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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

Daleks, Dracula and a dancing Doctor, oh my! The Chase is pretty weird and wacky, even if the original idea was even weirder (Beatles in old age makeup, anyone?) Join us live from London, 1965, as we attempt to headcanon everything in this melange of madness — right down to Peter Purves’ Alabama accent.  Give your own rating for The Chase on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Subscribe to our newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pulltoopen.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for...

Demons of the Punjab is not your average pseudo-historical. It’s a highly effective introduction to one of the biggest 20th century catastrophes that the developed world knows little about — and a showcase for what Who can do. Join us for a very special History Corner: everything you wanted to know about Partition of India, but were too afraid of alien assassins to ask!  Give your own rating for Demons of the Punjab on...

If Ncuti Gatwa didn't win you over as the Fifteenth Doctor in his debut in The Giggle, he has scene after satisfying scene in The Church on Ruby Road to do the job. From his first moments twirling in a kilt in a London club, Gatwa is in full command of the role, talking his way past policemen and ready to do battle with baby-devouring goblins. But it's his connection with Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday, a fellow "foundling," where the story really shines — maybe even brightly enough to get us to...

Christmas came early for Doctor Who fans this year, with not one, not two, not twenty-seven, but THREE specials to celebrate the show's 60th anniversary. As we look forward to our true Christmas gift in The Church on Ruby Road, now seems like a good time to show some gratitude. Not only has the show fully transitioned to the streaming universe via its partnership with Disney+, but the takeover of new-old showrunner Russell T. Davies has bestowed hardcore fans with a not-so-secret gift: a...