166 The Witchfinders

Live from Master Closet Studios, you’re listening to the only podcast on the internet that are actually witches! 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 166 covering season 11 episode 8: The Witchfinders

Super-short Recap 

This is the one where the Doctor and her companions get accused of witchcraft, get ducked, and learn that trees are more important than we might think. Also, we made a new baddie for 10 seconds of content. 

Production notes

• Story #284
• Originally aired November 25, 2018 to 7.21 million viewers
• Written by: Joy Wilkinson
• Directed by: Sallie Aprahamian

Cast 

• Becka Savage – Siobhan Finneran
  • Mrs. O’Brien in Downton Abbey
  • I don’t like either of her characters
• King James – Alan Cumming
  • Nightcrawler in X-2 and X-3!
  • Eli Gold in The Good Wife
  • Fegan Floop in Spy Kids
  • He was approached to play the Doctor by RTD but turned it down

Checklist 

• Name of the episode spoken in dialogue?
  • not really
• Creature of the week
  • Morax – aliens imprisoned in Pendle Hill for war crimes
• TARDIS 
  • Being a bit 
• Psychic paper
  • Witchfinder General
    • The Doctor checked it after Savage read it. So… can she see what the other person sees or something?
• Name Dropping
  • I’m just good at holding my breath and getting out of chains, thanks to a very wet night with Houdini
  • Haven’t had a hangover this bad since the Milk War of Keston Five

Other stuff we noticed

• Don’t disrupt the fundamental fabric of history. 
  • Even if something’s going wrong? 
  • Definitely then.
• What if you’re a bad person? My conscience is clean

Who’s Who? 

• Who is Ryan Sinclair?
  • He almost took out Yaz with that axe! Maybe let’s not let the guy with dyspraxia wield the axe?
• Who is Graham O’Brien?
  • First Tarantino 3:16
• Who is Yasmin “Yaz” Khan?
  • Why was the Doctor ok with her going off on her own? “Don’t wander off!”
  • We got some backstory on why she became a cop – Izzy teased her all year in school.
• Who is the Doctor?
  • Not a big believer in Satan. 
    • Except that you MET him!
  • She’s really feeling the sexism in this story!
  • Casually dropping Clarke’s Law on King James

Can we talk about good and evil? 

• We want people to be evil or heroic, but that’s not the way people are.

Classic Who Connections

• The Third Doctor talked to Jo Grant about Clark’s Law after making his car, Bessie, move on her own accord (it was done with a remote control) in the serial The Daemons and the Seventh Doctor also referenced Arthur C Clarke’s three laws to Ace in the serial Battlefield
• The Doctor mentioned her ability to hold her breath for a long time, also known as her respiratory bypass system, first talked about in Four to Doomsday
• First TV story about witch trials?

Overall impressions

• Overall rating out of 10
  • Jared – 9 – Alien Tech Ducking Stools
  • Austin – 7 thick black tears
  • Corbin – 8.5 axes
  • Tripp – 7.5 roots 
• Creep Level – out of 500
  • Jared – 300
  • Austin – 275
  • Corbin – 75
  • Tripp – 100

Theories

• Will they or won’t they?
  • Corbin – if ever it will be next season
  • Tripp – yes they will, but it’s gonna take till the end of the season
  • Jared – I agree with Tripp
• Who makes it out of this season?
  • Tripp – if Ryan and Yaz don’t get together, Yaz is gonna die
  • Corbin – everybody lives/stays!

The Game Plan 

Next week, we’re covering season 11 episode 9, It Takes You Away.