The Metebelis Two - a Doctor Who podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this podcast we talk about Ian Marter's first two stories after his character, Harry Sullivan, joins the TARDIS crew: The Ark in Space and The Sontaran Experiment. We discuss the ease at which Marter portrays Sullivan as a decent, square-jawed Englishman. We also lament what could have been if the Doctor Who production team better utilised the character since he was an effective foil and compatriot of Tom Baker's Doctor. At the end of the podcast are two brief convention panel answers from Marter (on Harry being "naff" and "clumsy") in 1983 in Chicago celebrating 20 years of the programme. Opening music is from The Ark in Space soundtrack and closing music is from The Sontaran Experiment soundtrack, both composed by Dudley Simpson. We recorded this episode on 16 September 2024.

We continue with our Ian Marter discussion with a brief conversation about the debut of Harry Sullivan in "Robot"! But, before we get underway, we pick up where we left off with new details about Marter's time at St. Edmund Hall at Oxford University with the discovery that there is a recording on vinyl of Marter singing in You Can't Do Much Without a Screwdriver, an original musical staged by the Oxford University Experimental Theatre Club at the Oxford Playhouse in May 1965. Marter played the lead character, Guy Ffolkes, an Amnesian nationalist, and sings "Bang On" with Jack and Harry, described as two villains in the playbill. There's a photograph of Ian with Adèle Geras née Weston on stage during the production. We also uncovered a photograph of young Ian with fellow Oxford students, Tamara Ustinov, John Dodgson, Anne Bibby, and Nick Elliott rehearsing for another play. Plus a photograph of Marter with actor Richard Burton in a local pub. Opening and closing music is "Mysterious Robots," composed by Dudley Simpson. We recorded this episode on 26 August 2024.

With Moffat back writing for who and RTD as showrunner does it feel like 2005 all over again? Well, maybe? We discuss the latest Doctor Who episode, Boom, complete with the requisite fatherly love, casting surprises, LED scenery, returning vicars, twist speculation, and a dose of handwavium to resolve this tight, immersive bottle episode. Opening Music is "Skye Boat Song" performed by Martine Mussies. Closing music is from "Let's Go Crazy" by Prince and the Revolution. We recorded this episode on 20 May 2024.

In this episode, we discuss sideways Who and how this story type was not too common in the classic Who era, but has come into its own with the show's revival and is, perhaps, in its golden age under Chibnall's tenure as showrunner. Opening music is "Univers Sideral" composed by Paul Bonneau and closing music is the main title theme for the "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" composed by Ronald Stein. We recorded this episode on 3 May 2020.

We land on the Galápagos Islands with the Doctor and Evelyn to review Bloodtide from Big Finish. And since this is a Silurian story, we try to cobble together a timeline of their history and are flummoxed by the inconsistencies. A story overflowing with historical characters and ideas, we wonder if Silurian Tulok's real crime was genetically engineering lady bumps on Silurian women. Opening music is "Tried" and closing music "The Cave"; both pieces composed by Alistair Lock for Bloodtide. We recorded this episode on 19 April 2020.

After a quick recap of our afternoon playing the Quiz of Rassilon with fellow teammates Greg and Jess, we discuss space opera. We explore which stories fit the genre and what does it take to make a space opera story in Doctor Who? The conventional wisdom is Doctor Who is a genre machine, so how frequently does it dip into space opera like other popular sci-fi franchises like Star Trek and Star Wars? Opening and closing music is from "The Frontier in Space," composed by the incomprable Dudley Simpson. We recorded this episode on 13 April 2020.

Since Big Finish made The Maltese Penguin a free download last week, we decided what better time to give it the ol' Metebelis Two listen. We discuss how the view of the writer, Rob Shearman, may have changed on his story over the past nearly two decades since its release. Discussion on acting, sound design, and why recommend BF create more Frobisher adventures in this week's episode. Opening and closing music is from David Darlington's score and sound design for the story. We recorded this episode on 5 April 2020.

The Metebelis Two is joined by Eliot, David's son, to talk about the new DVD and Blu-ray release of The Faceless Ones in animated form. Opening music is "Pacific Dawn" by Tom Dissevelt from his 1963 LP Fantasy In Orbit, which used as the Faceless Ones soundtrack. Closing music is Slade's 1984 hit, "Run Runaway". We recorded this episode on 29 March 2020.

Ben and David brainstorm on which one-off monsters from Doctor Who should return for series 13 and find that they are more than a little stir-crazy after just one week of quarantine, aka "sheltering at home." Opening and closing music is the 1972 "Delaware version" of the theme realized by Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson with Paddy Kingsland. We recorded this episode on 22 March 2020.

A bonus episode discussion on the fourth episode of the original Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio drama on BBC Radio 4, which is 42 years old this month! We find ourselves on prehistoric Earth, admiring Slartibartfast's signature on a glacier and trying to teach cave men how to play Scrabble. Opening music is an excerpt from "Journey of the Sorcerer" by The Eagles. Closing music is a 1968 live recording of Louis Armstrong singing "What a Wonderful World". We recorded this episode on 21 March 2020.