This Week In Time Travel

Is four a crowd? Could Sunday night’s surprise announcement mean the return of a fully-fledged TARDIS team? Or is Chris Chibnall up to something more tricksy? Plus: the Christmas Masterplan marches on. It’s time to discuss The End of Time and A Christmas Carol with Reality Bomb’s Graeme Burk. Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke with Graeme Burk.

It’s Christmas on the doomed Titanic, and somewhere in Victorian times, Cybermen are trying to crush our Christmas Cheer. We look back on our companion-less Christmas specials “Voyage of the Damned” and “The Next Doctor,” plus take a sneak peek into the past, present and future of…Shada! Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke with Graeme Burk.

The Christmas Masterplan is underway! Join Chip, Rachel, and our guest Kathleen Schowalter as we begin a trek through all the Christmas specials through Peter Capaldi’s last episode. Say hello to the Tenth Doctor for the first time (sort of) and Donna Noble (also sort of)! Chip Sudderth and Rachel Donner with Kathleen Schowalter.

Thirty years ago, Sylvester McCoy rolled out of a curly-haired wig to become the last Classic Doctor! We take advantage of the anniversary to talk about his strongest stories and his place in the Doctor Who firmament. Plus a preview of Reality Bomb’s upcoming podcast of their live show in New York and we talk about our Christmas Masterplan! Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke.

We’re talking about the new Doctor Who Fluxx card game with Looney Labs co-founder Andrew Looney! Plus: your responses to last week’s “My Doctor Is…” question and a Dramatic Synopsis Reading! Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke with Andrew Looney.

These three words mean arguments and strife! What makes The Doctor, well, The Doctor? Are there portrayals or characteristics that are just plain “unDoctorish”? How little will you be surprised by who Alyssa and Chip pick as “their” Doctors? What essential adjectives do they use when completing the phrase, “My Doctor is _”? And, finally, how do you complete the phrase? Share it with us on Twitter (@drwhothisweek) or Facebook with the hashtag #MyDoctorIs! Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke.

Director Rachel Talalay has directed every Peter Capaldi-era series finale, and is in post-production on his swan song, Christmas’s “Twice Upon a Time.” We’re thrilled to talk to her about her experiences behind the camera, her work with Steven Moffat and Capaldi, her outreach to female fans and the state of the film and TV industries for women. Please join us! Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke with Rachel Talalay.

No matter how connected fans become online, there’s no substitute for gathering in person. We’re joined by con-runner Ken Deep of Long Island Who as we find out what it took to start a new Doctor Who convention. Chip and Alyssa also talk about the care and feeding of guests, cosplayers, panelists and other fans. Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke with Ken Deep.

He never said “Pop! Pop! Pop!” but Sydney Newman did transform British drama while creating Doctor Who along the way. We check in with Graeme Burk who annotated and supplemented Newman’s memoir, Head of Drama. Also, we celebrate Victor Pemberton’s memory and squee over Jodie Whittaker interviews and David Tennant casting news. Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke with Graeme Burk.

What do you expect when you’re expecting a new showrunner? The whole This Week team has gone back over the Doctor Who and Torchwood episodes written by Chris Chibnall—everything from gaseous aliens and cyberwomen to dinosaurs on spaceships and mysterious cubes. Are there any clues to the future of Doctor Who when he takes over? Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke with Tom Attah and Rachel Donner.

Steven Warren Hill drops by to talk about his long-awaited opus about Doctor Who in America, Red, White and Who. Graeme Burk and Liz Myles take up the age-old question: were the candy-colored New Daleks in Series 5…rubbish? We say goodbye to Deborah Watling, and we look back at the Doctor Who panel at SDCC. Chip Sudderth and Tom Attah with Alyssa Franke, Rachel Donner, Steven Warren Hill, Lizbeth Myles and Graeme Burk.

It’s not every day history gets made with a casting announcement. Presenting the 13th Doctor: Jodie Whittaker. Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke.

Christel Dee is the host of Doctor Who: The Fan Show for the BBC, and we’ve got her! We talk with Christel about her journey from fan to pro, and then we take one last look at Series 10. Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke with Christel Dee.

The intensity did not let up from last week’s controversial episode! Alyssa and Chip are joined once more by Rachel as we explore the ending of The Two Masters’ stories, the Twelfth Doctor’s heroic arc, the First Doctor’s re-debut, and most especially the resolution of Bill’s story (and whether in fact she was given one). We had a lot to say… Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke with Rachel Donner.

Chip, Alyssa, and Rachel are together in-person to discuss one of the most intense episodes to date! Can they handle the feels, or will they need to enter the conversion theater…? Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke with Rachel Donner.

She last wrote for Doctor Who with 1989’s “Survival.” Now Rona Munro returns to Doctor Who with “The Eaters of Light”; was it to our taste? Plus we talk to Lisa Bowerman, who starred in Munro’s previous outing, and indulge in a little Chris Chibnall Kremlinology. Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke with Lisa Bowerman.

Chip couldn’t tell who had the higher-pitched voice: the returning-after-decades hexapod Alpha Centauri, or Alyssa after she realized that it was indeed an Alpha cameo! We found plenty more to talk about, though, in Mark Gatiss’s possible swan song from Doctor Who: why we frequently look at Doctor Who through political lenses, whether or not Nardole is a tin dog, and how much we appreciate our fandom community. Recorded live and in person during DC Pride 2017! Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke.

Beware fake news! Chip and Alyssa peel back the propaganda and take a close look at “The Lie of the Land.” Plus: Alyssa reflects on Bill Potts at the beginning of Pride Month. Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke.

A 5,000-year-old pyramid drops into existence in a single day as a harbinger of apocalypse. We talk about this part-two-of-three and whether it addresses the questions about “consent” it raises. Also in this feature-length podcast: We talk to Sarah Dollard, writer of this season’s “Thin Ice,” and Reality Bomb’s Shannon Dohar and Graeme Burk explore the Received Fan Wisdom about the Second Doctor! Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke with Rachel Donner, Sarah Dollard, Shannon Dohar and Graeme Burk.

Extremis Veritas Expelliarmus! Particle physicists and priests alike are shocked into submission when they learn the truth of the world. Did Chip and Alyssa buy this departure from the “meat and potatoes” Doctor Who we had in the previous five episodes? Plus, Chip lies on the couch rather than behind the sofa as he and Alyssa talk about fandom disagreements and matters of taste in tight-knit fan communities. Chip Sudderth and Alyssa Franke.