty strident views about this - fish fingers and custard, cheese and wine, can fried gumblejack : it's all on the menu in this episode of whimsical essays about Doctor Who related trivia.
We left the Doctor almost literally hangin' on the telephone, but what else in in store for him, special guest Richard Marson and host Toby Hadoke as the Master's plan nears completion. Afterwards, Toby and Richard have a chat about some of the great figures in Doctor Who history whom Richard interviewed back in the day. But will they agree on the best things about this episode and the story as a whole? there's only one way to find out...
Killer policemen, killer daffodils and a killer doll - not-so-fantastic plastic is the cause of much mayhem in this episode of Doctor Who. But which particular manifestation of it will find favour with your host Toby Hadoke? He has to try to guess what his special guest - writer and producer Richard Marson - has chosen to eulogise about this particular episode of Doctor Who. The pair have a good old chinwag about the Terror of the Autons, and about Doctor Who's history and some of its key figures, but will it be quarries or quarrels at the end of the day...?
What's the scariest thing about Terror of the Autons, the multiple deaths-by-plastic, the amount of CSO, or the rather dated approach to animal welfare on display? You decide. Your host Toby Hadoke and his special guest, TV producer Richard Marson, are on hand to bring you their thoughts - Richard was around on first broadcast and so can provide a bit of context, and Toby is learning to love a story he has hitherto been somewhat ambivalent about. But that's the point really - now watch out for those clowns....
To tie in with this week's Blu-Ray release of Season 8, it's time to celebrate its opening story, which was a great big relaunch for Doctor Who. The first appearance of The Master, Jo Grant and Captain Yates, it also features the return of the Autons but an altogether more colourful palette than the muted tones for gritty old Season 7. Special guest Richard Marson -who pretty much was Doctor Who Magazine back in the day, but who has also written books about key figures in the series and has been the main man at Blue Peter - chats to Toby about the story and his role in the early years of fandom in a fascinating post-episode interview. So the format changes slightly for this instalment of Happy Times and Places, which is kind of appropriate when you think about it.
Another random series of thoughts inspired by Doctor Who - in this one, host Toby Hadoke connects the dots between Professor Bernard Quatermass, the first icon of BBC TV science fiction, and his sort-of offspring, Doctor Who. There are similarities, differences, and much to celebrate about both in this podcast that will serve as an introduction to the Quatermass serials for those who have never seen them, and an insightful and detailed examination off them for those who have... but always seen through the prism of a certain time traveller, who owes the professor a great deal...
For those of you who like to digest the stories all in one go, here it is, free from cliff-hangers and all packaged up for a binge listen, the Doctor plays Merlin but the Brigadier is not playing at all ... the game's afoot on the Battlefield. Artist Jon Turner has selected his favourite things about the story - it will be a shame if host Toby Hadoke fails to identify any of them...
Writer Joe Lidster (Torchwood, Big Finish, The Demon Headmaster) has chosen the first Christopher Eccleston episode to be given the Happy Times and Places treatment. He has to choose his five favourite things about the story and your host, Toby Hadoke, has to see if he can guess what they are, and if he doesn't, well, it' not the end of the ... oh, hang on ...
A real gem this one, as playwright Dan Rebellato puts his not inconsiderable brain power into considering the Doctor Who story he has chosen to eulogise, The Ribos Operation. Host Toby Hadoke has to see if he can anticipate what themes, ideas and performances particularly grab Dan, in this omnibus presentation which saves you having to download all the individual episodes and presents them in one neat package. The problem is, the package is locked up in a museum and you have to try to steal it...
So, everyone talks about the pilot and the first episode and all that landmark stuff, but what about the second ever episode of Doctor Who? There are still some firsts - the Doctor smoking! And lasts - the Doctor smoking! There's the first adventure proper, the first villain, and even the first broadcast material featuring the regulars to be filmed. So join Toby Hadoke in order to discover the Who, What and When of Doctor Who's second episode, and discover all you need to know about the filming, the studio recording and the people instrumental in the show's Difficult Second Album.
For those of you who like them all in one chunk here it is with the interim titles lopped off and the cliffhangers merged just like in the old days of BBC Video. Superb script guru Andrew Ellard has challenged Toby to watch The Rescue and to choose his favourite things about it, so if you like crash landings, genocide, and dead pets then you'll just love the planet Dido. Toby Hadoke is your guide, but play your cards right or you can't come in.
Well now, this one throws up a few interesting things - Toby got to know one of the cast members of this rather well on his first ever professional acting engagement, and the star of this was the first big Doctor Who name Toby ever met. So he has those stories in his arsenal as this episode goes off in some tricky directions : from TARDIS padding to body shaming, can Timelash 2 get into a position where it can look at itself in the mirror? Emma Reeves, esteemed TV writer and producer, is our special guest, and the one responsible for plonking us in the Morlocks.
All 7 episodes of this Patrick Troughton classic in one epic podcast, as charming Big Finish and BBC Books writer Simon Guerrier puts his fascinating mind to work one what it is that makes this story so special. Your host Toby Hadoke has to sort the best of the best - is it the trains, the Beatles, the battle, the Emperor or Victoria's hanky (or is it her knickers Frazer?): or all or none of the above? Join Toby and Simon as they try to discover if there is some factor that makes Evil so special.
It's another story with "Time" in the title, which in the classic series has never been a good omen when it comes to the popularity stakes. It's Toby's first commentary with the 6th Doctor and even our special guest, TV writer and producer Emma Reeves, thinks this isn't an especially good example of Doctor Who - it's just a Doctor Who story that she is fond of. Well, that is all very well for her, but will Toby, and you dear listener, depart Karfel with a scream? Most do apparently. So let's try to avoid that, eh?
Feedback indicates that it can be helpful to have these podcasts as a simple digestible package per story, so here is a lovely Concorde flavoured bundle, with some jolly pilots, a beige jumper or two, lots of clenched fists and just time for a New York stopover as we jump aboard the Time-Flight for an uninterrupted journey. The story has been chosen by comedian and cartoonist John Cooper, and your host, as ever, is Toby Hadoke.
One of the heroes of Doctor Who lockdown, responsible for putting a smile on the faces of a lot of people, chooses one fi the things that makes her happy. Emily Cook, writer, Doctor Who Magazine staffer and Tweetalong organiser extraordinaire shares her favourite things about Partners in Crime, Catherine Tate's first episode as a series regular in Doctor Who. So, as your host Toby Hadoke and Emily chew the fat, will they agree on the best things about this season opener and which bits give it weight? And in whose favour will the scales tilt? And probably some other diet based puns if you want.
And so we get to the episodes which dangled the death of a much loved character in front of us, showcased one of the best monster designs in the show's history, and has a great big battle in it. It's fascinating to revisit some of the less celebrated episodes in the show's run, and host Toby Hadoke and his guest Jon Turner are determined to uncover some buried treasure: but will they agree on what the story's best things are?
Well there's a field and a battle, but there's also a blue monster and a cure for blindness. All this and more give your host Toby Hadoke and guest, artists Jon Tuner, a lot to chew over as they see if they agree on what the best things about
It's all go as the Doctor fights knight and day to save the Earth from an evil witch with the help of the Brigadier, another Brigadier, and the absolutely brilliant Fl Lt Lavel - but will she be too obvious a choice for your host Toby Hadoke, as he tries to discover what it is his guest, artist Jon Turner, enjoys most about this story?
The first Sylvester McCoy story to be given the HT&P treatment, endorsed by a genuine child of the 7th Doctor era (how can one of those be old enough to be hanging around with Toby, haven't they got playgroup to go to?). And there is plenty here to get to grips with - things that make you go BOOM!
Indefinable Magic is a series of whimsical meanderings, which sees comedian Toby Hadoke rhapsodise arcana via childhood memories, a trivial quest or an overactive imagination. This episode will chime with anyone who has learnt a word thanks to Doctor Who, and even those who thought they'd learnt a word and didn't discover until years later that it actually meant something totally different.
Please Note : This is a later edit than the one initially uploaded which had some technical ingloriousness at the end.
A feature length episode because it is a story that has provoked a lot of discussion from special guest Dan Rebellato. So hopefully, if you were ambivalent about this story, not one of the most discussed in the show's history, hopefully Toby and Dan can send you back to it with renewed vigour. You don't have to like it all - we'll settle for 10%.
Seek and you shall find not only a woman with antlers but also a flea bitten fellow with no front teeth. And that's just the host. There's a lot to discuss as playwright Dan Rebellato has to choose his favourite thing from this episode - will he go for the obvious, and if so, will that bring your host Toby Hadoke within sniffing distance of victory? The answer can be found by looking to the stars (or alternatively, by listening to the podcast).
PLEASE NOTE - The initial upload of this had a technical glitch at the top with multiple tracks vying for attention: this has now been corrected. Apologies!
The plots thickens and the the scringe stone strikes as renowned playwright Dan Rebellato articulates, most compellingly, what the best things about this rich and complex Doctor Who story are. Finding positives isn't hard, but the task for your host Toby Hadoke is to see if he can anticipate exactly what it is about this story that Dan likes the most.
Smart, articulate, intelligent ... no, we haven't got a new host, Toby is still blundering through, but...! We do have a terrific guest, playwright Dan Rebellato, whose pedigree is proved by his choice of story, the mighty The Ribos Operation. What do you mean you've never paid it much heed because there aren't really many memorable monsters and not much happens? Dan and Toby will do their very best to persuade you that this is as good as Doctor Who gets. Accentuate the positive? Easy!
TV script editor Andrew Ellard (The Detectorists, Red Dwarf) has set Toby the task of identifying the best bits of a Doctor Who story with few sets and a tiny cast so there's not exactly an abundance of things to get his teeth into... or is there? The Doctor fights mass murder on an unprecedented scale, meets some silent angels who definitely aren't weeping, and solves a murder mystery with the fewest possible suspects. Oh, and one of the TARDIS crew murders a pet in cold blood. It's all go on Dido. Once again, comedian Toby Hadoke has to watch and to sing the story's praises.
Released exactly 56 years after the episode we are watching was broadcast (well, we've put this out 10 minutes earlier in case you want to line it up for a time busting simulcast) this will be a double hit: episode two will be out later tonight. The TARDIS lands a very sad Doctor on a planet where all the tea has gone cold : Dido. Where everyone is as dead as a Dodo. But not Dodo, she's not the companion yet. That's Vicki. Well, she's not the companion yet either but... oh never mind. Toby Hadoke has to guess what TV script editing genius Andrew Elland has identified as the best things in this 1965 Doctor Who story.
Toby Hadoke continues to try to comb through the murk of still pictures and indistinct soundtracks to see if the gloriousness of an acclaimed lost Dalek classic still shines through. It's been an epic, but now we come to the final end! All hell breaks loose on Skaro. Toby and special guest Simon Guerrier have been pretty close with their guesses, so will our host pull off a final victory and work out what Simon's favourite things about this amazing episode are, or will it all end with a massive explosion and lots of mess?
Well here is a first, a commentary that was originally so tedious that Toby decided to do it again. Doctor Who has an illustrious history of getting things wrong on the first attempt and trying again, so hopefully it's the right call. He hasn't cheated though, he goes back to his original recording when it comes to seeing if he and special guest Simon Guerrier like the same thing about this episode - which returns the Doctor to Skaro for the first time since his initial visit. And that's just the start of the action.
The story goes from being merely good to touching greatness as the Daleks start to behave in a most peculiar fashion - and giving Toby and his special guest Simon Guerrier plenty to wax lyrical about. But will they agree on the episode's best bit? Its rather an amusing little podcast don't you think so Jamie?
Writer Simon Guerrier chooses one of the least tangible things about this episode of a second Doctor classic, so enjoy yourselves as Toby tries to guess what it is as Jamie fights Kemel, Victoria's hanky launches a million anecdotes, and Patrick Troughton is on holiday and so represented only on film. Film we can't actually see.
Back to still pictures for the third episode of this lost classic, selected by writer Simon Guerrier. Your host Toby Hadoke has to see if he can work out what it is that Simon likes best about this particular episode of Doctor Who, as always, trying to accentuate the positive and celebrate the best things that it has to offer.
Doctor Who : Too Much Information, is an episode-by-episode, blow-by-blow, sometimes day-by-day account of the making of every single episode (yes, episode, not story) of Britain's longest running science-fiction show, shedding light on the Who, What and Where of (Doctor) Who. It's monthly for now but will hopefully pick up speed once Toby knows what he's doing. It's a collation of paperwork, interviews and new research designed to explore even the tiniest nooks and crannies of the Doctor Who universe for trivial nuggets, all told in an accessible manner and augmented by a soundtrack specially composed by the award winning Waen Shepherd.
This is Episode 1.1 : An Unearthly Child
Written and Narrated by Toby Hadoke
A moment of respite as the pictures start moving again and we see whether all the fuss about The Evil of the Daleks is justified. Special guest, writer Simon Guerrier, seems to think so, but will your host, Toby Hadoke, succumb to the charms of the story as it spirals us back in time to meet the stories Big, bewhiskered Bad. Is there as much here as legend says there its, to take Toby to one of his Happy Times and Places.
Our special guest this time around - Big Finish, BBC Books and Doctor Who Magazine writer Simon Guerrier doesn't make it easy. He has chosen the very first missing story to be selected for Happy Times and Places. It's highly regarded though, the epic The Evil of the Daleks, which begins with the Doctor and Jamie marooned in singing 60s London.
Omnibus edition fo the previously released commentary of The Sontaran Experiment, to save you having to download the individual episodes one at a time. Special Guest - character comedian Tom Burgess.
Doctor Who fans like nothing more than talking about how rubbish Doctor Who is, so comedian Toby Hadoke has decided to buck the trend by doing a podcast which only concentrates on the things he likes about the show. He has to guess what his special guest's favourite things are about a story that they have nominated. And some stories are easier than others...
Presented by - Toby Hadoke
Special guest - John Cooper
This Episode - Time-Flight 4
Toby Hadoke has set himself a task to try to be upbeat during lockdown - the world is divided, social media is toxic, and pestilence reigns. But hey-ho, it should be easy enough to find something joyous to say about a Doctor Who should it? And so he asked his friend, comedian and illustrator John Cooper, to nominate one for Toby to wax positive about. John chose Time-Flight. Oh.
Comedian and illustrator John Cooper has chosen one of his favourite stories, Time-Flight, for Toby Hadoke to celebrate, partly because your host once told John that it was rubbish. Toby has to eat his words whilst feasting on the return of Adric, an inexplicable disguise, and the happiest pilots in the world - in order to to choose the best things from the universe of Doctor Who.
Presented by - Toby Hadoke
Special Guest - John Cooper
This Episode - Time-Flight 2
Indefinable Magic is a series of whimsical and sometimes certifiably arcane ramblings about some aspect of Doctor Who - sometimes a personal reminiscence; sometimes a jokey thought; and sometimes an unnecessarily obsessive delve: but always done with a lightness of touch and devotion to the subject. This time, it's carrots. Yep, you read that right, the history of carrots in Doctor Who (I direct my learned colleague to the word "arcane" above).
Happy Times and Places finds comedian Toby Hadoke watching Doctor Who stories nominated by creative friends of his in order to celebrate the best of the long running series, no matter which story it is. So hop on board Concorde and travel from gorgeous film to unforgiving video tape within a split second and see what Toby can find to eulogise about one of Doctor Who's least celebrated stories.
Presented by Toby Hadoke
Special Guest John Cooper
This Episode - Time-Flight 1
An omnibus edition of Happy Times and Places with all four episodes of Toby Hadoke's Day of The Daleks commentary strung together for your listening convenience. A bit like the old days of BBC video, so there and no episode endings and there might even be a spelling mistake in the credits.
Presented by Toby Hadoke
Special Guest - Chris Boyle
Featured story - Day of the Daleks 1-4
Happy Times and Places is a podcast which seeks to identify the positives - the best things, the most loved aspects, the finest hat - of a Doctor Who story as nominated by a special guest of your host, comedian Toby Hadoke. So get the episode into your disc drive and settle down - but not too far ... because there's something on your back...
Presented by Toby Hadoke
Special Guest Johnny Candon
This Episode - Turn Left
Happy Times and Places is an attempt to combat Covid with a bit of cheerful Doctor Who love. Comedian and Doctor Who fan Toby Hadoke has asked a friend to nominate a story and to choose their favourite things about it. Toby then has to watch and see if he can guess what it is they love about it, and to choose his own favourite things too.
Presented by - Toby Hadoke
Special Guest - Tom Burgess
This week's episode - The Sontaran Experiment 2
Happy Times and Places is an attempt to combat Covid with a bit of cheerful Doctor Who love. Comedian and Doctor Who fan Toby Hadoke has asked a friend to nominate a story and to choose their favourite things about it. Toby then has to watch and see if he can guess what it is they love about it, and to choose his own favourite things too. (Since the initial upload there has been a minor re-edit to this episode to remove a couple of minor technical glitches).
Presented by - Toby Hadoke
Special Guest - Tom Burgess
This week's episode - The Sontaran Experiment 1
Doctor Who : Too Much Information, is an episode-by-episode, blow-by-blow, sometimes day-by-day account of the making of every single episode (yes, episode, not story) of Britain's longest running science-fiction show, shedding light on the Who, What and Where of (Doctor) Who. It's monthly for now but will hopefully pick up speed once Toby knows what he's doing. It's a collation of paperwork, interviews and new research designed to explore even the tiniest nooks and crannies of the Doctor Who universe for trivial nuggets, all told in an accessible manner and augmented by a soundtrack specially composed by the award winning Waen Shepherd.
This is Episode 1.0 : The Pilot
Written and Narrated by Toby Hadoke
Indefinable Magic is a series of whimsical essays inspired, sometimes very tangentially, by Doctor Who.
Episode 1.1 - Scouring the Shelves
Just finding Doctor Who stuff was hard in the old days: you had to get lucky at the newsagents, or happen upon an exciting new shop whilst on holiday, and you discovered the show piece by piece, often having to commit facts to memory. You had to be very dogged in your pursuit of the Doctor... in many ways, you almost had to become a stalker. Episode re-uploaded on 23/11/20 to get rid of a minor technical glitch near the beginning.
Happy Times and Places is a Doctor Who commentary series in which comedian Toby Hadoke is challenged by a friend to watch a story and to try to guess his guest’s favourite things about it - and you’re invited round as well. Pull up a seat and enjoy.
This week's guest - comedian Chris Boyle.
Chris has chosen Day of The Daleks starring Jon Pertwee.
This is Episode Four:
While an overrunning episode is hardly a crime
We end in a Happy Place - but lose the gag about Time.
Happy Times and Places is a Doctor Who commentary series in which comedian Toby Hadoke is challenged by a friend to watch a story and to try to guess his guest’s favourite things about it - and you’re invited round as well. Pull up a seat and enjoy.
This week's guest - comedian Chris Boyle.
Chris has chosen Day of The Daleks starring Jon Pertwee.
This is Episode Three:
It's the future - having a smoke and a slow tricycle chase
Make this not a very Happy Time or Place.
Happy Times and Places is a Doctor Who commentary series in which comedian Toby Hadoke is challenged by a friend to watch a Doctor Who story and to try to guess his guest’s favourite things about it - and you’re invited round as well. Pull up a seat and enjoy.
This week's guest - comedian Chris Boyle.
Chris has chosen Day of The Daleks starring Jon Pertwee.
This is Episode Two -
Ogron murder, whisky fighting, and one of the Small Faces:
Some, not all, will take us to Happy Times and Places
Happy Times and Places is a Doctor Who commentary series in which comedian Toby Hadoke is challenged by a friend to watch a story and to try to guess his guest’s favourite things about it - and you’re invited round as well. Pull up a seat and enjoy.
This week's guest - comedian Chris Boyle.
Chris has chosen Day of The Daleks starring Jon Pertwee.
This is Episode One:
Gorillas, guerrillas, cheese, wine and shiny faces,
All of these guarantee Happy Times and Places.
A preview of the three podcasts which will be making up Toby Hadoke's Time Travels - the commentary series Happy Times and Places, the whimsical musings of Indefinable Magic, and the hardcore fact-fest that is Doctor Who : Too Much Information. With a few hefty chunks from each one to let you know what you are in for, this is hopefully an appetising taster before the series launches on November 23rd.
Happy Times and Places is a commentary series in which comedian Toby Hadoke is challenged to watch a Doctor Who story and to guess his guest’s favourite things about it. Nothing serious, nothing political - just an attempt to be upbeat during lockdown and share a mutual love of Doctor Who, and you’re invited round as well. Pull up a seat and enjoy.
Indefinable Magic is a Doctor Who podcast based on ... well, anything really. Sometimes it'll be a whimsical musing, sometimes a fact-fest, sometimes a nostalgia filled childhood recollection - always good-natured, generally arcane, and hopefully something that will chime with anyone who has ever loved a certain silly time traveller. It's definitely a podcast that is bigger on the inside.
Too Much Information is an episode-by-episode, blow-by-blow account of the When, What, and Who of Doctor Who. Facts old and new, observations and information all in one digestible chunk, with a fantastic score composed by Waen Shepherd. A great jump in point for newcomers to the show, but plenty for jaded old Who-ers too. Presented by Toby Hadoke.