On The Time Lash

Send us a textOn the Time Lash: The College Years opens with a discussion of 2017's The Pilot and the unfinished 1980 serial Shada. In other words, it's Joy Division and cheap lager v.s bicycles and acapella choo-choos. Is The Pilot really a fresh start? Who or what influenced Steven Moffat's re-imagining of the 12th Doctor as an educator? What happens when you add orange juice to Vodka and Coke? Just what is the definitive version of Shada and what the bloody hell does Kylie Minogue have to do with all of this?Also: The Degsestial Funmaker pays a long overdue visit to launch a new series of Degsey's Where Did it Come? Game, Ben and Mark ponder when Doctor Who last excited them and Ben shares quite a moving story about the personal connections he has to Douglas Adams' great unfinished work. You can buy us a pint hereSupport the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textIn a crossover worthy of Marvel comics, Ben and Mark are joined by Dylan and Jack from 'Doctor Who: Too Hot for TV' to discuss fake invasions, hollow pastiches, dodgy American accents and much more by way of 'The Return of Doctor Mysterio' and 'Invaders from Mars'.Under discussion: letting an old man in through your window, awkward sex stuff, nostalgia for the Eighth Doctor era, feeling protective over Mark Gatiss and whether or not Steven Moffat has actually seen a superhero film since the 1970s. Also: A definitive decision on the best War of the Worlds, Dylan pitches a documentary about Ian Levine, there's a chocolate surprise from listener Andy Moore and another round of DICS sees everyone gargle with gravel.You can listen to 'Doctor Who: Too Hot for TV' hereYou can listen to Ben's new podcast 'That, But Funny' hereYou can buy us a pint hereSupport the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textBen and Mark attempt to save Christmas with a discussion about two seasonal stories of romance, decapitation, precious jewels, swashbuckling and braining someone with the Royal sceptre - The Husbands of River Song and The Androids of Tara.Under discussion: Endings, Steven Moffat's extended farewell, watching Doctor Who with your family, four Mary Tamms, the flimsiness of the Key to Time arc and a tin dog with an ASBO. Also: Ben and Mark act like a couple of DICS, Ben battles with a devastating hangover and Mark tries to watch Doctor Who on John Logie Baird's original television. Listen to Ben's new podcast "That, but Funny" hereBuy Ben and Mark a pint hereSupport the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textA homesick Ben and Mark discuss the Doctor's difficult homecoming in 'Hell Bent' and delight in the first meeting with one of the Doctor's people in 'The Time Meddler'.Along the way they'll fundamentally miss the point of 'Hell Bent' by wittering on about Timelord mythology, discuss why Steven Moffat's writing sometimes rubs people up the wrong way, propose a new Gallifreyan foe for the Doctor and learn all about the tumultuous year that was 1066.You can buy Ben and Mark a pint hereListen to Ben's new podcast "That, but Funny" hereWatch Ben's livestream "The Party Tits" hereBuy 'Soft Top, Hard Shoulder', written by and starring Peter Capaldi hereSupport the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textBen and Mark discuss pain, anguish, death and loss in another hilarious episode of On the Time Lash which pairs 2015's Heaven Sent with 1982's Time Flight.Heaven Sent: Paul McEvoy writes in to tell us all about the beauty of Murray Gold's score, Mark tries to structure the plot around the Kubler-Ross 5 stages of grief, and Ben unpicks the clockwork mechanisms of Steven Moffat's tremendous script.Time-Flight: What would this be like as a Pertwee story? ponders Mark on his first viewing of a much-derided story, but will he toe the line or dissent from fan consensus? Meanwhile, Ben introduces the ropiest conspiracy theory you'll hear all year and discusses what Time-Flight had to offer his younger self as he started out on his Doctor Who journey.Also: Glen McCoy has an issue with his gym membership, Peter Grimwade ponces about on a big plane and Anthony Ainley greys up. Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textBen and Mark say farewell to two long-serving companions and celebrate the 46th anniversary of The Hand of Fear by pairing it up with Face the Raven.Trap Street's back, alright? Visiting an alien refugee camp, the Lash Lads quibble the legality of Me's contract with the raven, Mark's disappointed to see a bunch of drably costumed extras on a Harry Potter set, Ben's unconvinced by the Doctor's fury and Letitia Wright is wasted in an expositionary role. But what of Rigsby? Meanwhile over at the Nunton nuclear power station, Mark discusses doing Chernobyl on a shoestring, Ben loves a quarry and small, positive steps for trans acceptance in 1970s television before the near-immediate murder. Also: Ben and Mark find a new guru figure, the correlation between dislike for Clara and the #NotMyDoctor "movement" and a series of references to obscure British crime shows.Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textBen and Mark celebrate 100 episodes with their listeners in a very special bumper episode of the podcast which discusses ‘Sleep No More’ and ‘Timelash’. Two disparate stories that, as the episode plays out, have something very special in common.We talk about Doctor Who coming late to the found footage party, the inherent nastiness of the Sixth Doctor era, eye bogies, missed potential and the perils of Peri.Also: Undercutting giant leaps for diversity, Hammy Darrow, cancelling HG Wells and the things Glen McCoy can do with seven minutes. Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textBang the War Gong! Ben and Mark are back with Lee, Dave and Cameron of The Polis Box to discuss The Mutants. Following an impromptu Jon Pertwee themed round of Would I Lie to You? they discuss the end of empire, science fiction allegories for recent appalling geopolitical behaviour, a disappointing lack of Roger Delgado, jumped up tyrants with gravy on their shirts and unconvincing rubber monsters.Also: Would you give Brian Eno the power to erase people? The proliferation of laboratories in the Pertwee era and the failures of the Gallifreyan postal service.You can join in with the 100th episode recording here.Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textBen and Mark are joined by rival Scottish Doctor Who podcast The Polis Box to discuss 'The Zygon Invasion/Inversion'. Will the Lash Lads put aside their differences with Lee, Dave and Cameron as they sit down and talk? Well, yes, quite easily actually.Under discussion: The slightly queasy messaging of integration, the T word, whether or not the Zygons are more than just a one-shot villain, repeated public alien incursions, the dubious Doctor Disco, 'heeling it up' and some snark about spin-off media.Also: A Fatal Five Way Degsey's Where Did it Come? Game and a skip full of pubes.Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textBen and Mark continue their look at the price of immortality as they watch Douglas Adams' Doctor Who debut - The Pirate Planet!Under discussion: How far can/should you go when making a comedy about genocide? Tom Baker's top lip, the joys of the Doctor and Romana dynamic, shipping the Captain and Mr Fibuli and the daftness of a fight between a robot dog and robot parrot.Also: Shitting lasers, discarded jewels and Graham Williams in a dog suit.Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textBen and Mark attempt to undo some bootstraps with a discussion of the second Series 9 two parter - Under the Lake/Before the Flood.Under discussion: Is there a link between the Fisher King and the Myrka? Is time travel really all that complex? Why Doctor Who can't do ghosts and whether base under siege stories light a fire beneath Peter Capaldi.Also: Being amongst the 25 tallest men, levels of fandom in guest actors and another of Mark's terrible Doctor Who anecdotes.If you enjoy the podcast, and would like to buy Ben and Mark a drink you can do so at buymeacoffee.com/onthetimelash or if you want to help us out in other ways, leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textIt was the 5th of July and all round the house, not a creature was stirring except for Ben and Mark as they discussed the seasonal special 'Last Christmas' and the Season 20 story 'Snakedance'.Under discussion: Ordering VHS's in Boots the Chemist, cribbing on old movies, an incendiary and 25 year old interview with Steven Moffat, How good 80s Doctor Who can be when it plays to the strengths of it's leading man, pub toilets and sexual harassment as a character quirk.And it's the grand finale of Degsey's Where Did it Come? Game S8! Who will win the coveted star prize?Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textBen and Mark take a before and after look at solar flare damage in Doctor Who - pairing 'In the Forest of the Night' with 'The Ark in Space'.Is 'In the Forest of the Night' really all that bad? Is 'The Ark in Space' really one of the all time classics?Under discussion: Doomed relationships, challenging children, childishness, body horror, bubble wrap and how the multicultural vision of 'Star Trek' doesn't always match with a BBC directors address book. Also: a sacred cow gets a little knick, the lockdown experience as told through Netflix documentary series and Mark discovers a new Smiths B-Side.Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textAs the Doctor and Clara visit Bristol in 'Flatline', Mark advocates toppling 'The Celestial Toymaker' off a harbour in an oddly topical, yet mostly trivial new episode of On the Time Lash.Under discussion: Artistic expression, class and race in 1960s Doctor Who, child-unfriendly childishness, the evolution of the Doctor-lite episode and how a prestige Saturday night drama can attract a younger audience.Also: Two painful things more enjoyable than 'The Celestial Toymaker', Mark taps into an austere childhood at his Great Aunts and Ben relates a heart-warming tale from a children's play park.Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textBen and Mark turn their attention to the teachers of Coal Hill School as they look at 'The Caretaker' and 'The Rescue'. One story features two kindly teachers specialised in history and chemistry whilst the other focuses on two teachers who, whilst romantically involved, have neither. Under discussion: A whistle stop history of portrayals of the military in Doctor Who, the unassuming historical significance of 'The Rescue', boyfriend errors, and the invention of the Doctor Who companion. If you enjoy the podcast, you can buy us a pint over at buymeacoffee.com/onthetimelash, thanks to those who have so far.Over on our YouTube channel, you can watch the podcast with an added 20 minutes of visual gags and extras.Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textBen and Mark take to Zoom for the first On the Time Lash video podcast - discussing 'Time Heist' and 'The Ribos Operation' so apologies in advance for the occasionally tinny audio. Mark discovers that 'Time Heist' has less in common with 'Ocean's 11' and more in common with something else entirely and Ben's left cold by the wintry charms of Ribos. Under discussion: Female villains, casting speculation, the 12th Doctor's character, Sgt. Bilko, con artists and Tom Baker coming face to face with God. Also: The cracks in Eric Roberts' living room, Mary Tamm in Poundland Wonderland and Scottish words.You can watch the special, longer, video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel and you can visit buymeacoffee.com/onthetimelash if you want to buy us a pint!Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textBen and Mark discuss 'Listen' and 'The Mind of Evil' in two classic Doctor Who stories that deal with fear. Under discussion: The comforting message of one of the show's creepiest episodes, talking to yourself in isolation, military brutality, the origins of the Black Mariah, the simplicity of one of the show's most memorable monsters and the pointlessness of another. Also: The brain of Philip Morris, visiting Stangmoor prison, Master plans and major crawlersIf you like the podcast, you can buy us a pint at www.buymeacoffee.com/onthetimelash! Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textIt's medieval madness as Ben and Mark discuss ROBOT OF SHERWOOD and THE KING'S DEMONS. As they wander through Sherwood forest, the Lash Lads chat about grumpiness, comedy in Doctor Who and take a little detour to look at the rise of internet criticism and clickbait snark.After that, they wander around an old castle whilst singing songs of the Crusades, discussing historical inaccuracies, the mad story of Kamelion's conception, unconvincing beards and the slightly more muted season finales of the classic series.You can read Ben's first "Time Worrier" column at onthetimelash.wordpress.com from Sunday 3rd May!If you enjoy the podcast, and you want to buy us a pint, you can donate to buymeacoffee.com/onthetimelashSupport the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textOr: The Incredible Shrinking Doctors SpecialBen and Mark discuss miniaturisation, prawns, robot dogs, soldiers and viruses as they tackle both 'Into the Dalek' and 'The Invisible Enemy'.Is 'Into the Dalek' just a rehash of old ideas? Is 'The Invisible Enemy' really as rubbish as everyone remembers? ALSO: The return of Degsey's Where Did it Come Game, meeting Michael Sheard in a car park, and how Mark is due royalties from sales of Into the Dalek.For Les AndersonSupport the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint

Send us a textBen and Mark go back to where it all began, with the very first multi-Doctor story 'The Three Doctors'. After a very special edition of Degsey's Where Did it Come Game, they try to define the indefinable magic of Doctor Who by looking at this most comforting slice of nostalgia.Under discussion: Trying to understand the reverance with which each later Doctor holds the earliest incarnation, John Levene's finest hour, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee's hugely entertaining rivalry and an appreciation for those fabulous Bristol boys - Bob Baker and Dave Martin.Support the showFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookBuy us a pint