Adorably Eviscerating Edwardian Social Mores (DW: Horror of Fang Rock)

Oi! Spaceman: Adventures in Media Criticism

In this episode, Shana and Daniel are joined by author extraordinaire Kit Gonzo in discussing the first story of the Graham Williams era, Horror of Fang Rock. At least in theory. Conversation ranges all over, but mostly focuses on the incredibly complicated role that Leela plays in Doctor Who. Racism, sexism, colonialism, classism, spoonerisms, and more. Main Topic: Horror of Fang Rock. With special guest Kit Gonzo. Being not-funny. Richard Dawkins or a Rutan? Writing. Commercialism. Academic writing. Browbeating Shana. Getting back on-topic. Fang Rock as a script. Haiku and cliffhangers. Pertwee's dignity. Upstairs, downstairs. Not overexplained. Dialogue and business. Lovely Louise. Leela versus Jo. Actresses imposing feminist interpretations. Costumes. Kit's background with Leela. Leela versus River. Knives versus guns. Leela's agency. Threatening evisceration. Leela stands against Edwardian values. Modern versus classic Doctors vis a vis violence. Co-showrunner Peter Capaldi. "Slay me." Dickhead Four. Ableist shit. Picking up the ball. Leela the noble savage. How are we going to approach Talons of Weng-Chiang. Racism and sexism. "It's still objectification, it's just not *actually* male gaze!" The White Guardian. Contextualized. Better to believe in science. Astrology. Foghorn. Oil versus electricity. Spoonerisms. AAVE. Shana impresses Daniel. Whitesnake. Paddy Russell. Sociopathic characters. Colonel. Indian "savages" and colonialism. The revolutionary Victorian inventor. Problematic Thanksgiving. Forgiving your grandparents. Nobody should listen to that. "Trumpface." A more depressing podcast. Modern Fang Rock. The Rutan should murder everybody. Edwardian oxygen. Daniel's favorite episode ever. Racial encoding. Servants. Working-class superstition. Shana has to leave. Longest episode to date. Rational actors. Internal divisions and external threat. Weird electricity. Sandifer. Jack and James. War of the Worlds. Blind spots and positionality. H.G. Wells. Cliche-ridden. Ludditism. Unreliable electricity. Unassailable businessmen. Go poke Phil Sandifer. Wealth. Talking about Jesus. Alien Doctor. Superman and the Doctor. Demanding perfection. The American Slave Coast. Fuckhole Founding Fathers. Wrapping up.

Kit's book Godbomb! at Amazon. Kory Shrum's Dying For a Living at Amazon.

Find all future episodes of all the podcasts of the Oi! Spaceman family at oispaceman.com. Daniel and Shana are also now writing a weekly column about sex and gender at Eruditorum Press. The first essay, considering Four/Leela as a D/s couple, is entitled "Good Girl, Smash the Patriarchy."