Doctor Who: Toby Hadoke’s Time Travels – Details, episodes & analysis

Too Much Information is an episode-by-episode, blow-by-blow account of the When, What, and Who of Doctor Who. Facts old and new, observations and information all in one digestible chunk, with a fantastic score composed by Waen Shepherd.  A great jump in point for newcomers to the show, but plenty for jaded old Who-ers too. Presented by Toby Hadoke.

Indefinable Magic is a Doctor Who podcast based on ... well, anything really. Sometimes it'll be a whimsical musing, sometimes a fact-fest, sometimes a nostalgia filled childhood recollection - always good-natured, generally arcane, and hopefully something that will chime with anyone who has ever loved a certain silly time traveller. It's definitely a podcast that is bigger on the inside. 

Happy Times and Places is an attempt to combat Covid with a bit of cheerful Doctor Who love. Comedian and Doctor Who fan Toby Hadoke has asked a friend to nominate a story and to choose their favourite things about it. Toby then has to watch and see if he can guess what it is they love about it, and to choose his own favourite things too. (Since the initial upload there has been a minor re-edit to this episode to remove a couple of minor technical glitches).

Presented by - Toby Hadoke

Special Guest - Tom Burgess

This week's episode - The Sontaran Experiment 1

Originally released episodically to celebrate the release of the Season 24 Blu-ray, we've now packed it all neatly up into a single bundle so that you can enjoy all that Iceworld has to offer in just one trip. But the special guest this time around provides added insight into the story, because not only does he have four favourite things to highlight, he was responsible for some of them because he's only the flipping script editor, Andrew Cartmel, who gives a little interview at the end of each instalment as well as telling your host, Toby Hadoke, what he likes best about the 150th Doctor who story. 

Warning: when consumed all in one go this podcast contains more than the recommended level of piratical dialogue. Prolonged exposure to such dialogue will cause you to squint and yell "ahaaar" without warning. It's the little discussed Troughton historical that introduces Jamie and drag to the Doctor and provokes lots of jolly chat from guest Peter Ware. You will like a chat like that. Host Toby Hadoke tried to guess what cheerful Peter likes about this story (apart from, you know, everything - Peter is a very positive guy). 

See how we neatly avoided giving a story title then? It's hard enough deciding what to call the first story (your host Toby Hadoke is an An Unearthly Child man himself, but he's no dictator) but what about if you strip it of its iconic opening instalment? Because that is what monster maker Jim Sangster, this edition's special guest, has done. He's chosen the first story, but the caveman episodes only - in order that the oft overlooked squabble about fire might ignite fresh passions in us all. But will he and your host be fanning the same flames or will they be left with a chill in the air?

This series has already provided a Too Much Information about The Forest of Fear and now it gets the Happy Times and Places treatment too. We've never been so verdant! But getting all excited about the early days of Doctor Who is easily done. But will special guest Jim Sangster and your host Toby Hadoke agree on the episode's high point, or will Jim try to murder Toby with a stone as he lies wounded...?

And so the first Doctor Who story comes to a close - but will this be the first time that you r host, Tim y Hadoke, manages to guess more than half of his guest's favourite things? He's been doing pretty well so far. He wouldn't muck it up at this stage, having come so far ... would he? Well, we're not going to tell you, as we would rather end this on a cliffhanger - after all, that's what they did in the old days. 

Here's one your host Toby Hadoke remembers watching as a kid and, of course, loving ... and then learning as a teen that it was from the "awful Season 17" and that everyone should hate it. Then Toby finally rediscovered it as a grown-up and quite liked it. So how much will he enjoy it this time around, especially with US chum and uber-Star Trek fanfic guy Derek O'Brien acting as its advocate. But more importantly, will he remember what it is actually called. 

So we have the perspective of and American Who Fan in England - prolific Star Trek fanfic fella Derek O'Brien - so how differently will he receive the good and bad of one of Doctor Who's less celebrated stories? And will your host Toby Hadoke have the same kind of Nightmare...?