Shows / A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Join Joe Ford as he waltzes all around the world (via whatever means the internet allows) and undertakes Doctor Who commentaries with a wide range of wonderful contributors. Fans, podcasters, online reviewers, writers, actors...the USP of this podcast is it's variety of guests and the fact that they all bring their own unique perspective to the podcast. The guest chooses the story, be it one they love, hate or are completely indifferent, and amongst the gossip is trivia, critique and personal…
Episodes
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Brendan Jones about his choice of Warriors’ Gate
Joe & Brendan; close the door…after I’ve gone through! Why is Brendan Jones so superb and where can you find him? Does a troubled production make a troubled…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Brendan Jones about his choice of Warriors’ Gate (1/4)
Joe & Brendan; doing nothing. A phenomenal story to talk about; behind the scenes dramas, companions leaving, unusual concepts, artistic direction, a dense…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Harrison & David about their choice of The End of Time Part Two (2/2)
Joe, David, Harrison, Rose, Martha, Donna, Sarah, Verity, Jackie & Nerys. Joe is in love with this; melodrama, emotion and terrific acting opportunities…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to David & Harrison about someone’s (???) choice of The End of Time Part One (1/2)
Joe & David & Harrison and the End of Time Itself! How much of this is padding? Does David remember or understand any of the plot? Is this the contrived half…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Steven (from New to Who) about his choice of Castrovalva (4/4)
Joe & Steven; caught in a space time trap! Who loves CHB more than CHB? Can Doctor Who work around an abstract concept? Will the Doctor face more than shifting…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Steven (from New to Who) about his choice of Castrovalva (3/4)
Joe & Steven; the Occlusion closes in! What about the chapter titles? Time to talk Peter Davison and his thoughtful interiority. How would you rewrite this for…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Steven (from New to Who) about his choice of Castrovalva (2/4)
Joe & Steven; still no way in! What does top ten mean to Steven? Frock or gun explained. Two female leads are taking control of Doctor Who for one week and…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to the gorgeous Steven (from New to Who) about his choice of Castrovalva (1/4)
Joe & Steven; reading & watching! Come with us as we head into the head of Christopher Hamilton Bidmead and explore the world of Castrovalva in prose…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to the radiant Mark Rawlins about his choice of Shakedown, Return of the Sontarans
Joe & Mark; hiring out the Belfast. The careers of Sophie Aldred & Carole Ann, Michael Wisher’s last job, featuring the Dentist, comedy Sontarans, Cally from…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to the wonderful John Bensalhia about his choice of The Web of Fear (6/6)
Joe & John; things are coming to a crispy, frazzled head! Who is the agent of the Great Intelligence? Is there an optimum length of a Doctor Who story? Also…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to John Bensalhia about his choice of The Web of Fear (5/6)
Joe & John; something funny is coming over us. What is the fine line between chilling possessed acting and pure pantomime? How do you do a Who whodunnit? Did…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to John Bensalhia about his choice of The Web of Fear (4/6)
Joe & John; brutality overdrive! Is this the best single episode of classic Doctor Who? We’re astonished by the relentless action and atmosphere and discuss…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to John Bensalhia about his choice of The Web of Fear (3/6)
Joe & John; meeting the Brig for the first time! We discuss the nature of missing episode reconstructions and how on Earth we’re in relationships for loving…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to John Bensahlia about his choice of The Web of Fear (2/6)
Joe & John; Milo Clancy impressions! We’re still agog that we can watch this, and discuss just how terrifying it is. Gas masks + darkened corners + cobwebs = 👀…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to John Bensalhia about his choice of The Web of Fear (1/6)
Joe & John; heading into dark tunnels! What is the most shocking oversight of 🐹? We talk the return of the stories and what we did when the news hit. The best…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to ☀️ Si Hart about his choice of The Curse of Fenric Special Edition
Joe & Si; let the chains of Fenric shatter! Arc plots, filthy weather, stunning characters, scary monsters, all location, action, a frenetic score…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to David Maskell about his choice of The Sun Makers (4/4)
Why would Kim Woodburn be a great villain in this? is Tom Baker an icon, a hero or a monster? Does David make a better host of 🐹? A discussion of actors…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to David Maskell about his choice of The Sun Makers (3/4)
Joe & David; playing top trumps! What is the fear factor of Rachel Jensen, the Tollmaster, Morgaine, The Chief Clown, and Mrs Remmington? Back at The…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to David Maskell about his choice of The Sun Makers (2/4)
Joe & David; deep diving into social commentary plus musical numbers. Is Joe mad to compare this to Pixar movies? Why is John Leeson the most adorable man…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to the glorious David Maskell about his choice of The Sun Makers (1/4)
Joe & David; running from the taxman! Why should you go to conventions? Why is this story underrated? Clever, bitingly satirical, witty and surprisingly…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to David Rennie about his choice of The Creature from the Pit (4/4)
Joe & David; discussing the spoilers statue of limitation. Is Joe exhausted or cock jokes? Why is this an unusual episode four? How universal are Doctor Who…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to David Rennie about his choice of The Creature from the Pit (3/4)
Joe & David; scared we might be written out at the end of episode three. What is Chekhov’s eggshell? Who are the camp Divas of Doctor Who? Is Karela Adastra’s…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to David Rennie about his choice of Creature from the Pit (2/4)
Is every story in this season compared to City of Death? What are the Creatures elephantine qualities? What works/doesn’t work about the Creatures realisation…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to David Rennie about his choice of Creature from the Pit (1/4)
Joe & David; gimp masks galore! Joe is over excited by David’s accent, and we’re both stunned at the marvellous production value. Adastra is FABULOUS, the…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Daniel Knight about his choice of Destiny of the Daleks (4/4)
Joe & Daniel; bemused at how one the less considered stories of the era has one of the best last episodes. Action! Power pack depletion interpretative mime!…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Daniel Knight about his choice of Destiny of the Daleks (3/4)
Joe & Daniel; talking about the 🐹 community. Is this the weakest Davros? Is this tense and exciting or flat and uninteresting? How do we find the logical…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Daniel Knight about his choice of Destiny of the Daleks (2/4)
Joe & Daniel; Terry Nation debate! Was he any good? What were his best stories? Was Destiny a good way to go out? What is the best way to act alongside Daleks?…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Daniel Knight about his choice of Destiny of the Daleks (1/4)
Joe & Daniel; comedically changing bodies! Season seventeen has begun and we’re astonished that it looks this good. Atmosphere and laughs, and Terry Nation…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Mark Rawlins about his choice of The Keeper of Traken (4/4)
Joe & Mark; who thinks up the best Doctor Who themed party? Do we suffer the part three lag here? Is 3-3-7 an appropriately dramatic climax? Does the audience…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Mark Rawlins about his choice of The Keeper of Traken (3/4)
Joe & Mark; it’s only beginning! Kassia is peak evil and sashays around Traken as if she owns the place and we’re absolutely in love with her. Trigger happy…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Mark Rawlins and his choice of The Keeper of Traken (2/4)
Joe & Mark; and the invention of the new sex app on Traken, Melkr! Swipe left for ‘good’ and right for ‘evil.’ How will your hosts stay sober as the crudeness…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Gets drunk with Mark Rawlins and his choice of The Keeper of Traken (1/4)
Joe & Mark; & Traken themed cock(tails). The Traken drinking game starts here! Take a sip every time Traken, Melkur or Keeper are mentioned…or every time Joe…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Pete Lambert about his choice of The Mark of the Rani (2/2)
Pete & Joe; they wouldn’t be told! A genuine love for this story, nostalgic and rose-tinted but with a serious discussion of the beautiful production, fun…
A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcastTalks to the deliriously fun Pete Lambert about his choice of The Mark of the Rani (1/2)
Pete & Joe; having trouble in t'pit. Joe figured nobody would be beating down his door to complete this commentary but as ever Pete Lambert provides surprises…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Argues with Frazer Gregory about The Timeless Children as Si Hart diplomats!
Joe & Frazer & Si; nothing will ever be the same again! Is this interesting, continuity shattering genius or a load of rubbishy exposition? Stick around for…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Si Hart & Frazer Gregory about their choice of Ascension of the Cybermen (1/2)
Joe & Si & Frazer; ‘THEY KNOW!’ Huge love for a muscular Doctor Who episode that’s ‘kicking the can.’ Terrific music, suspense, action, performances and…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Jason Thompson about his choice of Power of the Daleks (6/6)
Joe & Jason; we are your servants! Is this the most satisfying episode six? What is the number one on Skaro? Is Dalek dialogue contradictory? Why is the Doctor…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Jason Thompson about his choice of The Power of the Daleks (5/6)
Joe & Jason; conquer and destroy! We take a walk through ALL of the Doctor’s debuts…but we agree that Power is the best. Mr Chinn and Marcus Scarman face off!…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Jason Thompson about his choice of The Power of the Daleks (4/6)
Joe & Jason; What is Jason’s revolutionary way of watching Doctor Who? Christopher Barry is celebrated, and five minutes about the Tripods. The Daleks are at…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Jason Thompson about his choice of The Power of the Daleks (3/4)
Joe & Jason; we are your servants! What are the worst Doctor Who stories in terms of scientific accuracy? Who is the unsung hero of the show? Who is holiday…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Jason Thompson about his choice of The Power of the Daleks (2/6)
Joe & Jason; espionage on Vulcan! What was Jason’s first exposure to this story? Why is this Joe’s number one ‘I wish they would find this’? Who actually wrote…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Jason Thompson about his choice of The Power of the Daleks (1/6)
Joe & Jason; the single most important Doctor Who story in the shows history. Taking liberties with animation? Is it a miracle that this exists in the first…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Greg Miller about his choice of Spearhead from Space (4/4)
Joe & Greg; strangled by tentacles! What is the right amount of dramatic shorthand? Can you turn Ghandi into a killer? Can you rely on actors to stay still?…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Greg Miller about his choice of Spearhead from Space (3/4)
Joe & Greg; avoiding episode three altogether! More fabulous Meg and Sam scenes! Murder and mayhem, absurd monsters that are chilling, a Doctor on the hunt…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Greg Miller about his choice of Spearhead from Space (2/4)
Joe & Greg; lost inside episode two episode one! Is this story really about Meg Seeley and her struggle with gooey faced facsimile? Is the Brigadier the lead…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to his royal guests Greg Miller about his choice of Spearhead from Space (1/4)
Joe & Greg; comically playing with wheelchairs! It’s all change for Doctor Who, and 9 year old Greg is very happy with the new format. A mute Doctor, chilling…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to the disarming Mark McManus about his choice of Deep Breath
Joe & Mark; podcasters join forces! Mark loves this and he’s so charming in his exploration of why that by the end of commentary you probably will too. I loved…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Tries to distract superstar Mark Rawlins from taking about his choice of Hide
Joe & Mark; in person and enjoying each other’s company immensely. Will Mark ever get to talk about Hide? Not if Joe has anything to do about it. Much…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Matt Michael about his choice of Time and the Rani (4/4)
Joe & Matt; how could we top episodes 1-3 for pleasure? A thrilling climax, high stakes, endlessly quotable lines, a Tetrap army and bangle action! Would this…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Matt Michael about his choice of Time and the Rani (3/4)
Joe & Matt; increasing the stimulation. We cast the first six Ranis! The prequel story of the Ood brain revealed! The tragic tale of Shomi the cat! And…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Matt Michael about his choice of Time and the Rani (2/4)
Joe & Matt; more tongue action. More talk about how glorious Sylvester McCoy is in S24, more laughing with this wonderfully funny script, more admiration for…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to the outrageous flirt Matt Michael about his choice of Time and the Rani (1/4)
Joe & Matt; obscene sexual content! Accessible, camp, fun, quirky and deliriously funny; we come not to bury Time and the Rani but to praise it! What would a…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Nathan Bottomley about his choice of The Ribos Operation (4/4)
Joe & Nathan; all but one doomed to die… Why have Doctor Who stars stopped coming to Australia? Why is Joe wrong about continuity? And what dark moment does…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Nathan Bottomley about his choice of The Ribos Operation (3/4)
Joe & Nathan; exchanging outrageous tales whilst banged up. Which Tom is best Tom? Will Nathan hit peak laughter in this blackly funny episode? Are villains…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Nathan Bottomley about his choice of The Ribos Operation (2/4)
Joe & Nathan; searching for a Scringe Stone mine! A huge discussion on the nature of television, then and now, and how performances and direction have changed…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to his 🐹 husband Nathan Bottomley about his choice of The Ribos Operation (1/4)
Joe & Nathan; almost willing to be impressed! Is Doctor Who taking on a mission from God? Contempt for colonialism, a ridiculous premise undermined by a…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Frazer Gregory & Si Hart about Twitter’s choice of The Armageddon Factor (6/6)
Joe & Frazer & Si; refusing to anticlimax! What’s the best way to binge The Armageddon Factor? Imagine only 25 minutes of Doctor Who a week? How do you wrap up…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Simon Hart & Frazer Gregory about Twitter's choice of The Armageddon Factor (5/6)
Joe & Si & Frazer; plus guest stars the Black Guardian, Merak and Shapp! Why does Frazer tell Joe to 'stop it' this week? Does the Graham Williams era score…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Frazer Gregory & Simon Hart about Twitter’s choice of The Armageddon Factor (4/6)
Joe & Frazer & Si; jackdaw meandering! How does Si give Joe a boner this week? The perfect Big Finish story? Frazer’s take on ambition versus the ability to…
- A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast
Talks to Si Hart & Frazer Gregory about Twitter’s choice of The Armageddon Factor (3/6)
Joe & Si & Frazer; discussing when Doctor Who has scared the shit out of them. Clever scripting, mummy tits, titles mentioned in stories, flirty subtitles…