The Writers' Room

Another series of episodes all surrounding the same writers! We love those! This month begins Kyle and Erik's foray into the many scripts by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, affectionately referred to as "The Bristol Boys." This time it's the three they did during the Pertwee years -- "The Claws of Axos," "The Mutants," and "The Three Doctors." You won't believe which the fellas think is the best. Or ma...

In the annals of  Doctor Who , few writers' names are met with as much derision as those of Pip & Jane Baker, the husband and wife writing team who gave us three full serials plus an episode as needed during seasons 22, 23, and 24. Are these stories bad because of the writing? Are these stories bad at all? It's something Kyle and Erik will discuss, because if there's one these those boys love, it'...

Hello, one and all! Kyle and Erik are back to discuss more and more  Doctor Who !! This month, we're doing some bits and bobs from the Patrick Troughton years, focusing on three stories by three different writers who only wrote one story for the show. First up is Elwyn Jones (with Gerry Davis) who wrote "The Highlanders," the story that introduced Jamie McCrimmond. Next is everybody's favorite odd...

Hello friends! We're a little late on the podcast front this month, so to tide you over, Kyle has interviewed friend of the show and writer extraordinaire Paul Cornell about his upcoming Third Doctor miniseries for Titan Comics. It's a great chat for anybody who loves the '70s Doctor Who era as much as Kyle does, but also should probably reevaluate some of the choices... because sexism. Enjoy! And...

Happy May, everybody! Hope you're ready for block transfer computation and charged vacuum emboitments, because this month Erik and Kyle are going to be talking about the Doctor Who stories written by Christopher Hamilton Bidmead, a writer and script editor who ushered in a whole year of hard science mathematics (deserving a badge for excellence, maybe?), with his three stories "Logopolis," "Castro...

Friends, we've returned! Thanks for sticking with us, and apologies in advance for the return trip being kind of a downer. Erik and Kyle discuss the last three stories written by Robert Holmes, all in the Colin Baker era, and none of them particularly...well, that would be telling. We've got "The Two Doctors" in season 22 and episodes 1-4 and 13 of "The Trial of a Time Lord" (but let's be honest,...

Hi everybody! You've probably noticed we haven't had an episode in a bit. Sorry, but life catches up sometimes. But we will be back to finally put the capper on Robert Holmes very soon. Thanks for your support, we'll be back before you know it!

From Gallifrey One, Kyle has a little chat about all things Robert Holmes with luminaries in the  Doctor Who world, Graeme Burk, Paul Cornell, and Steven Schapansky. Full episode about Holmes' final three scripts in the next few days.

Believe it or not, Kyle and Erik haven't talked about Robert Holmes since Gallifrey 2014! That's right, almost two years since we've even ventured down the path of Doctor Who 's most prolific and celebrated script writer. Well, diving back in, the boys get to discuss "The Ribos Operation" and "The Power of Kroll" from the Key to Time season and "The Caves of Androzani" which served as Peter Daviso...

We've reached the end of another calendar year and that, apparently, means it's time to do more Seventh Doctor writers. This month, Erik and Kyle are talking about two writers who collectively wrote three stories all about the character of Ace. Ian Briggs introduced Ace in "Dragonfire" and then dealt with her mother issues in "The Curse of Fenric," and Rona Munro's sole contribution to the  Doctor...

This month, we talk about one of the most legendary writers in Doctor Who history, that being John Lucarotti. Why legendary? Well anyone who writes "The Aztecs" deserves that title, but lately a lot of people have been talking about his first story, "Marco Polo," with a lot of reverence. Is it worth that reverence? And finally, he wrote "The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve," which was then heavi...

Oh, hello, the 1980s. How are you this month? Erik and Kyle have remained in the decade of JNT and are looking at the three stories written by prolific TV writer Johnny Byrne, whose contributions to  Doctor Who are "The Keeper of Traken," "Arc of Infinity," and "Warriors of the Deep." These three stories don't normally have the highest approval rating, but that's not specifically fair in some of t...

We've finally made it through the lengthy (though highly enjoyable if you ask us) jaunt with Hulke and Nation and we're celebrating by heading with Doctor Who  into the future! All the way to the 1980s, that is. This month, we're talking about the three stories written by Peter Grimwade, the production assitant turned director turned writer. While we certainly do talk about his stint directing sto...

After a whopping 8 months(!) of talking about the  Doctor Who stories of Malcolm Hulke and the Dalek stories written by Terry Nation, Erik and Kyle are wrapping up both writers in one episode, talking about both of their final stories, and both of them seem to be good encapsulations of what their whole career on the show was like. For Hulke, we have "Invasion of the Dinosaurs" and for Nation we ha...

This month is another of our single-story episode, and while it's not as long as "The War Games" or "Dalek's Master Plan," it's definitely got some gravitas to it. This is, of course, Terry Nation's 1975  Doctor Who story, "Genesis of the Daleks," his final script for a number of years and Tom Baker's first fracas with the rolling tank things. However, as Erik and Kyle discover, it's not so much a...

After a pretty lackluster Terry Nation month, we return with a pretty impressive Malcolm Hulke month, discussing the "... in Space" Duology of Season 8's "Colony in Space" and Season 10's "Frontier in Space." One depicts the struggle of settlers against a mining corporation, the other depicts the Cold War between two great empires, and they both have the Master showing up a few episodes into it an...

This month, Erik and Kyle are still in the midst of their alternating looks at two of the most prolific and influential writers in all of  Doctor Who - Malcolm Hulke and Terry Nation. For this episode, it's a discussion of Nation's two stories fom the Jon Pertwee era, "Planet of the Daleks" and "Death to the Daleks." The first is almost always cited as "Terry Nation's Greatest Hits," which the sec...

This month we return to looking at the work of Malcolm Hulke with his two Homo reptilia stories, "Doctor Who and the Silurians" from Season 7 and "The Sea Devils" from Season 9. Both involve a hyper-advanced reptile race that ruled the globe long before humanity, but as Kyle and Erik determine, were Hulke coming at the concept from completely different angles. They discuss military might, governme...

Here it is, folks! For your listening pleasure, a special tournament special bracket special of special specialness in which Kyle and Erik of this here podcast (The Writers' Room, obvs) get together with Steven Schapansky of Radio Free Skaro  and The Memory Cheats , Erika Ensign of Verity! , and Josh Zimon of The Memory Cheats  and  Mostly Harmless Cutaway  to determine once and for all what the b...

Another look at a super long stoy, but this time, unlike "The War Games," it's one neither Kyle nor Erik had seen (heard) before. Yep, the gents are back in the realm of Terry Nation for part two of our look at the Dalek creator with the massive 13-episode run comprising "Mission to the Unknown" and all of "The Daleks' Master Plan," on which he split writing duties with Dennis Spooner. And you kno...

Recorded LIVE (and quietly) at the LAX Marriott following Gallifrey One 2015, Erik and Kyle are joined by writer, author, scholar, and  Doctor Who expert to talk about the beginnings of Malcolm Hulke's time on the series, writing "The Faceless Ones" in 1967 with David Ellis, and ghost-rewriting David Whitaker's "The Ambassadors of Death" for Terrance Dicks. These be fun conversations, and we're pl...

It's 2015 and Erik and Kyle have lost their minds. It was bound to happen some time, but they've decided to finally delve into the infamous Dalek-filled writings of  Doctor Who 's only writer ever to get filthy stinking rich from writing the show, Terry Nation. Because he wrote so much for the show, it's going to take us a while to get through it all, but we better start now. This month, we begin...

This month, as a special Christmas present to everyone, or possibly as the coal in your stocking, Erik and Kyle are only talking about one story, and it's not even a very long one, but it IS a very complex one with lots of moving pieces and an interesting production history. It's "Ghost Light," the very final story ever filmed for  Doctor Who , written by Marc Platt. Erik loves everything about it...

This month, Erik and Kyle talk about a writer who only wrote two stories but they're two of the most beloved among  Doctor Who fans. That writer is Robert Banks Stewart who penned "Terror of the Zygons" and "The Seeds of Doom," both from Season 13. It can certainly be said that these stories are quite different from the Gothic Horror pastiches much of the Hinchcliffe era gave us, and actually delv...

This month, Erik and Kyle talk about a write who penned three scripts during the Innes Lloyd/Gerry Davis era of Doctor Who , the end of Season 3 and in Season 4. He is Ian Stuart Black, the writer of "The Savages," "The War Machines," and "The Macra Terror." None of them are particularly highly regarded and some are downright troubling for a number of reasons.  The fellas delve into issues such as...