"At that moment Lionel Blair came in wearing a witch's hat..."This time Oliver Crocker, producer of 'The Bill Podcast' joins the 'RTA' Team to talk about a host of subjects including working in television, his books examining 'The Bill' & 'All Creatures Great And Small' and working on the DVDs of 'Z Cars' and 'Dixon Of Dock Green'. Oh, and also tha…

In a distant future where all life has been destroyed by technology, Brendan, James and Nathan sit down with their friend Bjay from The Bjay BJ Game Show to record a podcast about a Doctor Who episode called Smile. Notes and links Anticipating with relish the final demise of X, we have decided to preserve here for posterity the Twitter exchange bet…

We’re back for the first episode of Peter Capaldi’s final year — a simple, well-told tale of Girl Meets Girl, Girl Becomes Puddle, Girl Loses Girl and, finally, Girl Goes off with Her Tutor on a Series of Adventures in Time and Space. Welcome aboard, Bill Potts. It’s The Pilot. Notes and links Friend from the Future was a promotional short designed…

Episode 67 of the 'Round The Archives' podcast sees Michael Seely revisiting the career of 'Bulman', while Warren takes a trip with Sir John Betjeman to explore 'Metroland'.Paul & Toppie discuss some of the more obscure corners of US and UK telly and we round off with Andrew & Lisa celebrating the surviving episodes of 'Dixon Of Dock Green'.That's …

This Christmas in July, we are joined by Adam Richard on a sleigh ride that flies right past the Marvel Cinematic Universe and lands on Margot Kidder’s rooftop in 1978. Which is, it turns out, not a bad place to be. It’s The Return of Doctor Mysterio. Notes and links Steven Moffat’s clear inspiration here is Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie (19…

A big week for beginnings this week, with a new Doctor, a new origin story for the Daleks, and a whole new approach to defeating the bad guys. Oh, and a new podcast to discuss them all on. So let’s welcome Patrick Troughton to the studio floor, as we discuss The Power of the Daleks. Notes and links The most recent Blu-ray release of The Power of th…

No, you can’t. They’ve been there for millions of years, through storms and floods and wars and time. Nobody really understands where the music comes from. It’s probably something to do with the precise positions, the distance between both towers. Even the locals aren’t sure. All anyone will ever tell you is that when the wind stands fair and the n…

From Skaro to Gallifrey, twelve episodes of one of the strangest seasons in Doctor Who’s history. What did we think, what did we learn, and what are we most looking forward to? And, as always, who would we snog, marry or avoid? Notes and links Thanks to Bob Gilbey (@bobgilbey), Bryan says… (@bryan1981) and DJ Alpha-T (@DJ_AlphaT) for contributing t…

This week, the Doctor learns that mere relentless persistence is no match for the inevitability of loss, and a Doctor Who spinoff is created which we will never get to see. It’s Hell Bent. Notes and links According to Todd, the old woman in the barn is either Leela or Aunt Adah from the Star Trek: Voyager pilot episode Caretaker — a hologram create…

If you think because she is dead, I am weak, then you understand very little. If you were any part of killing her, and you’re not afraid, then you understand nothing at all. So, for your own sake, understand this. I am the Doctor. I’m coming to find you, and I will never, ever stop. This week, Rob Valentine drops by to spend four-and-a-half billion…

This week, we’re hanging out in a mystical London street full of Sontarans, Judoon and Cybermen, investigating a murder with Johnny Spandrell — only to find, to our horror, that the murder hasn’t happened yet. And, of course, that it’s time for Clara Oswald to Face the Raven. Notes and links Fridging or Women in Refrigerators is a trope in which a …

"Fred Harris haunted my nightmares!"This time Bob Fischer of the Haunted Generation joins us to talk about subjects such as 'Doctor Who', 'The Box Of Delights', 'The Paper Lads' and that weird feeling of melancholy familiar to those growing up in the 70s and 80s...Bob's website may be found at https://hauntedgeneration.co.uk/'Round The Archives In …

This week, in orbit of the planet Neptune, a Doctor Who story is created which kills literally everyone who watches it. Which is why we should probably have thought twice before inviting the lovely Jeremy Radick to discuss it with us. Notes and links Steven Moffat’s version of Dracula (2020) is actually Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’s version of Dr…

This week, we’re all enjoying bombing and threatening one another, until the Doctor comes along and delivers a long speech about New Cruel People, which starts making us feel bad about ourselves. And fair enough. It’s The Zygon Inversion. Notes and links The Decimas were tiny squeaky-voiced aliens, who looked like nothing so much as miniature Zygon…

This week, we’ve invited twenty million Zygons over for cocktails, and now we’re starting to feel self-conscious about cooking up all that salt-and-pepper squid. And so soon we’re involved in an international political thriller that takes us from Fake New Mexico all the way to Madeupistan. It’s The Zygon Invasion. Notes and links Sister Lamont from…

Episode 66 of the 'Round The Archives' podcast sees Nick Goodman joining us on the sofa to look at 'Dr Snuggles' and his links with Douglas Adams & John Lloyd.Next, Martin Holmes travels back in time to Jefferson County, Virginia, to spend some time with 'The Waltons'.Finally, Andrew and Lisa explore the murky world of 1920s crime as they probe 'Th…

It’s been a mere 900 years since last week’s episode, and it’s time to check in with Ashildr to see if she’s still the naive and loving young girl she was back in her Viking village days. Or — like the rest of us — has she simply turned into Peter Capaldi’s Doctor? It’s The Woman Who Lived. Notes and links Nathan refers to the Blackadder the Third …

This week, we remind ourselves of what the Doctor stands for, as we watch him train up some very silly Vikings to be sweet and funny enough to see off an invasion by big stupid monsters with mouths full of teeth. Stacey Smith? joins us to discuss the story of The Girl Who Died. Notes and links Stacey discovered how much she liked this episode while…

This week, a bone Vervoid joins in the fun as we travel back in time to Wales in 2015 pretending to be Scotland in 1980 pretending to be somewhere in the Soviet Union. And it’s hard to say which time paradox is the most annoying, the bootstrap one or the predestination one. Thank goodness Frazer Gregory is here to help us sort it all out — it’s Bef…

This week, we’re playing Doctor Who madlibs — cowering in an UNDERWATER BASE, waiting for the ELECTROMAGNETIC GHOSTS to pick us off one by one. Fortunately, Peter Capaldi and some attractive young people are here to keep us entertained. We’re Under the Lake. Notes and links The CEO of this base under siege is apparently called Richard Pritchard, a …

This week, the Doctor chats with Davros, Missy chats with Clara, and the four of us wonder if those chats are fun enough to sustain forty-five minutes of television. All while actually having quite a fun chat ourselves. It’s The Witch’s Familiar. Notes and links Quite a few mentions are made of the 60-minute LP of Genesis of the Daleks. This was re…

So Doctor Who is back, doing the same old thing for another year, but this time we’re relitigating the main moral question of a thirty-year-old episode: can we kill a genocidal dictator even though he’s just a small child with a dirty face lost on a battlefield somewhere? Tom Spilsbury joins us to discuss The Magician’s Apprentice. Notes and Links …

"I don't like the idea of a looming Jimmy Clitheroe!"This time Tim Worthington, host of the 'Looks Unfamiliar' podcast joins us for a wide-ranging chat about the worlds of archive TV and the importance of spreading the word about the forgotten stuff.Tim's website may can be found at https://timworthington.org/'Round The Archives In Conversation' Ep…

It’s Christmas in July, and what could be more Christmassy than having your brains sucked out by predatory alien crabs? Why, Nick Frost as Santa, of course! So welcome, everyone, to your Last Christmas. Notes and Links We often use an episode’s show notes to enumerate a story’s influences, but Mr Moffat has already done it for us. Towards the end o…

Peter Capaldi’s Doctor might not be sure if he’s a good man, but can Nathan, Todd, Peter and Simon be sure if his first series is a good series? Let’s find out (while determining who to snog, marry and avoid on the way). Notes and links Thank you to Steven B for his question about the ratings during the Capaldi era. Fans of tables of numbers (like …

It’s happened again: it’s the end of the season, and all our long-dead relatives have come back as Cybermen. Only this time, instead of hanging around the kitchen reeking of tobacco, they’re wandering through graveyards and — well, that’s it really, wandering through graveyards. Fortunately, Missy is here to liven things up a bit. It’s Death in Hea…

This week, Danny’s death is somehow made up for by the culmination of a season-long arc which finally brings Michelle Gomez properly into the limelight. It’s Dark Water. Notes and links This week’s evil corporation is 3W, which gets it’s name from the three words Don’t cremate me. But, as Brendan points out, it’s also the production code for Invasi…

"I've gone off on tangents with guests about Hylda Baker..."This time Tyler Adams the host and producer of 'Goon Pod' joins the 'RTA' Team to talk about growing up in New Zealand discovering the world of UK comedy via such shows as 'Are You Being Served?' & 'Steptoe And Son'.You can follow Goon Pod on Twitter at https://twitter.com/goonshowpod'Roun…

It’s like the New Forest only newer, as well as more sudden and completely worldwide. But is it here for revenge, or to provide us with some much-needed help? Let’s find out as Mathew Hounsell and Kevin Burnard join us to discuss In the Forest of the Night. Notes and links Here’s an article on William Blake’s ‘The Tyger’, from which this episode ge…

This week, we’re doing some judicially-mandated cleaning up around a council estate in Bristol when we make some terrifying discoveries about the source and nature of the graffiti we’re painting over, and some even more terrifying discoveries about our own and our friends’ moral characters. Also, someone left the TARDIS prop from Logopolis Part 3 l…

This week, a technologically-augmented interdimensional mummy runs amok on a replica of the Orient Express in space under the control of a terrifying alien intelligence or something. It’s a day at the office for Doctor Who, in Mummy on the Orient Express. Notes and links Mummy on the Orient Express marks the triumphant return of Janet Henfrey to Do…

This week, Nathan, Brendan, Simon and Colin are trapped in a room with only forty-five minutes to decide whether Kill the Moon is terrible or a towering work of genius. It goes quite well, surprisingly. Notes and links Brendan suggests that Kill the Moon addresses the Guns versus Frocks, um, disagreement, which reached its peak during the heyday of…

This week, Pete Lambert and Hannah Cooper join us for a particularly embarrassing Coal Hill School parents’ evening, which goes horribly wrong when a Mechanoid is found roaming the premises. It’s The Caretaker. Notes and links Pete has a dim memory of something similar happening during his childhood, but mere months before Series 8 aired, the Troop…

How much does this story get right about pollution? Surprisingly much. Ben, Luke and Nick pick apart this Pertwee classic.By Ben Cowdell, Nicolas Wilson, Luke Williams

Nathan, James, Peter and Simon come to in a bare darkened room full of mid-range sound recording equipment with no memory at all of how they got there, only to find — to their horror — that they have agreed to podcast about our next Doctor Who episode, Time Heist. Notes and links In a discussion of this very straightforward episode, there’s nothing…

This week, we’re joined under the Doctor’s bed by Fiona Tomney, to discuss whether monsters are real or imaginary or both, and to squee repeatedly over the Capaldi performance. It’s Listen. Notes and links We don’t actually talk about the Missy Reveal in our episode on The Time Meddler. The Missy Reveal at the end of Dark Water was first broadcast …

"William Hartnell had the longest fingers that I'd ever seen!This time Medusa Cascade joins the 'RTA' Team to talk about life as a YouTuber, reacting to all manner of shows including 'Doctor Who', 'Babylon 5' and 'Sapphire & Steel'. You can subscribe to her YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@medusacascade'Round The Archives In Conversation…

This week, Nathan, Richard, Todd and Adrian Phoon leave the peasants of Worksop to their mud-eating and get together to ask themselves the questions Is the Doctor as big a hero as Robin Hood? and Is Robin Hood even real?, only to come up with some very surprising answers. It’s Robot of Sherwood. Notes and links There have been any number of film ve…

This week, we’re joined by Adam Richard, shrunk to a microscopic size, and sent on a mission consisting mostly of ruthless moral self-examination. Meanwhile, somewhere else completely, a romcom is taking place. It’s Into the Dalek. Notes and links Some of us are old enough to remember the constant television repeats of Fantastic Voyage (1966), in w…

After half a lifetime of waiting, the time has come for Peter Capaldi to finally take on the role he was born to play. But is twenty-first century Who ready for this spiky and unpredictable leading man and his sexy and unhinged mortal enemy? We’re about to find out — but first, let’s take a Deep Breath. Notes and links The new “bees in a theremin” …

Episode 65 of the 'Round The Archives' podcast sees Martin Holmes considering 30 years of 'NYPD Blue'.Paul Chandler welcomes new voice Muffleyontour to the 'Round The Archives' team as they take a look at two black-and-white Emma Peel episodes of 'The Avengers' : 'The Hour That Never Was' and 'The House That Jack Built'.Finally, Andrew and Lisa com…

This edition of the Doctor Who Fifty Years Ago podcast covers Planet of the Daleks, comparing the theme of warfare and the use of emotions in this story, and in more recent Who stories.By Ben Cowdell, Nicolas Wilson, Luke Williams

"Actually, I really fancy a go on the tape!"Nick Goodman joins us on the sofa to talk about taping on audio and video and his ongoing mission to preserve our personal history.You can watch a video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0rzXkt0YiYYou can find Nick's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.c…

In this episode of Doctor Who Fifty Years Ago, we look at what Frontier in Space can tell us about 1973, and dissect the "metaphor of the Master's plan" to spread fear and xenophobia.By Ben Cowdell, Nicolas Wilson, Luke Williams

"Why do you wear spaghetti on your head?"This time Warren joins us on the sofa for a discussion of the range of 'Doctor Who' videos released during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.You can watch a video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXEykPXZvnE'Round The Archives In Conversation' Episode 15 stars Warren…

In this episode of Doctor Who Fifty Years Ago, the podcast reviews Carnival of Monsters in the context of 1972, and Robert Holmes' view on history, bureaucracy, society and entertainment in his carny story.By Ben Cowdell, Nicolas Wilson, Luke Williams

From Amy’s imaginary friend to the Hero of Trenzalore, Matt Smith spent four years and more than a few centuries as the Doctor. So now that he’s gone, how do we think he did? Notes and links Thank you very much to the listeners who contributed their questions to this episode: DJ Alpha-T, Frazer Gregory and Nathan Bottomley. Nathan claims to enjoy t…

The podcast returns to start looking at Season 10's stories, with plenty to discuss on the differences on the show and in the world in 1972 and 2022. We begin with the first multi-Doctor story, so here's multiple people to review and analyse it!By Ben Cowdell, Nicolas Wilson, Luke Williams

Doctor, listen to me. You can’t die, you’re too — you’re too nice, too brave, too kind and far, far too silly. You’re like Father Christmas, the Wizard of Oz, Scooby Doo. And I love you very much. And we all need you, and you simply cannot die. While Clara undergoes a gruelling Christmas lunch with her family, on Trenzalore, in a town called Christ…

Episode 64 of the 'Round The Archives' podcast sees Martin Holmes visit Hut 29 to take a look at 'The Army Game'.Paul Chandler and his mum Pat talk about the modern incarnation of Father Brown, then Michael Seely takes a trip to BBC Scotland with 'Sutherland's Law'.Finally, Andrew and Lisa examine 'Four Of A Kind', the very first episode of 'Z Cars…