#121 Peter Out

... in which our fearless podcasters give a heartfelt salute to Peter Capaldi, a warm welcome to Jodie Whittaker, and a final farewell to Steven Moffat. JB and Xtofer review "Twice Upon A Time".

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JB's appearance on the Progressive of Power Podcast

Last week I was a guest panelist or the She-Ra: Progressive of Power Christmas Special which was recorded live in front of an audience at the Cards Against Humanity Theater. The episode has now dropped just in time for the holidays, and you can download or stream the episode at the Progressive of Power webpage.

Speaking of holiday podcasts, I had planned to record a holiday special prior to my review of "Twice Upon A Time", the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas Special, however it was delayed and eventually postponed by both me and Xtofer getting sick and by an expensive Macbook repair. We plan to record our review on the 27th or 28th and will have it ready before the end of the year.

Happy Holidays.

#120 Costume Drama

…in which our fearless podcaster always dresses for the occasion. JB briefly weighs in on Jodie Whittaker’s new Doctor costume.

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#119 Puffer Fish on Panini Bread

… in which If you look hard enough, there’s always something hidden in plain sight. JB weighs in on the Doctor Who Magazine controversy, Series 11 casting news, and the further adventures of Curly Mary Sue. Also St. Xtofer joins in for a review of the Big Finish Short Trip stories “A Heart On Both Sides” and “All Hands On Deck”.

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#118 Randomizer 2

… in which our fearless podcasters question the merits of bringing back Shada and The X-Files, recast Marco Polo, talk Trill sex, and fire off rayguns. Featuring Daniel Harper, Lauren Faits, and St. Xtofer.

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#117 The Big Picture

… in which the podcaster by the lake and the podcaster from downstate predict what Doctor Who audio adventures Big Finish will release next. St. Xtofer also shares with JB his thoughts on the casting of Jodie Whittaker and his theory of the complex nature of the Doctor/Master relationship.

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#116 Geek Girl Power

… in which a fearless cosplayer becomes a fearless podcaster. Lauren Faits returns to chat with JB about her new podcast, “She-Ra: Progressive of Power" as well as the long overdue casting of the first female Doctor Who. Topics also include resisting the new world order, justifying the existence of Porgs, and learning to fly.

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SHOW LINKS

She-Ra: Progressive of Power - Lauren's new podcast w/co-host Eric Garneau
Our Fair City
Ameya Pawar - Democratic candidate for Illinois Governor
Windy City Flyers

#115 Gen X on Next Gen (Part Two)

… in which our fearless podcaster continues his voyage aboard the USS Enterprise (NCC 1701-D to be precise). Joining JB on his voyage is Ron McAdams, co-host of the 10 Backward Podcast and the MST3K Revival League Podcast. Listen in as they reminisce about their time together in Starfleet and give commentary on “The Best of Both Worlds (Part Two)”.

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SHOW LINKS

Starfleet - The International Star Trek Fan Organization
10 Backward - Star Trek TNG podcast co-hosted by Ron McAdams
Botbuilders.info - Ron's online guide to building the bots from MST3K
MST3K Revival League Podcast - of which Ron is a regular contributor
Electric Toadstool Orchestra - 8 Bit Next Gen Theme

SHOW PICS

USS Locksley - Shuttlecraft Sherwood prior to its launching at the 1993 SIU Cardboard Boat Regatta. On the right is Capt. Adam Nettles.

My guest, Ron McAdams, and I in my Starfleet uniform and hoodie, watch on as Capt. Adam prepares for departure.

The shuttlecraft successfully piloted and navigated by CMO Ann Ponder & Capt. Adam Nettles. We came in second in our heat.

#114 Gen X on Next Gen (Part One)

… in which two fearless podcasters go back in time to visit the 24th Century. JB is joined by Daniel Harper, co-host of the Oi! Spaceman Podcast, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation with a commentary for “The Best of Both Worlds (Part One)”.

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#113 Stolen Fluid Links

... in which our fearless podcaster has answers but no questions, so he steals them from another podcast. Topics include Time Lord twins, visual title sequences for audio podcasts, console room redesigning, multi-Capaldi stories, and the lack of 80's era Cybermen.

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#112 State of the Who-nion

... in which Peter Davison pleads the fifth, Steven Moffat plays the "fake news" card, Deborah Watling takes her final journey through time and space, and our fearless podcaster breaks out the poorly-done European accents.

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Deborah Watling 1948-2017

Today marks the passing of 60's Doctor Who scream queen Deborah Watling, who played companion Victoria Waterfield opposite Patrick Troughton's Doctor. I did not see Victoria at all when viewing the classic series on PBS in the 80's; it wasn't until "Tomb of the Cybermen" was rediscovered and released on VHS in the early 90's when I saw her in action.

It's only recently that I saw more of her work on Who in "The Enemy of the World", "The Ice Warriors", and "The Web of Fear", and sadly I don't think much of the character of Victoria as a companion. She screamed and whimpered a lot and was basically a damsel in distress and an unrequited love interest for fellow companion Jamie.

But from what I understand, much like how Marina Sirtis was light years away from Deanna Troi in TNG, Deborah Watling was a firecracker in comparison to the character she played on Doctor Who. I saw her once at a panel at Chicago TARDIS a few years ago, and she practically read the riot act to some neckbeard in the audience for recounting some disparaging remarks about "Zoe being the worst companion." By all accounts Deborah was a sweet human being, and we all mourn her passing at age 69 to lung cancer.

#111 Jodie

… in which the future is female. Our fearless podcaster reacts “live-on-tape” to the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor Who.

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I also discuss Jodie Whittaker's casting and my thoughts on Series 10 on this week's episode of the Caffeinated Comics Podcast.

#110 Master Baiting

… in which two fearless podcasters soak up all the fanwank from the tool of Moffat. It’s the last of the Series 10 reviews as JB and X take on “World Enough and Time” and “The Doctor Falls”.

DISCLAIMER: The following podcast is presented to you RAW & UNCUT. There were audio issues on X's track, and I did my best to EQ it to a presentable level. I decided to not edit out the flubs and pauses on this, so you're getting a rare insight to what goes on during a podcast recording session.

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#109 Beam Me Out Scotty

… in which the hills are alive with the sound of music. JB is joined by Gordon Dymowski, organizer of the Chicago Doctor Who Meetup group, to review “The Eaters of Light”.

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#108 Black and White, Red and Green

… in which we all scream for ice queen. Once again JB is joined by Jon Clarke, co-host of the Caffeinated Comics Podcast, to discuss the latest Mark Gatiss script “Empress of Mars”, as well as some brief thoughts about the Series 10 finale, comic book movies and Motorhead cosplay.

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#107 Yo Mama

… in which the podcaster by the lake and the podcast from downstate get their rant on. It’s the long-awaited return of St. Xtofer as he joins JB in reviewing “Extremis”, “The Pyramid at the End of the World”, and “The Lie of the Land”.

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#106 I Can't Breathe

... in which two fearless podcasters let it all air out ... or is it let all the air out? JB is joined by Daniel Harper, co-host of the Oi Spaceman Podcast, for a review of "Oxygen".

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SHOW LINKS
Pex Lives: a review of 'Oxygen' by Phil Sandifer and Shana Wolstein
Eruditorum Press: 'Last Gasp', an essay by Jack Graham

#105 Treehouse of Horror

… in which The Doctor and Bill find themselves on the menu once again. JB is joined by Sean Homrig, co-host of The TARDIS Tavern Podcast, for a review of “Knock Knock”.

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You can also hear Sean on
The Classic Horror Podcast and The 1001 Movies Podcast.

#104 $#!+ting Bricks

... in which Capaldi shines while dressed to the nines, thanks once again to the writing of Sarah Dollard. This week JB is joined by Nicole Corrigan from the Two Girls A Guy And A TARDIS Podcast for a review of "Thin Ice".

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#103 :P

… in which two fearless podcasters express themselves in complete sentences and not through emoji. JB is joined by Nicole Mayer, co-host of the Spoilers Are Cool Podcast, for a review of “Smile”.

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#102 Soft and Wet

… in which Steven Moffat is back on the “Doctor Who’s Greatest Hits” Tour while two fearless podcasters struggle to stay on topic. JB is joined by special guest Jon Clarke, co-host of the Caffeinated Comics Podcast, for a review of the Series Ten opener, "The Pilot".

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#101 The Doctor's Babes

... in which three fearless podcasters go back to high school.  JB is joined by Cate Brecht and Anna Jensen, hosts of the Babes Watch Buffy Podcast, for a review of the Doctor Who Series Two episode "School Reunion", as well as a chat about the 20th anniversary of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and the sexual preference of the new Doctor Who companion. 

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Coming out of the TARDIS

Okay, so as much as I would've liked for this to "come out" naturally on the show and not spoiled by the BBC publicity machine two weeks before airdate, I am pleased to see some real diversity in the companion role, yet I'm hoping that Bill's sexuality won't be THE defining characteristic. Steven Moffat created the character, so I have my worries. A lot of fans are expressing relief that there will be no romantic interests between the Doctor and Bill, but I will add that it will be a sure thing that Moffat will not pull the old "kill off the gay/minority" trope for fear of pissing off what's left of his fanbase on his way out the door.

Or will he?...

The Mary Sue's article seems to imply that Bill will be continuing when Chibnall takes over, but I have heard no other word about her staying on after Capaldi and Moffat leaves. But if she does stay, and the next regeneration of the Doctor is female, and the writers made Bill gay so that she will have a romantic interest with a female Doctor, I'm getting off the bus.

#100 The Dancing Wookiee

... in which a milestone is reached and the secret origin of the podcast is revealed. Also, our fearless podcaster chats with special guest Dawn Xiana Moon of Raks Geek about the geek bellydancing scene and the growing resistance movement against the current American administration.

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SHOW LINKS
Raks Geek
Dawn Xiana Moon - Artist Page

#099 Four Years Later

... in which the podcaster by the lake and the podcaster from downstate commiserate on Peter Capaldi leaving Doctor Who after Series 10 and contemplate the life expectancy of the series under Chris Chibnal. Also, JB gives a spoiler-free report on the revival of Mystery Science Theater 3000 coming soon to Netflix.

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Peter Capaldi To Leave Doctor Who Xmas 2017

I can’t say I’m surprised. I can’t say I’m saddened. I do, however, feel a twinge of disappointment for a fine actor who hasn’t had a chance to really shine in the role of a lifetime. And for Peter Capaldi, Doctor Who was literally the role of his lifetime.

Today he announced he is leaving Doctor Who. His last appearance as the current incarnation will be at Christmas after one more full series in the Spring. But I look at the list of writers for this upcoming season, and aside from one brand new name and another name from the Classic era, it looks like we’re getting more of the same as the last two series.

We’ll have a new companion whose story will most likely take center stage, and it will probably be a compact story unlike Amy’s or Clara’s because I can’t imagine Bill will be carried over to the new production team. Plus we have a returning character being brought in as comic relief and now confirmed to be in all the episodes. And I fear that the Doctor is going to be pushed back even further from being the main protagonist in these upcoming stories. I hope that I am wrong and that the Doctor will be driving the action this time around instead of being the reactive and often clueless character he was in the last two series.

I’m not going to speculate who will be cast as Capaldi’s replacement, only that I’m sure he or she will be considerably younger, and I suspect we will have an announcement before the series comes back in April.

Today, the “12th” Doctor still remains the only incarnation of which I have none of his episodes on DVD. He is also the only action figure that is not in my display cabinet with all the other Doctors (including the recently departed John Hurt), but that’s mainly because Character Options still have not gotten his facial features or his hair quite right.

I see the potential of Capaldi’s Doctor in interviews or with his interaction with young fans, but I’ve rarely seen it on the actual series. I hope I see it this year, and I wish Peter Capaldi all the best at his future endeavors, which I hope will include a series of Big Finish adventures.

#098 Hurt

... in which the world shouts "No More!" to racism, misogyny and homophobia while mourning the loss of a Doctor. Meanwhile our fearless podcaster gives a quick rundown of writers for Series 10, share his thoughts on the big three podcasts featured in this year’s Doctor Who Magazine Winter Special, and has a few words for Graeme Burke.

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Podcast interviews featured on the Doctor Who Magazine Winter Special:

Radio Free Skaro: Who Cares What Some Dork In His Basement Says?
Verity: Feminism Is Built Into The DNA Of It
Reality Bomb: Why don't You Do A Gallery Of The Overrated?

#097 Be Our Guest

Remember when our fearless podcaster guested on other Doctor Who podcasts? It’s a special “best of” look at JB’s guest appearances on The TARDIS Tavern, Live at the Blue Box, and Oi! Spaceman: Adventures in Media Criticism. Topics include Mathew Waterhouse getting to second base, star hustling, who wasn’t a companion, and losing my religion.

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