Doctor Who Commentary – 7.1 ‘Asylum of the Daleks’

By Sarah Burrow, Caleb Woodbridge and Emma Sandrey

Posted on September 2, 2012

So Doctor Who is back on our televisions at last! Caleb Woodbridge and Sarah Burrow bring you their thoughts on episode one of series 7 along with brand new guest contributor Emma Sandrey.

Are the Daleks still an effective villain? What happened to all the different Daleks we were promised? Just how did Amy and Rory get to the point of divorce? We discuss this and more in this weeks commentary and of course we consider the impact of Jenna-Louise Coleman’s early appearance – and that twist!

Souffle anyone?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:04:02 — 29.5MB)

Doctor Who Review – 7.1 ‘Asylum of the Daleks’

By James Willetts

Posted on September 2, 2012

James gives us his review of ‘Asylum of the Daleks‘ as a first reaction ahead of our podcast commentary, ~~coming later today~~ online now! Does this story restore the Daleks as effective villains, or do they just rely on nostalgia value for their survival? SPOILERS ahoy!

It’s amazing that this episode wasn’t spoiled well ahead of broadcast, and it’s undoubtably better for it. There’s at least two twists in there that I don’t think anyone coming in blind will expect, so I’m going to save talking about those until the end so as to avoid spoiling it for you.

Let’s get right down to it. The Daleks are no longer a good Doctor Who villain. They survive more on nostalgia value than anything else, and there’s not really been a New Who episode that showcases them as potentially lethal threats since Dalek. The closest thing we’ve had to an episode in which the Daleks constitute a real threat since then is The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End, episodes which hardly stands as a high point for villainous masterplans.

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Opinion: Why the Doctor is not the core of Doctor Who

By Swithun Dobson

Posted on August 27, 2012

With Doctor Who returning to our screens shortly and the question “Doctor Who?” hanging over current storylines, Swithun Dobson considers Time Lords, TARDISes, and Time Travel to ask: what is the essence of the show?

Contrary to popular conceptions, at its core it’s not even about the Doctor. If we travel back to 1963 we do of course meet the TARDIS and the Doctor but we soon realise that they are the frame in which the story is hanged. Ostensibly most of the first two seasons revolve around the TARDIS team trying to get Ian and Barbara home to 1960s London after being kidnapped by the Doctor for rumbling his affairs, so why take a roundabout route visiting Kublai Khan, Robespierre and the Sensorites?

Interestingly, from the modern Who perspective, none of the early serials focus on the character of the Doctor. The earliest story is The Tenth Planet but that just establishes that he can rejuvenate; the whole mythos of regeneration comes a lot later. Even The Deadly Assassin which establishes the 12 regeneration limit really focuses on the Master trying to cheat death.
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Interview: Philip Reeve – author of Mortal Engines, Larklight, Goblins and more!

By P G Bell and Caleb Woodbridge

Posted on August 25, 2012

Philip Reeve – the nicest man in sci-fi

To celebrate our makeover, we’re very pleased to bring you an interview with multiple award winning author, Philip Reeve. Philip is the author of some of the finest YA sci-fi and fantasy literature on the market, including the magnificent Mortal Engines quartet, the Larklight trilogy, Here Lies Arthur and his new comic fantasy, Goblins.We’re big fans of Philip’s work, so it was a real treat to speak to him in-depth about the books and films that insprire his stories, his writing process, and why the current trend for dystopian fiction might be leading us down the wrong path. He also had a lot to say about the subject of Steampunk and why Doctor Who needs a bit of a rethink!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:43 — 58.3MB)

Welcome to the new site!

By Impossible Podcasts

Posted on August 25, 2012

Welcome to the brand new Impossible Podcasts website!

We hope you like the changes – they’re designed to be pleasing on the eye and easy to navigate. We’ve got a glut of exciting new content coming up over the next few days, from new articles through to our Asylum of the Daleks preview. Stay tuned, and let us know what you think!

Remember, we’d love for you to get involved with the show, so if you’d like to write for us or Skype in on a discussion, get in touch!

There are loads of behind the scenes benefits to the new site. But here are some of the changes we’ve made that will directly impact you, our faithful audience… Continue reading →

Points of Who #8 – We’re Regenerating!

By Caleb Woodbridge, Sarah Burrow and P G Bell

Posted on August 4, 2012

In a special edition of our monthly news-and-views roundup (recorded before the sad death of Mary Tamm), we look forward to some of the exciting changes in store for Impossible Podcasts.

New website! New content! Whether you come to us for our Doctor Who commentaries, our discussions on sci-fi and fantasy TV, films and books, our interviews or our video game columns, we think you’ll love our new look. Fresher and easier to navigate, the new site will launch on ~~Saturday 18th August~~ Saturday 25th August, with a raft of new content.

In this week’s podcast, we outline the major changes and interview acclaimed horror writer Simon Kurt Unsworth about his new regular column for us, exploring the ups-and-downs of writing for a living. Plus, we tell you, faithful listener, about the many new ways you can get involved with the podcast, so download it now if you’d like to be a part of it!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:33 — 21.6MB)