Jack Coyer

How can a 🐹 even carry a 🔪? It must be Witchcraft…

One of us extols the virtues of the 13th Doctor and Chris Chibnall’s stewardship of the show as two of their “Three Fabulous Things”

“Don’t be so boring, Joe @docoho44.bsky.social” I hear you cry! But just wait…

Welcome to the Hamster Book Club - the Doctor Who Book Podcast! Debate, laughter, friendship, insight…we love Doctor Who books and we hope you do too! With artwork from @devondan.bsky.social & a new theme by @jameslark.bsky.social
Like & Subscribe ❤️

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/h...

Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married 🧨

… but most of what comes after is incoherent and embarrassing. I hate the “all of the important information has actually been revealed offscreen” trope, so when they were showing all of those clips of Belinda “Doctor, Take Me Home… TO SEE POPPY” I was shaking my head at how it’s got into this state

… feels too similarly colour graded to the normal world - it’s a shame the guy who did 73 Yards and Dot And Bubble was too busy on that spinoff

It’s evident that reshoots and schedules have derailed this - it’s a shame because the folding of Poppy’s blanket is an eerie piece of visual shorthand…

WISH WORLD / REALITY WAR - One for the history books, an absolutely fascinating experience that is veering between dreadful and intriguing between each scene.

Jodie is great, but as soon as she turns up I know we were heading towards the dreaded conclusion. A real bugbear is that the Wish World…

… attempted killers, or even how the collaboration between the Contest and the perpetrators is taking place - it all seems like vague gestures which don’t sit well

Graham Norton is great, Belinda sounds like Ruby and The Doctor is a lunatic who’s about to die before the plot beats get finished

INTERSTELLAR SONG CONTEST - Too much talking, not enough singing. The viewpoint of this episode is incredibly misjudged, particularly in the current moment - this is made worse by the fact that we don’t see any of the genocide or it’s impact, or the viewpoints of any civilians that AREN’T psychotic…

… written by one of the Showrunners - it’s refreshing for RTD to set out his themes, find a writer whose work suits that and then largely clear out of their way and let them work!

The other customers could get more to do, but The Doctor is placed front and centre in a refreshing change of pace

THE STORY & THE ENGINE - Is it my favourite of the era? No, but it’s probably the one that belongs to this era the most. A charming tale about stories and the power of this community, one that means so much to THIS Doctor.

Inua Ellams delivers the most individually authored script of New Who not…

… there’s an excellent villain performance at the heart of this and some surprising turns from the UNIT crew that I hope are explored further in the spinoff

When The Doctor arrives, he comes not to try & rehabilitate someone who won’t listen, but condemning with righteous fury - Ncuti’s best scene?

… minutes before getting into a nice little political thriller groove - There’s Always A Twist In The Middle!

Could she have checked out Conrad’s whole Alex Jones shtick a bit sooner? Sure. But if crazy podcast hosts had every nosy sod airing their dirty laundry, none of us would be here right now…

LUCKY DAY - Do you remember that whole “Doctor, Get Me Home” narrative arc stuff? Nah? Neither do I. Welcome back, Ruby Sunday!

What a relief it is to have Millie Gibson back again, her presence is really welcome here and it’s a comfort to pretend to care about the Season 1 baggage for just a few…

… societal attitudes towards the disabled, and incorporating the dangers of turning away from those in need into the narrative really nicely. Some nice work from both The Doctor and Belinda, and Rose’s ambiguous performance and a thrilling climax keep me entertained enough that I can watch again

THE WELL - A standard base under siege Doctor Who thriller, with the best performance of the year from Rose Ayling-Ellis at its centre - literally!

It’s a real shame this starts showing the Midnight footage and latching on its coattails so hard, because I think it really has something to say about…

… fun time at The Movies, and Mr Ring-A-Ding is a fantastic visual effect and performance, but it repeats the narrative beats of other historicals a little too closely, and I think the more casual approach to the attitudes of the past are a step backwards from the examples in Series 11

… in the wrong order! They all sat down and agreed their favourite episode is Blink! Clearly these are posers, if they wanted to represent real Doctor Who fan culture, they should have had someone holding a copy of the Daily Mail who thinks that Talons of Weng-Chiang is the only good one.

It’s a …

LUX - or should that be THE DEVIL’S RE-CHORD?

When it started, I didn’t like the artificial Cardiff-ness, but I think it adds to the meta vibe of interacting with the “real world”… but is it the real world? They’re still in the letterboxed aspect ratio! Their DOCTOR WHO: THE COLLECTION boxsets are…

… at a creative level through writing inconsistency is a real shame - I know that I, for one, MISSBELINDACHANDRA

… ideas that got shoved together, either because RTD couldn’t edit himself or because a lack of Season 3 confirmation meant he wanted every idea that ever fired through his synapses to get put on screen!

The fact that this Belinda seems to be lost, both literally in the narrative of the finale and…

THE ROBOT REVOLUTION - The weakest opener of all New Who? Varada Sethu is fantastic and nails every aspect of her character here, and I like the retrofuturism aesthetic and The Doctor’s counting gimmick is fun. But the incel stuff is pretty crammed in and feels like it’s one of several First Draft…

JOY TO THE WORLD - Not too bad as a bit of fluff, but I probably won’t watch again for a while. I’m sure someone has clipped up the Anita content so that I can watch that on YouTube. Not very well directed, but the performances are solid and Ncuti has great chemistry with most of the main characters

If you could cast another Oscar winner in a pre-existing minor role in any story, who would you pick and what would they be doing?

Recording tomorrow: 🐹 THE AWAKENING
with @docoho44.bsky.social and @jackcoyer.bsky.social

So far, preparing notes on:

✅ The English Civil War
✅ ‘80s militaristic chic
✅ The show mining its own history

What are your thoughts on the story?

… are on their way

Superbly stylish and colourful, directed by Alan Wareing in tricky circumstances- the billowing circus tent provides atmosphere the studio can’t

This is a great advertisement for the Seventh Doctor - the showman who enjoys participating in the circus until it ends with a bang

… lost - a similar feeling of life passing people by who are stuck in their same old routine also pervades Paradise Towers, but more refined here

Ian Reddington is magnificent as Chief Clown and like Philip Madoc in The War Games, I love it when a villain has a breakdown because the real villains…

THE GREATEST SHOW IN THE GALAXY - Possibly my favourite Doctor Who story, depending on what day you ask me

Absolutely love the introspections of 60s idealism, Doctor Who fandom and the Doctor/Ace relationship through Captain Cook and Mags

It’s morose and sad with a feeling that something has been…

… to pretend you care about Cybermen, you won’t even mind how woeful they are

The direction is seriously lacking, and if it wins this episode, shut the damn podcast down. But I can’t deny the fun brought by the Queen, neo-Nazis, an old lady in a limo and some smooth jazz

We ride to a Round 1 exit

SILVER NEMESIS - Look, it’s a load of daft old tosh, but it has a great drive to it, and constantly hopping around locations is a refreshing change for this period of the show (My personal favourite location - South America Land!)

Lady Peinforte is wonderful, and if you’re not some nerd who tries…

… what is a big tonal shift up to that point, and credit to Rachel Bell for giving the campest performance in Doctor Who’s long history

With its singular focus and “all in one night” momentum, this typifies my view of the McCoy stories, best viewed in one feature-length hit rather than episodes