Podcast of the Week: Flight Through Entirety

❉ Flying through the entirety of TV Doctor Who, with cake.

We’re big fans of podcasts here at We Are Cult, and we’re always looking for new shows to subscribe to. So if you’re looking for ear candy, we’re here to help!

This week: Brendan Jones tells us all about Flight Through Entirety.

What’s your podcast about?

3-4 lifelong Doctor Who fans watch and comment on the series in order, talking about the stories, development, production, cultural influences, and whether it’s all just a pile of terrible nonsense. The tone is that it’s meant to be like that time at the pub when you and your friends were arguing about who’d win in a fight between the Quarks and the Bandrils. (Bandrils, obviously)

If you had to describe your show in 10 words or less, what would you say?

Flying through the entirety of TV Doctor Who, with cake.

Which episode would you recommend for a first-time listener? Do you have a favourite episode?

As our whole schtick is going through the series in order, I’d recommend starting with Episode Zero: A Little Queer, which covers the development of the series, the pilot episode, and An Adventure in Space and Time.

As for favourites… the one that always springs to mind is our Episode 39: He’s Always a Villain, in which we discuss Pyramids of Mars. Of course, it’s a great story, but we also build up to something special and unique at the end which I won’t spoil here.

Recently we did a production of Eric Saward’s unmade finale for The Trial of a Time Lord, of which I’m rather proud. Even though it’s not at all indicative, it was a hell of a lot of fun to make (and, we’re told, to listen to as well).

What inspired you to create this podcast?

A few things combined. My boyfriend wanted to watch all of Doctor Who with me, and I started taking note of his comments with a view to starting a blog. However, The Wife in Space came along and no-one can compete with Sue! There was then a 50th anniversary podcast series called Splendid Chaps which looked at each Doctor plus a theme each month, in front of a live audience. That was John Richard, Petra Elliot, Ben Mackenzie, and a host of hilarious guests. It was my first podcast, and we saw them live, and I thought, “the only way this could be better is if it was story by story.” I realised this was an insane undertaking, and low and behold…

I originally asked my boyfriend Rod, as well as Nathan, Richard and Todd, plus Bondfinger’s James. Rod had no interest (he has to hear me talk about Doctor Who enough at home), and Todd and James weren’t interested at the time. Richard now alternates with Todd mostly season by season, but we still won’t let James on because he keeps wanting to turn it into a Blake’s 7 podcast.

Which guests have you had on your podcast so far?

FTE grew out of a group of people who’ve known each other about 20 years, and trying to replicate the spirit of just sitting around at the pub talking. As such, we’ve just kept the same four (originally three) people and have yet to feature any guests (save for some cameos by Rod and James). Each of us making it through the whole series was very important to me (although one of us just can’t watch Trial…). Another thing is the immediacy of everyone being the same room, although I have found guesting on other podcasts that you can have that feeling even over Skype!

We do, however, cite comments from other podcasters as well as our listeners. We’ve also been lucky enough to guest on shows like Blue Box, Trust Your Doctor, The Doctor Who Show and Zeus Plug.

Who would be your dream guest?

Christopher Hamilton Bidmead. We got on the wrong side of him when one of us, NATHAN, called Castrovalva “flawed and plotless.” However, it’s all smoothed out now – CHB has even reviewed us (The “ramblingest” podcast he’s ever heard) and we did invite him on for Frontios, but he declined.

Which equipment do you use for your podcast set-up?

I have a Behringer 1204USB mixer and 3-4 Behringer XMS mics, connected to a Zoom H1 audio recorder. This is the third set up- previously we had lapel mics, and before that a single Blue Yeti mic. Editing is done in Garageband (me) or Ferrite (Nathan), and we also use Auphonic to clean up recordings (cutting down aircraft noise, for instance!).

What would you say is the best length of time for a podcast episode?

Our episodes tend to settle at about 50 minutes (for our single story per episode ones), and this feels right. I went to a podcasting seminar once where some speakers insisted that all episodes of any podcast should be 20-25 minutes, which is just a hangover from broadcast media, I think. A discussion based podcast, much like the TARDIS, should adjust its time as needed to encompass its’ dimensions.

Which podcasts (other than yours) would you recommend we listen to?

For other Doctor Who podcasts: Zeus Plug, 42 to Doomsday, The Doctor Who Show, Blue Box, Trust Your Doctor, New to Who, Krynoid Podcast and Who Tells Your Story. For other TV shows, there’s The Greatest Generation (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and The X-Men TAS Podcast (X-Men: The Animated Series). Completely selfishly, we also have a James Bond commentary podcast, called Bondfinger.

Brendan Jones: Editor, Writer, Wrestler, Actor. Host of @FTEPodcast and @bondfingercast

Where is your podcast available to listen to?

We are on Apple Podcasts and Google Play, but only our most recent hundred episodes (thanks to a quirk with Squarespace, our hosting company). All 115 episodes (to date) are available on our website www.flightthroughentirety.sexy.

We will be moving hosts at the end of the classic series before starting the new series, so we thank listeners for their patience in having to manually download old episodes in the meantime.

What is the future of podcasting as a creative medium?

For me personally- I rather enjoyed doing Time Inc, and used to do Planet Skaro Audios (may even do so again some day!), so I’d love to do a scripted drama or comedy podcast.

The glorious thing about podcasting right now is that even sponsored or paid podcasts aren’t beholden to the rules of structure and timing that govern television or radio. Podcasting is all about the quality of the content, and it also allows for community created content in a way that is dwindling on TV and radio. I think podcasting will continue to fragment, but in a good way that allows for more stories to be told, from and to a wider range of people and interests. Unlike television which requires a major financial outlay, podcasting only requires a microphone, a computer and an internet connection. Record yourself talking, put it out there and BAM- podcast. The future of that can only be even better.

❉ Download past episodes or subscribe to future episodes of Flight Through Entirety for free on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/flight-through-entirety-doctor/id882716995?mt=2

❉ Flight Through Entirety is also on Facebook, and you can check out the website at flightthroughentirety.com

❉ You can follow the podcast on Twitter at @FTEpodcast. Brendan is on Twitter as @critiqaltheory, Nathan is @nathanbottomley, Todd is @toddbeilby, and Richard is @RichardLStone.


❉ Have you got a podcast? Email wearecultcontent@gmail.com if you would like it to be featured.

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