In Part One of our episode: The Monks have taken the planet, and it seems that only Bill (Pearl Mackie) remembers the truth, as humanity believes the invaders have been there forever. Reuniting with Nardole (Matt Lucas), the pair try to discover what’s going on. And where is The Doctor (Peter Capaldi)?

In Part Two of our episode: we re-enter the universe of the Ice Warriors, as writer Mark Gattis delivers a daring and significant chapter into the history of the species in Doctor Who.

During TARDISblend 107, we close out The Monk trilogy where we discuss the mixed reactions from fans online, examine the return of the Ice Warriors, and look towards what we can expect in the coming episodes.

All this and more on the latest TARDISblend!

Separated from his companion, Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), at the underwater mining base, the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) travels back in time on the same spot to 1980, in an effort to learn what caused the events in 2119. But the situation becomes perilous, and the Doctor will come face-to-face with The Fisher King.

During TARDISblend 89, we discuss the breaking of the 4th wall in Episode 9.4 “Before The Flood” of Doctor Who, leading to the underlying theme of this story: the Bootstrap Paradox. We also look into the thematic elements that may play into the story arc for Series 9, and talk about Corey Taylor from Slipknot making his debut as the “roar of the Fisher King” in this episode.

All this and more on the latest TARDISblend podcast!

Doctor Who
Season 9, Episode 4 “Before The Flood”
Directed by Daniel O’Hara
Written by Toby Whithouse
Starring Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Sophie Stone, Arsher Ali, Morven Christie
BBC America
Air date: Saturday, October 10, 2015

Can the future re-write the past? That seems to be the question before us on Doctor Who this week in Episode 9.4 “Before The Flood.” One way to put it is this: Suppose you could travel back in time and meet your own grandfather before he met your grandmother. During that meeting, you cause his premature death. Could that death really happen? Would you still exist if it did, and how could the death occur? It’s a classic paradox… at least in the minds if philosopher and fiction writers. It is the conundrum that writer Toby Whithouse tries to mine for dramatic gold. What he finds, well, that feels a little unsettling.

I’ll give it this: the episode started very well. When we left our heroes at the end of last week’s episode, “Under The Lake,” the Doctor and two others, Bennett and O’Donnell, had traveled back in time to observe the origin of events. They returned to 1980, to a town made up to look like somewhere in the Soviet Union. The break was so clean that a whole bunch of possibilities seemed to emerge. Here, in O’Donnell, we have a companion who knows something of what the Doctor is before they meet. She relishes what he is, or at least she thinks she does. She knowingly savors the experience of finding the ship from the bottom of the lake freshly landed and meeting the occupant. That is a marvelous beginning that in another time and other place could lead to longer term possibilities.

Doctor Who
Season 9, Episode 3 “Under The Lake”
Directed by Daniel O’Hara
Written by Toby Whithouse
Starring Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman
BBC America
Air date: Saturday, October 3, 2015

Think of a night at the opera. The crowd enters the hall, the lights go down, the orchestra plays the overture, the curtain rises, the tenor and the chorus sing the opening aria. That’s where we are at the start of “Under The Lake,” the third episode of Season 9 of the revived Doctor Who. While the last two episodes gave us first shock and awe, and then some genuine thrills, now things must start to calm down and we, the viewing audience, begin to see what we have on our hands for this season. I think the initial conclusion must be that this will be a return to certain historical series norms that were missing for the last couple seasons, and a departure from others. Ultimately, however, this episode was far too workmanlike to represent the series’ best work.

So who will the Doctor and Clara be this season? After previous appearances in a regular season episode and a Christmas special, we’ve had a season of the Matt Smith as the young, brash Doctor trying to solve the riddle of Clara Oswald, the Impossible Girl. We’ve also had a season of Peter Capaldi as a much older, less social Doctor composing one half of a very double life of Clara Oswald, teacher at Coal Hill School. While both at least tried to give more narrative weight to the Doctor’s companion by giving the companion a normal life in addition to life in the TARDIS, both of these developments messed with some long-established series norms.

Arriving at an underwater mining base in Scotland in the year 2119, the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) discover a crew haunted by ghosts after bringing an alien vessel aboard. But are they really ghosts, or something else entirely?

During TARDISblend 88, we’re joined by guest Dwayne DeFreitas (of Geeks Of Doom’s The Drill Down podcast, as we discuss the parallels in Episode 9.3 Under The Lake” with Classic Doctor Who, examine the mysteries and the clues explored by writer Toby Whithouse, and much, much more!

All this and more on the latest TARDISblend!