The Doctor Who world lost one of its most important creative voices with the passing of Justin Richards. This week, Christian Cawley and James McLean celebrate his remarkable contribution to the Whoniverse and discuss why his work mattered to generations of fans.

From the Virgin New Adventures to BBC Books, Big Finish audio dramas, comics, and countless reference works, Justin Richards helped define Doctor Who during the years it was off television—and continued shaping the franchise long after its return.

Christian and James both experienced the books when they were released, back when there wa...

Christian Cawley and James McLean address some recent show reviews and consider a growing trend in major fandoms: the desire to rewind the clock, and remove episodes, or movies, that don’t align.

Following a surprising Apple Podcasts review that labelled certain eras of Doctor Who as “ersatz,” they dive into the psychology of canon, the reality of “brand positivity,” and why big studios might actually consider wiping the slate clean.

This episode first aired on our Patreon. Support the Kasterborous Archive on Patreon, and unlock interviews and "lost" items from our old website.

Our top...

In this episode of Kasterborous, Christian Cawley and James McLean take a trip down memory lane to discuss the infamous "wilderness years" of Doctor Who. 

Inspired by current industry headlines and the recent status of the series, they recall and reflects on how they—and the wider fandom—navigated the period following the show's 1989 cancellation. 

Key topics this week

The "Cancellation" Conversation: We break down the current state of Doctor Who and explore whether rumors of cancellation are merely a strategic attempt to generate discourse or a genuine reflection of industry instability. 

1...

Christian, Brian, and James dive into the complex, hodgepodge world of special effects in Classic Doctor Who. From the creative ingenuity required to mask limited budgets to the philosophical debate between practical effects and modern CGI, the team explores what makes certain classic effects timeless while others fall short.

Key Discussion Points:

The Art of "Classic" FX: Discussion on why classic Doctor Who effects often feel more engaging than seamless modern CGI, specifically the audience's enjoyment in understanding the "how-to" behind the curtain.

Practical vs. CGI: Why practical effects, such as...

The TARDIS is changing hands—or at least, the keys might be. In a massive shake-up, the BBC has officially put Doctor Who out to tender, signaling a potential end to the current Russell T Davies era. While the show is far from cancelled, the search for a new production house to take the helm has sent shockwaves through the fandom.

Join Christian Cawley and James McLean as they break down the implications of this news. What does it mean for the future of the series? Could this open the door for a radical creative shift, or ar...

This week on Kasterborous, Christian chats with Gareth Kavanagh about the latest Kickstarter from Cutaway Comics, Paradise Towers: Unalive the Multiverse.

Returning to the neon-soaked world of Doctor Who's classic 1987 story Paradise Towers, the new graphic novel continues the adventures of the Kangs, Rezzies, and Caretakers as a fresh threat emerges from across the multiverse. The project is written by Sean Mason and builds on Cutaway's previous Paradise Towers comics. 

Visit the Paradise Towers: Unalive the Multiverse Kickstarter.

Christian and Gareth discuss:

Why Paradise Towers remains such a rich setting nearly 40 y...

You cannot have helped but notice that rumours are swirling about the future of Doctor Who, with tabloid reports suggesting that next year’s series and the 2026 Christmas special are facing cancellation. We dig into the reality behind these headlines, the struggle to find the next Time Lord, and why the current climate of “content saturation” is creating such an atmosphere of uncertainty.

Quick TL;DR -- we don’t buy the “no one wants to play the Doctor” schtick, and nor should you.

This chat does interrupt previously-scheduled chat about Mind Warp. We will be picking t...

Christian Cawley and James McLean reach the final episode of The Mysterious Planet — and by this point, the commentary itself may be more entertaining than the serial under discussion. 

As the pair pick apart collapsing pacing, endless corridors, meaningless courtroom interruptions, and the baffling lack of anything recognisably “Earth-like” about Ravalox, the conversation expands into a broader discussion about Doctor Who itself: companion writing, Colin Baker’s wasted strengths, the failures of Trial of a Time Lord as a format, and whether the season could have worked better as a genuine deconstruction of the Doctor. 

There’s no...

Christian Cawley and James McLean continue their Trial of a Time Lord marathon with Episode 3 of The Mysterious Planet — and the cracks are beginning to show.

What starts as a nostalgic conversation about VHS tins, HMV trips, and the ritual of physical media quickly becomes a forensic dissection of pacing problems, intrusive courtroom scenes, and a strangely muted “it was Earth all along” reveal.

Along the way, the pair discuss Robert Holmes’ recycled story ideas, the abandoned "Yellow Fever and How to Cure It," unreliable narration in Trial of a Time Lord, and why the serial f...

Christian Cawley and James McLean return to discuss the increasingly uncertain future of television — starting with reports that AMC will become the US streaming home for classic-era Doctor Who.

Does the AMC deal mean Doctor Who is heading back toward an American co-production model? Or is this simply another distribution agreement being overanalysed by a fandom starved for news?

(We think it might be that one ^^...)

The conversation expands into a much broader discussion about the current state of television and streaming: collapsing audience attention spans, the “age of suffocation” caused by overwhelming amount...

In this episode, Christian Cawley, James McLean, and Brian Terranova reunite to look back at the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie. It was a night of high stakes, big budgets, and a transition that would define the "wilderness years" for a generation of fans.

This week:

* Brian Terranova Explains the PAL Problem: We welcome back the podcast’s original co-host to discuss his experience watching the movie’s US premiere on Fox and the "commercial break" mishaps that haunted his VHS recordings for years. Brian reveals why UK audiences have never actually heard Paul McGann’s real...

We dive headlong into the second installment of The Mysterious Planet this week, only to find a struggle with the overarching structure of The Trial of a Time Lord.

From the pitfalls of 1980s "stunt casting" to the surprisingly accurate technological predictions of the mid-80s, we explore why this era of Doctor Who often feels like a struggle between a standalone story and a courtroom drama.

Our key talking points

Christian Cawley and James McLean settle in for a long-overdue rewatch of The Trial of a Time Lord, the Sixth Doctor’s epic 14-part swan song. Things kick off in signature style with a false start on the wrong episode, followed by a deep dive into the high-budget model work and low-budget "starched doily" fashion of 1986...

This is the first part of our commentary/talking over The Mysterious Planet, with each subsequent installment coming to your podcast app over the next few weeks.

However, if you want the whole thing in one go, you'll find it...

This week, Christian Cawley and James McLean prepare for the journey they’ve avoided for over 500 episodes: the 14-part epic, The Trial of a Time Lord. 

As the longest single serial since The Daleks' Master Plan, it was intended to save the show, but instead, it became a fascinating, frustrating mirror of Doctor Who’s real-world struggle for survival in 1986.

No shownotes as such this week, but look out for discussion of:

The binge-culture disconnect: We discuss the "memory of disappointment" surrounding the 14-week structure. Does a story this long work better in th...

In this week's chat, Christian and James revisit their recent discussion about recovered episodes from missing Doctor Who serial The Daleks' Master Plan. 

Was the initial reaction to viewing the episodes harsh? 

Sourcing comments from the Facebook thread on the episode, we add some context, underline a few points, and possibly even concede a few things.

As stated at the time, Christian and James have different views on this, which makes it all the more interesting. Could The Daleks' Master Plan have been viewed differently if it had always existed in the hands of...

We're back for part 3 of our commentary of Silver Nemesis, the official Doctor Who 25th anniversary story from 1988. Starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, the serial has various versions and edits -- we watched the cut you can see on BBC iPlayer, and you're free to watch along with us.

This week, Christian Cawley and James McLean reach the rooftop showdown, where it’s the endgame for Lady Peinforte, the Fourth Reich, and a battalion of Cybermen who probably should have invested in better respiratory filters...

The Patreon option

Patreon listeners get th...

"It feels like a show which has kind of lost its spirit a bit... I could see in a different timeline where Doctor Who did not regenerate into Patrick Troughton, and this was the tired back end of a format." 

This week, Christian Cawley and James McLean dive into the recent recovery (and release on BBC iPlayer/YouTube) of two episodes from the legendary 1965 epic, The Daleks’ Master Plan. While the "discovery" of episodes 1 and 3 has sent shockwaves through the fandom, our hosts find themselves at odds over whether this "lost" footage is a masterpiece or a sig...

In this commentary, Christian Cawley and James McLean dive into the heart of Silver Nemesis, and give some thought to Elizabethan sorceress Lady Peinforte and her loyal murderer Richard. Oh, and Argentinian Nazi refugees, Cybermen, and a couple of youths with a bizarre dislike for social workers.

Elsewhere in this episode, that "Jazz" interlude between Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred which remains one of the most natural, relaxed moments in the show’s history.

Line up your DVD or BBC iPlayer (optional) and hit "play!"

The Patreon option

Patreon listeners ge...

In this week’s episode, Christian Cawley and James McLean dive deep into Doctor Who's "official" 25th-anniversary silver jubilee story, Silver Nemesis. From the slightly oversized Cybermen to the curious presence of Dolores Gray, we talk all the way through the oft-derided 1988 adventure and explore what makes it fascinating -- if not somewhat polarizing.

This podcast looks at the first episode of Silver Nemesis, with the rest of the serial coming up over the next few weeks.

The Patreon option

Patreon listeners get the full three episode commentary in one go, and yo...

The recent recovery of two missing episodes of Doctor Who from The Daleks' Master Plan should be a moment of celebration — but it also raises an uncomfortable question: how many more are still out there?

In this Patreon-exclusive video, Christian Cawley and James McLean dig into the latest discovery, donated via Film Is Fabulous!, and the ongoing work to restore and preserve missing television. But our conversation quickly turns to the more complicated side of the story — the long history of private collectors holding onto lost material. What the mindset keeps culturally significant footage out of public view...

Christian Cawley and James McLean conclude their commentary discussion of the classic Doctor Who serial The Robots of Death, focusing on Episodes Three and Four of the 1977 story. 

With the mystery aboard the sandminer tightening, the discussion explores how the final two episodes bring together the serial’s many strands. We've got the paranoia among the crew, growing suspicion surrounding the robots, and the increasingly complex motivations of those on board.

Remember, this was written for children!

Christian and James look at how writer Chris Boucher structures the closing chapters of the story as...

Two long-missing episodes of Doctor Who have been recovered — and they come from one of the most famous lost stories in the programme’s history, The Daleks’ Master Plan.

“The Nightmare Begins” and “Devil’s Planet” have been found, restored, and will be released through BBC iPlayer at Easter.

In this episode, Christian Cawley is joined by fanzine publisher Gareth Kavanagh (Cutaway Comics, Vworp Vworp!), to discuss the discovery of two episodes from the epic 1965 Dalek adventure, a serial that remains one of the most significant gaps in the Doctor Who...

In this commentary-style episode, Christian Cawley and James McLean revisit the classic Doctor Who story The Robots of Death. This is the first of a two-part podcast, covering the serials first two episodes.

We compare the experience of watching classic Doctor Who episodically versus the omnibus VHS edits that hit rental stores in the 1980s. Those different formats affect pacing, cliffhangers, and the rhythm of a story, and The Robots of Death is no different.

It might look amazing, but there is much more to The Robots of Death. Writer Chris Boucher blends science fiction...

This week’s Kasterborous opens on sad news, as Christian Cawley and James McLean reflect on the passing of Red Dwarf co-creator Rob Grant. 

You probably know that the writing partnership between Grant and Doug Naylor pre-existed Red Dwarf, and while it certainly helped to define Britain’s most enduring sci-fi comedy, obviously there was a split. So we consider the curious parallel timelines created by split novels and later revivals, and explore Grant’s legacy — and what his absence might mean for the future of the franchise. 

Let's not forget, Grant was working on a new Red...

It's a bumper edition of the podcast this week, as Christian Cawley and James McLean attempt to squeeze in not just discussion of the upcoming 4K release of the 1996 Doctor Who TV Movie and share a short chat between Brian Terranova and Paul McGann, to give you an idea of the sort of thing you can hear in the Kasterborous Archive.

Shownotes

Why wait for your next fix of the show?

Did you know that Patreon supporters are likely...

It’s podcast time! Christian and James mull over the BBC’s decision not to put Doctor Who in the massive online game Fortnite, and celebrate the extension of Big Finish’s licence to continue producing audios and more.

The most frustrating takeaway from the chat was what increasingly seems like a missed opportunity for a full Doctor Who x Fortnite integration. On paper, it’s a perfect match—a show about infinite possibilities and a game (and much more) that thrives on them.

Yet, the collaboration never materialized.

Whether this was a failure of digital...

Recent comments from Mark Gatiss and Peter Capaldi (made separately) concerning Doctor Who's current status are the focus of our conversation this week.

Christian Cawley and James McLean cover a number of points, with everything from the dying requirement for basic screen language (such as a documentary where two people greet each other at a door before a more in-depth interaction) to whether Steven Berkoff should have had more time on-screen in The Power of Three.

Come on, we all know the answer to that one.

This is a big hour-long chat, so...

This week's podcast is Patreon first as ever, with no ads! Christian Cawley chats with Brian Terranova, and then with James McLean, about the early years of Kasterborous. 

Among other things, we cover how we started it, the tools we used early on, and how we overcame Brian's departure...

Shownotes

This week, you get the podcast ad-free and early on Patreon. As this is a 500ish episode, it goes out in its entirety o...

Christian Cawley and James McLean take a break from 500ish to discuss the news that Blake's 7 could be heading for a reboot after the IP was picked up by Multitude Productions.

As James is a big Blake's 7 admirer and has also worked on an eventually uncompleted project based on the show, it seemed a good opportunity to discuss what might be needed to make a Blake's 7 reboot work...

Shownotes

Patreon and Apple Podcasts

Most episo...

We tend to avoid introspection on the podcast, but for the next few weeks, Christian Cawley, James McLean, and, we're pleased to say, Brian Terranova will be bringing you a series of discussions and recollections to commemorate (other words have been suggested) our 500th edition -- whenever it may or may not have happened.

As we lost count some time ago, it's difficult to pinpoint when the 500th episode was (or will be). This is the background to "500ish" which will be a series of episodes of the podcast that look at how we started it, how...

Christian Cawley and James McLean discuss The War Between the Land and the Sea, the Doctor Who spin-off serial that aired over Christmas 2025.

Our 499th podcast has a lot to cover. The five episodes are addressed as a whole, along with the ramifications beyond the series (Disney, RTD, Doctor Who itself) and what went wrong.

But remember: you only get the full length show on Patreon, where it is also early, ad-free, and often with video.

Shownotes

For more in-depth...

Taking in The War Between the Land and the Sea and a new Doctor Who cartoon, Christian Cawley delivers the latest Doctor Who news of significance, and offers his top recommendations for quality TV viewing this Christmas.

Shownotes

This week's Doctor Who podcast is a collection of chats that were held back for Patreon members. So, yes, you've heard some of these before -- but the listeners on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all the other places you get podcasts, have not.

As such, this podcast is free to listen to on Patreon and wider afield -- and if you want to get additional chats like this at the end of your usual podcast, then you can join our Patreon for this and other extra material with most podcasts, and access the Kasterborous Archive.

Christian...

Christian is joined by The Doctor Who Companion editor Philip Bates to preview The War Between the Land and the Sea and shared some expectations.

Shownotes

Patreon and Apple Podcasts

James and Christian are back with a new chat, looking at Doctor Who cutscenes (and the whole cutscene reveal culture), classic BBC One Christmas trailers, Teletext (!) and a few other things.

Shownotes

Patreon and Apple Podcasts

Christian Cawley and James McLean look at some of your comments on our recent episodes, mostly concerning Ncuti Gatwa's legacy in Doctor Who.

We also look at the existence of 90 minute omnibus editions of classic Doctor Who and their presentation as "gifts" to fans, 40 years after very similar edits were released on VHS to cries of "sacrilege!"

Shownotes

Patreon and Apple Podcasts

This week's show rounds up the latest Doctor Who related headlines, and features Christian Cawley hosting solo.

Shownotes

With just 18 episodes under his belt and moving on at a time when the show's future was temporarily in doubt, Gatwa's story isn't completely new to the show -- it has echoes of 1985. 

But with the actor apparently now done with Doctor Who and the show struggling to achieve the same levels of adoration we saw previously with its (perhaps outgoing) showrunner, we wonder how Gatwa's episodes will be looked upon in years to come...

Shownotes

We've had the good news about Doctor Who's long-term survival, but we still don't know who will run it, or where it will stream...

This week, Christian Cawley and James McLean bring you a long discussion about the recent news from the BBC, as well as speculating on where the next iteration of Doctor Who might be streamed.

We also consider the approach the upcoming CBeebies animation show might take, in light of the abandoned Nelvana animation, Lance Parkin's 1998 novel "The Infinity Doctors," and the K-9 TV series.

Shownotes

Was Robert Shearman really "rude" when he expressed an opinion about his relationship with Doctor Who? Are missing episodes being liberated from private collectors?

And do classic series Blu-ray releases really need AI upscaling?

Christian Cawley and James McLean mull this over in this week's Kasterborous podcast. 

Shownotes

Patreon benefits