Terror of the Vervoids isn’t exactly the greatest Doctor Who story ever. Those plant-based villains were just … weird. But this bizarre aria from Colin Baker’s long swan song is now surprisingly relevant to the age of Ncuti. Why does Mel just appear out of nowhere? Is the Doctor just allowed to browse his future, or is there something more sinister at play? Pour a nice cool carrot juice, and don’t rage-quit the pod when we bring Sutekh’s gift of headcanon! Give your own rating for The Trial of a...
Aug 17, 2024•1 hr 32 min•Season 5Ep. 30
Och aye the noo, it’s Scottish stereotype Who! Terror of the Zygons , written by an actual Scot, really packs them in: bagpipes, kilts, haggis, Nessie, North Sea oil, and monsters who look like they’ve eaten too many deep-fried Mars bars. It’s stylish, it’s suggestive, but does it hold up against 21st century Zygon yarns? Did we really have to lose a companion? Did the Doctor leave the TARDIS open to Sutekh attack? And who is that female Prime Minster anyway? Join us as we save money on our retu...
Aug 03, 2024•1 hr 34 min•Season 5Ep. 29
We’d say Partners in Crime is the long-awaited rebirth of one of the best TARDIS teams ever, but that sounds way too dramatic for the Doctor and Donna. After all, they’re just a couple of mates mucking about in time and space, helping out where they can, and having a few laughs, right? Emphasis on that last part: the kickoff to David Tennant’s final season as Ten definitely tickles the funny bone — not only thanks to his reunion with Catherine Tate but also Sarah Lancashire’s brilliant turn as b...
Jul 20, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 5Ep. 28
It’s all been leading to this: The Key to Time season promised a big payoff, one that would assemble the most powerful artifact in the universe and put the Doctor in the middle of a cosmic conflict between the Guardians (well before they had silly birds on their heads). But with the stakes so high, why are we spending so much time pondering princesses and marshals on boring, radiation-soaked planets with nothing but corridors? It all has to be a metaphor for something, but don’t ask us: we’re ha...
Jul 06, 2024•1 hr 31 min•Season 5Ep. 27
Is it getting dusty in here? “Empire of Death” delivers a canon bomb that changes 49 years of Doctor Who history, alongside an emotional twist at the end. If you’re not crying Ncuti Gatwa-style at Ruby and her mum, check to see if you just crumbled into dust. But does the rest of the finale work? And is the Doctor a bad dog owner now? Join us as we bring our headcanon into the time vortex, and clean it all up with the Sutekh Swiffer! MORE SUTEKH: Listen to our podcast on Pyramids of Mars Subsc...
Jun 22, 2024•50 min•Season 5Ep. 26
It’s official: The One Who Waits has been waiting since 1913 (or 1975, depending on the dating protocol). Everything’s gone a bit pyramid-shaped in “The Legend of Ruby Sunday,” as RTD’s multiple twists kept us mostly distracted from the return of this classic villain. So what has he been up to for the last 7,000 years, and how exactly did he seduce the TARDIS into giving itself indigestion? Join us as we drop a few canon bombs, defuse others, and consider which other ‘Doctor Who’ gods might be i...
Jun 14, 2024•46 min•Season 5Ep. 25
Feeling Rogue-ish? This proud Regency romcom takes Who to places old and new, with enough charm and confidence to fill a shed. It’s a meta love letter to all kinds of fandoms, and cheekily drops in a mystery Doctor (and/or villain?!) like we wouldn’t notice. Join us as we cosplay a couple of podcasters and pour one out for another charming companion — the original, you might say. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel and become a True Companion of the...
Jun 08, 2024•50 min•Season 5Ep. 24
A trip to 1950s Earth to visit Disneyland? Ranking by stories that got our hopes up, Delta and the Bannermen is near top of the charts. But this is actually a bait-and-switch we don’t mind, because the detour to rural Wales sets off a nostalgic romp filled with period music, motorcycle chases, and hostile bees that are most definitely not disappearing. And boy, if you ever wondered why do fools fall in love, this one is going to be an absolute head-scratcher. Best not to think too hard. Oh, and ...
Jun 05, 2024•1 hr 33 min•Season 5Ep. 23
It’s been subtle in the past, but Dot and Bubble is Doctor Who’s first overt homage to Black Mirror, the groundbreaking series that satirizes our relationship with technology in the darkest of ways. It’s ironic, then, that this story has one of the subtlest pieces of subtext in the show’s history, with a moral message lurking just beneath the skin of a biting script full of references to social media, popular culture, and gadgets that lull us into separating ourselves from the real world. This m...
Jun 01, 2024•41 min•Season 5Ep. 22
It might sound like a really spectacular field goal, but 73 Yards is one of the most unusual episodes of Doctor Who to date. With the Doctor missing, Ruby Sunday must stand alone against… whatever seems to be stalking her. Simple enough, but thanks in large part to a tour de force performance by Millie Gibson, what results is a terrifying story — one that will leave you thinking about it long past the credits roll. We honestly can't think of a better analogy than "spectacular field goal." Subscr...
May 25, 2024•31 min•Season 5Ep. 21
How much fun time travel is can often depend on the amount of melanin in your skin. That’s one of the lessons Bill Potts learns in Thin Ice when she and the Doctor take a quick detour to Regency London. At first it looks to be a lively visit to one of the Frost Fairs on the river, but mysterious lights beckon the pair, and soon they’re up to their tophats in street urchins and circus performers. Sure, we knew there had to be a monster involved, but color us surprised that it’s not the enormous s...
May 19, 2024•1 hr 25 min•Season 5Ep. 20
When Doctor Who veterans Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies get together, the results can be … explosive. In Boom , Moffat manages to mine classic Who history (hello, Genesis of the Daleks!) while referencing many of his own post-2005 Who scripts. But how will it land with new fans? Stand still with us as we try to defuse this situation with a hot take that definitely won’t raise your blood pressure. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel and become a True C...
May 18, 2024•46 min•Season 5Ep. 19
Beatles and butterflies, oh my! ‘Doctor Who’ is back, babes, and we’re cautiously optimistic about it. The first two episodes of the new season, ‘Space Babies’ and ‘The Devil’s Chord,’ show off the range of the show for newbies, but still manage to intrigue, please and irritate the old folks all at once. Join us as we reveal what RTD has to say about all that winking — and about the Susan reference! Bum notes not included. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel ...
May 11, 2024•58 min•Season 5Ep. 18
The first two episodes of Ncuti Gatwa's first season as the Doctor — Space Babies and The Devil's Chord — are just days away. And here at Pull To Open, we've already seen them. And we say "we," we mean Chris. There's only so much he can say about the stories, however, so it's up to Pete to carefully probe the limits of his forbidden knowledge without revealing too much. Did The Church on Ruby Road properly prepare us for what's to come? Does the Disney money stick? And just how many nappy jokes ...
May 06, 2024•42 min•Season 5Ep. 17
Coincidence is how goblins surf time, according to The Church on Ruby Road . So when the Randomizer took us to Ncuti Gatwa’s Christmas special mere days before his first season, you can forgive us for being a little freaked out. Join us as we argue over literally everything in this light-hearted romp, from Ncuti’s narration at the start to Mrs. Flood’s wink at the end. But the moment has been prepared for: who is the Watcher, and why is he pointing silently at episodes that are still in the futu...
May 04, 2024•1 hr 33 min•Season 5Ep. 16
What the Flux ? No, seriously, what was the actual Flux that happened in Series 13, and why has the Randomizer brought us here now? Can Chris Chibnall’s sprawling Time vs. Space opera even be explained? And did anyone notice the 7 billion dead dogs? Join your totally professional tour guides to Liverpool — er, Doctor Who — as we journey down the time tunnels to the ancient world of 2021 and summarize the whole story in our longest TL;DW yet. Like Evil Dan, we’re good at this! Give your own ratin...
Apr 27, 2024•2 hr 14 min•Season 5Ep. 15
We interrupt this podcast for an important message. The Media Copilot podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-media-copilot ©️AnyWho Media LLC 2024
Apr 13, 2024•2 min
Beam us up, Doctor! From T-Mat to the Kerblam Man, Doctor Who has a rich history of playing with teleportation. We lock onto the show’s best and most notorious materializations, examining how instantaneous travel between two points in space can be amazing or infuriating storytelling. Does teleportation make for lazy plotting or does it open up a universe of narrative possibilities? Grab your vortex manipulator and join us as we also tackle the ultimate question about transmats: Aren’t they killi...
Apr 06, 2024•33 min•Season 5Ep. 14
Ho-ho-holy hidden depths, Santa! Last Christmas is the Who holiday special where Steven Moffat bakes an impossible tangerine cake: light and Christmassy on the surface, frosty chills and an arctic expanse of meaning underneath. Plus it changes Capaldi’s Doctor forever. But why has the randomizer, famed for its seasonal programming, served it up to us now? One word: Easter. Give your own rating for Last Christmas on Spotify...
Mar 30, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 5Ep. 13
May the Source be with you! Tom Baker’s regeneration eve story The Keeper of Traken starts strong with a Shakespearean wedding on a utopian world of niceness — but soon devolves into a slap fight between drama nerds and science nerds over a strangely buff statue. Even its surprise reveal is far from the most masterful. So can the Doctor and Adric’s double act, plus manic pixie dream Nyssa and too-good-to-be-true Tremas, deliver this nostalgia fest from evil? Grab an eggplant and claim consular p...
Mar 23, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Season 5Ep. 12
The Toymaker may have made a "jigsaw” of the Doctor’s history, but truthfully it was well jigsawed when he got there. As any fan who has tried to make sense of Doctor Who canon knows (and there have been many), the show’s 60-year run is full of contradictions, retcons, and flat-out nonsense that paying attention to it seems like a waste of… er, time. However, it’s equally true that continuity, when done well, bestows greater weight to stories. Ongoing storylines give us a reason to tune week aft...
Mar 16, 2024•39 min•Season 5Ep. 11
Time for the yarn on Karn that unravels the Doctor’s entire history — while cramming in more cranial puns than you can shake an oversized amygdala at. The Brain of Morbius is like a New Who embryo in a jar: a self-aware homage (to Frankenstein), a feminist fable (sort of) with a serious theme (immortality) that’s laced with laugh-out-loud lines, and bold changes that go beyond even the Timeless Child. Grab an elixir, don’t touch the wine, and let’s all stare at the magnificent headcanon. Give yo...
Mar 09, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Season 5Ep. 10
A clock that ticks down in real time. A fiendishly difficult pub quiz. And a creature that lives in a sun. Chris Chibnall’s first Doctor Who story, 42 , has many intriguing elements — but also a lack of focus that foreshadows his time as showrunner. Does 42 add up to more than the sum of its parts? Phone your friends at Pull To Open and find out! Give your own rating for 42 on Spotify ! Subscribe to our ...
Mar 02, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 5Ep. 9
Ground Control to Gravitron: Take your coffee sweet and put your space suit on…. The Moonbase isn’t just the first Cybermen reboot, it’s the template for every base under siege story since. Undoubtedly, Patrick Troughton grows in the role before our eyes. But what about sick jealous Jamie, chemistry expert Ben, and the rest of this Polly cocktail? Join us as we throw an explosive bottle of 2024 straight at the Cybermen of 2070! Give your own rating for The Moonbase on ...
Feb 24, 2024•1 hr 34 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Time and tide may melt the snowman, but it also allows things to sink in. It’s been a few months since we kicked off the new era of Doctor Who, and now that we’ve had time to absorb the 60th anniversary specials, how do we feel about them? More to the point, how do we feel about Russell T. Davies 2.0 — the opening salvo of his second at-bat as showrunner? The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder, and The Giggle have set the tone, and it’s definitely a very new Who. But does it also evoke another word th...
Feb 17, 2024•43 min•Season 5Ep. 7
The Dream Lord makes the team … work? Amy’s Choice is fondly remembered as a pivotal point for the TARDIS trio of Amy, Rory and the Doctor, elevating the future Mr. Pond from gooseberry to hero. But does it give short shrift to Toby Jones as the Doctor’s alter ego? With Damla from “Come Along Pond,” a Pull To Open trio decides which reality we’re waking up in. Give your own rating for Amy's Choice on Spotify ! Please...
Feb 10, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Season 5Ep. 6
Allons-y into French history! The Reign of Terror is said to be the Doctor’s favorite era *ever* on Earth — so why isn’t “The Reign of Terror” a fan favorite? Is it just that it’s hard to find (boo, BritBox!) or did its plot go the way of the Scarlet Pimpernel? Take a seat in the history corner, citizen, and maybe you’ll survive your encounter with Madame Guillotine … Give your own rating for The Reign of Terror on Spotify...
Feb 03, 2024•1 hr 35 min•Season 5Ep. 5
When you sit down to watch Classic Doctor Who, you need to have faith — faith that intellect with triumph over violence, faith that poor production values will be made up for by fascinating storylines, and faith that the people making the show actually know what they’re doing. The Curse of Fenric makes you question that faith (for at least 3 episodes anyway), but at least it has the good sense to distract you with layers of plot about WWII code breaking, ancient Viking curses, and a bloodsucking...
Jan 27, 2024•1 hr 32 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Did someone order a hybrid? The combo of The Magician’s Apprentice and The Witch’s Familiar take us on our deepest dive into Dalek territory yet. While Davros auditions for an EGOT, it’s Missy who steals the show. And hey, who turned on the HADS? Join us as we sort the overstuffed Moffat extravaganza from the weighty emotional drama! Give your own rating for The Magician's Apprentice and The Witch's Familiar on Spotify ! Sub...
Jan 20, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Daleks are used to being large and in charge, casually exterminating anything that moves with their ray guns and cruising over slave groups in their flying saucers. Take all that away from them, and what have you got? Basically a bunch of scared children, ready to freak out the moment a native gets a little too close with a spear. You get the sense the Doctor would laugh about his enemies' predicament in Death to the Daleks except he's too busy doing a little exterminating of his own, throwing t...
Jan 13, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Season 5Ep. 2
