During the run of Doctor Who Series 15, Christian Cawley and James McLean got together to discuss how the show was developing.

This conversation took place against a backdrop of intense speculation about the future of the series, its star, and perhaps even its showrunner. Factor in the internal narrative -- dialogue from Mrs Flood -- and comments from Russell T Davies seeming to downplay the future of Doctor Who, and you have an interesting topic for discussion, namely:

Were RTD, the BBC, and Disney+ engaged in one of the most audacious publicity campaigns for a TV show ever? Or was this a semi-conscious, modern day retread of the events surrounding Trial of a Time Lord in 1986?

Find out what we think. Remember, this conversation went out in early May to our Patreon subscribers, so the voices on the end of your podcastmachine have no idea what happened in Episode 8...

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We're delighted to welcome back Philip Bates for this week's podcast. Recorded a few weeks before Series 15, Philip and Christian Cawley discuss his work on Companions: More Than Sixty Years of Doctor Who Assistants.

Originally published back in 2013 as 50 Years of Doctor Who Assistants by Andy Frankham-Allen, Philip has contributed a huge swathe of new material to this new edition.

After all, he's the editor of The Doctor Who Companion, so who better to work on the revision?

The book has been out for a few months, but now is hitting shelves in bookshops around the UK, although you can also buy it direct from publisher Candy Jar Books, or from Amazon.

Shownotes

• Companions: More Than Sixty Years of Doctor Who Assistants by Philip Bates & Andy Frankham-Allen
• The Doctor Who Companion
  
  

Meanwhile, we're working on a podcast looking back at Doctor Who Series 8, with many of the contributors who popped up on a weekly basis with James. You'll get that first on Patreon!

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Supporters of the podcast on Patreon got this week’s show ad-free and early. Sign up to enjoy the same benefits. 

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Well, Doctor Who Series 15 has come to a close, and we don't know what is going to happen next.

But before we spend time ruminating over the mind-bending regeneration, James and Magnus are here to discuss The Reality War.

Shownotes

Doctor Who: The Reality War on BBC iPlayer and Disney+.

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Supporters of the podcast on Patreon got this week’s show ad-free and early. Sign up to enjoy the same benefits.

Get in touch 

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This week's podcast welcomes John Kenneth Muir, a guest who has also joined us previously on the John and Jim's Excellent Adventure podcasts. 

Naturally, he's here to discuss Wish World with James, the penultimate episode of Doctor Who Series 15/2/41, however you prefer to count it. Expect some interesting insights into both the episode and the potential survival of the series.

As one listener on Patreon described it: "Such an intelligent discussion, avoiding the histrionics you might find elsewhere!"

Shownotes

• Doctor Who: Wish World on BBC iPlayer and Disney+
• John & Jim's Excellent Journey

Patreon benefits 

Supporters of the podcast on Patreon got this week’s show ad-free and early on Patreon — and with extra material. This week, there's a video of the chat, exclusively available on Patreon. 

This audio version is a truncated edit of that conversation, but we’ll be bringing the cut portions to you in future. 

Get in touch 

Subscribe to our podcast? Then head to Apple Podcasts to leave a rating and review. Any new reviews will be read out. 

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This week, it's James McLean and the enigmatic Magnus chewing the Time Lord fat (eww). They get deep into The Interstellar Song Contest, with James as a long-term viewer of Doctor Who and Magnus as a more recent arrival.

Shownotes

• Doctor Who: The Interstellar Song Contest on BBC iPlayer and Disney+

Patreon benefits 

Supporters of the podcast on Patreon got this week’s show ad-free and early on Patreon — and with extra material. 

Get in touch 

Subscribe to our podcast? Then head to Apple Podcasts to leave a rating and review. Any new reviews will be read out. 

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Vworp Vworp and Cutaway Comics' Gareth Kavanagh joins James McLean in this week's Doctor Who podcast.

They cover the latest episode of Doctor Who (The Story and The Engine), with some interesting insights...

Shownotes

• Doctor Who: The Story and The Engine on BBC iPlayer and Disney Plus
• Cutaway Comics

Patreon benefits

Supporters of the podcast on Patreon got this week’s show ad-free and early on Patreon — and with extra material. We also released this exclusively on Patreon as a video podcast.

This audio version is a truncated edit of that conversation, but we'll be bringing the cut portions to you in future.

Get in touch

Subscribe to our podcast? Then head to Apple Podcasts to leave a rating and review. Any new reviews will be read out.

Not on Apple Podcasts? Leave us a review somewhere else, send the link over on Twitter or Facebook or [email protected], and you’ll get a mention.

This week, James McLean is joined by Doctor Who Companion editor Philip Bates to discuss the latest episode, Lucky Day.

They cover everything from twists and turns to the now-perennial question: will Doctor Who continue beyond this series?

Patreon subscribers, will also be able to see this conversation, if preferred, in video format.

Shownotes

• Doctor Who: Lucky Day on BBC iPlayer and Disney+
• The Doctor Who Companion

Get in touch

Subscribe to our podcast? Then head to Apple Podcasts to leave a rating and review. Any new reviews will be read out.

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Episode 3 of Doctor Who Series 15, The Well, has aired in the UK and worldwide on the Disney+ service, and is ripe for discussion. What impact has this episode has, and can James McLean discern it?

This week, James is joined by James Whittington, a writer who worked with us back in the days of our old website. He also writes for the Legend TV channel, among other things, and has plenty of thoughts about Doctor Who...

Shownotes

• Doctor Who: The Well on BBC iPlayer (UK) and Disney+ (Worldwide)
• Legend TV
• James Whittington on X: @jamesywhitt

Patreon benefits

Supporters of the podcast on Patreon got this week's show ad-free and early on Patreon -- and with extra material. We also released this exclusively on Patreon as a video podcast.

Get in touch

Subscribe to our podcast? Then head to Apple Podcasts to leave a rating and review. Any new reviews will be read out.

Not on Apple Podcasts? Leave us a review somewhere else, send the link over on Twitter or Facebook or [email protected], and you’ll get a mention.

Doctor Who Series 15's second episode, Lux, is the subject of discussion this week. James McLean welcomes this week's guest, Rick Lundeen, for quite a deep and wide-ranging chat about the episode and Doctor Who's current status.

Rick is a writer and artist with quite a considerable body of work behind him. Among those include work with Christian Cawley on the Time Leech comic strip way back in 2009, and his incredible adaptation of The Daleks' Master Plan. Rick also writes regularly for The Doctor Who Companion, where he has contributed over 100 articles.

He also has some interesting thoughts on Doctor Who!

Shownotes

• Doctor Who: Lux - BBC iPlayer, Disney+
  • Rick Lundeen art
  • The Swede

You can also watch the video version of this review of Lux, exclusive to our Patreon, which is free to join and affords access to our podcast early, ad-free, and with extra content each week.

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James and Magnus discuss the first episode of Doctor Who S15, Robot Revolution, which introduces a new companion, Belinda Chandra, and ends with quite the cliffhanger.

This is an in-depth discussion of the episode, covering everything from the visual style to the themes of coercive control and loss.

Members of our free Patreon heard this episode first. Sign up at patreon.com/kasterborous for early episodes, ad-free, and often with extra material.

Shownotes

• Doctor Who Robot Revolution on BBC iPlayer

Get in touch

Subscribe to our podcast? Then head to Apple Podcasts to leave a rating and review. Any new reviews will be read out.

Not on Apple Podcasts? Leave us a review somewhere else, send the link over on Twitter or Facebook or [email protected], and you’ll get a mention.

This week's podcast was supposed to be Christian chatting with the Doctor Who Companion's Philip Bates about Doctor Who Series 15... and then Newsround published a brief chat with Russell T Davies.

Suddenly, we had to talk about the possibility that Doctor Who Series 15 might be the last, certainly as far as the current production setup is concerned, and maybe longer term, too.

So, the episode kicks off with Christian and James (which you may have already seen in the video chat earlier), then moves onto a previously recorded chat with the DWC editor. 

Shownotes

• Russell T Davies chats to Newsround
  • Last week's episode: Is Doctor Who's time running out?
• Doctor Who modern episodes ranked
• Doctor Who Companion turns 9

Get in touch

Subscribe to our podcast? Then head to Apple Podcasts to leave a rating and review. Any new reviews will be read out.

Not on Apple Podcasts? Leave us a review somewhere else, send the link over on Twitter or Facebook or [email protected], and you’ll get a mention.