By Roy Mathur, on 2025-05-03, at 23:05:44 to 00:10:46 BST, for Captain Roy's Rusty Rocket Radio Show
Episodes 4, 5, 6 concern the Imperials' successful plan to encourage a Ghorman rebellion, using Syril as a mild agent provocateur, as an excuse for a clamp down. Cassian investigates Ghorman, Kleya tries to remove incriminating bug, and Bix stews in PTSD.
Length? Bollywood movies; c. 150 minutes, Hollywood; Gone with the Wind c.230, Lawrence of Arabia 222. Each release jumps a year and tells a complete story in a classic three act structure, whilst building up to the literal end of Andor in Rogue One, then the Battle of Yavin (when Luke bags the Deathstar). Sit back and bask in a weekly full length Star Wars film with built-in intervals, ingrates.
Space Switzerland's (Ghorman) wealth, German/French/Italian/Romansh-ish space language, braces, and pompous self-importance is as annoying as the real Switzerland. Though I like their caps, berets and space alpenhorns.
I love radios and Luthen Rael's sidekick, Kleya Marki, has one hell of an intergalactic radio. That thing can pick up Corellia.
Why does Saw need a tech to rig that absurdly complicated bomb? Don't they have droids, computers, etc.? Why no automation in Star Wars? Okay, dramatic licence...
I did not believe Cassian's fashion designer cover, Syril and Dedra have a connection, though she'll drop him if her career's at risk, ultimately, I hope terrible things happen to them, poor Bix, but she got that rotter Doctor Gorst, Saw is a genuine nutjob, and Ruby Wax can go to hell.
With the swing hard right and our forced march from democracy into authoritarianism, the topicality of Star Wars is more relevant now than it was in 1977. Are we fans sagely nodding at the telly when we should be out on the streets?
Fifteenth Doctor: Ncuti Gatwa, companions Belinda Chandra: Varada Sethu, Ruby Sunday: Millie Gibson, writer: Pete McTighe (Kerblam!), director: Peter Hoar (A Good Man Goes to War, The Robot Revolution), episode 4 of season 15 of New Who or Season 2 on iPlayer and Disney+ (story 316), 1 x c.45 min, released Sat 2025-05-03 08:00 iPlayer or BBC1 19:10, and watched by me c.14:15 after shopping, over a late lunch of leek and potato soup and a baguette avec frommage.
The TARDIS materialises in an ally on New Year's Day, where Doc and Belinda meet an abused little boy. Years later, he has grown into a young man, a podcaster, who becomes obsessed with tracking down Ruby Sunday, when he sees her and the Doctor dealing with a dangerous alien. He meets Ruby, falls in love, but all is a ruse to expose UNIT as fakers for his right wing conspiracy podcast. Later, armed and live-streaming video, he violently breaks into UNIT, is attacked by the same alien, survives, meets the Doctor, but still refutes a reality he doesn't like and returns to prison, where he is freed by Mrs Flood.
I'm awestruck modern DW tackled something like this, though it left me emotionally wrung out and depressed on both my and Ruby's behalf. This is very un-Disney+, so I salute you, Pete McTighe. It isn't as weird as RTD's 73 Yards, but even more topical (and pubs feature in both). A right wing conspiracy nut shooter, live-streaming from a bodycam; how much more topical can you get? As I said in numerous past pods, particularly in pod 576 (Lux), DW has been political since 1963. The fake fan anti-woke brigade, who have weaponised DW, SW, and geekdom, should get out the TARDIS and so should the right-led UK press, who are predictably bleating about this. We don't need you. Mrs Flood, you persist in getting on my nerves and if I had a hammer I'd smash that bloody vindicator.
This next item exists because I have zero feedback. Instead, I've scoured the output of other fans for matters that I can weigh in on and here are some nuggets. Ncuti's crying and flamboyance aren't much in evidence this week, but because his past behaviour has become contentious, here's what I think. Ncuti's crying might grate, but I'm a tearful chap, who's too often been scorned. There's even The Cure's song Boys Don't Cry about repressing emotion, so go on, Ncuti, bawl. As a highly strung, flamboyant person myself, I have excused Ncuti's hyper behaviour, but I also acknowledge from personal experience how much that can annoy others. Only four left until the big break.