Radio Free Skaro #1086 - Tender Mercies

Big news! The moment has been prepared for by a cabal of BBC pencil pushers as the official Doctor Who Invitation To Tender was released to all and sundry! Steven and Warren pick apart the document with a fine tooth comb, highlighting requirements like "essential Britishness" before spring boarding into the usual speculation, and theorizing and equal parts cynicism and copium. Plus Big Finish and DWM news, The Timelash and a Miniscope featuring all three of the Three Who Rule examining the directing work of Peter Hoar! Links: Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon BBC publishes Doctor Who invitation to tender Doctor Who Magazine #634 Doctor Who "The Satan Pit" coming to Canada and UK cinemas on November 23 Written by Terrance Dicks: Book Launch with Simon Guerrier on November 26 in Manchester James Cooray Smith article The Last Battle Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Shock and Awe available now Big Finish: The War Doctor Rises: Serpent's Nest available December 2026 Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Homecoming available January 2027 The Timelash Miniscope Peter Hoar (Director) A Good Man Goes to War The Robot Revolution Lucky Day

A light week of Doctor Who related banter as we soldier through continued Circuit Breaker fun, speculate wildly about the upcoming Blakes 7 Series 3 Collection that was officially announced this past week, the usual Big Finish cover art overexamination, and a travel back through the years via The Timelash! Forwards to the Past, or something! Links: Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon Circuit Breaker: Kaleidoscope review Blake's 7 Series 3 Collection announced Frontios Black Archive book due Oct 6 The Reality War – 2005-2025: How the Doctor Who Revival Transformed Television coming Oct 26 Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: A New Occupation released Big Finish: Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master – Part Three released Big Finish: Halloween and Christmas collections due Oct 2026 and Dec 2026, respectively Big Finish audio novels The Missing Hour, due Oct 2026, and The Bath Chronicles, due Jan 2027 The Timelash

As befits these dog days of Doctor Who, we start this episode delving into both Edmonton infrastructure projects and the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, before summarily slapping ourselves upside the head and reporting on Warren's progress reading Circuit Breaker: Kaleidoscope (pretty good so far!) and the extraordinarily expensive yet mouth-wateringly lovely new Character Options set featuring Liz Shaw and a Primordial Professor Stahlman  Also books, the Timelash and an interview with the Cyberleader himself David Banks about his new book Man and Cyberman! Excellent! Links: Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon 2026 Hugo Award winners Circuit Breaker: Kaleidoscope Character Options Season Seven Set Liz Shaw and Primord available September 14 The Daleks' Master Plan: The Making of a Television Serial by Alan Stevens due Sep 2026 Screen Printed: The Definitive Guide To The Exciting Adventures Based On The Popular BBC Television Serial available now Big Finish: The Death and Life of River Song: War Widow released The Timelash Interview: Man and Cyberman: Memoirs of a Cyber Leader by David Banks David Banks

The War between the Galactic Republic (Canada) and the Trade Federation (America) continues and is finally affecting things that actually matter like Doctor Who as Catherine Tate and other guests have bowed out of Edmonton Expo due to overcomplicated plane shenanigans as available flights plummet between our two nations! In better news, Steven sings the praises of the BBC show Ludwig, which is like Doctor Who if Doctor Who was a crime procedural, and Gallifrey One continues with their second wave of guest announcements! Plus more exciting Circuit Breaker updates, New Paradigm Dalek dollies, more mutant heads aka Funko Pops, and another edition of The Timelash!  Links: Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon Katy Manning, Frazer Hines. Simon Guerrier, Stephen Cole announced for Gallifrey One Catherine Tate, other guests cancel Edmonton Expo appearances due to lack of Edmonton-LA flights Circuit Breaker: The Doctor and the Three Witches Circuit Breaker: Momento Mori Waris Hussein and Carole Ann Ford on The Whoniverse Show Redone Doctor In Distress video by the online community, supporting the Red Cross The Underwater Menace and The Faceless Ones event at Riverside Studios on October 3 Doctor Who 2005-2022 coming to Kanopy Sep 4, seasons added weekly Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor, New Paradigm Dalek sets coming from Character Options New Doctor Who Funko Pops released Aug 28 Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Reunion Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight released The Timelash

Despite the continuing lull in Doctor Who content we've got a bumper crop of stuff to talk about this week, including a missing episodes saga of sorts from Steven with many twists, turns, and 3/4" U-Matic tapes! the ever-present Circuit Breaker (except in Canada, more on that within), Mark Gatiss predicting the Doctor Who tender "quietly won't happen," the official launch of the Pondcast featuring Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, and the return of our look back at the week in the history of Doctor Who, namely – The Timelash!  Links: Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon Circuit Breaker: Don't Blink! Circuit Breaker: The Three Witches (part of updated Time Lord Fairy Tales) released on August 20 Circuit Breaker: The Three Witches comes out Feb 23 in Canada Mark Gatiss predicts Doctor Who's tender "quietly won't happen": 'It's time for a break' BBC bosses headlining Mipcom Doctor Who Magazine 633 David Tennant interview excerpt on official Doctor Who website Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill officially launched Pondcast Big Finish: The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: The Second Death of the Daleks released Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Tenth Doctor and Rani coming August 2027 Big Finish: Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master available now Big Finish: The War Master: Deeds Without Name due Oct 2026 Big Finish to republish Radio Times specials celebrating Doctor Who's 10th and 20th anniversaries How (Not) to Film in Cars by Rachel Talalay Doctor Who: Corruption of the Daleks graphic novel coming October 20 Chromakey Magazine subscription offer The Timelash

It's a landmark episode of Radio Free Skaro as we mark 20 years of blabbing into microphones about the greatest television show ever made, that there Doctor Who, with a touch of reminiscing and reflection on our various accomplishments, hankerings and foibles, and many, many of your Fluid Links answered in an epic-length episode the likes of which we (probably) won't do for another 20 years! In the words of Tom Baker: indomitable! Links: Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon Toby Hadoke, Geoffrey Beevers, Daisy Ashford announced for Gallifrey One 2027 Catherine Tate announced for Edmonton Expo Blue Zoo Animation appoints Dominic Minns as Creative Director, Series Director of Doctor Who series Fifth Doctor Sonic Screwdriver now available Eighth Doctor Sonic Screwdriver due Sep 21 Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Dark Tides released Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures: False Friends due Oct 2026 Big Finish: The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Duty of Care released Chimes of Midnight paperback due Nov 5

It's the end of an era but the moment has been prepared for as the trailblazing Verity! crew release their final episode capping more than a decade of smart talk about Doctor Who from six awesome ladies. Pay tribute to their work and the community they built, as we do in this episode! Plus Gallifrey One announces Mat Irvine and Waris Hussein as guests, more Circuit Breaker and Big Finish fun, various Kickstarters and neat obscurities, and an interview with Stephen James Walker, the editor of the keenly anticipated Doctor Who Production Diary – The Troughton Years!  Links: Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon The last episode of Verity! Mat Irvine, Waris Hussein announced for Gallifrey One 2027 Projections in Time – Battlefield happening Sep 13 at Riverside Studios, tickets sold out in 10 minutes Circuit Breaker 2 from Titan Comics available now Circuit Breaker: Lost In Time mobile game segment Castling available for a limited time The Six Doctors novelization by Simon Guerrier coming Jan 21, 2027 The Vampire Mutation novelization by Steve Cole coming Mar 4, 2027 The Monster of Fang Rock, featuring Peter Cushing's Doctor, due Sep 2026 from Obverse Books New "lay flat" book-style Blu-ray sets coming November 3 for the Smith, Capaldi, and Whittaker eras Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill released Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Wings of Steel released Adventures on Bannerman Road kickstarter Just Sarah by Candy Jar Books released Interview: The Doctor Who Production Diary – The Troughton Years Stephen James Walker

We're breaking circuits once more as we cover both the new Audiobook Doctor Who: The Deadliest Weapon and preview a new Titan comic in the sprawling saga of Circuit Breaker starring Jo Martin as the Fugitive Doctor! Spoilers: we're enjoying Circuit Breaker! Plus books, Big Finish tomfoolery, more Dalek 63-88 goodies, and Part the Fourth of our Classic Series Commentary for the special edition of "Warriors of the Deep"! Links: Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon Graeme Harper announced as guest for Gallifrey One 2027 Circuit Breaker: Doctor Who: The Deadliest Weapon released July 30 Doctor Who Circuit Breaker #2 available August 5 from Titan Comics Circuit Breaker Big Finish stories now available for pre-order, due Sep 30 Big Finish: The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: The Beautiful and the Damned available now Big Finish: The Worlds of Doctor Who – Space Security Service: Bret Vyon Lives! available now Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Shock and Awe due Sep 2026 Colin Baker on The Whoniverse Show The Black Archive :The Invasion by Steve Hatcher due Aug 2026 The Mind of the Doctor: Across the Neurodiverse Universe of Doctor Who available in August Dalek 63-88: The Original Plans for Daleks' Master Plan 3 Film is Fabulous launches Patreon page Tom Chadbon (1946-2026) Duggan by Pip Madeley Commentary Warriors of the Deep Part Four

The TARDIS is in Glasgow this week as both the King and Queen of England opened the Commonwealth Games and Sylvester McCoy (in costume and adorned with a traffic cone) calls out all the Scottish Doctors by name, as is his right), and in February of next year both Carole Ann Ford and Anita Dobson will be in Los Angeles for Gallifrey One! Also, we discuss the future of Doctor Who alongside a new DWM article, Dugga Doo action dolly madness, a strange digression into the work of Giorgio Moroder, and is The War Between The Land and the Sea coming to Disney+ in January? If you can get past all that, we also have Part Three of our Classic Series Commentary for "Warriors of the Deep"! Links: Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon The TARDIS Is On A Royal Mission To The Commonwealth Games Sylvester McCoy being an icon for 26 seconds Carole Ann Ford, Anita Dobson announced for Gallifrey One 2027 Doctor Who Magazine #632, including the next chapter of Circuit Breaker First look at Circuit Breaker story 'The Honourable Society' What has the BBC ever done for me? No TWBTLATS on Disney+ schedule for August Russell Tovey hints at 2027 Disney+ release for The War Between DisneyBeat fan site predicted January 9, 2027 as TWB premiere Character Options The Fifteenth Doctor Set with Mr Ring-a-Ding & Dugga Doo available Aug 3 Doctor Who: The Key to Time novelization series, including three new books, coming Oct 29 Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: The Broken Man available now Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident released Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: A New Occupation due Sep 2026 Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Greatest Train Robbery due Sep 2026 Network DVD returns to business with new ownership Commentary Warriors of the Deep Part Three

Do you want to hear about MRAHHH BUSINESS regarding BBC Studios and the BBC's annual report for the better part of an hour? Well, you're going to, along with keen insights into the NHK man prowling Tokyo looking for license fee avoiders, James Bond musings, the continued myth of Christopher Nolan films having minimal CGI and more! Plus exciting Jo Martin sonic screwdriver news, more Big Finish analysis, and the exciting second part of our "Warriors of the Deep" Special Edition Classic Series Commentary with a new, pizazz-filled Myrka! Links: Support Radio Free Skaro on Patreon BBC Studios Boss Confirms It Will Compete To Become The Next Producer Of 'Doctor Who' Broadcast: BBC Studios revenues stable as profits rise BBC Boss Says 'Doctor Who' Disruption Is Opportunity For Creative Regeneration BBC 2026 Annual Report released BBC License Fee Payers Plummet By Half A Million How BBC Studios' CEO Thinks About Mega-Mergers Reshaping the Media Landscape New Fugitive Doctor sonic scredriver unveiled, will debut in "The Kaleidoscope" book Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker producer confirms why Fugitive Doctor has a sonic screwdriver after fan confusion Circuit Breaker #1 on Hoopla Doctor Who on Pop Culture Jeopardy Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: The Second Death released Big Finish: Doctor Who – Rutans vs Sontarans: Peace at Last released Big Finish: Doctor Who – The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill due August 2026 Commentary Warriors of the Deep Part Two