Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2023-03-27T15:12:09.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils ★★
items: Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Flux ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children ★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Haunting of Villa Diodati ★★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Can You Hear Me? ★★
items: Doctor Who: Praxeus ★★
items: Doctor Who: Fugitive of the Judoon ★★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Orphan 55 ★★
items: Doctor Who: Spyfall ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Resolution ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos ★★
items: Doctor Who: It Takes You Away ★
items: Doctor Who: The Witchfinders ★★
items: Doctor Who: Kerblam! ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Demons of the Punjab ★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Tsuranga Conundrum ★
items: Doctor Who: Arachnids in the UK ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Rosa ★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Ghost Monument ★★
items: Doctor Who: The Woman Who Fell to Earth ★★★

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor ★★★★
type: item
date: 2022-10-23T20:10:41.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: Jodie Whittaker bows out in a frenetic BBC Centenary special, packed with faces, friends and foes from the past
encoded: Story 300 BBC Centenary Special Storyline When masterpiece paintings and the world’s top seismologists go missing, the Doctor’s former companions Tegan and Ace join forces with Unit, whose leader Kate Stewart sends an SOS to the Tardis from London, 2022. In Russia, 1916, the Master is posing as Rasputin, while hatching a new plan with the Daleks and Cybermen to destroy Earth and erase the Doctor from existence. The Cybermen invade Unit HQ and flatten it, while the Daleks plan to explore the world’s volcanoes and lure the Doctor into a trap. For a while, the Master becomes the Doctor in a forced regeneration, while she sees vestiges of her former selves in a limbo netherworld. The Doctor and her allies beat their enemies, but the Time Lord is mortally wounded and bids Yaz a sad farewell. As many of the Doctor’s former companions gather in a support group, the Time Lord regenerates on a clifftop into a new body with a familiar face from the past… First UK broadcast Sunday 23 October 2022 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Dan Lewis – John Bishop The Master – Sacha Dhawan Tegan Jovanka – Janet Fielding Ace – Sophie Aldred Kate Stewart – Jemma Redgrave The Doctor – Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, David Bradley, Jo Martin, David Tennant Melanie Bush – Bonnie Langford Jo Jones – Katy Manning Ian Chesterton – William Russell Vinder – Jacob Anderson Graham O'Brien – Bradley Walsh Ashad – Patrick O'Kane Deputy Marshal Arnhost – Joe Sims Train Marshal Halaz – Sanchia McCormack Curator – Danielle Bjelic Alexandra – Anna Andresen Nicholas – Richard Dempsey Jos Slovick – Messenger Dalek and Cybermen voices – Nicholas Briggs Dalek operators – Barnaby Edwards, Nicholas Pegg, Jon Davey Cybermen – Simon Carew, Jon Davey, Chester Durrant, Mickey Lewis, Felix Young, Richard Price, Andrew Cross, Matt Doman Crew Writer – Chris Chibnall Director – Jamie Magnus Stone Music – Segun Akinola Producer – Nikki Wilson Executive producers – Chri…

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Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils ★★
type: item
date: 2022-04-17T19:00:06.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: The classic monsters are faithfully resurrected but resurface in maritime mediocrity
encoded: Story 299 Easter special 2022 “Since when do Sea Devils have a ship?” – the Doctor Storyline Pirate queen Madam Ching raids a coastal village in 1807 China and unwittingly releases a Sea Devil warrior, which has been encased for centuries as a stone statue. Ching is on a mission to find the lost treasure of legendary sailor Ji-Hun, to pay the ransom for her kidnapped crew. The Sea Devils unleash a giant sea serpent to attack Ching’s ship. The Doctor, Yaz and Dan join forces with Ching to fend off the lizards and infiltrate their base to stop their latest plan to flood the Earth. First UK broadcast Sunday 17 April 2022 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Yazmin Kahn – Mandip Gill Dan Lewis – John Bishop Ying Ki – Marlowe Chan-Reeves Madam Ching – Crystal Yu Chief Sea Devil – Craige Els Ji-Hun – Arthur Lee Ying Wai – David K S Tse Sea Devils – Jon Davey, Simon Carew, Chester Durrant, Richard Price, Mickey Lewis, Andrew Cross Crew Writers – Ella Road, Chris Chibnall Director – Haolu Wang Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Dafydd Shurmer Executive producers – Chrish Chibnall, Matt Strevens, Nikki Wilson RT review by Patrick Mulkern I feel a bit sorry for today’s young viewers. I grew up watching Doctor Who in the 1970s and, while it might not have been immense every single week, we could rely on a fairly steady stream of classics – and scares and chills agogo. Sitting through Legend of the Sea Devils is like watching seaweed dry. The 50-minute Easter special has a problem in common with so much modern Doctor Who in that, while it abounds in action, CGI spectacle and bombastic music, there’s a dearth of tension and suspense, there’s no time for a slow build, no eeriness, no real appetite for proper frights or even the mildest stab at the macabre. Doctor Who can be, and is well-known for being, behind-the-sofa or edge-of-the-seat viewing but making that is almost a forgotten art. The closest this era has come to it was Village of the Angels in last year’s Flux. Kudos to Chris…

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Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks ★★★★
type: item
date: 2022-01-01T20:05:21.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: Multiple extermination and unrequited love in a time-looped storage facility
encoded: Story 298 New Year’s Day special 2022 Storyline On New Year’s Eve, customer Nick turns up for his annual visit to a storage facility, whose owner/manager Sarah he has a crush on. The Doctor resets the Tardis after it was damaged by the Flux, inadvertently putting the storage facility in a time loop, which reduces by one minute with each repetition. An extermination squad of Daleks is on her tail, tracking down and killing the Time Lord and the humans within each loop. With time running out, can they outwit the Daleks? First UK broadcast Sunday 1 January 2022 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Dan Lewis – John Bishop Sarah – Aisling Bea Nick – Adjani Salmon Mary – Pauline McLynn Dalek voices – Nicholas Briggs Dalek operators – Barnaby Edwards, Nicholas Pegg, Jon Davey Karl – Jonny Dixon Crew Writer – Chris Chibnall Director – Annetta Laufer Producer – Sheena Bucktowonsing Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens, Nikki Wilson RT review by Patrick Mulkern Fifty years to the day since Doctor Who legends Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning and Nicholas Courtney faced the Day of the Daleks – and I was sitting there on New Year’s Day 1972, glued to our temperamental telly – the winning team of Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill and John Bishop gamely take on the Eve of the Daleks. This special has been touted in some quarters as "a romcom with Daleks". If that’s showrunner Chris Chibnall’s aim, it falls down on the "com" front. Odd, given that most of the cast (Bishop, Aisling Bea, Adjani Salmon and Pauline McLynn) are more recognised for comedy. Yes, there’s the occasional amusing line or incident but no more than in a standard episode. The wittiest stroke is an in-joke when an indignant Dalek blurts, "I Am Not Nick!" – voiced, of course, by Nicholas 'Nick' Briggs. Eve of the Daleks fares better in the "rom" department. Sarah and Nick are a couple of weirdos. He’s weird for using the storage facility only to preserve the effects of his failed relation…

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Doctor Who: Flux ★★★★
type: item
date: 2021-12-05T19:30:30.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: The return of the six-part serial format brings chilling highs and confusing lows as the Time Lord takes on the Flux and the Ravagers, and learns more about her own mysterious past
encoded: Story 297 Storyline As a destructive storm cloud called Flux rips across the universe, Ravagers Swarm and Azure, ancient enemies of the Time Lords, break free of their bonds and pursue the Doctor. Sontarans take advantage of the crisis to invade Earth across its history. The Doctor and Yaz befriend Dan, a Liverpudlian who has been rescued by a canine Lupari, Karvanista. Their adventures take them to the Crimean War, the Temple of Atropos on the planet Time, and to a village in Devon, 1967, beset by Weeping Angels. Yaz, Dan and scientist Professor Jericho become trapped in the early 1900s, while the Doctor is “recalled” to the mysterious Division, where she meets Tecteun, the woman she once called “Mother”. Tecteun holds the secrets of the Doctor’s lost past in a fob watch and reveals that Division unleashed Flux to extinguish our universe as they move on to another. As Swarm and Azure gain control of Division, the Doctor is trisected across time and space where she and her various allies strive to avert the ravages of Flux, while enemies such as Sontarans, Daleks and Cybermen die in the conflagration… First UK broadcasts Chapter One: The Halloween Apocalypse – 31 October 2021 Chapter Two: War of the Sontarans – Sunday 7 November 2021 Chapter Three: Once, Upon Time – Sunday 14 November 2021 Chapter Four: Village of the Angels – Sunday 21 November 2021 Chapter Five: Survivors of the Flux – Sunday 28 November 2021 Chapter Six: The Vanquishers – Sunday 5 December 2021 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Dan Lewis – John Bishop Professor Eustacius Jericho – Kevin McNally Karvanista – Craige Els Swarm – Sam Spruell Azure/Anna – Rochenda Sandall Diane – Nadia Albina Vinder – Jacob Anderson Bel – Thaddea Graham Grand Serpent/Prentis – Craig Parkinson Claire Brown – Annabel Scholey Joseph Williamson – Steve Oram Kate Stewart – Jemma Redgrave Fugitive Doctor – Jo Martin Awsok/Tecteun – Barbara Flynn Mary Seacole – Sara Powell Ritskaw/Skaak/Stenck – Jon…

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Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks ★★★★
type: item
date: 2021-01-01T20:00:30.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: Chris Chibnall doles out eerie set-pieces, the return of Captain Jack, protracted farewells and a glimpse of a brighter future
encoded: “How many people in the universe get to meet the Doctor, let alone travel with her? We’re the lucky ones, Yaz. Enjoy the journey while you’re on it. Cos the joy... is worth the pain” – Captain Jack Story 296 New Year’s Day special 2021 Storyline The Doctor has been languishing in a Judoon space jail for decades – until sprung loose by old friend Captain Jack Harkness. They return to her chums in Sheffield, only to learn of their concerns about the re-emergence of the Daleks. Entrepreneur Jack Robertson (a former opponent) is conniving with the Government’s Technology Secretary Jo Patterson to build an army of “defence drones” – in fact, a production line of Daleks. Soon after Patterson becomes Prime Minister, she is exterminated in Downing Street and the Daleks go on the rampage. The Doctor resorts to calling in Death Squad Daleks who are determined to eradicate the impure new versions. All surviving Daleks are then lured into a secondary Tardis and trapped in the void. Ryan and Graham decide it’s time to remain on Earth, but Yaz is determined to stay with the Doctor. First UK broadcast Friday 1 January 2021 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Captain Jack Harkness –John Barrowman Jack Robertson – Chris Noth Jo Patterson – Harriet Walter Leo Rugazzi – Nathan Stewart-Jarrett Armen – Nathan Armarkwei-Laryea Rachel – Helen Anderson – Rachel Dalek voices – Nicholas Briggs Dalek operators – Barnaby Edwards, Nicholas Pegg Grace – Sharon D Clarke Emily Maitlis as herself Crew Writer – Chris Chibnall Director – Lee Haven Jones Series producer – Nikki Wilson Producer – Alex Mercer Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Dafydd Shurmer Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern Blackened, buffed up and both having had a little work done, the Daleks and Captain Jack Harkness are back to elevate Doctor Who from the doldrums in a New Year special, which restores some …

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Doctor Who: Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children ★★★
type: item
date: 2020-03-02T15:00:07.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: A brutal, tense set-up dissolves into a woeful morass of 'Master-splaining' as the Doctor's personal history gains wads of earlier chapters
encoded: “Be afraid, Doctor. Because everything is about to change – for ever!” – the Master Story 295 Series 12 – Episodes 9 & 10 Storyline In the far future, the Doctor and her gang arrive on a planet ravaged by Cyber Wars and team up with a disparate band of refugees. Their defences destroyed by Cyberdrones, the survivors flee through space, pursued by Cybermen led by Ashad. They head for salvation at a mythical place called Ko Sharmus. Meanwhile, in rural Ireland, a young man called Brendan is seen growing up, joining the Gardaí and proving to have remarkable powers of survival. Ko Sharmus turns out to be the elderly guardian of the Boundary to another dimension – through which the Master triumphantly appears. Again in league with the Cybermen, he has prepared a trap for the Doctor. The Boundary is a portal to Gallifrey, where the Master has wiped out the Time Lords and laid waste to their Capitol. He is furious that they’ve been lied to for centuries but delights in revealing that the Doctor is in fact “the Timeless Child”, who long ago gave rise to the Time Lords’ regenerative powers. Irish Brendan and the mysterious Doctor who was Ruth are just two of many previous incarnations the Doctor has been unaware of. The Master also turns his allies and the slain Time Lords into CyberMasters, but Ko Sharmus destroys them by activating a “death particle” developed by Ashad. The Doctor’s friends arrive safely back on Earth but she is imprisoned in space by the Judoon... First UK broadcasts Ascension of the Cybermen – Sunday 23 February 2020 The Timeless Children – Sunday 1 March 2020 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole The Master – Sacha Dhawan The Doctor – Jo Martin Ashad – Patrick O’Kane Ravio – Julie Graham Ko Sharmus – Ian McElhinney Yedlarmi – Alex Austin Feekat – Steve Toussaint Bescot – Rhiannon Clements Ethan – Matt Carver Fuskle – Jack Osborn Brendan – Evan McCabe Patrick – Branwell Donag…

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Doctor Who: The Haunting of Villa Diodati ★★★★★
type: item
date: 2020-02-16T20:00:12.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: The Doctor must save Lord Byron and the Shelleys and yield to the Lone Cyberman in a ghost story that deftly subsumes the birth of horror into the show’s own mythology
encoded: “Save the poet? Save the universe? Sometimes even I can’t win” – the Doctor Story 294 Series 12 – Episode 8 Storyline 1816: one stormy night at a villa overlooking Lake Geneva, the rakish poet Lord Byron and his young friends, including Frankenstein creator Mary Shelley, chill each other with tales of the dead. When the Doctor, Graham, Yaz and Ryan arrive, the Time Lord senses unrelenting evil in the air. They are beset by ghostly apparitions as the house seems to turn in on itself. In the cellar, Percy Shelley has been infected by the Cyberium, an AI from the future. It is manipulating everyone’s perceptions of reality to protect itself from the “Lone Cyberman”, who arrives to reclaim it. The Doctor ignores the warning Captain Jack gave her friends, yields the Cyberium to protect Shelley and his timeline, and vows to take the fight to the future… First UK broadcast Sunday 16 February 2020 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin – Lili Miller Claire Clairmont – Nadia Parkes Lord Byron – Jacob Collins-Levy Dr John Polidori – Maxim Baldry Ashad – Patrick O’Kane Percy Bysshe Shelley – Lewis Rainer Elise – Sarah Perles Fletcher – Stefan Bednarczyk Crew Writer – Maxine Alderton Director – Emma Sullivan Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Dafydd Shurmer Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern It was a dark and stormy night… We’re at the birth of what would become a cliché but this latest Doctor Who embraces all the familiar ghost-story trappings and deftly subsumes the birth of horror into its own mythology. The Time Lord’s rules of engagement are set. Ryan: “Nobody mention Frankenstein and don’t interfere.” Yaz: “And nobody snog Byron.” I was mildly concerned about witnessing the gormless WhittakWho Quartet blundering into this key moment in literary history, not just literary history but a seminal p…

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Doctor Who: Can You Hear Me? ★★
type: item
date: 2020-02-09T20:00:35.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: From Aleppo to Sheffield, the Time Lord tackles Immortals’ games and the stuff of nightmares in a superb-looking, at times misguided, mystery
encoded: “I thought I should talk about it, cos those nightmares, they made me realise the fear is still there” – Graham Story 293 Series 12 – Episode 7 Storyline At a hospital in Aleppo, 1380, an orphan Tahira is terrorised by bestial creatures called Chagaskas. In 2020, Yaz, Graham and Ryan return to Sheffield to catch up with friends, but they’re soon beset by nightmares, controlled by a malign spectre, who abducts people in the night. The Doctor rescues Tahira, then with her friends is lured to a deep-space platform overlooking two planets frozen at the point of collision. The villain identifies himself as Gellin, a god-like immortal, who can now free his associate Rakaya from a prison orb between the planets. They intend to exploit the fears and nightmares of people on Earth and gorge on the dark forces unleashed. First UK broadcast Sunday 9 February 2020 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Zellin – Ian Gelder Tibo – Buom Tihngang Rakaya – Clare-Hope Ashitey Grace O’Brien – Sharon D Clarke Sonya Khan – Bhavnisha Parmar Tahira – Aruhan Galieva Maryam – Sirine Saba Anita Patel – Nasreen Hussain Gabriel – Everal A Walsh Fred – Michael Keane Mum – Amanda Liberman Old Tibo – Willie Jonah Andrew – Anthony Taylor Crew Writers – Charlene James, Chris Chibnall Director – Emma Sullivan Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Dafydd Shurmer Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern The stuff of nightmares. That’s always been Doctor Who at its best. There are certainly enough images and ideas in Can You Hear Me? to instil a few nightmares in younger viewers. A ferocious bestial monster lurking on a ceiling; a creepy old bald man who can materialise in your bedroom with a puff of black smoke; his detachable fingers lodging in your ears… But is this Doctor Who at its best? Not really. It does try hard, though. For a start Can You Hear Me? lo…

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Doctor Who: Praxeus ★★
type: item
date: 2020-02-02T20:00:08.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: Deadly birds, a missing astronaut, the spread of an alien pathogen… this world-spanning mystery shifts from intriguing to enervating
encoded: “Two identical deaths on two different continents. It’s even more dangerous than I thought” – the Doctor Story 292 Series 12 – Episode 6 Storyline Ryan is in Peru investigating birds that are falling out of the sky. In Hong Kong, Yaz and Graham discover missing astronaut Adam Lang trapped in an alien lab, while the Doctor is on a beach in Madagascar, where the lone survivor of a submarine wreck is washed ashore and dies. These locales and events are linked to the spread of a deadly pathogen, Praxeus. It has been unleashed by aliens who view Earth as the perfect living laboratory to find a cure. Praxeus breeds in plastic, found in abundance on our planet, and ingested by birds and humans. The Time Lord and her allies produce an antidote and use the alien ship to disperse it across the world. First UK broadcast Sunday 2 February 2020 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Jake Willis – Warren Brown Adam Lang – Matthew McNulty Gabriela Camera – Joana Borja Suki Cheng – Molly Harris Jamila Velez – Gabriela Toloi Joyce – Soo Drouet Zach Olson – Tristan de Beer Aramu – Thapelo Maropefela Crew Writers – Pete McTighe, Chris Chibnall Director – Jamie Magnus Stone Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Dafydd Shurmer Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern The Doctor Who team have engineered a bit of a problem for themselves. Last week, they treated us to a taste of a startling new Doctor with a stronger personality, a nattier costume and a glorious Tardis harking back to the unbeatable original… We want to see more. But then this week… oh! We’re back to that again. But Praxeus is, in itself, disappointing. It’s co-credited to showrunner Chris Chibnall and more importantly Pete McTighe, whose satire on Amazon, Kerblam!, was one of the stronger episodes in series 11. I’d hoped for something similarly scintillating. Though Praxeus gene…

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Doctor Who: Fugitive of the Judoon ★★★★★
type: item
date: 2020-01-26T20:00:32.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: Enthralling times as Captain Jack returns and the Doctor discovers a mysterious other self (the excellent Jo Martin)
encoded: “Let me take it from the top. Hello, I’m the Doctor” – the Doctor Story 291 Series 12 – Episode 5 Storyline “Space rhino” law enforcers, the Judoon, storm modern-day Gloucester looking for a mysterious fugitive. They home in on Ruth and Lee Clayton, a seemingly innocent couple who are harbouring a secret and have been in hiding for decades. After Lee is executed, it becomes clear that Ruth is the Judoon target. The Doctor helps her flee to a lighthouse, where she discovers another police box buried in the grounds. Ruth is a previously unknown version of the Doctor, whose identity was cloaked by a chameleon arch. Together they face off the Judoon, but what does this all mean for the two Doctors’ timeline? Meanwhile, Graham, Yaz and Ryan are abducted by Captain Jack, who has a warning for his old friend: “Beware the lone Cyberman.” First UK broadcast Sunday 26 January 2020 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Ruth Clayton/The Doctor – Jo Martin Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Lee Clayton – Neil Stuke Gat – Ritu Arya Judoon Captain (Pol-Kon-Don) – Paul Kasey All Ears Allan – Michael Begley Marcia – Judith Street Tourist – Katie Luckins Judoon Captain voice – Nick Briggs Judoon – Simon Carew, Richard Highgate, Richard Price, Matthew Rohman Crew Writers – Vinay Patel, Chris Chibnall Director – Nida Manzoor Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Dafydd Shurmer Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern “AND YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS THIS WEEK” … Well, yes, I would actually. That Doctor Who tagline was flashed up on telly and all over social media in the days before transmission. Gawd, was that the best you could do, BBC!? When your ratings are dipping, don’t dangle invisible carrots. Put your wares in the bloomin’ window. Or at least some of them. Keep your exciting new/old Doctor under wraps by all means (more of her later) but flash Jack. That would have …

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Doctor Who: Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror ★★★★
type: item
date: 2020-01-19T20:00:57.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: A delightful tale as the Time Lord unites with Tesla and Edison to thwart the giant scorpion Queen of the Skithra
encoded: “Nikola Tesla, you’re going to change the world, but first you’re going to save it” – the Doctor Story 290 Series 12 – Episode 4 Storyline At Niagara Falls in the early 1900s, the undervalued inventor Nikola Tesla becomes the quarry of the Skithra, giant alien scorpions whose Queen needs an engineer to repair her damaged spaceship. The Doctor and her friends arrive and a chase ensues to New York, where Tesla’s rival and former employer, Thomas Edison, joins the fray. They combine resources at Tesla’s Wardenclyffe Tower project on Long Island, where the Queen threatens to destroy Earth, but the scientists beam electric rays into the sky to repel the Skithra. First UK broadcast Sunday 19 January 2020 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Nikola Tesla – Goran Visnjic Thomas Edison – Robert Glenister Queen Skithra – Anjli Mohindra Dorothy Skerritt – Haley McGee Harold Green – Paul Kasey Bill Tallow – Robin Guiver Mr Sorensson – Erick Hayden Mr Brady – Russell Bentley Mr Martin – Brian Caspe Foreman – Shaun Mason Crew Writer – Nina Metivier Director – Nida Manzoor Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Dafydd Shurmer Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern Science, at last! Doctor Who normally steers clear of real physicists and inventors from history. Not surprising, really. Science and invention need a lot of research and much authentic hardware on show. Scriptwriters are evidently more comfortable depicting cultural icons (Shakespeare, Dickens, Van Gogh, Agatha Christie) and rulers (Elizabeth I, Victoria, Nixon, Nero, Churchill and Hitler). Of course, the Doctor is always the scientist in the room. All others pale in her or his presence. And there’s the small matter of her/him not being seen to influence scientific progress. Long ago in the 1970s, Tom Baker’s Doctor joked about having climbed a tree and dropping an apple on …

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Doctor Who: Orphan 55 ★★
type: item
date: 2020-01-12T20:00:05.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: It’s “Benidorm meets Aliens” with a timely eco-message as the Dregs of humanity break into a futuristic holiday resort
encoded: “Unless people face facts, catastrophe is coming” – the Doctor Story 289 Series 12 – Episode 3 Storyline Graham wins the Tardis foursome an unexpected holiday at Tranquillity Spa, but their vacation spirals into a nightmare when a hopper virus breaks into the resort’s facilities and its perimeter is breached by marauding monsters. The Doctor discerns that these creatures are the Dregs of humanity, last survivors on a possible future Earth laid waste by greed and pollution. First UK broadcast Sunday 12 January 2020 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Kane – Laura Fraser Bella – Gia Ré Nevi – James Buckley Vilma – Julia Foster Hyph3n – Amy Booth-Steel Vorm – Will Austin Benni – Col Farrell Sylas – Lewin Lloyd Lead Dreg – Spencer Wilding Crew Writer – Ed Hime Director – Lee Haven Jones Producer – Alex Mercer Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Dafydd Shurmer Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern I remember wilting while watching Ed Hime’s 2018 debut It Takes You Away (a sort of Nordic noir meets Lost in Space), but his follow-up excursion is a step up, sprinkled with innovation, tension and food for thought, and certainly more rewarding. It smacks of Benidorm meets Aliens with perhaps a tiny touch of The Truman Show. Basking at the two-weeks-inclusive Tranquillity Spa, elderly couple Benni and Vilma could almost be Donald and Jacqueline at the all-inclusive Solana in Benidorm (the ITV sitcom), albeit without any saucy swinging. The naughtiest they confess to is being unmarried for 46 years. Aliens (supposed) come in the form of the drooling Dregs. A splendid creation, hideous, inexorable, a bit dim, they lumber slowly in the tradition of the finest Doctor Who monsters. They would probably have scared me as a child; the suggestion that they’re the mutated dregs of humanity is particularly unedifying. The Truman Show? Th…

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Doctor Who: Spyfall ★★★★
type: item
date: 2020-01-05T21:00:19.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: A Masterly Sacha Dhawan energises the launch of series 12 as Chris Chibnall delivers a dark but fun-fuelled 007 spoof
encoded: “Call me by my name!” – the Master Story 288 Series 12 – Episodes 1 & 2 Storyline When the world’s top intelligence agents are eliminated by alien forces, MI6 chief C pleads with the Doctor and her friends to investigate. Yaz and Ryan follow a lead to global digital company VOR in San Francisco and its ruthless boss, Daniel Barton, while the Doctor and Graham head to the Australian Outback to meet an old contact, Agent O. He reveals himself as a new version of the Master, who is in league with the Kasaavin, luminescent creatures from (and portals to) a dark dimension. With her friends on the run, the Doctor is trapped in England 1834, where she meets computer pioneer Ada Lovelace; and then in Paris 1943, where they’re helped by British spy Noor Inayat Khan. They must thwart the Master and Barton’s plan, threaded through time to the 21st century, to rewrite humanity’s DNA to serve as a hard drive. The Master also claims that he has laid waste the Time Lord home planet and that everything the founding fathers of Gallifrey told them was a lie… First UK broadcasts Part One – Wednesday 1 January 2020 Part Two – Sunday 5 January 2020 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill O/The Master – Sacha Dhawan Daniel Barton – Lenny Henry C – Stephen Fry Ada Lovelace – Sylvie Briggs Noor Inayat Khan – Aurora Marion Charles Babbage – Mark Dexter Najia Khan – Shobna Gulati Hakim Khan – Ravin J Ganatra Sonya Khan – Bhavnisha Parmar Sniper – Melissa De Vries Passenger – Sacharissa Claxton Older passenger – William Ely Operative (US) – Brian Law Tibo – Buom Tihngang Sergeant Ramesh Sunder – Asif Khan Mr Collins – Andrew Bone Rendition man – Ronan Summers Ethan – Christopher McArthur Seesay – Darron Meyer Browning – Dominique Maher Inventor – Andrew Piper Airport worker – Tom Ashley Perkins – Kenneth Jay Barton’s mother – Blanche Williams Voice of Kasaavin – Struan Rodger Crew Writer – Chris Chibnall Directors –…

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Doctor Who: Resolution ★★★★
type: item
date: 2019-01-01T21:00:24.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: Jodie Whittaker tackles her first Dalek in an enjoyable, explosive New Year special – but, alas, Unit is suspended
encoded: Story 287 New Year’s Day special 2019 Storyline On New Year’s Day 2019, an archaeological dig under Sheffield Town Hall unearths and accidentally reanimates the remains of a long-dormant Reconnaissance Dalek. The cephalopod mutant attaches itself to archaeologist Lin and compels her to construct a new makeshift casing for itself. As it goes on a killing spree, the Doctor, Graham, Ryan and Yaz set off in hot pursuit. The Dalek breaches GCHQ, determined to summon a Dalek fleet to conquer the Earth. First UK broadcast Tuesday 1 January 2019 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Lin – Charlotte Ritchie Mitch – Nikesh Patel Aaron – Daniel Adegboyega Dalek voice – Nick Briggs Police officer – Darryl Clark Security guard – Connor Calland Farmer Dinkle – James Lewis Mum – Sophie Duval Teens – Callum Mcdonald, Harry Vallance Call centre Polly – Laura Evelyn Sergeant – Michael Ballard Crew Writer – Chris Chibnall Director – Wayne Yip Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Arwel Wyn Jones Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern Let off some fireworks! After an initially promising, ultimately disappointing Series 11, the Doctor Who New Year special is no damp squib but actually most enjoyable. Resolution is the first New Year special since David Tennant’s departure on 1st January 2010 – a staggering nine years ago. This is Jodie Whittaker’s first special and showrunner Chris Chibnall’s too. But let’s talk Dalek. No Time Lord can call him or herself the Doctor until they’ve stared down the eye-stalk of the archenemy. Having eschewed the timeworn baggage of old monsters in series 11, His Chibs has at last delivered a Dalek. Just the one. But a very fine one. Cleverly, lovingly, hideously deployed. He’s pared his lone Dalek to its roots as a deadly, implacable foe – a squid-like mutation desperate to build a new armoured shell, weaponise…

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Doctor Who: The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos ★★
type: item
date: 2018-12-09T21:00:49.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: What became of baddie Tim Shaw? The Doctor finds out in a slow but diverting conclusion that eschews the usual high-stakes finale
encoded: Story 286 Series 11 – Episode 10 Storyline The Doctor’s recent foe, Stenza warrior Tzim-Sha (aka Tim Shaw), was beamed to Ranskoor Av Kolos, a planet with an atmosphere beset by psychotropic waves. He became a deity worshipped by the Ux, a “duo-species” with the power of telepathic dimensional engineering. Together over centuries they’ve been miniaturising other worlds to utilise their energy. The Doctor’s team meet members of a fleet sent by the Congress of the Nine Planets, who have lost their memories upon arrival. They must unite to stop Tzim-Sha and the Ux from targeting Earth. First UK broadcast Sunday 9 December 2018 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Andinio – Phyllis Logan Paltraki – Mark Addy Tzim-Sha/Tim Shaw– Samuel Oatley Delph – Percelle Ascot Umsang – Jan Le Crew Writer – Chris Chibnall Director – Jamie Childs Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Arwel Wyn Jones Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern It’s a title to trip off the tongue... Actually, I can think of no more awkward mouthful for a title in the history of Doctor Who. When I was a nipper, The Masque of Mandragora was as challenging as it got. For a moment, I wondered if “Ranskoor Av Kolos” might have some hidden import, perhaps be an anagram. I got as far as “anorak…” and knew it was time to stop. Is this really a finale? Is it episode 10 of 10 or simply ep 10 of 11? For sure, this is the end of a block of ten, but the official BBC billings have numbered each instalment of this series out of 11, with the 11th being the New Year special. That is the true end of this series. The Battle of doodah (I’m not typing all that out again) certainly isn’t a thrilling high-stakes finale of the sort we’ve come to expect from Doctor Who since 2005. In the old days, by which I mean the olden days of 20th-century Who, each series mostly petered out, perhaps…

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Doctor Who: It Takes You Away ★
type: item
date: 2018-12-02T21:00:18.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: Despite a lush Nordic noir start and a sentient universe embodied by a frog, this tale is disjointed and dull
encoded: Story 285 Series 11 – Episode 9 Storyline When the Tardis arrives above a Norwegian fjord, the Doctor’s team find blind teenager Hanne abandoned by her father in a remote lodge and traumatised by faked monsters. A mirror in the loft is a portal to an anti-zone, a gloomy buffer between realities, where they encounter a shifty alien called Ribbons and flesh-eating moths. A second portal leads to another domain, the Solitract, a consciousness expelled since the dawn of time. Benign but lonely, it tempts visitors to stay with visions of dead loved ones, including Graham’s former wife, Grace. When the Doctor befriends the Solitract, it takes the form of a frog but she must leave it alone again. First UK broadcast Sunday 2 December 2018 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Ribbons – Kevin Eldon Hanne – Ellie Wallwork Erik – Christian Rubeck Trine – Lisa Stokke Grace – Sharon D Clarke Crew Writer – Ed Hime Director – Jamie Childs Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Arwel Wyn Jones Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern It Takes You Away begins well and ends well. The opening treats us to a gorgeous vista of Norwegian forest and fjord, the police box nestling iconically among the undergrowth. The travellers’ investigation of a barricaded wooden lodge offers a few mini-chills, until its lone occupant, a blind child Hanne, is discovered, abandoned by her father. So far, so Nordic noir. The conclusion back at the Tardis is also reasonably satisfying, delivering a long-anticipated, tender punch as Ryan finally connects with Graham, opens his heart and calls him Granddad. Surely, the main purpose of this episode was to concoct a “Grace ghost” that would bring Ryan and Graham together. But what happens between these points? Well, it’s almost as if a noir-ish thriller shimmers into 1960s Lost in Space, tumbling through a mirror into…

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Doctor Who: The Witchfinders ★★
type: item
date: 2018-11-25T21:00:06.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: Despite star turns from Siobhan Finneran and Alan Cumming, this Jacobean witch-trial lacks the magic ingredient
encoded: Story 284 Series 11 – Episode 8 Storyline Despite her rule not to meddle in history, the Doctor determines to stop the witch-trials and drownings that her team stumble upon in 17th-century Bilehurst Cragg. The bleak Lancashire village is ruled with misguided religious zeal by Becka Savage, whose mission to drive out the Devil is bolstered when the demon-obsessed King James arrives. Mud tendrils are reanimating corpses of the supposed witches and have infected Becka, who morphs into a Morax Queen. These aliens are trying to break free from imprisonment on the benighted Pendle Hill nearby. First UK broadcast Sunday 25 November 2018 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill King James – Alan Cumming Becka Savage – Siobhan Finneran Willa Twiston – Tilly Steele Old Mother Twiston – Tricia Kelly Smithy – Arthur Kay Alfonso – Stavros Demetraki Crew Writer – Joy Wilkinson Director – Sallie Aprahamian Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Arwel Wyn Jones Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern It’s a ripe and tasty script from newcomer Joy Wilkinson, who clearly has a sense of history, a grip on detail and how to pepper it throughout a Doctor Who episode. She establishes colourful characters – from the wicked lady Becka Savage to the troubled King James – and invests scenes with psychological heft. Her monstrous mud zombies are a spooky invention and the sci-fi spin on the benighted Pendle Hill isn’t a bad one. This all looks good on paper. Unfortunately, the execution on screen falls flat. Despite a grim location, the lowering skies and seeping mist, the dreich weather that beset filming, this production fails to muster much dramatic atmosphere or authenticity. I can’t really see past a clutch of actors gamely trudging about in mire and freezing cold. The mud-crones especially look like a ragbag of exhausted extras called to lurch hi…

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Doctor Who: Kerblam! ★★★★
type: item
date: 2018-11-18T21:00:05.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: A satire on online shopping – with lethal robots and Lee Mack – this is a prime delivery, customer satisfaction guaranteed
encoded: Story 283 Series 11 – Episode 7 Storyline In the Tardis, the Doctor receives a delivery from Kerb!am, the galaxy’s largest retailer, along with an anonymous call for help. Investigating at Kerb!am’s HQ on the moon of Kandoka, the time travellers find it mostly staffed by TeamMate robots with a 10% human workforce – some of whom have been vanishing. At first it seems the system is responsible, until a deluded janitor Charlie shows his hand. He’s planning to dispatch an army of Kerb!am Men, delivering boxes packed with explosive bubble wrap, to kill customers and discredit the company. First UK broadcast Sunday 18 November 2018 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Judy Maddox – Julie Hesmondhalgh Dan Cooper – Lee Mack Jarva Slade – Callum Dixon Kira Arlo – Claudia Jessie Charlie Duffy – Leo Flanagan Kerb!am (voice) – Matthew Gravelle Crew Writer – Pete McTighe Director – Jennifer Perrott Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Arwel Wyn Jones Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern Did anyone else’s heart sink at the sight of that title with its cartoonish screamer? I had an inkling, though, that Kerblam! might confound expectation. Mercifully, it does. Welcome to the warehouse of fun, Pete McTighe, a writer new to Doctor Who – at least in terms of on-screen credits. A Brit based in Melbourne and former head writer on the Oz prison drama Wentworth, he’s a fan of the Time Lord and has been building to this moment for a long time. Top marks for developing a nifty bit of branding. Actually, typographically, it’s Kerb!am. I kept thinking of Lord Sugar’s hapless “candidates” in The Apprentice, who would be very lucky to come up with a brand name, logo and ethos as catchy as this. In the great Doctor Who tradition, the story takes something commonplace and turns it into a threat. Kerb!am, “the biggest retailer in the galaxy”, is a…

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Doctor Who: Demons of the Punjab ★★★
type: item
date: 2018-11-11T20:00:39.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: A romantic tragedy with considerable charm set during the turmoil of the Partition of India
encoded: Story 282 Series 11 – Episode 6 Storyline Yaz’s family are celebrating the birthday of her elderly grandmother Umbreen. Yaz urges to the Doctor to let her see Umbreen when she was young and the Tardis takes them to her wedding in the Punjab in 1947. It is also the time of the Partition of India, with families and communities being torn apart along racial and religious lines. Muslim Umbreen’s marriage to Hindu Prem is doomed when his radical brother cannot accept the union. The event is overseen by Thijarian warriors, who are not as demonic as they first seem. First UK broadcast Sunday 11 November 2018 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Nani Umbreen – Leena Dhingra Umbreen – Amita Suman Prem – Shane Zaza Manish – Hamza Jeetooa Hasna – Shaheen Khan Najia Khan – Shobna Gulati Hakim Khan – Ravin J Ganatra Sonya Khan – Bhavnisha Parmar Kisar – Nathalie Curzner Almak – Barbara Fadden Kisar (voice) – Emma Fielding Almak (voice) – Isobel Middleton Crew Writer – Vinay Patel Director – Jamie Childs Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Arwel Wyn Jones Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern An imperfect jewel, this one. A few rupees short of a ruby. Part romantic tragedy, part historical re-enactment, with a fantasy element in passing, Demons of the Punjab doesn’t feel much like Doctor Who, but at the same time it is quintessentially Who. For Yasmin Khan, however, it’s Who Do You Think You Are? – a personalised edition of the BBC1 genealogy show, courtesy of the Time Lord. Except that while WDYTYA? uncovers the secrets of deceased ancestors, Yaz has the temerity to nose into her grandmother’s past while the old gal is still breathing. What a snoop! Chris Chibnall has spoken of such episodes (including Rosa) as “global historicals”, harking back to the expansive reach of the very earliest Doctor Whos, when the 1960s Team Tardis j…

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Doctor Who: The Tsuranga Conundrum ★
type: item
date: 2018-11-04T20:00:04.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: It’s Casualty in Space, a dismal misfire with an absurd critter called Pting
encoded: Story 281 Series 11 – Episode 5 Storyline The Doctor’s team are sifting through a junk planet when they set off a sonic bomb. Largely uninjured, they’re picked up by a passing medical spaceship, Tsuranga. It’s mostly automated, but they befriend the few staff and patients on board, as the vessel comes under attack from a small junk-gobbling creature known as a Pting. The Doctor must expel this intruder before the space station they’re heading towards remotely detonates the Tsuranga. First UK broadcast Sunday 4 November 2018 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Astos – Brett Goldstein Mabli – Lois Chimimba Eve Cicero – Suzanne Packer Durkas Cicero – Ben Bailey Smith Ronan – David Shields Yoss Inkl – Jack Shalloo Crew Writer – Chris Chibnall Director – Jennifer Perrott Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Arwel Wyn Jones Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern Every Doctor has her or his turkey. This is WhittakWho’s first. I fear it won’t be her last. The alien of the hour even looks like some freak-show poultry, force-fed and plucked, ready for basting. The “Pting” is quite the most ridiculous mini-critter in Doctor Who since… well, I’m thinking of those cutesy Adipose fat-blobs in Partners in Crime ten years ago. This junk-gobbling gremlin doesn’t convince and is patently absurd (bearing in mind one must be prepared for all degrees of absurdity in Doctor Who). I only hope the smaller kids watching will appreciate its cartoonish nature, bug eyes and bad manners. The episode gets off to an unprepossessing start with the Tardis team grubbing about on a junk planet, sifting through rubbish – a bad omen if ever there was for what is to follow. Is this really the most enticing mission the Doctor can offer her pals after last week’s inspiring all-hands-together communion in the Tardis…? In quick time, they’ve stumbled upon a “…

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Doctor Who: Arachnids in the UK ★★★★
type: item
date: 2018-10-28T20:00:36.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: Chris Chibnall delivers shivers and social comment in this giant spiders hokum – and Chris Noth is a hilarious Trump-alike. Plus, Doctor Who legend Katy Manning gives her verdict
encoded: Story 280 Series 11 – Episode 4 Storyline Returning to Sheffield, the Doctor gets to know Yaz’s family. Her mum Najia has just been fired from a new hotel owned by callous US magnate Jack Robertson. He’s been using old mines below as a toxic landfill site, which is causing mutations among the city’s spiders. Giant arachnids are now emerging and dragging locals to their larder. The Doctor’s team aim to deal kindly with the mother spider in the hotel ballroom but Robertson shoots it. Later, Graham, Ryan and Yaz decide they’d love to resume their travels in the Tardis. First UK broadcast Sunday 28 October 2018 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Jack Robertson – Chris Noth Najia Khan – Shobna Gulati Dr Jade McIntyre – Tanya Fear Hakim Khan – Ravin J Ganatra Sonya Khan – Bhavnisha Parmar Frankie Ellish – Jaleh Alp Kevin – William Meredith Grace – Sharon D Clarke Crew Writer – Chris Chibnall Director – Sallie Aprahamian Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Arwel Wyn Jones Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern I’m often in my happy place watching a slab of hokum and, in the right frame of mind, Arachnids remains enjoyable, though I've cooled somewhat towards it since the original transmission. The first three episodes of series 11 had much to recommend them, showed the programme going in a new direction with fresh talent aboard, and here it feels like they’ve settled in. I’ve always relished a monstrous menace in the now, a few shivers and jump scares, a bit of social comment – and a smattering of mirth. This is a terrific script from Chris Chibnall, which all the cast, especially the guest stars, have fun with. Shobna Gulati is delightful as Najia, the hotel manager fired in her first scene, who simply has to be Yaz’s mum and indeed is called “Yaz’s mum” throughout by the Doctor. Anyone calling her “Nadia” gets short shri…

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Doctor Who: Rosa ★★★
type: item
date: 2018-10-21T20:00:25.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: Malorie Blackman tackles bigotry in a well-meaning if clunky story, in which a future foe aims to thwart Rosa Parks and the American civil rights movement
encoded: Story 279 Series 11 – Episode 3 Storyline The Tardis team arrive in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955 and immediately experience the racial prejudice embedded in its society. They meet Rosa Parks, the seamstress determined to stand up against bigotry and segregation, who famously would refuse to give up her bus seat for white folk. It’s a touchstone in the dawn of the civil rights movement in America – but Krasko, a villain from the future, intends to throw history off course. First UK broadcast Sunday 21 October 2018 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Rosa Parks – Vinette Robinson Krasko – Joshua Bowman James Blake – Trevor White Mr Steele – Richard Lothian Police officer Mason – Gareth Marks Raymond Parks – David Rubin Martin Luther King – Ray Sesay Fred Gray – Aki Omoshaybi Elias Griffin Jr – David Dukas Arthur – Morgan Deare Waitress – Jessica Claire Preddy Crew Writers – Malorie Blackman, Chris Chibnall Director – Mark Tonderai Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Arwel Wyn Jones Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern Malorie Blackman, co-writer of this episode, happens to be black. As are its director Mark Tonderai and the series’ new composer Segun Akinola. Skin colour should be immaterial and is something I wouldn’t normally think to mention. However, in a valuable initiative to increase diversity on the programme, this episode marks a significant confluence of talents in key posts. These three people are the first black writer, director and composer to work on Doctor Who in its 55-year run. I’ll let that sentence stand for a moment. It was a timely confluence, too, because October 2018 was Black History Month in the UK and other parts of the world. Malorie Blackman, the former children’s laureate coming fresh to Who, justly seizes her moment to relate a pivotal point in “black history” – the brave decision in 195…

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Doctor Who: The Ghost Monument ★★
type: item
date: 2018-10-14T20:00:53.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: A simple quest tale, gorgeously filmed in South Africa, with Bradley Walsh’s Graham as its beating heart
encoded: Story 278 Series 11 – Episode 2 Storyline The Doctor, Graham, Yaz and Ryan are rescued in deep space by Epzo and Angstrom, the last two competitors in the final Rally of the 12 Galaxies. Arriving on the planet Desolation, they encounter the hologram of race master Ilin, who reveals that an arduous trek will lead to the Ghost Monument – in fact the Doctor’s missing police box. Various challenges include flesh-eating waterborne microbes, Sniper Bots and suffocating, cloth-like Remnants. At the end of the race, Epzo and Angstrom declare a draw and the Doctor is overjoyed to be reunited with her remodelled Tardis. First UK broadcast Sunday 14 October 2018 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Epzo – Shaun Dooley Angstrom – Susan Lynch Ilin – Art Malik Voice of the Remnants – Ian Gelder Crew Writer – Chris Chibnall Director – Mark Tonderai Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Arwel Wyn Jones Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern First challenge: the latest title sequence... Does it show Time? Is it Space? They’ve always been abstract but this one surely depicts Matter. It’s like watching extravagantly soiled nappies churning in a Zanussi, an almighty “Rabelaisian bowel movement” (phrase © Tom Baker) being flushed – with some resistance – down the drain to the sewage works. Not what you want to see with your teatime bangers and beans. The opening theme music is similarly turbid and sludgy and takes some digesting. I appreciate the reuse of elements of the old Radiophonic Workshop score, and over time it’s grown on me and become peculiarly fascinating. And I do like the simplicity of the black title card with the episode and writer names in gold. The boldness (or inadequacy) of Chris Chibnall’s Who is that it doesn’t stop to explain the inexplicable. Last week, there was no explanation of how the Doctor fell through the sky a…

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Doctor Who: The Woman Who Fell to Earth ★★★
type: item
date: 2018-10-07T20:00:43.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Thirteenth Doctor
description: Jodie Whittaker is instantly engaging as the first female Doctor in Chris Chibnall’s promising if less-than-enthralling debut as showrunner
encoded: Story 277 Series 11 – Episode 1 Storyline Now in female form, and expelled from the Tardis, the Doctor falls to Earth and foils an attack on a train by a tentacled Gathering Coil. In modern Sheffield, she befriends retired bus driver Graham, his wife, a nurse called Grace, their grandson Ryan and a fledgling cop, Yaz. Ryan has discovered an alien pod, from which emerges a Stenza warrior called Tzim-Sha (the Doctor hears his name as Tim Shaw). He’s hunting for a human captive to take home, and the Doctor’s party set out to stop him. In a night-time encounter in a builders’ yard high up on cranes, Tim Shaw is thwarted but not before Grace plunges to her death. After the funeral, the Doctor traces the Tardis and teleports herself, Graham, Ryan and Yaz into the vacuum of space… First UK broadcast Sunday 7 October 2018 Cast The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker Graham O’Brien – Bradley Walsh Ryan Sinclair – Tosin Cole Yasmin Khan – Mandip Gill Grace – Sharon D Clarke Tim Shaw – Samuel Oatley Karl – Jonny Dixon Rahul – Amit Shah Sonia – Asha Kingsley Janey – Janine Mellor Ramesh Sunder – Asif Khan Andy – James Thackeray Dean – Philip Abiodun Dennis – Stephen MacKenna Gabriel – Everal A Walsh Crew Writer – Chris Chibnall Director – Jamie Childs Series producer – Nikki Wilson Music – Segun Akinola Designer – Arwel Wyn Jones Executive producers – Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens RT review by Patrick Mulkern Jodie Whittaker is a winner. Instantly engaging as the 13th Doctor, she radiates positive energy, fizzes with fun – how did she ever keep that so tightly bottled as anguished Beth Latimer in Broadchurch? She gives this 13-year-old – or 55-year-old – series the power-surge regeneration it needs. I haven’t the slightest problem with the Doctor suddenly becoming a woman. I would have welcomed it years ago and remember going “Wow!” when Joanna Lumley became the Doctor all too briefly in 1999 in a Comic Relief spoof. I’d have gleefully followed her in the programme proper. Landing slapban…

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