Doctor Who: Toby Hadoke’s Time Travels

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...

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 ch...

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?   Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you...

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...

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 anyon...

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 Ha...

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...

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...

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!   Please...

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 t...

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. Hopefull...

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.   Please support these podcasts on Patre...

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...

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 lan...

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 w...

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...

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 obviousl...

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...

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 Uni...

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...

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? Please support these podcasts on Patreon, where you will get advance releases, excl...

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 proff...

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 fa...

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...?