Author: Ben

Performer, writer, educator, game designer, ginger.

What I Learned From Doctor Who (live show)

Splendid Chaps is a year-long celebration of Doctor Who‘s fiftieth anniversary: eleven live performances recorded as podcasts in which your brains will be fed, your funny bones tickled, and your hearts opened (yes, both of them!).

Well…we said eleven. But that was ages ago. The Doctor doesn’t play by the rules, so why should we? As part of Stonnington Libraries’ [untitled] Festival, the chaps are doing a special bonus episode talking about what they’ve learned from Doctor Who!

Born in part as an educational program, with Sidney Newman wanting no “bug-eyed monsters”, Doctor Who has often sought to educate us about our world – and the Universe beyond it. But over the years, as the traditional educational content about history and science faded away, it still brought us concepts and ideas – Buddhism, mythology, ethics, politics, friendship…there’s so much to learn from the Doctor!

Ben, John and Petra will be joined by comedian, actor and teacher Rob Lloyd (Who, Me.), and writer and editor Liz Barr (Chicks Unravel Time and it’s impending sequel) for a discussion of what Doctor Who has taught them. Plus prizes, surprises, all the usual Splendid Stuff, and a live poetry performance from the one and only Emile Zoey Baker!

Space: Toorak/South Yarra Library, 340 Toorak Road, South Yarra
Time: Saturday, November 16, 4:00 PM
Accessibility: This venue is wheelchair accessible.
Tickets: All tickets $10 (plus booking fee where applicable)
Bookings: via trybooking.com, or buy tickets at the door (subject to availability)
Podcast: “What I Learned from Doctor Who”, released 23 February, 2014.

The Ten/Sex viewing list

Uh-oh! It’s been so busy around here, what with theatre productions, Pozible campaigns and mini-episodes, we’ve neglected to write up the viewing list for our next episode! But in case you want to cram in your homework in the few days left before the show, here is your homework viewing for Ten/Sex, which will be recorded on October 13th at the Gasometer Hotel in Melbourne (full show details here).

Your homework viewing for David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor is:

  • The Girl in the Fireplace
  • The Shakespeare Code
  • Partners in Crime

We’ve made sure there’s one from each of his full seasons, so you can see him in action with Rose (and Mickey!), Martha and Donna.

To experience something of the spectrum of sex and relationships in Doctor Who, we suggest:

  • The Green Death (Jon Pertwee, 1973; six episodes)
  • Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways (Christopher Eccleston, 2005, two episodes)
  • Human Nature/The Family of Blood (David Tennant, 2007; two episodes)
  • The Unicorn and the Wasp (David Tennant, 2008; one episode)
  • The Name of the Doctor (Matt Smith, 2013, one episode)

We’d also recommend some previous homework, including The Aztecs (the first time the Doctor gets engaged!), The Dalek Invasion of Earth (and anything else where a companion falls in love and leaves the TARDIS – reasonably or out of the blue!), The Romans (for that post-coital scene between Ian and Barbara, and the French-bedroom-farce style antics of Emperor Nero), The Caves of Androzani (if you want to think about the creepy side of this topic, with Sharaz Jek), Captain Jack’s debut in The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, and the reframing of Sarah Jane’s relationship with the Doctor in School Reunion (both recommended last month for Nine/Women).

Other possibilities include The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords (for both Martha’s exit, which frames her relationship with the Doctor, and the Master’s relationship with his wife), The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End (for…well, you know what for), and anything with River Song in it (but especially Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead and The Wedding of River Song).

But we’re sure you have your own suggestions – so let us know in the comments!

Dimensions in Brisbane

In early September, Ben was fortunate enough to participate in the 2013 Brisbane Writers Festival, a festival which embraced genre writing with panels on licensed works, comics, crime, romance and many more. So of course it was full of interesting Doctor Who fans to interview – which leads us to Dimensions in Brisbane!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:12 — 13.4MB)

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In this special mini-episode of Splendid Chaps, you’ll meet:

  • Bianca Nogrady – freelance science journalist, broadcaster and author. You can find her online at biancanogrady.com or follow her on Twitter at @BiancaNogrady.
  • Damon Cavalchini – a writer who’s been part of the spec-fic scene in Brisbane for many years. Find out more about him and his work at damoncraft.com.
  • Yassmin Abdel-Magied – an engineer, founder of Youth Without Borders and author. Her blog is Redefining the Narrative, and she tweets at @yassmin_a.
  • Kate Eltham – author and current director of the Brisbane Writers Festival. Check out her web site or follow her on Twitter as @kate_eltham.

To make sure you never miss an episode, subscribe to the podcast in iTunes or via this Feedburner feed.

We’re crowdfunding a Sydney show!

We mentioned it during Nine/Women, and now it’s real – the chaps are crowdfunding a show in Sydney!

We always wanted to tour the podcast to other cities, but for a small show like us, that’s a big financial risk. We’ve heard from a few Sydney listeners that they’d love us to come, and there are some great Sydney-based guests we’d love to have on the podcast – so we’re running a Pozible campaign to pre-sell enough tickets to cover our costs and make it happen!

If you’d like to come to the show, just visit our Pozible campaign page; you can pledge $25 in return for a ticket to a special Sydney episode of Splendid Chaps. No-one pays anything unless we reach our goal of $3,000, which will cover travel and accommodation costs for Ben, John, Petra and David, plus pay for our time and that of our guests to make the show in Sydney, and cover the cost of all the rewards. Oh yes, did we mention those? If you really want to make sure the show happens, you can pledge more money and get some other cool stuff, including Splendid Chaps badges, signed posters and T-shirts, a special message recorded by the chaps, or you can even choose one of the topics discussed on an extra “By Request” episode!

We obviously can’t confirm much until we know for sure that we’re heading to Sydney, but we’ve already worded up some great possible guests, including comedian Alice Fraser and co-host of ABC2’s Good Game, Steven “Bajo” O’Donnell (subject to availability)! And we’ll update you with more info about the Sydney show as the campaign progresses.

So if you’d like to see us make an extra episode of Splendid Chaps and let the Whovians of Sydney in on the fun, please buy a ticket or other reward via the campaign, and help spread the word! We have until November 2nd to reach the $3,000 goal.

Nine/Women

Splendid Chaps finally makes it to new Who! Hosts Ben McKenzie, John Richards and Petra Elliott discuss Christopher Eccleston and women in Doctor Who (and didn’t we need more time for that huge topic!) with guests Karen Pickering, Celeste Liddle and Tansy Rayner Roberts! It’s the ninth live Splendid Chaps episode, recorded at the Gasometer Hotel in Melbourne on September 15, 2013. Plus there are prizes, a tonne of audience questions, and a surprise musical performance from two of the chaps! Oh, and a word of warning: this one gets a bit more sweary than usual. But what do you expect? We’re Australians!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:34:15 — 43.2MB)

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Don’t forget you can go into the draw to win Christopher Eccleston’s first season of Doctor Who on DVD, courtesy of our friends at BBC on DVD! To enter the draw, just comment on this episode at splendidchaps.com. Were you won over by Eccleston, or do you think he’s a creep? Who are your favourite women from Doctor Who? If we’d had another hour, what do you think we should have covered in our continuing chat about women in Who? Comment by October 12 to be in the running, and we’ll announce the winner at the recording of Ten/Sex on October 13.

Ten/Sex (live show)

The Doctor, survivor of the Last Great Time War, discovers to his horror that the Daleks he thought dead have returned to exterminate humanity. He sends his friend Rose Tyler home, but she absorbs the energy of the Time Vortex in order to obliterate the Daleks – energy which will destroy her. The Doctor, already prepared to die, absorbs the energy from Rose with a kiss and bids her a proud farewell before regenerating. The new Doctor is younger, happier and more engaged, but retains something of his predecessor’s hard edge – and after a rocky start, soon develops a deeper connection with Rose.

Splendid Chaps is a year-long celebration of Doctor Who‘s fiftieth anniversary: eleven live performances recorded as podcasts in which your brains will be fed, your funny bones tickled, and your hearts opened (yes, both of them!). Our tenth major episode brings us to many people’s first (and favourite) Doctor, David Tennant. Phenomenally popular, and quickly establishing his own fanbase independent of the show, Tennant stayed in the role over five years, all the way to the end of Russell T Davies time as showrunner, cementing the program’s success and becoming “the” Doctor for a whole generation of viewers.

Seemingly a big part of Tennant’s success was his sex appeal – something foreign to many fans of the classic series. The Doctor of the Old Time (and most of his friends) seemed disinterested in sex, save for the occasional bit of flirting, but in the new series he clearly romances Rose, spurns Martha, fends off Amy and perves on Clara; he’s snogged every female companion, and “danced” with or married a slew of historical figures. Then there’s future pansexual Captain Jack; Amy and Rory, who spend their honeymoon in costume and their wedding night in the TARDIS; and the love affair that lasts lifetimes between the Doctor and Professor River Song. Is this weird? Is it awesome? What does modern Doctor Who say about sex, relationships and sexuality, and did the classic series have anything to say about them?

Hosts Ben McKenzie, John Richards and Petra Elliott are joined by writer, broadcaster and critic Richard Watts (artsHub, RRR’s SmartArts) and erotica writer and burlesque performer Aimee Nichols. Plus music from Melbourne geek rock band Blue Turtle Shell, giveaways from our lovely sponsors, and all the usual tomfoolery! (But no hanky panky.)

Space: The Gasometer Hotel, 484 Smith Street, Collingwood (corner of Alexandra Parade)
Time: Sunday, October 13; recording starts 5 PM
Accessibility: We regret that this venue is not wheelchair accessible.
Tickets: $15 (plus booking fee where applicable)
Bookings: via trybooking.com or at the door (subject to availability)
Podcast: “Ten/Sex”, released 23rd of October, 2013.

The Nine/Women viewing list

As revealed at the recording of our last live episode, Eight/Science, here is your homework viewing for Nine/Women, which will be recorded on September 15th at the Gasometer Hotel in Melbourne (full show details here).

Your homework viewing for Chris Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor is:

  • Aliens of London/World War Three
  • Dalek
  • The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

Of course, as The Ecc only had the one season, you could just watch all thirteen of his episodes. Watching our list you’re nearly halfway there!

For a crash course in how women have been represented in Doctor Who, we suggest:

  • The Dalek Invastion of Earth (William Hartnell, 1964; six episodes)
  • Robot (Tom Baker, 1974, four episodes)
  • The Stones of Blood (Tom Baker, 1976; four episodes)
  • Survival (Sylvester McCoy, 1989; three episodes)
  • Rose (Christopher Eccleston, 2005, one episode)
  • School Reunion (David Tennant, 2006, one episode)
  • The Runaway Bride (David Tennant, 2006, one episode)
  • The Girl Who Waited (Matt Smith, 2011, one episode)

…and that’s only scratching the surface! Other stories and episodes worth considering include Spearhead From Space, Terror of the Autons, The Time Warrior, The Ark in Space, Mark of the Rani, Paradise Towers, The Happiness Patrol, The Curse of Fenric, New Earth, Human Nature/Family of Blood, and so many more…

Got suggestions of your own? Let us know in the comments!

Eight/Science

Hosts Ben McKenzie, John Richards and Petra Elliott discuss the Paul McGann telemovie, and then bring in guest scientists Jack Scanlan, Alan Duffy and Allie Ford to talk science in Doctor Who as part of National Science Week! It’s the eighth live Splendid Chaps episode, recorded at Bar Open in Melbourne on August 11, 2013. Plus prizes, Ben’s scrapbook, the secrets of lab coats, audience questions and Hannah Pelka-Caven performs a haunting version of the song shared by the Seventh and Eighth Doctors in the telemovie, “In A Dream”.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:17:00 — 35.3MB)

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Eight/Science guests
Eight/Science scientist guests Allie Ford, Alan Duffy and Jack Scanlan. Photo by Sarah Clarke.

Don’t forget you can go into the draw to win a CD copy of the Big Finish Eighth Doctor audio adventure The Chimes of Midnight by commenting on this episode below! Do you love the telemovie? Are you part of the Paul McGann Estrogen Brigade? What are your favourite – or least favourite – bits of science in Doctor Who? Comment by September 14 to be in the running, and we’ll announce the winner at the recording of Nine/Women on September 15.

Nine/Women (live show)

Young London woman Rose Tyler is at work when she is surprised by animated shop dummies, but she is saved by a mysterious man in a leather jacket who calls himself the Doctor. Though he tells her to forget him, she discovers he is a legend, the subject of Internet conspiracy theories: he has appeared throughout human history, and wherever he goes, death and destruction follow. Tough, resourceful, at times silly but with uncompromising morals, this Doctor has seen much and survived terrible losses. But he’s also alone – until he inspires Rose to realise her potential and save him, and the planet, in return…

Splendid Chaps is a year-long celebration of Doctor Who‘s fiftieth anniversary: eleven live performances recorded as podcasts in which your brains will be fed, your funny bones tickled, and your hearts opened (yes, both of them!). Our ninth major episode brings us finally to new Who, that time when the seemingly impossible happened and the show returned! Russell T Davies reinvented the Doctor by casting renowned TV and film actor Christopher Eccleston, famous for serious roles in dramas like Cracker, Our Friends in the North and Elizabeth. His simultaneously light-hearted and tortured portrayal of a man who has lost everything won over old and new fans alike, though the revelation after the smash success of the first episode that he would only be staying for one year took fans and media by surprise. Despite his short stay in the role, Eccleston defined the new era of Doctor Who and laid the groundwork for the format that persisted ever since.

Just as important to new Who was new companion Rose Tyler, played by pop star turned actor Billie Piper. For some she was a revelation compared to the “scream queens” of the past; but is this a fair assessment? We take as our theme women in Doctor Who: was having a proactive and near equal status companion for the Doctor really such a radical idea? Has Doctor Who been as terribly sexist as has often been claimed? Are the women in the show as varied and multifaceted as the men? And is the modern series really better in its portrayal of women than the old?

Hosts Ben McKenzie, John Richards and Petra Elliott are joined by a panel including feminist organiser and writer Karen Pickering (Cherchez la Femme), author and podcaster Tansy Rayner Roberts (Galactic Suburbia, Verity!) and National Indigenous Organiser for the National Tertiary Education Union, Celeste Liddle (Rantings of an Aboriginal Feminist), plus a musical performance, giveaways and other excellence!

Space: The Gasometer Hotel, 484 Smith Street, Collingwood (corner of Alexandra Parade)
Time: Sunday, September 15; recording starts 5 PM
Accessibility: We regret that this venue is not wheelchair accessible.
Tickets: $15 (plus booking fee where applicable)
Bookings: via trybooking.com or at the door (subject to availability)
Podcast: “Nine/Women” released on the 23rd of September, 2013.

Seven/Religion (part two)

Hosts Ben McKenzie, John Richards and Petra Elliott, along with guests Paul Callaghan and Dave Bloustien, return for the second half of our seventh live Splendid Chaps episode, recorded at The Public Bar in Melbourne on July 14, 2013. In part two we’re joined by the Reverend Doctor Avril Hannah-Jones, famously of the Church of the Latter Day Geek, to discuss religion and Doctor Who. Plus not one, but two musical numbers: one from guests Lee Zachariah and Adam Rudegeair – aka “Electric Menorah” – and one performed by the Splendid Chaps Seven audience!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:53 — 25.2MB)

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To make sure you don’t miss an episode, subscribe to the podcast in iTunes or via this Feedburner feed.

As mentioned on the past for part one, you can go into the draw to win the (Region 4) DVD box set Ace Adventures, featuring the stories Dragonfire and The Happiness Patrol, from our good friends at BBC on DVD. Enter by commenting on this episode below (or on part one) with your questions, thoughts or feedback about the episode and religion in Doctor Who. Comment by August 10 to be in the running, and we’ll announce the winner at the recording of Eight/Science on August 11.