A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast

Joe & Mark; regaling with delightful tales of Didcot! Mark LOVES this story, and Joe has been seduced by his enthusiasm for it. Is this one of the best ever episode ones?

Joe & Dave; breaking the show as they clash over the idea of the Doctor murdering. Amy tortured and tricked? Rory duped? Is the Doctor pro-Ganger or not? Has the show lost its mind in this ambitious arc?

Joe & Dave; and buckets full of, um, flesh. Is this a vastly underrated horror story with atmosphere and chills? Or is it a ghastly, ugly, hollow bore-fest that does perverse things with the regulars? Only one way to find out…FIGHT!

Joe & Peter; needing more than Perrrier. We address the complaints; the gratuitous violence, acid bath humour, a murderous climax and lots of corridor wandering…and we revel and laugh our way through the lot!

Joe & Peter; we’ll hear you scream until we’re deaf with pleasure. A popular season, a well directed story, featuring a strong cast, a biting commentary on Doctor Who, atmosphere and a commanding Doctor? Can we be talking about the Colin Baker era?

Joe & Si; Ra! Ra! Ra! Discussion about piecing together Doctor Who like a puzzle. How gay and cheerful is Jamie? And how do you bring down giant gas guzzling crabs?

Joe & Si; happy to work, happy to play! Is this the point where the story becomes a little more conventional? What the hell is the Danger Gang? And what is the backstory of the Macra infiltrating the colony?

Joe & Si; pondering extraneous TARDIS facilities that we never hear about again. Is Si a champion tosser? An initiative test? Missing episodes = the ultimate, unsolvable puzzle.

Joe & Si; well this is gay! Huge love for the first episode, the subversive nature of Troughton’s Doctor emerging, the insidious, jolly atmosphere and discussion of the animation. Nothing succeeds like success!

Joe & Gary; and the ultimate 🐹question. More talk of watching this as a kid, especially in relation to the brilliant final set piece. How did we do in actually talking about Day of the Daleks?

Joe & Gary; in a war torn Dalek future. Who was the last survivor of the Titanic? What was Terrance and what was Louis? Is this the first deeply unpleasant Dystopia? Is this the first unpleasant depiction of the future?

Joe & Gary; the Tomorrow People podcast! Much focus on Paul Bernard and his strengths and weaknesses as a director. How many kids out of a class of 25 were watching Doctor Who in the 70s?

Joe, Jeff & the Hammies; celebrating Doctor Who’s part in 100 years of the BBC and Jodie Whittaker’s incredible Doctor. Come with us as we count those references, laugh, cry and delight in this.

Joe & Gary; a good humoured commentary - perhaps a touch sardonic but not cynical. Discussion of the Targets, for Terrance, Barry, being a child in the 70s watching Doctor and why this story is hideously undervalued.

Joe & Jim; perfectly content drinking their own lactic fluid. It’s Derek Jacobi as the Master! That would be enough. But this is a fierce script, packed with great characters, banter, twists, energy and horror. It’s one of Joe’s all time favourites.

Joe, Luke & Mark; and the plot condensed in three sentences. Holmesian gobbledegook, character beats, atmosphere, scares and our personal reasons we love this story. Mostly it’s Mr Sin!

Joe, Mark & Luke; and River Song? Can Mark pronounce anything? Is Big Finish a vulture pecking over the corpse of Talons? Has the plot run out of juice just as the character work goes through the roof?

Joe, Mark & Luke; it won’t be a stylish marriage! Luke’s favourite episode thanks to the magic tricks, show tunes and suspense in the theatre. How many Doctor Who tunes can we fit into one episode?

Joe, Luke & Mark; getting by with a little questions from their friends. Is Jameson the best actor to appear in Doctor Who? A hooker?! Massive love for a giant fluffy rat gnawing on Leela. The Maitland Children spin off!

Joe, Mark & Luke; straight to the point boys! Patsy the Mudlark - the Complete History! Much love for Leela; the conception of her character and how it is executed here. Two double acts; the Doctor & Jago and Leela & Litefoot and both are gold.

Joe, Luke & Mark; a podcast threesome experience! You cannot talk about Talons without dealing with the racism and we get straight to the point so we can deal with its many, many virtues. Make an ‘orse sick, that would!

Joe & Nathan; off to Barcelona! He killed Lynda with a Y, and Jack, and the entire game station crew, and Joseph Patterson. And the Doctor! Badass Daleks, religion, redemption and very human moments. This is just gold.

Joe & Nathan; WHERE were they hiding that? How do you pastiche reality TV whilst adoring it and using it for sick jokes and drama? RTD knows. How do you bring back the Daleks in the most spectacularly memorable way? He knows that too.

Joe & Si; and the curious case of Moffat love on 🐹 Saddle up cowboy! We’ve got lush location work, confident regulars, a fascinating moral dilemma, action, a great score and some fine character study. This is the worst season, you say?

Joe & Jack; don’t look at us like it’s our fault! Animated cadavers, gaseous lifeforms, immigration rumblings, a morality play, a fresh Doctor and companion, a Christmas ghost story and a verbally dexterous writer. Series one is where it’s all at!