Doctor Who: Watchers in the Fourth Dimension

Anthony and Julie are joined by JM Casey from the Chrononauts podcast as they tackle the Season 9-adjacent Big Finish story, The Doll of Death from The Companion Chronicles range!   Over the course of the episode, Julie gets mad at Jo for having a date arranged with Captain Yates, JM questions established fan wisdom about the Doctor, Jo, and Yates, while Anthony ponders the use of ginger biscuits...

It’s a classic tale of occult shenanigans in a small South West England village as the Master dresses up as a vicar, Benton finds himself an on-screen admirer, the Doctor goes hard on the science-vs-magic debate, and Jo is (for some bizarre reason) willing to sacrifice herself for him, even though he’s awful to her for the whole story. It can only be Season 8’s finale, The Dæmons!   During the epi...

Anthony, Don, Julie, and Reilly are joined by friend-of-the-podcast Alan Siler as they return to the Troughton-era to discuss the recently released animation of The Evil of the Daleks in this bonus episode, Up the Kilt!   Over the course of the episode, the team looks at the animation style, its suitability as a substitute for the missing episodes, and whether they’d watch it again. Along the way,...

We’re on alien planet for the first time since The Krotons! It’s corporations vs. colonizers, with an ancient weapon of mass destruction in the background! Oh, and since its Season 8, the Master shows up, in disguise. Sort of. Whatever. It’s one of the less-loved serials of the season in Colony in Space!   During the episode, Reilly gets his lawyer on, Julie gets frustrated at the role given to Jo...

It’s a seasonal bonus episode of Watchers in the FEAR Dimension, as Reilly rallies the crew to discuss two classic horror films featuring stars from Doctor Who – The Omen (featuring Patrick Troughton) and the Amicus anthology The House That Dripped Blood (featuring Jon Pertwee and Peter Cushing).   Along the way, Julie plays true to type as “the musical one” and expresses a love for scores by Jerr...

Watchers calling Earth... Request immediate listening… Watchers calling Earth… it’s a new episode of Watchers in the Fourth Dimension! And this episode, we’re discussing the most psychedelic, the most glam story so far, as we tangle with The Claws of Axos!   During the episode, Anthony takes pity on the story’s comedy yokel, Reilly ponders the optimal distribution strategy for Axonite, Don questio...

It’s another bonus episode of Watchers in the Fourth Dimension, as the crew discusses the recent animation of The Web of Fear, Episode 3!   In our discussion, we ponder the key questions – what did we all think of the new animation style? Does it adequately fill the gap in the story? How does the animation compare to other releases? And would we want to see more of this animation style?   If you w...

Peace conferences! Lobotomy by alien brain parasite! Prison takeovers! Chemical missile theft! More disguises! It’s all in a day’s work for the UNIT folks, as we discuss The Master’s second outing on Doctor Who in The Mind of Evil.   Over the course of the episode, Reilly finds himself a new favourite member of the UNIT team, Julie plays Yates off against Benton, Anthony questions why UNIT are on...

It’s a bonus episode of Watchers in the Fourth Dimension! Recorded as a LIVE panel in conjunction with DragonCon’s Brittrack for DragonCon Goes Virtual 2021, we bring you our discussion on Doctor Who: The Early Years - a beginners’ guide to the first two Doctors, broken up into six episodes, much like many of the serials of the 1960s: Episode 1: The Quest for Time – we discuss how New Series fans...

We kick off an exceedingly Masterful new season of Doctor Who, as the one and only Robert Holmes is once again called in to helm another soft-reboot with Terror of the Autons! Join us as we discuss the introduction of one of the show’s iconic villains, the return of the Autons, and some of the most unnecessary special effects the show has seen to date!   During the episode, Don fixates on the dige...

In this bonus episode, “When RPA Goes Wrong,” Anthony and Julie tackle Binary – a Companion Chronicle from Big Finish! This audio features the amazing Caroline John as Liz Shaw, as she battles to escape from a sentient computer that’s fallen into the hands of UNIT.   Join Anthony and Julie as they discuss this story, bringing up subjects as diverse as the ethics of sentient computers, luges, body...

Wow! Another season down, and this one has been wrapped up so soon – so, naturally, we’re embarking on our now-obligatory season retrospective. Season 7 was the beginning of a new era for the show – new Doctor, Earthbound storylines, and the consistent involvement of UNIT. What do the Watchers think of this brave new era – does the change in format pay off, or is it just Quatermass in Doctor Who c...

We’re turning into green werewolves and bringing on the apocalypse, as we tackle a much-loved Pertwee classic in the shape of the one-and-only Inferno! Will the team unanimously love this one, or as the season finale will it be true to form, consistent with the rest of the Season 7 seven-parters, with the Watchers split on their opinions?   Over the course of the episode, Julie ships Greg and Petr...

This episode, it is our Moral Duty™ to take Quatermass homage to the extreme, engaging in some “Vicious Quatermassturbation” as we discuss The Ambassadors OF DEATH! It’s time for incompetent military forces (possibly including murdering scientists?), conspiracies, and plenty of model sequences!   Over the course of the episode, Don talks miraculously disappearing accents, Reilly finds that he’s un...

This episode, we discuss our very first encounter with the other intelligent species from Earth in Doctor Who and the Silurians. Suffice to say that living through a pandemic, we all find ourselves somewhat triggered as we watch a deadly disease spread across England in this one!   During the episode, Reilly talks two-state solutions, Anthony focuses on the “otherness” of the Doctor, Julie gets of...

In this bonus episode, “A Bit Pudgy for a Stormtrooper” Anthony, Don, and Reilly take a side step away from Doctor Who and discuss the 1957 film Quatermass 2! This film has been cited as one of the main influences on Season 7 of Doctor Who in general, and specifically on Spearhead from Space.   Along the way, Don discusses how this film influenced an iconic scene from one of his other favourite sh...

We’re back - in glorious colour(!) - as we kick off the Pertwee-era with the very highly regarded Robert Holmes standard Spearhead from Space. Will the Watchers find this story as good as fan opinion would have it? Well, we’re hardly going to spoil that in this blurb, are we!? That said, there is a treat in store for anyone who enjoys Julie’s singing!   During the episode, Anthony ponders the pote...

In this bonus episode, “Will They, Won’t They?” Anthony and Julie discuss the Second and First Doctor cross-over story from Big Finish - Daughter of the Gods, by David K. Barnes. Part of Big Finish’s 20th anniversary celebrations, this was conceived as being done in the style of a hypothetical 5th anniversary special, and features both the First and Second Doctors!   Join us as we discuss the dyna...

Wrapping up the Troughton era, the Watchers are joined by friend-of-the-podcast Alan Siler for a special retrospective of the entire era, recorded LIVE at Wholanta Virtual TARDIS 2021! Alan takes us through a series of questions about the Troughton era as a whole, asking about everything from comparisons to his predecessor, how the companions work in comparison to each other, and our favourite sto...

This episode, the Watchers look back on the extreme highs and even more extreme lows of Season 6 in their latest trademark Season retrospective, blending award-show style categories, qualitative measures, and questions put to us by our audience via social media.   Over the course of the episode, Don talks about the destructive impacts of the Quarks on their creators’ careers, Anthony gets himself...

In this episode, we shed a tear as the end is finally here for the Second Doctor. We discuss the second half of The War Games, as the Games themselves come to their shocking conclusion, and some of the oldest questions on the show are about to get answered...   During the episode, Anthony asks how the Doctor has suddenly lost the ability to speak French, Reilly ponders whether Steve Jobs stole the...

The end is nigh for the Second Doctor as the TARDIS crew arrive in what appears to be World War One, but not all is as it seems… Continuing our journey through all of Doctor Who, we discuss the first half of the absolute epic that is The War Games, as we start preparing to bid farewell to some familiar faces…   During the episode, Reilly finds himself disappointed by the fact that Doctor von Werr...

In this bonus episode, “Cozy, Stress Free, and Kind of Silly,” Anthony sat down with animator, writer, producer, and actor David Busch for a chat about his work, including on the animations of Shada, The Macra Terror, and the special edition of The Power of the Daleks.   David’s work can be found at the following locations: David’s website: https://davidbuschfilms.com/ Metalocalypse: Season 2 (Ama...

This episode, we bring to you our discussion of a story that is, in the eyes of fandom, one of the worst stories of all time. Seriously, in Doctor Who Magazine’s 50th Anniversary poll, it came in at 7th last. It’s also the last story to have missing episodes. That’s right, it’s the one and only The Space Pirates! Will we find it as bad as accepted wisdom would have it?   Over the course of the epi...

This episode, we discuss the first return of everyone’s favourite lizardmen as the show revisits the base-under-siege genre in The Seeds of Death! Will the Watchers enjoy it better than their debut adventure? You’ll have to listen to the episode to find out!   Over the course of the episode, Anthony questions why the T-Mat base on the Moon has a hall of mirrors, Don discusses his theory about rear...