Tag: Bajo

The Not-So-Splendid Chaps: Monsters and Villains

We went to Sydney! Thanks to all our wonderful Pozible backers, on Saturday, November 30 the chaps travelled north to the Roxbury Hotel in Glebe to record this episode with guests Alice Fraser, Maddie Palmer and Steven “Bajo” O’Donnell, all about the villains and monsters of Doctor Who. Join us as we try to work out what the difference is between villain and monster, what various monsters represent, and which ones scare us the most and why. And of course we wrap it all up with a song: Keira Daley, backed by Alice, Peter Lead and Catriona Wimberley, cover a Doctor Who related track, 1980’s “(I Wanna Be) Doctor Who”, originally by Adelaide band Jackson Zumdish.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31:39 — 42.0MB)

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A collage of images from our Sydney show
A collage of images from our Sydney show; photos by Carrie Hardie.

The Not-So-Splendid Chaps: Monsters and Villains (live show)

Splendid Chaps is a year-long celebration of Doctor Who‘s fiftieth anniversary: eleven live performances recorded as podcasts in which your brains will be fed, your funny bones tickled, and your hearts opened (yes, both of them!).

Let’s not pretend: there are many more than eleven episodes, and this one – our second last live show for the year – is the main result of our successful Pozible campaign to take a show up north! Thanks to the generous support of our listeners in Sydney and beyond, the Splendid Chaps are hitting the road and materialising in Glebe to stop talking about our heroes and instead think about those not-so-splendid chaps (and, er…things?), the monsters and villains of Doctor Who!

Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen, the Silence, Silurians, Quarks… The Doctor’s monsters sometimes seem to be physical manifestations of humanity’s fears. Is it the creatures we find so terrifying, or what they represent – and what do they represent? We celebrate the baddest of the bad, as well as those whose galactic domination has been less than completely successful.

Then there are the less literal, more human monsters: the Master, Davros, Lady Cassandra… Are they all thoroughly evil, or do they have more subtle motivations? What makes a good Doctor Who villain tick? Are they better than inhuman monsters, or is it best when they work hand in hand? They’re often some of the best fun to be had in a story, so let’s embrace the dark side!

Ben, John and Petra will be joined by writer and comedian Alice Fraser (FBi Radio, NewsLab), broadcaster, social media producer and ex-Rage programmer Maddie Palmer, and actor and presenter Steven “Bajo” O’Donnell (ABC2’s Good Game, ABC3’s Good Game: Spawn Point) to talk about the people and things we love to hate. Plus prizes, surprises, loveliness and a live musical performance of a lost Doctor Who classic tune from Keira “LadyNerd” Daley and Catriona Wimberley!

Space: upstairs, The Roxbury Hotel, 182 St Johns Road, Glebe, Sydney
Time: Saturday, November 30, 5:00 PM
Accessibility: We regret that this venue is not wheelchair accessible.
Tickets: $25
Bookings: via trybooking.com or at the door (if seats available)
Podcast: “The Not-So-Splendid Chaps: Monsters and Villains”, released 11th December, 2013.

We’re crowdfunding a Sydney show!

We mentioned it during Nine/Women, and now it’s real – the chaps are crowdfunding a show in Sydney!

We always wanted to tour the podcast to other cities, but for a small show like us, that’s a big financial risk. We’ve heard from a few Sydney listeners that they’d love us to come, and there are some great Sydney-based guests we’d love to have on the podcast – so we’re running a Pozible campaign to pre-sell enough tickets to cover our costs and make it happen!

If you’d like to come to the show, just visit our Pozible campaign page; you can pledge $25 in return for a ticket to a special Sydney episode of Splendid Chaps. No-one pays anything unless we reach our goal of $3,000, which will cover travel and accommodation costs for Ben, John, Petra and David, plus pay for our time and that of our guests to make the show in Sydney, and cover the cost of all the rewards. Oh yes, did we mention those? If you really want to make sure the show happens, you can pledge more money and get some other cool stuff, including Splendid Chaps badges, signed posters and T-shirts, a special message recorded by the chaps, or you can even choose one of the topics discussed on an extra “By Request” episode!

We obviously can’t confirm much until we know for sure that we’re heading to Sydney, but we’ve already worded up some great possible guests, including comedian Alice Fraser and co-host of ABC2’s Good Game, Steven “Bajo” O’Donnell (subject to availability)! And we’ll update you with more info about the Sydney show as the campaign progresses.

So if you’d like to see us make an extra episode of Splendid Chaps and let the Whovians of Sydney in on the fun, please buy a ticket or other reward via the campaign, and help spread the word! We have until November 2nd to reach the $3,000 goal.