Big Blue Box Podcast – Episode 2

Episode 2 is here, and I’ve got some great tidbits for you featuring news, an interview with Neil Perryman – author of the book Adventures with the Wife in Space plus a look at this episode’s classic story, Spearhead from Space.

The News

In what’s been happening in Doctor Who, we kick off with some sad news that classic era actors Kate O’Mara and Glyn Jones have unfortunately passed away. Kate O’Mara featured numerous times as the classic Rani in The Mark of the Rani and Time of the Rani, as well as the Children in Need spoof Dimensions in Time. Glyn Jones wrote the script for the Hartnell episode The Space Museum, and not only wrote for Doctor Who but also appeared later as Krans in The Sontaran Experiment. Very sad news, but their episodes are stored safely in time to be enjoyed.

Mark Gatiss has been commissioned to write two episodes of the upcoming Doctor Who series and, interestingly, not both for series 8. One of them definitely will be episode 3 in series 8, but no news as yet on the second. Included in this, Tom Riley (of DaVinci’s Demons fame) is going to appear in this episode, but again, no news on whether he’ll reappear.

Forbidden Planet have released a new line of Who t-shirts, which you can pre-order and consist of at least 4 different designs. A few Capaldi-specific designs will prove popular, and there’s also a three Doctor line-up called Vector Line Up, which is also available, featuring Tennant, Smith and Capaldi.

Lastly, there’s a new Doctor Who soundtrack boxset which will be up for pre-order on 25th April and includes music from each series of Doctor Who from the very beginning, An Unearthly Child, right the way through to the 50th Anniversary show. It comes in a limited edition Tardis case, which looks gorgeous and is painted wood with an actual flashing light.

Interview with Neil Perryman

Author of the book “Adventures with the Wife in Space” Neil Perryman very kindly agreed to take some time out and chat to me about his views on being a lifelong Doctor Who fan, his relationship with his wife Sue as they go through an epic journey of watching every classic episode, even the lost ones(!) and the pressure from fans to keep going. We also talk about some favourite classic episodes, looking forward to Peter Capaldi and Neil’s next adventure – Adventures with the Wife and Blake. You can pick up the book from Amazon, plus all good bookshops. Thanks, Neil, for being a great guest on the show.

Classic story retrospective – Spearhead from Space

Jon Pertwee’s first adventure back in 1970 is my classic choice for this episode. I really liked this story, and although I’m not a huge fan of the Pertwee era, there are a few standout episodes, and this is one for me. Not only is it a good story, but the HD master onto blu ray looks fantastic.

Thanks again for joining me in episode 2, and until next time – Allons-y!