We’re back. It’s the first episode of a whole new era, and Matt Smith has 20 minutes to save the world and an hour to convince the audience that there’s life after David Tennant. Pull up a fire engine and delete your browser history — it’s time for The Eleventh Hour.
This week, Nathan, Brendan, Steven from New to Who and Kevin Burnard join Amy and the Doctor as they head off to a version of Britain in the distant future which is exactly like the Britain that they just left — crumbling, nostalgic and in deep denial about the giant alien whale in the basement. Or as we like to call him, The Beast Below.
This week, we’re hunkering down in the Cabinet War Rooms with Col Sillitto from New to Who, surrounded by increasing numbers of suspicious-looking miniature tanks. Nathan is finding the Prime Minister increasingly intolerable, James is gagging for a cup of tea, Richard is admiring the Group Captain’s Spitfire, and Col is reminiscing about that night behind the post office with Dorabella. Little do we know how close we all are to the ultimate Victory of the Daleks.
This week, we spend 45 minutes climbing a staircase in search of 2007’s most celebrated Doctor Who monster. Peter’s dreaming about the Aplan, James is wishing he hadn’t worn these heels, Nathan is wondering if he left the mortars in the nave or the vestry, and Simon is admiring the low lighting and the sombre vaulted ceilings. It turns out our dreams no longer need us, so this must be The Time of Angels.
This week, Nathan, James, Peter and Simon are all huddling terrified in a dark forest, waiting for the image of an angel to materialise and kill us all — but not before we finish our discussion of Flesh and Stone.
This week, James is getting excited about being accepted into a new finishing school, Todd is being complacent about the size of his torch, Nathan is huddling in a corner repeatedly saying the word fish, and friend-of-the-podcast Karen Carpenter is lying in the courtyard and rehydrating. It’s The Vampires of Venice.
This week, we’re joined by Johnny Spandrell for an hour of love, self-loathing and psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass don Slava, as we discuss Amy’s Choice.
This week we’re joined by Erik Stadnik for a whole day of taping cameras to things while we wait for something — oh, okay, the Silurians — to emerge from The Hungry Earth.
This week, our hopes and dreams crumble to dust in the face of centrist realpolitik and an inability to imagine a true, multracial utopia. And, of course, we’re also talking with Erik Stadnik about a Doctor Who episode called Cold Blood.
This week, James, Nathan and Richard are joined by friend-of-the podcast Fiona Tomney for a few days mooning around in the south of France, staring into the gaping maw of isolation and depression and trying to prevent Vincent from inadvertently destroying some very pretty paintings. It’s Vincent and the Doctor.
This week, we’re joined by Jack Shanahan and Joe Ford to dicuss an episode where we discover that not only is the Doctor good at saving the world, he’s a useful striker, a reliable employee and a skilled matchmaker. And someone who looks good in a skimpy towel. It’s The Lodger.
This week, we’re back in time having a jolly adventure when suddenly a thousand alien invasions happen at once and then the universe abruptly ends. It’s The Pandorica Opens.
This week, we celebrate the triumphant return of the entire universe with a quick snog in the bushes after Amy’s wedding, followed by a discussion of the final episode of Series 5, The Big Bang.
In the last episode of this series of Flight Through Entirety, we fly through the first year of Matt Smith’s time as the Doctor, snogging, marrying and avoiding things, and responding to some of our listeners’ most pressing questions. More New Paradigm Daleks? Fewer Silurians? More Richard Curtis episodes? More series of Doctor Who just as good as this one?