Two Years On

April 2013 marked two years since our final episode. All the submissions for our planned second episode in the audio zine format fell through, and so the podcast was silently retired in June 2011.

You may have noticed that none of the download links work any longer and that you can no longer subscribe using iTunes or RSS. It was costing more money every month that podcast hosting continued, and after 18 months it just couldn’t be justified any longer.

However all is not lost, you can now download all 24 of our episodes free from Dropbox!

And if you’re still missing us after re-listening to our back catalogue, you can hear us elsewhere…

Erik co-hosts two different monthly podcasts with literary themes:

The Doctor Who Book Club Podcast, which reads and reviews a classic Doctor Who book every month

Doctor Who: The Writer’s Room, which looks at Doctor Who writers and reviews their scripts

Katrina co-hosts the Across The Planet Comics podcast and is one of a rotating team of hosts on Verity! Podcast, Six Smart Women Discussing Doctor Who

And Nat guested on episode 18 of Nerdology, discussing The Tomorrow People, Dark Season, the autistic spectrum, and the ‘missing’ fan art special of Bridging The Rift.

Thanks again to everyone who’s given us positive feedback in the past and for all the love we’ve been getting from other podcasters recently. We’re glad you enjoyed the show!

Call for submissions for Issue 2: Inspiration

Bridging the Rift audio zine’s second issue will be on the subject of inspiration.

Do you have an interesting take on how Doctor Who, its spin offs, its characters or its fandom inspired you or changed your life?

Has a particular character, storyline or concept inspired your career? Are you a better person because of the message of the show? Has it inspired your creativity in ways you never imagined? Has being a part of fandom changed your life for the better?

Please contact us with your submission proposals. We’re looking for short (three to ten minutes) spoken articles, read by their authors.

We’re also looking for Doctor Who fan fiction and fan music to feature in this issue. Do you have a favourite story or song that captures the theme of inspiration? Perhaps featuring the Doctor or another character inspiring someone to change their life or being inspired themself to create something amazing? Do you find a particular story or song particularly inspiring? Please send us your suggestions for fan creativity to feature and we’ll get in contact with their creators.

We had some wonderful feedback for our first issue and we’re keen to do more, but Bridging the Rift can’t go on without submissions from its listeners. If you’d like to hear more from us, please send in your submissions or pass on this message to those who might have submissions of their own!

Bridging the Rift Audiozine April 2011: How Series 5 Affected and Reflected the Fandom

Bridging the Rift relaunches! Our new audiozine format mixes articles by people from different parts of the fandom with fan fiction story readings and Time Lord Rock songs. The debut issue features contributions from fan artists Lady Yate-xel and Draculasaurus, podcaster Chip of the Two Minute Time Lord and Chicks Dig Time Lords co-editor Lynne Thomas. Our stories and songs explore different aspects of series five.

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@ 1 minute – Introduction – The debut issue looks at how fandom reacted to Series Five, the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond.

@ 3 minutes – Lady Yate-xel talks about the Eleventh Doctor – http://ladyyatexel.com/

@ 10 minutes – Countable Infinities by Lady Mercury – http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=38134

@ 13 minutes – Chip from Two Minute Time Lord – http://twominutetimelord.com/

@ 20 minutes – The Boy Who Waited by rumpelsnorcack – http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6091554/1/The_Boy_Who_Waited

@ 31 minutes 30 seconds – My Reality a song by Paige Harwood and Alex Carpenter  – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBwHj6mHMPk http://trocklafanepodcast.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/series-5-time-lord-rock-songs/

@ 36 minutes 30 seconds – Chicks Dig The Eleventh Doctor by Lynne Thomas – http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/01/chicks-dig-the-eleventh-doctor

@ 40 minutes 30 seconds – Amelia Pond’s Five Minute Adventure by Hutchie – http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6292908/1/Amelia_Ponds_Five_Minute_Adventure

@ 52 minutes 30 seconds – Draculasaurus comments on 2MTL 199: Taking Skirts and Skits Seriously – http://twominutetimelord.com/wp/?p=689 http://www.draculasaurus.com/

@ 57 minutes – Doctor Who Autism Spectrum Project – http://is.gd/dwautism/

@ 58 minutes – Nat talks about how Amy Pond is a reflection of fandom

@ 1 hour – If you have any feedback, please comment at https://bridgingtherift.wordpress.com/ or to @BridgingTheRift on Twitter. Our next issue is on Inspiration, if you have a submission proposal or suggestion fitting that theme please email us using the Contact Us form.

@ 1 hour 2 minutes – Trocking out: The Big Bang 2 by Charlie McDonnell of Chameleon Circuit – http://charliemcdonnell.com/the-big-bang-2/

Bridging the Rift Audiozine! The Promo!

We promised a regeneration and it’s coming.

In just one week we will have the first new episode of Bridging the Rift as an audiozine. Listen to the promo for a sneak peek at what we have in store and start getting your ideas ready for future episodes. We need your ideas, your articles and your thoughts to keep this podcast going.

If you have a submission proposal, please send a description via our contact form. We’re looking for articles and fiction under ten minutes.

Follow us on twitter: @bridgingtherift and on Facebook.

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Bridging the Rift #23: The Ghost Of Podcast Future

We return from our unannounced hiatus to wish you season’s greetings and announce our imminent relaunch with an exciting new ‘audio zine’ format coming in 2011.

To give you a little preview of things to come Nat, Erik and Katrina read the first three parts of a longer Eleventh Doctor Christmas fan fiction story by LiveJournal user betawho, Wherever It’s Christmas.

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Show Notes

Introduction

@ 1 minute 17 seconds – Nat welcomes all listeners and announces the new fandom-focused ‘audio zine’ format coming in 2011.

Bridging the Rift is changing, plans are afoot to reboot our universe and regenerate into an all new format with less of a focus on the content of each Doctor Who, Torchwood or Sarah Jane series and more of a perspective on the fandom, its activities and its culture. We’re planning to be a little less like a discussion podcast and a little more like an ‘audio zine’, with several shorter segments across each ‘issue’. And much like zines, we’re looking for writers to submit personal stories or articles on fandom’s culture and history, correspondents to report on different types of fan activities and for more of a variety of fan creativity to feature within our virtual pages.

Wherever It’s Christmas by Betawho

Fan fiction will be a regular feature of our new format, so as a preview of things to come and a festive present from us to you, we give our first Bridging the Rift fan fiction reading, the first three parts of a seven part Eleventh Doctor Christmas story by LiveJournal user Betawho:

http://betawho.livejournal.com/

@ 2 minutes 50 seconds – Nat reads part one of Wherever It’s Christmas by Betawho:

http://betawho.livejournal.com/25578.html

“We missed Christmas!” Amy declared from the top of the stairs.

Rory and the Doctor looked up from where Rory was handing the Doctor tools as the Time Lord fixed something under the console.

“Nonsense,” the Doctor said, “this is a time machine, it can be Christmas anytime you want.”

@ 7 minutes 40 seconds – Erik continues the story with part two…

http://betawho.livejournal.com/25740.html

“But we can’t,” Rory protested. “It’s 60 feet tall!” He stared up at the huge pine tree the Doctor had chosen.

“It’ll fit in the Tardis,” the Doctor said, hands in his pockets looking up at his tree with satisfaction.

“Even if it’ll fit in the console room, how would we get it through the door?” Rory asked.

@ 13 minutes 50 seconds – Katrina concludes our reading with part three…

http://betawho.livejournal.com/25936.html

Amy hung the last decoration and stepped back.  It was the most beautiful Christmas tree she’d ever seen.  And it was entirely covered in junk.

Well, not entirely, she admitted.  They had managed to find one box of old Victorian Christmas ornaments.  But the rest was pure improv, sparkly bits ranging from fluid links to fiber optic cables that the Doctor had wired up to flash in different colors.  They had even made some tinsel out of some silvery, shredded alien packing material.

Read the remaining four parts of the story at betawho.livejournal.com starting here:

http://betawho.livejournal.com/26348.html

Call For Content and Contributors

@ 17 minutes – Nat expands on our new audio zine format and calls on potential contributors to get in touch.

If you’ve particularly enjoyed reading any Doctor Who, Torchwood or Sarah Jane Adventures fan fiction that you think would be a good fit for Bridging the Rift please do get in touch, and if you could write articles or essays, could be a correspondent for a particular subject or have any other suggestions for content that might fit our new fandom-focused audio zine format do please pass them on by email to our GoogleMail address, in the comments of this blog post or directed @BridgingTheRift on twitter.

We’d love to show off the talents of fan artists by including different cover artwork for every issue, so if you’re an artist or photomanipulation wizard who’d like to get involved, and especially if you could help us develop a new logo, please do drop us an email.

Trocking Out

@ 18 minutes 24 seconds – If you’re in the mood for some christmas music, we heartily recommend the Trocklafane podcast, the only podcast dedicated solely to Doctor Who trock music whose christmas special is out now at trocklafanepodcast.wordpress.com or on iTunes, you may also enjoy the fabulous Oodcast‘s christmas single, It’s Bigger On The Inside available at theoodcast.com.

http://trocklafanepodcast.wordpress.com/2010/12/24/the-trocklafane-podcast-episode-6/

http://theoodcast.com/2010/12/our-christmas-single/

We trock out the episode with an old favourite previously featured on episode 14, Terrance Chua‘s A Companions’ Christmas…

http://www.khaosworks.org/filk/

http://www.khaosworks.org/filk/companions.html

See you all in 2011!

Bridging The Rift #22: From The Hungry Earth to The Big Bang, Part 2

At long last, it’s here! The second part of our massive, sprawling discussion of the latter half of series 5. Last time, we discussed the Silurian 2-parter and “Vincent & The Doctor.” The conversation continues here as we dive into “The Lodger” and the 2-part finale, “The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang.”

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Show Notes

Introduction

@ 1 minute – A brief intro and apology from Erik.

General Discussion

@ 1 minutes 40 seconds – We pick up where we left off, with a discussion of Gareth Robert’s quirky “The Lodger.” And yes, the towel scene gets mentioned. As the story was based on a 10th Doctor comic strip, we also talk about how well this episode fit the 11th Doctor, and which other Doctors we think could have done well with this story.

@ 15 minutes 15 seconds – We dive into “The Pandorica Opens,” and the conversation naturally meanders over into its conclusion “The Big Bang,” and we try to hit all the high notes: River Song! Young Amy! Plastic Rory! The Doctor Dances…poorly! Plus, Nat has a very interesting theory as to what the story’s really all about. Also, stupid people are stupid.

@ 1 hour 2 minutes 26 seconds – An open call for feedback, especially a request that you bring our attention to any excellent Series 5 inspired creativity for our next episode.

@ 1 hour 2 minutes 50 seconds – Speaking of next episodes…back to our core strength–spotlighting your excellent works of creativity!

Trocking Out

@ 1 hour 3 minutes 25 seconds – We trock out to the excellent song “Doctor Who” by Parry Gripp. You can download this song, and many others, at http://parrygripp.com. They also have songs available via iTunes, and they have a great YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/ParryGripp.

If you have any feedback about anything we’ve discussed, you can send messages on Twitter directed @BridgingTheRift, comment on this blog post or send short MP3 feedback to our GoogleMail address.  You can also “like” us on Facebook and leave comments there.

Bridging the Rift #22: From The Hungry Earth to The Big Bang, Part 1

In something of a continuation from our last episode, we decided to review the episodes of the second half of Series 5. Little did we know that the discussion would rage on for over 2 hours! So, we decided to split the episode into 2 parts, the first of which you find here. Nat, Katrina, and Erik natter away about “The Hungry Earth,” “Cold Blood,” and “Vincent and The Doctor.”

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Show Notes

Introduction

@ 1 minute – Who we are.

General Discussion

@ 1 minutes 45 seconds – An open call for Season 5 inspired creativity, especially items on personal blogs or other out of the way places.

@ 4 minutes 50 seconds – We begin with “The Hungry Earth,” which gets compared to an EastEnders intro to The Phantom Menace. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing, we’ll let you decide. Plus, did the BBC make a mistake in letting everyone know that the Silurians were back?

@ 15  minutes – We start to move on in earnest to “Cold Blood,” which comes in for a bit more criticism than we’re accustomed to dispensing. In particular, did the Silurians get the relaunch and introduction to a new generation that they deserved?

@ 23 minutes 45 seconds – Rory’s temporary death and the nature of the crack get looked at from all sorts of angles, prompting a lively discussion about “soft rewrites.”

@ 39 minutes – “Vincent and the Doctor” takes its turn in the spotlight, with the space chicken, Vincent’s illness, and the historical inaccuracy of the episode prompting strong reactions all around.

@ 59 minutes – A promise of more to come…

If you have any feedback about anything we’ve discussed, you can send messages on Twitter directed @BridgingTheRift, comment on this blog post or send short MP3 feedback to our GoogleMail address.  You can also “like” us on Facebook and leave comments there.

Bridging the Rift #21: Better Late Than Never: Thoughts on Series 5

After many delays of all varieties and from all quarters, Bridging the Rift sheepishly returns with an episode recorded in late May in which Nat, Katrina, and Erik discuss Series 5 through “Amy’s Choice.” Unusually for us, it’s all discussion: so prepare yourself for reactions and rampant speculation that will have been proven to be either spot on or wildly inaccurate.

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Show Notes

Introduction

@ 1 minute – The usual introductions from the gang.

General Discussion

@ 1 minutes 40 seconds – We begin with the basics: the new titles, the new version of the theme tune, the general look and feel of this series, and the long-forgotten series Fnarg controversy.

@ 14 minutes 45 seconds – Next we turn our attention to the four key characters who have graced our screens during series 5: The Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, and Dr. River Song.

@ 33 minutes 20 seconds – The story arcs that have kept us guessing: the crack, the 2 Doctors, and general tiemy-wimey-ness.

@ 50 minutes – Some key controversies from series 5, focusing on The Weeping Angels first on-screen movements, the redesigned Daleks, the possibly problematic plot of “The Beast Below,” and Katrina’s passionate reaction to “Amy’s Choice.”

Next Time

@ 1 hour 15 minutes – Next time, we look at how fan artists of all sorts given us their impressions of Series 5. If you have any feedback about anything we’ve discussed, you can send messages on Twitter directed @BridgingTheRift, comment on this blog post or send short MP3 feedback to our GoogleMail address.  You can also “like” us on Facebook and leave comments there.

Trocking Out – The Oodcast

@ 1 hour 16 minutes 45 seconds – This time, we use our Trocking Out section to recommend another podcast, namely The Oodcast which brings us weekly installments of sketches, reviews, witty banter, and songs about Doctor Who. Our featured selection is a song from their episode about “Amy’s Choice” in which Laura (the resident chanteuse on the show) gives us her version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.” Enjoy!

http://theoodcast.com/

Bridging the Rift #20: Feedback and Creative Tennantcies

Nat, Katrina, and Erik get down to the business of discussing your feedback.  Plus, there’s a previously recorded discussion of David Tennant creativity with Kelsey from the TennantCast.

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Show Notes

Introduction

@ 1 minute – We introduce ourselves before getting on with the good stuff.

Feedback

@ 1 minutes 30 seconds – We dive straight in to your feedback, in which: BTR gets an award, Erik gets chastised, we hear from several Friends Of The Show, and there are some truly awful Doctor impressions.

Doctor Who Podcast Alliance Promo

@ 11 minutes 30 seconds – Luke from The Minute Doctor Who Podcast with a promo for a DWPA event with Matthew Waterhouse (Adric!) on July 4, 2010.

http://www.tmdwp.co.uk/TMDWP/Podcast/Podcast.html

More Feedback!

@ 14 minutes – One final piece of feedback, in which it’s Nat’s turn to get corrected.

http://community.livejournal.com/crafty_tardis/

http://isiscaughey.livejournal.com/tag/rec list

Creativity Corner

@ 18 minutes 35 seconds – This week’s Creativity Corner was recorded when Kelsey joined Nat and Katrina a few weeks back.  Some links to the items discussed.

Deviant Art:

http://caldwellart.deviantart.com/gallery/#Doctor-Who
http://caldwellart.deviantart.com/art/Doctor-Who-Companions-Allies-157611121

http://caldwellart.deviantart.com/art/Doctor-Who-Cybermen-144681254
http://sheldonsands.deviantart.com/gallery/#Snog-for-Ten

http://sini-m.deviantart.com/art/Good-Luck-75098498

http://sini-m.deviantart.com/art/On-the-Doorstep-73583688
http://mpmg.deviantart.com/art/What-s-up-Doc-64584755

http://girl-on-the-moon.deviantart.com/art/Stranded-99061944
http://girl-on-the-moon.deviantart.com/art/Doomsday-Painter-IX-121607141
http://girl-on-the-moon.deviantart.com/art/Just-A-Glance-Painter-IX-157564674

http://capsize-beautiful.deviantart.com/art/HMmm-94225531
http://capsize-beautiful.deviantart.com/art/i-m-sorry-95801740

YouTube Videos:

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQkFNVhppXo&feature=related

“Well…” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RssnpE9U6IU&feature=related

“The Tenth Doctor: The Musical” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dHkbdMYpSA

The Flashing Blade Hits 50!

@ 45 minutes 55 seconds – Congratulations to The Flashing Blade Podcast on reaching the milestone 50th episode!  Hooray!

http://www.flashingblade.org.uk/

Next Time

@ 48 minutes 10 seconds – Next time, we look at fan reactions to Series 5 and all of it’s newness–including the Eleventh Doctor and the redesigned Daleks.  If you have any feedback about anything we’ve discussed, you can send messages on Twitter directed @BridgingTheRift, comment on this blog post or send short MP3 feedback to our GoogleMail address.  You can also “like” us on Facebook and leave comments there.

Trocking Out – Type 40

@ 49 minutes 30 seconds – This episode we have an audio and visual Trocking Out for you!  The Chameleon Circuit song “Type 40” has been turned into a fantastic YouTube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49rLQ4MDYMQ

You can also stream Chameleon Circuit’s entire Trock album at either http://alexdaymusic.com/or http://charliemcdonnell.com/music/ and you can find their music both at iTunes and Amazon.com.

Bridging the Rift #19: Chicks Dig Time Lords

Erik and Nat are joined by two contributors to the new non-fiction book Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, co-editor Lynne M Thomas and essayist Deborah Stanish.

We discuss why we enjoyed the book, look at the range of fan activities and perspectives covered, and ask if there’s a difference between male and female fandom.

Direct Download

Show Notes

Introduction

@ 1 minute – We introduce Lynne and Deb:

Lynne M. Thomas is the Head of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University where her responsibilities include archiving science fiction and fantasy literature. She is the co-editor of Chicks Dig Time Lords:
http://niurarebooks.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/lynnemthomas

Deborah Stanish is a Philadelphia-area writer and freelance journalist. She is a frequent contributor to Enlightenment, the fanzine of Canada’s Doctor Who Information Network, and contributed the essay My Fandom Regenerates to Chicks:
http://www.dwin.org/

Main Discussion – Chicks Dig Time Lords

@ 3 minutes 30 seconds – We begin our discussion of the new non-fiction book Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, available now from Mad Norwegian Press, Amazon or your local book store:
http://www.madnorwegian.com/product.php?item=chicks
http://www.amazon.com/Chicks-Dig-Time-Lords-Celebration/dp/1935234048

Previous Bridging The Rift episodes featuring Chicks Dig Time Lords contributors:

Episode 1 with Liz Myles:
https://bridgingtherift.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/bridging-the-rift-1-torchwood-what-happens-next/

Episode 4 with Kate Orman:
https://bridgingtherift.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/bridging-the-rift-4-russell-t-davies-and-fandom/

Episode 12 with Johanna Mead:
https://bridgingtherift.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/bridging-the-rift-12-costuming-and-cosplay/

Next Time

@ 1 hour 2 minutes 20 seconds – Next time we’ll be looking at your feedback to recent episodes and returning to our David Tennant retrospective episode to take a peek into Creativity Corner.

If you have any feedback about anything we’ve discussed, you can spend messages on Twitter directed @BridgingTheRift, comment on this blog post or send short MP3 feedback to our GoogleMail address.

Trocking Out – Companion

@ 1 hour 3 minutes 20 seconds – This episode has an extra special trocking out with an introduction recorded by the artist especially for our Chicks Dig Time Lords episode. The song’s Companion by filk group Vixy and Tony. If you’d like to read a longer version of the story behind the song, take a look at the link below:
http://www.vixyandtony.com/lyrics_companion.html#select=Behind
http://www.vixyandtony.com/lyrics_companion.html#select=Lyrics
http://www.vixyandtony.com/