Last week, we looked at the worlds of Robert Holmes, which prompted me to think of the Autons as a subject for crosswords. To my amazement, this is the first time the Autons will be the theme on this blog. Three years in (or thereabouts) and we’re still plundering new Read more…
It is funny how themes emerge when you’re analysing data about a particular writer. Robert Holmes is, quite rightly, remembered for his outstanding contribution to Doctor Who, and for being right up there with Terrance Dicks. Look a bit further and there are common threads – valuable substances being fought Read more…
The Doctor has had many companions but he wouldn’t get far with just their help alone. On his travels, he has met helpful people and collaborators with whom he has joined forces to defeat alien invaders and malevolent shenanigans. This week’s crossword focuses on those helpful souls who lend a Read more…
Good science fiction reflects the world in which we live, so it is perhaps inevitable that some of the antagonists in Doctor Who will be big companies and greedy CEOs out to bleed the proles dry. Famously, Robert Holmes wrote The Sun Makers as a way to stick to the Read more…
Paging Doctor Who! Our favourite Time Lord has said he’s “a Doctor of everything” (including cheese making), but he also studied medicine under Joseph Lister in Glasgow. According to River Song, he’s the reason we have the word “Doctor” in the first place, to mean “wise man” or “healer”. This Read more…
BOO! Did I scare you? It’s Halloween again – one of your erstwhile compiler’s favourite times of the year. It is the annual excuse to curl up on crisp Autumnal nights with a glass of something nice to watch a good old horror movie or two… or a spooky Doctor Read more…
October is Black History Month, so Cryptic Who saw it as a good opportunity to highlight the black and minority ethnic characters and actors in Doctor Who. Classic Who was predominantly White, reflecting the times in which it was made, but modern Who has gone a long way to redress Read more…
It has been argued that the Victorian era is Doctor Who’s natural home, and that is true to a certain extent. That era is now characterised by tumultuous change and social inequalities which speak to Doctor Who’s core ethos – especially our modern idea of its dark, dangerous alleyways and Read more…
“I don’t think you have my best interests at heart, Dibber…” said Glitz as he prepared to pull another fast one. Aside from megalomaniacs and invaders in Doctor Who, there are also the criminals – the con artists, the gun-runners, the grifters, and the swindlers ready to part your cash Read more…
It could be argued that London is the Doctor’s spiritual home… or perhaps where the TARDIS is happiest. With all of time and space to explore, it is to London they always return, be it in an East End junkyard, by the Thames, or transported to Trafalgar Square by UNIT Read more…