Reality Bomb

On the one hundred and thirteenth edition of Reality Bomb we’re celebrating the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special episode that asks one simple but important question: “What is an essential element of Doctor Who?”

Over the next two episodes, we’ll have the perspectives of 20 fans on this question, some new, some from the past, as they talk about the diverse elements that makes Doctor Who the amazing program that it is. In the first part, we have:

• Essential #1: Possibility with Lisa Gledhill
• Essential #2: The TARDIS with Max Kashevsky
• Essential #3: Storylines with Sanjay Lago
• Essential #4: Hope (part one) with Priya Deonarain
• Essential #5: Adventure with Pauline Serizel
• Essential #6: Cliffhangers with Tom Dickinson
• Essential #7: Silliness with Martin Belam
• Essential #8: Tom Baker with Bill Evenson
• Essential #9: Timelessness with Alex Kennard
• Essential #10: Companions with Kim Rogers

On the one hundred and twelfth edition of Reality Bomb, we talk to classical musician Elizabeth Reid McQuillan about the new version of the Doctor Who theme and what makes the Doctor Who theme so popular. We chat with Graham Kibble-White, co-author of the new bookazine Adventures in Type and Space, about how the book came together, and how some of the greatest title sequences in Doctor Who’s history came together… with exclusive clips of Graham’s interviews with the legendary Bernard Lodge and Peter Govey. And we reconvene the Reality Bomb Book Club as Shannon Dohar and Martin Hajovsky discuss Russell T Davies’ and Benjamin Cook’s behind the scenes look at the making of series four, Doctor Who: The Writer’s Tale. Plus: Graeme Burk examines the origins of the oooo-eee-oooos and the dumba-ba-dums that make up the Doctor Who theme to see how it connects with Murray Gold’s latest version … and we discover, the hard way, that there are some things in the world of Doctor Who that are more ridiculous than any comedy sketch we can make.

On the one hundred and eleventh edition of Reality Bomb, Graeme Burk talks about the trailer for the 60th anniversary specials — and the return of David Tennant’s Doctor teaming with Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble — with Sage Young and Julie Chaston. Joy Piedmont talks to Reece Connolly and Carrot about their Doctor Who themed cabaret, The Gallifrey Cabaret. And KatyBeth Schmid and Lacy Baugher-Milas are back for another round of Is This Rumour Hot or Not? Plus, we return to the Church of the Holy Trailer for some more worship.

Visit the Gallifrey Cabaret linktree page and Instagram for more information about their upcoming performances and more.

On this special episode of Reality Bomb, we’re continuing our tenth anniversary celebrations with a journey through Doctor Who and its fandom over the past decade with our editorials. We’ve trawled through our archives we’re presenting ten editorials from past ten years of Reality Bomb that talk about what enrages, enthralls, excites and enlivens us as Doctor Who fans.

This special collection includes:

• Graeme’s discussion of the Doctor being “never cruel or cowardly” and how that played out in the then-recent retcon in Day of the Doctor from December 2013. (Episode 006)
• Graeme conducts an interview with Chris Chibnall (in absentia) about all the things that have bothered him about Doctor Who’s non-existent promotion of the series with its fans back in 2019. (Episode 085)
• Joy looks back on how Last Christmas was there for her during a particularly difficult holiday season. (Episode 075)
• Sage Young talks about how one of the first things she did during the pandemic was renew her Britbox subscription, and how doing the pilgrimage through Classic Doctor Who helped her through that period. (Episode 087)
• From September 2021: RTD returns, and Graeme has many, many, many, many feelings about it. (Episode 092)
• The first story of Joel and Carlie in a special, rarely heard, “studio” version recorded in November 2013 (originally presented in Epsiode 006a)
• Priya Deonarain takes us through the then-recent Flux and talks about the themes, ideas and big swings this story took. (Episode 095)
• From our shelter-in-place live zoom shows from 2020, Joy talks about the Doctor Who Blackout event, how it came out of a planned live-tweeting that failed to connect to recent events… and what all of us can do to be a better ally to BIPOC fans. (Episode 081) Introduced by Rebecca Farren
• Back in 2018, Doctor Who Magazine went to a North American convention to a #metoo panel… and had a British middle aged guy interview another British middle aged guy about it. Graeme talks about what’s wrong with this picture, how DWM is so insular editorially, and how that reflects fandom as a whole. (Episode 056)
• From our first Gallifrey One live show in 2017, Graeme looks back on the past Gallys he’s attended, and why he loves conventions so much. (Episode 043)

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A quick note… you may have heard that some fan creators are no longer covering Doctor Who due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, because Doctor Who is on the SAG-AFTRA list of struck work. We fully support the strike and the writers and actors fighting for fair contracts; however, fan podcasts like ours can continue to discuss Doctor Who because we’re not bound by either union’s rules that prevent members from promoting struck work. As fans, there are many ways you can support the strike and the workers. To that end, we’d like to offer a few resources:

• Donation page for the Entertainment Community Fund
• SAG-AFTRA’s Strike info page
• WGA’s strike info page

On a special extra-length episode of Reality Bomb, we’re continuing our tenth anniversary celebrations with a look at our longest running segment, Gallery of the Underrated. We’ve made a deep dive into the archives and brought back ten Gallery of the Underrateds from the past decade of Reality Bomb that re-examine the overlooked, ignored and generally derided Doctor Who stories of the past 60 years.

This special collection includes:

• Our first Gallery of the Underrated, with Jon Arnold on The Beast Below (Episode 003)
• Gary Russell’s defence of The Monster of Peladon (Episode 017)
• A look back on The Sensorites with Shannon Dohar (Episode 057)
• Paul Condon’s re-appraisal of Delta and the Bannermen, which includes a mind-blowing discussion of who the villains actually are… (Episode 047)
• Priya Deonarain’s reconsideration of the themes of Ascension of the Cybermen and The Timeless Children (Episode 091)
• A journey back to The Planet of the Spiders, courtesy of Lisa Gledhill (Episode 091)
• Pauline Serizel talking about why Love & Monsters is about her life as a fan (Episode 069)
• Erika Ensign defending The Ribos Operation… both generally and against a hostile room live at Gallifrey One (Episode 054)
• Glen Weldon having a topping day, eh wot, with Black Orchid (Episode 042)
• Gary Gillatt re-examining The Invasion of Time (Episode 097)

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On the one hundred and tenth edition of Reality Bomb, we’re celebrating our tenth anniversary with our longest episode yet and featuring “ten for ten”– ten segments that look back on ten years of Reality Bomb, introduced by contributors and friends of the programs. This episode includes:

• Romance in Doctor Who (from episode 060) – Jenny Colgan and Kim Rogers talk about how, why and should romance be in Doctor Who. Introduced by Kim Rogers
• Planet Who: Le Fandom Français (from episode 077) – We talk to Pauline Serizel from Pepperpot about French fandom as chronicled in a recent documentary. Introduced by David Matthewman
• F*ck That Guy (from episode 055) – One of our most…enduring? comedy sketches starring Shannon Dohar and Kim Rogers. Introduced by Deb Stanish
• The Doctor Who Theme (from episode 005) – Alex Kennard’s audio essay on how the Doctor Who theme came to be and why it works so well. Introduced by Alex Kennard
• Con Safety and Doctor Who Conventions (from episode 071) – A panel from our special episode on con safety with Felicity Kuzinitz and Sage Young. Introduced by Sage Young
• Gallery of the Underrated: The Chase (from episode 048) – featuring BBC presenter and author Matthew Sweet. Introduced by Jim Sangster
• Variations on a Timeless Child: When Bad Retcons Happen To Good People (from episode 083) – Petra Mayer looks back on her worst day… as a Doctor Who fan. Introduced by Martin Hajovksy
• Spoiler Cops: Revenge With a Vengeance – Part Two The Vengeancing (from episode 030) – can Detective McDonough clear her name? starring Lizbeth Myles, Bill Evenson, Erik Stadnik, Alex Kennard and Felicity Brown. Introduced by Bill Evenson
• Excerpt from our “Calling the World” documentary (from episode 064). Introduced by Heather Berberet
• Editorial – A Life in Fandom (from episode 024 live in New York). Introduced by Shannon Dohar

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On the one hundred and ninth edition of Reality Bomb we’re back doing a live episode on Zoom! Graeme Burk and Joy Piedmont are joined by a panel that includes Kim Rogers, Lori Steuart, Max Kaschevsky and KatyBeth Schmid as they discuss (just in time for Doctor Who’s big 6-0) what the essential elements of Doctor Who actually are. Lori Steuart (who has been on the show since episode 001!) finally gets to be on Gallery of the Underrated as they discuss meta satire, clowns and much more with The Greatest Show of the Galaxy. And Jim Sangster hosts a super-sized edition of (Doctor Who) Would I Lie To You? All this plus what happens when bad wifi causes you to Zoom…into the future!

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On the one hundred and eighth edition of Reality Bomb, we’re counting down to the 60th anniversary and talking about trailers, titles and overall hype with Head Over Feels’ Sage Young and the Guardian’s Martin Belam. We bringing in Gareth Kavanaugh, editor of the Doctor Who comics fanzine Vworp Vworp to talk about adapting The Star Beast and what this could mean for adapting future Doctor Who comic strips. And hang on to your hats (or other headwear!), Is This Rumour Hot or Not? returns. Plus Hot take roulette… and the fun new (old) game Doctor Who fans are playing!

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On the one hundred and seventh edition of Reality Bomb, we’re talking with Kim Rogers and Jim Sangster about actress, signer, performer Queen of Queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race… and Doctor Who guest star Jinkx Monsoon. And we’re out of our depths as Emma O’Neill-Deitel brings Legend of the Sea Devils to the Gallery of the Underrated. Plus Scot Clarke ruminates further on Jinkx Monsoon and we have a special message… reminding you that Ncuti Gatwa is more attractive than you.

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On this special episode of Reality Bomb, Joy Piedmont talks with executive producer and writer Chris Chibnall, who recently concluded his four-year tenure showrunning Doctor Who. Joy talks with Chris about growing up as a fan, his experiences at the Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles in February, the Doctor as the Timeless Child, building a writers room and much, much more!

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