The Doctor Who Show

Which Doctor Who stories dig deepest into faith, gods, belief, and the divine?

From the black-and-white classics to the modern era, we’ve ranked our favourite episodes that wrestle with religion and unpack where each one takes the topic.

Got twenty minutes? Come with us.

And while you’re here... what would make your list? Drop us a line and tell us why.

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This month on the podcast, we saddle up and head for Mercy, Nevada, where the Doctor encounters a gunslinger, a disgraced alien doctor, a town full of terrified humans, and one hell of a moral dilemma.

We’re talking A Town Called Mercy - the 2012 Eleventh Doctor story that asks some pretty uncomfortable questions about mercy, vengeance, guilt and whether the Doctor gets to decide who deserves to live.

Before that, there’s the usual assortment of news and short topics, and afterwards we dig into the mailbag for a heap of listener feedback.

So...

There are some TV shows that are perfectly suited to Alternate Galaxies. And then there’s The X-Files, a show that Rob has loved since it first hit Australian television in 1994, watched from beginning to end multiple times, and spent his university years discussing with strangers on the early Internet. The problem? It’s over 200 episodes long, and Dave had somehow managed to go through the entire 1990s, the 2000s, the 2010s and most of the 2020s without watching it. 

So, we needed a plan.

That plan has been to throw Dave into the deep end...

Listener Brandon Moore set us a challenge this month: What are the greatest single episodes of Doctor Who that are part of larger, multi-part stories?

From the classics to Nu Who, we’ve picked our favourites and taken a look at what makes these individual episodes stand out.

If you’ve got 20m to spare, we’d love you to tune in.

What would make your list? Why not write in and let us know?

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Su...

In today’s episode we look at The Paradise of Death – the five-part BBC Radio 5 Doctor Who audio drama starring Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor, originally broadcast weekly from 27 August to 24 September 1993.

Before that, we kick things off with the usual mix of news and short topics. Then, after the audio drama chat, we open the mailbag for a ton of feedback from our listeners on a number of topics.

Enjoy, dear listener.

Contact us:

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Listener Frankie Naughton set us a challenge this month - who are the greatest directors from the classic era of Doctor Who?

From the atmospheric to the ambitious, the stylish to the inventive, we’ve picked our favourites and taken a look at what made their work stand out.

If you’ve got 20m to spare, we’d love you to tune in.

Who would make your list? Why not write in and let us know?

Contact us:

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Don’t Read the Comments is an irregular podcast on our feed where we ignore the show’s title and actually read online comments relating to something going on in the world of Doctor Who.

Today, Rob is reading comments from the Gallifrey subreddit relating to the latest rumours about the future of Doctor Who. Specifically, reports that American production company Electric Entertainment is interested in taking over the show, with David Tennant reportedly wanted back in the role of the Doctor.

Electric Entertainment boss Dean Devlin has since confirmed the company is interested in Doct...

Join Dave from the Doctor Who Show, Rob and Mark from 42 to Doomsday, and Richard from Spacefall: A Blakes 7 Podcast, after knocking back a few gin and tonics at Dave’s place and watching The Hand of Fear.

The story sees the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker, and Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen, investigating the discovery of a mysterious fossilised hand following a quarry explosion. Before long, Sarah is possessed by an alien consciousness, while the Doctor is left trying to work out exactly what has fallen to Earth and what it wants.

...

In today’s episode we look at The Tomb of the Cybermen - the first serial of the fifth season of Doctor Who, originally broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 September 1967. 

Before that, we kick things off with the usual mix of news and short topics. Then, after the TV episodes chat, we open the mailbag for a ton of feedback from our listeners on a number of topics.

Enjoy, dear listener.

Contact us:

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Email: hello@theDWshow.net
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As we sit here today, we know Doctor Who is going to tender at some stage - probably later this year. We also know BBC Studios will be throwing its hat into the ring when it does.

Basically, 'stuff' is happening and, eventually, a new Doctor is going to be cast.

So in the spirit of our specials 14 for 14 (August 8, 2021) and 21 Replacements For 12 (February 1, 2017), we're here to kick around our picks for the 16th Doctor.

We hope you like it.

Who would YOU cast as the 16th Doctor? Why not get...

Listener Kosta from Philadelphia USA set us a challenge this month – what are our top Doctor Who "comfort" stories?

If you’ve got 20m to spare, we’d love you to tune in.

What would your picks be? Why not write in and let us know?

Contact us:

Bluesky: @thedwshow.net
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Email: hello@theDWshow.net
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Don’t Read the Comments is an irregular podcast on our feed where we ignore the show’s title and actually read online comments relating to something going on in the world of Doctor Who.

Today, I'm reading comments from the Gallifrey subreddit relating to the very sad passing of Justin Richards, the prolific British author and editor whose dozens of Doctor Who novels, audio dramas, and reference books made him one of the franchise’s most influential writers outside of television.

Justin passed away with early-onset fronto-temporal dementia on June 28, 2026. He was 64.

Contac...

Back in March 2023 we discussed the Jodie Whittaker era of Doctor Who by selecting some episodes to revisit for the first time since broadcast.

That concept proved so popular - it's legitimately one of our most downloaded episodes ever - we're doing the same tonight for the Ncuti Gatwa era.

A year after the dust settled on Season 2 of Ncuti's era - and now, as we know, the RTD2 era as a whole - we watch some episodes and talk about two seasons of the show that have divided fandom ever since they first dropped...

In our May episode we were discussing the possibility of the 2026 Doctor Who Christmas Special being cancelled. Madness, people said, it can't be cancelled. That's crazy!

1.5 weeks later, on June 10, it was confirmed that the BBC had cancelled the special and Russell T Davies had announced his exit as showrunner and, by association, Bad Wolf as its production company. A lot happened that week, dear listener, as you may remember.

Tonight, what began as the news segment for the June episode takes on a life of its own. Rather than put out a 2-hour-plus episode...

Back in the ninth installment of Gin & TARDIS, the boys looked at a random assortment of orphaned Patrick Troughton episodes. That went down so well with listeners that tonight, Dave from the Doctor Who Show, Mark & Rob from 42 to Doomsday, and Richard from Spacefall: A Blakes 7 Podcast, are watching a grab bag of four unrelated William Hartnell episodes from the ‘Lost in Time’ DVD release. The episodes:

The Crusade - Episode 3
Galaxy 4 - Episode 3
The Daleks Master Plan - Episode 10
The Celestial Toymaker - Episode 4

And yes, there’s a musical number at the...

Listener Adrian Sturrock has set us a challenge this month – what are the top Doctor Who Biographies and Autobiographies?

If you’ve got 20m to spare, we’d love you to tune in.

What would your picks be? Why not write in and let us know?

Contact us:

Bluesky: @thedwshow.net
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This episode of Alternate Galaxies takes an impromptu, totally unplanned detour into the new Masters of the Universe film after the guys realised they'd both caught the film not long after opening day and it made for a perfect podcast topic.

Join them as they look at one of the most discussed genre films of recent times.

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In today’s episode we look at the 2008 TV story, The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky.

Fifty-two people across the world in eleven different time zones die at the exact same time. The only connection: they all have ATMOS installed in their vehicles. Martha Jones, now a UNIT doctor, summons the Tenth Doctor back to modern-day Earth to help figure out why, but an old enemy lies in wait...

Before that, we kick things off with the usual mix of news and short topics. Then, after the TV episodes chat, we open the mailbag for a...

Steve F 747 has set us a challenge this month – what are the top plot twists in Doctor Who?

If you’ve got 20m to spare, we’d love you to tune in.

What would your picks be? Why not write in and let us know?

Contact us:

Bluesky: @thedwshow.net
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Email: hello@theDWshow.net
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Join Dave from the Doctor Who Show, Rob and Mark from 42 to Doomsday, and Richard from Spacefall: A Blakes 7 Podcast, after knocking back a few gin and tonics at Dave’s place and watching 1996's Doctor Who: The Movie.

This podcast goes out two days short of the movie's 30th anniversary.

Developed as a co-production between Universal Studios and BBC Worldwide, it premiered on 12 May 1996 on the Canadian television station CITV in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 15 days before its first showing in the United Kingdom on BBC One and two days before being broadcast in the Un...

In today's episode we look at the 1994 Virgin New Adventure, Blood Harvest.

Dekker is a private eye, an honest one. But when Al Capone hires him to investigate a new joint called "Doc's", he knows this is one job he can't refuse. And just why are the Doctor and Ace selling illegal booze in a town full of murderous gangsters?

Meanwhile, Bernice has been abandoned on a vampire-infested planet outside normal space. There she meets a mysterious stranger called Romanadvoratrelundar — and discovers an ancient and malevolent power, linking 1929 Chicago with a lair of immortal evil.

Don't Read the Comments is an irregular podcast on our feed where we ignore the show’s title and actually read online comments relating to something going on in the world of Doctor Who.

Today, something a little different. With the passing of radio broadcaster James Valentine, who Rob crossed paths with early in his Doctor Who fandom in a rather significant way, and who many Australian Doctor Who fans will know if they were watching the Sylvester McCoy era on first broadcast, he talks unscripted about James' passing... and reads some comments.

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This episode offers a 10-minute full synopsis of the 1994 Virgin Books Doctor Who novel, Blood Harvest.

Since the book is now over 30 years old, we know many listeners may not have read it recently — or perhaps ever.

If you don’t want to feel left out of our Blood Harvest discussion on Sunday’s monthly show, this episode is the perfect way to refresh your memory or get up to speed beforehand.

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Fa...

A simple idea this month - what Doctor Who stories deserve a prequel?

If you've got 20m to spare, we'd love you to tune in.

What would your picks be? Why not write in and let us know?

Contact us:

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This month, we’re finally watching Children of Earth, the bleak Torchwood event series from 2009 that drags the team into a chilling five-day crisis involving an alien demand, government conspiracies, and moral choices that get darker by the hour. It’s a story that trades camp sci-fi adventure for psychological terror, where every decision has a cost and the line between right and wrong has disappeared.

Before that, we kick things off with the usual mix of news and short topics. Then, after the Children of Earth chat, we open the mailbag for a ton of feedback from...

Join Dave from the Doctor Who Show, Rob and Mark from 42 to Doomsday, and Richard from Spacefall: A Blakes 7 Podcast, after knocking back a few gin and tonics at Dave’s place and watching the brand-new special edition of Warriors of the Deep.

Warriors of the Deep is the first story of the 21st season of Doctor Who, which was broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on BBC1 from 5 to 13 January 1984.

In the story, two human power blocs, along with members of the Silurians and Sea Devils (the original rulers of the Earth), battle for control ov...

Back in November 2025 we discussed which living Doctor Who people we’d most like to see on a convention panel. Tonight the flipside of that list has landed on our desks to discuss.

For the 60th outing of THE LIST MAKERS, we examine which deceased Doctor Who people we wish were still around to appear in a convention-style format.

What would your picks be? Why not write in and let us know?

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This month, we’re sinking our teeth into State of Decay, the gothic Fourth Doctor adventure from 1980 that drops the TARDIS crew into a crumbling medieval world with vampires, ancient Time Lord history, and a castle that looks like it’s auditioning for a Hammer film.

Before that, we kick things off with the usual mix of news and short topics. Then, after the State of Decay chat, we open the mailbag for a ton of feedback from our listeners on a number of topics.

Enjoy, dear listener.

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For the 59th episode of THE LIST MAKERS, we discuss our top military stories from Doctor Who. These are the stories where soldiers, strategy, command structures, and the ethics of conflict collide with the Doctor’s worldview, sometimes reinforcing it, sometimes challenging it outright.

What would your picks be? Why not write in and let us know?

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Year 11 of the podcast begins with an episode shaped almost entirely by you.

We opened things up and invited listeners to ask us anything, and the response was brilliant. Doctor Who, genre TV, movies, music, what we do in real life — it’s all in here, as we work our way through your questions and let the conversation go where it wants to.

There’s a quick run through the news up top, a big listener mailbag on the back end, and plenty of tangents along the way. We love our listeners, and this episode is ver...

This episode of Alternate Galaxies heads to Deep Space Nine, the Star Trek series that broke the mould, and maybe still divides fans more than any other.

Dave has lived with DS9 for decades, knows its arcs, its politics, its slow burns and big payoffs. Rob is coming in cold(ish), watching it properly for the first time in the past few months and seeing it all with fresh eyes. Quite a contrast!

The guys dig into what DS9 was trying to do, how it evolved over seven seasons, the shift from episodic comfort food...

For the 58th episode of THE LIST MAKERS, we discuss our top nostalgic stories from Doctor Who. These are the stories which resonate alongside our personal history with the show and thus push all the right nostalgia buttons for us.

What would your picks be? Why not write in and let us know?

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After nearly a decade in the Upside Down, Stranger Things is finally complete and on this episode of Alternate Galaxies, we sit down to take in the whole saga, from the very start to the closing moments of the final episode. 

With the full story now on the table, we look at how the show evolved, what it was building toward (if it even knew itself), and how it holds together when viewed as one complete narrative rather than 9 years of waiting on a story that lasted 4 years in-universe.

We talk characters, themes, tonal shifts, n...

Well, here we are dear listener, at the end of 2025 - and the end of our 10th journey around the sun as a podcast.

In more recent years we've done something light and fluffy for the holidays, so tonight we continue that tradition and look at two 'fun' episodes from Nu Who - The Unicorn and the Wasp, and Time Heist.

The Unicorn and the Wasp is the seventh episode of the fourth series, which was aired on BBC One on 17 May 2008.

Time Heist is the fifth episode of the eighth series, which...

For the 57th episode of THE LIST MAKERS, we discuss our top classic seasons of Doctor Who. Incredible that it took us 57 episodes to reach this point but hey, better late than never! Frankly we've been having too much fun along the way to get to some of these more 'low hanging fruit' topics but, thanks to a listener suggestion for the Hat of Rassilon, we're finally doing it!

What would your picks be? Why not write in and let us know?

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Hi everyone – Dave here!

Many of us know a LOT about how TV was made during the classic era of Who, but I realised I don’t know much AT ALL about how modern Who (and TV generally) is made!

So, I invited friend of the podcast – and an Emmy winning producer – Dylan Rees on the show to discuss these matters! It’s a little more in depth than our usual style, but I hope you’ll find this one-off chat interesting!

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David Fisher was a writer who made a distinct mark on Doctor Who during the late 1970s and early 1980s, contributing a run of stories for the Tom Baker era that blended gothic atmosphere, humour, and great characters. 

His scripts include The Stones of Blood, The Androids of Tara, The Creature from the Pit, and The Leisure Hive. Four very different adventures that together showcase just how adaptable his writing was within the series.

Fisher also played a role in the origins of one of Doctor Who’s most beloved classics, although personal circumstances prevented him...

Join Dave from the Doctor Who Show, Rob from 42 to Doomsday, and Richard from Spacefall: A Blakes 7 Podcast, after knocking back a few gin and tonics at Dave’s place and watching Day of the Daleks.

Day of the Daleks is the first serial of the ninth season of Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 1 to 22 January 1972. It was the first of four Third Doctor serials to feature the Daleks, which returned to the series for the first time since The Evil of the Daleks (1967).

The Doctor and UNIT investigate th...

For the 56th episode of THE LIST MAKERS, we discuss which (living) Doctor Who people we'd most like to see on a convention panel. Will this be particularly challenging for Rob, given his total disinterest in such events? Where will Dave take his list? Between them, can they come up with the ultimate convention guest list?

What would your picks be? Why not write in and let us know?

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With the wait between THE REALITY WAR and the 2026 DOCTOR WHO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL lasting longer that the 1985 hiatus did (1 year 6 months and 24 days versus 1 year, 5 months, and 24 days), the only logical thing to do was make a pop record. Friend of the show (and sometime co-host) Mike Solko really shouldn't have put this idea in my head. Enjoy - Rob

DOCTOR IN RECESS

(Intro)
Eighteen months is too long to wait,
BBC please, don’t aggravate.

(Verse 1)
The TARDIS doors are shuttered,
The filming lights are dim,
We’re l...