Doctor Who: Watchers in the Fourth Dimension

In this bonus episode, “Dammit Susan” Anthony and Julie discuss Julie’s first Big Finish experience, with “The Library of Alexandria” – a Companion Chronicle narrated by Ian Chesterton himself, William Russell!   Join them as they discuss the history of the library, including how it was really destroyed, as well as the budding romance in the story, jealousy, and Susan being Susan. As you'd expect,...

In this episode, “Pirates of the Caribboring” the Watchers kick-start Season 4 with the swashbuckling adventure known only as “The Smugglers.” Oh... maybe “swashbuckling” and “adventure” oversells it a bit?   This episode, Anthony talks censorship, Julie gets excited about the shirtless men of the story, Don discusses his least-favourite trope, and Reilly highlights the Doctor’s boozing. Spoiler a...

In this episode, “No (Terrance) Dicks, No Lava Lamps” the Watchers crew tread somewhat familiar, yet slightly different ground, as they discuss the second Peter Cushing Dalek movie, Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.   This episode, Anthony can’t resist a final cheeky dig at Richard Martin, Julie talks about the diminishment of the role of women in the film, Don gets excited over the use of fetish ge...

In this episode, “Fun, But Completely Unnecessary,” the Watchers crew look back on the ups-and-downs of Season 3, with a series of awards, questions from listeners, and the qualitative data from the last 10 episodes.   This episode, Don talks about how Katarina could have worked as a companion, Anthony flip-flops on a couple of things, Julie praises the women of the show, and Reilly tries his hard...

In this episode, “The WOTAN Clan,” the team head to contemporary Earth for the first time since Planet of Giants. And this time, the TARDIS crew are full size! All this and more as we tackle The War Machines!   This episode, Julie finds her first directorial snafu, Anthony ponders what WOTAN plans to do once he’s taken over, Don writes and recites a bad haiku, and Reilly enthuses over the more mod...

It’s March 2020, and the Watchers in the Fourth Dimension have reached the end of Steven Taylor’s time as the Doctor’s companion. With COVID-19 running rampant across the world, and everyone (hopefully) practicing social distancing, we are here to help you stave off boredom for an hour, by bringing you a special bonus episode, in which Anthony interviews the man who played Steven himself, Peter Pu...

In this episode, “Tor Loser,” the team are off to a place where a ruling upperclass lives off the energy and lifeforce of an oppressed working class. No, it’s not Victorian Britain, but actually The Savages - a story that is bizarrely overlooked by a lot of fans, given that it's really quite good.   This episode, Anthony gets confused on which story we’re meant to be talking about, Julie gets Sava...

In this episode, “Flirting with Competence,” we’re off to the Wild West so that the Doctor can get a tooth extracted… wait, what!? It’s the kind of thing that could only happen in 60s Doctor Who, and this story is The Gunfighters! Will the Watchers survive the repeated refrains of the infamous Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon?   This time around, Anthony raves about the sets and the costumes, Reil...

In this episode, “I Want to Talk About Chairs,” we’re off to the realm of an extremely bored immortal with a penchant for fun and games. That’s right – it’s The Celestial Toymaker, a story that undoubtedly divides opinion in fandom.   This episode, Anthony talks about his fear of clowns, Reilly gets excited about the notion of the return of Sgt. Ruggs and Mrs. Wiggs, Julie talks about chairs, and...

This week, we discuss a thrilling adventure in which new companion Dodo is suffering from a cold. That’s right – it’s The Ark, a story with some rather uncomfortable undertones.   This episode, Anthony talks British colonialism, Reilly makes use of his film degree by praising the direction, Julie explains medical things, and Don talks about the trope of invisible beings with supernatural powers in...

With the Doctor and Steven now travelling alone after the events of the Dalek epic, we follow them on their next adventure in a fun romp called The Massacre. Uh, except... maybe it's not a fun romp, with a name like that.    This time around, Julie gets historical, Anthony gets excited about hats, Reilly compares Steven to a lost child looking for his Dad, and Don once again continues his vendetta...

Having covered the first half of the story in our last episode, we’re back in Bring Back the Corpse of Dennis Spooner to discuss episodes 7 through 12 of The Daleks’ Master Plan! If you missed the first half of our discussion of this story, you can find it in our previous episode, Poppycock and Nonsense .   This time around, Don continues his vendetta against John Wiles, Julie pines for more of th...

This episode, we finally get around to that Dalek epic that was teased a couple of stories back… yes, we’ve finally made it to The Daleks’ Master Plan! Since the televised story was twelve episodes long, it’s going to take us two podcasts to get through. Thus in this episode, Poppycock and Nonsense, we discuss episodes 1 through 6.   Along the way, Anthony says “absurdly” an absurd number of times...

This episode, we’re off to Asia Minor to watch some Greeks and Trojans do some battling in Season 3’s The Myth Makers. We also find ourselves in the middle of an Invasion of the Dons, with this serial being written by Don Cotton, with Don Tosh as Story Editor, and our very own Don Smith contributing to our conversation!   Along the way, Anthony gets his Classics nerd on, Julie talks about The Doct...

It’s time for the Watchers to cover the only Doctor Who story ever to not feature any of the main cast (and the very first standalone episode...ish) – Mission to the Unknown! With this story being another one that’s missing, the team were fortunate to be discussing this one just after the remount hit YouTube.   Along the way, Anthony is still blaming Richard Martin for things (even though this is...

The Watchers kick off their journey through Season 3 with a robust discussion of everyone’s favourite classic story of the beauty vs. the beast, Galaxy Four! This is the start of an odyssey deep into missing episode land, so be prepared for lots of talk about that over the next few episodes.   Along the way, Anthony finds ways to continue to blame Richard Martin for things (even though he was no l...

The Watchers take a side-step into an alternate universe, discussing Dr. Who and the Daleks – the concept’s first venture into colour, and on the big screen!   Along the way, Reilly nerds out about film, Julie is disappointed at the sidelining of Barbara, Anthony loses his connection halfway through the recording, and Don relentlessly criticizes this interpretation of the Thals. In the meantime, y...

Having spent the last nine episodes discussing each story of Season 2, the Watchers are back with a special season round-up, discussing their favourite and least favourite things from the season (such as story, director, actors, etc.), and comparing their feelings about stories at the end of the season against how they felt at the time.   Along the way, Reilly continues to rave about The Web Plane...

This episode, we meet someone else from the Doctor’s home planet for the first time, and we also are finally able to say hello to Steven as an official companion, as we tackle Season 2’s finale, The Time Meddler!   Along the way, Reilly gets drawn to the darker aspects of Doctor Who fandom, Julie misses Steven’s beard, Anthony once again makes use of his history degrees, and Don espouses his love...

This episode, we prepare to bid farewell to three members of the cast and crew, as our heroes jump to several different points in time and space, desperately searching for a plot. That’s right, it can only be Season 2’s The Chase! Along the way, Reilly proclaims his love for the fourth episode with all of its horror trappings, Julie is enamoured with Ian’s dancing, Anthony reads too much into ever...

This episode, we discuss Season 2’s The Space Museum, in all its tonal inconsistency. Along the way, Reilly is the one who brings up the music for a change, Julie gets mad at Reilly for stealing her words, Anthony reads too much into the story by drawing out themes of apartheid, and Don notes that after encountering Daleks, giant insects, and a multitude of other monsters, this is the episode that...

In our third bonus episode of content recorded live at WHOlanta 2019 , we bring you our second series of interviews from the convention, in which Anthony talked to convention guests and fellow podcasters attending the convention about their opinions on the William Hartnell era. This time, we feature Nathan Skreslet of Pixel Who, Mike Gordon of Earth Station One and Earth Station Who, and comic boo...

This episode, we return to missing episode land, as we discuss Season 2’s The Crusade, in all its Shakespearean glory as the last “true” historical of the season. As we discuss this story, Reilly finds himself yearning for the Gospel of Barbara, Julie (as usual) enthuses over the costumes and the music, Anthony dusts off his history degree, and Don turns into Reilly for this episode. We also retur...

In this episode, Zarbi Never Skip Leg Day, we discuss one of the more challenging stories of Season 2 – The Web Planet. Along the way, Reilly mounts an admirable defense of the story, Julie delights over the character of the First Doctor, Don repeatedly slates the director, and Anthony talks about the bizarre influence that this story had on the first series of revived Doctor Who in 2005.   For th...

In this episode, Maximus Petulance, we discuss one of Anthony’s favourite Hartnell-era serials – The Romans. Along the way, Reilly expresses his love for the costumes, Julie calls Anthony pretentious, Don ponders what would have happened if William Russell had decided to leave with this story, and Anthony is just sickeningly over-enthusiastic about everything.   For those who want to watch along w...