Latest Podcast Episodes

This month, we’re diving into the 1970 Jon Pertwee serial, The Ambassadors of Death.

Before that, we kick things off with the usual mix of news and short topics you’ve come to expect. Then, after the Ambassadors chat, we open the mailbag for some cracking thoughts from our listeners. 

Just another month here at the Doctor Who Show! Enjoy, dear listener.

Contact us:

X / Twitter: @theDWshow
Bluesky: @thedwshow.net
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Email: hello@theDWshow.net

This week RTD’s strangest episode yet, Doctor Who: Wish World.

You may wish to contribute to the show’s running costs, it’s Patreon is here https://www.patreon.com/tdrury

or buy me a coffee here https://ko-fi.com/timdrury

 

The show is also on Facebook please join the group for exclusive behind the scenes insights and of course also discuss and feedback on the show https://www.facebook.com/groups/187162411486307/

 

If you want to send me comments or feedback you can email them to tdrury2003@yahoo.co.uk

or contact me on twitter where I'm @tdrury or send me a friend request and your comments to facebook where I'm Tim Drury and look like this http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdrury/3711029536/in/set-72157621161239599/ in case you were wondering.

 

Join Drew, Brent and James for their instant take on the penultimate episode of the current series of Doctor Who, Wish World.

As always, we want to hear from you – what did you think? Let us know by emailing the Campervan at feedback@thedoctorwhopodcast.com, Tweeting or Xing us, or jump on our Facebook Page or Group!

Ian and Michele will be back on Wednesday with Episode 400A, so make sure you keep an eye (or an ear) on your DWP feed!

Enjoy the show.

Traps are sprung and old enemies unite as the Doctor and Belinda finally arrive home to find a very different world. Can the Doctor see the truth before midnight arrives?

What did we make of it? This is our HOT TAKE.

Contact us:

X / Twitter: @theDWshow
Bluesky: @thedwshow.net
Facebook: facebook.com/theDWshow
Email: hello@theDWshow.net

  This title was released in April 2025. It will be exclusively available to buy from the Big Finish website until 31 May 2025, and on general sale after this date. There is a light that must never be lit... When the TARDIS runs aground in the ancient realm of Morning, the Doctor learns that a powerful force has reemerged. A lamp filled with a mythical substance known as Hooklight has been discovered - and this could mean the end of everything. A great quest begins against the forces of chaos, encompassing many new friends and foes. Without their ship and without each other, the time travellers will be tested on their journey to the Dark Forge. And not everyone will survive... **Please note: the collector's edition CD boxset is strictly limited to 1,500 copies** Recorded on: 26-28 February 2024 Recorded at: The Soundhouse   Producer David Richardson said: "Writer Tim Foley has excelled even himself with this one - a sprawling, lyrical six-hour tale packed with new characters, new monsters and a whole load of surprises. "The Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric have new worlds to explore on separate journeys, as reality itself is threatened by the mysterious Hooklight. Expect something exceptionally exciting and beautiful."

Giles, Rick and Richard return with guest Jim Trenowden to discuss the second of two stories about exploitation - 10th Doctor outing New Earth from Series 2, which we've paired with last time's missing but recently animated 1st Doctor story The Savages from Season 3. We'll decide whether these stories give you a bit of a boost, or just leave you feeling wiped out.

Please like or share our podcast with people who will enjoy it, so we can build our listener base high for happiness. You can rate us directly on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser.com

Jim is promoting the work of Film is Fabulous, a truly exciting endeavour to preserve films in the hands of private collectors, some of which are unique, and save them from being lost forever. You can find out more about Film is Fabulous here: https://filmisfabulous.org.uk/

Rick posts on social media as @brickpandorica, where you can find fantastic pictures of his Lego models of Doctor Who moments.

Giles is a published author with many books, primarily related to science and astronomy. check out his work here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Giles-Sparrow/author/B001IXOESC, or anywhere you go to find books.

Richard's other podcast "If It's Hurting, It's not Working" is currently on hiatus, but it's a fun and informative look at work - why we work, how we work, and what makes a great job. And also what makes a great workplace, how to turn things round when we're not enjoying our work and, in the end, how we can all make our work better. For all episodes, go to https://ifhurtnotwork.podbean.com/ and https://ifhurtnot.work.

The Something Who logo, which features prominently on all our cover art was designed for us by Bea Garrido. She's a really talented artist, who you can find by following this link: https://beagarridoart.weebly.com/, where you can buy prints of some remarkable paintings of characters from Doctor Who.

The opening music is Three Guitars Mood 2 and, yes, that is Richard playing the ukulele and kazoo on possibly the worst ever version of the Doctor Who theme tune at the end.

This week, David & Matt sit down to discuss the 2nd story from season 15 of Doctor Who 'Lux'

Doctor Who theme by Ron Grainer, arranged by Alexander Erben.

Talk to us! Email: timenorspacepod@gmail.com

Twitter: @timenorspacepod   

On this week's Wanderers in the 4th Dimension: Who Reviews podcast, the Wanderers review story #318, The Interstellar Song Contest!

Hosts:

• Connor  The Deadly Emerald
• David http://www.davidsafar.com/    @gwythinn    MaroonedWhovian    DraconianProgeny
• Trevor  @whoviantrev.bsky.social    Trevsplace
• Charlie  @insanityinchaos    The Comic Conspiracy

 

Join us next week for our review of the new episode, story #319, Wish World!  You can send us feedback on Facebook at Wanderers in the 4th Dimension or on Bluesky @wanderin4d.bsky.social!

Thank you for downloading the Trap One Podcast.

On this episode Pete, Si, Denise and Dan are the jury for the The Interstellar Song Contest!

Neste DWBRcast Especial a gente faz um Dossiê da Rani, que está de volta na série moderna!

Desde suas origens na série clássica, vivida pela atriz Kate O'Mara, passando pelos áudios da Big Finish com Siobhan Redmond, até chegar na Era Gatwa com Anita Dobson e Archie Punjabi, aqui a gente desvenda os mistérios dessa Senhora do Tempo Renegada e se prepara para o finale da temporada, que promete trazer uma nova faceta dessa personagem poderosa!

Eurovision meets Die Hard, in SPACE? As though that's not enough to discuss, many fans (and Verities) have finally had their theories validated.

Join Tansy, Kat, and Lynne as they talk about their experiences with Eurovision, break down the Interstellar Song Contest, and then spend some quality time examining the two big, exciting twists in the episode.

What did you think of The Interstellar Song Contest? Had you watched Eurovision before this, or did Doctor Who introduce you to this annual extravaganza?

We'd love to hear from you! Take a moment to leave a comment here, send us an email, or join us over on BlueSky or Instagram.

^K

• Finding Eurovision, Kat's Eurovision podcast mini-series.

Now that the crowd has died (down), join Ian and Michele for a “more considered” view of this week’s episode of Doctor Who, The Interstellar Song Contest – shortly after they go through the wonderful feedback from our wonderful listeners on last week’s episode, The Story and the Engine. Not to be outdone, Brent and Drew make their presence felt – in various ways!

Join us again for DWP Episode 400 – where we are doing nothing other than reviewing Wish World! Plenty of time to mark the milestone when don’t have new Doctor Who Who to talk about!

Enjoy the show.

In this episode of the Who's He? Podcast....

Review - The Interstellar Song Contest

Phil and Paul return with a more in depth look at The Interstellar Song Contest, the latest episode of Doctor Who. With Phil dreading this episode, does old misery guts drag down this review? Or does the appearance of Susan cheer him up? And does the reveal of an old adversary of the Doctor lighten proceedings?

Don't forget that the Who's He? Podcast will be back in just under two weeks time, as Phil goes on holiday.

You can currently find us on X, Threads, Mastodon, Bluesky and Facebook.  Don't miss an episode by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, plus many other podcatchers of your choice. 

Oh boy, friends, do we have a lot to unpack! The Interstellar Song Contest has come and gone. Dugga Doo didn't win. And for that we riot!! Wait, that's not the biggest bit of news from this episode? Oh. Oh yes! There is lots and lots more!! We won't detail out every little bit here because, you know, spoilers. So grab your space age slurpee cups and let's start hashing it out!

  Synopsis After two  hijack the control gallery of the  and eject the audience into space,  and  must race to stop them from broadcasting a  to 3 trillion viewers. Plot In the year ,  steps out of cryogenic suspension and onto the stage as the   begins in the  space station, with the  and  exiting the  at the same time in order to take a  reading. As the reading finishes they turn to the stage, notice where they are, and unanimously decide that they're staying to watch the festivities. The opening ceremonies include commercials for the contest's sponsor . , also in the audience, watches the Doctor and Belinda from afar and is delighted to see that the Vindicator is primed, calling it "the final link". Meanwhile married couple  and , having arrived late, bicker over their seats being taken by the Doctor and Belinda. A , , storms backstage and seizes control of the production booth along with another Hellion worker, . The pair detain everyone present and swap over the livestream to the recording of the dress rehearsal in order to keep the outside world from realising anything is wrong. However, the Doctor notices that Rylan (who missed the dress) is present on stage but not on the television feed, and begins fiddling with wiring near his seat. As the first song plays, Kid disengages the space station safety protocols and evacuates the air in the main area, sending the vast majority of the audience careening out into space, the Doctor and the TARDIS amongst them. Contestant  and her associate  are spared when Wynn surreptitiously seals their pod, and Belinda manages to hang on after being thrown against the ceiling of hers, but they are seemingly the only survivors. With the arena "purged", Kid initiates the final phase of his plan, bringing out a device that will generate a . However, since the  is still intact, backstage director  tries to persuade Wynn that they could still save everyone. Belinda exits the seats and meets up with Cora and Len, who explain to her that the station is in communication lockdown until the scheduled end of the show to prevent manipulation of the betting markets. There's no way for them to call for help. Len finds Hellion script in a nearby terminal and tells Belinda "people say" Hellions have fearsome psychic powers and practise cannibalism, prompting Cora to defend them. As the Doctor freezes in space, an image bursts into his mind: his granddaughter, . She tells him to go back, to find her. He comes to, grabbing a nearby  and propelling himself back to the airlock where Mike and Gary let him in and revive him. The trio talk about how everyone is frozen but not dead, and the  was increased by the Doctor, so theoretically everyone is still in range of the station. Scanning through a nearby terminal, the Doctor finds out that the hellions are uploading a delta wave to transmit with the song contest, potentially killing all three trillion viewers across the galaxy. Searching for a , they come across a museum dedicated to the song contest's history, complete with holographic . As Kid notices people interfering with the systems he attempts to contact them, speaking with the Doctor, Belinda's group managing to eavesdrop on their exchanges of threats. Cora sees Wynn in the background and reacts, prompting Len to inquire further. Cora confesses that she's a Hellion who cut her own horns off and says that their peaceful planet was destroyed by , makers of PoppyHoney. Kid intends to get revenge on every viewer of the Song Contest, as being complicit in the sponsoring Corporation's crimes. Cora convinces Len to help them stop Kid, but he blames her for lying to him throughout their songwriting partnership and says he will no longer work with her after this crisis is over. The Doctor appears on the bridge and dismantles the delta wave, distracting Kid with a hologram. He then, frustrated with the level of damage Kid wished to inflict on the galaxy - three trillion deaths, injured him repeatedly, using  holograms to inflict pain, only stopping when Belinda and Cora entered the production booth. The Doctor puts Gary and Mike to work grabbing everyone suspended in the mavity field using hard light and then utilizing Rylan's cryochamber to safely revive them. As the majority of the attendees filter into the main chamber once more, Rylan explains that the contest is obviously null and void, but there's one contestant left that he wants everyone to hear - Cora. Cora tells everyone that she's a hellion, that the Corporation tried to bury her song and story, and sings for the galaxy. Applause echoes and the crowd is moved to tears. The Doctor and Belinda find the TARDIS in the museum, brought in by contest staff. In their conversation, they mention the earth, prompting the hologram Graham Norton to appear and mention that the earth was destroyed on   for unknown reasons, everything used for the song contest were sifted from the wreckage. The pair run back into the TARDIS and with a fully primed Vindicator pilot the TARDIS directly back to when they left. As they do so, however, the  chimes, and the TARDIS groans, an explosion rocking the TARDIS doors off their hinges. Mrs Flood is the last of the attendees to be brought back aboard the space station, and immediately is concerned as to whether the Doctor is still around. When she learns that he's gone, she begins to , her double brainstem having frozen, splitting into two, a . The new incarnation identifies herself as , acting dismissive of her earlier incarnation, while Mrs Flood begins to defer to her. Taking the readings of the Vindicator, the new Rani says that she'll bring the Doctor absolute terror, and marches off, her prior self in tow. Cast  -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -  Drone Guards - , , ,  And  as  Introducing  as  Crew  

Jeff, Melvin and Ross had a couple of WOW moments when talking about this weeks Doctor Who.  It fun, it was silly, it was scary, and it was moving. Lot's to talk about

 

#DoctorWho #TheDoctor #Eurovision #BBC #TARDIS 

JB, Sean & Lelon continue their journey through Series Two of Disney Who with their reviews of “Lucky Day”, “The Story and the Engine” and “The Interstellar Song Contest”, and although Russel T Davies didn’t write any of these, the fearless three find his DNA all over them.  

It’s finally time for us to face up top the fact that the Eurovision in Space episode is here. So what did the Three Who Rule think of the glitz, glitter, and glamour of The Interstellar Song Contest? You may be surprised at the results! Join us as we muse over surprising cameos, the return of an iconic villain, and our descent into cynicism as we speculate on RTD’s current approach, the remaining two episodes and what lies in wait for Doctor Who generally? Plus minor snippets of news, missing episodes yelling, and more! Next week…Wish World, featuring both The Tripods and the Sandbaggers!

Links:

• Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
• Doctor Who S2E06 “The Interstellar Song Contest” Review
• Archie Panjabi joins Doctor Who as legendary character the Rani
• Radio Free Skaro #979, on the casting of Archie Panjabi
• Russell T Davies teases Wish World
• Richard Price behind the scenes bloot 1
• Richard Price behind the scenes bloot 2
• Doctor Who S2E06 Unleashed
• Special episode of Doctor Who: Unleashed announced celebrating 20 years of revival
• Doctor Who S2E06 Behind the Scenes
• Ncuti Gatwa did not announce UK jury points at Eurovision, Sophie Ellis-Bextor took his place
• Sue Malden on Doctor Who missing episodes at Film is Fabulous event
• Doctor Who’s next two series already written despite ‘Disney funding cuts’, reports The Mirror
• Jane Tranter on US co-productions
• The Happiness Patrol: Unhappily Ever After kickstarter from Cutaway Comics, threshold met

Review

THE INTERSTELLAR SONG CONTEST faz uma homenagem ao Eurovision, trazendo uma versão interplanetária do festival!

O Doutor (Ncuti Gatwa) e Belinda (Varada Sethu) se veem em um evento imperdível, mas que é sabotado por Kid, um homem cuja raça sofre preconceito por toda a galáxia. Ele decide cometer um genocídio, o que traz à tona a raiva do Doutor. Mas tudo fica bem quando acaba bem - ou será que não? Temos a volta de uma personagem mais do que especial da série clássica, em uma revelação de tirar o fôlego!

Músicas chiclete, um retorno há muito tempo aguardado e mistérios finalmente revelados: vem com a gente nesse review!

The Woman Who Fell To Earth; Adam and the team enter the 13th Doctor's era.

The Ghost Monument and first three episodes of 15th Doctor season 2. Adam and Mary (with Kirby in his car) attempt to switch coms over to Teams which caused Debbie to drop off, hopefully to be retrieved one day.

This week the Doctor and Belinda are in the audience for Doctor Who: The Interstellar Song Contest.

 

You may wish to contribute to the show’s running costs, it’s Patreon is here https://www.patreon.com/tdrury

or buy me a coffee here https://ko-fi.com/timdrury

 

The show is also on Facebook please join the group for exclusive behind the scenes insights and of course also discuss and feedback on the show https://www.facebook.com/groups/187162411486307/

 

If you want to send me comments or feedback you can email them to tdrury2003@yahoo.co.uk

or contact me on twitter where I'm @tdrury or send me a friend request and your comments to facebook where I'm Tim Drury and look like this http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdrury/3711029536/in/set-72157621161239599/ in case you were wondering.

 

Oh My. That was The Interstellar Song Contest! What did you think of the latest Episode of Doctor Who?! Join James, Drew and Phil as they attempt to answer that very question! BE WARNED!! Spoilers are contained within! We discuss the Episode IN FULL! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Do get in touch – you can reach the Campervan at feedback@thedoctorwhopodcast.com, Tweeting or Xing us, or by jumping on our Facebook Page or Group.

Ian, Michele, Drew and Brent will be back in Episode 399A with a less excitable/panicky reaction on Wednesday – keep an ear on your feeds!

Enjoy the show!

The Doctor's quest to get Belinda back home to Earth leads to a space station hosting the famous song contest. But a harmless night of fun soon becomes a battle to survive.

What did we make of it? This is our HOT TAKE.

Contact us:

X / Twitter: @theDWshow
Bluesky: @thedwshow.net
Facebook: facebook.com/theDWshow
Email: hello@theDWshow.net

In this episode of the Who's He? Podcast....

Knee-jerk Reaction - The Interstellar Song Contest - Knee-jerk Reaction

Join Scott and Phil for 10 minutes or so as they give their knee-jerk reaction to The Interstellar Song Contest, the latest episode of Doctor Who starring Ncuti Gatw and Varada Sethu.

Phil will be back with Paul during the week with their full review.

You can currently find us on X, Threads, Mastodon, Bluesky and Facebook.  Don't miss an episode by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, plus many other podcatchers of your choice.

    Greed is a sickness. In the mid-21st century, the country has changed. Following a populist revolution, which brought down the entire system of government, society now aims to be more compassionate and equitable. Poverty is a distant memory, public services are properly funded, and separation between 'haves' and 'have-not' is a thing of the past. Those responsible for the corruption of the old world - people who abandoned moral principles in pursuit of wealth and power - have been diagnosed with a disorder: Obsessive Capital Accumulation Syndrome (OCAS). They have been removed from society to undergo treatment and rehabilitation, and without them, the nation has flourished. Making a documentary to commemorate the anniversary of May '33, Leo interviews those who were at the centre of events twenty years before. But as he scratches the surface of the new regime, he finds that the official history does not tell all. Britain may strive to be better for everyone - but utopia comes at a price. This release includes over ten minutes of behind-the-scenes interviews.    

On this week's Wanderers in the 4th Dimension: Who Reviews podcast, the Wanderers review story #317, The Story & the Engine!

Hosts:

• David http://www.davidsafar.com/    @gwythinn    MaroonedWhovian    DraconianProgeny
• Trevor  @whoviantrev.bsky.social    Trevsplace
• Charlie  @insanityinchaos    The Comic Conspiracy
• Connor  The Deadly Emerald

Join us next week for our review of the new episode, story #318, The Intergalactic Song Contest!  You can send us feedback on Facebook at Wanderers in the 4th Dimension or on Bluesky @wanderin4d.bsky.social!

Thank you for downloading the Trap One Podcast.

This week Denise, Frazer, Miranda and Mark have a close shave with The Story & The Engine.

the prequel short story What I Did on my Holidays can be found here.

The Den of Geek interview with Inua Ellams is here.

Wikipedia defines Tumblr Sexy Man: "In online fandoms, a Tumblr Sexyman or simply Sexyman, is a fictional character that gains wide popularity as a sex symbol. Characters described as Tumblr Sexymen are typically villainous or otherwise unusual, although the criteria for what qualifies as a Tumblr Sexyman varies greatly."

We are thrilled to be joined this episode by Australian Whotuber Josh Snares to talk about his fandom, his love of Doctor Who from classic to new, including Big Finish, and his Big Finish animations.

While Josh has animated in whole or in part, four different Big Finish Audio adventures, the two we will be focussing on today are:

The Genocide Machine (7th Doctor, Ace) and

Phantoms of the Deep (4th Doctor, Romana I)

Check out Josh's Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/JoshSnares

Theme music by Joe Kraemer.

Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.sirensofaudio.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Andor

Toni and Joe fuss around and discuss Martha the Murderer and the Only Ten I See in the Doctor Who episodes Daleks in Manhattan & Evolution of the Daleks.

If you're interested in being a Friend of Rassilon, click here.

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From market stalls to barbershops, the fifth episode of the second season, "The Story and the Engine," showcases Nigeria, places that bring people together, and storytelling.

This story also brought Erika, Kat, and Lynne together to discuss it, and let's be honest, there's a lot of joy in the story and the podcast, too.

What were your thoughts about "The Story & and the Engine?" Were you as enthusiastic about it like us or did you see it differently?

Take a moment to leave a comment here, send us an email, or join us over on BlueSky or Instagram.

^K

• Doctor Who: Unleashed is mentioned throughout the episode.

  Synopsis When  and  land in  for another  reading, the Doctor goes to a  to meet an old . There, he discovers a mysterious  trapping the patrons, feeding  with their stories. Plot  sits in a chair, getting a haircut, and tells a story about  the , his village saved by the mysterious man in the blue box. As he speaks, images splay out on the wall behind him, depicting his story to the men listening eagerly. As he finishes, they all look at a pair of lights on the wall in tense anticipation, relaxing when they switch from red to green. Omo tells the others not to worry, the Doctor always comes, and the light switches back to red, alarms blare, and the room shakes.  insists that the  take her home, and he suggests that they head to , , the communications hub of , and a place he loves - home of his favorite barbershop. Belinda expresses confusion at this - the  can do his hair; but he explains that it's about community, about being himself, since it's the first time he's ever been a black man. Belinda understands and sends him off to enjoy himself in Lagos after he takes a  reading. The Doctor winds his way through a market, greeting everyone as he passes, before he comes to his friend Omo's barbershop, , finding those assembled in the middle of a story. As the door closes behind him an alarm goes off in the TARDIS, alerting Belinda that something has gone wrong. The Doctor notices that everyone present is on missing posters outside, and he watches as the man's hair grows back. The light in the barbershop flashes to red, people scramble to decide who still has a story left, and someone sits down, telling the story of  and a , of music and of time. As images flicker on the wall, the Doctor looks on in wonder, and asks how it works, begins testing by throwing out words from his travels. But it has to be a story, it has to be with a haircut. A new  has taken over the shop, he came one day, and as if by magic the shop became his. A woman enters the barbershop, , bringing food, the door closes behind her, and an alarm in the TARDIS sounds again. The Doctor recognizes her, but can't place her. The light switches to red again, and the Doctor sits down, telling the most powerful story he knows, not of  or , but of an ordinary life. Of Belinda Chandra doing her job, helping someone all night long, even on her grandmother's birthday, a simple gesture of thanks two weeks later. Abby watches a screen in another room, seeing it lighting up, noting that they're accelerating, as the story ends. The Barber is impressed with the power of his stories, and tells Abby when she comes out that they need to recalibrate . Omo asks if they can be let free now that the Doctor has come, his stories being effective, his hair having grown in the interim more than any of theirs. But Abby locks the door and the pair leave. The TARDIS sounds an alarm yet again, this time showing Belinda an image of the barbershop. The Doctor is furious that Omo betrayed him, is willing to trap him here, and refuses to listen as everyone tries to tell him not to open the door. He forces it open with his sonic screwdriver, finding a vacuum on the other side. A vacuum with only giant web and a large spider traversing it, the barbershop on the back of the spider. The Doctor closes the door with great effort, and the Barber emerges from the backroom, explaining that the shop is in Lagos and in outer space at the same time, only Abby and himself able to travel between. Outside, Belinda finds herself lost, but is pointed towards the shop by a , entering it, glad to see the Doctor. Reunited, the pair confront the Barber, calling him a coward who hides his face, having no real power. Rising to the taunt, the Barber names himself, calling himself , , , , , the god of stories. The pair burst out laughing - the Doctor has met Bastet, Sága, Dionysus, Anansi. He's partied with them, Anansi even tricked him to marry his daughter. This man isn't any of them. And so the man admits, he's the person who did their work for them. Wherever the gods went, he took their stories, cleaned them up, refined them, wrote them down, all for humans to repeat them, to keep the gods alive. Without him the gods would not exist. The web outside is his creation as well, the , a web that connects cultures and ideas. He was so successful that the gods abandoned him, and now he wants vengeance. The engine winds down, so much power drained from the Doctor opening the door. Abby criticizes him, and the Doctor recognizes her at last - Anansi's daughter, Abena. He's sorry that he was unable to help her, but he was a  at the time, and had his own story. The light turns red, and the Barber insists the Doctor tell a story. The Doctor refuses, demanding to know what vengeance is being planned. The Barber relents - he plans to cut out the gods from memory when he reaches the center of the nexus, erasing them from existence. The Doctor is horrified, this will damage humanity, as it will harm their ability to tell stories, to pass down information, insisting that this is horrific. He refuses to sit down and speak, he won't let the spider go further. As the shop descends into chaos, everyone arguing, Abena proclaims that she will tell a story, and begins to braid the Doctor's hair. And she tells a story of plantation slaves transmitting information through the braids on their hair, maps to freedom for anyone who could escape, hidden in a place where the overseers would never check. As the battery stabilizes, the Doctor and Belinda run into the back room, finding themselves in a maze, a maze for which the Doctor has the map on his head. The pair come to a room full of artifacts from various cultures and the ship's engine, an engine that runs on stories, a heart inside a brain. The Barber enters the room behind them, having cut Abena off from the outside, the Doctor disrupting the flow of power, slowing the spider down but not stopping it. The Barber insists that the Doctor has done nothing. So the Doctor suggests that they consider , who wrote a story in six words. The Doctor's six word story is "I'm born. I die. I'm born." And energy begins to flow into the engine, never-ending energy, as his past lives flicker across the screens. But the Doctor has disrupted the engine, it can't process the power. He tells the Barber that now it's his choice - he can save the people in the shop by opening the door. But the engine will disintegrate. The Barber unlocks the door and Omo, Adena and the rest out front escape. The Doctor sends Belinda back as he sits with the Barber, talking to him, convincing him that he still has more to live for. The pair escape the shop at the last moment as it collapses, the engine exploding, destroying the spider it rode on. Omo apologizes to the Doctor, and says that he should have protected the Doctor, they're part of the same community. The two make up. Omo gives the Barber his shop, saying that he's retiring, and gives him a name, his father's name, . Adétòkunbo steps back into the barbershop, now his. The Doctor and Belinda step back into the TARDIS, one step closer to home. Cast  -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -  Crew          ,  and  with  and                             by   •   by   Music  by   •  Assistant to  -    •   performed by               General production staff  for the  -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   - ,   - ,   -  Script department  -   -  Camera and lighting department  - ,   -   -   - ,   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   - , , ,  Art department  - ,   - ,   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   - ,   -   - , , , , , ,   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   - ,   -   - , ,   - ,   - , , , , , , , , , , ,  Costume department  -   -  Make-up and prosthetics Movement  -   -   -  Casting  -   -  General post-production staff  -   -   -   -   -  Special and visual effects  -   -   -   -   - ,   -  Sound  -   -   -   -                                                            Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.     Worldbuilding  claims to be , , , , and . In return, the Doctor relates encounters he had with all of those deities: winning a bet against Anansi, having a drinking contest with Dionysus that caused a  in , watching  movies with Sága, and losing a game of  to Bastet. The  has a large collection of artefacts related to stories. The room of shelves includes a  , several , a  statue of , a life-sized statue of a bearded man, , a helmet, copies of , , and , and a statue of a . The area around the heart has a statue of a dancing  goddess, a , a , a statue of an , a model , several , , and a . Notes The episode has a smooth transition from the "" into the , with the title sequence first appearing in the shop window, and then the camera slowly zooming closer until the image fills the frame and the window fades away. The title of the episode was revealed on official social media on  . On , the prequel short story , also written by , was published on the . Some of the artwork from it was shown on the shop window in this episode when  was telling his story of the Doctor. The story shares many themes and ideas with other work by Ellams. The 2017 play Barber Shop Chronicles prominently explored  as places of friendship and culture. It featured many barber shops, including one in . A version of the story about  and the  was part of this play. The 2019 play The Half-God of Rainfall depicted a world in which the gods of all religions coexist as separate figures who interact and fight with each other.  appeared, presented as the  of stories. Ellams viewed the character  as echoing the title character of this play, as both are newly-invented children of gods. The 2020 poetry book The Actual had a poem about the Yo-Yo Ma story, as well as a poem comparing rapping to time travel which mentions Doctor Who. The Yo-Yo Ma anecdote is based on the musician's trip to  which was filmed for the 1993 documentary Distant Echoes: Yo-Yo Ma & the Kalahari Bushmen. For the UK debut on , the episode was first released as an audio description version only. The standard version of the episode was then released a few minutes later. Episode writer  appears as a , marking the second time a person has written and acted in the same episode, following  in  [+].  as  and  as the  were omitted from the advance credits. The  anecdote of challenging him to write a story in six words appears to be referencing 'For sale: baby shoes, never worn.', a story misattributed to Hemingway. Myths to be added Filming locations to be added Ratings to be added Production errors If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to . to be added   The Doctor uses the , as he previously did in :  [+], :  [+], :  [+] and :  [+]. 's cameo, for the first time, occurs in a flashback rather than the present, in the story the Doctor recounts about how Belinda saved a  life. She's seen walking down the hallway just before Belinda meets the patient again and is given flowers. The Doctor recognises Abby from his encounter with  when he was the , indicating he now has access to some of the memories that were erased by . Belinda sees an apparition of  just before she reaches the barber shop. When she later tells the Doctor about seeing a little girl, he guesses it was due to stories from the Story Engine leaking out. When the Doctor overcharges the engine with his endless story, it is shown with clips of the  from :  [+], the  in :  [+], the  in :  [+], the  in :  [+], the  in :  [+], the  in :  [+] with audio from :  [+], audio of the  from :  [+], the  in :  [+], the  in :  [+], the  in :  [+], the  in :  [+], , , and the  in :  [+] (saying the line heard earlier), the  in :  [+] and the  in :  [+]. Clips of the  in :  [+], the  in : "" [+], the Twelfth Doctor in :  [+] and a still of the Fifteenth Doctor in :  [+] appear in the background of the following scene. in article: External links Official  page on  Footnotes  @BBC (2025-03-22). . YouTube. Archived from  on 2025-03-22.   (2025-05-08). . . Archived from  on 2025-05-08.  Amanda-Rae Prescott (2025-05-10). . Den of Geek. Archived from  on 2025-05-11.  . BBC One. Archived from  on 2025-04-30.

Jump on board the DWP Campervan with Brent, Phil and Drew as they take it out for it’s second spin for the week. All three of the guys take the time to watch The Story and the Engine TWICE before embarking on this “more considered” review.

Jump onboard and enjoy!

In this episode of the Who's He? Podcast....

Review - The Story and The Engine

Join Phil and Paul as they take a deeper look at the latest episode of Doctor Who, The Story and The Engine. With the Doctor trapped in a barbers shop in Lagos, with a demon barber who feeds his giant spider stories (you will have to watch to figure it out), will Phil ever grow his hair back? And will Paul's ever stop growing?

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The Story and The Engine is a fantastic story. That's it, that's the post. It's well written, it tells a story that we don't really see in Doctor Who, it's amazing to look at, and it provides representation where we really really haven't had it on this show. All of that is fantastic, so you'll hear a lot of that, a couple teeny nitpicks, and a lot of speculation on where this season's end game may be headed!

Highlander II Plan, Andor, Doctor Who: The Story and the Engine, Surveillance, Stains, Insurance, Shoes, Hobbit, London, Blast

We take a look at “The Well” and “Lucky Day”.

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SHOW NOTES

(00:59:58) An article reporting claims that Elvis may have been of Welsh descent.

(01:04:23) This audio clip is of course from “The Tom Baker Years”, featuring Tom’s own memories of “Meglos”.

(01:06:14) At this year’s Capitol event, we got Peter Davison to autograph Mark’s copy of Doctor Who Monthly #55 and we’re offering it to someone who send us a Private Message on any of our social media platforms (linked above). We’ll draw a name out of a hat during the next podcast. The magazine can be seen on our Tumblr page here.

The Diddly Dum Podcast acknowledges the copyright of anyone we’ve pinched anything from.

The series reaches the midway point, so why not drop in on last season's companion and spend some time with Ruby? Pete McTighe brings a story examining contemporary issues while he tries to channel his inner Haisman and Lincoln, massaging both the right and left wings of the political spectrum to leave us with a muddy middle. Toss in a new UNIT dating controversy and some continuity reinforcement, and you get yourself a "Lucky Day". Does Millie Gibson have the acting chops to carry another heavy-lift Doctor-lite story like with last season's "73 Yards"? Perhaps, but not for us though. Ben speculates that this story is a soft launch for The War between the Land and the Sea. And David wonders why does posh Jonah Hauer-King look like a long lost McGann brother? Opening and closing music is "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers. We recorded this episode on 7 May 2025.

Doc takes a break from saving the world to read some lady's private correspondence

The post N188 Joy to the World appeared first on Who Back When | A Doctor Who Podcast.

Ross, Jeff, and Melvin love stories.  The Story & The Engine examines the power of a storie.  They also talk about the need of places where on feels they belong and are safe. All that a story only Doctor Who could tell

 

#DoctorWho #TARDIS #BBC #Disney+ #TheDoctor #stories 

The Three Who Rule weigh in on an episode full of of firsts as The Doctor and Belinda head to 2019 Nigeria in “The Story and The Engine,” a mix of mythology, storytelling, and a big ol’ spider! What did they think of this psychological thriller set in a barbershop that also wanders through a web of dimensions? Plus what were Millie Gibson and RTD on about on The One Show and Morning Live, respectively? And what’s Eric Roberts’ Master up to? All these questions won’t be answered, but enjoy anyway!

Links:

• Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
• Doctor Who S2E05 “The Story & the Engine” Review
• Doctor Who S2E05 Unleashed
• Doctor Who S2E05 Behind the Scenes
• The Story & the Engine prequel
• Compilation of past Doctor clips and the source stories
• “The Reality War” simulcasts on Disney+, iPlayer, and BBC One at 7pm UK time on May 31
• Millie Gibson on The One Show talking about the finale
• RTD on Morning Live
• The Jon Pertwee Collection Audio CD due July 4
• Big Finish Paul Spragg Memorial Short Trip Opportunity 2025 competition open, closes mid-June
• Big Finish: The Worlds of Doctor Who – Dark Gallifrey: Master! begins July 2025

Well folks, the episode has arrived. The List Makers is 50 episodes young and to celebrate we're going to tackle the list of all lists. The list every fan carries in their head. The list that is totally subjective. The list that can cause the most arguments.

Our Top Doctors.

Who are our top Doctors? Why are they our top Doctors? What would your picks be? Why not write in and let us know?

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