A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast

Joe & James - in person! The intrepid explorers head to the Ark which itself heads away from a decaying planet Earth and Refusis II...

The greatest gift we can think of - an anthology of short stories celebrating the eighth Doctor range. Sam Jones, Fitz Kreiner, Compassion, Anji Kapoor, Iris! Just a delight to talk about.

This mammoth commentary comes to an end with a plethora of reasons to love this creepy, smart and funny tale. We're tossing salt (ahem), sucking in (ahem) explosions and realising we're too old for this sort of thing...

'I will be a God!' Every horror trope imaginable descends on Fetch Priory; cults, eldrich horrors, slavering monsters, ghosts...and Martin and I are raring to face them all!

The menace is afoot with clicky technology summoning an ancient evil, Ma Tyler is on the move, and who the hell did let the Doctor go?

We welcome Martin into the Hamster family, discover his Doctor Who journey and find out precisely what happened last night at Fetch Priory. 'A dead one what other sort is there?'

Joe & James talk to one of their favourite authors about writing The Chimes of Midnight and Jubilee, coming to terms with your own work, and the creating unique short story collections. A real insight into the writing process from one of the masters.

Quintessence of wickedness! Corruption incarnate! Until all the Atlas is pink! The Cream of Scotland Yard! Will Anthony and I finally get the answers we seek from the Ghost Light novelisation...

A brilliant ending to this six part classic...or a damp squib? And will Toby have the audacity to rewrite what is on TV to suit his reading of the story?

We're still mightily impressed with the production value, the thick atmosphere and the performances in this underground chiller...

Joe Ford & Toby Hadoke are very different people. One crude & coarse, the other erudite & charming. One selling a podcast on gossip & scandal, the other on trivia and critique. But one thing unites us: we both think this is one of the best episodes of all time.

Otherwise known as the one with the balloon people…although one of us was surprised by the reaction to the animation.

Troughton is taking a week off but we are ably supporting by a host of fascinating guest characters...and more importantly we can watch this episode!

Where we explore dark undergound passages, homicidal mythological creatures, sticky web and the joy of returned missing episodes...

Real life historical atrocities rub shoulders with mythological and cosmic horror rub shoulders with James Bond spy thriller! There is much to discuss in this neglected and surprisingly contentious book...

Evil sentient technology…a portent of the future? How does The X-Files tackle HAL? Agent Morris is with me to do all the hard work and let me take all the credit!

War in the Hamster Book Club! As we explore Christopher Bulis' gaping orifice, there is a huge spread of opinions. Is this the Middest of all Doctor Who writers...or are there some surprises?

That's taken care of the Cybermen! The most powerful tea tray in history! Is gravity the best weakness of the Cybermen ever? And have you ever seen a bigger ray gun?

What the hell her the ingredients of a Polly cocktail? Is this her best episode? And are Jamie and Ben both in love with her?

A throwaway New Series Adventure or a moving lesson in the human races extinction list? We tackle the thorny subject of extinction, of museums, and of conservation in this surprisingly touching book.

The first supernaural case in The X-Files - a woman haunted by her murdered boss who is trying to protect her from the people who killed him. Is this so serious that Frazer's journey will end before it begins?

Our discussion of this under appreciated story continues as we figure out…it's in the sugar! Troughton charms, and his scenes with Polly charm the most.

The maddest, most contentious, most laughter filled Strictly yet! How can the fag end of Hartnell provoke so many potent opinions?

Grab your Polly cocktails, zip up your quilted spacesuits, avoid the Phantom Piper...we're heading to the moon!

Politics, adventure, a McCoy love in, sinister robots, terrorism, love...this one has it all! Paul steps into the Ham Fam and discusses a much undervalued episode...

What happens when Agent Coyer faces his first experience of The X-Files and comes up against Neanderthal woman?

It's time to bring this piece of art to an end with a celebration of the many positives about the story, the man positives about Scotland, and the man positives about Subbuteo!

Lesson 42! It's time to beat up the Karkus, get trapped in a book and worry about a dollop of foamy spittle at the side of the mouth of a writer of weeklies...

A surprisingly bleak, dystopian world with huge things to say about war, weapons of mass destruction, genocide and scientific responsibility...aimed at children?

One of my favourite single episodes to record, beautiful Glenn reminds us of the joys of finding your tribe within Doctor Who fandom and how enriching it can be to your life...

The story takes a massive diversion into domesticity and science fiction as the Doctor and Amelia attempt to reach Romana in Hyperspace...

When Ruby goes missing in the woods, her mother becomes obsessed that she has been abducted. Scully is sceptical, but Mulder thinks this might be linked to the disappearance of his sister...

Segments, assignments from God, Pirate planets, blood sucking stones, swordplay, giant farting squids and nuclear war! Everything is to play for in this astonishing season of Doctor Who...

Content Warning - reading contains material pertaining to self harm One of us loved this book, one of us hated it and one of us sat squarely in the middle but doesn't ever want to read another Doctor Who book after this. Can Doctor Who tackle mental health sensitively in prose?

The gauntlet has been thrown. A less than favourable episode released on Donald Cotton's books released and James Lark, in a fit of epistolary pique, decides to build a defence for The Romans!

It doesn't exist! Our waltz through the Doctor's weirdest, most literate adventure continues. And we discover precisely what Andy is available for by the end of the episode...

What fresh madness occurs when this foursome finally reaches The Land of Fiction? What can Joe be taught about football? And will Lee wow us all with his his incredible reading?

Sausage sandwiches clamped in our hands, we are facing off against globulin feeding Stones! I know that woman...

This was a delightful, slightly deranged, love in for this quirky, imaginative story. Expect gags, flirting, revealing information and trivia!

Joe meets gorgeous Glenn Fitzgerald in the countryside to have a flask of tea and a sausage sandwich and to chase about with sinister stones...

What has happened to our favourite lines? Fisher rewrites a rewrite and then rewrites Tom Baker's rewrite! But with charming prose, glorious backstory and some brilliant new jokes. A piece of sunshine.

Four huge Peter Capaldi fans assemble to celebrate and cajole the members of the Ham Fam that say nasty things about their favourite and we battle it out through the runners up and winners to find our favourite 12th Doctor story!

is this an atmospheric political statement of the time...or just a load of old tosh? Join Joe, Jack & Steven who investigate...

Devils in the church, ghosts in the crypt, demons from the far reaches of space…Joe, Steven and Jack investigate this atmospheric two parter…

Where the book club learns to be REAL MEN! A McIntee love-in as we tackle one of his most celebrated and fun books; a ballsy, continuity filled, characterful piece with the best depiction of the Master in print. Badda-Badda-Badda!

Joe and Paul are heading for the biggest bang in history! My skystriker!

We're down in the caves, bullets are firing, the Cybermen are massacring the Vogans, Sarah is trying to get back to the Beacon, the Doctor is bomb-loaded and Harry Sullivan is very possibly an imbecile! It's all going on!

Responsible for my every nightmare for about a decade - Eugene Victor Tooms! The baby faced, liver eating, body contorting mutant!

Sarah is infected, trapped with Harry on the planet of gold and the Doctor is sniffing out a traitor with a Cybermat. All the while the Cybermen loom ever closer...

Paul starts his Hamster journey in style as he heads straight for one of the most kicked Tom Baker worries to champion. Hoover attachments at the ready!

On the Timelash's Mark Donaldson & I discuss Bollywood, big concepts, romance and an idiosyncratic prose style! Boom Shakalaka!