September 2026 Roundtable: Whooverville 17 Report & Doctor Who Tender Invitations

Garry: Hey, hey, hey. Who fans and welcome to the big Blue Box podcast. My name's Garry.

Harry: My name's Harry.

Maria: I'm Maria.

Jordan: And I'm Jordan.

Garry: And welcome to the September Roundtable.

Jordan: Yay. We're back.

Garry: Welcome back. Ooh, fans, it's been a minute. It's been a while since we've last recorded. Probably two months. Did we do an August roundtable? We did, didn't we?

Harry: No, we did not.

Garry: We did not. That's terrible. That is bad, isn't it? I'm sure we did one. Oh no, we didn't planning to.

Harry: Yeah. It just never.

Garry: Yeah.

Harry: Came to fruition unfortunately.

Garry: Yeah. So who fans, welcome back. It's been a couple of months then since you last heard our, our dulcet tones, our waffle all about Doctor Who. It's great to have you here. It's going to be a bit of a catch up with these guys. They've been out and about doing their thing as usual, some conventions, all that stuff. And then we're going to talk about some. A weird thing that happened over the weekend with a certain fan made story. Harry's got some thoughts on that and then we're going to finish up on what's going on with Doctor Who. Basically it's been well since we last spoke, all of us. And to you, dear listener, a couple of months ago we left you with the news that, or maybe even before that we left you with the news that Doctor Who was obviously in a bit of a precarious position where the Christmas special had been cancelled, the show was going out to tenure. Tenure. No one really knew what was going on there. So there's been, since we last spoke there's been a few, a few things that have popped up. Couple of interviews of people involved with the show, their thoughts, etc. So we will get on to that. But I have to say it is great to be recording again with these guys. Love you guys. I love doing these roundtables. It's so cool. So it's very, it's very good. And dear listener, great to have you here as well. As always, apologies for the absence but we've all, we've all just had stuff on, really. We've had stuff on. Life has happened, work has happened, all the things have happened. So. But we are, we are back. So let's find out. This little rabble has been getting on. Maria, it's great to have you back. How have you been and what, who stuff have you been up to?

Maria: What have I been up to? Who stuff? Well, I will mention the screening in Leicester of the Dalek Master Plan. First time I've been to Leicester, so I was very excited to go. I hadn't been to the Art center before, but it's actually a really nice. It's a really nice building. Not necessarily easy to find, I would say, but it was a really kind of interesting screening. They've done a few of these now and I think this was the final one that they did. I think they wanted to kind of bring it full circle because they did the original screening, which was the surprise for Peter Purvis in March, and it's been on a bit of a tour around the country. I think it's been to Manchester. I'm not sure if it's been anywhere else, but they brought it back to Leicester, so I thought I'd grab the opportunity to go up there and watch the episodes on the big screen. So it was actually a really enjoyable event. They had Tim Burrows there, who does the Missing episodes podcast on YouTube, which is absolutely excellent in terms of the detail it goes into. In terms of. With regards to missing episodes. So he was the host they had. He's. He's actually. Yeah, yeah, he's actually a very good podcoast pod. I can't say it. Podcast presenter. And he was a good host. As part of bringing this whole event and being the interviewer for it, um, they also had, um, people from Film Is Fabulous. So John Franklin, who is the newly appointed CEO of Film Is Fabulous, they also had Toby. How do you pronounce his name? Hey, Doe. Is it? Hey, Doke.

Harry: Toby. Hey, Doke.

Maria: Hey, Doke. Topi Haydock. Sorry, I had a mental, mental freeze there for a moment. So Toby Haydock, Peter Purvis was there. What was really interesting was they also had two film collectors there. So I think it was important to have them there because it kind of brought home really the human element of having missing episodes. You know, Tim Burrows introduced the event by kind of talking about the impact of finding the episodes on the families that were involved. So the family of the director, Douglas Canfield, you know, because they'd obviously been to the original screening, some of the actors that had been show. And there was. There's an actress that's in the Dalek Master planning episodes, I think, 1 and 4. I can't remember her name right now, but I know she died recently and her family got in touch to say that, you know, they were made aware that the episodes had been found. So, you know, there was. That was a really nice thing, I think. I think it's impacted everyone in terms of finding the episode. You know, the people that were involved in the introduction, obviously, film's fabulous. So, I mean, John Franklin did confirm that there aren't any episodes that they are. That. That are out there that they can release at the moment. They are aware of where certain episodes are, but if they are in a collection that is safe, obviously they just leave those alone. And he kind of reiterated that they're not treasure hunters, that it's about the whole collection, you know, and supporting these elderly collectors that have thousands and thousands of these films. It's. It's quite a complex process working with the collectors. And one of the collectors they mentioned was somebody called Keith Wilton, who'd worked for the BBC. And he had a huge collection. And, you know, it was a. It was a vast collection. He was somebody that was involved in the collecting world for, you know, 50, 60 years. He's somebody that's really well known. And one of the collectors that was there and talking on the stage knew him as a friend for 50 years. So, you know, there was a strong friendship there. You know, the collector talked about, obviously, his own experience of film collecting and how it kind of starts, you know, when you're really young, you know, and it's a. It's a kind of closed community. But he kind of talked about his friend Keith Wilton, talked about his contribution to, you know, producing better quality. We talked about a film format called Super 8 as well. The collector, I think his name was Simon, mentioned that Keith Wilton had a near perfect print of the film Zulu and also some footage from the Battle of Britain in Technicolor. You know, and I think. I think he kind of made it known, you know, he'd worked for the BBC as well, that, you know, it was. It was common currency to just clear film vaults, you know, throwing cans away. You know, as film collectors, they were very aware that they had to kind of try and save these film cans. But there was no. There was no mechanism in play before Film Is Fabulous to save the cans, you know, so a lot of it would go. Would go into skips and into landfill and things like that. He talked about his work on. For the BBC. He worked on Blake 7 and Doctor Who. You know, after that panel, you know, there was a panel with Peter Davis and. Sorry, Peter Purvis. Peter Purvis and Toby Haydock. So he kind of gave his insight from working with producer John Wiles in terms of the Stephen characterization. He wasn't really very happy with some of the characterization. He joked about the royalties that he got from these two episodes that came back, which I think said it was just over £200. So he's not going to make an absolute fortune from the return of these episodes, unfortunately. He talked about his career as well and how it was affected by, you know, being in Doctor Who, the fact that he didn't really act again. One thing he did say about his producers, because he worked with three different producers, was apparently Ennis Lloyd, who gave him the news that his contract wasn't going to be renewed because there was this policy that, you know, every year they had to change companions. He apparently later said it was one of the biggest regrets of his life. So Innisf Lloyd said that. So Peter Purvis was a little bit kinder about him because I think he didn't feel he was treated very well. I mean, Toby Haydock kind of recounted what had happened with getting Peter Purvis to the original screening in March, talked about how. How the process came about in terms of looking at the films and they came back initially to make sure they were what they were meant to be, you know, and he gave us impressions of the episodes as well. So, you know, the panels were actually really interesting. They kind of came in between the three episodes because they showed episodes one, two and three. So all in all, you know, it was a really interesting event to go to and also just to get that confirmation that, you know, there's nothing coming anytime soon, but maybe eventually. So that was the event in Leicester?

Garry: Yeah, that was that in Leicester. Alrighty. Sounds really good. Loads going on there. Sounds really good. Well, we'll get your thoughts on Hooverville in a minute with you and you and Harry when you guys go through that. But, yeah, glad you had a good event there and. Yeah, sounds good. Jordan. Hello.

Jordan: Hello, hello, hello.

Garry: Hello.

Jordan: I feel like I should be a guest star now because I haven't done one of these for so long.

Garry: Guest appearance, eh? From Jordan, actually. What's going to be your stage name? You have to sort that out soon, I guess.

Jordan: I know I'll have to think about that. That's. That's third year's problem. I'm not quite there yet.

Harry: That's fine.

Garry: How have you been, though?

Jordan: I've been good. I've been busy. I've been very busy. I've been in two shows. I've literally gone from playing a hardened police detective to a drag queen in less than a month. So Chabell performing like opposite ends of the spectrum because I. I somehow I've managed it, but there is A Doctor Who connection to the. The first show that I did, because where we did it at Riverside Studios, we were actually in the studio where they made Doctor Who in the 60s.

Garry: Oh, Riverside, no.

Jordan: Yes, Riverside. Yeah. Yeah. And we were actually in the studio that they made it. So that was really exciting. But otherwise I don't.

Maria: Have I done anything Doctor Who?

Garry: You're too busy with all that now, hey?

Jordan: Yeah, I've watched some, but I don't think I've done me. I think me and Maria have got the Battlefield event at Riverside Studios on Saturday, Sunday. This Sunday, but I think that might be it. I've not done anything. Doctor Who. I'm a star now, Garry. You see, that's the problem.

Garry: That's what I mean. You've got too many. Too many commitments in your other world now, your proper life. Yeah. For those of you that don't know if you've not listened to Roundtable before or in the last year or so, Jordan is at uni doing. Doing his acting. I don't know what qualification you. What is it? No, what is it you? What are you shooting for?

Maria: You know?

Jordan: Why? Genuinely don't know. I just turned up one day and they never, never told me to go.

Garry: Yeah, but. So, yeah, Jordan is in the midst of sorting out his acting career and before long, you'll never hear him on. On the Big Blue box again because he'll be on some BBC drama or in a film or something like that. He won't be able to do it anymore. So. Yeah, okay. Yeah, Short and sweet. You've been very busy with the other stuff, but you got some who stuff this weekend. Gotcha. Yeah, nice. Harry, how have you been, your bugger.

Harry: Oh, hello.

Garry: Hello, Hello.

Harry: I've been.

Garry: All right, Garry.

Harry: Yeah. I also went to the Master Plan screening in Leicester. Yeah. I won't go into it too much because Maria gave a very comprehensive, excellent overview of that day, but it was really lovely. It was. It was really unique because, like, had a bit of a different crowd, a different feel to it, because it wasn't just Doctor Who enthusiasts at this event, but also film collector enthusiasts. There were some people from that sort of crowd that weren't really, like, into Doctor Who. They were just into, like, recovering old film, basically. So it was really interesting and it was nice to do it at the place where they actually showed Peter Purvis the episodes when they surprised him with that. And they regaled us of this whole story of that day, which was really cool. And, yeah, got to meet Peter Purvis, which was fabulous, because I love everything to do with the Hartnell era. I love Steven Taylor. So that was. Yeah, that was a really good one for me. I've not actually really been watching much Doctor Who, though, to be honest, I gotta say, it was just Master Plan and Hooverville this past weekend, which I've done Doctor Who related. So, yeah, bit of a quiet one. Bit of a quiet one on my end.

Garry: So I did. Oh, no, guys, we didn't do the Doctor Who related thing at the beginning. Oh, no, come on. We'd have to do it now. Okay, everyone, unmute yourselves.

Maria: Okay.

Garry: Right. We hope you've had a cracking week and that you've all managed to do something. Doctor. Doctor.

Maria: Doctor Who.

Harry: Related.

Garry: How could we miss that? Oh, that's my fault. We are rusty. Hell, very rusty. Rusty indeed.

Harry: Rusty the Dalek.

Garry: Yeah. So Leicester event. Not much Doctor Who on the telly box. And Hooverville. Gotcha. Short and sweet as well. I don't think anyone's watching. Oh, this is terrible to say, but I don't think many of us are watching much Doctor Who right now.

Harry: We need a break.

Maria: I did watch a couple of things.

Garry: Oh, yes, she's in there.

Harry: She's out doing all of this.

Maria: I'll tell you. I caught on BBC3, I. I watched Knock Knock, which is the Peter Capaldi episode, and it's got the name of that famous actor that plays Hercule.

Harry: David.

Maria: David Suchet. Thank you. I could picture him in my head and I'm terrible with names, but yeah, actually I really enjoyed that episode. I mean, it's been a few years since I've seen it, but it was actually really creepy. I actually really enjoyed it. I know that they were doing. I think they're doing a series of. Kind of showing his ephod one or two at. One or two at a time. So I just happened to catch it and I also watched because I had a craving for it. Terror of the Verboids, the from Trial of a time Lord. It's 40 years since trial of a Time Lord came out on the Kelly, which is absolutely scary and shocking. So I kind of thought, what would I want to watch? So I watched Care of the Voids, which I've always had a bit of a soft spot for, and I think it's a really good story for Mel and the sixth Doctor. They kind of gel quite easily together. There's a kind of good working relationship with them, between them, and it's kind of quite an upbeat relationship. So I. It's a murder mystery in space. You know, who doesn't love a murder mystery in space.

Garry: Yeah.

Maria: And, you know, Pip and Jane Baker get a lot of criticism, but I actually love Terror of the Verbo. I think it's. I wouldn't say it's masterpiece, but I think it's actually a good story. I would never dis it, really. The dialogue kind of, you know, cracks along, you know, it's a good story. And anyone that says otherwise is on my naughty list.

Garry: They're in for a slap, basically.

Harry: I remember yours and Adam's podcast episode.

Garry: Sorry, Maria, it wasn't. We didn't exactly coat that one in glory, I'm very sorry to say. I'm sorry. Yeah, I think we were very middle of the road with that, I think. Yeah. Anyway, maybe I'm supposed to be doing this bloody re watch of Doctor Who. I'm not even off. I've been doing it for months. I'm not even off Hartnell's era yet. I'm just about to. I'm just coasting through. I'm about halfway through his final season. Do you know what? I'm actually quite attached this time around to old Hartnell. He's really just. I've always had a soft spot, but just this time around, he's just. Yeah, just latched onto my little heartstrings and he's tugging away and, you know.

Maria: Yeah, I think if. I think if we had more of his episodes that came back, I think we would. We would reassess him because I think, you know, everyone kind of treats him like this dodgery old man, you know, because he got ill and he couldn't help getting ill. But, you know, his performance actually, you know, really stands up in some of those stories. Not everyone, you know, there's the odd, you know, blip, where he kind of, you know, mispronounces, but he's actually. His episodes stand up, you know, they're very. They're very creative episodes. You know, they're far more creative than you'd actually think they are in terms of where they go.

Garry: So.

Maria: Yeah, I don't disagree with you. I think it's just there's so much content in terms of Doctor Who, you know, I don't. I don't. I don't go back to Hartnell that much now, but it's just because there's so much. So much of Doctor Who to watch, you know, and, you know, I. Yeah, it's weird. I mean, I love classic who and I normally go back to. To it, but, yeah, I've only watched a little bit recently. I'm going to try and do a bit more because it's. It's a lot of fun. A lot of fun actually, watching Classic who it is.

Garry: I. Yeah, I think in the grand scheme of things, over the past decade or two, having watched all of it from start to finish and some of it multiple times, I think my heart lays firmly down beside Classic who. I think Classic who is my. It's my jam.

Maria: I never thought you'd say that. I'd never thought you'd say that. I thought you were a revived series fan through and through, but I can see your, you know, you're coming. You're coming to my side of the fence now, so, you know, that's good.

Garry: Oh, yeah, I. I love modern hair, don't get me wrong. Well, I love them the major. Some of. Half of, quarter of it. Some of it. I love some of it.

Harry: Steady on.

Garry: Some of it is some of my. I have to. I have to show some allegiance to it because that's how I got into Doctor Who in the first place. My heart is very firmly there with. With Eccleston and Tenants first run, so. But yeah, anyway, I will have to pick that re watch back up. But the problem is there's just too many things to watch these days across all these bloody streaming services and on all sorts. There's always something that's there to watch.

Harry: That Jordan will be feeling better.

Jordan: I have been. One of my hobbies is I like doing puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, and I will put on Doctor Who and do the puzzle and have it on in the background. And I've only just got to about halfway through City of Death, but I must have been doing that for about the last two years, so it's just. It's taken me so long to.

Garry: Yeah.

Jordan: To get through it again. I mean, I've seen all of them already, but just to sort of watch them from start to finish.

Garry: Yep.

Jordan: It's a slog that's taken me a good couple of years and I'm not even halfway through yet.

Garry: I feel your pain with that one. Yeah, I really do. Crikey. Ah.

Maria: I want to know if you finished the jigsaw puzzle, Jordan.

Garry: Yeah. Did you finish the puzzle?

Jordan: Oh, I finished the puzzle. I. I do loads of jigsaw puzzles, but, yeah, the one I'm on at the moment, I'm just. I'm in the middle of City of Death, so.

Garry: Gotcha.

Jordan: Yeah, I could do even pretty quick, actually. Jigsaw puzzles. Some pretty.

Garry: Pretty quick, but professional. Yep. Okie dokie. Harry. Maria. Yes, Hooverville.

Maria: Yes.

Garry: Give us the lowdown. What did we miss? What were the best bits? What weren't so good, if there was any. It's great con. So, yeah, tell us all the crack with Hooverville.

Harry: You go first.

Maria: Oh, okay. Well, you. You can't start the weekend really, at Hooverville without watching a big film. So we. We got tickets in the cinema for the Paul McGann movie. So we watched that, and it was the 4K version. It wasn't the one that we saw at the bfi. I'm pretty sure of that. It looked it. There was bits in it that I rem. I don't remember seeing when I saw it at the bfi. So go figure. I don't. I don't know which version it is. And this was something that came up in the conversation when they had the panel afterwards with Marquez and Paul Venices about all the different versions out there. But, yeah, so we started the weekend with watching the movie, which was a lot of fun to see it again. As I say, it looked. It looked beautiful. I mean, I thought. I thought it looked kind of a little bit. Kind of soft focus, but it. It actually, I was really entertained by watching it again. I really enjoyed it. So we did that. That was Friday. And then there was the panel afterwards with Marquez and Paul Venices. They were talking, obviously, around what they'd done in terms of the remastering. And it was interesting because Paul Venice said, you know, the original film was with Universal and that it has. It has sustained some vinegar damage. So, you know, eventually that original film will liquefy, which is kind of a horrifying thought. But, you know, that's what happens with film. So they. Well, they reckon it's probably got another 10 years, 15 years at most, before it liquefies.

Garry: It's not long, though, in the grand.

Maria: It's not long. So they did. You know, it's a good thing that they kind of rushed to kind of digitalize it to preserve it. One of the other things they mentioned as well is the rights for Daphne Ashbrook's character have changed, but I don't know whether that means that she'll be able to be used in the future by somebody like Big Finish. You know, I might have missed that bit, but I'm sure they said that the rights have changed, but how they've changed, I'm not really quite sure. But I'm assuming that means they'll be able to use her character in the future, because I think that was one of the issues with not being Able to use her character again and kind of bring her out into different stories and things like that. So that was an interesting panel. So that was a Friday and the Saturday, obviously, is a full day. Then I'm going to. I'm going to kind of share this bit with. With Harry because obviously we were there. We were there together at Hooverville and, you know, we. We did various panels, not always at the same time. I mean, the ones I went to see, there was a Cyberman panel with David Banks, Mark Hardy and Brian Orell, who were cybermen in the 80s. So David Banks, his voice is quite well known. He's got a really rich, plummy voice. I mean, that voice is like velvet. You know, you could. You can sit on a. You could sit on a shade lounge and actually listen to him talking, you know, it's fascinating. And what kind of struck me is how middle class they all sound. They've all got that RP kind of pronunciation when they talk. So, you know, it's interesting. You know, I think if we had decided on them these days, they probably will have regional accents, but you don't get that in the 1980s series. The other panel I went to the Sophie Aldrid panel. There was also a panel with Cleet McTeague and I went to the Janick Fielding panel in between. Rushing around, trying to get autographs. I didn't get any photos done this time, but there was big queues for autographs and things like that. So that was a. That was a nightmare in itself because I queued up to get the autograph for David Banks, waited half an hour, the queue had moved, like, literally maybe a foot. Gave up, kind of thought, I'll come back in an hour. Came back, the queue was still as long as it always was. I think he's one of these talkers. I'm guessing that's what it is. He's a bit like Katie Manning. And he must have been talking to every. Every person that went up there to get an autograph with him or a selfie. But that cue was massive. So in the end, I didn't get. Didn't get an autograph for him. I wanted to get my Earthshot DVD cover signed, but, you know, get that next time. But I did get autographs for Janet Fielding, Sophie Aldred. I got an autograph from her, the book that she brought out a while ago. Childhood, childhood, childhood end. I. I had the original hardback, which she signed for me a few years ago, and then I stupidly left it on an underground tube train. So I had to go and buy another, another copy, of course, and get it signed again. But she was lovely. She was. And Harry will tell you about her and the bikers as well. So I'm. I'm gonna pass over to. I'm gonna pass over to Harry if he's there.

Harry: Yes, I am. Hello. Yeah, well, so there will be a more fun, thorough coverage in the upcoming article for the Big Blue Box website. But tldr, it was another lovely weekend. Me, Maria and Joe who came along as well, we had a nice time and yeah, it was nice on the Friday night to watch the movie again after watching it at the bfi. Aren't we lucky? That was really cool. And also it's worth mentioning, we sound familiar, the group of four impersonators, they were back again this year and did a quiz and it was very funny and yeah, very lively, energetic, sort of pre Hooverville entertainment as there always is. And yeah, the day itself, I mean, it's always very busy and you have to kind of like choose what you want to do. But that's kind of like the beauty of it. It's kind of like, you know, your day is like what you make it kind of thing. And I kind of went to most the same panels that Maria did. I particularly like the Janet Fielding one. I thought my friend Ashley Gregory, he was interviewing Janet and he asked us some very interesting questions which I hadn't actually heard being posed before. So that was a really interesting conversation. And Sophie and Janet were actually in costumes all day, which was really cool. So I was only going to have a photo with Sophie Aldred because I'd met. I had a photo with Janet Field in At the Capitol. But when I saw they were both in costume, I was like, I got to do it, haven't I? I've got. I've got to have a photo with both of them. So I have a really nice photo with the two of them, the bikers. So we went out of quad in the middle of the day to get some cash from the cash machine and this fleet of motorcyclists came revving in to like the sort of courtyardy area outside of the quad. There were loads of them and it was like really loud and like really cool. And it was a bit like, what the heck is this? But it was really cool because the Daleks came out of the quad. The Daleks that were sort of like ferrying around all day. And then Sophie Aldred came out and then had some photos with the Daleks in front of this Absolute fleet of motorcyclists. And it was just surreal. Like, it was, it was like remembrance of the Daleks, but like times ten kind of thing. It was like, it was so awesome.

Maria: Marina must have been about 2, 200. I reckon there was about 200 bikers out there because they were really, it was a sure seemed like group of bikers. Yeah, yeah, there was a lot of them and, and there was the guy in front that was revving his bike and the smoke was pouring out. I was inside and you could smell the fumes coming in from the bikes. It was kind of, it was something else.

Harry: It was, it was something very unexpected. We actually asked them, like, what is this in aid of? Like, what are you guys doing this bike ride for? And they just said, the weather is nice, we want to celebrate the weather. Which I thought, I just love that energy. I love that for you. So that, of course, yeah, it's all you need. But, yeah. What were the other highlights? What were the other highlights?

Maria: I think Sophie not have been allowed to get on the back of the motorbike. I think she was probably desperate to get on the back of a motorbike. Insurance probably wouldn't let her. Obviously, if she gets hurt or anything like that.

Harry: Yeah, for sure. Other highlights for me were meeting Brian Hodgson, Mr. Radiophonic Workshop, again. He was really lovely last year. He was really lovely this year. It was nice to see him and the other music composer guys that were there as well. They were really cool. Had a nice chat with Peter Howe, he was really nice. And, oh, I was gonna save this until the article, but I'm just gonna go ahead and tell you now, I finally won something in the Hooverville raffle. Yeah, finally won something. And not only that, not only that, I won twice.

Garry: Oh, come on. It comes at once, isn't it? No.

Harry: Yes, but, but I, I, I have a plea for our listeners, Garry, specifically our listeners who were potentially at Hooverville, because I won two things. I won a Sasha Darwin Master box set from Big Finish, who were there on the day they had their own stall. And I also won a Series 1 Blu Ray signed by Billy Piper. It's an authentic autograph from Billy Piper, the current Doctor Who. On the, on the COVID On the COVID of this. Yeah, yeah, a little bit. But I opened it up right when I was back in the hotel room. And the discs were for season two. They were for Series two. Somebody whoever had donated them had, like, mixed up the, the sleeves in the, in the RUA case. So if anyone was at Hooverville and Happened to win the Series 2 Blu Ray that was also signed by Billy Piper. Then please get in touch and we can maybe arrange something like exchanging those. Because, yeah, my OCD was a little bit like alarm bells ringing at that point. But it's still cool. It's still cool. And it was free. So, you know. Well, not technically, but I won it, so I'm very happy.

Maria: Can I mention. Can I mention a couple of highlights for me? So on the Friday when we were doing the quiz, I'm a competitive quizzer, I desperately wanted to win. Of course we didn't win. You know, I tried, but, you know, we just didn't know. We didn't have enough knowledge between three people to kind of win the big prizes. But they were very generous, the guys that were there and doing the entertainment, because they let a lot of the teams actually get a prize, which was lovely. I think they just. I think they were. Had a whole lot of stuff they. They wanted to distribute, let's say. So I can't complain. I got something for free as well. So, you know, that. That was lovely. So that was a highlight. And next year, because there's going to be more brains of us, apparently, because we're all saying, you know, we might go. I expect us to be at least in the top three. You know, this is my challenge, you guys, you know, don't let me down because I'm really competitive and we've got to win next year.

Garry: Yeah. I got our friend Joe, who's like an honorary member of the big blue box these days, sent me a photo of your quiz result page. What? What are you doing, guys? Come on. Come on now.

Maria: Well, you know, I. I don't want. I don't want to kind of drop the guys in it, but I. I think there was a lot of alcohol imbued at one point.

Garry: I don't know what you mean.

Maria: They. They weren't really paying attention. You know, I was doing all the hard work.

Jordan: Come on. It doesn't surprise.

Garry: Yeah. Me and Jordan are like, yep, this is not surprising one bit.

Maria: Yeah.

Harry: I don't know. I thought we were very diligent. There was one particular question which was, what. What are the. How many episodes of Doctor Who have not had the opening titles? And I was very excited because I knew exactly which ones they were and how many they were. And then afterwards they said, you can get a bonus point if you list all of them. And I was like, nuh, that wasn't the question. The question was how many? I could have told you all of them, but you didn't ask that, so.

Maria: Oh, they were cheeky, actually. That was cheeky. Yeah. How many?

Garry: Four, Five. Oh, four.

Jordan: Four.

Harry: Woman who Fell to Earth. Resolution. Sleep no More.

Jordan: And that's the one. I know. I know that.

Harry: 73 yards.

Garry: Oh, 73 yards. What about closing credits, though? Because you've got Earthshock.

Harry: Oh, well, that still has. That still has, like, a. Still has credits. It doesn't have music, but it has credits.

Garry: Oh, that's true. Yeah. Yeah. It does still have rolling credits, doesn't it? Yes, that's why I said 5. I was edging for the half point,.

Harry: But, yeah, I see what you're going for.

Maria: Yeah. No, they. They did have some fiendishly difficult questions here as well. Fiendishly difficult? Yeah, I think so.

Garry: Oh, you were just drunk. That's probably it. Now, I'm not being funny, but I. I absolutely love you guys, and this quiz is amazing.

Harry: So it's like looking in a mirror around the drinks.

Garry: Please, barkeep, you've had enough, I think. Oh, dear. Yeah, if we all go next year, we'll. We'll smash that, I'm sure. He says. He says soberly. Okay, Right.

Maria: There was one more highlight as well. Can I mention one more thing? And then we'll move on. I had a lovely conversation with Pete McTighe, and I. If he. And I just want to say this. If he came back as a showrunner, I wouldn't necessarily have an objection because he seemed. He seemed very down to earth. I didn't necessarily dislike his episode, so I'm just putting it out there. He seems like a lovely guy. So if he. If he was interested in writing for the show, he did say he would. If he was asked, he would write again for the show, and I wouldn't have any objection. And I hope that didn't come back in two years to bite me on the bum.

Garry: Yeah, I think his name was kicked around the most when they were. When Russell was like. Yeah, when he was. Yeah, he was thrown out of the building. I think Pete's name was banded around quite a lot. I think, like, future showrunner.

Harry: He actually said at some point during the day that he had been approached by companies who were bidding for the tender. He didn't say in what capacity he was approached or, like, what. You know, whether it was, like, a showrunner thing or whatever. But he has been in conversations with people, and he just. Yeah, let that. He just let that slip during the day. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Garry: Yeah. What A guy. Yeah. Not saying this just to wind you all up, but I have been talking to people.

Maria: Yeah. Yeah.

Garry: Behind the scenes. Can't go into any more.

Maria: You've got connection. You got connection.

Harry: But I will echo what Maria says. He. He does seem like a really nice, down to earth chap. He was. He was at the. The Leicester screen and just as a. As a punter, as a fan.

Garry: Yeah.

Harry: And he was just, you know, just. Just there, like, you know, enjoying it, like there's no ego about the guy, you know, and, you know, he wrote on the last series of Doctor Who, you know, and he's just like, just there, just enjoying it, like all of us fans. So, yeah, cool geezer, Peter McTigh.

Garry: He is a cool geezer. Yeah. Nice. All right, well, sounds like Hooverville was a blast even without me and Jordan there, which is difficult to pull off without us there.

Jordan: But it would have been even more of a blast if we'd been.

Garry: Exactly, yeah. You can only have so much fun without us, can't you? So, nice one. Well, we look forward to the article then. That dives a bit deeper into your shenanigans, which will be good. All right, we've got a few minutes left. Let's. Let's quickly talk about what's going on with. What's going on with Dr. Oo at the moment. So Dr. Roo.

Harry: Dr. Not a lot is the answer to that.

Garry: Jordan has just summarized it very nicely, actually. Yeah, that's the end of the episode.

Harry: Cheers.

Garry: Yeah, not a great deal. It's a bit like the end of Top Gear where Clarkson's like. And, you know, good night on that bombshell. Good night. It's basically that. So as I said at the beginning, months ago, Dr. Who had a little bit of a. A wobble, should we say? We were all looking forward to, weren't we? So much the Christmas special with a potential Billy Piper doing God knows what role in that thing, whatever that was. There was all that stuff, wasn't there, with Russell? Like. Yeah, we had a script and it was all done and then they decided to axe it and then he said, oh, we didn't have a script, really, we just told you. We had a script just so we could get certain things over the line and it was all. It all had a bit of a. A funny turn, didn't it? Then fast forward a little bit later, we found out that the BBC is like, yeah, Christmas special's gone, Doctor Who's gone, pack up your stuff, we're out of here. However, we are going to put it out to tenure and we're going to look for another production company to. To give us a bit of lolly and then we can crack on and make some Doctor Who. A little bit of lolly wouldn't go amiss. Neither is what they're saying at the BBC office right now. So fast forward to now. Last couple of weeks, we've had a few stories drop. Thank you, Maria, for bringing this up earlier, because I'd only seen one of these, but which. Which was the Netflix one. But Amazon have weighed in a little bit as well. So just very, very quickly and then I'll ask you guys what you think about this. So this was at the. The Edinburgh TV Festival, which is a big thing for the bigwigs for UK television. They all get together and they all do interviews and they do panels and all that stuff. It's all good for the TV folks. And both Amazon and Netflix were there and they were asked about Doctor Who directly and one of them seems like they're up for it, the other one not so much. So Amazon sounds like they didn't say anything, obviously, that alluded to the fact that they have bidded on Doctor Who or anything like that. But when they were quizzed about it, they said, and this was Oliver Jones, who is the senior commissioner for UK scripted shows, said, I love Doctor Who and we welcome any conversations around IP Amazon. MGM Studios executive Nicole Clemens then said that they were open for business with commissioning decisions and budgets, which is now sitting firmly with the UK team. So if you join the dots a little bit there, you've got the UK people for Amazon, MGM Studios basically saying, yep, we've got a ton of cash because Amazon is investing more money into television shows. You've got Doctor Who, which is a British television show, looking for money. They haven't said no. So that could be a thing. Netflix, on the other hand, not so keen on things. So Anne Mensah, who is the Netflix UK content bigwig, essentially said she loves Doctor Who, but it needs to stay with the BBC. She loves Russell T Davis and thinks he's a genius, loves everything he did with Doctor Who. It's all good. However, she does not see a place for that at Netflix. She thinks it should stay solely with the BBC and whatever co studio there. So that's that. And then just very, very quickly to sort of. To go alongside that story. A couple of key people have spoken out over the last month, few weeks. Month. The first one is old chibbers and he's essentially saying that fandom is focusing on the wrong thing. They're moaning about all of the creative decisions that have gone just recently that have supposedly ended the show and. And all that jazz and. But what he's basically saying is the main focus and the thing that everyone's missing. The point is primarily, this is all about money. This is nothing to do with the BBC not wanting to make Doctor Who or, you know, finding it difficult to justify making Doctor Who at all. They really want to make it, apparently. And he wants to make this clear that he doesn't have a conversation going with the BBC. He wants to make that very clear. He's not in the running to do anything with Doctor Who anymore. But he just basically said, and I quote, the BBC cannot afford to fully fund any television right now and it certainly cannot afford to fund Doctor Who. So he says that any discussion around anything to do with Doctor Who at the moment is just purely money. So that sounds to me like there's no creative shortage there. Sounds to me like they probably do have a showrunner in mind, so when a deal is struck, they can just hit the ground running and away they go. It's just purely. The wallets run dry. A little bit of the BBC, that's what Chiver says. And then lastly, Mark Gatiss, a bit more of a. A bit more of a. Not doom and gloom, but a realist view on all this stuff. He basically, he was being interviewed by the Radio Times subject, got onto Doctor Who and he basically said, the BBC putting out the tender is a great idea, but we have all been down this road before. He said, when it was canceled in 89, the BBC made a big statement saying, we're committed to keep making Doctor Who. This sounds very familiar, doesn't it? We're committed to making Doctor Who. We still see it as a, you know, as a great show for us. They put it out to tender and then it just quietly died and nothing happened with it for whatever the gap was between McCoy and Eccleston. Was it 16 years or something like that? So, yeah, he basically says, look, I don't want to come across as all doom and gloom, but he thinks that the show has just done amazingly well for the last 21 years since it has come back. That should be applauded, that should be recognized and we shouldn't try to hang on to that and just, you know, try and continuously do that. He thinks that the show should be rested. He said, I think if it comes back successfully, then of course it will come back. And he thinks it's Time for a proper break because you want people to miss it. And as a result of that, you want people to generate fresh ideas and probably someone who grew up with the David Tennant era of Doctor Who rather than the Tom Baker year of Doctor Who. Those are his words. So, guys, it's. I can't really say that anything's moved along. You know, we'd all know about it if it did. So it seems like certain things are happening. There are conversations that are happening between studios, between people there, as you guys mentioned, at Hooverville or the Leicester event, which whatever one it was that Pete McTighe said. Yep, he's been approached. He won't tell us what. So there's definitely conversations happening, stuff going on, but yeah, we just don't know. So, Jordan, I'm sure this has been on the round table before, but based on what we're seeing and hearing now, have you changed your mind? Because I think last time when I asked you guys, do you think Doctor Who should have a break, come back fresh or should we just carry on, you know, as we were? Don't leave it too long. I think you were on the side of the fence that you just, you were quite up for it, you know, carrying on, no break. Let's crack on. You're pretty sad that if it went away for a while. So what's your thoughts now?

Jordan: I mean, I would be happy to see it come back. I still want it to come back. I think we are probably looking at quite a big broke. I think it's going to be gone for a while. I wouldn't surprise me if it was like the gap between 89 and 2005. I hope it's not, but it wouldn't surprise me. I wouldn't mind if Amazon took over Netflix. I don't think it would suit Netflix and I'm glad that Netflix have gone. We don't want it because I think there would be a danger that it would be a little bit too strange of things and that kind of show. I think Netflix is better at doing maybe more Americanized shows. I have a feeling they'd be like Disney where they wouldn't quite know what to do with it. I feel like Amazon would know what to do with it because they do. I mean they obviously they've got the English people that are in charge of like English programming that are doing the bigger shows. So I think, I think Amazon would be good. I think Amazon could, could do it.

Garry: I see. Yeah. That was going to be my follow up question out of Netflix. And Amazon, which would you prefer to see? So Amazon is in your. You get. They get your vote. Okay.

Jordan: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I think I, I just, I think what, I think what would benefit it is because I've seen a lot of people lately saying it should go back to being the 25 minute episode format because there's a lot of television shows now that on streaming that are 25 minutes. I don't necessarily think it needs to do that. I think it needs to be maybe each one is maybe 50 minutes to an hour. It needs to just have a little bit longer to kind of let the stories kind of grow maybe to them each story is a two parter. Like the Capaldi season where each one was at a two or three part story. I don't think they, each episode needs to be shorter. I don't, I don't think Doctor Who, that would be the same. I don't think Doctor Who would survive now. And it needs to be scary. Just make it scary again. I think that's what's missing is that it's not, it's just not scary. It's fun. But you think we had the Weeping Angels, we had the gas mask zombies, the Clockwork Droids, the werewolf, the Vashtra Narada, things like that. We, you know, we had scary monsters. And it's all being. It was all a little too safe I think is the. Is the problem. It was almost like Rustin Davis and the BBC were too afraid to kind of make it not safe. And I think maybe if Amazon do it, they've got a bit more of a mature audience. So I think that maybe making it scary wouldn't bother them. I don't know if any of that made any sense.

Garry: Of course, yeah, I love you said that, that you said that Jordan. Because we've been been saying that for years since you guys. We've all been doing the round table for God knows what is it. Must be knocking on I don't know how many years now. But I've always said that I'm just desperate for more sort of horror based Doctor Who episodes. I don't want to scare the crap out of everyone. I don't want them to make like, you know, full on like insidious movies into. Into Doctor Who episodes or anything. But I do feel like we need that little bit of going back to the, the old cliched of cliche thing of, you know, hiding behind the sofa and kids.

Jordan: Yeah.

Garry: Hiding behind the cushions and being a bit scared by a little. It's that fine line, isn't it? Where you want. You want the wee ones to be not petrified, so they can't sleep, but you want them to be a bit scared, but they also won't really want to watch it at the same time. Yeah, I think, yeah.

Jordan: It's funny you say insidious because yesterday I was watching. I'm trying to make my way through the Hellraiser series and I was on. I was on the second one and I remember sitting there watching it thinking, you know, this would make a cracking episode of Doctor Who. You've got the mysterious box and some idiot opens the box and all these monsters come out and you kind of go to this alien world and you kind of. And I was like, this would be brilliant as a Doctor Who episode. Maybe not as scary as Hellraiser was, but.

Garry: No, I just.

Jordan: I was watching it and I was like, this would be great. Make this as Doctor Who. That's how.

Garry: That would be. Yeah. I mean, I think Amazon potentially could be the place to do that. Yeah, I see, I see. Yeah. Okay. Maria Jordan's gone with Amazon. What say you?

Maria: Well, I don't have a Netflix subscription, so I. I wouldn't want to see them on Netflix because it means I'd have to invest some money and actually buy a. Buy a subscription.

Garry: That's true.

Maria: The. The only thing is, I've been looking at some stats and last year it said that Netflix holds a 61 market share in the UK, so they're obviously a big player in UK in terms of streaming and things like that. I think Amazon is smaller. I wouldn't necessarily mind it being on Amazon, I'm assuming. Would it. Would they have adverts with the show? I'm assuming they might do that. That's something that I don't know, but I wouldn't want to see adverts on the show. But, yeah, I wouldn't mind. I think it's maybe a little bit disappointing that people are already kind of, you know, saying whether they would go ahead with, you know, whether they would be interested in the tender. Because the tender hasn't gone out yet, as far as I know. You know. And where are we now? We're in September, so I. I think they said it was going to go out later this year. So you do wonder when that tender is actually going to go out. But, yeah, I guess if it went on Amazon. I mean, I don't know much about Amazon, if I'm honest. I. I do have a subscription, mainly for, you know, deliveries, really, but I know Amazon Prime Video Is. Is an add on, you know, and I do watch. I do watch some shows on there, but I'm not on there that much, so. But yeah, I wouldn't mind, I suppose, if, if we have to have some investment. Yeah, it could be BBC and Amazon, I suppose. I mean, I'd like to see actually what another. Com. What other companies would want to, you know, independent companies would want to bring to it as well. And that's the big unknown at the moment because, you know, it. It is basically in limbo at the moment until the sender comes out, you know, So I don't know. I. I think the show. I think the show is in limbo. We won't know really anything until the tender comes out. But yeah, as a, As a proposal. Yeah, I go with Amazon, I suppose.

Garry: Interesting. That's two for Amazon. I'm. I'm just to throw it out there. I'm. I'm Amazon as well. So if it had to come down, the choice between the two, not talk about all the other people that could potentially put a bid in, but if it came down to those two, I'd go with Amazon as opposed to Netflix. Netflix has got this horrible habit of just canning off shows unexpectedly, which is not good. So, Harry, down to you, dude. Last. Last one through the. Through the gate. What say you on this?

Harry: Well, I mean, there's a lot to unpack, really. I mean, in terms of like Netflix or Amazon, I mean, I think I'm more interested in the production company that takes it on. So obviously we had Bad Wolf, the production company making Doctor Who and Disney were just their streamer. So I feel like whether it's. I say I'm ambivalent about the streaming service. I'm like you, I definitely wouldn't want it to be Netflix. And at least with prime, you know, you get free delivery with your, with your goodies, you know, so I'd go with Amazon just for that.

Garry: But with your Doctor Who socks and Doctor Who socks.

Harry: Yeah, Doctor Who flipping mugs, whatever you can think of.

Garry: Sunglasses, tongs, barbecue forks.

Harry: Yeah, I just have this really dystopian vision of, like, watching Doctor Who on Amazon prime and then you get like an advert flashing up which says, hey, you can order this Doctor Who tea cozy to watch your Doctor Doctor Who with. Yeah, I wouldn't put it past them to do that. But yeah, no, I just, I've heard, like, mutterings of, like, lots of different production companies having an interest in the tender. And that, to me is much more exciting and a lot more Hopeful as well, because I think the main thing with new Doctor Who whenever we have it, is that we have a new guard. We don't have any of the old guard. We've had enough of them, quite frankly. And I think if, you know, if the show has, if it's going to have any legs to stand on, it needs to have people who have perhaps never worked on it before. Except Pete McTigh will have him. But yeah, there's that. I just kind of want new creative energy on the show, which is why, you know, the longer this goes on for. And yeah, you know, we've not been in quote unquote hiatus for very long, but I'm kind of hoping that we are having a good long break at the minute because I'm actually liking having a bit of a break from Doctor Who. I love talking about it, I love going to conventions and I'll see still re. Watch my favorite episodes. But yeah, I think having a break is really good. And yeah, it's like Chibnall said. I didn't actually realize that he had said this until you brought it up. But, you know, about the whole money situation. Yeah, you know, it's all about funding. So, you know, maybe, maybe, you know, the economy, the industry has to fundamentally change in order for Doctor Who to be in a, you know, a healthy position again. Because. And that could take years. You know, that could take years. So if, you know, the thing that's stopping it from going to series is, you know, no one's able to afford it, then, yeah, that could be a while. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. I think. I feel like it's going to be a very different story in 1, 2, 3 years and I'm gonna have a different tune. I'm gonna go, oh, I really want Doctor Who to be back. But at the minute I'm like, it's kind of nice to actually have a break. So. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sort of a bit ambivalent at this point, to be honest, Garry, which is kind of, kind of heartbreaking a little bit. But also I don't think it's a bad thing. It's good. It's good to have a break. So.

Garry: Yes, yeah, yeah. I think many ex girlfriends have said that.

Maria: I think what's interesting with Amazon is they, they. What they've said about welcoming any conversations around the ip, because that's going to be the difficult one for the BBC to kind of let go of because they're. Because they made it very clear that the IP is with them and they're not going to. They're not going to give it to anyone else. So that may be the sticking issue in terms of getting. Getting somebody on board with. With the show. Because if you have a partner and the partner doesn't have any, you know, doesn't. Doesn't own anything, you know, that's. That might be the issue. I don't know. It's just interesting that that was one of the things they said, you know, we welcome any conversation around ip. So that, that is. That may be the sticking point for anyone to get involved with Doctor Who.

Garry: Yeah, that's a whole big. A whole big beast to try and Tame is the best word. I think when you're, when you're entering into negotiations and conversations of all that stuff, you have to. Because you're right. Yeah. If, if you're a production company, you don't want just to be the bank, you know, and you just fund a series or two, or hopefully more than that, but then that's it. You don't see any return. So you want a cut of like merchandise sales. You want a cut of when it goes out on. What's it called, when the show goes on syndication, so like other channels around the world and repeats it, you know, you want a bit of a slice of the pie. So that will definitely be something that those companies that sort of go in when the tenure happens, if it hasn't already, those will be absolutely the conversations that will be happening. Because you can't just be, yeah, here's some money, go make Doctor Who and then you don't get anything. So I. Simplification. But you know. You know what I mean?

Maria: Yeah, yeah. I was going to say we could all do it. We could all do a crowdfund, I suppose. Get all the. Or the fact. Put in £10.

Garry: Yeah.

Maria: Give it to BBC Studios. I don't know.

Harry: I think we make something more akin to the 60s doctor who kind of just very shoestring budget with a hundred pound.

Garry: Oh, man.

Maria: I mean, I, you know, I was going to say, I think Mark. Mark Gatis has probably got a bit of a point though, in terms of, you know, how long it could take for Doctor Who to come back. I. I don't see it coming back. At least for another three, four, five years, you know, I don't know. I. I see. I don't know at the moment, you know, because the 10. Because the tender hasn't come out, you know, we've got. We've still got a lot of hope in what's going to happen going forward, but, you know, we don't know what's going to happen once the tender comes out. You know, how many companies will really want to go forward with it, how many the BBC will want to consider as well, you know, because they're, you know, they're, they're financially strapped, but they're not willing to give anything away in terms of, you know, the unique, the uniqueness of the show. So, yeah, I mean, I, I could see this going on for years. I mean, he does have a point. It will be, I would love to kind of say it will be back in say, four or five years time, but, you know, let's see, you know, let's have a look, let's see in another year if we have a look at what happens.

Garry: Yeah, let's have a little look about, see what's going on here. I think for the last half an hour I've been saying the word tenure when I should have been saying tender.

Maria: Yeah.

Garry: So I've just clocked that.

Harry: We all knew what you meant.

Jordan: We didn't want to correct you.

Harry: That's okay.

Garry: Yeah, yeah. So rusty. Right, I think on that note then, we're all in Camp Amazon for future Doctor Who, if it was to go to Amazon, which is good. And I think we're in agreement that it needs a break, but just not for too long. It needs to rest a bit, get the old. Put some creative juice back in the tank, get some fresh eyeballs on it and, and then bring it back with a. With a newer perspective. Yes, good.

Harry: You might say it's been a very tender topic.

Garry: Shut up. Harry the comedian has turned up, of course.

Harry: Always, always.

Garry: Ah, anyway, I think we're going to stick a pin in it there for the old September roundtable. Maria, it's been so good to have you back behind the microphone. I know it's been crappy time to you recently, but you're in fine form. You were smiling away, so. Yeah. Thank you very much for joining.

Maria: Thank you, Garry.

Garry: Harry, it's good to have you on board as always, you lovable little bug. Are you?

Harry: Aw, thanks, mate. Thank you for having me. It's been great to be back. It's been marvellous, marvellous, marvellous.

Garry: And Jordan the superstar, the guy who's just on the brink of signing some juicy contracts and we'll be queuing up to get your autograph at some point. I'm soon. Thank you very much for joining. It's been very cool.

Jordan: Thank you very much for having me.

Garry: And on that note. Let's. Let's wrap it up there, shall we, for the September Round table. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Who fans for coming back and listening to another round table. That was September 2026 and we've got some news coming up on the next one. I'm sure we'll. I'll make it a. I'll make it a thing that we won't miss another two months because that was, that was not good. And I own that one and take responsibility. So we will definitely be back for the October Roundtable. We will give you the rundown on everything that's happening, if there is anything in the world of Doctor Who, and if there isn't, we'll just find something to talk about anyways. And these guys would have been to the. Whatever it is you've got coming up anyway. The Riverside thing. No, what is it? You got something?

Jordan: Yeah.

Harry: Battlefield.

Garry: That's the one. That's the one, yes. So we can at least talk about that. So, as always, make sure you're following or subscribing to the podcast on your fave podcast app of choice so you won't miss notifications when new episodes drop. And yeah, you can listen away at your heart's content. You can also listen to us over on the website, which is BigBuck Podcast UK UK. And you can also check out all of the past articles and all that stuff from these guys. There's a ton of Doctor Who stuff on there, so grab a cup of tea and get stuck in. It would be remiss of me not to mention our absent co host, Mr. Adam the Geeks Handbag. Go and check out his YouTube channel, the Geeks Handbag over on YouTube. We miss him. We miss you, of course. And we will see you, like I said, next month on the October Roundtable. We're also on Discord and the socials, by the way. God, I'm so bad at this. Now go and check us all out on there and chat Doctor Who with all those things. Until next time. We'll see you next time. And remember,.