The 50% Doctor Who Podcast

This week we're reviewing more Doctor Who, with the sixth Doctor adventure: "The Ultimate Foe" as we conclude "The Trial of a Time Lord" arc!The Ultimate Foe is the fourth and final serial of the larger narrative known as The Trial of a Time Lord which encompasses the whole of the 23rd season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast in two weekly parts on BBC1 on 29 November and 6 December 1986. This segment is also cited in some reference works under its working title of Time Incorporated (or Time Inc.). The title The Ultimate Foe is never used on-screen and was first used in relation to these episodes for the 1988 novelisation, with the two episodes that comprise the serial being referred to as The Trial of a Time Lord Parts Thirteen and Fourteen. This was the last story to feature Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, as Baker declined to do the regeneration (when he was dismissed from the role) for the following story, Time and the Rani.In the serial, continuing from the events of Terror of the Vervoids, the genocide charges against the alien time traveller the Sixth Doctor for destroying the Vervoids are interrupted by the Doctor's enemy the Master (Anthony Ainley), who seeks to have the Doctor and his prosecutor the Valeyard (Michael Jayston) destroy one another in the virtual micro-universe the Matrix, and to create a power vacuum where the High Council of the Time Lords is deposed so the Master can take command.Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson, follows the adventures of the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being from a humanoid species known as Time Lords. The Doctor travels through space and time using a time travelling spaceship called the TARDIS, which has an exterior that resembles a British police box. The Doctor encounters various civilisations, which he seeks to protect by outwitting foes and solving crises. The Doctor usually travels with a companion.Enjoyed the show? Support us with a one-off tip on Ko-fi! :)https://ko-fi.com/50doctorpodcastSubscribe so you don't miss an episode!https://youtube.com/@UC1e8pTE4SiZ2VyPnmSMO4aAFollow us ANYWHERE via our Linktree below:https://linktr.ee/50Doctor

This week we're reviewing more Doctor Who, with the sixth Doctor adventure: "Terror of the Vervoids" as we continue to make our way through "The Trial of a Time Lord" arc!Terror of the Vervoids is the third serial of the larger narrative known as The Trial of a Time Lord which encompasses the whole of the 23rd season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 1 to 22 November 1986. The title Terror of the Vervoids is never used on screen and was first used in relation to these episodes for the 1987 novelisation, with the four episodes that comprise the season being referred to as The Trial of a Time Lord Parts Nine to Twelve. This serial is the first appearance of Bonnie Langford as the companion Mel Bush.In the serial, the alien time traveller the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) is put on trial by his people, the Time Lords, and is accused of meddling in the affairs of other worlds. Much of the story consists of video testimony presented by the Doctor, his own defence, of his own future where the last of a race of plants called Vervoids on board a spaceliner in 2986 plot to wipe out all animal life on board for their own survival.Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson, follows the adventures of the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being from a humanoid species known as Time Lords. The Doctor travels through space and time using a time travelling spaceship called the TARDIS, which has an exterior that resembles a British police box. The Doctor encounters various civilisations, which he seeks to protect by outwitting foes and solving crises. The Doctor usually travels with a companion.Enjoyed the show? Support us with a one-off tip on Ko-fi! :)https://ko-fi.com/50doctorpodcastSubscribe so you don't miss an episode!https://youtube.com/@UC1e8pTE4SiZ2VyPnmSMO4aAFollow us ANYWHERE via our Linktree below:https://linktr.ee/50Doctor

Today on the pod we're accessing your hot takes and reviewing one of the most emotional episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures...In the episode, Goodbye Sarah Jane Smith, Sarah Jane has begun developing a form of dementia, and she realises that her ability to defend the Earth is diminishing. She must now hand over the task to surer hands. A seemingly suitable replacement, Ruby White, has arrived on Bannerman Road, but can she be trusted?The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television programme produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies, and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC science fiction programme Doctor Who, and the second primarily targeted towards children after Totally Doctor Who. It focuses on the adventures of Sarah Jane Smith, an investigative journalist living in Ealing, London, who, as a young woman, had numerous adventures across time and space with the Doctor. The show ran for five years until Sladen's death in 2011.Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series first broadcast by the BBC in 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson, follows the adventures of the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being from a humanoid species known as Time Lords. The Doctor travels through space and time using a time travelling spaceship called the TARDIS, which has an exterior that resembles a British police box. The Doctor encounters various civilisations, which they seek to protect by outwitting foes and solving crises. The Doctor usually travels with a companion.Beginning with William Hartnell, fourteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; the most recent being Ncuti Gatwa, who portrayed the Fifteenth Doctor from 2023 to 2025. The transition between actors is woven into the story via the plot device of regeneration. When a Time Lord is fatally injured or weakened by old age, their cells regenerate into a new body; while they retain their memories, their personality changes. The different portrayals function as distinct stages within a single, continuous narrative. Due to time travel, these different incarnations occasionally cross paths.Enjoyed the show? Support us with a one-off tip on Ko-fi! :)⁠https://ko-fi.com/50doctorpodcast⁠Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!⁠https://youtube.com/@UC1e8pTE4SiZ2VyPnmSMO4aA⁠Follow us ANYWHERE via our Linktree below:⁠https://linktr.ee/50Doctor⁠

This week we're reviewing more Doctor Who, with the sixth Doctor adventure: "Mindwarp" as we continue to make our way through "The Trial of a Time Lord" arc!Mindwarp is the second serial of the larger narrative known as The Trial of a Time Lord which encompasses the whole of the 23rd season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 to 25 October 1986. The title Mindwarp is not used on screen and appears only on the serial's scripts with the four episodes that comprise the story being transmitted as The Trial of a Time Lord Parts Five to Eight. This story marks the final appearance of Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown.In the serial, the alien time traveller the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) is put on trial by his people, the Time Lords, and is accused of meddling in the affairs of the planet Thoros Beta in the 24th century. Much of the story consists of a video testimony presented by the prosecutor – the Valeyard (Michael Jayston) – of The Doctor discovering the alien arms dealer Sil (Nabil Shaban) is looking for a way to prolong the life of Lord Kiv (Christopher Ryan) by transplanting Kiv's mind into another.Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson, follows the adventures of the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being from a humanoid species known as Time Lords. The Doctor travels through space and time using a time travelling spaceship called the TARDIS, which has an exterior that resembles a British police box. The Doctor encounters various civilisations, which he seeks to protect by outwitting foes and solving crises. The Doctor usually travels with a companion.Enjoyed the show? Support us with a one-off tip on Ko-fi! :)https://ko-fi.com/50doctorpodcastSubscribe so you don't miss an episode!https://youtube.com/@UC1e8pTE4SiZ2VyPnmSMO4aAFollow us ANYWHERE via our Linktree below:https://linktr.ee/50Doctor

Doctor Who season 2... Were we too harsh or Ncuti's second season, or it all the criticism just?The fifteenth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who premiered on 12 April 2025. This series is also known as "Season Two" following the production changes and the acquisition of Doctor Who's international broadcasting rights by Disney+ prior to the previous series. It is the sixth and final series led by Russell T Davies as head writer and executive producer and the second since his return to the show in 2023, having previously worked on it from 2005 to 2010. This series is the fifteenth to air following the programme's revival in 2005, and is the forty-first season overall.This is the second and final series to star Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor, an incarnation of the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time and space in the TARDIS, which appears to be a British police box from the outside. Varada Sethu joins the series as new companion Belinda Chandra, with Millie Gibson also featuring as Ruby Sunday, the previous series' companion, for her second and final series in the role. The series was preceded by a Christmas episode in December 2024, written by former showrunner and head writer Steven Moffat, where Nicola Coughlan appears as one-off companion, Joy Almondo.The series consists of eight episodes, directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai, Peter Hoar, Amanda Brotchie, Ben A. Williams, and Makalla McPherson. Alongside Davies, who wrote four episodes and co-wrote a further one, the writers include Juno Dawson, Inua Ellams, Pete McTighe, and Sharma Angel-Walfall. Filming began in October 2023 and concluded in May 2024. Following the airing of the series, it was announced that without further backing from Disney+, a planned succeeding special had been cancelled, and Davies departed from his role as showrunner, with the BBC planning a competitive tender process for a future series.Enjoyed the show? Support us with a one-off tip on Ko-fi! :)https://ko-fi.com/50doctorpodcastSubscribe so you don't miss an episode!https://youtube.com/@UC1e8pTE4SiZ2VyPnmSMO4aAFollow us ANYWHERE via our Linktree below:https://linktr.ee/50Doctor