Fish Fingers and Custard Issue 1 - Fish Fingers and Custard Fanzine

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18 Fish Fingers and Custard Issue 1 would have to look elsewhere. Elsewhere mainly being DVDs and to some extent iTunes and other similar services. Do you have any standout memories from the pre-podshock days? Many. Doctor Who: Podshock was launched on the 20th anniversary of the Gallifreyan Embassy. So we already had 20 years experience before even starting Doctor Who: Podshock. There were many friendships that formed over the years, and most date back to the very beginning. Given that it has now been 25 years, we came through it altogether rather well. That said, we did lose one good friend that played a big part back in the day in a motor vehicle accident. Which goes to many standout memories of meeting and interviewing so many people involved with the series who are no longer around today. You were always assured a great time when you have Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee competing with the then recent/current Doctors Peter Davison and Colin Baker together at conventions. So much mayhem and fun. Of course, it was all in good fun and friendly spirits. So fast-forward to 2005. The Gallifreyan Embassy now has a presence on the internet. What made you decide to do a podcast? The origin of Doctor Who: Podshock is similar to that of the Gallifreyan Embassy in a way. The series had been announced to come back to television in spring 2005. Podcasts were a fledging new media distribution method (it still is in many ways). We had done printed newsletters over the years, and we have even done video shows in the past which were shown at our monthly meetings. It was 2005 and we needed to use the internet. Podcasts were something I was already familiar with and there weren't any Doctor Who ones initially. Unfortunately, before we could record anything, I came down with a bad case of bronchitis. My voice sounded horrible for some time. So we pushed it off until I was feeling and sounding better and we had the time to focus on it. It was the 20th anniversary of Gallifreyan Embassy and with that we were also taking the then static website for the organization and making it into an interactive one. All this was coinciding with the anniversary, so it made sense to launch Doctor Who: Podshock at the same time as well. You stumbled upon a podcast hosted by James and invited him on board. Was the plan to always have 2 American hosts and 1 Brit, in order to have a perspective from the ‘home of Doctor Who’? The podcast idea came first, I believe. It was during the planning stage of the show that it made sense to have a host in the UK. Being that Doctor Who has always been an institution in the UK it simply made sense to have someone on the show to give the perspective of the new series in the UK. As you said, I heard James Naughton doing his show (which was more or less a personal audio blog) and I listened long enough to know that he would be a perfect fit with Ken and myself. You’ve interviewed many Doctor Who actors/writers/producers in the past 25 years, you’ve even had the foresight to record interviews with Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee. For those who weren’t around at the time, what was it like meeting and interviewing Patrick and Jon? This goes back to your earlier question about standout memories. It was a privilege as well as a pleasure to interview both Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee. Not to mention the time spent with them outside of the actual interview itself. We often had a chance to spend
19 Fish Fingers and Custard Issue 1 time with them before and after the interview as well. From a fan's perspective it offered great insight and a wealth of knowledge to the series of days long gone by, but it was often quite fun discussing matters outside of the Doctor Who as well. It was enormous fun. Do you have a favourite encounter with someone from the show? Wow. Oh several I would imagine. Be it demonstrating the latest technology from Apple at the time, the Newton with Sylvester McCoy (which I had similarly done again with the iPhone though this time with Colin Baker) to hanging out with John Nathan-Turner and Gary Downey while they were doing a book signing in NY and hearing so many of their stories off-the-record. You recently attended the screening of ‘The Eleventh Hour’ in New York and got to ask Matt Smith and Karen Gillan a few questions. What was it like meeting the current incumbents of the TARDIS and actually interviewing them? We had met Steven Moffat before, but it was the first time meeting Matt Smith and Karen Gillan. Karen was a little taller than expected. She was delightful. Matt Smith was incredible. Meeting him in person made it so clear why he was chosen for the role. He has the energy and personality that is so well suited for the part. He is very personable. Although it was the first time meeting him, it very much felt like meeting an old friend. There was nothing pretentious about him. Do you think Doctor Who is now starting to get a foothold in America, seeing as the whole New York event seemed like a movie premier? It is very weird now. It is far more commonly known in the US now than ever before, although not 'mainstream' just yet. Which is a good thing. I always enjoyed Doctor Who being sort of a secret treasure here in the States even among other sci-fi fans. Today, every sci-fi fan knows of it... and more and more is it finding its way to the public at large. The huge turn outs at the events in NYC in April is testimony to it. Whereas we were able to spend an intimate afternoon with JNT at a book signing event in NYC in 1985 without much in the way of large crowds, I don't think it would be the same today if Steven Moffat were here doing one now. With its live show, Podshock is now a regular feature at the annual Gallifrey convention in Los Angles. If given the opportunity, would you like do more of these live shows? In addition to the live shows we do in person in California at the Gallifrey One conventions, we also have been doing similar shows in New York over the years at the annual I-CON convention in Stony Brook and just last month we performed a live show in New York City. It's always fun doing the show live in front of an audience. You get that immediate feedback that you often don't have doing studio shows. Each have their pros and cons. Yes, if other conventions would like to bring us there to do a live show, we would interested. Many thanks to Louis for taking the time to answer our questions. You can check out Doctor Who: Podshock at http://www.podshock.net or on ITunes.
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