Lots of Planets Have a North

NOTE: This episode was recorded before the most recent charges against Huw Edwards were publicly released, and it's likely that our tone in discussing him would have been less light-hearted had it been recorded a few weeks later. I [Ciarán] don't see this as inherently a bad thing, as it's in keeping with the very lightweight nature of ‘Fear Her,' but it is somewhat less than timely, and deserves an explanation. Peter Kay's accent causes Ciarán some consternation, Kel the council worker warms our hearts, and the Daleks are too much for Jacob's elderly ears. We talk queerness in both broad and specific senses, the broad treatment of race in ‘Fear Her,' and Jacob's running critique of imperialism throughout the series comes to a head (sort of). Which 1980s band has Ciarán decided that he is “the Elton of,” and what are the Keir Starmer and Chris Chibnall Zones? All will be revealed… Love and Monsters: 0:37 Fear Her: 29:22 Army of Ghosts/Doomsday: 46:50 Final thoughts and rankings: 1:11:44 Next time…: 1:28:11 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Clockwork robots attack the Enlightenment, Cybermen attack every conceivable concept, and Mark Gatiss somewhat confusedly attacks the concept of empire and the post-war state. Join us as we talk Ricky's Newsround gang, people being sucked off by the TV (I said what I said) and Sutekh stuck at the bottom of a crater. Also, Tat Wood (of About Time) is referenced so often that he might as well be credited as a co-host. The Girl in the Fireplace: 0:32 Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel: 19:26 The Idiot's Lantern: 38:47 The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit: 1:02:15 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The time has come for us to face down David Tennant once more, presumably in some kind of overwrought shouty showdown. We go from cat nuns to werewolf-worshipping kung fu monks, thus confirming (yet again) that Catholics are inherently evil and sexy, and Alfred Tennyson proves surprisingly relevant. Jacob reveals secrets of his childhood, Ciarán reveals secrets of the English education system, and New Earth proves to house very few secrets indeed. Listen out for “one of the more slanderous comments [Ciarán] will ever make on this podcast.” The Tenth Doctor: 4:02 Rose (and supporting cast): 17:44 New Earth: 25:46 Tooth and Claw: 41:55 School Reunion: 59:05 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the second part of our look at Tom Baker's final season, we wax (appropriately) lyrical about Warrior's Gate, muse on the poor observation skills of the people of Traken, and mourn Aunty Vanessa (because someone has to). Jacob has issues with Traken as a moral fable, Ciarán ponders whether the Keeper is more Arthur Scargill or Ian Paisley, and we come to a distressing realisation about the inhabitants of Logopolis. Warrior's Gate: 0:35 The Keeper of Traken: 28:29 Logopolis: 46:00 Conclusions and rankings: 1:17:58 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

After a long absence in E-space, we've returned to talk Tom Baker's climactic final season, featuring the uses of science and knowledge, the collapse of the post-war consensus, and, unfortunately, Adric. Jacob suggests some fun new torture methods for the CIA, Ciarán is unimpressed by the name ‘Dexeter,' and we want our vampires as hammy as possible. Keep an ear out for Jacob's fortuitous prediction of ‘73 Yards' (this was recorded just over a week before that episode aired). The Fourth Doctor: 01:43 Companions: 09:36 Script Editor Christopher Bidmead: 16:54 Producer John Nathan-Turner: 23:48 The Leisure Hive: 34:26 Meglos: 48:57 Full Circle: 57:35 State of Decay: 1:19:35 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

With the dawn of the RTD2 era now in sight, we bid our final farewells to Chris Chibnall's tenure on the show. Ciarán gets worked up about Sea Devils, Branwell just can't wait for the Slithenaissance, and Jacob is lost for words more than once. We share our top 3 and bottom 3 episodes of the era, and discuss what the legacy of this era is likely to be. Our Top 3: 0:55 Our Bottom 3: 29:22 Legacy: 59:00 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

As we endure the long wait between the end of the Chibnall era and the advent of RTD2, we cast an eye backwards over the last 5 years. What went well? What went wrong? Has Branwell recovered from ‘The Witchfinders' yet? Join us as we talk the good and bad of diverse representation, the vagaries of the Timeless Child plotline, and whatever was (or, more pertinently, wasn't) going on between the Doctor and Yaz, in what is, for some reason, our most X-rated episode to date. The Positives: 5.06 The Key Problems: 18.49 The Thirteenth Doctor: 1.06.35 Companions and Recurring Characters: 1.23.01 (in the order: Ryan, Graham, Dan, Yaz, the Master, the Fugitive Doctor) This episode is dedicated to Andrew Ellard. Ciarán's article on the politics of the Chibnall era (from January 2021): https://headstuff.org/entertainment/film/television/the-chibnall-centrism-of-doctor-who-politics-on-tv/ Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

After a long break to recover from the overwhelming impact of ‘Heaven Sent'/‘Hell Bent,' we're back to talk all things historicals. How have different types of historicals worked over the course of the series? What works and what doesn't? And what kinds of settings would we like to see explored? Featuring a lengthy discussion of the return of RTD (this was recorded a while ago…), a David Mitchell(s) tangent, and a fully worked out treatment for a prospective historical episode from Bethan. Call us, Bad Wolf Productions… Sci-fi historicals: 16.32 Pure historicals: 30.40 Celebrity historicals (featuring ‘Vincent and the Doctor' discourse): 41.24 Exemplars of historicals: 59.32 Historical settings we'd like to see: 1.30.55 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Ciarán breaks down the “sacrificial companion,” Bethan discusses the Hybrid as a meditation on the usefulness of storytelling, and Jacob finds all human life in ‘Heaven Sent.' Join us as we talk alien refugee camps and legal authority, struggle to find enough superlatives for ‘Heaven Sent,' and have our longest single-episode discussion to date on ‘Hell Bent.' Farewell, Series 9, we will miss you immensely. ‘Face the Raven:' 00.44 ‘Heaven Sent:' 42.52 ‘Hell Bent:' 1.13.29 Rankings and round-up: 2.01.01 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Bethan takes a stand on behalf of Vikings, Jacob wants more Civil War action, and Ciarán is here to pinch your benefits. Join us as we ponder Sam Swift's odds of living beyond the next week, the simultaneously complex and simple ethics of the Zygon two-parter, and where ‘Sleep No More' fits on the Mark Gatiss “fine” scale. ‘The Girl Who Died:' 00.37 ‘The Woman Who Lived:' 26.18 ‘The Zygon Invasion'/‘The Zygon Inversion:' 52.06 ‘Sleep No More:' 1.35.59 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

As we begin our mammoth look at Series 9, Jacob gets excited about hybridity, Bethan gets excited about Missy, and Ciarán just gets excited about this series in general. Join us as we talk alt-right Daleks, the brilliance of Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, and Francis Fukuyama’s “end of history.” Apologies for the audio weirdness a little over an hour in; it’s the result of a semi-successful salvage job. The 12th Doctor: 0.01.27 Clara: 0.22.48 Brief Series 9 Overview: 0.40.12 ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’/‘The Witch’s Familiar:’ 0.53.35 ‘Under the Lake’/‘Before the Flood:’ 1.28.05 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the concluding part of our look at Season 13, we talk popular modernist aesthetics, Gothic traditions, and fan reverence for this season. But all of this is overshadowed by the advent of Bethan’s hero, Harrison Chase. Look upon his plants, ye mighty, and despair. ‘The Android Invasion:’ 00.46 ‘The Brain of Morbius:’ 23.38 ‘The Seeds of Doom:’ 52.56 Rankings: 1.08.23 Season Summary: 1.19.24 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the first part of our look at Season 13, Jacob talks nascent Scottish devolution and imperial metaphors, Bethan gets excited about Anti-Man, and Ciarán gets very annoyed at ‘Pyramids of Mars’ in general. After wading through an awful lot of cynical Gothic horror, we ask: what makes a classic? ‘Terror of the Zygons:’ 18.26 ‘Planet of Evil:’ 46.29 ‘Pyramids of Mars:’ 1.13.41 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Christmas Christmas Special Special Part 2 For our second festive special, we take a look at Matt Smith’s Christmas episodes. We find lots of nice things to say about ‘A Christmas Carol,’ lots of mixed things to say about ‘The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe,’ and not much at all to say about ‘The Snowmen.’ ‘A Christmas Carol:’ 01.22 ‘The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe:’ 32.14 ‘The Snowmen:’ 1.11.22 (Yes, the beginning of the discussion of The Snowmen is exactly an hour on from the discussion of 'A Christmas Carol.' Yes, that's very weird.) Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the final part of our look at series 6, we ponder how Cher would get on in ‘The God Complex,’ try to figure out what the Cybermen are doing in ‘Closing Time,’ and send the Doctor our thoughts and prayers. Featuring Ciarán denying that he is a “partisan going to the barricades” and Bethan revealing herself to be a centrist. ‘The God Complex:’ 00.46 ‘Closing Time:’ 19.50 ‘The Wedding of River Song:’ 34.03 Rankings: 52.30 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Email: lotsofplanets@gmail.com Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the second part of our look at series 6, Jacob expounds on ‘The Rebel Flesh’/‘The Almost People’ as a Marxist fable, ‘Night Terrors’ surprisingly turns out to be slightly better than “fine,” and we have our strongest disagreements to date on ‘Let’s Kill Hitler.’ Which is to say, one of us thinks it’s all right. ‘The Rebel Flesh’/‘The Almost People:’ 00.39 ‘A Good Man Goes to War:’ 23.05 ‘Let’s Kill Hitler:’ 45.29 ‘Night Terrors:’ 1.04.39 ‘The Girl Who Waited:’ 1.26.18 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the first part of our examination of The Marmite Season, Jacob explores the pros and cons of the Silence as “avatars of capitalism,” Bethan criticises Amy’s CPR skills, Ciarán somehow can’t seem to remember the title of the first episode of the series, and ‘The Doctor’s Wife’ proves surprisingly contentious. Apologies for all the sirens; there appears to have been some kind of crime wave taking place in York on the day this was recorded. ‘The Impossible Astronaut’/‘Day of the Moon’: 33.33 ‘The Curse of the Black Spot’: 1.01.45 ‘The Doctor’s Wife’: 1.09.44 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In this episode, we each go through our top 5 companions, and talk about those we’ve loved (and those we haven’t) over the years. What makes a good companion, or a bad one? Which companions make all of our lists? Does the word “chemistry” start to seem weird when you keep applying it to people? Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the second part of our examination of Season 11, Jacob explains how Monster of Peladon is a mid-70s reassertion of the idea of the social contract, Bethan mourns for Aggedor, and Ciarán waxes lyrical about the Third Doctor’s regeneration. Join us as we ask: was Season 11 actually quite good after all? Monster of Peladon: 00:39 Planet of the Spiders: 33:27 Series Round-up: 1:08:32 Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the first part of our look at Season 11, we ponder The Time Warrior’s attitude to women, Invasion of the Dinosaurs’s attitude to ecological movements, and Death to the Daleks’s attitude to having a decent plot. What’s Jeremy Corbyn doing on a spaceship? Where exactly is Bloodaxe supposed to be from? Explore these and other enduring mysteries with us! Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

For a festive special, we take a look at the David Tennant era Christmas specials. We discuss how the Sycorax work as an imperialism metaphor, The Runaway Bride’s weird disdain for Donna Noble, and Jackson Lake’s French son. Which of these episodes do we all agree is actually pretty good? Spoiler: it’s not Voyage of the Damned. Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In this episode we take a look back at our experiences with the show, from our earliest memories right up to the present day. Hear our attempts to dissect the appeal of the show, our memories of the Frankensteinian monstrosity that was the Superwholock fandom, and how the McCoy era was cruelly kept secret from us for a long time. Apologies for the background noise and audio interference; we were trying out a new recording location and setup. All should be improved for our next episode. The interview with Andrew Cartmel mentioned by Ciarán is from episode 38 of the excellent Galactic Yo-Yo podcast. Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the concluding part of our look at Series One, we talk history and narrative in The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, we find nothing at all good to say about Boom Town, and we go through both the economic and the theological implications of Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways, including a discussion of the Doctor as a mythological figure and Jacob’s long-promised investigation of the Davies era’s neoliberal cynicism. Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the second part of our look at Series One, Bethan reveals how Adam suffered for Adric’s sins, Jacob does a deep dive on information capitalism in Dalek and The Long Game, and we all love Paul Cornell. As a fun game, take a drink every time Ciarán mentions Andrew Cartmel. Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the first part of our look at Series One, we talk about the enduring mystery of what Rose is doing with the lottery money, the breathtaking dodginess of Cassandra, and how The Unquiet Dead is fine. Just fine, really. Also, Ciarán can’t stop talking about Love and Monsters for some reason. Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the second part of our look at Season Seven, covering The Ambassadors of Death and Inferno, we explore the mystery of Dr. Bruno Taltalian's accent, we shed some tears over the plight of the poor Ambassadors, and we encounter our first egregious piece of sexist behaviour in classic Who. But surely the last, right? Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In our inaugural episode, we discuss Season Seven as a whole, as well as delving into its first two stories. In the process, we discover a surprising number of similarities between Doctor Who and Dungeons & Dragons, Bethan explains the Silurians' spa system, and Jacob describes how 500 women from a textile mill in Lancashire were instrumental in the inexorable rise of Sergeant Benton. Twitter: @LotsPlanetsPod Theme Music: "Special Spotlight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/