Tag: The Time Lads

The Splendid Chaps Christmas Special

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! Yes, it’s our last live (and lively) show, recorded on December 15th back where we started this mad journey, at the Bella Union in Melbourne. It’s also a Christmas party to bid a a fond farewell, and you’re invited – along with guests Thomas Caldwell, Lee Zachariah, Adam Richard, Janet A McLeod, Myke Bartlett, Alexandra Tynan, Fee Plumley and Dr Djoymi Baker. Plus there’s a Dalek, the magic of theatre, music from the Time Lads, songs sung by the chaps themselves…and perhaps even a Christmas miracle. It’s an emotional time, Christmas, and we’ll miss you all, so let’s go out with a bang!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:28:20 — 40.5MB)

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It’s not quite the end, though…watch out for our last new episode, Splendid Chaps By Request, on December 31, and we also have a couple of extras from November up our sleeve we’ll put out next year. Oh, and we might be working on a little something new…

Eleven/Future

It’s the big one! Our actually-released-on-the-anniversary spectacular features hosts Ben McKenzie, John Richards and Petra Elliott discussing Matt Smith, the future, and plenty of other Doctor Who goodness with guests Stella Young and Justin Hamilton, plus music by house band The Time Lads and an original song by guest musical superstar, Casey Bennetto. Yes, our year nears its end with this, the final Doctor/Theme episode of Splendid Chaps, recorded at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne on November 21, 2013.

Big thanks to John, Petra and David for all the hard work they’ve done on post-production getting this massive episode ready in just two days!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:24:12 — 38.6MB)

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Don’t forget you can go into the draw to win the complete box set of season seven of Doctor Who (Matt Smith’s last! *sob*) on DVD, courtesy of our friends at BBC on DVD! To enter the draw, just comment on this episode at splendidchaps.com. How do you feel about Matt Smith? Does he make a good introductory Doctor? Do you love him but dislike his era, or do you think the Grand Moffat is the best thing to happen to Doctor Who in years? And what about the future in – and of – Doctor Who? Comment by December 14 to be in the running, and we’ll announce the winner at the recording of our Christmas Special on December 15.

Eleven/Future (live show)

The Doctor, the lonely god, last of the Time Lords, comes face to face with his own people and their most evil son, the Master, but manages to avert their disastrous return, seemingly avoiding his foretold death. But Wilf, an ordinary old man present for the final battle, taps on the radiation-filled booth in which he is trapped – fulfilling the prophecy that “he will knock four times”. The Doctor grudgingly saves Wilf, absorbing the fatal radiation, and leaves for a “victory lap” around the Universe, waving a silent goodbye to old friends. Having held back death for so long, his regeneration is explosive, severely damaging the TARDIS and sending it hurtling towards Earth. The new Doctor is youthful, eccentric, enthusiastic and affectionate, but rather more alien than his predecessor, out of touch with human culture and at times feeling all of his 900 plus years. He forms a bond with a young Scottish girl, Amelia Pond, and accidentally binds their entire lives together. 

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!). Our eleventh and final(ish) major episode brings us to the (still) current Doctor, Matt Smith. Splitting fan opinion on his announcement, in part because of his youth and obscurity, he soon won over audiences with a performance influenced by Patrick Troughton. This was also the biggest time of change in the revived show’s history, with not only a new Doctor, but a new production team, headed by fan favourite writer Steven Moffat, bringing a definite new feel to the show.

As Splendid Chaps draws to a close, we want to look forward as well as back, and so we take as our theme the future. The Doctor in the old series and the new has often looked forward in time, whether a few decades, a few centuries, or even millions or billions of years. How has the show depicted the future? Has it tried to be predictive, or to express our hopes and fears? And what of the future of the show itself? With Matt Smith leaving, and Moffat’s time surely also coming to an end, what does the future have in store for Doctor Who?

Hosts Ben McKenzie, John Richards and Petra Elliott are joined by comedians Justin Hamilton and Stella Young, plus a new song from Keating! composer Casey Bennetto, backed by our house band The Time Lads. Plus there will of course be prizes, surprises, jokes and more; it’s the end, but the moment has been prepared for! (We have a little something extra up our sleeves…)

Space: ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne
Time: Thursday, November 21; recording starts 7 PM
Accessibility: This venue is wheelchair accessible.
Tickets: $15 full, $12 concession, $11 ACMI members (plus booking fee where applicable)
Bookings: via ACMI online, or at the ACMI box office (subject to availability)
Podcast: “Eleven/Future”, released 23rd of November, 2013.

Spoilers and Surprises at Continuum 9: Contraindicators

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!).

Well…we say eleven. We’re recording a special edition of the Splendid Chaps podcast as part of Continuum 9: Contraindicators, the ninth annual Melbourne speculative fiction and pop culture fan convention, all about spoilers and surprises in Doctor Who!

From leaked torrents to give-away titles, from shock deaths to surprise guests, Who has done it all. So do spoilers ruin everything? Are cliffhangers an integral part of the show? And just how important is plot, anyway? Joining John, Ben and Petra for this episode are author George Ivanoff (the Gamers series, Life, Death and Detention) and author and podcaster Kirstyn McDermott (Madigan Mine, Perfections, Caution: Contains Small Parts, The Writer and the Critic). Plus we’ll have prizes, loveliness and a special performance!

As this episode won’t include a break, we won’t have time to get audience questions at the recording – so we’d like to hear from you now! What are your favourite cliffhangers in Who? Do you avoid spoilers? Are the teasers for upcoming episodes too much? Should titles ending in of the Daleks be banned? Is surprise really important to plot? Let us know below, on Facebook or on Twitter! If you are attending the con, you’ll also have a chance to write down questions before we begin.

Space: Earth/Fire rooms, ether, lower level 265 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Time: Sunday, June 8, 4:30 to 6 PM
Accessibility: This venue is wheelchair accessible.
Tickets: This event is part of the Continuum 9: Contraindicators fan convention. You will require a convention membership to attend.
Bookings: day and weekend memberships are available at continuum.org.au; you can also become a member at the door, though note this is more expensive.
Podcast: not yet available; release date TBC.

Ben McKenzie, John Richards, Dave Callan and Paul Verhoeven

Four/Comedy

Hosts Ben McKenzie, John Richards and Petra Elliott discuss Tom Baker and comedy in Doctor Who in the fourth live Splendid Chaps episode, recorded in two parts at Trades Hall in Melbourne as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival on April 6 and 13, 2013. With special guests Dave Callan (Triple J), Paul Verhoeven (Steam Punks, Lords of Luxury), Adam Richard (The Shelf, Outland) and Josie Long (Lost Treasures of the Black Heart), plus the stand-up Dalek and a cover of Doctor Poo and the Psychic Koalas’ “The Universe is Big” performed by our very own Petra and the Time Lads – Caleb Garfinkel and Bryce Clark!

To make sure you don’t miss an episode, subscribe to the podcast in iTunes or via this Feedburner feed.

Don’t forget you can go into the draw to win a (Region 4) DVD copy of The Legacy Collection box set (containing Shada and More Than 30 Years in the TARDIS) by commenting on this episode below! Tell us what you think of the Baker era, share your favourite gags from Doctor Who, or just tell us what you thought of our Comedy Festival episode. Comment by May 18 to be in the running, and we’ll announce the winner at the recording of Five/Fear on May 19.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:23 — 32.8MB)

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