On this week's I'll Explain Now instalment, we review the latest episode of the 2025 series of Doctor Who - The Well. Along the way we discuss radical optimism, David Lynch and where and when less really does give you more. Watch this episode on Youtube Email us at [email protected] Find us on Bluesky & Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.…

Our I'll Explain Now season of bleeding-edge Doctor Who reviews continues with yesterday's Fifteenth Doctor adventure, Lux. Along the way we consider some common ground between Jon Pertwee and Ncuti Gatwa's Doctors, ruminate on vibes-based Doctor Who and take a detour into discussing TV chefs. Watch this episode on Youtube Email us at hello@illexpl…

I'll Explain Now! Join us as we celebrate Doctor Who's return with a blazing-hot take on last night's episode, The Robot Revolution. Along the way we discuss Tintin rockets, our awkward teenage years and the peculiar bind that Doctor Who finds itself in in 2025. Watch this episode on Youtube Email us at [email protected] Find us on Bluesky …

For the final instalment of our missing-presumed-wiped 2019 recording, we look at Hartnell-era SFX spectacle The Web Planet. Along the way, we consider how autobiographical this story might have been for Bill Strutton, whether or not its reputation is deserved, and - of course - insect movement. Watch this episode on Youtube Email us Find us on Blu…

In the second instalment of our freshly reconstructed 2019 "lost" recording, we look at the Tenth Doctor's bout of motorway madness, Gridlock. Along the way we consider RTD's use of messianic imagery, coo over some kittens and revisit our initial reactions to that Macra reveal. Watch this episode on Youtube Email us Find us on Bluesky & Instagram H…

We're taking a couple of weeks off recording, but to tide you over, here's a little treat from the vaults for you - a previously unreleased review of Frontios from a missing-presumed-wiped recording we made back in 2019. Along the way we consider where the vibe shift between Peter Davison and Colin Baker actually took place, why Tegan continues to …

This week, we catch up with the Twelfth Doctor and Bill as we skate over Thin Ice. Along the way we discuss the Doctor's morality, sing Pearl Mackie's praises and weight up which Doctors evolved the most over their tenures. Watch this episode on Youtube Email us Find us on Bluesky & Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat…

This week, we look at the earth-shattering conclusion to the Key to Time saga with the Fourth Doctor epic The Armageddon Factor. Along the way, we get to grips with Tom Baker's late-era antics, consider some beguilingly odd telly and weigh up Bob Baker and Dave Martin's contributions to Doctor Who. Watch this episode on Youtube Email us Find us on …

This week, we turn up the voltage with the Thirteenth Doctor and chums as they face Nikola Tesla's Night Of Terror. Along the way we discuss the myths surrounding Tesla himself, the ethics of the "celeb historical", and experience some monster deja-vu. Watch this episode on Youtube Email us Find us on Bluesky & Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.…

This week, we grab a hanky and join the Fourth Doctor in saying goodbye to Sarah Jane as we wave through The Hand of Fear. Along the way, we consider Tom Baker's emotional availability, great Episode Ones, and Matt deploys an unfortunate turn of phrase. Watch this episode on Youtube Email us Find us on Bluesky & Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast…

This week, we watch the Tenth Doctor and Donna's rocky trip to ancient Pompeii. Along the way, we full our "Doctor Who history story" bingo card, consider RTD's input into guest-writer scripts, and weigh up the optimal number of companions. Watch this episode on Youtube Email us Find us on Bluesky & Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy …

This week we wind right back to the Hartnell era for a look at historical epic The Crusade. Along the way we discuss ants, filming with bows and arrows, and start to unpick exactly what we do and don't want from Doctor Who stories set in Earth's past. Watch this episode on Youtube Email us Find us on Bluesky & Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.c…

This week we're looking back twenty years (twenty! years!) to the first proper episode written by one Steven Moffat - someone who I think we'll be hearing a bit more from in future. Along the way we discuss shame, romance and the ways in which a sprinkling of science fiction can get us closer to historical truth. Watch this episode on Youtube Email…

This week, in an episode recorded prior to the recent, sad passing of writer Barbara Clegg, we look aloft at the Fifth Doctor and chums as they search for Enlightenment. Along the way we consider the role of gods in Doctor Who, reasses the conventional view of Peter Davison's Doctor as "nice" and add another 80s celebrity to our cameo tally. Watch …

This week we hit the pub with the Fourth Doctor as he faces down The Android Invasion. Along the way we discuss the benefits of having a journalist on board the TARDIS, stinky facial accessories, and whether or not we might have been a tad unfair to one of the elder statesmen of Doctor Who. Read the article about Terrance Dicks' politics that John …

Happy New Year! We ring in 2025 with a look at one of Doctor Who's more recent seasonal traditions - the New Year's Day episode, as inaugurated by Thirteenth Doctor epic Resolution. Along the way we discuss the influence of Andrzej Zulawski, consider the show's odd approach to families, and of course have a conversation about the "have a conversati…

It's a Christmas miracle! We got on an international call to discuss yesterday's brand new episode of Doctor Who, Joy To The World. Along the way, we consider the importance of hope, the challenges of watching Doctor Who with your family and begin our journey with Doctor Who's Disney era. We hope you're having a wonderful festive period - we'll be …

And incidentally a Happy Christmas to all of you at home! We're full of the festive spirit at I'll Explain Later - but will 2014's yuletide episode Last Christmas turn out to be an absolute cracker? Listen in to find out... Along the way, we consider companions who could have been, doff our caps to Greg Lake, and exchange some Christmas gifts. Watc…

We dry-clean our tuxes and prepare for the all-time high of Spyfall (parts 1 and 2), the opening episode of the Thirteenth Doctor’s second season. Along the way, we consider the connective tissue between James Bond and Doctor Who, weigh up the Master’s views on outsourcing, and begin the yeoman’s work of fully unpacking Chris Chibnall’s contributio…

This week, we move in with the Eleventh Doctor and James Corden by way of 2010 romcom episode The Lodger. Along the way, we consider the value of the guest star in Doctor Who, the Doctor’s approach to making an omelette, and reveal an extraordinary Sliding Doors moment in Matt’s life. You can watch the Doctor Who sketch from Swinging (featuring Mat…

This week we cast a spell and summon the 1971 Third Doctor classic The Daemons. Along the way, we admire the UNIT lads' civvies, take a detour into the work of Erich von Daniken, and contemplate the role of magic in Doctor Who. All that, plus a world-exclusive look behind the scenes at BBC3 thanks to some recently unearthed footage! Watch this epis…

We bring the curtain down on Doctor Who's sixtieth anniversary year with a look back at the show's twentieth anniversary epic - 1983's The Five Doctors. Along the way we consider the malleability of the First Doctor, whether any directorial notes were given for THAT High Council scene, and what we actually want from an anniversary anyway. Read Dave…

This week, we're looking at Twelfth Doctor two-parter The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion, and - going out on a real limb here - consider whether it might possibly have some sort of socio-political subtext. Along the way, we indulge in some uninformed speculation on show-runners that could have been, throw mild shade at The Thick of It, and …

We're back! And what better way to mark our triumphant return to your ears - and now eyes! - than one of the most consequential Doctor Who stories of all time? This week we unpack Tenth Doctor classic Blink. Along the way, we speculate on what a rare DVD business might stock, extol the virtues of seizing the moment, and consider whether making Doct…

It's the end! And the moment has been reached with our signature lack of preparation. Thankfully we've still got two blockbuster Doctor Who stories to enjoy in our sequeltastic season finale - the Fourth Doctor's first encounter with Davros in Genesis of the Daleks, and the Twelfth Doctor's return to Skaro in The Magician's Apprentice and The Witch…

It's the "Of Death" special! In perhaps our most tenuously-themed episode yet, we discuss the uncanny valley, AI and helium as we consider Fourth Doctor classic The Robots of Death, then we switch mediums entirely to cop a load of X-rated VR while untangling the knots in our minds as we indulge ourselves in Third Doctor radio romp The Paradise of D…

It's a holiday special! Not in the Christmas sense, or indeed in any meaningful way at all beyond that these are two stories where the Doctor and co attempt to take a holiday and fail. Under the microscope this week are Eleventh Doctor double threat The Girl Who Waited and the Seventh Doctor's encounter with Delta and the Bannermen. Questions? Thou…

It's a Welsh special on this week's I'll Explain Later as we hop across the border to enjoy two stories that put Wales at the heart of the action - the Ninth Doctor's tense trip to Boomtown, and the Third Doctor's iconic brush with The Green Death. Email your thoughts and questions to [email protected] or "X" us at @explainlaterpod - and we…

It's a dastardly double bill on this week's I'll Explain Later as we look back on the Doctor's encounters with two diabolical masterminds - Professor Zaroff, in aquatic Second Doctor caper The Underwater Menace, and The Sixth Master (as no-one calls him) in apocalyptic Tenth Doctor series finale The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords. Can anyt…

We're back! Thanks for sticking with us during our extended hiatus - we toyed with releasing a charity single, but instead decided to knuckle down and record a WHOLE NEW SEASON of I'll Explain Later. We'll be dropping new episodes weekly for the next six weeks, covering a slew of Doctor Who adventures past and... even more past. And we're kicking o…

We tackled some weighty issues head-on in this month's livestream, as our analysis of MARCO POLO, THE RINGS OF AKHATEN and REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS took in the Paradox of Tolerance, the history curriculum and advanced horticulture. Luckily, we still found room for our usual array of double entendres and general low-brow humour as well. Come for Ma…

For this month's live show, we fought against our better instincts to bring you a bumper-length consideration of all 14 episodes of 1986's courtroom epic Trial of a Time Lord. Along the way, we discovered a wholly unexpected intersection between the worlds of Doctor Who and reggae, considered the health and safety implications of Time Lord architec…

It's about time! A little more so than usual on this month's live show, as we weigh up the pros and cons of time-wimey classics Day of the Daleks and The Girl in the Fireplace, before going deep on heavyweight Time Lord brawler The Invasion of Time. Along the way we discuss the Doctor's drinking habits, whether Milton Johns minded being typecast, s…

Our second livestream saw John and Matt tackle a trio of returning monster mash-ups in mind-boggling detail - taking in Cyberman sugar-rush THE MOONBASE, Gravity Bar crawl THE SONTARAN EXPERIMENT, and the box-fresh PANDORICA OPENS / BIG BANG two-parter. Along the way, we discussed whether Kit Pedler had an easy gig, enjoyed some prescient Sontaran …

We emerge sleepily from an 18-month hibernation, only to find that we're confined to the house and a lot's changed in the interim. But our debut LIVE episode gave us the chance to find out whether kid's telly fave Doctor Who could tell us anything useful about the Very Strange Times we're living in, as we delved into Hartnell-era viral sensation Th…

Page Peter Snow, brace for the exit poll - I’ll Explain Later goes psephological to explore three Doctor Who tales with political guru special guest Lewis Baston. A duped demos dragged into drudgery slave away to fly the ship of state into unknown territory. If someone can get the Haynes manual off eBay. Live vivisection is just one of the highligh…

Rocks, redemption and referendums in episode 35 of I'll Explain Later. Tom Baker does his best to hold his own against unexpressive and rigid screenmates, while the Ogri and Romana I co-star in 1978's The Stones of Blood. The Eleventh Doctor battles wobble boards and has to eat humble pie as a hopeless dad beats off wooden dolls - disturbing pyjama…

We're back - and it's ABOUT TIME! In our long-awaited comeback special, we enjoy a bit of horseplay with the First Doctor in The Myth Makers, relish a chicken dinner with the Tenth Doctor in Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead, and get schooled by the Fifth Doctor in Mawdryn Undead. Along the way, we asked whether the First Doctor was a mas…

It's ninety minutes of hellos and goodbyes on this somewhat delayed, erm, April instalment of I'll Explain Later. This month, the Third Doctor encounters some harsh imperial measures in The Mutants; the Eleventh Doctor rolls up his sleeves and gets under the hood in The Doctor's Wife; and the Fourth Doctor gets all big-headed about The Face of Evil…

Genius abounds in this slightly delayed 32nd I'll Explain Later. With the Tardis crew keen to escape the clutches of Butcher Cumberland, the Second Doctor channels all his thespian guile to hoodwink his adversaries in 1966-7 knockabout romp The Highlanders. A schlub or a savant? Rose wants to know more about her deceased dad and uncovers his yogurt…

Some scenes filmed in Tiger Bay, some set by the Silvery Tay, Daleks seek their glory day - Cybermen in Haringey! That's right, folks - hit us with your rhythm stick (aka sonic device) for this 31st episode of I'll Explain Later. Monopoly capitalism, camp sneering and Patrick Troughton more animated than usual in 1968 epic The Invasion. The Tenth D…

Sometimes, inspiration does just fall from the sky. This 30th I’ll Explain Later explores three mysteries centred on alien threats mistaken as meteorites. The Third Doctor goes topless in fashion-centric debut Spearhead from Space. Public school and planetary peril in 2007 two parter Human Nature/The Family of Blood. And Who does Hammer Horror, as …

Because what says Christmas like honeymoon-based sex cosplay? That’s right, I’ll Explain Later delves deep into St Nick’s bulging sack to pull out, parboil and roast 2010 Yuletide special A Christmas Carol. Jingling along the way, Jim pulls a cracker, Matt spills his port and John goes deep throated. Have a very merry Christmas, and see you on 3rd …

A December Dalek double as I’ll Explain Later heads back to 1973. A beleaguered leader inches towards a conflict with her trading allies she knows to be folly, egged on by forces internal and external and lacking the courage needed to face down the populist nonsense of her critics. Meanwhile, we review Frontier in Space. The Third Doctor asks for h…

Double trouble for the Doctor and pals in this 28th episode of I’ll Explain Later. Troughton meets his match - literally - in recently discovered deadly doppelgänger demagoguery thriller The Enemy of the World. Frozen in lifeless, arid suspension...or dying of cold in the Tardis? Karen Gillan must act, fast, to make Amy’s Choice. And a Fourth Docto…

How many impossible things can you believe before breakfast? I'll Explain Later's 27th episode whisks you away to unimagined realms and mythical times. Tegan might not be well drawn, but her draughtswoman credentials are not in doubt. A smörgåsbord of cultures let bygones be Bigon as the Fifth Doctor takes Four to Doomsday. Incoming showrunner Chri…

Doors to manual! The I'll Explain Later cabin crew are delighted to disembark you into three more terminals of Doctor Who adventure! No perfume counter and no flight-side 'Spoons, but one almighty immigration problem as the Fourth Doctor, Harry and Sarah Jane arrive at The Ark in Space. An overzealous border official goes beyond a cavity search and…

Bikinis and budgie-smugglers at the ready, as the 25th episode of I'll Explain Later accompanies your summer break with another trio of tales! Why have one when you can have two? A duo beating down on them, can Tom Baker and Louise 'Leela' Jameson ride out the heat and avoid the taxman in 1977 yarn The Sun Makers? Oh no, it's clouded over! A typica…

We're on a summer break so no new episode from us this month, sadly. However, to tide you over until our August return, here's a treat from our archives. Earlier this year we were thrilled to be invited to contribute to the spectacular 250th episode of JR Southall's Blue Box Podcast, and we recorded this minisode where we discuss what makes for Bad…

Roll up, roll up – pay your shilling to play the game as the 24th episode of I’ll Explain Later runs the gamut from intergalactic tag to the grandmastery of an existential chess match! Hartnell & Co take in some costume dramas, dodge Daleks in their cardboard quantum coach and encounter anachronistically-named planets in 1965’s The Chase. Ninth Doc…