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This month Andy and Alex tackle the former's 'birth story' The Sea Devils. As usual, the pair find much to enjoy here but have lots of questions too... How can one take a motorbike or walk ten miles over open country between an island and the mainland? What are the ingredients of kai? Is is easy to drive a hovercraft without any training? and What is in Jo's aubergine handbag? They both struggle with Pertwee at his most pompous, and how here the Doctor is not so very different from the stories other privileged establishment white male characters: Trenchard and Walker. They are also disappointed that more is not made of the obvious parallels with colonialism and the eradication of indigenous people. However, they both 'love a Sea Devil' and appreciate Jo when she gets the chance to be intrepid, even if her cream outfit must have been a nightmare for the continuity people. All this and 'sexing a Sea Devil', capes to wear 'about town', and a detailed analysis of 'Sandwich-Gate'. The episode is peppered with reflections from director Michael E. Briant whose autobiography Andy edited and published back in the day and is still available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Michael-Briant-Memoir-Director/dp/0956100066/ Next Time: The Five Doctors
In this month's episode Andy & Alex stick with the 3rd Doctor era and review another story that they know incredibly well due to its early release on VHS: Terry Nation's Death to the Daleks. As well as highlighting their favourite moments, they consider how they felt about the story back in the late Eighties compared to now. As usual they also find themselves asking a lot of questions: - Who compiles the 700 Wonders of the Universe? - Why does Julian Fox (Hamilton) have such huge eyebags? - How would you go about synthesising parrinium? - Does 10 million people really constitute a galaxy-wide plague (its only the population of Sweden!)? - and What did Michael E. Briant do immediately after recording the BBC DVD audio commentary for this story? Alex also contemplates writing a spin-off called 'Space Chums!' and worries if World Enough and Time has gone a bit South Bank Show, while Andy argues that this story is a template for Hinchcliffe Who and foxes Alex with a quiz called UNIT or UNOT. Along the way they also re-examine the relationship between the 3rd Doctor and Sarah, have a Bellal love-in, and contemplate how prescient the story is to due to its out-of-control AI city. All this and sitting on Cy Town's lap too! We love you! Andy & Alex xxx Next Time: The Seeds of Doom
Following their Secret Army episode last season, here Andy & Martin tackle its spin-off Kessler. The pair agree that its a very different show to its parent, which doesn't always hit the mark, but nevertheless boasts some fine acting, especially Clifford Rose in the title role, and wonderfully intricate scripts from John Brason and Gerry Glaister. 6 episodes of absorbing drama take us from Germany to England to Paraguay in this continent spanning epic that was clearly inspired in part by The Odessa File and The Boys From Brazil. Directed by Michael E. Briant and Tristan De Vere Cole, Kessler offers a memorable final chapter to the Secret Army story. The cast also includes Alan Dobie as Bauer, Nitza Saul as Mical Rak, Alison Glennie as Ingrid, Oscar Quitak as Josef Mengele, Nicholas Young as Franz Höss, Ralph Michael as Colonel Ruckert, Guy Rolfe as Yqueras and, of course, some cameos from Bernard Hepton, Angela Richards and Juliet Hammond-Hill. Next Time: The Lotus Eaters
“Frankly, I watched 20 Minutes of it and then went back to watching Walking Dead, I think.” In illusterer Runde haben wir uns in der heutigen Episode versammelt, um die letzte TimeLash Revue passieren zu lassen. Neben ihren persönlichen Highlights erzählen Sascha, Alex und Kolja von ihrem Eindruck nach 2 Jahren Zwangspause und dem ein oder anderen Treffen vor und hinter den Kulissen. Unter anderem mit Michael E. Briant, von dem uns Harald sein sehr interessantes und ehrliches Interview mitgebracht hat.
And now on Maximum Power, we're excited to present the second part of our two-part interview with legendary director Michael E. Briant. In this week's episode, Michael talks to Si and Pete about his original concept for the flight deck of The Liberator, robots at Wookey Hole, and why he didn't return for Series B.
Matt Smith's last full season as the Doctor is a game of two halves — two costumes, two console rooms, two title sequences (or six, whatever) and two sets of companions over two consecutive years. And we're in two minds about it. Welcome to the Series 7 retrospective. Notes and links Thank you to all the lovely people who sent us questions, particularly Rod Who (@who_rod), Frazer Gregory (@FelixFrazer), Joe Ford (@docoho) Steven Alexander (@stealalexanderuk), Bob Gilbey (@bobgilbey), Erik Stadnik (@sjcAustenite), Nathan Bottomley (@nathanbottomley) and Richard Stone (@RichardLStone). Downtime (1995) was an officially licensed Doctor Who fan film written by Marc Platt (Ghost Light) and featuring Nick Courtney, Lis Sladen, Deborah Watling and various other Doctor Who guest stars. Plus some Yeti. Here's Brendan standing alongside a portrait of what seems to be his Spanish monk great-great-great-great-great-great-(etc.)-grandfather in the National Art Museum of Catalonia. John and Gillian were child companions of the First and Second Doctors in many, many Doctor Who comics. They don't get space syphilis, but evil fictional versions of them do turn up in the Virgin New Adventure Conundrum. Alex Kingston has continued to play River Song for Big Finish opposite a range of different Doctors and at least one Master in The Diary of River Song. And last of all, in 2012, the BBC released a sort of animated version of an unfilmed scene written by Chris Chibnall, which would have seen the Doctor tell Brian Williams about the fate of his son and daughter-in-law. It's called PS. Follow us Nathan is on Twitter as @nathanbottomley, Brendan is @brandybongos, and Todd is @toddbeilby. The Flight Through Entirety theme was arranged by Cameron Lam. You can follow the podcast on Twitter at @FTEpodcast. We're also on Facebook, and you can check out our website at flightthroughentirety.com. Please consider rating or reviewing us on Apple Podcasts, or we'll never stop dropping unnecessary jokes at your expense into our conversations. And more You can find Jodie into Terror, our flashcast on the Whittaker Era of Doctor Who, at jodieintoterror.com, at @JodieIntoTerror on Twitter, on Apple Podcasts, and wherever podcasts can be found. We' releasesed our final episode this week — a long conversation over champagne about The Power of the Doctor. We'll be back with a new flashcast on the second Russell T Davies era in November 2023. Our James Bond commentary podcast is called Bondfinger, and you can find that at bondfinger.com, at @bondfingercast on Twitter, on Apple Podcasts, and everywhere else as well. We can also be heard on the Blakes 7 podcast Maximum Power: this week it continues its interview with Michael E Briant, who directed five episodes of Blakes 7 Season A, as well as Colony in Space, The Sea Devils, The Green Death, Death to the Daleks, Revenge of the Cybermen and The Robots of Death. Our Season B coverage will start next week. And finally, there's our Star Trek commentary podcast, Untitled Star Trek Project, featuring Nathan and friend-of-the-podcast Joe Ford. This week, we watched an episode of Series 4 of Star Trek: Discovery called The Examples.
And now on Maximum Power, we're absolutely delighted to be joined by a very special guest, respected director and lovely man Michael E. Briant. Michael very kindly spent an evening talking with Si and Pete about his experiences working on Blake's 7. In the first part of a two-part interview Michael talks to us about the genesis of the show, his work on The Way Back and The Web, and his early influences. We would like to say a very big thank you to Michael for giving us his time, and to Jason Thompson of the Robots In Your Eyes podcast who helped us to make this happen.
This week, we're spending a relaxing afternoon on sunny Trenzalore, chatting with friends, visiting people we've lost, solving a mystery, bringing up an age-old question, and generally getting everything neatly squared away before the fireworks start this November. It's The Name of the Doctor. Notes and links Nathan's rant about giving the Doctor unnecessary backstory in The War Games Part 10 can be heard on the Jodie into Terror episode on The Timeless Children. Earlier this year, Nathan appeared on a podcast called Pull to Open, with Pete Pachal and Chris Taylor, and in every episode they theorise about where you might find Clara in this Doctor Who story. You can hear Nathan's theory about Clara's role in The Claws of Axos here. Here's El Sandifer's essay on The Name of the Doctor, and this is how she describes Richard E Grant as the Great Intelligence: “But Grant is putting no effort into the part, playing him as a cliched bit of leering smugness. Which is, of course, exactly what the part calls for – a big name actor basically phoning it in.” And finally: Nathan has a habit of making fun of Chris Chibnall's minimalist approach to publicising Doctor Who by repeatedly posting a screencap of Art Malik from the exciting trailer at the end of The Woman Who Fell to Earth. You can see him in action here. Follow us Nathan is on Twitter as @nathanbottomley, Brendan is @brandybongos, Todd is @toddbeilby and Simon is @simonmoore72. The Flight Through Entirety theme was arranged by Cameron Lam. You can follow the podcast on Twitter at @FTEpodcast. We're also on Facebook, and you can check out our website at flightthroughentirety.com. Please consider rating or reviewing us on Apple Podcasts, or we'll leap into your timeline and keep bombarding you with a lot of gratuitous advice. And more You can find Jodie into Terror, our flashcast on the Whittaker Era of Doctor Who, at jodieintoterror.com, at @JodieIntoTerror on Twitter, on Apple Podcasts, and wherever podcasts can be found. We'll be releasing our final episode on The Power of the Doctor this week. Our James Bond commentary podcast is called Bondfinger, and you can find that at bondfinger.com, at @bondfingercast on Twitter, on Apple Podcasts, and everywhere else as well. We can also be heard on the Blakes 7 podcast Maximum Power, which is back to kick off its Season B coverage today with the first part of a two-part inteview with Michael E Briant, who directed five episodes of Blakes 7 Season A, as well as Colony in Space, The Sea Devils, The Green Death, Death to the Daleks, Revenge of the Cybermen and The Robots of Death. And finally, there's our Star Trek commentary podcast, Untitled Star Trek Project, featuring Nathan and friend-of-the-podcast Joe Ford. This week, we watched Darmok, which is one of the best episodes in Star Trek's absurdly long history.
In season 3 Dan talks to NASA astronauts Jim Wetherbee and Steve Hawley as well as Smithsonian space historian Cathy Lewis. He discusses Gallipoli with Australian Department of Veteran's Affairs historian Ian Hodges and explores the 1798 rebellion in Ireland with Prof. Tom Bartlett and Carlow historian John Kelly. He delves into race relations with The New Black Panther's Tamara Jones and tackles the controversial Westboro Baptist church with Shirley Roper-Phelps. The TV sci-fi classic Doctor is discussed with actor David Gooderson and director Michael E Briant, as well as an exploration of UFOlogy with Prof Greg Eghigian, Clas Svahn, Bill Konkolesky and Robert Sheaffer. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/daniel-mainwaring5/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/daniel-mainwaring5/support
On this episode we are reviewing The Sea Devils starring Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning and Roger Delgado. "The Doctor and Jo visit the Master in his high-security prison on an island off the south coast of England. The governor, Colonel Trenchard, says ships have been disappearing mysteriously at sea. The Doctor discovers that Trenchard and the Master are in league to contact the Sea Devils, a race of reptiles in hibernation in a base beneath the sea, who have been awoken by recent work on a nearby sea fort. The Master intends to use his new allies to help him conquer the world" The Sea Devils is the third serial of the ninth season of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 26 February to 1 April 1972. It was written by Malcolm Hulke and directed by Michael E. Briant. The serial is notable as the first appearance of the Sea Devils and features extensive location filming in cooperation with the Royal Navy, as well as an experimental electronic score by Malcolm Clarke. https://twitter.com/atheconsole https://www.facebook.com/Around-the-console-103450838818887 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPpa1cf63YOT8DlUllsjXsw
Andy and Alex get all nostalgic this month as they look back at one of the very first Who videos they owned and watched a gazillion times back in the day: the glorious Revenge of the Cybermen. Although it has plot-holes you could drive a cute little Vogan cave-train through, they heap praise on this often maligned story for its pace, its music (yes its music!), its characterisation, but, most of all, the performances of the regulars who arguably make one of the best TARDIS teams ever. As well as detailing his encounter with the Cyberleader (Christopher Robbie) himself, in Loughborough of all places, Andy plugs the excellent memoir of 'Revenge's' director Michael E. Briant, which he himself commissioned and published a few years ago. It can be purchased at a special price of just £5 until the end of the year from http://www.classictvpress.co.uk. Its a beautiful tome - lots of stars from Doctor Who Magazine, either 4 or 4.5 out of 5, Andy can't remember - and Michael writes chapters on each and every one of his Who stories including those on which he worked before he was a director. Advert over. As well as their emphatically upbeat review of the story, there's a 4th Doctor quiz from the Second Doctor Who Quiz Book, the very last appearance of the Cailleach, Mark Gatiss being hilarious, and consideration of the fact that Alex's cat should probably be called Victoria and not Leela, due to her lack of Sevateem-esque abilities. Enjoy! We love you all. Next Time: The Sensorites
This week we get sidetracked (by an infographic, of all things) before we even get started! Once we get that out of our systems, we roll on through our usual happy-Who-things into a well-loved topic. Join Deb, Erika, Katrina, and Tansy as we talk about the use of mythology in Doctor Who. Tansy waxes poetic about Greek and Arthurian myths, Kat has strong feeling about werewolves, Erika is happy about many things, and Deb manages to not get (too) mad at the internet! Congratulations to Koa, who won our giveaway of Paul Cornell's new novel, The Severed Streets! ^E Also covered [links on our site]: Kat digs the first 11th Doctor comic, Spam Filtered! loves Chris Hardwick's DW-fannish glee when interviewing Tom Hiddleston! Erika marvels at the fan-created DW "trailer", Rain! boggles at the DW connections to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! guests on episode 161 of the Who's He? Podcast! Tansy rounds up some excellent DW podcasts eps: TARDIS Tavern (with Kat and Erika)! Radio Free Skaro interviews Michael E. Briant! The Doctor Who Book Club covers Kate Orman's The Room with No Doors! The Terminus Podcast returns! Deb looks forward to the Doctor Who panel (plus Matt Smith and Karen Gillan) at Philadelphia Comic Con! is an official guest (along with Colin Baker, Terry Molloy, & more!) of L.I. Who 2! Bonus links [also on our site]:"Is Doctor Who Sexist" infographicLiz's Storified Twitter response (Warning: "colorful" language!)Skaromantic Comedy (from RFS's Warren Frey)The Odyssey read-alongDoctor Who's Mythical Monsters
The Green Death is a great jumping off point for Kevin and James, your intrepid hosts, to get into a chat about some of the undercurrents of this society of ours, including some time spent on the recent misogynist shootings Writer: Robert Sloman Barry Letts (uncredited) Director: Michael E. Briant Script editor: Terrance Dicks Producer: Barry Letts Music: I Have Never Watched an Episode of Doctor Who - Adam Warrock See My Baby Jive - Wizzard Lungs - Townes Van Zandt Pretty Girls - Neko Case
Doctor Who is coming back in August, and the internet has the brief, presumably-Capaldi-silhouette-filled trailer to prove it! But the RFS lads were equally enamoured with a recently released fan trailer of P-Cap and J-Co traipsing around in the rain, made by none other than the mysterious John Smith, who not only created the stellar Wholock trailer that consumed the internet, but also appears in Warren’s own Skaromantic Comedy as the random victim of a comely Dalek lass! But enough quasi-self-promotion, today’s Miniscope guest is none other than Michael E. Briant, director of "Colony in Space", "The Sea Devils", "The Green Death", "Death to the Daleks", "Revenge of the Cybermen", and "The Robots of Death"! Though we included our cogent analysis on said stories, we also went straight to the man himself, with an in-depth interview with Steven about his time on the show, the freedom afforded a television director in the 1970s, and even Briant’s new life as a full-fledged sailor. Avast, ye dogs! Check out the show notes at http://www.radiofreeskaro.com
As a result of one of the lightest news weeks in recent memory in the worlds of Doctor Who, the Three Who Rule were allowed to devote their full attention to a commentary on Elisabeth Sladen's (first) finale in the classic series, namely 1976's "The Hand of Fear". Quarries, nuclear plants, Judith Paris in a sexy, skin tight rock costume, Rex Robinson's eyebrows - surely this story was a can't miss, epic conclusion to Sarah Jane Smith's tenure in the TARDIS, right? Well...at least there's that goodbye scene to look forward to, right? Also in this episode: a review of Michael E. Briant's upcoming memoir "Who is Michael E. Briant?", the classic Who director's collected memories of his time on Who and other TV shows of the day. Eldrad must live! Check out the show notes at http://www.radiofreeskaro.com Follow us at @RadioFreeSkaro