April 2026 Roundtable: Latest News Roundup

Garry: Hey, hey, hey who fans and welcome to the Big Blue Box Podcast. My name's Garry.

Matt: My name's Matt.

Maria: My name's Maria.

Harry: My name's Harry.

Garry: And welcome to the April Roundtable. Welcome back everybody, to another roundtable. We're sorry we missed you last month. We had a couple of things going on, some busy stuff. And when I say that, I mean I had some busy stuff going on. This lot were eager as usual to get behind the mics and start chatting Doctor Who, but alas, I was the the roadblock in last month's roundtable. So apologies for that. But we are back for April to talk about a few news bits that have landed over the last month or two. We have a couple of missing eps that were announced to much fanfare amongst fandom. We'll get to those in a moment. We've also got something else that was. That generated a lot of fanfare, albeit a little bit shorter. That was the Paul McGann TV movie announcement for the 4K remaster and all that stuff. Woohoo. And then very recently we had. I'm not sure if this one did land with much fanfare or not. Bit of a funny one, this one. The BBC and the official Doctor Who guys were very, very keen to let the world know that it's been 20 years since David Tennant V1 started his. His run as the Doctor. Back in. We'll go on to this a minute. It's either one episode or the other. We'll let you pick, we'll let you do the. Do the math and the numbers and all that stuff. But yeah, that was a thing. Apparently we're now doing celebratory anniversary stuff for sort of in between series, an in betweeny bit. So that's cool. We'll get onto that in a moment. So yes, dear listener, thank you very much for taking time out of your morning day evening to listen to us waffle about Doctor Who. And I'm joined this month by the usual rabble, minus a couple of people. Jordan's not with us. Jordan's busy doing his uni work as usual at the moment. And Adam is shopping for, I don't know, special weapons Dalek without the third ball from the left and without the gold bit at the bottom that he saw in a eBay auction five years ago. That's still tracking it down. Something like that, I guess, over in the us. I know Adam, but I am joined by Matt. Matt is back in the house, back in the hot seat. How are you doing, dude?

Matt: Hi, Garry. Yes, Doing really well, thanks. Well, I was. I've been recovering from a bit of an illness of late, but yeah, on the mend now, so feeling better and. Yeah, no, I haven't managed to do that much. Who related stuff, but I did manage to. And don't, don't, you know, don't be too harsh on me for this, but I remember when I was a listener to the podcast and you guys were reviewing Inferno and I couldn't. I think I must have just been tired, but I couldn't get through it. I didn't, it didn't land with me at the time and I think I thought now's the perfect time. I've got a lot of free time at the minute. Why don't I go back? Because it's a seven parter. Go back and have a. Everyone says it's. It's really good. So I thought I'd give it another go. It was brilliant. Really, really, really good. I thoroughly enjoyed it all the way through and really ahead of its time and yeah, just, just brilliant. And the Brigadier especially or brigade leader was just brilliant. Yeah, so I did that and I've. I've been listening to a bit of Big finish, the new eleventh Doctor Chronicles. So that's been really interesting as well.

Garry: Nice. Matt has been. Matt's been doing some Doctor. He's so funny, Matt. I love it when Matt does his intro. He's like, yeah, I've not done, not done anything who related really. And then reels off like two or three really cool. Doctor Who thinks that he's done since we last recorded. So. Nice one, dude. And for the benefit of the listener, Matt is looking awesome at the minute. He's been under the weather with some bits, but yeah, you wouldn't know it. Still looking. Yeah, just, just wicked. So welcome back, dude. Maria, how are you doing? You've been to some events, surely, since we last spoke?

Maria: Yeah, I was actually at an event at the weekend. I went to the Riverside Studio. It's one of my favorite places that I've discovered for an event by the Dewas, the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. So they run these events regularly probably about five or six times a year and they normally have a theme. So this one was called Space and Nine. So it's called Projections in Time, Space and Nine. And they were basically celebrating season nine of classic Doctor Who, so John Pertwee season. And there was guests there from that series. So what they did was they showed four, four different episodes. So there was, there was the Mutants, Curse of Peladon, the Time Monster. And there was one more. I can't remember what it is right now, but what they did was they showed these episodes and there were, there were guests from the episodes that were there on the day. So the event was split into two parts. So they showed two episodes, did a Q and A, then it was time for photos. And then they did two more episodes, another Q and A. And then there was autographed. So it was a full day event, kind of starts at 12 and finishes around 6:30. And these events are very popular. They tend to sell out quite quickly. Now what tends to happen, and I know this happened with the event for the showing of the Daleks Master Plan Returned episodes. The website crashed. So people try and log in on Riverside Studios trying and book tickets and it. And it crashes. It can crash. So I managed to get tickets. So it was a, it was a really fun event. I had so much fun at the weekend. I really enjoyed it. I mean it was, it was obviously all Pertwee episodes and they're very. They had Joe Grant as the companion for that series. So after that season. So it was really enjoyable seeing those episodes. It just kind of was such a fun. It was a fun set of episodes. There was an episode with Roger Delgado in the Time Monster as well. So it was a lot of fun. A really nice event. Really enjoyable. Sold out. I mean there was a few seats that were empty, but they sell out quite quickly. So yeah, that was a lot of fun. So I did that on Sunday and a write up would come out as well. So I'm doing that at the moment.

Garry: Very nice. That sounds wicked. Sold out as well. A lot of these events are. You can tell, can't you, when you go to book them the tickets and then you're on the site for like 15 seconds and refresh and it's. Yeah, we're sold out. So that sounds really cool.

Maria: I think what it is now, obviously with probably very, very little new who or new episodes of Doctor Who, I think people are kind of obviously looking back a lot now. So, you know, when there's events and things like that, they tend to sell out quite quickly. I suppose it's an opportunity for us to all get together as fans and you know, celebrate, you know, whatever that event is about. So I think, you know, and I think also there's the publicity about these events seems, seems to be hyped up now because they tend to use social media a lot more effectively at the moment. So, you know, people are really aware of when things are happening, you know, it was a bit like the BFI advertising about the. The Doctor Who, the movie again, you know, I. I was trying to book tickets for that. You're in a queue for 10 minutes and then you've got 10 minutes to try and get in, get your tickets. And I was trying to book tickets for those and twice the tickets jumped out of my basket. So, you know, I, I got, I got tickets in the end. But, yeah, it's quite stressful trying to get tickets for events now. It's not a straightforward as it should be and I think the technology lets, you know, lets you down a little bit as well. But, yeah, it's just one of those things now. I think people are so much more aware of when things are happening, you know, and sometimes you, you know, there is this rush on ticket for things, especially if they're kind of, I suppose, you know, major guest stars that people want to see.

Garry: Yes, agreed. So it's obvious, you know, that classic Doctor Who is more popular than ever, which is evident with these BFI events and the Riverside stuff. And also, nice segue into. You mentioned that was run by the dwas, Doctor Who Appreciation Society. It's less than a month till we're all going to the capital event down in Gatwick, which is awesome. Also run by the old DWAs, so that'd be a good one. I was about to say, listener, if you can get down to Gatwick on. But sold out just before I was about to say, if you can get down to Gatwick for whatever weekend it is in, in May, then we'll. We'll meet up and have a. Have a chat. But alas, if you're listening to this and you've already got your ticket, then great, come find us. We're normally hanging out with all of the loser kids. We're normally in the corner just looking like, whatever. So come and find the losers. The Losers Club.

Maria: And Garry's gonna. Garry's gonna get us sweatshirts for this, this year, aren't you, Garry? I mean, I don't know how many years I've been asking. Is it. Is it seven years now? Seven years, I still haven't seen anything.

Garry: Yeah. What do you mean? To put on a sweatshirt? Losers Club with yellow. With multi cut, with a yellow. One of us has got a yellow tardis, a red one, purple one.

Maria: I reckon, I reckon you should have Alonsi on there. I mean, that's your catchphrase, isn't it, for the, for the podcast.

Garry: Cool. All right. Sweatshirts that say Alonzi we really will be in the losers seats. Okay.

Matt: It's saying Maria autographs 20 pounds.

Maria: Oh well listen, if we're, if we're going to go down the autocraft route, I want to charge at least 50, you know. Come on.

Garry: I wonder if one of us turned up with like a, like a foldable like decorator table or something and just put a black cloth over it and a bunch of random pics of us that we've had over the years with various actors and a little sign that said like signed pics, like two quid. I wonder if we would sell even just one. If one person bought one that'd be hilarious. Like who is this person? Like why have you set up a tail? I know we'd get thrown out of course, but I wonder if anyone would buy one out of all of us. It's got to be Maria, right?

Maria: No, I reckon, I reckon it will be you and Adam, Garry, you know, I mean if anyone, if people, people are going to buy autographs, it'll be you and it'll be you and Adam, you know.

Garry: No way. No, we're not cool enough. That's why I was going to put the losers club on there. Oh, in all seriousness, if you have got your ticket to the capital event. 50 years, isn't it 50 years of the, of the DWAs or of the event? One of the two. Is it 50 years?

Maria: It's 50 years from I think when the west was creative. So and they've been doing capital, I think for about 10. It's, it's been about 10, 10 years I think since they did the first one. I mean they've had. Because of COVID and things like that. I think they did skip a few years. You know, they couldn't obviously run it but because I think we were up to. Is it the seventh or eighth event that they've done Capital? I can't remember because I know they used to number them. I think I first started going and they were numbering them but. Oh, I think, I think it must be seven because they did. I'm sure they've done capital six. I'm not sure if they've done seven or eight but you know, anyway it's, I think it's been about 10 years since they first started doing the conventions. The two day event, I think.

Garry: Nice. That'd be good, wouldn't it? Won't it gang? And Jordan's going to join us there as well.

Maria: I'm looking forward to it. A chance, you know, a chance to kind of get together with you guys for two days.

Garry: Oh, it's gonna be. Yep. What's the word? What's the word for a team member? That's like honorary. Like honor honorary. Big blue box team member. Joe. He'll be there as well.

Maria: Yeah, he's going to be there as well.

Harry: Hot off the heels from his new as well.

Garry: Yep. Yeah, it's cool, isn't it? We know an author. We know a proper. A proper book published author.

Harry: He's very good as well. I've started reading his. His first book. It's called the Diary of Andy Angus, listeners. Yeah, yeah. It's not suitable for. For our younger listeners, but it's. Yeah, there's lots of Doctor Who references already in it. It's not a Doctor Who book, it's about a. A man's life. And yeah, it's really good. Buy it. But I'm reading it and it's so good. Um, he's very talented. Um, so, yeah, so, yeah, it'd be cool to see him again, for sure.

Garry: The Diary of.

Harry: Of Andy Angus.

Garry: Andy Angus, yes, that's it. Yeah, it does. It does sound really good. I've got the first one, I've just not started reading it yet. I've not bought the second one, the newest one that he's just. That he's just brought out. But I've got the first one, it's on the list. I've always got like 12, 13 books on the to read list, so I will get around to that shortly. But yes, our friend Joe. I think it's sort of semi autobiographical auto. Is that right? Autobiographical? Is that how you say it? I think so. Anyway, by all accounts, it's a great book, actually. I'll stick a link in the show notes to it and it does sound very cool. Lots of, as Harry said, lots of Doctor Who refs and. And whatnot. So, yeah, looking forward to seeing you, Joe, as well, and everyone else. Like I said, I will get around to it now, but if you have got a ticket to the capsule event, then come and say hello. We won't be in the loser's corner, we'll just be. Yeah, chatting to everyone. So come and grab a drink and we'll chat. All things Doctor Who. Harry, my good man, how have you been? What have you read? What have you watched? You must have dived into a book or two.

Harry: Yeah, I just finished a book recently. I finished another one of the classic literature crossover things. It was Rebellion on Treasure Island. Yeah. With the 11th doctor and Clara and. Oh, my goodness, they're Incredibly annoying on print and on screen. I thought. What did you think I was gonna say?

Garry: I thought you were gonna say something completely different then. Don't you say something like, they were incredibly brilliant in this story or something.

Harry: Yeah, unfortunately not. No, they're no Fourth Doctrine, Sarah Jane, are they?

Garry: But.

Harry: Yeah, but it had. It had River Song in it. It had some other familiar bits from that era in it, which were more. More. More satisfactory, shall we say? So, yeah, there's some nice surprises in it. So if you haven't read it, give it a read, but just be prepared for a little bit of annoying 11th Doctor and Clara, you know, that. That kind of thing. I much prefer 12 and Clara, to be honest. I. I think that relationship is a lot more mature. I like. You know, I just. Yeah, the 11th doctor and Clara together are just. Yeah, they're just annoying. So there was that. You know, Garry, I've mainly just been preparing for the Capitol convention to. To be honest, I've ordered a bunch of prints to get signed by people. Off the top of my head. I've ordered this giant picture of a Roth warrior from the Star Beast, because one of the guys. Yeah, one of the guys who dressed up as one of them is gonna be there and. Yeah, stuff like that. Postcards of the Sontarans, but because all of the. A few of, like, the modern actors who have played the Sontarans are going to be there, which is cool. So, yeah, just little bits and bobs like that. It's gonna be a really good weekend. I'm really looking forward to it. I. It's the first convention that I've done, which is like a whole weekender, so it's. It's. It's sort of new territory for me, but I. Yeah, it's gonna be great. I'm sure. I'm really looking forward to that. But. Yeah, not much else, really. I've been quite busy. I've moved house these past couple of months, as I mentioned on the last podcast. But that's all sorted now, so hopefully more time to get through more Doctor Who books, of which there are many. So many. But you can't have too many. I think.

Garry: You can never have too many. No, I agree. Harry's settled in now. He's in his own little. His own pad, leaving his crockery everywhere.

Harry: Yeah, leaving my crockery, yes.

Garry: I'll not wash that up now. I'll leave that until after I've recorded. Why not to my own place? Right, let's move on from. Maria goes absolutely ballistic about that.

Harry: Yeah, right.

Garry: Before we crack on, make sure you're following to the podcast on whatever podcast app you listen to your podcast on. It'd be great to have you following along. While we're not putting out regular weekly content, because there's nothing really to talk about with Doctor Who, these monthly roundtables are really cool, so we get to talk about whatever news has popped up and we just have a laugh and just chat about whatever we want to do with Doctor Who. So make sure you're following so you won't miss notifications for that stuff. And you can also check out all of the reviews, convention roundups, Maria's roving reporting, rundowns of all the events that she gets up to, big finish reviews from this lot, all the things. You can read all that over on the website as well, which is bigblueboxpodcast.co.uk and from there you can link off to the socials. If you want to chat Doctor Who with us over there or just do a search on, on X or Facebook or Threads or Blue sky, all the things, just do a search for the big Blue Box podcast, you'll find us on there. And lastly, we have a very cool free Discord server. So if you want to chat on lots of different subjects to do with Doctor Who, then that's free. You can hop in there and chat with other who fans and talk about merch, conventions, events, books, missing episodes, things that people don't like. That's a popular one, you know, don't like the episode. Why don't you like it, mate? Well, just don't and then, yeah, talk about that. So yeah, free Discord server. Go and go and check that out. Right, first news, news item which obviously broke a while ago, a little while ago now, but it's the first time we're all getting together to talk about. It would be the missing episodes from the Daleks Master Plan, which we all thought and feared were lost forever, which people were not happy about because you have to deal with like reconstructions, audio only stuff, telesnaps, all the things not, not great. So not every episode of the story has been found, but we the did manage to grab a couple of episodes. It was number one and number three, I believe. So the Nightmare begins, which is episode one. We already had episode two and then the Devil's Planet, which is episode three. And it was kind of a big deal because for one it's been quite a while since we've had any missing episodes turn up. So it was a nice, a nice surprise to to get that news. And second of all, it's an absolute banger of a story. It's a really, really good Terry Nation script and really good story, this one. And the performances. I don't know, there's something about the direction. This one as well, I think it was. Who directed it? Was it old Camfield? Was it Dougie Camfield? No. Who directed this one? I can't remember, but the directions got. It was Dougie, wasn't it? Yeah. The direction's got some really cool quirky stuff going on and there's some really nice little kind of slow zooms into the Doctor's face as he's getting perplexed about something. And there's a bit of depth of field going on, a little bit of movement. It's a really cool story. So it's a shame that we don't have the entire thing, but very, very cool that we got the missing ones. And this comes from the. The film is fabulous. Guys who have done great work over the years and continue to do their research and all that stuff on these missing apps. So big, big round of applause to those guys because we wouldn't have it if it wasn't for them. And. And they're already available now to watch on iPlay. You can watch them. I think they've been released in the US now as well for our US friends to watch them and so on. So, yeah, very, very cool. Have you guys. I think you guys have seen them at least once through. Harry, what did you think of these new eps? Are you a fan?

Harry: Oh, 100%, yeah. Right out the gate. 100%. As you know, I adore the first doctor's era. It's full of amazing stories. And yes, I've watched all the Telesnap reconstructions of the missing episodes and the Daleks masterpiece plan. It's a great story for a 12 parter. It's amazing, like how it keeps that pace up, like throughout the entire thing. It doesn't feel like it drags at all. It's. It's a brilliant, brilliant story. So, yeah, when we got this news, I was happy, just like the rest of us. And I watched the episodes and a few people have said a similar thing of it felt very emotional actually watching it, I think, particularly for me, because, you know, there's a bit of a narrative around towards the end of Hartnell's time on Doctor Who, of him kind of getting a bit tired towards the end, but I honestly don't find that one iota. I think he is like flamboyant and energetic, like, until the very, very end. And just, just seeing like more of his very physical and energetic and almost like childlike at times performance in these two new episodes was really, really cool. He's just got. Yeah, he captures that, that wonder of the Doctor very, very nicely. So it was lovely to see just more scenes of Hartnell doing his thing and, and as well, seeing the first appearance of Nicholas Courtney in Doctor Who and practically having all of Katarina's TV tenure now. You know, it was a good, good couple of episodes for them to find and pick up. Yeah, it's just. I can only hope that in the future we get more of the Daleks master plan, or indeed just any other missing episode. Because the thrill, let me tell you, Garry, the thrill of watching 60s Doctor Who that like, I had never seen before and I knew hadn't been seen for many, many, many years, it was pretty something. It was a moment for sure. So, yeah, two really great episodes. Yeah. Probably apart from the Christmas special, the only knew quote unquote, who we're gonna get in a while. So, yeah, it was a nice treat. It was, it was lovely. Yeah.

Garry: Oh, you're a fan and nice.

Harry: Hell, yeah.

Garry: Good. Matt, what did you think of the newly recovered episodes?

Matt: Sorry, had a momentary glitch with my mic there. But yeah, yeah, no, I'm gonna very much be similar to what Harry said. I think it's just. It was amazing to see more of Hartnell. Hartnell is. Well, he is the original, you might say, so. He is.

Harry: Wow.

Matt: He is Hartnell. He's amazing. And I never tire of watching the first Doctor's adventures because there is something so compelling about his whole era and so many of his stories are ahead of their time and just. Just really fun to watch. You think 1960s Doctor Who, you're going to think, is it going to be a bit of a borefest and lots of issues with pacing and that sort of thing, but there is. Hartnell's run is just brilliant and. And any more of that that came of it is going to be amazing. So when this got announced, it was kind of like, well, I don't know, it kind of united fandom with so little news to. To have of anything who related at the minute. This was such a welcome addition and it got everybody sort of talking about Doctor Who again and it was. I think it was even in the BBC News and headlines or something. And it was just. It's not very often you see Doctor Who on a notification on your phone from BBC News and It's just, yeah, what a wonderful thing to happen to this, to this community of fans. And it just goes to show that the. The episodes, the missing episodes, they've got to be out there after all this time. And you find these two episodes that you. You can't tell me that, you know, collectors and things haven't got them. So, I don't know. I think the joy that everyone has had in watching these two brilliant episodes and, you know, rejoicing and coming together and doing something Doctor Who related in a time time where there's just nothing going on might make people reconsider sort of keeping them to themselves and maybe, you know, sharing more in the future and, you know, they are out there. I think it's only a matter of time until we have some more. But, yeah, it was great. I think I came in fresh because I haven't actually, because it was so missing. I kind of. And I'd gone through a lot of telesnaps with Troughton's era and I kind of. I did. I did my rewatch a bit Wibbly Wobbly. And when. When I got to the Daleks Master Plan, I kind of thought, I can't really face going through more telesnap. So I kind of skipped over it all, to be fair, because I didn't want to watch like one or two episodes in the middle and the end of the story and then not really know. So, yeah, coming into this completely fresh so sets up an amazing story. And just as Harry says, Hartnell is just full of life in it and just so happy and cunning and it's just the little nuances in his face that you just think you. And it's just. Yeah, it was just amazing and so magical to watch something so forgotten and, you know, hidden from the world for all these years and then just to be able to watch it now in this day and age. Like you say, film. Film is fabulous. They've done an amazing job and, yeah, I was just thrilled like everybody else. Really.

Garry: Nice. Yeah, you're right. It's. Any that. You're right, there are. They're out there somewhere. It's like the X Files, isn't it? The truth is out there. They're missing it. So. In someone's garage somewhere. Not only that, there's probably somebody watching them as we speak in their garage right now, just lobbing popcorn in their face like these stupid who fans. If only they knew, eh? They're watching every episode of the Daleks Master Plan from start to finish for, like the 20th time. But yeah, they are, they are out there, so. And also agree with you and Harry, actually, that Hartnell's run is just so good. It's so bleeping good. But yeah. Maria, what was it like? Did you watch these? I know you saw them at the Riverside event. Did you watch them at home as well, or did you just you happy to see them?

Maria: I didn't, I didn't get to the Riverside event. I would have. I would have probably trod over a few people to go down there. I tried, but unfortun, by the time I logged in, they'd already sold out and I wasn't surprised, actually. I wish I could have gone because it sounds like it was an amazing event. I mean, if you think about it, it's been, what, 13 years since we had any missing episodes come back and that's a huge amount of time for anything to be returned. I mean, if you know me at all, you'll know that I'm kind of quite obsessed by missing episodes. I have been since. Since I found out in the 80s how many were missing, because there was. I mean, obviously the list has got better and more stuff has come back, but I think it's what kind of is really interesting about our series, really, because there is stuff that's missing from it, whereas a lot of other franchises have got the full component of episodes. So, you know, I think for fans there's always that thing that there's things that we won't ever be able to see. So for me, seeing these episodes, I mean, if people ask me, you know, what's on the top of my list of episodes I would want back, the Dalek master plan was. Was in that. Near the top of that list? Very much so. And I think we've been very lucky that we've actually got the first part of the story now complete. I mean, I. It's a long story. I mean, it's 12 parts and I would love to kind of see the end of it because I know, I'd love to see those end episodes come back because I know originally it was meant to be a six parter and then it got expanded to 12 parts and, you know, Terry Nation didn't write all of those episodes, I think. Was it Donald Tosh, I think, that wrote them. I can't remember, I'll have to look it up. But yeah, no, I was very excited that they came back and it was actually Adam from the podcast that sent that screenshot that he'd kind of copied from. I think it was. Was it Doctor Who news to say that two episodes had come back. And it came through about midnight. It was quite late when it came through, so I was still awake. So immediately I kind of forwarded it to everybody that I knew and kind of said, you know, look at this. Is it real? Is. You know, it would be amazing if it was. And then checking the news, it was actually real. So I think it's been amazing that the two episodes have come back. You know, I think it's united fans in a way that we've needed really to be united. You know, there was a lot of excited people. It's kind of united everyone. It's also opened up, obviously, a new avenue for trying to find those missing episodes because we found out about cutting copies. Well, so, you know, it's been fantastic, you know, that they've come back and we're able to, you know, have those. Have that at least a quarter of that story back now. And it's the beginning, which is actually really important, you know, in terms of the story. So, yeah, I love those episodes. I've watched them about three times and. And it's been amazing to watch them. I. I think those three episodes, there's a lot of things that come together. So you've got some brilliant direction from Douglas Camfield. I mean, I've always loved his. The way he uses the camera. Because there's the first step, you know, when we. When we didn't have the Web of Fear originally, we didn't have all those episodes and we only had episode one. And there's the bit in that episode at the beginning where the yeti attacks in the museum. I think it's in the museum. But that is just such a beautiful sequence. So, you know, I think we were very lucky with Douglas Canfield. He uses really brilliant. The way he frames things in the dialect. Master plan is amazing. He does these shots where he kind of looks up. There's other shots where he kind of looks down and he kind of. And he puts people in the frame. The way he does it is so interesting. And it. And you know, because we've only had the audio up to now, you know, all the things that Harry mentioned and Matt mentioned about the way Hartnell behaves, you know, you've got those close ups of Hartnell, the way his face kind of reacts. You would never know that from just listening to the audio. So it's been fantastic. I've absolutely loved it. So there's a direction, there's really great characterization. We've got the first appearance of Nicholas Courtney in the show playing Brett Vian, who's a brilliant character. I love the way he kind of says to the Doctor and at one point to shut up. You know, he's very to the point, isn't he? You know, And I love the bit in the TARDIS in episode one where he's kind of held by the Magnetic Chair. I mean, who knew what the Magnetic Chair looked like? You know, it's amazing. And then you've got that shot where you've got. Katarina goes to get the tablets from him to Stephen and she kind of kneels down, you know, and, you know, Douglas Canfield captures all of that. So it's a mixture of the story, the characterization, the direction. It all comes together in those first three episodes. And I really want to see episode four. That was how I felt when I kind of watched them. I. I just loved it. There was so much in it to enjoy, you know, and it's a real adventure story, if that kind of makes sense. And, you know, Kevin Stoney, you can see he's a bad un from that first time when he's on. He's on. He's on tv and he's a bit smarmy with the. I'm into. You are. But you don't get any of that with audio. You don't get enough of that. You don't really see it. So it really comes together. I love them. I could talk about the Braves, but, yeah, it was brilliant. It was brilliant seeing them. I'm so happy that they're back. I just hope there's more coming out soon. There's something about those Black and White episodes, you know, that are just so amazing to watch. You know, there's something about the way they're lit, the way they're. And actually, the pace of the Dalek master plan is really good. It kind of zips along. I mean, the only thing I would say is I've never found the Daleks that interesting as characters, so they're kind of like. It's the humans in the story that really appeal to me, because they're brilliant. The Daleks are kind of. Yes, they're evil and, you know, they. You know, they're in the scenes, but they don't interest me as much as the humans in the story so far. Anyway, what else. What else could I say about this? I think if there was one quibble I had in the story where there was one bit where the Doctor's looking at the city and then the next minute he's by the Dalek room And I. And I thought to myself, I thought, how did he get there so quickly? That was the only thing I kind of thought of. But I thought the way it's laid out is really good. I mean, in episode three, when they're on Desperus and you've got that bit where the prisoners are coming in the distance and all you can see is the light as they're coming towards the ship, you know, and Hartnell's glee at, you know, electrocuting them and stopping them from getting on the ship, you know, and there's bits like when Katharina kind of looks out and she's looking at the stars. I mean, you know, it's just amazing to see all of that, because you would never know, as I say, from the audio. So, you know, I'm very much a visual person as well, so I love watching them. I really did. I've watched them about three times. I'll probably watch them again at some stage. You know, I really. I'm praying that they'll bring more episodes back at least. If we can get at least episode four, then hopefully the last two episodes, because I think we've got five and nine. So it would be really good to see the conclusion, because I know Sarah Kingdom obviously, you know, dies. So it would be really good to see the. We've got the beginning, let's see the end.

Harry: We need.

Maria: Oh, I'm not too worried about the Feast of Stephen, really.

Harry: Is that the one where Beast of.

Garry: Stephen, the fourth wall, where they're in the.

Maria: When they're in the movie?

Harry: Yeah, they're on the film set. The whole plot just stops and they're just on a film set because it's Christmas.

Maria: It's just so weird. I can't. I can't make that one out. I've listened to the audio about three times and I just can't make any of it out. I don't know what they're doing. They all sound like they're having a whale of a time, though. But, yeah, I'm not too worried. I don't think we'll ever get it back because apparently it wasn't. I don't think it was sold anywhere. But I don't know, maybe somebody's got it. But, yeah, no, I was very excited and I thought it was just what we needed as fans, really, in terms of the return of those episodes, because I know they've been promised and we've been waiting patiently, and I think there will be more to come back, hopefully in the next year. Year or Two. That seems to be the indication that there's more out there. And, I mean, what's actually interesting is the Collector that obviously had those episodes. You know, unfortunately, he passed away, but he did have four other episodes that were also in the archives already. So, you know, there's hope there that, you know, there are collectors there that will eventually, you know, give us those episodes back. I mean, hopefully we don't have to wait for all of them to die, you know, being honest about it, to get them. You know, hopefully I'll live long enough to see a few more come back. But, yeah, it would be nice to see a few more episodes come back. I mean, I'd really love to see that episode count go down. I mean, it was at 97 for so long and, you know, hopefully now we're in a period where, you know, we'll get more back. I mean, it was brilliant to get some Hartnell back, to be honest, because, you know, we've had a lot of Troughton returns, which have been fantastic, you know, but I think there's a lot missing still from Hartnell as well, you know, that I'd love to see back. So. Yeah, brilliant. It was brilliant.

Matt: Do you know what, Maria? It's just. It's just so lovely to hear you talk. Talk about that. I was thinking that all the way through, just like you said, anyone who knows me knows that I'm a massive missing episode fan. And the whole time you were talking about that, you could just see, like, through your voice and obviously we have the perspective of. Through the camera as well, just how your face just lit up and you just genuinely just love it so much, and it's just. Yeah, it was a joy to listen to that.

Maria: Oh, thank you. Yeah, no, I. You know, I've been a classic who fan, you know, first and foremost. You know, it's always been my first love and. Yeah, no, it was. It was just so exciting. I mean, I was so excited just reading about episodes coming back. It was just. It's like a miracle, you know, when they come back. So, yeah, yeah, it's put a smile on my face for sure.

Garry: It's confirmation that Maria is not a fake fan. She is indeed a real Doctor Who fan. And it's Dennis. It was Dennis Spooner that wrote about half the. Half the episode.

Maria: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's a great story and.

Garry: It's a really cool.

Maria: Yeah, it's a. It's a good story. I mean, the thing is, when Dennis Spooner takes over, he puts more humor in it. So it kind of, you know, because you've got the meddling monk. You've got. I suppose you've got some. A couple of episodes, I think, with the meddling monk. I think we've only got one episode with him actually there, but.

Harry: Slipped my mind totally. Yeah. He does, doesn't he?

Maria: Yeah, yeah, he puts. He puts all that humor in. Kind of lulls you into full sense of security, false sense of security before, you know, there's all the drama at the end and all the tragedy, really. But no, it's good stuff.

Garry: Yeah. And we do need all of them because we need that, you know, we need the whole. Incidentally, happy Christmas to all of you at home.

Matt: And we need it for the collections. The collection box sets. Come on, we need them.

Garry: Yeah, yeah, that will happen, won't it? They'll put out those collection Blu Ray sets and then as soon as they finished them, there'll be a load of missing ones turn up.

Matt: I just don't mind. I just. I just honestly don't mind if they wait sort of 10, 20 years, whatever it, to get those last remaining ones. Because you can't put a box set like that out with Telesnaps, can you? Like, you. You can't. And then ask like nearly 6, 60 quid for it. You just can't do it.

Harry: When you put it like that. Yeah, That's a tall order. £60 for a slideshow.

Maria: I. I don't know if they've said that they're going to put these episodes out for commercial release. They haven't said anything, have they? I'm assuming they might go out as a Lost In Time Part two, maybe, you know, where they put any. And it. So especially if you've got orphan episodes that come back, I suppose they'll have to put them on a second. Second set, but on their own. You know, I. I suppose this is the thing, you know, do you want episodes back where you can complete stories or do you not mind what you get? And if they're orphan episodes, you know, they still go out on commercial for sale commercially, I suppose. I don't know. It's a difficult one, isn't it? I think I talked about this before.

Harry: I reckon what they might do is they might do a big animation of the Daleks master plan and then just put all the surviving episodes on there. I suppose that would make sense to do, because more than half of it's still missing, so it would make sense if they did an animation of that. But. But, yeah, who knows?

Garry: Yeah, that wouldn't be terrible. I wouldn't have Take that. Alrighty. We're big fans, of course, of the missing eps of the Dalek. S Apostrophe Master Plan. Moving on. I'm going to come to Matt last on this one because I know he's such a. I need to contain him just for a moment. So just before actually the missing episodes were announced, I think it was just before, like two weeks or something, we had an announcement about Paul McGann's TV movie. All of the film reels, all 219 rolls of film, were found and shipped over to the BBC archive, where they've been remastered and redone, which was just a massive surprise because typically if you listener. If you're listening to this and you're fairly new to the world of Doctor Who and announcements and fandom and all that stuff, typically what happens is you get all these rumblings that happen for a few days before an official thing happens. For normally about four or five days on the socials, you'll get like. Because we had it just with the. With these missing episodes on the Daleks Master Plan, we had tweets saying, oh, they found some missing Epps announcements coming in a few days. It's going to be cool. And then a day later it's like, yeah, it's a Daleks Master Plan. They found some. It's going to be cool. And then a few days later, you get the official announcement from the Beeb and all that stuff. This one, boom, just Shadow dropped this announcement out of nowhere. And this is such good news. And I mentioned this to the guys before we started recording that it was one of those lovely rare occasions where even if you're not a huge fan of the TV movie, it was one of those great times where fandom just stopped, just for a day. I think it felt like it was just 24 hours or 48 hours where they just stopped and they were like, this is amazing. This is absolutely amazing that we're going to get a remaster, because this has already been released a couple of times on DVD and we've had it on Blu Ray already. And a bit like Spearhead From Space, they've gone through the multiple versions, you know, because the TV movie was filmed on film stock, like Spearhead From Space, so it has the. The potential for a really, really good remaster, but it's just never the. The TV movie never really resonates. I don't think in within enough fandom or as with us, with enough number of fans to warrant putting the money into doing the remaster. Simple as that. You know, if you ask, you know, 500,000 Doctor Who fans to give you their top five stories, I think the TV movie is going to feature in very few of those as a top five. And so it just drops. It was like the tr. And then the trailer just looks awesome. And it's got. Without even putting this disc into my 4K player at home, I can already tell, Even with the YouTube compression and stuff, that they've done such a great job remastering this. And the guy that's done it, it's a guy called Paul Venesis and he's the guy that's done the remasters on the recent Blake 7 Blu Ray releases. So he's done those justice. They look really good. He hasn't overdone it. They don't look fake. They don't look like somebody's just applied a bucket load of AI to it and try to. To do all that. This guy absolutely knows what he's doing. And. And on top of that, so we're getting the remaster that's going to be in standard hd, which is the Blu Ray. Then we're getting the. The proper true 4K. They're doing a 4K disk and another version of a nice Steelbook and so on. And then we've got some new special features on this as well. I think we've got most of them that have appeared on the previous releases. But a couple of things that are very stand out on this one, which is really cool. We've got three versions of the. Of the film, essentially. We've got the standard theatrical one for us here in the uk. We've got the USA broadcast version, which is a slightly different edit which went out in the US obviously at the time. And then we've got the uncensored UK version, which went out at the time here in the. In the uk. And it's. They're all slightly different edits. They're all. It's nothing kind of groundbreaking in terms of like, there's no massive, huge missing scenes or anything like that. But there are a couple of little cuts here and there. There's a few bits of dialogue that are different and there's some bits and bobs that are a bit different from each release. So that's really cool. There's a new In Conversation interview with Jeffrey Sachs. There's a new special feature with Spessa McCoy and Janet Fielding, another three brand new interviews and featurettes with Daphne Ashbrook, Eric Roberts, Yee Ji. So catching up with Those guys looking back on their time on the thing. Little plug. A few years back, Adam and I interviewed Daphne Ashbrook on the podcast. It was very, very cool. I'll stick a link to that. She's got some great insight into her time on the show and there'll be some more stuff on here. And just lastly for me, one of the things that's such just a cherry on the top of the cake is because we're getting the proper remaster direct from the reels, they can actually do it at the proper frame rate for PAL UK releases. So instead of having this very, very slightly sped up version because we've just got the US NTSC version, that doesn't translate onto our sets. We've always had this thing that the runtime's a little bit weird and the pitch is just slightly out and it just looks weird. So now we've got that bang on. Oh man. Right. Actually I'm gonna go to Matt first because out of all of us I think he's the biggest TV movie guy and fan. So mate, what was your reaction when you first saw this one?

Matt: Oh, Garry, I think you just summed up like just everything I felt as well. But yeah, this is, this is how emotional and, and fantastic as Maria found the missing episodes. Like this just came out of the blue and it just like you say, just spontaneous drop. And I checked my phone and I thought because I got the YouTube trailer announcement first and I thought because I'm. I'm a massive movie fan and I thought I'm always watching stuff like that, so. So I'm wondering if it's a fan made trailer, like a really cool edit that someone's done. So go on to it thinking, oh, this would be cool. And then I realized it's. No, no, it's the official channel. Wait, hang on. And then my mind just exploded and you just see this trailer and the, the narration from Sylvester McCoy. It was just beautiful. But also you see the, the side by side, the original and then switching to 4K and you see how beautifully it's done. And. Oh man, I just. Yeah, I felt like a kid at Christmas. And like you say to have the original, the, the proper way that it was intended to be viewed. No sped up that the original PAL release. I just can't wait to actually watch it or the way it was intended, but looking glorious the best way it can. And yeah, the movie, the movie is what it is. It's its own beast and I love it for that. Not everybody agrees. And then that sort of Thing. But this whole announcement, the amount of love for this, just this, this one movie, that this, the eighth Doctor is just one incarnation, one episode, basically one feature length episode episode. And the amount of love that just poured out of sort of every corner of the universe. And it just, it was lovely to see. It was, it was really magical. And you know, I, I wonder if they predicted how quickly this would sell out the Steelbook, just because as soon as I realized it was official, I sort of paused, went on to Amazon and this is the pre order because I know that this is something special and you got to get that in. And boy, was I right because, you know, I think it was less than an hour or two maybe, and it was sold out, sold out on all of the UK retail sites. It's come in and out of stock sporadically. But I mean the, the, the demand for this is just unprecedented. It's, it's, it just shows the amount of love that is for the eighth doctor and Paul McGann. And it, it's, it's so nice and refreshing to see that for once there was just fandom in complete unity, that this was really good. There wasn't any, I couldn't really see any sort of toxic behavior that it just goes on throughout different things that get released in the new series and everything like that. This was just, just, just pure, pure wholesomeness, you know, and it was so nice. I don't know, I felt like that you got your wish from Santa when you write a list at Christmas, you know, that was, it was just so glorious. I just. Yeah, I just can't wait. I absolutely can't wait. And I'm just gonna watch it and watch it and watch it until I need to get a new disc.

Garry: Look at Matt, he's beaming, listening. You can't see his face, but he's. Yeah, no, it was good. And it was that beautiful moment as, yeah, as you said, where fandom just all came together. Even if you didn't, like I said, even if you're not a big fan of the TV movie, just this release just seemed to get everybody going and everybody's more so just appreciation for Paul McGann. Like he's so, like on Big Finish, he's done so many great stories and he's flourished so much as his version of the Doctor over there, but on screen, other than the little webisode we got for the 50th, this is kind of like your lot. This is, you know, your one shot for, for McGann. So it was great. To see it's a crime. It's an absolute crime.

Matt: Because if they. If they had made some of the big finish stuff into episodes and given him a television series, man, that would be fire. That it would just. This is what you need especially, you know, in times of struggle at the minute that Doctor. Doctor Who seems to be having. Bring in Paul McGann. Bring him in. Bring him in a new companion.

Garry: Just.

Matt: Oh, he's. He is my favorite Doctor for a reason, because he is absolutely incredible. You listen to him on the audios. If you listeners, if you haven't delved into some of Paul McGann's eighth Doctor Big finish. The early releases are so cheap now and a lot of them are free on Spotify and things like that. Go and check them out. You will not be disappointed. I found them because of Garry and Adams recommendations and it started this whole thing. I've listened to them all. I've read the novels and it's just. Yeah, he is, in my opinion, the best Doctor. And it's easy to see that with all of this. You need to check them out because they are brilliant.

Garry: Yeah. And it did kick off everyone picking up stuff. I did the same thing. I bought this book. You can't see it on camera, listener. But I've wanted this book for ages and I saw it at the last event we were at and I stupidly didn't pick it up so soon as the TV movie release dropped order this, picked it up on ebay. And I've got something else, another eighth Doctor book come in as well. So it really has sort of ignited fandom's sort of love for stuff. And annoyingly, as time is in this wibbly, wobbly stuff, our blu ray or 4k sets are going to land after we've gone to the capital event. So we can't get. Because Paul McGann's obviously going to be there. We can't get him to sign because they won't be out. We're gonna miss him by like a week and a half to get our set signed. But alas. Maria, what did you think to the announcement? I know this is your favorite bit of whoever. So were you. Were you fired up by this?

Maria: Well, for me, I don't have a 4K player, so I guess if I'm gonna buy it all, be the Blu Ray. I mean, I think Matt's right. The movie itself is a beast of its own. You know, it. It feels. It feels like it's kind of tailored for the American market a little bit. But there's also. Obviously there's Britishness in there. So I don't mind the movie. I think I, I think I've learned to love it a little bit more than I did when I originally saw it. You know, I think, I think if anyone that watched it in 1996, you know, probably wasn't sure what to expect, but it's grown on me. I think Paul McGann is definitely the best thing in it. And, you know, I laughed a little bit when you said there were some uncensored bits that are released and I thought what could there possibly be that they've censored? But I'm assuming it's. It's maybe some of the fight scene, possibly, or, you know, some of the violence in terms of the gang. Gang violence in there. Because I can't think there's anything else going on between Daphne and the Doctor that would need to be censored. But, yeah, let's draw a veil over that one. But, yeah, I, I think it's exciting. I mean, I'm. I've got tickets for the BFI event, so I'm really looking forward to that and seeing it on the big screen. So, yeah, very. It's very exciting. You know, I, I met Paul McGann a few years ago. He seemed absolutely charming. You know, he's got eyes to die for. So, you know, what, what can you say? You know, and he's such a good ambassador for the show. I think, you know, I think a lot of the classic Doctors, obviously, that are still around, you know, they're such good ambassadors for the show. You know, I think some of our current. Sorry. And our revived series Doctors could, could learn something from that in terms of the way they, you know, come across with the fans. But no, he's fantastic. I think it's fantastic and it's great news. And I'm. And what's exciting for me is you and Matt and Garry, you've both got that enthusiasm for the, for the, for the movie, which is fantastic, you know, so that's great. I can't see Harry, so I don't know if Harry's jumping up and down with excitement as well, but I'm assuming he might be.

Garry: Well, let's go to Harry and find out. Over to Harry in the studio.

Harry: Oh, wow, that was excellent. Nicely done. So a few months prior to this announcement, I thought, you know what, it's about time that I owned the TV movie on Blu Ray, because, you know, they released it on blu Ray like 10 years ago, and back then it was the best it ever looked. So I thought, yeah, I'll buy it. I took it around to my mate's house, I said, hey, look, got the TV movie, the best it's ever looked. And he said, that's great, but I don't have a Blu Ray player. I sold my Xbox. And I was like, damn it. Didn't even get to watch it. And then I got this announcement and that was just like the nail in the coffin. It was like, oh, for goodness sake. Should have just waited for a bit. But am I gonna double dip? Of course I am. Of course.

Garry: Of course.

Harry: Especially because when it was like selling out and coming back in stock stock, I was like, I've got a gotta just order that blooming Steelbook. I don't have a 4K TV, but, you know, it comes with the Blu Ray disc, so you can watch it on that. And it's still gonna. Still gonna look pretty good, I think. Well, judging by the way it looks on YouTube, it looks, it looks fantastic. And yeah, just. Just echoing everyone else's sentiments, really. It's, it's, it's lovely to see so much positivity around it. And yeah, Paul McGann's just wonderful. I've met Paul McGann a few times at conventions and he's just great. He's a real laugh. And the TV movie is. There are parts of it that are kind of crap, but, like, I just think it's so charming. It's such a charming oddity in the history of Doctor Who. And everyone in it is fabulous. You know, I love Daphne, Love Eric, love EG. They're all just brilliant in it. And McCoy gets his send off as well. And yeah, it's a, It's a fabulous story. I've been wanting to write an article about it, but I feel like that's best left to Mr. 8th Doctor Aficionado here, Matt. Because, you know, the 8th Doctor is kind of your thing. But, but yeah, it's. It was a great piece of news and I'm so excited to watch it. Well, first at the BFI because I'll also be there. And then from the comfort of my own home, probably once a week until they remaster it again. And then I'll buy it again on 8K or however many K we're on by then.

Garry: True. However many. Yeah. 16K, anyone? The TV movie. Cool. So we're all fans of that as well. Even Maria. Nice. Very nice. I got an email from Amazon this morning. I think they changed the day by the dates by a day or two. It's now the 26th according to Amazon so that should be fairly consistent I think with other retailers. But yeah, Tuesday the 26th of May, we're in business. Get to explore. Don't really get hold of me on.

Matt: The 26th of May.

Garry: Oh, Matt, you read my mind. I was just about to say. Yeah, out of office on the day before. Oh yeah, Throats. Yeah. Oh, my throat's just. I don't know, boss, just throat's really killing me. Losing my voice big time. Me, I feel pretty and.

Harry: And in the background you just hear time, time, time.

Matt: That's gonna be me.

Garry: The TV movie is out soon and we loved the announcement and, and that drop and so on and we hope you have picked it up too. I, I'm not sure if it's in stock now or not, if it's come back in or not, but if we managed to get one then I've just.

Harry: Done a quick run around Garry and it's, it's sold out pretty much everywhere. Amazon even don't have a web page for the Steelbook, that's how sold out it is. But I think you can still get it on the standard 4K and Blu Ray, so there's that. People are already selling it on ebay as well it seems, even though it's not come out.

Garry: Of course they are.

Harry: Yeah, yeah, strange.

Garry: Okay, buggers.

Matt: It's worth mentioning that it does come back into stock for very, very short periods of time. Keep an eye on the Doctor Who merchandise site because people comment on the listing to say that they've just managed to grab a copy. It does come in very, very small quantities, maybe if somebody's cancelled a pre order or something like that. But it's always worth if you're desperate for one and haven't managed to get one so far.

Garry: Yes, or fire up Claude, Cowork Claude, desktop chat, G chat, GPT, chat Gibbity and just say run a routine every morning. Check stock of the Doctor Who TV movie for me. Report back your little minion. Do as you're told. Yeah, you're a computer. Do as you're told. Chat GPT. Right, let's finish up very quickly with the last, I guess you can call it news. I don't know this 20th anniversary of when David Tennant took over as the Doctor back. So we had a little debate earlier. I think officially it's supposed to be New Earth, I think so I think that's like the 20 years is from then. But on some websites it's also said from the Christmas Invasion. Which is kind of weird because on the Radio Times website as an example, it says that the 20 year anniversary was from the episode New Earth, etc. But the thumbnail image they've used is David Tennant in his dressing gown pajamas from the Christmas Invasion. So obviously massive Doctor Who fans at the Radio Times, as always. So I think we'll, we'll do it from New Earth, actually. Yeah, they also went further down in the article. They also say that, you know, they've talking about Chris Ecclestone and the transition into David Tennant and how good he looked in that, that first series because you get to see like the proper, you know, his, his long brown coat with the Converse trainers and stuff. And then they use an image of him from Star Beast in like the white shirt with the blue waistcoat. And yeah, it's all, it's all funny over at the Radio Times of all the Proper fans there. So 20 years, guys. And it was really cool to see on the Socials. A lot of people want our own Jordan. Actually, I think he put something on Instagram or Twitter that said, wow. I guess this means I've been a Doctor Who fan for over 20 years. And I think when you phrase it like that, for a lot of people, that's like a moment. It's like, wow, it really has been that long that you've been watching Doctor Who? I mean, Marie has been watching Doctor Who for bloody talking more than 20 years. I'm not, I'm not. I want to get into it. I don't want to. I don't want to say how far back Maria's been watching Doctor Who, but Garry, easy. That's what I'm saying. I don't want to get into it. I don't want to. I want a black eye at the Capitol event.

Maria: I don't.

Garry: We will ground for Shiner. But it was, it was cool to see a lot of fans saying that. They just couldn't believe that. For them, it's like yesterday they started watching Doctor Who. It felt like the first time they saw David Tennant and Billy Piper together with all the cat people. And then it's like, hold on a minute. Whoa. Actually, it's been 20 years. So, Harry, does this feel like 20 years to you? Does it like a snap of the fingers or has it been like, yeah, oh, it feels like 20 years?

Harry: Well, in some ways it hasn't. In some ways it hasn't. I mean, I sort of came into Doctor Who with Christopher Eccleston with that first series back and that, that is really as far back as I can remember, which shows you kind of how old I am. So, yeah, so when I was a kid, time felt really slow, but then as I got older, it got quicker, as it tends to happen. But yeah, that was a weird realization that it's been over 20 years now that I've been watching Doctor Who and we've had many highs and many lows, that's for sure. I think it's fabulous that, you know, New Earth was getting some love because it's not the best story, but like, it was. I know the Christmas invasion is kind of the first episode of the tenth Doctor's whole era, but, you know, New Earth was when we got rocking and rolling. We had adventures every week and I remember that period so, so vividly and just being so. Just swept up in it every single week I was there and I thought about it all week long and whenever there was a two part episode, I'd be thinking, how are they going to get out of this one? Like, you know, it was, it was a fabulous, fabulous time. I definitely, you know, remember bits of Ecclestone, but that first series of Tenant, like, I remember that so vividly. So, yeah, when it got all the fanfare on social media this week,.

Matt: That.

Harry: Was really nice to see because for me it felt like a moment and I think for a lot of people it felt like a moment. I'm using that phrase a lot tonight. It felt like a moment. But, you know, being a Doctor Who fan is full of moments. Yeah, it was cool. It was, it was cool to see it getting some loving. It didn't result in an announcement. Many people thought that we'd get an announcement about Christmas with a certain, a certain David Tennant coming back yet again, but we didn't get an announcement, announcement like that. So who knows what's happening with that Christmas special, but don't care about that. I like reminiscing on that sort of really golden period of Doctor Who and. Yeah, 20 years. Nice one.

Garry: 20 years indeed.

Harry: I really, I really hope that, I really hope that we have the same level of fanfare next year when it's 20, 20 years since series three. I feel like we should have some fanfare for that series for Martha Jones because Martha Jones definitely deserves that level of fanfare along with Rose Tyler. They're, they're about equal playing field for me, I think. I know a lot of people don't think that, but that's where I'm coming from.

Garry: Martha Jones. Yeah, the Jadun and The. The hospital. Yeah, it's weird. It's weird hearing who fans reminisce about. About that stuff because I think out of all four of us, I came into the show later than all of you. I believe I came into it sort of partway into Matt Smith's run is when I started my. My Journey into who and then quickly went back and picked up all the box sets from Eccleston. And so I remember. I do remember going back and I remember having a week off work and. Or having a few days off work and binge watching all of Doctor, like sticking the disc one in of series two for this, kicking off with New Earth and going through all that. That was. Oh, man, what a time. What time that was for Doctor Who? I don't want to cry. Matt, did you appreciate this announcement or were you like, yeah, whatever.

Matt: Well, yeah, no, I was kind of in two minds because it was. It felt like it was leading something bigger than it was for sure. You know, they all changed all of the socials to. Back to. To how they were or. Well, or how, you know, all the titles and the logos and how they looked and thinking, you know, what's this in aid of? Is it something bigger? Is it like you say, a certain person that was featured more in Doctor Who than anybody else in the last 20 years is coming back? But, you know, it wasn't to be. But also, on the flip side, it was lovely to reminisce and. And, yeah, absolutely. Well, it was lovely. But also it does make you feel a bit old when you realize that I think me and Harry are very similar in age and we both actually started watching who from the same episode, I believe. Am I right in saying it was the Empty Child for you as well?

Harry: Oh, for me it was Rose. I think it was the very first one.

Matt: Was it?

Harry: Yeah, well, the first one I remember. The first one I remember was Aliens of London, so it might have been.

Matt: That one, but yeah, okay, yeah, very similar sort of age to get into who. But yeah, I mean. I mean that. That would be 21 years. So, yeah, when New Earth came out, it was it. Because watching Ecclestone to start with, I remember Empty Child, but I don't remember the. I kind of remember the final for the Regen and the Daleks and that sort of thing, but series two was kind of the. The time where I remember just so well of just getting on, you know, just sitting down on. On the carpet in front of the big box tv, getting the right channel and that sort of of thing and Hogging the remote. So nobody messed with it while it was on. I grew up with a lot of brothers and, you know, I was the big Doctor Who fan. So it was my, was my 45 minutes. Don't mess with the telly, but it was just vivid. And you, you know, you'd spend all day out, out playing with your mates and then you, you'd have to rush in because Doctor Who started at 6:10 or 6:15 and you would, had, you had that sort of, you had that in your. On your watch. You were, you were watching the time thinking, oh yeah, it's nearly time and you run back in. It was just, it was, you had to be there, you had to watch it on time. And it was just, it was, it was a, it was an event in itself. And Doctor Who was everywhere at that time. It was, you know, toy stores, Argos catalog, when you search in for your Christmas presents. And it was just everywhere. And so it was, it was fun to reminisce. But yeah, I did. I was left feeling like we haven't had this really for series one. Not that I can recall. Not in the same way where it was all sort of. All the socials had changed and everything like that and a big thing was made out of it. So I'd love if, if they just sort of dropped the ball last year and, and sort of remembered this year, I'd love for it to continue. Like Harry says, you know, there is a big sort of lack of appreciation for Martha Jones and series three. So, yeah, I'd love to see it happen year on year, whether it does or not. And maybe for some of the other Doctors other than Tennant, I know he's, he's the one that everybody loves and that. And the majority of. Of people sort of think when they think of Doctor Who, the more casual viewers, so that's. They're trying to pull people in with, you know, more tenant. But. But yeah, it was nice. It was nice to reminisce. Made me feel quite old and at the end I thought could have done with some sort of an announcement if, if there was going to be one. But it, alas, it was not to be.

Garry: Alas. Nice one, Matt. It's really cool listening to you guys talk about your first memories of, of that stuff and going back. Very cool. Let's finish up with Maria then on this one. Maria, I know, classic. Who is where your heart lies? But did you, did you find this cool thinking back to 20 years since Mr. Tennant?

Maria: Well, I was, I've been Only sort of vaguely aware of all the stuff around 20 years. I've seen some of it, but it's kind of not really embedded itself in my brain. But I think, I think what, what's interesting to think about looking back, is how fresh and new Doctor Who was, obviously with the Revive series at this point point, you know, we. We had a new Doctor, very energetic, I seem to remember at the time, actually enjoying his energy, enjoying that energy that he had and the dynamic with Rose. I mean, looking back at the episodes of that series, in a series when we used to get 13 episodes a year, there's very few, I think, that are stinkers really in series two, possibly, maybe Fear her is probably the only one that I don't really like, but I, I think the rest of them, you know, are pretty good, to be fair. I mean, there's some great two parters in that second series. You know, you've got Rise of the Age of Steel, which I think I've watched quite a few times, and also Impossible Planets, Satan Pitt, and I remember Doomsday was the way that it kind of ended with the separation of rose and the 10th doctor. I think I must have. I must have taped that maybe. I don't know, I must have had videotapes at that point and maybe taped it because I seem to remember watching that last five minutes so many times, you know, over and over. So I think at that stage, because it was so new and fresh, I actually enjoyed a lot of it, you know, and I enjoyed David Tennant in the role, you know, so I think, you know, there is a bit of nostalgia there for me in terms of, you know, enjoying that series, you know, enjoying what they were doing with the stories, you know, So I think it's. I think it's good to look back, you know, I seem to remember that I, you know, I didn't speak to very many other people about the series, but I knew that I'd actually enjoyed it. So. And I'm assuming this publicity that they're kind of harking on the 20 years is to do with, obviously the Christmas special and, you know, the rumors that Billy's back, David Tennant is back. So I suppose it makes sense to kind of hark back to a happier time for Doctor Who fans, you know, because of all the upheaval that there's been in the last couple of years and the way that series is received. So, yeah, no, there's some really good stories in series two. You know, I don't go back now and watch, watch them as much as I did. But I, you know, I have watched them them quite a lot in the past. So yeah, it's good stuff.

Garry: Oh, see you enjoyed a little trip down memory lane as well though. Nice. Right. That was a lovely thing to end on. I honestly thought it was a bit of a no news thing to be honest with you. But yeah, seems like quite a few people. I think as Matt said, you know, Mr. Tennant is the one is a doctor that everybody loves, you know, everybody. I think it was peak Doctor Who I guess at the height of Tenants run, probably series three and four, I would say probably where all the viewing figures were the highest and appreciation scores were the highest and we had some absolutely amazing stories around that time. So yes. Happy birthday. Happy 20th. Mr. Tennant's first run and series two of Modern Doctor Who. And I think on that lovely note, we will end their team for the April roundtable. Thank you, thank you, thank you fans for coming back and listening to another round table. That was April. Gonna put the year in there, 2026 for upcoming Nostalgia purposes. That was a April roundtable. Thank you very much for joining us and listening to Al Waffle about all the latest Doctor Who news. We had the missing eps from the Daleks Master Plan. We had the TV movie remaster announcement that's going to drop soon in flashy. Great looking 4K with all the cool features and the 20th anniversary of David Tennant's run. If you've enjoyed this episode, especially if you're a newcomer to the podcast and welcome aboard, make sure you're following all subs subscribing in your preferred podcast app of choice. So you get all the announcement when announcements, when new episodes drop on the monthly roundtables or when we do the weekly stuff if there's new reviews to do. Also check out these guys articles and reviews and all that stuff over on the blog. It's over@bigblueboxpodcast.co.uk and you can also check us out on the socials, Instagram x Facebook, all the things. Just do a search of big blue box podcast or check the links on the website. Matt, it's been great dude. Thank you very much for joining us. Always dude.

Matt: Thank you as always for having me. It's always great to talk to you. Lovely lot.

Garry: Maria, thank you very much. It's been great to hear your wisdom and your insights and your enthusiasm for all the classic who stuff as usual.

Maria: Thanks Garry. It's been great to get together again.

Garry: It has. Always a pleasure. Thank you very much. And Harry, thank you very much, dude, for your insights into your memories and everything from your earlier days of watching Doctor Who and all that stuff. Thank you very much.

Harry: Thank you, Garry. And yes, cannot wait for us to get together at the Capitol. But before then, I've got some dishes to wash, so. Yeah, we'll wait a little while longer.

Garry: He's going to read a book, by the way. Pew fans.

Harry: Yeah, I'm gonna procrastinate on those dishes. Yeah.

Garry: And that will do it for the April roundtable. So until next time, take care of yourselves. And remember, Sam,.