Who Cares? - Dr. Who Fans Talk TV

Who Cares?

Discussions about Doctor Who, its three showrunners, and more! Notes, sources, and YouTube versions linked at www.whocares.fun Who Cares? - Dr. Who Fans Talk TV is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://whocaresdw.wordpress.com/

  1. 4d ago

    The Silurians 🦎 Discussion & Review Podcast | Doctor Who: Pertwee Era

    Who has the rights to the Earth? We discuss the sleepy Silurians, colonial fear, the Doctor's role as a mediator, extermination & coexistence, Quatermass and other influences, Cold War détente, Malcolm Hulke's politics, the novelisation, & much more as we dig into 1970's Doctor Who and the Silurians, where one of the show's oldest returning ideas began. (00:00:00) Intro & first thoughts (00:05:22) Silurian, Sea Devil & Zygon archetypes (00:16:42) The Doctor as liberal mediator (00:20:14) Genesis of the story; changing hands (00:26:28) Quatermass & Nigel Kneale (00:31:09) 'Cuddly' Doctor Who & the spooky (00:35:31) The ending & 'that's murder' (00:44:48) Liz Shaw as a companion (00:50:39) Liz's costume; Letts on replacing her (00:59:51) Direction & Tim Combe (01:07:15) The music (01:14:09) The Silurian design (01:19:01) Malcolm Hulke & Terrance Dicks (01:23:42) An adult, political programme (01:28:24) Cave Monsters & Hulke's politics (01:37:44) Colonialism & sharing the planet (01:42:33) Cold War détente & the colonial reading (01:55:14) The novelisation & its POV structure (02:03:33) 'They see humans as apes' (02:09:00) The novel's politics: the Brigadier & Barker (02:14:47) TV-to-novel changes; Miss Dawson (02:26:34) Monsters, performances & wrap-up (02:31:24) Outro… Continue reading → Who Cares? - Dr. Who Fans Talk TV is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://whocaresdw.wordpress.com/

  2. Oct 25

    ‘Here Comes the Future’: RTD2’s Last Moves 🥀 Doctor Who Discussion Podcast

    After its latest 'death', what is the future of Doctor Who? We discuss the collapse of RTD's streaming 'empire', leak culture, the lost RTD2 Series 3, retellings and narrativisations, cancellation scars, fan custodianship of the show, RTD's new memoir, & much more as we trace the show's mid-2020s 'deaths' and ask what comes next. (0:00:00) Intro & framing the two discussions (0:03:43) Discussion #1: grieving Doctor Who (0:09:51) Christmas cancelled; 'Bafflers, Winternox, Village' (0:16:24) Imagining the Christmas special that never was (0:25:54) Psychic damage: the 1989 cancellation (0:32:39) Damaged Goods & being put out to tender (0:38:09) Custodianship & the Fitzroy Lot (0:46:21) Commercialising the BBC (0:50:48) RTD2's wasted talent (0:54:05) RTD2 as franchise & corporate fatigue (0:57:26) Differing showrunner skills (1:00:38) Queerness & 15's writing (1:04:47) COVID, 'I'm needed' & the empire dream (1:11:04) The Chibnall exit & the broken ending debate (1:19:51) The empire's rise & collapse: Ncuti, iPlayer, the budget (1:27:58) Renewal delayed; CBeebies & the 2026 Christmas (1:30:49) Very fine people: RTD, Shearman, Jane Tranter (1:33:54) The 26-episode order & hubris (1:41:09) The Christmas cancellation press release (1:45:46) RTD's catty farewell: 'Here comes the future, vworp vworp' (1:51:06) Flaws in a 'second' Wilderness (1:57:50) What's worth keeping, & hope for new hands (2:04:58) Discussion #2: 'in it to win it' (2:09:07) Reading the tender document (2:13:25) Potential showrunners: Mercurio, McTighe, Morrison/Wheatley (2:26:31) Dream showrunners & the genre question (2:30:02) TARDIS Crew: the CBeebies show (2:39:45) A 2026 Christmas special after all (2:42:06) 'The Queerest of Folk': first impressions (2:45:34) The Winternox confession (2:49:48) 'Supersizing Doctor Who': RTD's excuses for the flop (2:52:39) The botched launch: 60th, Church & Space Babies (2:56:18) RTD's exit & the leaks obsession (3:11:30) The lost Series 3 (3:17:24) The Billie Piper regeneration & the 'seven words' (3:24:05) Narrativising the truth (3:28:03) 'The Second Coming' & interfering with the imagery (3:32:24) Reverting to the mean: which way will the next era point? (3:42:17) RTD's future 'War Between' ideas (3:48:41) A shared universe & 'Digger-ification' (3:51:24) Final verdict: was RTD2 worthwhile? (3:56:19) Ain't No Season Three… Continue reading → Who Cares? - Dr. Who Fans Talk TV is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://whocaresdw.wordpress.com/

  3. Oct 5

    Tip Toe: Episodes 3-5 🏠 Discussion & Review Podcast | Russell T Davies TV

    Who gets to count as fully human, and who decides? We discuss the hate economy, performed masculinity, debt as dominance, the social Internet, & whether television can change anything, across the final three episodes of Russell T Davies' suburban thriller Tip Toe (00:00:00) Intro & ranking the final three episodes (00:04:48) Straight-lad culture & George in between worlds (00:11:50) What straight culture can absorb (00:19:50) George's make-up photo (00:23:28) Marginalising women, transness as the breaking point (00:25:38) Could George have played it off? (00:29:04) Dehumanising Z (00:32:42) Fatherhood anxiety & smears (00:37:05) Episode 3's flashbacks & 'the insolence on your face' (00:39:45) Clive owed a better life; the Buzzcocks song (00:43:54) Sex and violence crossed wires; the taxi scene (00:47:01) 'A straight man could have written this' (00:50:14) Violence as performed fatherhood (00:53:45) Natalism & the trap of parenthood (00:57:00) The gay horizon vs Clive's repression (01:00:40) Denormalising the family; pulling up the ladder (01:03:38) Hierarchy, & queerness beyond sexuality (01:07:47) Canal Street as heaven; Clive's glimpse of the horizon (01:14:01) The purpose Clive could have found (01:17:50) The end title cards (01:22:40) The title cards' genesis (01:27:44) Episode 4's false ending (01:30:06) Saul as the only healthy one (01:36:30) Who gets a happy ending? (01:43:04) Two closeted lads & a twist about society (01:48:07) Clive's conspiracies (01:58:00) Steph, and the muddle on trans rights (02:07:00) Z and Steph on the same side? (02:12:10) Z, Flo, Sarah (02:17:25) From anti-phone to the hate economy (02:22:00) Porn & age verification (02:25:00) The hate economy dramatised (02:32:41) Melba's croissants & what they represent (02:40:15) Graeber's Debt, the £20, & the bow (02:47:00) Payment as dominance (02:50:01) The empty shoes, queer tragedy, 'no happy dramas' (02:53:12) Can TV change anything? (02:58:00) Books; 'what's being written is bollocks' (03:02:45) Physicality; online logic vs real life (03:07:07) The thrill of making someone afraid (03:11:05) Leo's fatal flaw (03:15:08) The lynching as a game that never stops (03:18:21) Could Mikey have defused it? (03:23:20) Clive as discourse: folk hero or villain? (03:27:16) Why Clive lied about the affair (03:30:08) The bathroom scene (03:35:08) Realism, & RTD leaving Doctor Who (03:41:00) Violence; appetite for a public execution (03:44:46) Direction & Peter Hoar (03:49:00) The music (03:58:10) How Clive was created (04:00:36) RTD in the future (04:08:05) Sign-off… Continue reading → Who Cares? - Dr. Who Fans Talk TV is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://whocaresdw.wordpress.com/

  4. Jun 7

    Tip Toe: Episodes 1-2 📱 Discussion & Review Podcast | Russell T Davies TV

    How does Russell T Davies' suburban thriller Tip Toe miniseries reflect the 2020s? We discuss hierarchies of humanity, porous worlds, clashes of masculinity, technological frivolity, & much more as we dive into the first two episodes. (00:00:00) Appreciating the show (00:06:41) Leo: hamartia, hyperbole, rhetoric, glibness, banter (00:23:26) Clive: coldness, masculinity, homoeroticism, bravery (00:45:25) Saul & his audience; George & projection (00:53:01) The Leo & George texting sequence (01:09:26) Clive & Leo: cruelty, class, pity (01:22:33) Phones, masturbation montage (01:29:05) Music (01:34:16) Ex Curtis dinner party scene (01:41:19) Steph & 'gender critical friends' (01:52:59) In the middle, Palestine, frivolity, conspiracy (02:04:42) Phones, youth, culture, doomscrolling (02:23:01) Phones, cognition, insanity, form (02:36:30) Can TV help the world? (02:46:18) Violence & porousness between worlds (02:54:46) America, RTD2, inspirations, titles… Continue reading → Who Cares? - Dr. Who Fans Talk TV is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://whocaresdw.wordpress.com/

  5. May 31

    The Witchfinders 🌳 Discussion & Review Podcast | Doctor Who: Series 11

    Released in 2018, novelised in 2021 — what is the legacy of The Witchfinders? Where does it belong, both in an assessment of the era, and in series 11's structure? Where does it differ from the rest of the series? What does 'no more witch hunts' really mean? (00:00:00) Intro & initial thoughts (00:02:20) Series 11 ordering + leak (00:05:27) Story's engagement with gender (00:09:54) Music, visuals (00:14:19) Implants & penetration (00:16:34) Alan Cumming (00:17:34) Theme park history (00:21:12) Reclaiming witchiness (00:24:29) Is it a romp? (00:27:35) Bullying & Yaz parallels (00:31:04) 'Flat team structure' (00:32:32) Cut to black (00:34:19) Morax & sending baddies to prison (00:37:19) 'No more witch hunts' & changing history (00:40:25) James confrontation (00:43:47) The novelisation subtractions & additions (00:52:54) Novel opening & epilogue (00:57:06) Opinions on the novel ending + The Norns (01:09:20) What could have been + structural thoughts (01:15:56) Outro… Continue reading → Who Cares? - Dr. Who Fans Talk TV is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://whocaresdw.wordpress.com/

  6. May 24

    The Ghost Monument 📜 Discussion & Review Podcast | Doctor Who: Series 11

    Extreme close ups of character faces. Entirely invisible threats; 'we don't see'. What's the story behind this very odd piece of television? Why does it stand out so much in terms of style and aesthetics? What standards did it set for the era? What does it say about the companions? (00:00:00) Intro + episode's significance (00:04:40) Uncomfortable closeups (00:07:47) Directorial style of long takes (00:09:48) Impressive locations + strange edits (00:14:03) Answering questions nobody asked (00:15:48) We can't see; intangible dangers (00:22:06) Avoidant storytelling, baffling stakes (00:27:21) Didactic premise (00:32:21) Focus on Ryan (00:36:34) Balancing companions with guest cast (00:42:15) Maturity of Yaz and Ryan (00:46:07) Aesthetics of violence (00:50:14) Timeless rags, TARDIS theme, set reveal (00:56:18) Pining for the early days of the era (00:59:40) Self-defeating thesis (01:01:37) Stray thoughts + outro… Continue reading → Who Cares? - Dr. Who Fans Talk TV is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://whocaresdw.wordpress.com/

  7. May 17

    The Woman Who Fell to Earth 🌠 Discussion & Review Podcast | Doctor Who: Series 11

    How did the Chibnall Era's premiere position itself amidst other TV? Rules, tone, arcs, spectacle, grief, change...the Thirteenth Doctor's first episode is nothing if not worthy of discussion. We dive in, looking back on how it all began. (00:00:00) Revisiting + what we like now (00:06:28) Losing our attention (00:09:19) The new companions + their arcs (00:19:52) Incomplete premiere (00:23:46) Chibnall confusion + tonal cynicism (00:29:50) Handling an ensemble (00:34:29) Idolising the Doctor (00:37:04) 13 as enforcer of rules (00:47:46) Darker vs family-friendly heroes (00:53:34) Kids' TV and curiosity (00:57:10) Aspiring to be like other shows (01:03:50) Spectacle vs substance (01:07:39) Budget & fighting what you are (01:11:44) The crimes of Tim + a major death (01:15:21) Fridging (01:17:30) Other ideas for how to handle grief (01:23:14) The music + 13's theme (01:31:00) Elements of previous Doctor premieres (01:37:33) Theme of change (01:40:03) Favourite lines (01:42:36) Retrospective thoughts + vindication… Continue reading → Who Cares? - Dr. Who Fans Talk TV is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://whocaresdw.wordpress.com/

  8. May 10

    Pyramids of Mars 🔭 Discussion & Review Podcast | Doctor Who: Tom Baker Era

    Science and magic, cultism and archaeology, digital Gothic, illusions of fidelity, horror, Holmes, and Hinchcliffe...what makes Pyramids of Mars persist, over fifty years later? We dive into this Tom Baker classic, along with its many revisitations. (00:00:00) First experiences with the story (00:05:42) Season 13 (00:08:30) Nice moments (00:10:59) Design of the mummies (00:14:34) Daytime shoots and tone (00:16:44) Reinventing the historical format (00:21:20) Egyptology and Orientalism in the story (00:27:15) Ibrahim (00:30:45) Episode Four's tonal shift (00:40:03) Resonance of the ending + emotional moments (00:47:30) Laurence's rationality (00:53:00) Terrance Dicks' characterisation of the Fourth Doctor (01:02:46) Alternate future scene (01:09:32) Holistic storytelling of the Holmes and Hinchcliffe era (01:18:05) Portrayal of Sarah Jane (01:23:38) Gabriel Woolf's performance as Sutekh (01:29:38) Visuals of Sutekh (01:33:16) Greifer's grain: the unusual writing situation (01:45:16) Holmes' writing (01:51:35) Novelisation differences: ancient aliens (01:57:25) Novelisation differences: prologue and epilogue (02:09:33) 2024 Tales of the TARDIS: editing and music changes (02:21:50) 2024 Tales of the TARDIS: VFX and story changes (02:26:13) 2024 Tales of the TARDIS: Fifteenth Doctor wraparound scenes (02:33:31) Dudley Simpson's score (02:38:43) Rationalism and anti-imperialism (02:44:08) 2025 AI Pyramids blu-ray release (02:52:32) Archaeology and AI restoration (02:56:45) Inverting science vs magic (03:03:16) Digital Gothic (03:07:23) Break points of restoration and editorialisation … Continue reading → Who Cares? - Dr. Who Fans Talk TV is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://whocaresdw.wordpress.com/

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About

Discussions about Doctor Who, its three showrunners, and more! Notes, sources, and YouTube versions linked at www.whocares.fun Who Cares? - Dr. Who Fans Talk TV is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://whocaresdw.wordpress.com/

Information

  • Creator
    Who Cares?
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    140
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Clips and music used within owned wholly by their rightsholders
  • Show Website
    Who Cares? - Dr. Who Fans Talk TV

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