Big Helix Energy (Portending “The Masque of Mandragora”)
Oct 10, 2026 · 1 hr 25 min · 19 segments
All the Doctor had to do was close the bloody TARDIS door. Instead, a sparkler from space hitches a ride to Renaissance Italy, recruits an astrologer, and sets out to stop humanity from ever getting…
All the Doctor had to do was close the bloody TARDIS door. Instead, a sparkler from space hitches a ride to Renaissance Italy, recruits an astrologer, and sets out to stop humanity from ever getting too smart for its own good. The Masque of Mandragora looks like lavish BBC Shakespeare, sounds like a thesis on science vs. superstition, and somehow gives us skin-tight tights, cultists doing the Hokey Pokey and Tom Baker waving around a giant salami. Join us as we ask whether this gorgeous Hinchcliffe-era extravaganza is actually great Doctor Who — or just so gloriously camp that resistance is futile. Give your own rating for The Masque of Mandragora on Spotify! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel! Subscribe to our newsletter at pulltoopen.net for extended notes on The Masque of Mandragora. Support the podcast by becoming a patron of Pull To Open on Patreon. Please review Pull To Open on Apple Podcasts. Timeline: - Intro 00:00:00 - Previously… 00:02:38 - Whomoji Challenge 00:07:29 - Poll to Open 00:12:30 - Comment of the Week 00:14:27 - TL;DW 00:20:36 - Review: The Masque of Mandragora 00:23:15 - History Corner 00:54:42 - Four Questions to Doomsday 01:00:30 - What If the Evil Plot Had Succeeded? 01:03:14 - Where Is the Clara Splinter? 01:07:27 - Final Judgment 01:13:02 - Randomizer! 01:20:22 Follow us on: - TikTok: @pulltoopen - Instagram: @pulltoopen63 - Facebook: @pulltoopen63 - X: @pulltoopen63 - Threads: @pulltoopen63 - Bluesky: @pulltoopen Play Pull To Open Bingo **Story Essentials** - Season 14, Serial 1 - Story number: 85, per the Pull To Open Codex - Writer: Louis Marks - Director: Rodney Bennett - Script Editor: Robert Holmes - Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe - Aired: 4–25 September 1976 **Pull To Open: The Masque of Mandragora** - Season 7 - Episode 22 Hosts: Pete Pachal and Chris Taylor Music: Martin West/Thinking Fish ©️AnyWho Media LLC 2026 Doctor Who ©️BBC 1963
All the Doctor had to do was close the bloody TARDIS door. Instead, a sparkler from space hitches a ride to Renaissance Italy, recruits an astrologer, and sets out to stop humanity from ever getting…
