Author Archives: Sarah Burrow

About Sarah Burrow

Sarah came to Cardiff of her own free will in 2007 and hasn't managed to escape yet. Her university years saw her become President of the Harry Potter society, develop a fondness for vampires and a taste for red wine. She may have done a bit of studying as well, though she firmly denies this. Although Harry Potter remains her first love, she has become an enthusiastic fan of New Who. She is comfortable with her knowledge of Silurian and Slitheen but she is happy to let the others deal with the old monsters from the days of papier mache and spell-o-tape...sorry sellotape. Sarah is a fan of urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and dystopian series and is occasionally led astray by police procedurals. She is a regular on the podcast although has no idea how she got there! When not indulging her geek habit she works as an Occupational Therapist in her spare time.

Doctor Who Commentary – 5.12 ‘The Pandorica Opens’

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Join Sarah and Peter as they plough headlong into the first part of Doctor Who’s Series 5 finale!

It’s been a long journey since ‘The Eleventh Hour‘ and, as Moffat moves his pieces into position for the final confrontation, we chart his progress through the series so far. Did he deliver on his early promises? Has he beaten Russell T Davies at his own game? And, more importantly, has the production team found a way to lessen the embarrassment of those awful new-look Daleks? All this plus: zombie Cybermen, rubbish Romans, horror movie homages and the speech to end all speeches. Oh, and Rory’s back! Yay!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:09 — 50.5MB)

Doctor Who Commentary – 5.11 ‘The Lodger’

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A little later than usual, Caleb and Sarah continue our run of Series 5 commentaries.

Comedy masterpiece or a joke too far? We take a long hard look at Gareth Roberts’ light-hearted fish-out-of-water tale and ask some serious questions. Did this story forever change the tone of Matt Smith’s portrayal of the Doctor? Could the show ever work with a permanent male companion? And would James Corden be the one for the role? Let us know what you think, in the comments below or via Facebook and Twitter!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:11 — 45.1MB)

Doctor Who Commentary – 5.10 ‘Vincent and the Doctor’

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Tony Curran as Vincent Van Goch holding a self portrait painting

Caleb and Sarah discuss Scottish accents, art and death, rom-coms and more in our fan commentary on series 5 Doctor Who episode, ‘Vincent and the Doctor’!

The Doctor and Amy meet famous painter Vincent van Gogh in this episode penned by none other than Richard Curtis. But is Saturday teatime sci-fi the right slot for exploring themes of depression and suicide? Or is this episode proof that Doctor Who can be broader and deeper on the small screen than weekly alien invasions and unlikely raising of the stakes to imperil all of reality itself? Let us know what you think, in the comments or via Twitter and Facebook!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:15 — 50.8MB)

Points of Who #7 – Caroline John, Series 7 and more

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Caroline John as Liz Shaw

Caroline John, 1940 – 2012

Welcome to our monthly round-up of Doctor Who news, views and rumours.

We reflect on the sad death of Caroline John and examine her role as Dr Liz Shaw, one of the most distinctive companions of the Classic Series. Was she dropped for being too strong a character, or did the show’s new Earth-bound format simply work against her?

We also look ahead to the debut of Series 7 and the return of the Daleks. Listen to our theories about what lies in store!

Plus, we make a couple of very exciting announcements about the future of the podcast, including your chance to take part!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:47 — 23.6MB)

Doctor Who Commentary – 5.09 ‘Cold Blood’

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Your intrepid hosts, Sarah Burrow and P.G. Bell conclude their commentary on the return of the Silurians. Frankly, it could have done with a few dinosaurs…

As the humans and Silurians teeter on the brink of war, we discuss the thorny issue of gender politics in crisis situations, wonder why the new Silurians act more like Cybermen than reptiles, and ask why on earth Chris Chibnall decided to have a secondary character start narrating the action half way through the story.

And, of course, there’s that ending…

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:41 — 49.2MB)

Doctor Who Commentary – 5.08 ‘The Hungry Earth’

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There’s something amiss in the Welsh valleys (isn’t there always?) but fear not – your commentators Sarah Burrow and P.G. Bell are here to talk you through it.

As Moffat redesigns his second classic monster of the series, we ask whether the new-look Silurians are really such a failure. There’s also a brief discussion of POV Monstervision, the logistics of running the world’s biggest deep-core drilling operation from a couple of laptops in a shed, and whether Chris Chibnall could have crammed any more Pertwee references into this story if he’d tried. All it’s missing is the Whomobile!

Now there’s an idea for the 50th anniversary…

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:13 — 46.9MB)