I'll Explain Later: conversations about Doctor Who

Bikinis and budgie-smugglers at the ready, as the 25th episode of I'll Explain Later accompanies your summer break with another trio of tales! Why have one when you can have two? A duo beating down on them, can Tom Baker and Louise 'Leela' Jameson ride out the heat and avoid the taxman in 1977 yarn The Sun Makers? Oh no, it's clouded over! A typical British summer explored in harrowing depth over...

We're on a summer break so no new episode from us this month, sadly. However, to tide you over until our August return, here's a treat from our archives. Earlier this year we were thrilled to be invited to contribute to the spectacular 250th episode of JR Southall's Blue Box Podcast, and we recorded this minisode where we discuss what makes for Bad Doctor Who. Hope you enjoy it. We'll be back in A...

Roll up, roll up – pay your shilling to play the game as the 24th episode of I’ll Explain Later runs the gamut from intergalactic tag to the grandmastery of an existential chess match! Hartnell & Co take in some costume dramas, dodge Daleks in their cardboard quantum coach and encounter anachronistically-named planets in 1965’s The Chase. Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston, Rose and him off Corrie...

Shuffling shag, a horny monster - and the Myrka. I'll Explain Later once again waves its torch at Doctor Who where the sun's May rays don't shine. As much Midnight at the Lost and Found as Down in the Tube Station at Midnight - yes, we examine recently-discovered Second Doctor epic The Web of Fear. Only one man engenders sufficient faith to make us believe he can lead us with courage to see things...

Clocking on and plunging deep into the shaft, I'll Explain Later returns with a heavily accented "Trouble Down t'Pit" special. The Doctor dangles, as David Tennant and chums confront evil itself in The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit. Tyneside tykes and wooden miming as the Sixth Doctor tries to rub off The Mark of the Rani. And we make all the obvious comments about Erato as Tom Baker grapples...

It's 1st April, so what better time to examine three more Doctor Who adventures that have flown under the radar. Okay, so it's not the ACTUAL episode 22 - check back on 15th April for your regular dose of I'll Explain Later fun... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Salty seamen and terrified cabin boys aplenty as we set sail for a pirate-themed 21st voyage aboard the good ship I'll Explain Later. The Fourth Doctor and Romana marvel at the Captain's massive spheres on The Pirate Planet. Plank or catwalk? Tough to tell, as Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith encounters fashion muse Lily Cole in The Curse of the Black Spot. Meanwhile, Hartnell and Co. dodge Brexity brig...

Roses are red, police boxes are blue... In this twentieth, Valentine's edition of I'll Explain Later, The Third Doctor muses on tea ladies and gentlemen's clubs in Terror of the Autons, Ten and Rose mix feline and saline during visiting hours on New Earth and Peter Davison is not the first Brit to stagger around Amsterdam in a dazed state of collapse as he stars in universally-adored 1983 classic...

Happy New Year! We start 2017 as we mean to continue, with three Doctor Who big-hitters. The First Doctor gets stuck into some Saxon violence in The Time Meddler, the Fourth Doctor smells a rat in The Talons of Weng-Chiang, and the Eleventh Doctor raids the fridge in The Eleventh Hour. Along the way, we admire the Meddling Monk’s methodical approach to task management, lock horns with a sacred cow...

Christmas bonus time for I'll Explain Later listeners, as this second Yuletide edition materialises. With only sherry, port, stilton, cheddar, a selection of artisan-baked crackers, stollen and mince pies to sustain them, our gouty guides explore Tenth Doctor David Tennant's 2006 nixed-Noël-nuptials spectacular The Runaway Bride. Amid musings on Schrödinger's Doctor Who action figure and blue-bloo...

Joyful all ye Nation's guys! Nothing can exterminate the festive fun, as the I'll Explain Later crew encounter three podcasting poltergeists and take on sprawling Hartnell epic The Daleks' Master Plan. Lithium-fuelled cricket commentary and the cooling effects of a Panama titfer are just two of the fascinating topics of debate, while Jim casts a critical eye over spy-fi, Matt queries the quality o...

Don your mittens and light the sparklers as we run the Gallifreyan gamut from toxic to saccharine in I'll Explain Later's November display. The Ninth Doctor and Rose risk sunburn on a weekend break to The End of the World; The Master sucks on a stogie while Team Third Doctor tackle the origami ogre that is The Time Monster; finally, The Seventh Doctor and Ace are in three episodes of The Happiness...

It's a seafood smorgasbord on this month's I'll Explain Later as we tuck in to three more thrilling Doctor Who adventures. The Second Doctor and pals hit Butlins during an outbreak of crabs in The Macra Terror, The Fourth Doctor and Leela get stuck into a prawn cocktail in The Invisible Enemy, while the Tenth Doctor catches up with pretty much everyone he's ever met in The Stolen Earth / Journey's...

This month it's a triple history lesson as the Doctor and chums take a trip into the past. The Fifth Doctor reaches for the Mace in The Visitation, the Eleventh Doctor enjoys the fish in Vampires of Venice, and the First Doctor is seeing double in The Massacre (of St Bartholomew's Eve). Along the way, we considered whether the Fifth Doctor's TARDIS crew was a YTS scheme, ponder the baffling symbol...

We could have spent the August holidays outside enjoying the sun, but instead we spent it cooped up indoors watching Doctor Who in order to bring you our thoughts on three more adventures. This month, the Fourth Doctor's epic quest to find some perspex gets off to a thrilling start in The Ribos Operation, the Tenth Doctor has woman trouble in School Reunion, and the Third Doctor takes it on the Ch...

We're back! After taking a summer break last month, we put three more Doctor Who adventures under the microscope. This month, the Second Doctor's peddling acid to the locals in The Krotons, the Eleventh Doctor joins the clergy in The Time of Angels, while the Fifth Doctor watches the bodies pile up in Resurrection of the Daleks. Along the way, we hear about an extraordinary unmade episode, wonder...

The clock is ticking in this months selection of Doctor Who adventures that feature our favourite Time Lord in a desperate race against time. This month, the First Doctor and pals get a bit stir crazy during a quiet night in as they face The Edge of Destruction, the Tenth Doctor soaks up the sun in 42 and the Fourth Doctor visits the old folks at home in The Deadly Assassin. Along the way, we find...

This month, it’s a trilogy of subterranean Doctor Who adventures as we go beneath the surface. The Third Doctor tries to balance the scales in the confusingly-entitled Doctor Who And The Silurians; the Seventh Doctor’s left dangling in Dragonfire; and the Eleventh Doctor has a whale of a time aboard Starship UK in The Beast Below. Along the way, we learn how a friend of Jim’s was scarred by the cl...

This month we endure six hours in make-up to bring you three Doctor Who adventures notable for their use of prosthetic masks (to varying effect). First up, it's off to the planet Dido [N.B. CHECK SPELLING], where the First Doctor makes a new friend, and Ian and Barbara are ready for cockylickin'. Then we drop by Oodsphere, where the Tenth Doctor and Donna encounter Spartacus with tentacles and a h...

We celebrate Valentine’s Day the only way we know how - by putting three more Doctor Who adventures under the microscope. This month, the Second Doctor encounters something nasty in the freezer section in Tomb of the Cybermen, the Fifth Doctor finds himself stuck on on a spaceship that’s gone to the dogs in Terminus, and the Tenth Doctor has a wet’n’wild time with the Waters of Mars. Along the way...

Happy New Year! We kick off 2016 with three Doctor Who adventures that see an exotic mini-break go badly awry. A trip to Butlins-in-space sees the Fourth Doctor endure some mind-mangling entertainment in The Leisure Hive; the Ninth Doctor’s plans to visit Naples take a turn for the worse when he ends up dealing with a gas leak in Cardiff in The Unquiet Dead; and the First Doctor enjoys sex, drugs...

Merry Christmas! At this special time of year, we dig deep into our bulging sack to bring you three festive adventures for Doctor Who and chums. The First Doctor, Steven and Sara enjoy a seasonal Scouse runaround in The Feast of Stephen, the Tenth Doctor spends most of the day sleeping off the night before in The Christmas Invasion, and it’s Crinkley Bottoms all round as some ageing Doctors get th...

"I do love a knees-up!" This month, we look at three occasions where the Doctor and chums are menaced by disembodied threats. The Fourth Doctor teams up with a bunch of renaissance men in The Masque of Mandragora, the Tenth Doctor eats his words in Midnight, while the Fifth Doctor gets a treat AND a surprise in Kinda. Along the way, John reminds us of a 90s deodorant advert, Matt recalls being cre...

"This is an ambulance!!" This month: three Doctor Who adventures set in America but (for the most part) filmed elsewhere in the world. We look at the First Doctor's rootin' tootin' adventure at the OK Corral with The Gunfighters, the Tenth Doctor's porcine encounter with Daleks In Manhattan, and the Eighth Doctor's attempts to stave off the millennium bug in, er, Doctor Who (aka The TV Movie). Alo...

"Tricky things, mammoths." In our fourth show, we take a trip back to 19th century England for three slices of Victoriana, Doctor Who style. This month we go through the looking glass with Patrick Troughton for Evil of the Daleks, see Matt Smith get tickled pink by the Crimson Horror, and scratch our heads while Sylvester McCoy is dazzled by Ghost Light. Along the way, Jim reveals who he’d choose...