Doctor Who A(uton) to Z(ygon)

Our first season of the Disney+ era has come to an end. Along the way, we’ve reviewed each episode in detail. We’ve taken a little breather from it and come back strong to review the season as a whole. How do we rank the episodes? Do we rate any of them differently than we originally did? How do we feel this season stacks up with the rest of Modern Who?   Before we get into that, though, we have a...

DWAZ #57 – "THE EMPIRE OF DEATH”  Our review of the Doctor Who series finale, “The Empire of Death,” took place LIVE immediately after the episode finished airing. Presented here is an unedited recording of that live show, exactly as it happened. Did we love it? Did we hate it? Did it make a lick of sense? You’ll have to listen to find out!   We'd love to hear from you! If you've enjo...

DWAZ #56 – "THE LEGEND OF RUBY SUNDAY”  This week we review Part 1 of the Series 14 (oh, okay ... Season 1) 2-part finale, “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Jamie Donoughue. The Doctor enlists UNIT to help him with his Susan Twist problem and awakens an ancient evil that’s been hitching a ride on the TARDIS!   We'd love to hear from you! If you'v...

DWAZ #55 – "ROGUE”    This week the Doctor gets a love interest, Ruby gets to live out her favorite TV show, and we’re introduced to a new alien threat. Doctor Who has gone to the birds in “Rogue,” written by Kate Herron and Briony Redman and directed by Ben Chessell.  But before we dive into our episode, it’s our sad duty to pay tribute to one of the Doctor Who greats, William Russell, who p...

DWAZ #54 – "DOT AND BUBBLE”  We've got a doozy for you this week! We’re taking a look at the most recent episode of Doctor Who, the very non-traditional “Dot and Bubble,” written by Russell T Davies and directed by Dylan Holmes Williams. At first, a rich young woman who lives her life in the social media sphere is suddenly awakened to the fact that her friends are being eaten by monsters!...

We would walk 500 miles – or at least 73 yards – to bring you our review of the latest episode of Doctor Who , “73 Yards” written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Dylan Holmes Williams. This has been a very divisive episode amongst fandom. You may be surprised to find out what we thought of this one!  We'd love to hear from you! If you've enjoyed the show, please leave a comment, revie...

This week we celebrate the return of STEVEN MOFFAT to Doctor Who with his newest episode, “Boom”, starring Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson. The Doctor and Ruby land on the planet Kastarion 3 in the middle of an active war zone. Attempting to help someone in need, the Doctor steps on a landmine, and he is forced to come up with a solution to disarm it without moving. Let’s just say that this one divi...

It’s a brand new season of Doctor Who and we’ve got the first two episodes to review! Ashley, Josh and Alan dive into this new era of our favorite venerable show and review Episodes 1 and 2, “Space Babies” and “The Devil’s Chord,” both written by Russell T Davies. We talk about the high points, the low points, which episode was better, and what we look for in future episodes.  [*Because of the tim...

This week Ashley takes us to the planet Peladon where we meet a king battling against superstition, trying to impress a collection of weird aliens, and flirting with Jo Grant. We review “The Curse of Peladon", the second story from Season Nine, starring Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning, and featuring David Troughton.  We'd love to hear from you! If you've enjoyed the show, please leave a...

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 th...

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!)  Firs...

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...

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 sit...

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 an...

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 (w...

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 fo...

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! Che...

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 ?   We'd love to hear from you! If you've enjoyed the show...

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 lea...

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.   We'd love to hear f...

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. A...

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...

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 Dick...

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 Da...

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...