Kasterborous Classic TV: Exploring Doctor Who & Classic Sci-Fi

The conversation continues beyond Doctor Who this week as Christian Cawley and James McLean turn their attention to the changing world of film, gaming, and digital entertainment. Starting with the prospects for DC Studios’ Supergirl and the current state of superhero cinema, the discussion broadens into the future of the cinema experience, the decline of physical media, and what it really means to...

The Doctor Who world lost one of its most important creative voices with the passing of Justin Richards. This week, Christian Cawley and James McLean celebrate his remarkable contribution to the Whoniverse and discuss why his work mattered to generations of fans. From the Virgin New Adventures to BBC Books, Big Finish audio dramas, comics, and countless reference works, Justin Richards helped defi...

Christian Cawley and James McLean address some recent show reviews and consider a growing trend in major fandoms: the desire to rewind the clock, and remove episodes, or movies, that don’t align. Following a surprising Apple Podcasts review that labelled certain eras of Doctor Who as “ersatz,” they dive into the psychology of canon, the reality of “brand positivity,” and why big studios might actu...

In this episode of Kasterborous, Christian Cawley and James McLean take a trip down memory lane to discuss the infamous "wilderness years" of Doctor Who.  Inspired by current industry headlines and the recent status of the series, they recall and reflects on how they—and the wider fandom—navigated the period following the show's 1989 cancellation.  Key topics this week The "Cancellation" Conversat...

Christian, Brian, and James dive into the complex, hodgepodge world of special effects in Classic Doctor Who . From the creative ingenuity required to mask limited budgets to the philosophical debate between practical effects and modern CGI, the team explores what makes certain classic effects timeless while others fall short. Key Discussion Points: The Art of "Classic" FX: Discussion on why class...

The TARDIS is changing hands—or at least, the keys might be. In a massive shake-up, the BBC has officially put Doctor Who out to tender, signaling a potential end to the current Russell T Davies era. While the show is far from cancelled, the search for a new production house to take the helm has sent shockwaves through the fandom. Join Christian Cawley and James McLean as they break down the impli...

This week on Kasterborous, Christian chats with Gareth Kavanagh about the latest Kickstarter from Cutaway Comics , Paradise Towers: Unalive the Multiverse . Returning to the neon-soaked world of Doctor Who's classic 1987 story Paradise Towers , the new graphic novel continues the adventures of the Kangs, Rezzies, and Caretakers as a fresh threat emerges from across the multiverse. The project is w...

You cannot have helped but notice that rumours are swirling about the future of Doctor Who , with tabloid reports suggesting that next year’s series and the 2026 Christmas special are facing cancellation. We dig into the reality behind these headlines, the struggle to find the next Time Lord, and why the current climate of “content saturation” is creating such an atmosphere of uncertainty. Quick T...

Christian Cawley and James McLean reach the final episode of The Mysterious Planet — and by this point, the commentary itself may be more entertaining than the serial under discussion.  As the pair pick apart collapsing pacing, endless corridors, meaningless courtroom interruptions, and the baffling lack of anything recognisably “Earth-like” about Ravalox, the conversation expands into a broader d...

Christian Cawley and James McLean continue their Trial of a Time Lord marathon with Episode 3 of The Mysterious Planet — and the cracks are beginning to show. What starts as a nostalgic conversation about VHS tins, HMV trips, and the ritual of physical media quickly becomes a forensic dissection of pacing problems, intrusive courtroom scenes, and a strangely muted “it was Earth all along” reveal....

Christian Cawley and James McLean return to discuss the increasingly uncertain future of television — starting with reports that AMC will become the US streaming home for classic-era Doctor Who. Does the AMC deal mean Doctor Who is heading back toward an American co-production model? Or is this simply another distribution agreement being overanalysed by a fandom starved for news? (We think it migh...

In this episode, Christian Cawley, James McLean, and Brian Terranova reunite to look back at the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie. It was a night of high stakes, big budgets, and a transition that would define the "wilderness years" for a generation of fans. This week: * Brian Terranova Explains the PAL Problem : We welcome back the podcast’s original co-host to discuss his experience watching the movie’s...

We dive headlong into the second installment of The Mysterious Planet this week, only to find a struggle with the overarching structure of The Trial of a Time Lord . From the pitfalls of 1980s "stunt casting" to the surprisingly accurate technological predictions of the mid-80s, we explore why this era of Doctor Who often feels like a struggle between a standalone story and a courtroom drama. Our...

Christian Cawley and James McLean settle in for a long-overdue rewatch of The Trial of a Time Lord , the Sixth Doctor’s epic 14-part swan song. Things kick off in signature style with a false start on the wrong episode, followed by a deep dive into the high-budget model work and low-budget "starched doily" fashion of 1986... This is the first part of our commentary/talking over The Mysterious Plan...

This week, Christian Cawley and James McLean prepare for the journey they’ve avoided for over 500 episodes: the 14-part epic, The Trial of a Time Lord .  As the longest single serial since The Daleks' Master Plan , it was intended to save the show, but instead, it became a fascinating, frustrating mirror of Doctor Who’s real-world struggle for survival in 1986. No shownotes as such this week, but...

In this week's chat, Christian and James revisit their recent discussion about recovered episodes from missing Doctor Who serial The Daleks' Master Plan .  Was the initial reaction to viewing the episodes harsh?  Sourcing comments from the Facebook thread on the episode, we add some context, underline a few points, and possibly even concede a few things. As stated at the time, Christian and James...

We're back for part 3 of our commentary of Silver Nemesis, the official Doctor Who 25th anniversary story from 1988. Starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, the serial has various versions and edits -- we watched the cut you can see on BBC iPlayer, and you're free to watch along with us. This week, Christian Cawley and James McLean reach the rooftop showdown, where it’s the endgame for Lady Pe...

"It feels like a show which has kind of lost its spirit a bit... I could see in a different timeline where Doctor Who did not regenerate into Patrick Troughton, and this was the tired back end of a format."  This week, Christian Cawley and James McLean dive into the recent recovery (and release on BBC iPlayer/YouTube) of two episodes from the legendary 1965 epic, The Daleks’ Master Plan . While th...

In this commentary, Christian Cawley and James McLean dive into the heart of Silver Nemesis, and give some thought to Elizabethan sorceress Lady Peinforte and her loyal murderer Richard. Oh, and Argentinian Nazi refugees, Cybermen, and a couple of youths with a bizarre dislike for social workers. Elsewhere in this episode, that "Jazz" interlude between Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred which remai...

In this week’s episode, Christian Cawley and James McLean dive deep into Doctor Who's "official" 25th-anniversary silver jubilee story, Silver Nemesis . From the slightly oversized Cybermen to the curious presence of Dolores Gray, we talk all the way through the oft-derided 1988 adventure and explore what makes it fascinating -- if not somewhat polarizing. This podcast looks at the first episode o...

The recent recovery of two missing episodes of Doctor Who from The Daleks' Master Plan should be a moment of celebration — but it also raises an uncomfortable question: how many more are still out there? In this Patreon-exclusive video, Christian Cawley and James McLean dig into the latest discovery, donated via Film Is Fabulous! , and the ongoing work to restore and preserve missing television. B...

Christian Cawley and James McLean conclude their commentary discussion of the classic Doctor Who serial The Robots of Death , focusing on Episodes Three and Four of the 1977 story.  With the mystery aboard the sandminer tightening, the discussion explores how the final two episodes bring together the serial’s many strands. We've got the paranoia among the crew, growing suspicion surrounding the ro...

Two long-missing episodes of Doctor Who have been recovered — and they come from one of the most famous lost stories in the programme’s history, The Daleks’ Master Plan. “The Nightmare Begins” and “Devil’s Planet” have been found, restored, and will be released through BBC iPlayer at Easter. Lost Doctor Who episodes found  (BBC Leicester) In this episode, Christian Cawley is joined by fanzine publ...

In this commentary-style episode, Christian Cawley and James McLean revisit the classic Doctor Who story The Robots of Death. This is the first of a two-part podcast, covering the serials first two episodes. We compare the experience of watching classic Doctor Who episodically versus the omnibus VHS edits that hit rental stores in the 1980s. Those different formats affect pacing, cliffhangers, and...

This week’s Kasterborous opens on sad news, as Christian Cawley and James McLean reflect on the passing of Red Dwarf co-creator Rob Grant.  You probably know that the writing partnership between Grant and Doug Naylor pre-existed Red Dwarf , and while it certainly helped to define Britain’s most enduring sci-fi comedy, obviously there was a split. So we consider the curious parallel timelines creat...