Live from Master Closet Studios, you’re listening to the only podcast on the internet recording for the FIRST time… from this studio… : It’s the Noobs and the Whovian!
My name is Austin and I’m the Whovian, and these are my sons Corbin and Tripp and we’re the noobs!
This is the podcast that introduces a whole new generation to Doctor Who by watching an episode each week and discussing it from the perspective of a dad who’s seen it before, and two sons who haven’t.
Welcome to Episode 123 covering the Series 8 episode 8: Mummy on Oriental Express
This is the one where the Doctor and Clara fight a mummy… on a train… in spaaaaaace!
Production notes
- Story # 249
- Originally aired October 11, 2014 to 7.1 million viewers
- Written by: Jamie Mathieson
- Directed by: Paul Wilmshurst
Misc Trivia
- Murder on the Orient Express was a Poirot novel by Agatha Christie published in 1934. It was made into a TV movie for ITV in 2010 and by CBS in 2001. It was also a 1974 film and a 2017 film… none of which we’ve seen…
- There’s a deleted scene where Maisie was nearby on the beach at the end. It’s revealed that when the Doctor used her bad memories to trap the mummy, he actually removed them from her for good.
- Twelve mentions that Gus had been trying to lure him here for a while. At the end of The Big Bang, Eleven got a call on the TARDIS phone saying that an Egyptian goddess was loose on the Orient Express in space!
Cast
- Jazz singer – Foxes
- Grammy-award winning singer
- She was singing a jazz version of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now
- BBC actually did a full music video for this song featuring Series 8 clips that’s pretty good
Checklist
- Name of the episode spoken in dialogue?
- Creature of the week
- The Foretold – a SPAAAAACE MUMMMYYYYYYY!
- It’s not just a mummy, it’s a vampire.
- There’s a small plothole with it
- Stuff the Doctor loves
- Jiggery Pokery
- Sonic
- It didn’t work because of a suppression field.
- Which is more convenient, a sonic that can do almost anything, or a suppression field that nullifies it.
- It didn’t work because of a suppression field.
- Psychic paper
- I’m your worst nightmare. Oh great, a mystery shopper?
- Random
- Sonic
Other stuff we noticed
- Turns out it’s three. The number of people who have to die before I stop looking the other way.
- The pic for the Doctor on Clara’s phone is a stick insect wearing a top hat!
Who’s Who?
- Who is Perkins?
- Was he a companion-that-never-was?
- He actually turned it down!
- Who is Danny Pink?
- He is freakin supportive! “Go enjoy your space train.”
- Who is Clara?
- I can’t do this anymore, at least not the way you do it
- Twelve or the doctor in general?
- This is their last hurrah.
- Just kidding!
- She changes her mind at the very end, and even goes back to lying to the Doctor and Danny.
- I can’t do this anymore, at least not the way you do it
- Who is the Doctor?
- Well, what kind of doctor are you? Now that’s not a question asked often enough
- Let’s say he’s a doctor of intestinal parasites
- The doctor is talking to himself like he’s a different person. And being rhetorical to himself.
- I can’t tell if you’re a genius or just arrogant. On a good day I’m both.
- He’s REALLY cold in this one!
- I’m the Doctor and I’ll be your victim tonight! Are you my mummy?
- WAIT! He was pretending to be heartless?!
- Sometimes the only choices you have to make are bad choices. But still, you have to choose.
- He was totally ready to replace Clara with Perkins!
- Well, what kind of doctor are you? Now that’s not a question asked often enough
Classic Who Connection
- The Robots of Death and Terror of the Vervoids were Classic Who serials that were based on Agatha Christie stories
- While we didn’t get the Twelfth Doctor talking when he offed Jelly Babies like the Fourth Doctor often did, we did get the Doctor offering Jelly Babies
- In The Curse of Fenric The Seventh Doctor also faked out his companion, Ace, to no longer believe in him in order to save the day.
- The first time we see that the Doctor can go a lot longer than humans without breathing is in The Ark in Space
- The Doctor encountered mummies in Pyramids of Mars
Overall impressions
- Overall rating out of 10 –
- Jared – 8.5 seconds left to live
- Austin – 9 Perkins
- Corbin – 7 flag scrolls
- Tripp – 8 gross mummy feet
- Creep Level – out of 500
- Jared – 350
- Austin – 400
- Corbin – 150
- Tripp – 180
Theories
- Thoughts on Missy and Heaven?
- New name! Afterlife, Promised Land. I prefer “Nethersphere.”
- Corbin & Tripp – The Half-faced man didn’t actually die but was put into a new body of some kind. That’s not Heaven, though it could be the Promised Land.
- Tripp – Missy is NOT a robot, perhaps a creator.
- Corbin – Missy is the bad guy. Missy is the lady in the shop. It’s not Heaven, it’s hell. Robots.
Listener Input
Christina chimed in way in advance this time!
- Mummy on the Orient Express, another fantastic episode. Capaldi might not be my favorite Doctor but he is in a lot of my favorite episodes. This one kept me on my toes from the get-go. And just for the record, my toes are nowhere near as nasty as those decaying lumps the mummy slowly dragged across the floor. Ew! *shiver* If it weren’t for the excellent makeup and costume the creep level would’ve stayed right on the bottom floor, but they did such a good job on the mummy that the creep level elevator shot right up to floor 425. And knowing you have exactly 66 seconds to live and can’t do anything about it….another 25 floors. This one was really fun to watch, I give it a 9 out of 10 unnecessary cords hanging from the bottom of a cell phone.
The Game Plan
- Next week we continue with Series 8, Episode 9: Flatline
Closing
Noobs and the Whovian is a production of Master Closet Studios, where it’s always smaller on the inside. Your Senior Producer is Austin Reason. Our Audio Engineer is Tripp Reason. Corbin Reason is our Production Editor. Special thanks to tardis.wikia.com for the trivia, and to Jared for the Classic Who Connection. Shout outs to Victor, Jared, and James for their Patreon support.
You can find us at facebook.com/noobsandthewhovian or twitter.com/noobswhovian and email us at [email protected]. Consider supporting us at https://www.patreon.com/noobsandthewhovian. Please subscribe and leave a rating wherever you found us, and share us with a friend not because we’re a great show but because we watch one.
Until next time, be safe if you can. But always. Be. Amazing.
