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In this episode of the Who's He? Podcast....

KentCon Report

Phil & Scott report back on their away day to the Kent Comic Con or KentCon in Herne Bay. They discuss the panels they attended, how many Doctor Who alumni appeared and didn't appear and despite it being a little bit of a topsy turvy event, a good time was had by all.

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  Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a 2001 American animated  adventure film directed by  and , produced by , and written by . Produced by , it stars , , , , , , , , , , ,  and . Set in 1914, the film follows young linguist Milo Thatch, who gains possession of a sacred book, which he believes will guide him and a crew of mercenaries to the lost city of . Development of the film began after production had finished on  (1996). Instead of another , directors Trousdale and Wise, producer Hahn, and screenwriter Murphy decided to do an adventure film inspired by the works of . Atlantis: The Lost Empire was notable for adopting the distinctive visual style of  , one of the film's . The film made greater use of  (CGI) than any of Disney's previous  features and remains one of the few to have been shot in .    an  specifically for use in the film.  provided the film's musical score. The film was released at a time when audience interest in animated films was shifting away from traditional animation toward films with full CGI. Atlantis: The Lost Empire premiered at the  in , on June 3, 2001, and went into its general release on June 15. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Budgeted at around $90–120 million, Atlantis grossed over $186 million worldwide, $84 million of which was earned in North America; its lackluster box office response was identified as a result of being released in competition with , ,  and . As a result of the film's , Disney cancelled a planned  , Team Atlantis; an underwater  attraction; and a volcanic  attraction based on it. Atlantis was nominated for several awards, including seven , and won Best Sound Editing at the 2002 . The film was released on VHS and DVD on January 29, 2002, and on  on June 11, 2013. Despite its initial reception, reception in later years became favorable and has given Atlantis a  and reappraisal from critics as a mistreated classic, due in part to Mignola's unique artistic influence. A  sequel, , was released in 2003. Plot In 1914 Washington, D.C., archaeo-linguist Milo Thatch obsesses over finding the legendary lost city of , believed to have sunk thousands of years ago. His employers ridicule his theories, but he gains an unexpected ally in eccentric millionaire Preston B. Whitmore, a friend of Milo's deceased adventurer grandfather who also sought the city. Determined to honor his old friend's quest, Whitmore recruits Milo for an expedition to Atlantis, having recently uncovered the Shepherd's Journal, an ancient Atlantean manuscript that contains directions to the lost city. Aboard the submarine Ulysses, Milo meets his teammates: Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke, Lieutenant Helga Sinclair, demolitions expert Vincenzo Santorini, geologist Gaetan "Mole" Molière, medical officer Joshua Sweet, mechanic Audrey Ramirez, radio operator Wilhelmina Packard, mess cook Jebidiah "Cookie" Farnsworth, and a platoon of mercenaries. Upon reaching a cave entrance leading to the lost city, the submarine is destroyed by a massive mechanical , killing most of the crew. Milo and the survivors escape in smaller craft, navigating through the cave to emerge among ancient ruins. Milo translates the journal, guiding the team through caves beneath a dormant volcano until they reach the worn remains of Atlantis. There, they are greeted by Princess Kidagakash "Kida" Nedakh, who, despite being around 8,500 years old, has the appearance of a young woman. She leads them to her father, King Kashekim, who orders them to leave. Learning that Milo can read their language—a skill lost to the Atlanteans over millennia—Kida asks for his help in uncovering their forgotten history and highly-advanced technology, without which the city has declined and resources have dwindled. Milo learns that Atlantis is powered by the Heart of Atlantis, a massive crystal that grants longevity and health to its citizens through the smaller crystals they carry. Rourke betrays Milo and the Atlanteans, revealing his true intention to steal the Heart for profit, despite knowing the Atlanteans will perish without it. He mortally wounds the King while seizing control and uncovers the crystal's hidden location beneath the city. Sensing the danger, the crystal merges with Kida, who is then captured by Rourke. He departs with the crystallized Kida and his mercenaries, except for Vincenzo, Molière, Sweet, Audrey, Packard, and Cookie, who refuse to take part in the Atlanteans' destruction. Before dying, the King reveals that Atlantis was devastated by a  after he attempted to weaponize the crystal's vast power. To protect the city, the crystal merged with a royal family member, Kida's mother. This created a protective dome over the city's inner district, shielding it from total destruction as Atlantis sank beneath the waves, but Kida's mother never returned. To prevent the crystal from ever merging with Kida, the King hid it, inadvertently accelerating Atlantis' decline. He warns Milo that Kida will be lost forever if she is not soon separated from the crystal and pleads with him to save her. Alongside his allies, Milo rallies the Atlanteans to reactivate their long-dormant flying machines. Together, they eliminate Rourke and his mercenaries in the volcano. Milo and the others fly the crystallized Kida back to Atlantis as the volcano erupts. Kida ascends into the air and awakens Stone Guardians, who erect a barrier that shields the city from the lava flow. With Atlantis saved, the crystal separates from Kida and remains suspended in the sky. Milo chooses to stay in Atlantis with Kida, having fallen in love with her. Before returning to the surface, Vincenzo, Molière, Sweet, Audrey, Packard, and Cookie each receive a small crystal and a share of treasure. The six reunite with Preston on the surface and agree to keep their adventure a secret to protect Atlantis. Preston opens a package from Milo containing his own crystal and a note thanking him. The newly crowned Queen Kida and Milo carve a stone effigy of her father to join those of past rulers floating beside the Heart of Atlantis, as the city stands restored to its former glory. Voice cast Production layout sketch of Milo and Kida. Milo's character design was based in part on sketches of the film's language consultant, .  as Milo James Thatch, a  and  at the Smithsonian who was recruited to decipher The Shepherd's Journal while directing an expedition to Atlantis.  as Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke, the leader of the band of mercenaries for the Atlantean expedition.  as Kidagakash "Kida" Nedakh, the Princess of Atlantis and Milo's love interest. Natalie Strom provided dialogue for Kida as a young child. Summer also voiced the unnamed Queen of Atlantis, Kida's mother and Kashekim's wife who was "chosen" by the Crystal during the sinking of the city.  as Preston B. Whitmore, an eccentric millionaire who funds the expedition to Atlantis.  was originally cast and recorded as Whitmore, but he died before completing the film. Mahoney's zest and vigor led to Whitmore's personality being reworked for the film.  as Lieutenant Helga Katrina Sinclair, Rourke's -born second-in-command.  as Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini, an  .  as Dr. Joshua Strongbear Sweet, a  of  and  descent.  as Audrey Rocio Ramirez, a   and the youngest member of the expedition.  as Gaetan "Mole" Molière, a   who acts like a .  as Jebidiah Allardyce "Cookie" Farnsworth, a Western-style  chef. Varney died in February 2000, before the production ended, and the film was dedicated to his memory.  recorded supplemental dialogue for Cookie.  as Wilhelmina Bertha Packard: an elderly, sarcastic, chain-smoking  who is also the expedition's .  as Kashekim Nedakh, the King of Atlantis and Kida's father.  as Fenton Q. Harcourt, a board member of the  who dismisses Milo's belief in the existence of Atlantis. Production Development The production team visited  to get a sense of the underground spaces depicted in the film. The idea for Atlantis: The Lost Empire was conceived in October 1996 when , , , and  lunched at a Mexican restaurant in . Having recently completed , the producer, directors and screenwriter wanted to keep the Hunchback crew together for another film with an "" setting rather than a "" setting. Drawing inspiration from 's  (1864) and  (1870), they set out to make a film which would fully explore  (compared to the brief visit depicted in Verne's novel). While primarily utilizing the Internet to research the mythology of Atlantis, the filmmakers became interested in the  readings of  and decided to incorporate some of his ideas—notably that of a mother-crystal which provides power, healing, and longevity to the Atlanteans—into the story. They also visited museums and old army installations to study the technology of the early 20th century (the film's time period), and traveled underground in  to view the subterranean trails which would serve as a model for the approach to Atlantis in the film. The filmmakers wanted to avoid the common depiction of Atlantis as "crumbled Greek columns underwater", said Wise. "From the get-go, we were committed to designing it top to bottom. Let's get the architectural style, clothing, heritage, customs, how they would sleep, and how they would speak. So we brought people on board who would help us develop those ideas." Art director David Goetz stated, "We looked at , styles of ancient, unusual architecture from around the world, and the directors really liked the look of Southeast Asian architecture." The team later took ideas from other architectural forms, including , , and  works. Hahn added, "If you take and deconstruct architecture from around the world into one architectural vocabulary, that's what our Atlantis looks like." The overall design and  layout of Atlantis were also based on the writings of , and his quote "in a single day and night of misfortune, the island of Atlantis disappeared into the depths of the sea" was influential from the beginning of production. The crew wore  which read "ATLANTIS—Fewer songs, more explosions" due to the film's plan as an  (unlike previous Disney animated features, which were ). Language The Atlantean letter A, created by artist John Emerson. Kirk Wise noted that its design was a treasure map showing the path to the crystal, "The Heart of Atlantis". Main article:  , who developed the  for the  television and theatrical productions, was hired to devise the Atlantean language for Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Guided by the directors' initial concept for it to be a "", Okrand employed an  word stock with its own . He would change the words if they began to sound too much like an actual, spoken language. John Emerson designed the written component, making hundreds of random sketches of individual letters from among which the directors chose the best to represent the Atlantean alphabet. The written language was : designed to be read left-to-right on the first line, then right-to-left on the second, continuing in a zigzag pattern to simulate the flow of water. The Atlantean [A] is a shape developed by John Emerson. It is a miniature map of the city of Atlantis (i.e., the outside of the swirl is the cave, the inside shape is the silhouette of the city, and the dot is the location of the crystal). It's a treasure map. — Kirk Wise, director Writing  was the first writer to be involved with the film but soon left to work on other Disney projects. According to him, he "had not a shred" in the movie.  completed the screenplay, stating that the time from initially discussing the story to producing a script that satisfied the film crew was "about three to four months". The initial draft was 155 pages, much longer than a typical Disney film script (which usually runs 90 pages). When the first two acts were timed at 120 minutes, the directors cut characters and sequences and focused more on Milo. Murphy said that he created the centuries-old Shepherd's Journal because he needed a map for the characters to follow throughout their journey. A revised version of the script eliminated the trials encountered by the explorers as they navigated the caves to Atlantis. This gave the film a faster pace because Atlantis is discovered earlier in the story. The directors often described the Atlanteans using  as an example. When  wandered into Egypt, the people had lost track of their once-great civilization. They were surrounded by artifacts of their former greatness but somehow unaware of what they meant. — Don Hahn, producer The character of Milo J. Thatch was originally supposed to be a descendant of Edward Teach, otherwise known as  the pirate. The directors later related him to an explorer so he would discover his inner talent for exploration. The character of Molière was originally intended to be "professorial" but Chris Ure, a story artist, changed the concept to that of a "horrible little burrowing creature with a wacky coat and strange headgear with extending eyeballs", said Wise. Don Hahn pointed out that the absence of songs presented a challenge for a team accustomed to animating musicals, as action scenes alone would have to carry the film. Kirk Wise said it gave the team an opportunity for more on-screen character development: "We had more screen time available to do a scene like where Milo and the explorers are camping out and learning about one another's histories. An entire sequence is devoted to having dinner and going to bed. That is not typically something we would have the luxury of doing." Hahn stated that the first animated sequence completed during production was the film's . The original version featured a  war party using The Shepherd's Journal to find Atlantis and being swiftly dispatched by the Leviathan. Near the end of production, story supervisor John Sanford told the directors that he felt this prologue did not give viewers enough emotional involvement with the Atlanteans. Despite knowing that the Viking prologue was finished and it would cost additional time and money to alter the scene, the directors agreed with Sanford. Trousdale went home and completed the  later that evening after visiting a strip club where he boarded the new sequence on a napkin. The opening was replaced by a sequence depicting the destruction of Atlantis, which introduced the film from the perspective of the Atlanteans and Princess Kida. The Viking prologue is included as an extra feature on the . Casting Kirk Wise, one of the directors, said that they chose  for the role of Milo because they felt he gave his characters his own personality and made them more believable on screen. Fox said that voice acting was much easier than his past experience with live action because he did not have to worry about what he looked like in front of a camera while delivering his lines. The directors mentioned that Fox was also offered a role for ; he allowed his son to choose which film he would work on, and he chose Atlantis. Viewers have noted similarities between Milo and the film's language consultant, , who developed the  used in the film. Okrand stated that Milo's supervising animator, , sketched him, claiming not to know how a linguist looked or acted. Kida's supervising animator, Randy Haycock, stated that her actress, , was very "intimidating" when he first met her; this influenced how he wanted Kida to look and act on screen when she meets Milo. Wise chose  for the role of Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke because of his previous experience with , especially  and  films, and said the role "fits him like a glove". When asked if he would be interested in the role, Garner replied: "I'd do it in a heartbeat." Producer Don Hahn was saddened that , the voice of Jebidiah Allardyce "Cookie" Farnsworth, never saw the finished film before he died of lung cancer in February 2000, but mentioned that he was shown clips of his character's performance during his site sessions and said, "He loved it." Shawn Keller, supervising animator for Cookie, stated, "It was kind of a sad fact that [Varney] knew that he was not going to be able to see this film before he passed away. He did a bang-up job doing the voice work, knowing the fact that he was never gonna see his last performance."  recorded supplemental dialogue for Cookie. , who voiced Preston Whitmore, stated that doing voice work was "freeing" and allowed him to be "big" and "outrageous" with his character. Dr. Joshua Sweet's supervising animator, , indicated that one of the challenges was animating Sweet in sync with  rapid line delivery while keeping him believable. Morris stated that this character was extreme, with "no middle ground"; he mentioned, "When he was happy, he was really happy, and when he's solemn, he's real solemn."  described her character, Lieutenant Helga Katrina Sinclair, as "sensual" and "striking", and was relieved when she finally saw what her character looked like, joking, "I'd hate to, you know, go through all this and find out my character is a toad."  said her character, Audrey Rocio Ramirez, made her "feel like a little kid again" and she always hoped her sessions would last longer.  felt that her character, Wilhelmina Bertha Packard, was very "cynical" and "secure": "She does her job, and when she is not busy, she does anything she wants."  mentioned that finding his performance as Gaetan "Mole" Molière was by allowing the character to "leap out" of him while making funny voices. To get into character during his recording sessions, he stated that he would "throw myself into the scene and feel like I'm in this make-believe world". Kirk Wise and , supervising animator for Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini, noted Vinny's actor  unique ability to  dialogue while voicing the role. Edmonds recalled, "[Novello] would look at the sheet, and he would read the line that was written once, and he would never read it again! And we never used a written line, it was improvs, the whole movie." Michael Cedeno, supervising animator for King Kashekim Nedakh, was astounded at  voice talent in the role, stating that he had "so much rich character" in his performance. As he spoke his lines, Cedeno said the crew would sit there and watch Nimoy in astonishment. Animation For comparison, the top image (panoramic view of Atlantis) is cropped to Disney's standard aspect ratio (1.66:1); the bottom image was seen in the film (2.35:1). At the peak of its production, 350 animators, artists and technicians were working on Atlantis at all three Disney animation studios:  (),  (), and  (Paris). The film was one of the few Disney animated features produced and shot in  . The directors felt that a widescreen image was crucial, as a nostalgic reference to old action-adventure films presented in the  format (2.35:1), noting  as an inspiration. Because switching to the format would require animation desks and equipment designed for widescreen to be purchased, Disney executives were at first reluctant about the idea. The production team found a simple solution by drawing within a smaller frame on the same paper and equipment used for standard  (1.66:1) Disney-animated films. Layout supervisor Ed Ghertner wrote a guide to the widescreen format for use by the layout artists and mentioned that one advantage of widescreen was that he could keep characters in scenes longer because of additional space to walk within the frame. Wise drew further inspiration for the format from filmmakers  and . The film's visual style was strongly based upon that of , the comic book artist behind . Mignola was one of four production designers (along with Matt Codd, Jim Martin, and ) hired by the Disney studio for the film. Accordingly, he provided style guides, preliminary character, and background designs, and story ideas. "Mignola's graphic, the angular style was a key influence on the 'look' of the characters," stated Wise. Mignola was surprised when first contacted by the studio to work on Atlantis. His artistic influence on the film would later contribute to a . I remember watching a rough cut of the film and these characters have these big, square, weird hands. I said to the guy next to me, "Those are cool hands." And he says to me, "Yeah, they're your hands. We had a whole meeting about how to do your hands." It was so weird I couldn't wrap my brain around it. — Mike Mignola The final pull-out shot of the movie, immediately before the end-title card, was described by the directors as the most difficult shot in the history of Disney animation. They said that the pull-out attempt on their prior film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, "struggled" and "lacked depth"; however, after making advances in the process of , they tried the technique again in Atlantis. The shot begins with one 16-inch (40.6 cm) piece of paper showing a close-up of Milo and Kida. As the camera pulls away from them to reveal the newly restored Atlantis, it reaches the equivalent of an 18,000-inch (46,000 cm) piece of paper composed of many individual pieces of paper (24 inches [61 cm] or smaller). Each piece was carefully drawn and combined with animated vehicles simultaneously flying across the scene to make the viewer see a complete, integrated image. Scale model of Ulysses submarine by Greg Aronowitz, used by digital animators as reference during production. At the time of its release, Atlantis: The Lost Empire was notable for using more  (CGI) than any other Disney traditionally animated feature. To increase productivity, the directors had the digital artists work with the  throughout the production. Several important scenes required heavy use of digital animation: the Leviathan, the Ulysses submarine and sub-pods, the Heart of Atlantis, and the Stone Giants. During production, after Matt Codd and Jim Martin designed the Ulysses on paper, Greg Aronowitz was hired to build a scale model of the submarine, to be used as a reference for drawing the 3D Ulysses. The final film included 362 digital-effects shots, and computer programs were used to seamlessly join the 2D and 3D artwork. One scene that took advantage of this was the "sub-drop" scene, where the 3D Ulysses was dropped from its docking bay into the water. As the camera floated toward it, a 2D Milo was drawn to appear inside, tracking the camera. The crew noted that it was challenging to keep the audience from noticing the difference between the 2D and 3D drawings when they were merged. The digital production also gave the directors a unique "" for complicated shots within the film. With the ability to operate in the z-plane, this camera moved through a digital ; the background and details were later hand-drawn over the wireframes. This was used in the opening flight scene through Atlantis and the submarine chase through the undersea cavern with the Leviathan in pursuit. Music and sound Since the film would not feature any songs, the directors hired  to compose the  after they heard his music on . Approaching it as a live-action film, Howard decided to have different musical themes for the cultures of the surface world and Atlantis. In the case of Atlantis, Howard chose an  incorporating chimes, bells, and gongs. The directors told Howard that the film would have a number of key scenes without dialogue; the score would need to convey emotionally what the viewer was seeing on screen.  and his team at  were hired for the film's . Like Howard, Rydstrom employed different sounds for the two cultures. Focusing on the machine and mechanical sounds of the early industrial era for the explorers, he felt that the Atlanteans should have a "more organic" sound utilizing ceramics and pottery. The sound made by the Atlantean flying-fish vehicles posed a particular challenge. Rydstrom revealed that he was sitting at the side of a highway recording one day when a  drove by at high speed. When the recording was sped up on his computer, he felt it sounded very organic, and decided to use it in the film. Rydstrom created the  chiming of the Heart of Atlantis by rubbing his finger along the edge of a champagne flute, the sound of sub-pods moving through the water with a , while a ceramic pot from a garden store was used for the sounds of the movement of the Giant stone guardians. Release Atlantis: The Lost Empire had its world premiere at Disney's  in , on June 3, 2001 and a limited release in New York City and Los Angeles on June 8; a wider release followed on June 15. At the premiere, Destination: Atlantis was on display, featuring behind-the-scenes props from the film and information on the legend of Atlantis with video games, displays, laser tag, and other attractions. The  also loaned a variety of fish for display within the attraction. Promotion Atlantis was among Disney's first major attempts to utilize . The film was promoted through , which created a website with mini-games and a movie-based video game give-away for UPC labels from specially marked packages of Atlantis breakfast cereal. The film was one of Disney's first marketing attempts through , and allowed users to download games based on the film.  (which had an exclusive licensing agreement on all Disney releases) promoted the film with  toys, food packaging and in-store decor. The McDonald's advertising campaign involved television, radio, and print advertisements beginning on the film's release date.  offered free admission tickets for the film on specially marked snack packages. Home media  Atlantis: The Lost Empire was released on  and  on January 29, 2002. During the first month of its home release, the film led in VHS sales and was third in VHS and DVD sales combined. Sales and rentals of the VHS and DVD combined would eventually accumulate $157 million in revenue by mid-2003. Both a single-disc DVD edition and a two-disc collector's edition (with bonus features) were released. The single-disc DVD gave the viewer the option of viewing the film either in its original theatrical 2.39:1 aspect ratio or a modified 1.33:1 ratio (utilizing ). Bonus features available on the DVD version included audio and visual commentary from the film team, a virtual tour of the CGI models, an Atlantean-language tutorial, an encyclopedia on the myth of Atlantis, and the deleted Viking prologue scene. The two-disc collector's edition DVD contained all the single-disc features and a disc with supplemental material detailing all aspects of the film's production. The collector's-edition film could only be viewed in its original theatrical ratio, and also featured an optional  track. Both DVD versions, however, contained a  track and were  certified. Disney digitally remastered and released Atlantis on  on June 11, 2013, bundled with its sequel . Reception Box office Before the film's release, reporters speculated that it would have a difficult run due to competition from  and . Regarding the market's shift from traditional animation and competition with CG-animated films, Kirk Wise said, "Any traditional animator, including myself, can't help but feel a twinge. I think it always comes down to story and character, and one form won't replace the other. Just like photography didn't replace painting. But maybe I'm blind to it." Jeff Jensen of  noted that CGI films (such as Shrek) were more likely to attract the teenage demographic typically not interested in animation, and called Atlantis a "marketing and creative gamble". With a budget of $100 million, the film opened at #2 on its debut weekend, behind Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, earning $20.3 million in 3,011 theaters. During its second weekend, it would drop into fourth place behind the latter film,  and , making $13.2 million. The film's international release began September 20 in Australia and other markets followed suit. During its 25-week theatrical run, Atlantis: The Lost Empire grossed over $186 million worldwide ($84 million from the United States and Canada). Responding to its disappointing box-office performance, , then-president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, said, "It seemed like a good idea at the time to not do a sweet fairy tale, but we missed." Critical response Atlantis: The Lost Empire received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom criticized its story. The review aggregator website  reports that 48% of 144 professional critics have given Atlantis: The Lost Empire a positive review; the average rating is 5.5/10. The site's consensus is: "Atlantis provides a fast-paced spectacle, but stints on such things as character development and a coherent plot".  assigned the film a weighted average score of 52 out of 100 based on 29 reviews from critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by  gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. While critics had mixed reactions to the film in general, some praised it for its visuals, action-adventure elements, and attempt to appeal to an older audience.  gave Atlantis three-and-a-half stars out of four. He praised the animation's "clean bright visual look" and the "classic energy of the comic book style", crediting this to the work of Mike Mignola. Ebert gave particular praise to the story and the final battle scene and wrote, "The story of Atlantis is rousing in an old pulp science fiction sort of way, but the climactic scene transcends the rest, and stands by itself as one of the great animated action sequences." In ,  gave high praise to the film, calling it "a monumental treat", and stated, "Atlantis is also one of the most eye-catching Disney cartoons since Uncle Walt institutionalized the four-fingered glove." Internet film critic  wrote a positive review of the film, giving it three out of four stars. He wrote, "On the whole, Atlantis offers 90 minutes of solid entertainment, once again proving that while Disney may be clueless when it comes to producing good live-action movies, they are exactly the opposite when it comes to their animated division."  of the  wrote positively of the film's approach for an older audience: "But just beneath the surface, Atlantis brims with adult possibility." Other critics felt that the film was mediocre in regards to its story and characters, and that it failed to deliver as a non-musical to Disney's traditional audience.  of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C+ rating, writing that the film had "gee-whiz formulaic character" and was "the essence of craft without dream".  of the  said the storyline and characterizations were "old-fashioned" and the film had the retrograde look of a Saturday-morning cartoon, but these deficiencies were offset by its "brisk action" and frantic pace.  of  wrote, "Disney pushes into all-talking, no-singing, no-dancing and, in the end, no-fun animated territory." Stephanie Zacharek of  wrote of Disney's attempt to make the film for an adult audience, "The big problem with Disney's latest animated feature, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, is that it doesn't seem geared to kids at all: It's so adult that it's massively boring." Rita Kempley of  panned the film, calling it a "new-fashioned but old-fangled hash" and wrote, "Ironically Disney had hoped to update its image with this mildly diverting adventure, yet the picture hasn't really broken away from the tried-and-true format spoofed in the far superior Shrek." In 2015, Katharine Trendacosta at  reviewed the film and called it a "Beautiful Gem of a Movie That Deserved Better Than It Got" and said that the film deserves more love than it ended up getting. Lindsay Teal considers "Atlantis" to be "a lost Disney classic". Describing the film as highly entertaining, she praises the writing and characterisation – in particular, Sweet, Helga and Kida. In particular, much praise has been given to the character of Kida. Summer has regarded the character of Kida as one of her favourite roles and even considers the character among the official Disney Princess line-up. Themes and interpretations Several critics and scholars have noted that Atlantis plays strongly on themes of  and . M. Keith Booker, academic and author of studies about the implicit messages conveyed by media, views the character of Rourke as being motivated by "capitalist greed" when he pursues "his own financial gain" in spite of the knowledge that "his theft [of the crystal] will lead to the destruction of [Atlantis]". Religion journalist Mark Pinsky, in his exploration of moral and spiritual themes in popular Disney films, says that "it is impossible to read the movie ... any other way" than as "a devastating, unrelenting attack on capitalism and ". Max Messier of  observes, "Disney even manages to lambast the capitalist lifestyle of the adventurers intent on uncovering the lost city. Damn the imperialists!" According to Booker, the film also "delivers a rather  moral" by concluding with the discovery of the Atlanteans kept secret from other surface-dwellers in order to maintain a separation between the two highly divergent cultures. Others saw Atlantis as an interesting look at  philosophy of the sort found in classic works of science fiction by  and Jules Verne. Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water controversy When the film was released, some viewers noticed that Atlantis: The Lost Empire was similar to the 1990-91  , particularly in its character design, setting, and story. The similarities, as noted by viewers in both Japan and America, were strong enough for its production company  to be called to sue for . According to Gainax member , they only refrained from doing so because the decision belonged to parent companies  and . Another Gainax worker, , was quoted in an interview in 2000 as saying: "We actually tried to get NHK to pick a fight with Disney, but even the National Television Network of Japan didn't dare to mess with Disney and their lawyers. [...] We actually did say that but we wouldn't actually take them to court. We would be so terrified about what they would do to them in return that we wouldn't dare." Although Disney never responded formally to those claims, co-director Kirk Wise posted on a Disney animation  in May 2001, "Never heard of Nadia till it was mentioned in this [newsgroup]. Long after we'd finished production, I might add." He claimed both Atlantis and Nadia were inspired, in part, by the 1870 Jules Verne novel . However, speaking about the clarification, Lee Zion from  wrote, "There are too many similarities not connected with 20,000 Leagues for the whole thing to be coincidence." As such, the whole affair ultimately entered popular culture as a convincing case of plagiarism. In 2018, Reuben Baron from  added to Zion's comment stating, "Verne didn't specifically imagine magic crystal-based technology, something featured in both the Disney movie and the too similar anime. The Verne inspiration also doesn't explain the designs being suspiciously similar to Nadia's." Critics also saw parallels with the 1986 film  from  and  (which also featured magic crystals, and Atlantis directors Trousdale and Wise both acknowledged Miyazaki's works as a major influence on their own work) and with the 1994 film  as Milo's characteristics were said to resemble those of , the protagonist of Stargate and its spinoff television series  — which coincidentally launched its own spinoff, titled ; the plot of the 1994 film is also paralleled involving a group visiting an unknown world, a fictional language made for the other world's people, the main protagonist having apparent knowledge of the people's culture, falling in love with one of the female locals and electing to stay behind when the others return home. Accolades  Award Category Name Result Individual Achievement in Directing Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise Nominated Individual Achievement in Storyboarding Chris Ure Nominated Individual Achievement in Production Design David Goetz Nominated Individual Achievement in Effects Animation Marlon West Nominated Individual Achievement in Voice Acting – Female Florence Stanley Nominated Individual Achievement in Voice Acting – Male Leonard Nimoy Nominated Individual Achievement for Music Score James Newton Howard Nominated Original Retrospective Documentary Michael Pellerin Nominated Best Sound Editing – Animated Feature Film Gary Rydstrom, Michael Silvers, Mary Helen Leasman, John K. Carr, Shannon Mills, Ken Fischer, David C. Hughes, and Susan Sanford Won   Nominated 2002 Political Film Society   Nominated   Nominated   Nominated Diane Warren and James Newton Howard Nominated Best Feature Family Film – Drama Walt Disney Feature Animation Nominated Related works Main article:  Atlantis: The Lost Empire was meant to inspire an  entitled Team Atlantis, which would have presented the further adventures of its characters. The series would have been akin to an animated  version of  and feature a  with . However, because of the film's underperformance at the box office, the series was not produced. On May 20, 2003, Disney released a  sequel titled , consisting of three episodes planned for the aborted series.  planned to revive its  ride with an Atlantis: The Lost Empire theme with elements from the movie. These plans were canceled and the attraction was re-opened in 2007 as the , its theme based on the 2003  film , which was far more successful commercially and critically. In addition, after the Submarine Voyage's  counterpart, , closed down in 1994, four years before Disneyland's, there were proposals of a new attraction that would take its place, with one of them a volcano attraction inspired by that film's Vulcania location, being approved for the Magic Kingdom's  area. Around 1999, during development of Atlantis: The Lost Empire, it was decided that it would be themed to the movie, with it taking place in 1916, two years after the film's events. The ride would have focused on Preston Whitmore, a character from the film, seeking to make Atlantis existence public and offer expeditions to visitors in newly developed vehicles. However, due to mishaps, the vehicles would be forced to make a detour through the lava-filled caverns of the volcano. The attraction would have used a unique hybrid ride system, in which it would start as a standard coaster before the trains hook up to a suspended track midway through to fly through the caverns. The attraction would have been accessed by a new canyon path in between  and a re-routed  that would have led to a Whitmore Enterprises base camp at the edge of the  path, with the mountain itself being built outside the berm. However, like the previous Submarine Voyage retheme, the ride was cancelled due to the film's disappointment in the box office.

This episode should have been called “6 o’clock”

The post N191 The Well appeared first on Who Back When | A Doctor Who Podcast.

In the wake of not only the glorious return of both missing episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan to the Doctor Who archive but also four brave astronauts (one of them Canadian!) to the Earth, we're back to our usual cogitating about the BFI screening of the TV Movie on its 30th anniversary, Big Finish covers and a lovely trailer by the Brothers Kibble-White, the Radiophonic Workshop getting a well deserved award, AND the return in the form of Part the Third of our Classic Series Commentary on "The Mysterious Planet"!

Links:

• Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
• Film is Fabulous panels from the Riverside event
• Sue Malden interview about finding the Daleks' Master Plan episodes
• Sold out BFI screening for the Doctor Who TV movie happening May 17
• The Quiz of Rassilon TV Movie special, May 17 at the BFI bar
• Doctor Who Magazine Special 73 – 30 Years of the Eighth Doctor
• BBC Studios Launches First-Ever Airline Streaming Service
• Doctor Who: The Official Doctionary due Oct 22
• Big Finish: Doctor Who – Helter Skelter out now
• Trailer for Doctor Who – Helter Skelter
• Big Finish: Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks – Part One out now
• The BBC Radiophonic Workshop will receive the Music Producers Guild Pioneer Award Apr 16

Commentary:

• The Mysterious Planet Part Three

Adam J Purcell, Fake Keith, Jay Doran, Jean Riddler, The Real Keith Dunn and Scott Fuller review the Special Features on the Doctor Who: The Collection: Season 21 Blu-ray boxset and the 2026 film version of Project Hail Mary, find some general news and a variety of other stuff, specifically:

• 00:00 – Intro and theme tune.
• 01:14 — Welcome!
• 02:08 – News:
• 02:22 — Star Trek: Academy no more.
• 07:45 — JMS: Comic mini-series coming to Apple TV.
• 09:32 — James Tolkan: DEAD!
• 10:47 — Laurie Webb: DEAD!
• 12:01 — Star Wars: Mark Hamill talks smart LEGO bricks.
• 13:54 – Project Hail Mary (2026 film).
• 28:53 – Doctor Who: Season 21 Collection special features.
• 48:57 – Crumbly’s Corner
• 54:41 – Farewell for this podcast!
• 55:26 — End theme, disclaimer, copyright, etc.

Vital Links:

• Staggering Stories.
• Star Trek.
• Wikipedia: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (TV series).
• Wikipedia: J. Michael Straczynski.
• AWS Studios: Telepaths.
• Wikipedia: Jame Tolkan.
• Wikipedia: Laurie Webb.
• Wikipedia: Mark Hamill.
• Wikipedia: LEGO Star Wars.
• Wikipedia: LEGO Smart Brick.
• Wikipedia: Project Hail Mary (film).
• Wikipedia: Doctor Who Season 21.
• Facebook: Staggering Stories Group.

Originally released in June 2022, this classic episode of Doctor Who Literature fell out of the Spotify archives. The episode has been slightly re-edited and reposted, in anticipation of our coming mini-series on The Daleks' Master Plan. If you discovered DWLit after 2024, this will be your first opportunity to hear Jason's interview with long-time DW author John Peel.

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us!

Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels.

Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube athttps://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels.

"Doctor Who – The Dalek Invasion of Earth" features cover art by Chris Achilleos.

Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com.

You can catch all past episodes athttps://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit.

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:

Bluesky: @thedwshow.net
X / Twitter: @theDWshow
Email: hello@theDWshow.net
Substack: thedwshow.substack.com
Facebook: facebook.com/theDWshow

Gosport Comic Con 2026

Hello and welcome to this mini episode about Meds and Peters time at the brilliant Gosport Comic Con. This is the third comic con in Gosport and the second time Meds and Peter have hosted the stage panels. Huge congratulations to Mark Bennett and his team for putting on an amazing show. 

Below are the links to the people Meds talks about on the podcast. 

Daddy Daughter Comics 

http://www.youtube.com/@daddydaughtercomics

The Moons on Mars 

https://www.vanguardcomics.co.uk/purchase-the-moons-on-mars

Daniel Peacock

https://www.tiktok.com/@themoonsonmars

Paul McGann

https://www.independenttalent.com/actors/paul-mcgann/

Marina Sirtis

https://www.marinasirtis.tv/

Tina Simmons

https://www.facebook.com/tina.simmons.7758

Clem So

https://www.instagram.com/clem.so/

Tony McCarthy

https://www.instagram.com/tonymccarthy_actor/

Brian Wheeler

https://ohsosmall.com/actors/brianw.html

 

Thank you for downloading the Trap One Podcast.

On this episode US Jason is joined by Jeff, Nadia, Jim and Paul to discuss the recently recovered first episode of The Daleks' Master Plan.

This can be viewed in the UK on the BBC iPlayer here.

You can donate to the brilliant Film is Fabulous here.

Spring has sprung and the dynamic duo have returned!

Join Stace & Barry as they take a trip through time with Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, end up fighting a War Machine, and get excited for some snazzy new movie trailers. All this, plus some music from The Afterparty, and a Mutiny occurs.

Grab your breakfast of choice and enjoy Stace & Barry In The Morning!

This week we start three week's coverage of LFCC with a Doctor Who comic books panel that featured Phillip Hinchcliffe.

You may wish to contribute to the show's running costs, it's Patreon is here https://www.patreon.com/tdrury

or buy me a coffee here https://ko-fi.com/timdrury

The show is also on Facebook please join the group for exclusive behind the scenes insights and of course also discuss and feedback on the show https://www.facebook.com/groups/187162411486307/

If you want to send me comments or feedback you can email them to tdrury2003@yahoo.co.uk

or contact me on twitter where I'm @tdrury or send me a friend request and your comments to facebook where I'm Tim Drury and look like this http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdrury/3711029536/in/set-72157621161239599/ in case you were wondering.

Join Phil as he takes over the driving and takes the Campervan for a spin around the newly returned episodes of The Dalek Master Plan, this time with his teenage son Scott, for whom the episodes are the first recovered episodes in his lifetime! Will he care?! How to they hold up in his view? Jump on board to find out.

Enjoy!

Have you ever seen Paul McGann at a Doctor Who convention?

Until 2003, when he appeared at the 40th anniversary event in London, Panopticon, no one thought he would ever do fan events.

Now, of course, he's a regular.

Matt and Kenny share their memories of seeing Paul, and we bring you a recording of Paul at Whooverville 14, in 2023. He just so happens to be interviewed by our Kenny...

The video of this is available on YouTube.

Episode 250 is finally here! WhoTuber Josh Snares takes over as host and the interviewers become the interviewees.

Philip and Dwayne share not only their podcast journey over the last six years, but how they became involved in live events, and what the future of the podcast may bring.

Our new podcast Blake's 7 - The Way Back is currently available on Youtube (also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify) from https://www.youtube.com/@Blakes7WayBack

Theme music by Joe Kraemer.

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Steven and Erika re-review the other recently returned episode and pine for more.

V (3) - Recovered!

Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Erika and Steven revisit an episode we first reviewed in 2016! Why? Because it’s no longer merely a reconstruction! Two episodes of “The Daleks’ Master Plan” were recently recovered, thanks to the good work of Film Is Fabulous. We’ve made good on our promise to return and re-cover recovered episodes, and “The Nightmare Begins” is the first of the two.

V (1) - Recovered!

Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

The time has come and the two previously missing but now gloriously present episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan, namely The Nightmare Begins (Episode 1) and Devil's Planet (Episode 3), are here to be viewed and reviewed! They appeared not only on the BBC iPlayer but also in full on the US (but not Canadian, feh) Classic Doctor Who Youtube channel, and we have viewed said episodes and have thoughts. But that's not all we also have an interview with Toby Hadoke, who hosted a screening at Riverside Studios and reflects with Steven on the screening, the episodes, and the overall wonder that is their return!

Links:

• Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
• The Daleks' Master Plan: The Nightmare Begins – iPlayer
• The Daleks' Master Plan: Devil's Planet – iPlayer
• The Daleks' Master Plan: The Nightmare Begins – YouTube
• The Daleks' Master Plan: Devil's Planet – YouTube
• Doctor Who Magazine 628 released
• BBC Three to run Twenty Years of Tennant marathon Apr 16
• HBO says not aware of a potential Doctor Who partnership with the BBC
• Big Finish: Doctor Who: Time War – Uncharted: Branches due May 2026
• Big Finish: Doctor Who – Rutans vs Sontarans: Betrayal at the House of Sontar out now
• Big Finish: Torchwood: Curtain released
• Paul Hayes' Flight Into Danger documentary and article
• World of Telly – Gangsters
• Laurie Webb died at 101

Interview:

• Toby Hadoke
• Riverside Studios Event

In this episode of the Who's He? Podcast....

Review - The Nightmare Begins & Devil's Planet

On Good Friday, two missing episodes from the Doctor Who story The Daleks Master Plan, found by Film Is Fabulous were released on the BBC iPlayer. It was the first time in over 60 years that either of these episodes have been seen anywhere, so join Phil and Scott as they chat about these recovered episodes, The Nightmare Begins and Devil's Planet, and wonder at these episodes as they go from hairless to hairy.

You can currently find us on X, Threads, Mastodon & Bluesky. Don't miss an episode by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, plus many other podcatchers of your choice.

  This title was released in March 2026. It will be exclusively available to buy from the Big Finish website until 30 April 2026, and on general sale after this date. Summoned back to Earth by the Space-Time telegraph, the Doctor and Sarah Jane find themselves assisting their old friends at UNIT not once but twice. But exactly how willing will a Time Lord be to be stuck in a single place once more? 15.1 The Ministry of Death by Robert Valentine (4 parts) When the Brigadier uses the Space-Time Telegraph to summon the Doctor and Sarah Jane from their travels, they know it'll be for something unusual. But neither could expect something quite this strange. An electronics expert has died after being struck by lightning. But how could this possibly happen in his office? And that’s only the first death they discover. A wild scheme is underway. A case of twisted science and revenge. That's about to hit closer to home than they could possibly anticipate. 15.2 The Inhuman Empire by Phil Mulryne (2 parts) Sarah is contacted by an old friend who knows her predilection for 'rum goings on', asking her to investigate unusual activities at the National Museum. Sarah agrees to look into it, with the Doctor tagging along - but they soon discover things are worse than they thought. Because the Museum is host to alien activity - very familiar aliens at that. And if they don't stop these relic hunters quickly, then humanity itself might not survive. Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart © Haisman & Lincoln and used under licence. With thanks to Hannah Haisman and Candy Jar Please note: the collector’s edition CD box set is strictly limited to 1,500 copies and will not be re-pressed.   Recorded on: 23 and 27 October, 3,10, 16 and 30 November, and 14 December 2020 Recorded at: The Soundhouse and Remote Recoding   Producer David Richardson said: "Now this is my era! I was 12 years old when the Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry were flying out into the universe, and those years remain some of my most treasured Doctor Who memories. "How brilliant that, at last, 15 seasons into The Fourth Doctor Adventures, we can bring those characters back together again for new stories. This season has been sitting 'in the can' for a while now - we made it at the height of lockdown, and it proved the most joyous diversion from bleak times. Imaginative, brilliant escapism - just what Doctor Who should be." The Ministry of Death writer Robert Valentine added: "There is a certain magic to these lead characters of the Fourth Doctor, Sarah, Harry and the Brig. The Fourth Doctor is a far less clubbable personality than the Third Doctor was, and he's this chaotic force who wants to leave, and the Brig is a force of order who wants him to stay. "And stuck between them are Sarah and Harry, who are a very different couple of characters, who nevertheless get on extremely well. But Harry is a throwback to an earlier time, not unlike John Steed in The Avengers, and Sarah is a thoroughly contemporary woman who's bang up to date for the 1970s. Or is it the 1980s?" Actor Christopher Naylor described The Ministry of Death: "It has a real adventure serial feel to it. It moves at a good pace and it's very reminiscent of those early stories in Tom's tenure, like Robot. You can imagine those very brightly lit sets and the jeeps zooming all over the place and lots of colour separation overlay of actors and creatures getting bigger." Sadie Miller, who plays Sarah Jane Smith, agreed: "It's a really fun adventure. It reminds me of Roger Corman movies - that sort of creature feature element, which I absolutely adore, and a gothic spooky element to the sci-fi, with a mad scientist character, which I've always really enjoyed as a viewer and as a listener."

Thank you for downloading the Trap One Podcast.

This week Dan, Si, Pete and Hannah look at the Fourth Doctor Big Finish box set, The Ministry of Death.

This week my new series re-watch reaches the final Jodie Whittaker story Doctor Who: The Power of The Doctor.

You may wish to contribute to the show's running costs, it's Patreon is here https://www.patreon.com/tdrury

or buy me a coffee here https://ko-fi.com/timdrury

The show is also on Facebook please join the group for exclusive behind the scenes insights and of course also discuss and feedback on the show https://www.facebook.com/groups/187162411486307/

If you want to send me comments or feedback you can email them to tdrury2003@yahoo.co.uk

or contact me on twitter where I'm @tdrury or send me a friend request and your comments to facebook where I'm Tim Drury and look like this http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdrury/3711029536/in/set-72157621161239599/ in case you were wondering.

It's over - We are free!!!

 

This week, David & Matt sit down to discuss the final  five episodes from the final series of Torchwood 'Miracle Day'.

 

Doctor Who theme by Ron Grainer, arranged by Alexander Erben.

 

Talk to us! Email: timenorspacepod@gmail.com Twitter:@timenorspacepod

Not only is it not St Patrick's Day; it's not even March. But it was. And in a loose tie-in, we picked the two missing Patrick Troughton episodes that aired closest to March 17th. Following our discussion last time about The Macra Terror episode 2, Gav, Giles and Paul join Richard to chat about Fury From The Deep episode 1. We try to unravel some enduring mysteries, but most can only be answered if we ever get to see it.

Please like or share our podcast with people who will enjoy it, so we can build our listener base high for happiness. You can rate us directly on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser.com

Gav's excellent YouTube series Terry Nation Army can be found here: https://youtube.com/user/Dalek6388. Also, next time you're in the North West, check out his new venture - West Kirby Escape Room: The Jurassic Factor westkirbyescaperoom.co.uk

Head over to https://www.bigfinish.com/, where we all love Paul's stories. 

Giles is a published author with many books, primarily related to science and astronomy. check out his work here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Giles-Sparrow/author/B001IXOESC, at all good bookshops, and a few bad ones too.

The Something Who logo, which features prominently on all our cover art was designed for us by Bea Garrido. She's a really talented artist, who you can find by following this link: https://beagarridoart.weebly.com/, where you can buy prints of some remarkable paintings of characters from Doctor Who.

The opening music is Three Guitars Mood 2 and, yes, that is Richard playing the ukulele and kazoo on possibly the worst ever version of the Doctor Who theme tune at the end.

We're heading back to the pages of Doctor Who Magazine for today's episode, as we look at the second comic strip adventure featuring Paul McGann's Doctor.

The Keep was written by Alan Barnes and illustrated by Martin Geraghty, and we've a brief archival interview with Alan, plus Martin joins us to discuss his art on this two-part tale.

Kenny and Matt discuss the adventure, with comic expert Paul Scoones popping by to share his thoughts too!

Back to watching some proper Doctor Who and it feels so good! It's almost like...we're young again! And wow, doesn't Tish Jones look familiar? Yes, friend of the show Mike Solko set us up to watch this episode post-Gally and we didn't realize until now that it was all a Gugu Mbatha-Raw connection! Well, how did we like getting back to some Modern Who and seeing more Mark Gatiss than we could ever really want? You've got to listen to find out!

The Rocketeer

Hello, its a new episode and what a classic old school action adventure it is too. This month Meds and Kell chat about The Rocketeer starring Bill Campbell and Timothy Dalton who clearly is having the time of his life. 

We hope you enjoy it and please do share our show, everything helps. 

Our deepest of dives into the wilds of missing episodes continues as our feature interview this week is with John Franklin of Film is Fabulous!, who chats all about the organization's mission, the complicated saga of tracking down not just Doctor Who but other film artifacts from collectors across the UK, and of course a deep dive into the technical nitty-gritty of film restoration, as is the remit of this here podcast. Plus a greeting from Chairman of the Board Tom Baker on the 45th anniversary of the Fourth Doctor's swan song in "Logopolis", Gallifrey One's hotelmaggedon looms in May, Matt Brittin takes on the job of BBC director general, and more!

Links:

• Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
• Preserving Doctor Who Episodes by Film is Fabulous
• Gallifrey One hotel accommodations open May 8
• Doctor Who: The Collection – Peter Davison, Season 3 coming to NA on July 7
• 45 Years Ago…
• Ex-Google boss Matt Brittin officially confirmed as new BBC director general
• New episode of The Whoniverse Show with Camille Coduri
• Big Finish The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: The First Question released
• Doctor Who Annual 2027 due Aug 20

Interview:

• John Franklin, Film Is Fabulous!

In this episode of the Who's He? Podcast....

Review - Warriors Of The Deep - Special Edition

Phil and Scott head into the murky depths with Warriors Of The Deep - Special Edition which was recently released as part of the Season 21 blu-ray boxset. But what is so special about this edition of a much maligned Doctor Who story? And what about Ingrid Pitt's karate kicks?

And in the news:

• Matt Brittin is announced as the next Director General of the BBC, who also happens to be a fan of Doctor Who.
• Russell T. Davies announces that Doctor Who is a gay show. Has fandom got hold of the wrong end of the stick again?

You can currently find us on X, Threads, Mastodon & Bluesky. Don't miss an episode by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, plus many other podcatchers of your choice.

Adam J Purcell, Jay Doran, Keith Dunn and Scott Fuller review Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus and six episodes of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, find some general news and a variety of other stuff, specifically:

• 00:00 – Intro and theme tune.
• 02:07 — Welcome!
• 03:06 – News:
• 03:11 — Firefly: Potential animated series in the works.
• 06:51 — Buffy: Hulu’s revival cancelled.
• 11:43 — Nicholas Brendon: DEAD!
• 13:52 — Paul Cornell: Saucer Country comic coming to TV.
• 16:14 — Stranger Things: Complete series coming to disc.
• 19:15 — Doctor Who: Two lost Dalek Masterplan episodes found.
• 23:32 – Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episodes 6-10.
• 52:47 – Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus.
• 72:39 – Emails and listener feedback.
• 81:23 – Farewell for this podcast!
• 82:10 — End theme, disclaimer, copyright, etc.

Vital Links:

• Staggering Stories.
• Wikipedia: Firefly (TV series).
• Wikipedia: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• Wikipedia: Nicholas Brendon.
• Wikipedia: Saucer Country.
• Wikipedia: Paul Cornell.
• Wikipedia: Stranger Things.
• Wikipedia: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (TV series).
• BBC: Doctor Who.
• Wikipedia: The Keys of Marinus.
• BBC: Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus.
• Facebook: Staggering Stories Group.

It's St Patrick's Day. Well, it was. And in a loose tie-in, we've picked the two missing Patrick Troughton episodes that aired closest to March 17th. In this podcast episode we'll be talking about The Macra Terror Episode 2.

Gav, Giles and Paul join Richard for a discussion (eventually) about the episode itself to try to unravel some enduring mysteries. Next time we'll be discussing Fury From The Deep episode 1.

Please like or share our podcast with people who will enjoy it, so we can build our listener base high for happiness. You can rate us directly on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser.com

Gav's excellent YouTube series Terry Nation Army can be found here: https://youtube.com/user/Dalek6388. Also, next time you're in the North West, check out his new venture - West Kirby Escape Room: The Jurassic Factor westkirbyescaperoom.co.uk

Head over to https://www.bigfinish.com/, where we all love Paul's stories. 

Giles is a published author with many books, primarily related to science and astronomy. check out his work here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Giles-Sparrow/author/B001IXOESC, at all good bookshops, and a few bad ones too.

The Something Who logo, which features prominently on all our cover art was designed for us by Bea Garrido. She's a really talented artist, who you can find by following this link: https://beagarridoart.weebly.com/, where you can buy prints of some remarkable paintings of characters from Doctor Who.

The opening music is Three Guitars Mood 2 and, yes, that is Richard playing the ukulele and kazoo on possibly the worst ever version of the Doctor Who theme tune at the end.

  Alice Okoro returns to the Moon having escorted a prisoner, Mitchell Kane, from a Mars waystation. He has confessed to committing a murder on the Red Planet, but Nathan suspects he isn't telling the whole truth. Is Kane the killer? If not, who is? And why would he admit to a murder he hasn’t committed? The answer to those questions brings shocking consequences.   Recorded on: 5-7 November 2024 Recorded at: The Soundhouse   Writer Roland Moore said: "The Star Cops characters are so well drawn, originally by Chris Boucher and then from what script editor Andrew Smith and the rest of the team have done. They've been played so consistently over the years, so getting back into writing for them is quite easy. And, I had great fun with the two guest characters. Mitchell Kane is a man totally out of his depth, and it's fun to see him unravel - Homer Todiwala's portrayal of Mitchell was a joy to hear." Director Helen Goldwyn added: "Mitchell is quite a character, brilliantly played by Homer. He's a really interesting personality type, and it's great to see his evolution. Also joining us on this episode is the fabulous Hannah Bristow, who I had the pleasure of working with in a show the year before; I knew that she had such a distinctive voice and such a naturalistic style, so it was great to come across the role of Samantha and be able to offer that to Hannah."    (Nathan Spring)  (Inspector Colin Devis)  (Chief Superintendent Pal Kenzy)  (Samantha Curran)  (Inspector Alice Okoro)  (Inspector Paul Bailey) (Mitchell Kane)  

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 our listeners on a number of topics.

Enjoy, dear listener.

Contact us:

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Thank you for downloading the Trap One Podcast.

On this episode Pete, Si and Mark explore two recent BBC Audio releases - Star Flight by Paul Hayes and The Mind Trap by John Peel.

Check out Cathode Ray's Podcast here.

Order Star Flight and The Mind Trap #ad

This week my new series re-watch reaches Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils the penultimate Jodie Whittaker era story.

You may wish to contribute to the show's running costs, it's Patreon is here https://www.patreon.com/tdrury

or buy me a coffee here https://ko-fi.com/timdrury

The show is also on Facebook please join the group for exclusive behind the scenes insights and of course also discuss and feedback on the show https://www.facebook.com/groups/187162411486307/

If you want to send me comments or feedback you can email them to tdrury2003@yahoo.co.uk

or contact me on twitter where I'm @tdrury or send me a friend request and your comments to facebook where I'm Tim Drury and look like this http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdrury/3711029536/in/set-72157621161239599/ in case you were wondering.

Join James and Phil in the as they take the DWP Campervan out for its latest spin. A quick update on the latest on the recovery of the two previously missing episodes of The Dalek Masterplan, the release of Season 21 on Blu Ray and a review of The Violet Hour, the fifth in Big Finish‘s Thirteen Doctor and Yaz series in the latest instalment of Whittaker’s Dozen. All this – and more Doctor Who Predictions for 2026 from Drew and Michele too! What more could you possibly ask for?! Witty Doctor Who songs you say? Well okay then! Musical contributions from the rather wonderful Mr Ashley Frieze.

Enjoy!

We are joined by Tim Burrows of The Missing Episodes Podcast to discuss the new finds before we move on to looking at Second Doctor story “The Seeds of Death”.

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SHOW NOTES

(00:00:00) FILM IS FABULOUS donations can be made at their website here.

(00:03:46) To discuss the recent return of the two misisng episodes from “The Daleks Master Plan”, Tim Burrows returns to us after his guest appearances on podcasts 173 and 189. Tim’s expertise is usually on his The Missing Episodes Podcast.

(00:10:26) This audio clip is from the Friday 13/03/2026 BBC News coverage of the discovery of the two missing episodes, video of which can be seen here.

(00:25:04) Those of you familiar with Doc’s and Mark’s obsession with BBC 1970s drama series “Secret Army” may know that it was one of three similar drama series of the time. The first of these was “Colditz” screened between 1972 and 1974. The series deals with Allied prisoners of war imprisoned at the supposedly escape-proof Colditz Castle during World War II, and their many attempts to escape captivity.

(00:53:58) “Face the Music” is a British panel game show revolving around classical music which originally aired on the BBC from 1966 to 1979 and then 1983 to 1984 with Joseph Cooper hosting the entire run. During its most popular period, the programme had a weekly audience of over 4 million.

(00:57:00) “Arena” is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC since 1975. Voted by TV executives in Broadcast magazine as one of the top 50 most influential programmes of all time, it has produced more than six hundred episodes. The arts strand Arena was initially created in 1975 by the BBC Head of Music & Arts at that time, Humphrey Burton, when he founded a magazine named Arena exploring art, design, filmmaking, and theatre. In 1977, under producer and director Leslie Megahey, the strand divided into Arena Theatre and Arena Art and Design, and Arena became less of a magazine and more a home for short, distinctive and stylish films about mainly British theatre and visual arts. In 1978, Megahey became editor of Omnibus and Alan Yentob, who had been supervising Arena Theatre, took over and the two themes were merged. The series, relaunched in January 1979 and renamed simply Arena, began to adopt a format of single subject essays. It earned great critical acclaim for its enthusiasm for the popular as well as the high arts. During Yentob’s time as editor, Arena had six BAFTA nominations and three BAFTA awards.

“The Ken Campbell Roadshow” was founded by Ken Campbell, (1941 – 2008), an English actor, director and writer known for his work in experimental theatre. In 1969, he was inspired to found “The Ken Campbell Roadshow”, a small theatre group that performed in unconventional venues such as pubs. Members included Bob Hoskins, Bernard Wrigley, Jane Wood, Dave Hill and Sylvester McCoy. Campbell was invited by John Cleese to appear with his Roadshow team in the first Secret Policeman’s Ball in June 1979.

A rare 1971 BBC documentary covering “The Ken Campbell Roadshow” can be seen here.

The video of the audio clip from “Arena” promoting “The Ken Campbell Roadshow” can be seen on our Youtube channel here.

(01:49:54) “The Masterspy” is a game show that tapped into the popular James Bond spy genre and ran on ITV for four seasons from 1977 to 1980. Presenter William Franklyn posed as the head of a top secret spy organisation alongside Jenny Lee-Wright as his faithful secretary Miss Moneypacker. Three contestants pose as spys, completing a series of challenges.  These ranged from simple memory games to displaying expert knowledge on certain types of hand guns to practical tests such as freeing a trapped agent or showing off their shooting skills.

Diddly Dum Podcast acknowledges the copyright of anyone we’ve pinched anything from.

Toni and Joe join Andy Duggan in Sweatin' to the Oodies while they discuss the Doctor Who episode Planet of the Ood.

If you're interested in being a Friend of Rassilon, click here.

Download • YouTube • RSS • Patreon • iTunes • Google Play • ESO Network

We put a Big Finish Short Trip under the microscope in our latest episode.

This was originally released as a subscriber only Short Trip, but was given a mass-market sell through in McGannuary as part of a bundle of four from Big Finish.

Matt and Kenny discuss the story, with producer Ian Atkins and writer Paul Starkey popping by.

This week, David & Matt sit down to discuss the first five episodes from the final series of Torchwood 'Miracle Day'.

Doctor Who theme by Ron Grainer, arranged by Alexander Erben.

Talk to us! Email: timenorspacepod@gmail.com Twitter:@timenorspacepod

Steven and Erika finish off “Revenge of the Cybermen” — and Season 12 of Doctor Who!

And no need to email us — immediately after recording, Steven discovered the “heartbeat” music cue was Peter Howell, not Carey Blyton. Erika regrets her incorrect guess!

(Ok not really. No actual regrets. Everyone is wrong sometimes!)

4D (4)

Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Erika and Steven discuss what makes a good Cybermen story, and whether this is that.

4D (3)

Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Steven and Erika issue corrections, then talk about direction, music, and other assorted nonsense.

4D (2)

Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Erika and Steven (finally) dive into the first Cybermen story they’ve covered in ages!

4D (1)

Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

In this episode of the Who's He? Podcast....

Review - Jubilee

Phil and Paul finally finish off their Sixth Doctor month a few weeks later than planned with Jubilee from Big Finish. This highly regarded story sees the Doctor and Evelyn Smythe caught in a temporal paradox in an alternate England, which sees an English Empire, a mysterious prisoner in the Tower and of course, a Dalek.

We also get Paul's take on the recent announcement of the recovery of two missing episodes of The Daleks Masterplan.

You can currently find us on X, Threads, Mastodon & Bluesky. Don't miss an episode by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, plus many other podcatchers of your choice.

It's been a week since missing episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan revealed themselves to the public to great excitement and joy and indeed a Film of Fabulous! screening of said episodes on April 4 sold out near-instantly upon its announcement. We also have news of an ex-Google chief possibly taking the helm at the BBC, The War Between still being MIA from Disney+, the usual Big Finish over-examining, and our feature interview with The Long Game and Pull to Open author Paul Hayes, here to discuss the production of 1956 CBC production Flight Into Danger, starring one James Doohan and produced by future (at the time) Doctor Who producer Sydney Newman! CanCon, baby!

Links:

• Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon
• Film is Fabulous statement about the Doctor Who recovery
• Film is Fabulous short restoration clips
• Film is Fabulous Daleks' Master Plan screening Apr 4, sold out
• Gallifrey One 2027 tickets on sale
• BBC Close To Hiring Ex-Google Chief Matt Brittin As Next Director General
• The War Between the Land and the Sea not on the Disney+ April schedule
• Paul Cornell's Saucer Country comic optioned for TV series
• Big Finish: David Tennant returns as the Tenth Doctor, new 12-part series coming 2027
• Big Finish: The First Doctor Adventures: Beware the City of Illusions out now
• Big Finish: UNIT – Brave New World: Knightfall out now
• Blake's 7 Series C available to preorder, release date TBD

Interview:

• Paul Hayes
• Flight Into Danger
• Doctor Who: Star Flight by Paul Hayes

Well, how about that? Episodes 1 & 3 of The Daleks' Masterplan have been found and will be released on the BBC iPlayer at Easter.

In the meantime, Gav, Giles and Paul join Richard for a discussion about the episodes themselves. What do we already know from the soundtracks, clips, photos and camera scripts? What about the newly recovered clips we've been shown? What should we be looking out for?

We'll be back after the episodes have been released to discuss how closely they mirrored our expectations and what's completely new. 

Please like or share our podcast with people who will enjoy it, so we can build our listener base high for happiness. You can rate us directly on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser.com

Gav's excellent YouTube series Terry Nation Army can be found here: https://youtube.com/user/Dalek6388. Also, next time you're in the North West, check out his new venture - West Kirby Escape Room: The Jurassic Factor westkirbyescaperoom.co.uk

Head over to https://www.bigfinish.com/, where we all love Paul's stories.

Giles is a published author with many books, primarily related to science and astronomy. check out his work here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Giles-Sparrow/author/B001IXOESC, at all good bookshops, and a few bad ones too.

Richard's other podcast "If It's Hurting, It's not Working" is currently on hiatus, but it's a fun and informative look at work - why we work, how we work, and what makes a great job. And also what makes a great workplace, how to turn things round when we're not enjoying our work and, in the end, how we can all make our work better. We've moved - for all episodes, now go to https://open.spotify.com/show/4c8RB62kyKkfMPixhM7MmG.

The Something Who logo, which features prominently on all our cover art was designed for us by Bea Garrido. She's a really talented artist, who you can find by following this link: https://beagarridoart.weebly.com/, where you can buy prints of some remarkable paintings of characters from Doctor Who.

The opening music is Three Guitars Mood 2 and, yes, that is Richard playing the ukulele and kazoo on possibly the worst ever version of the Doctor Who theme tune at the end.

  This title was released in March 2026. It will be exclusively available to buy from the Big Finish website until 31 May 2026, and on general sale after this date. The Doctor and Yaz arrive in the East End of London, 1926. There’s grief in the air: not only the years of war and sickness, but a more recent death. A strange message prompts them to investigate the murder of a medium. A young woman whose seances hide deeper secrets - and an unearthly power that threatens the entire city. Please note: the collector's edition CD is strictly limited to 1,500 copies   Cover Art by Director Executive Producer Music by Producer Script Editor Sound Design by Written by Senior Producer Product Format: 1-disc CD (jewel case) Number of Discs: 1 Duration: 71 minutes Physical Retail ISBN: 978-1-80240-627-6 Digital Retail ISBN: 978-1-80240-628-3 Production Code: BFPDW13TH05  (The Doctor)  (Yasmin Khan)  (Esther)  (Kidney / Cat-Caller)  (Nellie / Waitress)  (Miriam) (Maltravers / Ironmonger) Recorded on: 25 June 2025 Recorded at: Fitzrovia Post     Writer Rafaella Marcus said: "It’s been a thrill to take the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz to the world of music hall and seances, and bring them face to face with all the strange and murky things that occupy the underbelly of 1920s London. "Speaking to the dead is a dangerous and - quite literally - haunting business, and even more so in this era. I've loved writing Yaz and the Doctor's challenging, loyal, heartfelt dynamic as they investigate both a series of murders and their own losses - I hope listeners enjoy it as much as I did." Lead actor Jodie Whittaker said: "It's a really beautiful script, with ghostly elements explored in a very unique way, and so many different characters of different ages as well - people whose grief is through loss of a family, and young people who've lost someone instantly. And it touches on the Spanish flu, which, now we all know what it's like to live through a pandemic, feels incredibly relevant." Her co-star Mandip Gill added: "When I first read The Violet Hour, I was a bit scared because I'm actually scared of ghosts! But then I got quite excited because we've not touched on this before, and it's exciting to pop back to the East End in the 1920s." And, producer Noga Flaishon said: "Working with Rafaella Marcus was wonderful. I adore their work across theatre and audio, and they were amongst the first writers I pitched for this series. The plot is so suspenseful and spooky, and this was the first - and so far only - time I shed tears in the control room during a recording... the words ripped my heart out on this one."    

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 over the nuclear missiles on an undersea military colony on Earth in 2084.

Contact us:

Bluesky: @thedwshow.net
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Email: hello@theDWshow.net
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