Doctor Who A(uton) to Z(ygon)

This one is a biggie! We take a stab at “Kill the Moon”, one of the most divisive episodes of the past decade. General consensus amongst fans is that it’s not a good episode. But how accurate is that? This one divides the Doctor Who A to Z crew too—but maybe not in the way that you might think. We come at this one from all angles before delivering our verdict! 

But first we tackle the news from the past couple weeks, including a brand new trailer and news of a returning writer!

This week Ashley and Josh steer the TARDIS through a tour of the history of Doctor Who RPGs, starting with the FASA game from the 80s and all the way up to the innovations they’ve found in a recently released game by Cubicle 7. If you’re a gamer, specifically a Doctor Who gamer, this episode is for you! (and hopefully everyone else will still enjoy it too, since it’s still about Doctor Who!) 

First, though, we talk about the latest Doctor Who news. 

Our topic this week is characters that could have been companions! Doctor Who is full of great characters, and many of them had potential to be a great companion – and in some cases were intended to be, but for one reason or another it didn't work out. Josh and Alan (with input from Ashley, who is out this week) talk about some of their favorite companions-that-never-were.  

First, though, we talk about the latest Doctor Who news (the Celestial Toymaker cover reveal, the Dark Gallifrey series from Big Finish, and a new Big Finish podcast). 

This week we discuss one of the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time—“The Caves of Androzani” from Season 21. This was the final Fifth Doctor story; it starred Peter Davison and Nicola Bryant, was written by Robert Holmes, and directed by Graeme Harper. The Doctor and Peri get caught up in a vicious local war and are exposed to a deadly poison, and they struggle to simply make it out of the situation alive.  

First, though, we talk about the latest Doctor Who news (the announcement of a new box set from Big Finish celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Sixth Doctor). 

We continue our celebration of the 50th anniversary of Tom Baker’s debut as the Doctor by revisiting one of the most classic Doctor Who stories ever: “Pyramids of Mars”! It’s mummies, sarcophagi, and hieroglyphics as the Doctor and Sarah Jane find themselves up against one of the most powerful beings the Doctor has ever encountered.  

First, though, we talk about the latest Doctor Who news (the announcement of a new box set from Big Finish celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Sixth Doctor). 

January 2024 coincides with two major occasions in Whostory: Tom Baker’s 90th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his debut as the Doctor! So we have devoted this episode to that most iconic of Doctors! We talk about what we love about the Tom Baker era, his various showrunners, and then we rank Tom’s seven seasons in order of favorites! 

First, though, we talk about the latest Doctor Who news (which, this week, is the revelation that Millie Gibson is leaving the show).  

This week Ashley, Josh and Alan turn attention to the epic new boxset from Big Finish, The Seventh Doctor: The Last Day Part One, starring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, and Bonnie Langford, featuring a whole range of characters from the Seventh Doctor era both on TV and in Audio—including the return of Kane from “Dragonfire”, played by Edward Peel! First, though, we take a look at the preview for the upcoming Classic Who Blu-Ray Boxset of Season 15. 

**CORRECTION: During the episode Alan mistakenly identifies the caretakers of the Classic Who Blu-Ray range as Pete McTighe and Matt Fitton. In reality it is Pete McTighe and Russell Minton. Don’t @ me. (Unless of course you are Mr. Minton—then definitely @ me and maybe come on the show for an interview!)  

Everyone plays that game where you pretend you’ve been made the new showrunner and you get to set the tone for Doctor Who’s immediate future, right? That’s what we talk about this week! Each of us says what we would do with Doctor Who if we were given the job of showrunner! Alan and Josh have some definite ideas. But Ashley . . . that guy has plotted out in story detail his first two seasons! Check out our ideas and let us know what you think, and what you’d do differently!  

We’re back! After a short break for Christmas, we’re here to review the launch of a brand-new era of Doctor Who, with the broadcast debut of “The Church on Ruby Road” written by Russell T Davies and directed by Mark Tonderai. What did we think of this one, and especially our new Doctor and Companion, Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson?  

It’s the end of the David Tennant era—again! “The Giggle”, written by Russell T. Davies, gives us a whole lot to talk about: a major returning villain, a returning Classic companion, a new configuration of UNIT, a new take on a multi-Doctor story, and even a new take on regeneration, along with a new explanation of previous sticky wicket! We tackle it all, and we keep it spoiler free (for at least the first 10-15 minutes! Hey, we did the best we could!) 

Off we go into the "Wild Blue Yonder" as we review the second of three 60th Anniversary specials, written by Russell T. Davies, directed by Tom Kingsley, and starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate. The Doctor and Donna find themselves in an abandoned spaceship on the very edge of the universe where they encounter . . . something . . . that they can’t explain.  

Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 2008! Doctor Who is BACK! And we’re here to review it! “The Star Beast”, written by Russell T. Davies, directed by Rachel Talalay, and starring David Tennant, Catherine Tate and Yasmin Finney made its debut on 25 November on BBC One and on Disney+. The first half of our discussion is spoiler-free, so even if you haven’t seen the episode, you can listen in. After that, though, we jump into full on spoilers to talk about the nuts and bolts of this episode!  

Before that, though, we cover the latest in Doctor Who news!  

We're nearly there! It's almost Doctor Who's 60th Anniversary! So this week we turn the clock back 10 years to when the show celebrated its 50th Anniversary -- or was that the 10th Anniversary of the New Series? We're talking about "The Day of the Doctor," starring David Tennant, Matt Smith, and John Hurt! What a day that was! Regular hosts Josh Wilson and R. Alan Siler are joined by bestie and fellow Whovian Ashley Raburn of Cleveland Geekster to talk about that momentous occasion!

Before that, though, we cover the latest in Doctor Who news!  

This week, Josh and Alan review the story that introduced both of them to Doctor Who -- the epic 20th anniversary story, "The Five Doctors"! It's a race against time and a bevy of enemies as the various incarnations of the Doctor try to make it to the Dark Tower in the heart of the Death Zone on Gallifrey to thwart President Borusa's bid for immortality. Written by Terrance Dicks, directed by Peter Moffat, "The Five Doctors" stars Peter Davison, Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton and Richard Hurndall.

Before that, though, we cover the latest in Doctor Who news! Then, Josh gives a recommendation of a different story to follow up on "The Five Doctors" in his Spin-Off Media Corner!

This week it's a double dose of the amazing MAUREEN O'BRIEN!

First, Josh and Alan review the newly released BBC iPlayer specials Tales of the TARDIS, featuring characters from the Classic Series talking about some of their key adventures -- including Ms. O'Brien stepping back in front of the cameras into the role of Vicki for the first time since 1965. She joins Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, Nicola Bryant, Janet Fielding, Sophie Aldred, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Peter Purves, Katy Manning and Daniel Anthony reprising their roles in these very touching new mini-episodes.

After that, we dive into "The Union", the final chapter (for now!) of Big Finish's 60th Anniversary saga, Once and Future. "The Union," written by Matt Fitton, stars Paul McGann, Tom Baker, Carole Ann Ford, Alex Kingston, and Maureen O'Brien, with a host of returning characters, for the epic conclusion to this sprawling story.

We're in the homestretch on the Road to the 60th Anniversary, and we take a look back at all the ways that Doctor Who has celebrated past anniversaries! We begin with "The Three Doctors", the first story of the 10th Season (1973). The Doctor(s) face an enemy of cosmic proportions as Gallifrey is under siege. It takes all three of the Doctor's incarnations to figure out a way to defeat this foe!

Before that, though, we cover the latest in Doctor Who news!  

Hosts Josh and Alan review the Fifth Doctor story "Frontios" from Season 21, 1984 written by Christopher H. Bidmead. A colony of woodlice who can control gravity attack a far-future colony of humans who can't control gravity. Entering the scene is the Doctor, who also can't control gravity, with companions Tegan and Turlough. Can the TARDIS team keep the humans from being wiped out by the woodlice? And, you know, should they even??

First, though, we cover the week's news, and Oh My Omega was it a busy week for news! New Murray Gold music, new hints and teases from Russell T Davies, and the son of the writer of the very first Doctor Who story causing a ruckus.

This week Josh and Alan review the sixth installment in the Big Finish 60th Anniversary story -- "Once and Future: Time Lord Immemorial". Written by Lisa McMullin and directed by Helen Goldwyn, it stars Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor, David Warner as the (other) Doctor, Nicola Walker as Liv Chenka, and Gina McKee as the Lumiat.

"Slipping between bodies, the Ninth Doctor finds his TARDIS caught between universes as the cosmos starts to break down. A Doctor from another reality arrives and they join forces with Liv Chenka and the Lumiat to find the cause. Someone has desecrated the mythical Hall of the Time Lord Immemorial, where the sands of time from the multiverse are held. And those sands are running out…"

As we always do when we review these new Big Finish stories, we stay spoiler-free for the first half of the review and give clear warning before diving deep into spoiler territory.

Before that, though, we cover the latest in Doctor Who news!  

It's two big thumbs up this week from Josh and Alan, as we jump back into the Eleventh Doctor era with "The Girl Who Waited" from Series 6. It was written by Tom MacRae and directed by Nick Hurran, and it stars Matt Smith as the Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy, and Arthur Darvill as Rory. The TARDIS gang pays a visit to the planet Apalapucia for a holiday, but they find that the planet is in quarantine as the two-hearted natives are susceptible to a deadly plague. Amy accidentally gets separated from the Doctor and Rory but, when they try to rescue her, they arrive 36 years later in her timeline.

First we talk about this week's Doctor Who news!

This week your hosts Josh and Alan actually do tackle one of the all-time greats of Doctor Who -- "The Romans" from Season Two (1965), starring William Hartnell (The Doctor), Jacqueline Hill (Barbara), William Russell (Ian) and Maureen O'Brien (Vicki) and features Derek Francis (Nero). The Doctor and Vicki investigate intrigue surrounding the death of a lyre player en route to perform at the palace of Emperor Nero in London. Meanwhile, Barbara is sold as a slave at auction and Ian is thrown into the lions' den.

This week Josh and Alan tackle one of the true greats (okay, maybe not), one of the undisputed epics (yeah, not so much), one of the absolute titans (not even close) of Doctor Who -- that's right, it's "Nightmare of Eden" from Season 17! Written by Bob Baker (or is that Barker?) and directed by Alan Bromly (at least for a little while), "Nightmare" stars Tom Baker, Lalla Ward and David Brierly. The TARDIS gang encounters two ships that have collided in a partially dematerialised state, carrying a bunch of drug smugglers, a supply of the deadly drug, and a scope that holds creatures and their environments from different planets in miniaturised form (wait, haven't we already seen that in "Carnival of Monsters"???). It's a production that was so fraught with difficulty that it made its director quit midway through and made both the producer and the script editor turn in their resignations!

This week hosts Josh and Alan are joined by their good friend Ashley Raburn to talk about "The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50" the fifth chapter of Big Finish's ongoing 60th Anniversary series Once and Future. The First Doctor arrives in Victorian London amid a Martian invasion. But he discovers all is not what it seems when Missy appears... Soon, the Doctor is propelled into a future incarnation - the Tenth - but he is not alone in battling Missy and her Martian invaders. The Paternoster Gang are also here to assist. But can they offer the Doctor any help in solving his own degeneration mystery?

"Planetoid 50" stars David Tennant, Michelle Gomez, Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewert, and Dan Starkey, written by Jonathan Barnes and directed by Ken Bentley.

Fear not! If you haven't heard "Planetoid 50" yet, we keep the first half of our review spoiler-free and give a clear warning before we launch into spoilers. First, though, the episode begins with the gang covering the news of the week, including a couple of rumours and conspiracy theories!

What did you think of "Planetoid 50"? Drop us a line at doctorwhoatoz@gmail.com or, if you visit our website (link below), leave us a voice recording and we'll play it during an episode!

Last week was Atlanta's biggest annual nerdfest, Dragon Con! Alan talks about his time riding the Dragon this year and what the experience tells us about the state of Doctor Who fandom in the wake of the Chibnall era. After that, we review all the recent news and look ahead to the next release from Big Finish in their ongoing 60th Anniversary series, Once and Future.

Were you at Dragon Con? Let us know what your favorite DC experience was! Drop us a line at doctorwhoatoz@gmail.com or, if you visit our website (link below), leave us a voice recording and we'll play it during an episode!

Josh and Alan are the voices in each others' heads as they review "Two's Company", the fourth chapter in the Big Finish 60th Anniversary saga Once and Future. It stars Colin Baker as the Doctor, Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler, Michelle Ryan as Lady Christina, Christopher Naylor as Harry Sullivan, and Michael Maloney as "The Renegade."

Back on Earth, the Doctor finds a clue in the search for the origins of the degeneration weapon. In his Sixth body, he meets Jackie Tyler and Lady Christina de Souza - thrown together by fate, or something more? - in pursuit of a powerful item of jewelry. Meanwhile, a Time Lord renegade has duped Harry Sullivan into helping him stop the Doctor's travels before they begin - and all are set on a collision course.

First they tackle the latest news about the upcoming television episodes.

Let us know what you thought of "Two's Company" or of Once and Future so far! Drop us a line at doctorwhoatoz@gmail.com or, if you visit our website (link below), leave us a voice recording and we'll play it during an episode!

After a bit of a break, Josh and Alan are back on the road to the 60th Anniversary! This week we review “A Genius For War,” the third episode in Big Finish’s ongoing anniversary saga, Once and Future. This one stars Sylvester McCoy, Terry Molloy, Ken Bones, and Beth Chalmers. “In the midst of the Time War, the Time Lords have received a communication from Falkus, the prison moon of Skaro. Its sole inmate, Davros, wishes to make them an offer. He will help them win the Time War... but only if the Doctor comes to his rescue.” 

Before that, though, we cover the latest in Doctor Who news!  

This week Josh and Alan check in with the Eighth Doctor in the Big Finish audio "Day of the Vashta Nerada", part of the Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 2 box set, written by Matt Fitton, directed by Barnaby Edwards, and starring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and Jacqueline Pearce as Cardinal Ollistra.

When the Doctor stumbles across Synthesis Station, he discovers that the Time Lords have sponsored a project to weaponise already-lethal creatures. But in doing so, Eva Morrison and her team have unwittingly used a colony of Vashta Nerada with a very unfortunate history of humanoid contact.

First, though, the guys catch up on all the recent news in the Whoniverse, including the reveal of the 14th Doctor's sonic screwdriver, new character posters, a new tease by Russell T Davies for one of the upcoming episodes, and the announcement of Season 20 on Blu-ray.

Your hosts Josh and Alan continue their journey to the 60th Anniversary with random stops along the way! This week we travel to 2005 for a review of the Paul Cornell story "Father's Day." Rose convinces the Doctor to take her to 1987 to the day that her dad died. Bad idea? Not necessarily. But giving her a second chance at it? Definitely bad idea! "Father's Day" stars Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor, Billie Piper as Rose, Camille Coduri as Jackie and Shaun Dingwall as Pete.

This week, Josh and Alan get thrown back in time to 19th Century Scotland as they review the Season 22 story, "Timelash" -- and it goes about as well as you might expect it to. "Timelash" is a Sixth Doctor story starring Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant. It has been panned by fandom repeatedly as one of the worst Doctor Who serials of all time. How much does it deserve that reputation? Can the guys find anything likable in the story? Does it make any kind of sense at all? Find out!

After that, Josh recommends a Big Finish audio story that paints the Sixth Doctor and Peri in a much more positive light!

This week Josh and Alan dig into the second episode in Big Finish's 60th Anniversary miniseries Once and Future. Written by James Goss, "The Artist at the End of Time" stars Peter Davison, Georgia Tennant, and Colin Baker. The Doctor goes in search of answers to the predicament that he's in -- degenerating into past incarnations -- and instead finds his daughter and the Curator. What parts do they play in this mystery? It's a story of art, artists, collections, the end of everything, and existential crises.

If you've enjoyed the show, please leave a comment, review, or rating wherever you're listening!

After nearly ending up in the hospital after last week's show, Josh and Alan are back this week to review a hidden gem from the William Hartnell era -- "The Space Museum" from Season Two. In this one, the Doctor, Vicki, Barbara, and Ian arrive on the planet Xeros before they've actually arrived there. What in the world does that mean? It sets up a fascinating mystery that the TARDIS Gang has to solve to prevent a grave future that they've witnessed.

First, we take a look at a couple of news items: The announcement from Big Finish of chapter three of Once and Future, entitled "A Genius For War", and the release of the Unofficial 1997 Annual by TERRAQUEOUS DISTRIBUTORS.

Then Josh takes us to his Spin-Off Media Corner for a recommendation of the Big Finish play "The Rocket Men" as a follow-up from "The Space Museum".

If you've enjoyed the show, please leave a comment, review, or rating wherever you're listening!

Well, it had to happen eventually -- Josh and Alan have entered the Chris Chibnall era. This week the guys dive into the finale of Series 11 -- "The Battle of Ranskoor av Kolos" -- starring Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill, featuring the return of Tzim-Sha from Jodie's debut episode. And let's just say ... it goes about as well as expected. Without giving too much away, this one doesn't rate very highly with us.

But before our episode review, we talk about a couple of recent news items: Frazer Hines novelizing (well, sort of) "The Evil of the Daleks," and the return of the glorious Bonnie Langford as Mel in Ncuti Gatwa's debut season!

Then, as a palate cleanser, Josh offers up a recommendation of a Big Finish story that he enjoys.

If you've enjoyed the show, please leave a comment, review, or rating wherever you're listening!

Hitting the highlights from throughout the history of Doctor Who, this week we jump into the Matt Smith era with "Cold War." And since this episode features the return of Ice Warriors to the program after a 39-year absence, we knew we had to invite our buddy Ashley Raburn in to discuss it with us! We talk about whether this story could have worked with any other monster (particularly a Dalek), the brilliance of David Warner, the Clara character arc, how the New Series updated the Ice Warriors, and a lot more.

And after that, Josh recommends a Big Finish story starring David Warner as the Doctor and Lisa Bowerman as Professor Bernice Summerfield!

If you've enjoyed the show, please leave a comment, review, or rating wherever you're listening!

So far our journey down the road to Doctor Who's 60th Anniversary has mostly been looking behind at previous episodes -- episodes that paved the path that has brought us this far. But this week we take our first big steps forward into brand-new territory!

First, we review the new trailer that reveals the titles of the upcoming three special episodes starring David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, and we share our thoughts and predictions for what might be in store for us.

Then, we turn our attention to a new release from Big Finish Productions, the first in their new anniversary series Once and Future, in which the Doctor has been hit by a degeneration weapon and his cycling through some of his past lives. It's called, oddly enough, "Past Lives" and it stars Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Sadie Miller as Sarah Jane Smith, Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, Ingrid Oliver as Osgood, and Rufus Hound as the Meddling Monk. If you haven't heard the story yet, don't worry -- we keep it fully spoiler-free at first, then give a warning before we move into spoiler territory.

If you've enjoyed the show, please leave a comment, review, or rating wherever you're listening!

As we approach the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary, doing random stops along the timeline to check out highlights from every era of the show, this week we visit the snowcapped mountains of the Himalayas -- by way of North Wales -- for a completely unscripted, unplanned chat about the Second Doctor classic, "The Abominable Snowmen."

During the discussion, Josh and Alan spend a good 10 minutes gushing over the utter brilliance of Patrick Troughton before settling down to discuss liberties taken by the animated reconstructions, how to properly watch the animations, why the Yeti needed to be robots, Scooby Doo villains, and more.

Afterward, Josh gives us a recommendation for another story to check out after "Abominable" in Josh's Spin-Off Media Corner!

If you've enjoyed the show, please leave a comment, review, or rating wherever you're listening!

As we approach the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary, doing random stops along the timeline to check out highlights from every era of the show, this week we pay a visit to ancient Pompeii -- and it's Volcano Day! That's right: the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble find themselves about to be buried under a river of lava along with 20,000 other people in "The Fires of Pompeii". Your hosts (Josh and Alan) have a completely unscripted, unplanned discussion about this Series Four episode. But do we like it? During the discussion we bring up abstract history vs. personal history, fixed points in time (and whether they are actually fixed), the silliness of squirt guns, how the story should have gone, and much more.

First, we talk about the announcement that Murray Gold is returning to the show, and then we stick around Pompeii a little longer as Josh recommends Big Finish's "The Fires of Vulcan" featuring the Seventh Doctor and Mel.

If you've enjoyed the show, please leave a comment, review, or rating wherever you're listening!

If there's a particular story you'd like to hear us discuss, please let us know at doctorwhoatoz@gmail.com!

This week Josh and Alan have a lively discussion about the opening story of Season 8, Jon Pertwee's second season on Doctor Who, "Terror of the Autons"! While we both like the story overall, it does bring with it its own set of problems that will become part of the template of the Pertwee era. This is a story of great change -- we have new characters coming in, a brand new major villain, and a whole new tone and direction for the show.

First, though, we talk about BBC Books' newly announced upcoming series with each book set in one of the decades that Doctor Who has been around -- and they don't always feature the Doctors you'd expect they would! Then, we pay a visit to Josh's Spin-Off Media Corner to talk about a Big Finish story and a much earlier BBC Books' novel, both of which feature the Autons.

If you've enjoyed the show, please leave a comment, review, or rating wherever you're listening!

If there's a particular story you'd like to hear us discuss, please let us know at doctorwhoatoz@gmail.com!

Suggested to us by listener Jared R. Byer, this week we're discussing one of our favorites, "The Happiness Patrol", from 1988, Season 25. The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) come to the planet Terra Alpha to investigate some strange goings on. What they discover is a regime that forcefully suppresses all sadness. It's famous for being a criticism of the Thatcher government, but it's so much more than that. Being big fans of the Seventh Doctor era, we both really love this one.

This week Josh and Alan pay a visit to the Peter Capaldi era to talk about a 2-parter from Series Nine -- "Under the Lake / Before the Flood"! The Doctor and Clara find themselves in a classic base under siege story haunted by ghostly apparitions before the Doctor takes a trip to the past to see how the story begins. But not before giving us a little lesson Beethoven and bootstraps! We definitely have mixed feelings about this one, but we're unanimous in our love for Capaldi!

Afterward, we step over to Josh's Spin-Off Media Corner to talk about the Seventh Doctor audio from Big Finish, "Flip Flop"!

If you've enjoyed the show, please leave a comment, review, or rating wherever you're listening!

If there's a particular story you'd like to hear us discuss, please let us know at doctorwhoatoz@gmail.com!

Mystery! Murder! Robots! And LOTS of sand! This week Josh and Alan steer their TARDIS back to 1977 to enjoy "The Robots of Death" starring Tom Baker as the Doctor and Louise Jameson as Leela. We talk about what makes this a nearly perfect Doctor Who story! But first, we cover the first "news" of the upcoming UNIT spin-off series! 

Returning Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has confirmed that there will be new Doctor Who spin-offs coming. What shape or form might these spin-offs take? In this episode I talk about some of the things that I hope to see and also get some feedback from some of the past attendees of WHOlanta! We cover some of the most-often suggested ideas as well as some really unexpected ones! 

As we continue to hit highlights from the first 59 years of the show leading up to the 60th Anniversary in 2023, I'm joined by Dominic Glynn, composer on Seasons 23 - 26 of the original series, to talk about the final broadcast story, "Survival." We chat about Dominic's first impression of the story back in 1989, his approach to scoring it, and what makes "Survival" unique in the Doctor Who canon, before talking about some of his recent work, particularly his score for the BAFTA Award-winning documentary, Eye of the Storm.