Chibnall’s Era: The Commentaries, Part 3 — Authenticity | Doctor Who Podcast

What makes Tesla & Demons distinct from other Chibnall Era episodes? How did their writers approach historicals? What were the contrasts and tensions within S11 & S12? We explore these questions in a metacommentary unpacking the audio commentary tracks for Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror, and Demons of the Punjab. Along the way, we discuss tensions in historicals, earlier structures, clashes within series, power of storytelling, scriptwriting styles, producer input, commentaries from other shows, Graham whispering, & more! (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:21) Tesla knowledge + S12 tensions (00:07:33) Historical inspiration + Doctor Who-able moments (00:11:27) Costume era (00:15:22) ‘Room to make stuff up’ + smart selections (00:19:28) Yaz & Tesla + companions left alone (00:22:15) Radar: clashes with Spyfall 2 (00:27:55) Who did what? (00:28:43) Hope & tragedy: tensions in historicals (00:32:48) ‘Have you ever seen a dead planet?’ (00:37:24) Favourite episodes + episode fullness (00:43:32) Demons of the Punjab: Thijarian inspiration (00:48:13) Partition context + Vinay storytelling (00:56:04) Remembrance Day + poppies (00:58:50) Series 11’s original structure (01:01:45) Vinay & Graham (01:04:04) Marriage ceremonies & symbolism (01:05:05) Tonal control + script styles (01:08:23) Commentary contrast (Better Call Saul) (01:20:09) Stage directions in scripts (01:31:04) Vinay’s series 12 blogs (pre Fugitive) (01:35:06) Vinay’s series 12 blogs (post Fugitive) (01:39:07) Outro…

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