Announcing "This Week in Time Travel"

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Joining The Incomparable podcast network on March 28, Alyssa Franke, I, and some of our friends and (dare we say) Companions will take a look at the week that was–and the week that will be–in the worlds of Doctor Who. New episodes of This Week in Time Travel will drop every Tuesday.

I'm super excited to get to talk about Doctor Who with other people on a regular basis, but I'm not planning to abandon 2MTL entirely. Whenever there's a short essay on This Week in Time Travel, we'll share it right here as well.

Our first episodes will include interviews with good folks like Titan Comics Twelfth Doctor artist Rachael Stott, Doctor Who alum and Chalk author Paul Cornell, and Kim Rogers and Sage Young of the influential Head Over Feels. Join us, won't you? We're at thisweekintimetravel.com or you can find us at The Incomparable. Follow us on Twitter at @drwhothisweek and visit our Facebook page. And subscribe to This Week in Time Travel on your podcatcher of choice!

2MTL 421: Celebrating Capaldi (Time Dilation)

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Yeah, this is worth breaking a hiatus again.

We've had just two years with him, and then a whole Wilderness Year without him (save an appearance on Class), and now we've found out that Series 10 and the following Christmas special will mark the end of Peter Capaldi's too-short run. Alyssa "@WhovianFeminism" Franke and I celebrate his time on the show, speculate on his final series, and prognosticate about what may follow.

2MTL 420: No Capes?

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2MTL pops up its head like a prairie dog to weigh in on "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" and the end of the Wilderness Year, then retreats back into its burrow. But watch this space for news of a potential new podcasting project…

2MTL 419: So Long, and Thanks for All The Fish

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2MTL may or may not return with the new season of Doctor Who, but I couldn't say goodbye without tipping my hat to the community of fans and podcasters that gave my life meaning during rough times and encouraged my creativity. What better way to do that, than by rerunning The Ood Cast's classic every-podcaster-and-the-kitchen-sink parody from Series 6, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"?

Look for me on The Audio Guide to Babylon 5, occasional panels on The Incomparable Network, and…who knows? Who…nose…?

2MTL 418: Throwback Review of "The Impossible Planet"

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One last Throwback Review before 2MTL falls into a black hole: "The Impossible Planet" is great for exactly the reason I missed.

(NOTE: The ending of the podcast is an intentional nod…)

2MTL 417: Throwback Review of "The Idiot's Lantern"

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It's been a while since we did a Throwback Review, so let's look back at Mark Gatiss's second episode of New Who, which feel surprisingly like a mashup of the classic series and 1966's Batman TV show.

2MTL 416: Let Clara Kiss Jane

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Alyssa, author of the Whovian Feminism blog (whovianfeminism.tumblr.com), wrote an essay called "A Love Letter to My Problematic Favs." In it, she said:

I try to let myself love my favorite characters as much as I can, even when they can sometimes make me so uncomfortable I can’t bear to watch them onscreen. I try to defend them against criticism I think is unfair (after all, female characters come in for a disproportionate amount of sexist criticism), while at the same time trying to keep my mind open to new critical perspectives.

Maintaining a healthy perspective is tough, and we don’t always strike the right balance. But ultimately, that challenge can be a rewarding experience. In struggling to come to terms with all the ways I love and have been let down by my problematic favs, I think I’ve become a better feminist and fangirl.

Chip invited Alyssa to reflect a month later on what she wrote. As fate would have it, that turned out to be the same time that representation and fan entitlement became a hot topic.

2MTL 415: Entitlement?

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Is it "entitlement" to advocate for change in the media you consume? Are you a bad fan, or even a bully, if you want to see something different in Doctor Who? Maybe there's a difference between having an opinion on the internet and being a threat. Maybe we can do something about the latter without trying to shame the former.

2MTL 413: Technophobia Phobia

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Let's get this right out of the way: Big Finish's "Technophobia" is a triumphant return for the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble, almost as though Tennant and Tate never left.

And that weirded me the heck out.