The Hosts

42 to Doomsday is an Australian based podcast hosted by Rob and Mark where we chat about Doctor Who and don’t review it!

Rob’s interest in Doctor Who dates back to 1975 when he ran shrieking from the house upon his first (and most scarring) glimpse of Linx in The Time Warrior. After literally seconds of therapy (this was the 70s, remember) Rob continued to run shrieking from the house over giant spiders, giant insects, giant clams and eventually Tom Baker’s giant ego.

After being stranded in the 80s for an inordinate time, Rob suddenly grew up and escaped to university, where he faddishly denounced his attachment to Doctor Who as ‘the basest heresy of a mental and moral degenerate’. Imbibing the university life to the full, Rob accidentally relapsed and took up Doctor Who again. Worse was the come: he conceived a notion that he could ‘write’ and that his scribblings would provide ‘entertainment’ to fellow fans who frankly didn’t know better.

After an unbroken run of spilled ink that saw him dominate the pages of Australian Doctor Who zines for a ridiculously long time, Rob was published in DWM 214. At about the same time, by dint of the labour of other people in foreign parts, Rob found The Power of the Daleks clips (you can see his name up in lights on The Missing Years documentary that featured as part of The Ice Warriors VHS release). This feat of derring do saw Rob become a silent member of the Restoration Team, playing a main role in many of its key decisions, such as chroma dot recovery and the move to DVD. Drawing on his profound knowledge of missing Doctor Who episodes, when approached by Phillip Morris about searching in Africa, Rob told Phil he had as much chance finding his doppelgänger in the London Underground than finding missing episodes in Africa. Rob still stands by his comment.

After being forced from the Restoration Team in a beer hall putsch, Rob spent a number of years in embittered silence. However, after one too many shandies at a local establishment of minor repute, he hit upon an idea – the world needed to hear his voice and so 42 to Doomsday was born…

Mark’s earliest memories of the series were of watching The Pirate Planet and City of Death on their original UK transmissions. What could’ve become a glorious affair was sullied when he was lured by the false charms of the glitzy and shallow Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

It took a relocation 16,000 kms from his native homeland before Mark more fully acquainted himself with Doctor Who. Which led to some confusion as the title character was now being played by Tristan Farnan. The confusion only deepened when Mark saw rice bubbles (a.k.a Krispies) stuck to Tristan’s face and not in his mouth where they belonged.

Despite this, he became hooked and the show formed a strong part (too strong some would say) of his formative years. This interest led Mark to becoming involved in the running of the local Doctor Who club. He contributed articles and eventually edited the club magazine, Sonic Screwdriver.

Then in the early 90’s, Mark walked away from fandom. His love for the series remained (even though it was off the air) and he still caught up with his mates (usually in pubs) to talk about the series but it wasn’t until nearly 20 years later he was asked to contribute DVD reviews to Sonic Screwdriver that his fandom spark was reignited.

A chance email from Rob with the question “Doctor Who podcasting – what about it?” coupled with an interest in audio production (that he should have made a career of), 42 to Doomsday emerged!

Away from the podcast Mark enjoys going to the movies, listening to music (mainly 80’s) and is try to resurrect his running obsession whilst ignoring medical advice from so-called ‘experts’.