I'll Explain Later: conversations about Doctor Who

This week, we're looking at Twelfth Doctor two-parter The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion, and - going out on a real limb here - consider whether it might possibly have some sort of socio-political subtext. Along the way, we indulge in some uninformed speculation on show-runners that could have been, throw mild shade at The Thick of It, and consider the usefulness of an on-the-nose metaphor...

We're back! And what better way to mark our triumphant return to your ears - and now eyes! - than one of the most consequential Doctor Who stories of all time? This week we unpack Tenth Doctor classic Blink. Along the way, we speculate on what a rare DVD business might stock, extol the virtues of seizing the moment, and consider whether making Doctor Who is ultimately just an exercise in throwing...

It's the end! And the moment has been reached with our signature lack of preparation. Thankfully we've still got two blockbuster Doctor Who stories to enjoy in our sequeltastic season finale - the Fourth Doctor's first encounter with Davros in Genesis of the Daleks, and the Twelfth Doctor's return to Skaro in The Magician's Apprentice and The Witch's Familiar.  Thanks so much for joining us over t...

It's the "Of Death" special! In perhaps our most tenuously-themed episode yet, we discuss the uncanny valley, AI and helium as we consider Fourth Doctor classic The Robots of Death, then we switch mediums entirely to cop a load of X-rated VR while untangling the knots in our minds as we indulge ourselves in Third Doctor radio romp The Paradise of Death. (The latter nearly inspired us to upload las...

It's a holiday special! Not in the Christmas sense, or indeed in any meaningful way at all beyond that these are two stories where the Doctor and co attempt to take a holiday and fail. Under the microscope this week are Eleventh Doctor double threat The Girl Who Waited and the Seventh Doctor's encounter with Delta and the Bannermen. Questions? Thoughts? Email them to hello@illexplainlater.com - an...

It's a Welsh special on this week's I'll Explain Later as we hop across the border to enjoy two stories that put Wales at the heart of the action - the Ninth Doctor's tense trip to Boomtown, and the Third Doctor's iconic brush with The Green Death. Email your thoughts and questions to hello@illexplainlater.com or "X" us at @explainlaterpod - and we'll be back next week with another pair of adventu...

It's a dastardly double bill on this week's I'll Explain Later as we look back on the Doctor's encounters with two diabolical masterminds - Professor Zaroff, in aquatic Second Doctor caper The Underwater Menace, and The Sixth Master (as no-one calls him) in apocalyptic Tenth Doctor series finale The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords. Can anything in the world stop us now? With our erratic re...

We're back! Thanks for sticking with us during our extended hiatus - we toyed with releasing a charity single, but instead decided to knuckle down and record a WHOLE NEW SEASON of I'll Explain Later. We'll be dropping new episodes weekly for the next six weeks, covering a slew of Doctor Who adventures past and... even more past. And we're kicking off with a Sea Devil special, as we look at Third D...

We tackled some weighty issues head-on in this month's livestream, as our analysis of MARCO POLO, THE RINGS OF AKHATEN and REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS took in the Paradox of Tolerance, the history curriculum and advanced horticulture. Luckily, we still found room for our usual array of double entendres and general low-brow humour as well. Come for Matt's treatise on Terry Nation's indictments of Bri...

For this month's live show, we fought against our better instincts to bring you a bumper-length consideration of all 14 episodes of 1986's courtroom epic Trial of a Time Lord. Along the way, we discovered a wholly unexpected intersection between the worlds of Doctor Who and reggae, considered the health and safety implications of Time Lord architecture, and wondered just how long the Matrix has be...

It's about time! A little more so than usual on this month's live show, as we weigh up the pros and cons of time-wimey classics Day of the Daleks and The Girl in the Fireplace, before going deep on heavyweight Time Lord brawler The Invasion of Time. Along the way we discuss the Doctor's drinking habits, whether Milton Johns minded being typecast, speculate on whether Steven Moffat took inspiration...

Our second livestream saw John and Matt tackle a trio of returning monster mash-ups in mind-boggling detail - taking in Cyberman sugar-rush THE MOONBASE, Gravity Bar crawl THE SONTARAN EXPERIMENT, and the box-fresh PANDORICA OPENS / BIG BANG two-parter. Along the way, we discussed whether Kit Pedler had an easy gig, enjoyed some prescient Sontaran video-conferencing, and apologised to Murray Gold....

We emerge sleepily from an 18-month hibernation, only to find that we're confined to the house and a lot's changed in the interim. But our debut LIVE episode gave us the chance to find out whether kid's telly fave Doctor Who could tell us anything useful about the Very Strange Times we're living in, as we delved into Hartnell-era viral sensation The Ark, Peter Davison's laugh-a-minute swan-song Th...

Page Peter Snow, brace for the exit poll - I’ll Explain Later goes psephological to explore three Doctor Who tales with political guru special guest Lewis Baston. A duped demos dragged into drudgery slave away to fly the ship of state into unknown territory. If someone can get the Haynes manual off eBay. Live vivisection is just one of the highlights in lighthearted Fourth Doctor romp Full Circle....

Rocks, redemption and referendums in episode 35 of I'll Explain Later . Tom Baker does his best to hold his own against unexpressive and rigid screenmates, while the Ogri and Romana I co-star in 1978's The Stones of Blood. The Eleventh Doctor battles wobble boards and has to eat humble pie as a hopeless dad beats off wooden dolls - disturbing pyjama-based chills in 2011's Night Terrors. And a dead...

We're back - and it's ABOUT TIME! In our long-awaited comeback special, we enjoy a bit of horseplay with the First Doctor in The Myth Makers, relish a chicken dinner with the Tenth Doctor in Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead, and get schooled by the Fifth Doctor in Mawdryn Undead. Along the way, we asked whether the First Doctor was a mass murderer, rate the sizzlin' chemistry that the v...

It's ninety minutes of hellos and goodbyes on this somewhat delayed, erm, April instalment of I'll Explain Later. This month, the Third Doctor encounters some harsh imperial measures in The Mutants; the Eleventh Doctor rolls up his sleeves and gets under the hood in The Doctor's Wife; and the Fourth Doctor gets all big-headed about The Face of Evil. Along the way, we consider Geoffrey Palmer's mot...

Genius abounds in this slightly delayed 32nd I'll Explain Later. With the Tardis crew keen to escape the clutches of Butcher Cumberland, the Second Doctor channels all his thespian guile to hoodwink his adversaries in 1966-7 knockabout romp The Highlanders. A schlub or a savant? Rose wants to know more about her deceased dad and uncovers his yogurt-based plan for riches in 2005 heart string-tugger...

Some scenes filmed in Tiger Bay, some set by the Silvery Tay, Daleks seek their glory day - Cybermen in Haringey! That's right, folks - hit us with your rhythm stick (aka sonic device) for this 31st episode of I'll Explain Later. Monopoly capitalism, camp sneering and Patrick Troughton more animated than usual in 1968 epic The Invasion. The Tenth Doctor and Rose encounter a beastie that's far from...

Sometimes, inspiration does just fall from the sky. This 30th I’ll Explain Later explores three mysteries centred on alien threats mistaken as meteorites. The Third Doctor goes topless in fashion-centric debut Spearhead from Space. Public school and planetary peril in 2007 two parter Human Nature/The Family of Blood. And Who does Hammer Horror, as the Fourth Doctor and Leela tackle the Horror of F...

Because what says Christmas like honeymoon-based sex cosplay? That’s right, I’ll Explain Later delves deep into St Nick’s bulging sack to pull out, parboil and roast 2010 Yuletide special A Christmas Carol. Jingling along the way, Jim pulls a cracker, Matt spills his port and John goes deep throated. Have a very merry Christmas, and see you on 3rd February at the Blue Posts for our listener drinks...

A December Dalek double as I’ll Explain Later heads back to 1973. A beleaguered leader inches towards a conflict with her trading allies she knows to be folly, egged on by forces internal and external and lacking the courage needed to face down the populist nonsense of her critics. Meanwhile, we review Frontier in Space. The Third Doctor asks for help from the Time Lords, who oblige by transportin...

Double trouble for the Doctor and pals in this 28th episode of I’ll Explain Later. Troughton meets his match - literally - in recently discovered deadly doppelgänger demagoguery thriller The Enemy of the World. Frozen in lifeless, arid suspension...or dying of cold in the Tardis? Karen Gillan must act, fast, to make Amy’s Choice. And a Fourth Doctor copyist needles the Tigellans into showing him t...

How many impossible things can you believe before breakfast? I'll Explain Later's 27th episode whisks you away to unimagined realms and mythical times. Tegan might not be well drawn, but her draughtswoman credentials are not in doubt. A smörgåsbord of cultures let bygones be Bigon as the Fifth Doctor takes Four to Doomsday. Incoming showrunner Chris "safe-hands" Chibnall once again nails a chillin...

Doors to manual! The I'll Explain Later cabin crew are delighted to disembark you into three more terminals of Doctor Who adventure! No perfume counter and no flight-side 'Spoons, but one almighty immigration problem as the Fourth Doctor, Harry and Sarah Jane arrive at The Ark in Space. An overzealous border official goes beyond a cavity search and takes a skin sample, creating excess family bagga...