The Doctor's Beard Podcast

Episode Title: "Colin Baker Fans Unite!" - Attack of the Cybermen Review THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Recorded on January 14th, the anniversary was January 13th! Three years of The Doctor's Beard Podcast! The Early Days: "I wonder how many people were listening back then?" Only a couple dozen, mostly friends. "How many of those people are still with us?" Patreon Originals: Shout-out to Dawn, Jameson, a...

Episode Title: "Disco Who" - A 70s Retrospective SPECIAL HIATUS EPISODE - PATREON BONUS NOW AVAILABLE TO ALL! This episode was originally produced for Patreon sponsors in July 2025 and is now being shared with main feed listeners to showcase the bonus content available through Patreon membership ($3/month gets early access, exclusive episodes, and more!). THE DECADE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING: From J...

Episode Title: "I Am The Doctor, Whether You Like It Or Not" - The Twin Dilemma Review THE GREAT REVERSAL: After three seasons of John defending Peter Davison against Jim's criticisms, the tables turn completely. Jim embraces Colin Baker. JIM'S SHOCKING TAKE: "I don't usually line up with Doctor Who fans because I did not like Caves of Androzani and I liked this. I liked Baker. If it's not what th...

Episode Title: "I Need My Pain" - The Caves of Androzani Review & The Fifth Doctor's Regeneration THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI (March 8-16, 1984) Writer: Robert Holmes (returning!) Director: Graeme Harper (debut - directing from studio floor, not control room) PRODUCTION NOTES: The Fake Title: JNT put "The Doctor's Wife" on the production board deliberately to catch office leaks (ironic foreshadowing of...

Episode Title: "From Carnage to Cleavage" - Planet of Fire Review PLANET OF FIRE (February-March 1984) Writer: Peter Grimwade (his final Doctor Who work) Director: Fiona Cumming (her last story, dating back to The Highlanders) Location: Lanzarote, Canary Islands - chosen after Cumming promoted it with holiday photos! THE SHOPPING LIST EPISODE: Peter Grimwade faces an enormous writing burden with h...

Episode Title: "Santa's 3D Printer & The Killer Snowman" - Fantasy Takes Over & The Mechanoids Attack! - Patreon Exclusive Sample CHRISTMAS EVE GIFT TO OUR LISTENERS: The Doctor's Beard Podcast delivers a festive Patreon Exclusive perfect for the holiday! Join John (as Santa Claus) and Jim (as the Evil/Demon Magician) as they unwrap a mixed Santa's bag - three Doctor Who strips from the 12-week Da...

Episode Title: "Help Me! - Oh No, Don't Hurt My Daleks!" - The Monstrons Defeat & Problematic Depictions - Patreon Exclusive Sample HOLIDAY GIFT TO OUR LISTENERS: The Doctor's Beard Podcast delivers another Patreon Exclusive featuring comics discussion! Join John (as Kenix of the Monstrons) and Jim (as the Golden Emperor Dalek) as they tackle Bill Mevin's Doctor Who strip and confront a troubling...

Episode Title: "Midichlorians Before Midichlorians!" - The Sorcerer's Apprentice Novel Review - Patreon Exclusive Sample HOLIDAY GIFT TO OUR LISTENERS: The Doctor's Beard Podcast presents another special Patreon Exclusive - this time venturing beyond comics into the world of Doctor Who prose! Join John (the Apprentice) and Jim (the Sorcerer Supreme) as they discuss Christopher Bulis's The Sorcerer...

Episode Title: "18 Word Balloons and Doctor Genocide!" - New Artist Bill Mevin Debuts & The Daleks Fight the Rust Plague - Patreon Exclusive Sample HOLIDAY GIFT TO OUR LISTENERS: The Doctor's Beard Podcast unwraps another special Patreon Exclusive episode for the holiday season! Join John (as Demeter Thor) and Jim (as Emperor Dalek) as they celebrate a double feast - new creative talent on the Doc...

Episode Title: "Throwing Daleks Out the Window" - Resurrection of the Daleks Review with The Irredeemable Shag SPECIAL GUEST ALERT: The Irredeemable Shag joins from the Fire & Water Podcast Network for what he calls "The Tegan Jovanka Appreciation Podcast!" A lifelong Davison-era fan who started watching in 1982 at age 10, Shag brings 500+ Doctor Who books worth of knowledge and passionate defense...

Episode Title: "A Whopping 12 Word Balloons!" - Summer Hiatus Comics & Roberta Tovey's Doctor Who Song - Patreon Exclusive Sample HOLIDAY GIFT TO OUR LISTENERS: The Doctor's Beard Podcast is unwrapping a special Patreon Exclusive episode for all listeners this holiday season! Join John and Jim as they explore what kept young Doctor Who fans entertained during the 1965 summer break between Seasons...

Episode 10: "Dinosaurs Make Anything Better" - Season 2 Wrap-Up & Classic Comics Triple Feature - Patreon Exclusive SEASON TWO RETROSPECTIVE: The Best Overall Hartnell Season John opens as "Donald Tosh, story editor" while Jim claims the mantle of "Dennis Spooner of podcasting" - fitting since Spooner wrote both the season's best ( The Time Meddler ) and worst ( The Romans ) stories. The hosts agr...

"The Hamster Wheel of Science Fiction Television" - Frontios Review STORY DETAILS: "Frontios" (January 16 - February 3, 1984) Production Code: 6N Writer: Christopher H. Bidmead (former script editor, Logopolis and Castrovalva ) Director: Ron Jones ( Arc of Infinity , future Colin Baker stories) CAPSULE REVIEW: Jim: "Doctor Who in 1984 is the hamster wheel of science fiction television shows. It ju...

Episode 9: "My Word, Doesn't He Look Fat and Pompous!" - Classic Doctor Who Comics: The Challenge of the Piper - Patreon Exclusive COMIC STRIP REVIEW: "The Challenge of the Piper" (June 14 - July 12, 1965) TV Comic, Five Parts Writer/Artist: Neville Main The First Doctor, John, and Jillian arrive in medieval Hamelin during the legendary Pied Piper crisis. After the townspeople refuse to pay the Pi...

Episode 8: "The Daleks Destroyed Their First Planet" - Classic Doctor Who Comics Double Feature - Patreon Exclusive COMIC STRIP REVIEW #1: "The Gyros Injustice" (May 3 - June 7, 1965)   TV Comic, Six Parts Writer/Artist: Neville Main Jim's birthday comic! Born right in the middle of this strip's run, Jim celebrates with poetry: "Through space and time, through a million nowheres, past a billion wh...

Episode 7: "Super Dalek Origin Story" - Classic Doctor Who Comics Double Feature - Patreon Exclusive COMIC STRIP REVIEW #1: "Doctor Who on the Web Planet" (March 22 - April 26, 1965) TV Comic, Six Parts Writer/Artist: Neville Main The only Doctor Who comic strip ever given an official title! The First Doctor, John, and Jillian return to Vortis long after their adventure with Ian, Barbara, and Vick...

Episode 6: "Throw Your Spuds" - Classic Doctor Who Comics Double Feature - Patreon Exclusive COMIC STRIP REVIEW #1: "The Hijackers of Thrax" (March 1-15, 1965) TV Comic, Three Parts Writer/Artist: Neville Main The First Doctor, John, and Jillian investigate disappearing supply ships bound for Earth's Venus colony in 2075. Pirates operating from a hidden space station obscured by artificial clouds...

Episode 5: "Wham, Bam, Thank You Dalek" - Classic Doctor Who Comics Double Feature - Patreon Exclusive COMIC STRIP REVIEW #1: "The Therovian Quest" (January 18 - February 22, 1965) TV Comic, Six Issues (Two Pages Per Week) Writer/Artist: Neville Main The First Doctor's TARDIS crashes on an alien planet where he and grandchildren John and Gillian encounter Grigg, a spaceship pilot whose vessel is a...

"I'm Gonna Spend My Christmas with a Dalek" & "Landing of the Daleks" - Vintage Doctor Who Music Review (1964-1965) - Christmas Patreon Exclusive Dalekmania swept across the United Kingdom in 1964 with the same cultural fervor that Batmania would capture America two years later. The BBC's terrifying Dalek creatures became a merchandising phenomenon, spawning an explosion of toys, comic books, feat...

"Two Is Too Few, Four Is Too Much" - Production 6M: "The Awakening" (January 19-20, 1984) - Classic Doctor Who Season 21 Review The Fifth Doctor brings Tegan to 1984 Little Hodcombe so she can visit her grandfather, Andrew Verney. But the TARDIS materializes in an unstable church during an English Civil War reenactment organized by the local magistrate, Sir George Hutchinson. When Tegan's grandfat...

"The Klepton Parasites" - Doctor Who TV Comic Strip Review (November 9, 1964 - January 11, 1965) - Christmas Patreon Exclusive TV Comic Issues 674-683 Writer & Artist: Neville Main In 1964, the BBC made television history by launching the first weekly Doctor Who comic strip in the pages of TV Comic - a surprising choice given the magazine's focus on ITV programming. This groundbreaking comic adapt...

John and Jim sit down to review their time watching the first series of Doctor Who, the good and the bad. In addition, Jim shares his thoughts on what he would like to see in the second series. John plays Spoiler Cards with Jim, offering him a pick of one of three cards revealing a spoiler for the second series. Of the Doctor, Barbara and Ian, and the Daleks - which one did he choose? Please make...

"There Should Have Been Another Way" Production 6M: "Warriors of the Deep" (January 5-13, 1984) Classic Doctor Who Season 21 Premiere Review In the year 2084, the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough materialize at Sea Base Four, a military installation staffed with personnel on high alert due to tensions that could trigger World War III. An unknown object lurking in the waters proves to be a Siluria...

"Orange Whip, Orange Whip, Orange Whip" - Production 6K: "The Five Doctors" (November 23/25, 1983) - Classic Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special Review The ultimate Doctor Who celebration arrives! To commemorate two decades of time travel adventures, all five incarnations of the Doctor are mysteriously pulled out of time and transported to the Death Zone on Gallifrey - the ancient forbidden wastel...

Production 6J: "The King's Demons" (March 15-16, 1983) - Classic Doctor Who Season 20 Finale Review The TARDIS fails to reach Turlough's promised homeworld of Trion, instead materializing in Medieval England during March 1215 - the crucial period leading to the signing of the Magna Carta, one of history's most important constitutional documents. The Fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough arrive at Fitz...