Time travel in the podcast
Also: My fascination with Doctor Who video games...
The podcast was recorded today, complete with video for those of you who subscribe on Patreon. Dr McLean and myself discussed a number of shows and movies that use time travel (and one that did not) and explored some thoughts — largely circling around the topic of shows that overused time travel as a plot device each week, and those where the concept is baked in.
Oh, and way too much The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, which James introduced early in proceedings. Having drawn a blank on this, I looked it up on YouTube after the recording, and it all came flooding back.
(Coincidentally, there is a character called “Cupcake” in this show. By one of the weirdest quirks of fiction ever, my 14-year-old daughter, when she was3, declared that her nickname should be “Cupcake.” No idea where she got that from, but it has stuck.)
More about the “podKast”
If you don’t subscribe to Patreon, the latest Kasterborous podcast is also on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, a few days after, and in slightly shorter form.
We cover everything from Doctor Who to movies, many other TV shows, audiobooks, books, artificial intelligence, and streaming. In fact, we probably only do 50% of episodes on Doctor Who these days, which keeps things varied and fun.
Oh, and we sometimes discuss video games.
Speaking of which…
Why am I obsessed with Doctor Who video games?
I was working on a list of Doctor Who games for various platforms over the years this morning. This is purely on a “need to know” basis, however, and at this moment in time, you don’t.
However, it remains a topic I return to, again and again. I even produced a fanzine about it.
Why? I suppose it’s the lack of any real quality in the digital gaming realm from the Time Lord. I’m reminded of Superman, which flies into cinema today. His best video game incarnation is thanks to LEGO, and the same is true of Doctor Who.
Harry Potter and Star Wars in particular have both done very well out of LEGO. In fact, you might even say it is franchise proof (but then they used to call Doctor Who “actor proof” which it isn’t really…) LEGO Dimensions is Doctor Who’s strongest official foray into gaming, and Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is Superman’s best video game.
Why is this? Having heard a few stories about BBC oversight/interference over DW games over the years, and read some quotes from devs working on Superman games blaming Warner Bros. for varied issues, I suspect that an inability to let game developers be game developers might have something to do with it.
Other stuff
OK, if you’re keeping track of what I’m up to, or want to know what I’ve read of interest this week, you’re in luck.
I have a Substack for freelance writing and productivity:
Meanwhile, I run a retro gaming site at www.gamingretro.co.uk, which has an associated Patreon which deals with retro hardware projects.
One last thing, if you’re a fan of Star Wars, a fellow writer on Substack shared his recollections of visiting the various locations in Tunisia, which is well worth a read.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast, as that really helps. I will be back on Saturday, looking at another family favourite. Well, I liked it, anyway…