Doctor Who Literature

This February 2022 episode of Doctor Who Literature was pulled from the Spotify archive about 18 months ago. This was very early days for DWLit and the audio quality is tragically poor in spots, but it deserves to be returned to the archives, certainly for the conversation with Stacey Smith? and her surprising story about getting a Doctor to sign her copy of the book... but not the Doctor you were expecting. Apart from audio issues, please enjoy this reclaimed episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

This week Doctor Who Literature returns to the Black Archives for an interview with Dale Smith, author of the Black Archive volume covering this week's story, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy . Dale's been a great friend to this show and it's a pleasure to have him back to discuss one of Classic Who's final televised stories. We don't have a rapping ringmaster this week, but we do have the next best thing, one of the best musical comedy segments Jim Sangster has produced for us. And a sad farewell to Anthony Stewart Head, who passed away this week at age 72. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who – The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" features cover art by Alister Pearson. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

We celebrate Doctor Who 's 25th anniversary... 38 years after the fact, but, as I say, these things take time. Mark from Trap One , this show's parent podcast, pays a (hopefully NOT final) visit to discuss what is, un-ironically, one of his favorite stories. Music by Jim Sangster. Take a shot every time Jason makes a non- Doctor Who cultural reference while trying to review the novelization. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who – Silver Nemesis" features cover art by AlisterPearson. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

For Part 2 in our mini-season The Daleks' Masterplan we have three terrific guest interviews: Luke Sims-Jenkins of the Maran Chess Club Podcast . Repeat DWLit guest Andrew Smith, who wrote a Big Finish tale inspired in part by this story . Rod Brown of the Nostalgia Tours podcast . If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who – The Mutation of Time" features cover art by Alister Pearson. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

Welcome to the first of a planned three-part miniseries on The Daleks' Master Plan . This week we are joined by John Peel, who wrote the two-book novelization, and Darren Mooney of The 250 Podcast and The M0vie Blog . These episodes of Doctor Who Literature follow on from Jason's two most recent appearance on Trap One : a discussion of the recovery of two episodes of DMP , and a long form look at DMP Episode 1 - The Nightmare Begins . Jason provides a bonus solo audio commentary of DMP Episode 5 - Counter Plot . If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

Originally released in June 2022, this classic episode of Doctor Who Literature fell out of the Spotify archives. The episode has been slightly re-edited and reposted, in anticipation of our coming mini-series on The Daleks' Master Plan . If you discovered DWLit after 2024, this will be your first opportunity to hear Jason's interview with long-time DW author John Peel. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who – The Dalek Invasion of Earth" features cover art by Chris Achilleos. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

As this Doctor Who Literature episode was in production, it was announced that two missing installments from The Daleks' Masterplan , both broadcast in November 1965. These will be available for UK audiences in April 2026. This is tremendously exciting news and will be dominating Doctor Who podcast discussions for several weeks. But this week we are up to the second of three Missing Season 23 novelizations. Melvin Pena is on board this week to help Jason try and make sense of the various elements of this story. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who – The Ultimate Evil" features cover art by AlisterPearson. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

When it comes to talking the William Hartnell era on Doctor Who , Jeff Goddard is The Man. Jeff, who's frequently heard on top-tier podcasts such as Gallifrey's Most Wanted and What's In The Box? , makes his 2nd DWLit appearance... and, it seems, not a moment too soon. We discuss not just The Chase but also the whole of Doctor Who' s astounding 1964-1965 season. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who – The Chase" features cover art by AlisterPearson. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

DWLit opens this week with Jason and Conrad poolside at the Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles in February 2026. Ian Potter joins us for a song parody related to the previous episode, The Nightmare Fair . Jim Sangster, DWLit 's co-producer and co-host, joins Jason for a look at the final Trial of a Time Lord novelization. The late great Richard Hunt co-stars in this 1989 Sesame Street segment ... ...and read more about Richard Hunt in Jessica Max Stein's 2024 biography . If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who –Mindwarp" features cover art by Alister Pearson. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

In February 1985, Doctor Who was canceled...temporarily, at least. The premiere of Season 23 was pushed back from January 1986 to September, and the original slate of stories was all scuttled. As Doctor Who fans like to do, even stories that were junked and scrapped and lit on fire, are worthy of resurrection, such that you can find much of that canceled Season 23 done up as full-cast Big Finish audios... and three of them done up as Target novelizations in 1989 and 1990. The Nightmare Fair is the first of those. Dan Hollingsworth , one of Jason's Trap One Podcast co-hosts, makes his Doctor Who Literature debut to help quantify just how much a Nightmare this story is (or isn't!). Mark from Trap One adds a dramatic reading and audio essay. This week's non-Doctor Who essay is a tribute to the recently deceased American entertainer "Uncle" Floyd Vivino . The DWM backup strips, including the Celestial Toymaker, can be found (and discussed on Trap One ) in Return of the Daleks and Black Sun Rising . One of the more accessible clips from "The Uncle Floyd Show" can be viewed here . If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who – The Nightmare Fair" features cover art by AlisterPearson. E-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

Doctor Who Literature 's final season continues with the great Dave Rennie from the A Kettle and Some String podcast. This week we are discussing the penultimate (canonical) Colin Baker novelization, Eric Saward's gruesomely violent yet oddly touching novelization of a Season 22 Cybermen story...of heavily disputed parentage. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who –Attack of the Cybermen" features cover art by Colin Howard. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

Doctor Who Literature extends a warm welcome to Anthony and Alasdair from the brilliant Too Broad and Too Deep podcast, which covers Jason's beloved Doctor Who New Adventures novels of the 1990s. This week we are discussing Dragonfire , the final story of Doctor's 24th season, the swan song for Bonnie Langford's Mel (until the 21st century), and the debut of Ace. There's a lot to discuss here, and Anthony & Alasdair bring their "A" game. You can find Alasdair here and here , and you can find Anthony here . Jim Sangster wrote and recorded this week's song. Graeme' Burk's The Comics Code is well worth its seven episodes, and not only because Jason's voice acting is featured. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who – Dragonfire" features cover art by Alister Pearson. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

The AI Revolution comes to Doctor Who Literature , via the 1989 novelization of 1966's The War Machines . Mark McManus from Trap One joins Jason for a (very) pre-recorded interview, and Jim Sangster provides the song that opens and closes the episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who – The War Machines" features cover art by AlisterPearson and Graeme Wey. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

Welcome back to Doctor Who Literature: The Final Season , as we cover the final run of Target novelizations from January 1989 through the eventual end of the line in the early 1990s. Joining Jason this week is a first-time DWLit guest but no stranger at all to Doctor Who podcasting in general, it's the prolific and legendary Melvin Pena. Jim Sangster is extra busy this week with three separate musical/comedy additions to the episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who – Delta and the Bannermen" features cover art by Alister Pearson. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network . Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

Welcome to a special episode of Doctor Who Literature . This week we pay tribute to former Doctor Who script editor, TV writer, and novelization author Christopher H. Bidmead, who passed away in August 2025. Joining Jason for a new interview this week is "Full Circle" writer Andrew Smith. We are also pleased to present three excerpts from our archives: --An interview with Jonathan Blum from our Logopolis episode. --An interview with Graeme Burk from our Castrovalva episode. --Jason's review of the Frontios novelization. Doctor Who Literature is produced by Jim Sangster and Jason Miller. We will return with the first episode of our final season in November 2025.

Doctor Who Literature is on break until the New Year, but Jason and Callie come back for one night to discuss this year's Doctor Who Christmas Special: Joy to the World , by Steven Moffat. Warning, this is a FULL SPOILER chat so don't listen until you've watched the episode first. Callie as always does not hold back on any opinion, and Jason as always has slight trouble staying on topic. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network . Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

Happy American Thanksgiving to my listeners in the States. For a Sylvester McCoy novelization on Doctor Who Literature , ya gotta have two guests, not just one. Jim Sangster and Jason Davis, both huge behind-the-scenes influences on the show, come together for the first time as we tackle Paradise Towers , the second serial from Doctor Who 's controversial, divisive -- and delightful -- 24th season. The vocals for this week's opening number are by Antony Owen. Music arranged by Jim Sangster. Please visit Jason Davis at Humanity Is My Business and consider supporting his Patreon . An interview with J.G. Ballard . If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who – Paradise Towers" features cover art by Alister Pearson. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network . Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

Having a first-time guest last week worked so well, that we've done it again this week: Jim Allenby from the What's in the Box? podcast, makes his Doctor Who Literature debut. Our story for the week is The Smugglers , but Jim A. and I also recorded our conversation on November 23, 2024: Doctor Who' s 61st anniversary, and, coincidentally, the 40th anniversary of Jason discovering the show to begin with. Jim A. and I discuss An Unearthly Child , our respective fandom origin stories, and the special edition announced on the anniversary and being released in December 2024: The War Games , in color, and with new footage! If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . "Doctor Who – The Smugglers" features cover art by Alister Pearson. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network . Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

Remember, Doctor Who Literature 's primary social media presence is now on BlueSky . Welcoming to the show this week Geoff Wessel, comic book writer (I may have misstated this in the intro) and radio DJ . Geoff's been an online friend for nearly 30 years but we'd never spoken face to face before this recording. It's a wild one! Those curious about "The Uncle Floyd Show" can find his limited online presence here . If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels . Doctor Who – The Edge of Destruction" features cover art by Alister Pearson. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network . Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com . You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit .

Our third of four episodes in our Trial of a Time Lord season features the conclusion of the Trial arc... but not the conclusion of the novelizations of the Trial arc. The traditional American protest song "John Brown's Body", sampled in this episode, is from the ⁠Pete Seeger recording⁠ . And, with that out of the way, let's talk Doctor Who Literature with Mark and Conrad from ⁠The Trap One Podcast⁠ . If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Find Doctor Who Literature at ⁠https://linktr.ee/DrWhoNovels⁠ . Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels⁠ . "Doctor Who – The Ultimate Foe" features cover art by Alister Pearson. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the ⁠Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network⁠ . Please e-mail the pod at ⁠DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com⁠ . You can catch all past episodes at ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit⁠ .