Pull To Open: A Random Doctor Who Podcast

Achoo! Humanity may have survived millions of years into the future, but apparently the common cold is still an extinction-level threat. The Ark sends the First Doctor, Steven and brand-new companion Dodo aboard an enormous generation ship packed with humans, Monoids, miniature criminals and one very real elephant—then delivers one of the greatest cliffhangers in Doctor Who history. Shame about what happens next. Join us as we jump 700 years into the future to investigate Beatles-wigged cyclopes, the galaxy’s biggest miniaturization plot hole, suspiciously accommodating invisible aliens, and a tale of colonial anxiety that looks very different through 2026 eyes...

Doctor Who’s ⁠Cold War⁠ has the perfect pitch: an Ice Warrior wakes up aboard a Soviet nuclear submarine in 1983, with Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, Liam Cunningham, Tobias Menzies and David Warner trapped beneath the Arctic ice. So why does it feel less like The Hunt for Red October with a Martian and more like an ordinary Doctor Who episode that happens to be wet? Join us as we crack open Skaldak’s armor, question whether submerged missiles can actually launch, salute the man who may have saved the real world in 1983, and prosecute Mark Gatiss for choosing the wrong Ul...

Doctor Who meets the Devil! No, wait—sorry, the Doctor insists it’s actually science. The Dæmons brings the UNIT era to full folk-horror boil, complete with white witches, heat barriers, Morris dancers, one extremely patient gargoyle, and Roger Delgado’s Master hiding in plain sight with the diabolical alias “Mr. Magister.” But is this beloved Pertwee classic a perfect fusion of rationalism and vibes, or does its “all magic is science” sermon accidentally sneak magic into Doctor Who through the church crypt? Join us as we summon Azal, praise Bok, admire the Brigadier’s five rounds rapid, and ask the only...

Mind the gap—and the homicidal fungus. The Web of Fear takes Doctor Who underground for a six-part siege featuring eerily convincing Tube tunnels, bulletproof Yeti and, halfway through, one highly suspicious Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart. But is this rediscovered classic genuinely terrifying, or an overextended web of tunnel shenanigans, magical foam and comedy accents? Join us as we investigate the mystery of the still-missing Brigadier debut, defend Patrick Troughton’s right to say “graunched,” and ask whether the Great Intelligence’s master plan can withstand even a little constructive thinking. Next stop: Yeti.

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Let’s Kill Hitler promises history’s biggest time-travel trolley problem, then stuffs Hitler in a cupboard and turns into River Song: The Origin Story at hyperspeed. Steven Moffat’s chaotic midseason premiere delivers bootstrap paradoxes, poison lipstick, Amy and Rory unknowingly parenting their own daughter, and a human-shaped spaceship staffed by tiny people with homicidal antibodies. But can Matt Smith and Alex Kingston’s peak chemistry sell a redemption arc that races from murder to total self-sacrifice in roughly one evening? Join us as we punch fascism, debate baby Hitler, update our wrist devices and decide whether this bold, bo...

Christmas is canceled. Doctor Who isn’t. But as RTD exits under a cloud of Winternox, we’re all a bit Bafflers about what comes next. Pull To Open pours one out, and thrashes out where the show should go next. Hard or soft reboot? Continue with Billie Piper or start afresh? And who can handle the hardest showrunning job in all of time and space? Join us for the finest bespoke headcanon around, from multi-companion Doctors to alt-universe Daleks!

Pull To Open: Christmas Is Canceled

Hosts: Pete Pachal and...

Open the box, Pull To Open listeners—but be sure your mind is ready. Kinda is the kinda… er kind of Doctor Who story where the themes are so rich you don’t care what it looks like. Which is just as well because the jungle looks like a garden center, the villain looks like an ’80s music-video nightmare, and the real monster may be your own mind. Peter Davison’s trip to Deva Loka banks hard into Buddhism, colonialism, feminism, telepathy, forbidden apples, silent men, and Hindle going so far over the top he may actually achieve orbit. But is thi...

Doctor Who fans have long feared Fear Her—and not necessarily for the reasons the episode intended. A lonely child, a suburban street, a cupboard-dad, a doodle monster, a rogue Isolus, and one baffling Olympic torch relay all add up to what may be the most filler-y filler episode Russell T Davies ever filled. But is it really as bad as its reputation suggests? Chris reaches for the Ogron almost immediately, while Pete shocks the universe by defending the value of low-stakes Doctor Who, especially when David Tennant and Billie Piper are still bringing the charm. Grab your crayons, ke...

It’s the end of the universe as Moffat knows it, and somehow we feel fine. The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang two-parter throws every monster in the closet at Stonehenge, locks the Doctor in the most mythic box since the TARDIS, shoots Amy, explodes reality, gives Rory 2,000 years of plastic husband duty, and then fixes everything with a wedding phrase. Does it all make sense? Frequently! Does it cheat? Occasionally! Does it still make Team PTO cry happy tears? Like Karen Gillan reading the deepest-blue terms and conditions. Join us as we salute Matt Smith yelling at sp...

The Leisure Hive should be a relaxing holiday: a beachside opening, fabulous costumes, and Lalla Ward dressed like she just won regatta season. Instead, we find a story with enough ideas for three serials and enough pacing for half of one. Is it a commentary on nuclear war? A tourism satire? A hard-sci-fi flex? A lizard-mafia caper? Somehow it’s all of them, plus the moment Doctor Who quietly kills off the Randomizer and ushers in the John Nathan-Turner era with neon, synths, and pure style. Join us as we step into the tachyon chamber to confront old-man Tom Ba...

Come one, come all to the Psychic Circus — where the audience kills, the clowns are robots, and the Doctor may be only one striped scarf away from becoming one himself. This week, Pull To Open tackles The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, a late-McCoy oddity that somehow manages to be creepy, funny, ambitious, and weirdly relevant all at once. Is the Chief Clown an all-time villain? Are the Gods of Ragnarok a brilliant meta-commentary or a giant last-minute shrug? And most importantly: is the Doctor, in fact, a hippie? Grab some popcorn and keep your hands inside the clown ca...

Five years, 160 stories, one increasingly suspicious Randomizer. Pull To Open has reached the exact midpoint of its mad dash through all of Doctor Who, so Pete and Chris are taking a break from the usual TL;DW chaos to ask the big questions: How did this thing start? When did the podcast actually get good? Which Doctors and eras has the Randomizer weirdly favored — or avoided — and why does Doctor Who somehow work better in random order than almost any franchise alive? Join us as we look back on listener Homojis, cursed pirate detours, guest-star highlights, production growing pains, and...

September 7, 1987: a date that lives in Doctor Who infamy—at least for Chris, who rage-quit the show the moment Time and the Rani introduced the Seventh Doctor in the most cursed way imaginable. Bad wigs, mangled aphorisms, quarry overload, neon overkill, and a regeneration scene that practically dares you to change the channel: this one has it all. But is the story merely a disaster, or a pivotal disaster? Join us as we revisit Sylvester McCoy’s bumpy debut, marvel at Kate O’Mara’s all-time great “Rani pretending to be Mel” performance, and ask how the same show that made Ca...

The Sea Devils should be an all-timer: the Master returns, the Navy shows up, the Doctor tries to broker peace, and the monsters have one of the most iconic “emerging from the sea” entrances ever. And yet… why do we learn so little about Sea Devil society? Why is the prison run by a duffer with sword décor and futuristic venetian blinds TVs? And why does this story quietly force the Doctor into the same moral corner as Doctor Who and the Silurians — with a choice that looks an awful lot like annihilation? Strap on your string vest: we’re goi...

Pull To Open goes on location! Pete and Chris hit Gallifrey One in Los Angeles as total Gally virgins, gawping at “chemicals on fire” sunsets, accidentally learning how expensive fandom can be, and collecting hot takes like they’re limited-edition prints. Along the way: Peter Davison (and the Tom Baker advice he still can’t hear), Millie Gibson popping in like it’s no big deal, and a convention floor vibe check that can best be summarized by one hoodie: “I told you Disney was a bad idea.” Plus: fans tell us where Doctor Who goes next… including the boldest pitch of...

Some stories upgrade the villains. This one upgrades everything. We venture to Pete’s World to face the stompiest reintroduction of a classic foe in rRise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel. But are these metal men truly scary, or are they just Bluetooth bullies from Big Tech? Let’s debate the genius of rewriting Cyber-history, discuss what the story steals from Spare Parts, and say goodbye (maybe?) to Mickey. Wherever you land on this story, you have to admire it for accurately predicting Apple AirPods.

Give your own rating for Rise of t...

It’s the Second Doctor’s second story, and he’s already cross-dressing, bashing heads, and doing the worst German accent this side of Oktoberfest. The Highlanders is a story where the Doctor flails through post-regeneration weirdness while Ben, Polly, and proto-companion Jamie navigate the aftermath of Culloden and a plot to sell Scots into slavery. With violent slapstick, dodgy disguises, and an unexpected showdown on a boat, this might be the most violent—and historically faithful—Doctor Who story ever made. But does the Randomizer’s gift of Jamie McCrimmon come wrapped in tartan triumph… or just more post-battle tr...

Season seven of Pull To Open begins where all great potholing expeditions do: deep underground, with claw marks from the Randomizer and a moral crisis waiting at the exit. This week it’s Doctor Who and the Silurians, the only story bold enough to put “Doctor Who” in the title, and then end by asking: “So… was that a genocide?” Pete and Chris debate Malcolm Hulke’s surprisingly textured reptiles, UNIT’s “sealed permanently” semantics, and why Pertwee is somehow fully formed in his second story. Plus: an experimental Whomoji where nobody knows the answer, an extremely nerdy Bessie license-plate detour...

Long before Skynet, the British Post Office built its own murderbot. In The War Machines, a supercomputer called WOTAN tries to conquer the world by... hypnotizing secretaries and constructing clunky Dalek knockoffs in a warehouse. And honestly? It almost works. Join us as we revisit the First Doctor’s most tech-forward outing, featuring the debut of companions Ben and Polly, the Inferno Club (not that one), face-sucking elevators, and a press conference for the ages. Is this the beginning of UNIT-era vibes? Did the GPO invent AGI? And wait, did they seriously name-check Jimmy Savile?! Tune in for evil ac...

What happens when the Daleks land in 1930s New York and start questioning who they are? You get one of Doctor Who’s strangest detours for a marquee monster, where the Cult of Skaro grapples with ambition, identity, and a makeover ambitious enough for a Broadway musical. We dig into how Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks blend showbiz sparkle with Hooverville grit, why Dalek Sec’s big evolutionary leap still resonates, and how a story filled with showgirls, pig slaves, and lightning-powered science ends up delivering some of the most intriguing self-reflection the Daleks have ever atte...

Ahoy, space scallywags! This week the Randomizer maroons us in The Space Pirates, the six-part “epic” so padded it should come with its own flotation device. Join us as we navigate Argonite economics, Star Trek knockoff vibes, Clancy's comedy moustache, a CEO who is definitely up to something, and a TARDIS crew who spends most of the story confused, kidnapped, or both. Is this Bob Holmes’ secret experiment? A proto–frontier-in-space? Or simply the BBC showing off their 1969 model shop? Whatever it is… grab your magnets and hold on.

Give your own rating for The Space...

Doctor Who’s biggest monster gets his due—or does he? The Randomizer drops us into The Power of Kroll, the soggiest segment of the Key to Time season, where the squid is supersized but the stakes… maybe not so much. Join us as we wade through methane, musical glass-shattering, suspicious swampies, and the curious absence of K9. Is Bob Holmes’ least favorite script really that bad, or are we just blinded by all the green body paint?

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Doctor Who is back, babes! The BBC has reclaimed its Time Lord, and Pull To Open is here with a full transatlantic debrief. What does Disney’s departure mean for the future of the franchise? What might RTD’s newly announced 2026 Christmas Special look like? Will it be the final chapter of RTD 2.0 or the beginning of something entirely new? Join us for Rose-tinted speculation, companion casting theories, fandom grievances, and way too many ideas for how to fix the streaming rights vortex. Plus: Jelly Babies, Susan, and why the Santas from "The Christmas Invasion" might just be coming back...

It’s the second Ice Age and Britannicus Base is under siege—by glaciers, bureaucracy, and a hissy Martian warlord with grabby hands. Join us as we dig into The Ice Warriors, the monster debut that screams “classic” but quietly whispers “fix me.” Are the Warriors even wearing armor? How does Jamie know Shakespeare? And did humanity really get rid of all the plants? The Randomizer serves us a slow-burn base-under-siege with a plot twist that feels… scientifically questionable. But we’re here for Penley’s beard, Clent’s drama, and Victoria’s HR complaint. Also: there's a bear. A real one.

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We are amused. Even Queen Victoria couldn’t keep a straight face through this lycanthropic slice of Tennant-era mayhem. Tooth and Claw is a kung-fu-kicking, wolf-howl-screaming, Torchwood-originating slice of steampunk nonsense, and honestly? It rules. The TARDIS misses Ian Dury and lands in the middle of an accidental backdoor pilot for Torchwood—with kung fu monks (???), an anti-wolf diamond laser, and a Queen who just wants these grinning time travelers gone. Does it all hold up? Sort of. Does it matter? Not really. Werewolves are real, the monarchy may be cursed, and Rose just might be the Bad Wolf agai...

Doctor Who gets political, camp, and candy-coated all at once in The Happiness Patrol. On Terra Alpha, Helen A rules with a smile—and a gun—while her confectionary executioner, The Candy Man, dishes out death by fondant. Pete and Chris dive into this neon-noir dystopia, unpack the not-so-subtle Thatcher parallels, and debate whether Sylvester McCoy’s most infamous outing is biting satire, glorious camp, or both. Happiness will prevail… but only if the Randomizer allows it.

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What’s it like to work on Doctor Who and Torchwood when you’re not in the spotlight—but still right there among the monsters, costumes, and chaos? In this very special live episode recorded at Long Island Who, Pete and Chris chat with two veterans of the Whoniverse: Mickey Lewis, a monster actor and novelist with stories to spare (including some very punk-rock prose the BBC might not approve of), and Amy Benedict, a Hollywood mainstay whose time on Torchwood: Miracle Day gave her a fresh outsider’s perspective on the show’s darker corners. From Dalek mishaps to John Ba...

TOMTIT jokes. Chronovores. Diapers. That one time the Doctor ran interference with a cork and a fork. Welcome to The Time Monster — a Pertwee six-parter that throws everything into the vortex, including Atlantis, bird gods, and a TARDIS nesting doll. Is this Jon Pertwee’s “so bad it’s good” masterpiece? Or just a cautionary tale about letting the Master go full academia? We try to make sense of the nonsense, analyze why the Master needs to chill with the bird metaphors, and launch a bold theory: Clara Oswald is Kronos. Fight us.

Give your own r...

Dinosaurs in Doctor Who? Always a risky proposition—especially when they’re on a BBC budget in 1974. Invasion of the Dinosaurs tries to roar, but often just… stands there looking sleepy. Still, there’s more to this six-parter than claymation T-rexes. Sarah Jane gets her best early outing as a journalist, UNIT is (mostly) back together, and Mike Yates makes a shocking heel turn. Add in Operation Golden Age, one of Classic Who’s most bonkers conspiracies, and you’ve got a story that’s as much political paranoia as prehistoric spectacle. Just don’t expect Jurassic Park. Maybe Jurassic parked...

Memory, manipulation, and moon landings collide in one of the most audacious season openers in Doctor Who history. In The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon, Steven Moffat unleashes the Silence — a monster so terrifying, you forget them the moment you look away — and dares viewers to keep up with a non-linear plot packed with space-suited children, timey-wimey double Doctors, and a shockingly competent Nixon. But does all the complexity serve the story, or is it storytelling gymnastics for its own sake? The team digs into Moffat’s high-wire act of serialization, the emotional weight behind Amy's and River...

We park the Randomizer for a moment of reflection on the Ncuti Gatwa era — an time of goblins, gods, wish worlds, and controversies that may have rewritten more than canon. From reshoots and reality wars to Billie Piper’s surprise return and Disney’s uncertain handshake, we dive deep into what worked (hello, 73 Yards), what didn’t (Robot Revolution, anyone?), and whether Doctor Who got too much sugar in its tea this time around. Grab your sonic and settle in for a lukewarm take that might still burn your tongue.

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When the Twelfth Doctor trades the TARDIS for a mop at Coal Hill School, awkwardness is bound to follow. Join us as we revisit The Caretaker, an episode packed with high-stakes parent-teacher nights, questionable robot threats, and a love triangle that quickly goes off the rails. Can Clara balance dating Danny Pink and running down corridors with the Doctor? And is Peter Capaldi’s cantankerous caretaker disguise fooling anyone? Even Courtney? Ring the school bell—class with Pull To Open is officially in session.

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Terry Nation returns! But not with Daleks — this time it’s androids, clones, and possibly the most ill-advised eyepatch in Who history. The Randomizer has pulled us into The Android Invasion, a UNIT-adjacent tale with a suspiciously quiet pub, some surprisingly trigger-happy fingers, and a plan so convoluted, it makes a Moffat finale look grounded. Join us as we unravel a story where the twist is that the twist is obvious, Tom Baker takes a dive, and Liz Sladen’s face falls off — literally. If you’ve ever dreamed of a Doctor Who/Stepford Wives crossover filmed in a quaint Bri...

Is it a medieval space opera or a green-skinned fever dream? The Curse of Peladon has it both ways, complete with a courtly Pertwee, a princess-posing Jo, and the most phallic alien ever approved for Saturday tea time. Join us as we decode this gothic interstellar allegory about joining galactic federations (or maybe the European Economic Community), uncover who’s behind the spooky beast attacks, and decide if the Ice Warriors are still chill. Also: shoutouts to Alpha Centauri, the most anxious diplomatic appendage in Who history, and a brief mention of the Time Lords… remember them?

<...

How do you stick the landing for a story about a fake world that’s made of wishes? You let your villain shine, sprinkle in some glorious cameos, and insert a twist that dials the emotional resonance to 11. Somehow, between all the fourth-wall-breaking and nonsensical plot twists, Russell T. Davies wraps up Ncuti Gatwa’s second season of Doctor Who in a way that does more than satisfy—it slaps. Not every plot thread gets fully explored, but the ones that matter actually make sense(!) and are revealing about the characters we care about. And there’s fun to be had...

The Doctor’s stuck in a surreal 1950s fever dream, UNIT’s been rebranded as a life insurance agency, and wish-granting gods are running amok. What is even happening in Wish World?! Pete and Chris dive headfirst into RTD’s mind-bending, logic-challenged spectacle that dares to connect the Rani, Poppy, Conrad, and possibly Susan through some extremely wishful thinking. Is this the Doctor’s most confusing domestic life yet? Are Mastodon skeletons the new Macra? Is this what happens when RTD binges The Prisoner, WandaVision, and a box of Target novels?  This one’s more ride than story — but oh, what a ri...

It turns out our dress rehearsal of The Interstellar Song Contest was missing one extremely important reveal! In this emergency analysis of the post-credits scene, we tackle the surprise regeneration of Mrs. Flood into a new Time Lady villain—Archie Panjabi’s take on the classic Rani. Is this just a nostalgia throwback, or are we in for a legit cosmic power play? And what does this say about bigeneration, the show’s new favorite toy? Tune in for rants, theories, and your favorite meta-commentary on meta-commentary — plus Pete accidentally hot-takes his way into agreeing with Steven Moffat. For some rea...

The Interstellar Song Contest is a full-on sensory overload: galactic glam, massive stakes, and more killer hooks than a Skybox full of Hellions. In this hot take, we break down the Doctor’s most bombastic outing yet — complete with AI cameos, shocking twists, and one jaw-dropping moment that might just redefine the Doctor’s moral compass. Has Russell T Davies gone too far, or just far enough? Join us for a voyage through pop, politics, and planetary peril.

And yes, we did eventually get to that post-credits scene. Listen to our full breakdown of the bi...

In The Story & the Engine, the Doctor finds himself in a Nigerian barbershop… on a spaceship… on the back of a spider… in the realm of living stories. You with us so far? Good — because the story’s just getting started. Join Pete and Chris as they dissect one of the most surreal, ambitious episodes in Doctor Who history, from map headgames to moral metaphysics. Come for the cosmic barbershop, stay for the existential vibes.

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It's a Lucky Day… or is it? Is this a bold stand for truth in the age of misinformation, or an unsubtle lecture about trusting the deep state? Can conspiracy theorists exist in a world where UNIT is canon? And what’s the deal with Conrad’s podcast? From shrieks to lip gloss, Mrs. Flood to memory worms, we unpack all the continuity—and the politics. But sorry, we can’t spare a 50p piece.

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