Splendid Chaps Productions

On November 23rd, 2013, Doctor Who marked its fiftieth anniversary. To celebrate, writer John Richards (creator/writer ABC’s Outland, Boxcutters podcast) and comedian Ben McKenzie (Dungeon Crawl, ‘patron saint of geek comedy’ – T-Squat magazine) created Splendid Chaps, a year-long performance/podcast project celebrating all eleven (at the time…) Doctors – and taking Doctor Who discussion into some new and interesting places.

Each episode was recorded live in front of an audience in a different location, making the role of audio engineer David Ashton essential as he made every one sound brilliant. Co-host Petra Elliott dispensed background information and biographies, while a variety of guests joined a discussion of broader topics across the history of Doctor Who – everything from sex to science, family, evil and fear. Every episode ends with a song or other performance, plus there was loveliness and door prizes! The plan was to release just eleven episodes, one each on the 23rd of each month from January to November: one for each Doctor. By the end of the year, though, popular demand had the chaps squeezing in a number of bonus episodes focussing on books, companions, monsters and more, extending that first season into 2014. 

After a few years, the chaps returned in February 2017, in the wake of Class, to talk about Doctor Who’s spin-offs, releasing four episodes with extra interviews recorded just for the podcast. They then came back again in September 2018, just before the Thirteenth Doctor’s debut, to talk about her predecessor. We’ve also popped up briefly this month with a mini-episode discussing Thirteen’s first season, to mark the halfway point of our Kickstarter campaign for Night Terrace! So we haven’t entirely vanished into the vortex…though to be clear, there are no plans to start recording again more regularly!

All episodes of Splendid Chaps are available here on the site, or see below for subscription options to get us in your podcatcher of choice.

Splendid Chaps

Splendid Chaps Productions

A monthly live celebration of Doctor Who's fiftieth anniversary, Splendid Chaps was part intellectual panel discussion, part nerdy Tonight Show. Join your hosts Ben McKenzie, John Richards and Petra Elliott, plus a range of special guests, as they combine analysis, enthusiasm and irreverence in discussions about the world's longest-running science fantasy program. Currently in hibernation, but pops up again from time to time.

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