The Metebelis Two - a Doctor Who podcast

We turn our focus to The Power of the Daleks - special edition and marvel upon its many improvements, some obvious and others more subtle. Then we discuss the news that BBC America is ending funding for future animations and the Conservative government under Boris Johnson is freezing, and then ending funding for the BBC. The podcast's music was composed by Tristram Cary for The Daleks, and used al...

The recent animation watch continues with a discussion of Galaxy 4, the first Hartnell story animated since the end of the DVD range. David is impressed by the planet set design and the near-perfect likeness of Vicki in her animated form, and enjoys the Hartnell line mishaps with the script. Ben questions the switch from lace-up boots to go-go boots, which opens the door to other interesting decis...

We discuss The Evil of the Daleks recently released as an animated recreation or reinterpretation of the 1967 story starring Patrick Troughton. Ben is intrigued by the decisions the production team made that diverge from the original presentation and likens the animation project to the restoration of damaged art. David wonders if Whitaker's script could be tighter with fewer characters. Along the...

For a brief five or so years, the BBC broadcast an omnibus version of Doctor Who in the middle of the Christmas week holiday, usually on 27 December. We talk about how Barry Letts got this viewing tradition underway and ruminate on why by the time Graham Williams became producer that the omnibus specials had ceased to be. We then discuss the relevance of omnibus repeats for audiences in the 21st c...

We talk about the use of big monsters across the history of Doctor Who. Does enlarging the monster up its threat level, make it more scary, or just make it seem ridiculous? Does one size of monster work better than others? Does one size fit all? Opening music is Dudley Simpson's (Giant) Robot theme. Closing music is Murray Gold's "Monster Bossa". We recorded this episode on 20 June 2021.

We hold an informal meeting of the Doctor Who's writer room to pitch new story ideas with underrated monsters for the Whittaker Doctor to face in series 13. Which monsters get green lit and which ones are put back on the shelf? Opening music is "The Bell Plants" composed by Peter Howell from Meglos. Closing music begins with "The Axons Approach" composed by Dudley Simpson with the BBC Radiophonic...

We read Doctor Who Monthly #48 from January 1981 and talk about the magazine, its comics and editorial content, and look back on how official fandom was 40 years ago. Ben also gets a little nostalgic about ads for BMX bikes and Star Wars digital wristwatches. Opening music is an excerpt from "We, Pangol" aka "Pangol's March" and closing music is "Back to Work", both pieces are from the Leisure Hiv...

Friend of the podcast, Brian aka @project_37 joins us this week to discuss the exciting conclusion of the new Christopher Eccleston audio story from Big Finish, Ravagers: Food Fight! Does the Doctor save the universe? Is there a satisfying outcome for Nova and Audrey? Did Nick Briggs successfully resolve all the plot threads? And, what does the future hold for Eccleston and Big Finish? Opening mus...

The pace quickens for the Doctor and Nova in the middle episode of Big Finish's Ravagers which we listened to this week. Ben found the timey-wimey plot lines a bit confusing, but is intrigued by what might be going on with Audrey. David thought author Nick Briggs was doing well weaving together RTD and Moffat styles and really hopes Nova (and Audrey) will still be alive by the story's conclusion....

Christopher Eccleston makes his Big Finish debut in the three-part anthology: Ravagers. We talk about his return as Doctor Who and review Sphere of Freedom, his first new story in more than fifteen years. There likely are spoilers, so listen to the story before this podcast! Opening music is from the audio drama composed by Howard Carter. Closing music is the Big Finish trailer for the Ninth Docto...

Ben and David try to stump one another playing the Twin Dilemma game where one host gives the name of a 20th or 21st century story and the other host has to find its perfect pair in the other century and explain why. For example, if David says An Unearthly Child, Ben could respond with Rose since they both kicked off their respective eras on the show. Some stories are easy to find a match, others...

We discus what we wanted from Doctor Who and how it changed over time. We pay close attention to 1989 after Survival, 1996 after the TV Movie, and 2005 with the return of show to BBC One. Then, we ask what we'd like from Doctor Who in 2021 and beyond. Opening and closing music is "Open the Eye" from the 1996 TV Movie and composed by John Debney. We recorded this episode on 25 April 2021.

We ask why wasn't there a UNIT spinoff series on the BBC in the 1970s? Ben theorizes that Season 7 was pretty much a UNIT spinoff already, but David persists in asking if a UNIT series was actually made in the 1970s, then what would it be like? Opening and closing music is Dudley Simpson's "UNIT Theme," performed by Mark Ayers. We recorded this episode on 18 April 2021.

In this wide-ranging Dalek-focused episode, we begin our discussion with a look at the 5-part Daleks! serial written by James Goss that is part of the Time Lord Victorious Doctor Who adventure, which is made clearer by referencing Blogtor Who's guide . We then chat about the multi-platform concept itself and what it may hold for the future of Who. A future, it would seem, that has a Doctor Who Mag...

We discuss Fury from the Deep, the latest story in the Doctor Who animation range. Ben observes the changes the producers made would not have been his choices and David explains why he switched to the black and white version after the first scenes in colour. We discuss helicopters, Diamonds Are Forever, regulation badger haircuts for mineral extraction, hairy seaweed, static foam, Scooby-Doo, and...

We are back after a three month hiatus to discuss Shada, the story that would have been the finale for season 17, specifically the 2017 animated version. Ben reflects on Professor Chronotis shares a few anecdotes of the dons he met while at Oxford, some of whom would not have surprised Ben to learn they were, indeed, 300 years old. David shares Douglas Adams' thoughts on Shada via quotes pulled fr...

We discuss season 18, Tom Baker's last season as the Doctor. Ben reflects on going away to boarding school and the changes from childhood to being a teenager coinciding with the end of the Fourth Doctor era. For David, the end of Tom looped back to the beginning with Robot and his full-blown fandom. Opening music is "Chronic Hysteresis" from Meglos and closing music is "The Moment Has Been Prepare...

Lena Barkin , writer and Jamie scholar , joins us this week on the podcast for a discussion about our favorite Highlander, curative and transformative fandom, and classic and modern Doctor Who, and the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor. Plus we remember actor Geoffrey Palmer who passed earlier this month. Opening music is "Battle of Waternish" performed on bagpipes by Robert Nicol and Rober...

Jason Shron of Rapido Trains Inc. joins us this week to talk about Doctor Who, spending weekends travelling to filming locations, collecting, Canadian conventions, the best Who monster ever, and more. All aboard! Opening and closing music is from Space Adventure part 2, by Martin Slavin. We recorded this episode on 1 November 2020.

Jazz man Jess from the Dudley Simpson Is Doctor Who Project joins us in this episode and we catch-up on how the project is coming along and then do a deep dive into Tom Baker's seven seasons and learn Jess's thoughts on them both in terms of music and of the stories themselves. The opening, bridge, and closing music is from the Dudley Simpson Is Doctor Who Project, transcribed and arranged by Jess...

The masterly Greg joins us this podcast to reminiscence about watching Doctor Who as late night television for a kid and playing Doctor Who with a refrigerator box TARDIS and a plush-toy K9 , from corridors to quaries, and the Dalek of Shakopee. We also dive into the early Doctor Who Weekly backup feature comics of Alan Moore to 1980s directors who never were involved with Doctor Who, but should h...

The fabulous Holly joins us this podcast. Holly spent her time during the COVID-19 lockdown to marathon watch classic Who for the very first time! We talk about growing up with Who, RTD, Tennant, Troughton, and Tom, and then review each season for the Tom Baker era for highlights. And find out if she would recommend watching all of classic Who to fans of the Doctor Who revival. Opening music is fr...

This episode we are joined by the phenomenal Peter, a master game setter on Gallifrey Base's Games of Rassilon subforum. We talk about growing up with Doctor Who, collecting, season 18, and how us old fans may view the show's 21st century version differently than the programme we grew up watching. Opening music is "Burnout on Walkway 9" by Paddy Kingsland and closing music is "Meglos" by Peter How...

This episode we are joined by the Amazing Brian aka The Analog Kid , Four to Zoomsday team captain, and podcaster of the Ultimate Spin podcast . We talk about Spider-Man, getting into Doctor Who via Target novels, and watching the change of guard from Tom Baker's Doctor to the Peter Davison era. Opening music is from Dudley Simpson's score for The Robots of Death. Closing is Gary William Friedman'...

This episode we are joined by the wonderful Steven B of the fantastic New to Who podcast and talk about Tom Baker's time on Doctor Who and Steven's memories growing up watching him on Australian Broadcasting Corporation television to the Curator cameo in the 50th anniversary special. Opening music is from Dudley Simpson's score for The Android Invasion. Closing is from Paddy Kingsland's score for...