Classic Rewatch: The Time Monster

Oh, those beloved gems of the Classic Who era, those perfect vertices between the complexity of script and clunkiness of execution that make them so near and dear to our Gallifreyan hearts. Those episodes where a handful of minutes can separate one of the most touching emotional dialogues the Doctor has ever shared with a companion, from one of the goofiest looking monsters ever to flap wildly about the screen. Dear, sweet 1972, you will always be a golden year […]

Classic Rewatch: The Sea Devils

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Absence from the Master makes both hearts grow fonder. Take a short hiatus from full-tilt, beards-to-the-wall Roger Delgado stories, and his dastardly return is like that delicious thin mint after a massive four-course meal. Pair that little morsel of menace with a digestif of a Silurian spin-off species, and you’ve got a Whovian meal to remember. This week, we slowly rise from the depths of main show hiatus to absorb the six-part aquatic adventure, […]

Classic Rewatch: The Daemons

The early seventies were a wild time. The Summer of Love was drawing to a slurred, hazy close. Darker tones and imagery were starting to replace the flowers and neon colors in modern art, and interest in the shadowy fringes of history, science, and culture were becoming not only interesting, but influential. Psychedelic rock was giving way to new sounds, like a group of ragtag blokes from Birmingham who called their group ‘Black Sabbath’. Being the consummate trendsetter and fashion […]

World Enough and Time

We could not count the times over the course of the past five-plus years on GPR that we have come to the defense of Steven Moffat. His writing, his style of production, his casting choices, his vision for the series, his whimsical-bordering-upon-maddening way of talking about the program through vague words and red herrings. Through it all, we recognized that he is a consummate fan, like us in many ways, and he revels in putting forth stories and ideas that […]

Classic Rewatch: The Claws of Axos

The most interesting fictional adversaries have more in common than they do in conflict: Holmes and Moriarty. Gandalf and Saruman. Kenobi and Vader. Burger King and Ronald McDonald. What may make their ‘familiar contempt’ even more intriguing, perhaps, are the instances where they must put aside their differences and work towards a common goal — typically their own survival. We present, as a grab-your-popcorn-and-just-enjoy examples, the Doctor and the Master trying to jointly outwit an alien force that is quickly outgrowing […]

Classic Rewatch: Terror of the Autons

The deus ex machina trope has been explored and adapted more times in science fiction media that we could count. When Doctor Who writer Robert Holmes developed the Nestene Consciousness for “Spearhead from Space”, he paired the concept of a non-corporeal sentient being with the god-in-the-machine premise in the form of the Autons, and the Whovian world would never be the same. Not left to rest on his laurels, however, Holmes was by no means finished, and in the next appearance […]

When Dark Eyes are Smiling

It’s no secret to anyone who has listened to GPR for any length of time that we are tremendous fans of the audio productions that emerge from the Big Finish studios. They bring the classic era to life over and over again in artistic and magical ways, expanding upon the Whovian universe and allowing established televised characters (Doctors and Companions alike) to flourish and grow beyond their time on screen. But where we feel they truly stand out (and this may […]

Our Series 8 Recap

For three months, we have journeyed with Peter Capaldi on his first series as the Doctor, and it has been every bit of the wild ride we had hoped for. Together, we battled clockwork droids, Daleks, and Cybermen. Side by side, we faced down new villainous threats like the Skovox, Blitzer and the hastily (poorly?) named “Boneless”. With his guidance, we found the hidden truths behind misunderstood monsters like the Teller and the Mummy. Spurred on by his relentless pursuit of adventure […]