By, Heather Maloney
“Radio Free Skaro” is a weekly podcast all about “Doctor Who” that has delivered over 300 programs since 2006. Steven Schapansky, Warren Frey and Chris Burgess discuss news and reviews in the Whovian universe. Also affectionately known by their listeners as ‘The Three Who Rule’, they have become a source of information and discussion for any die hard “Doctor Who” fan. Over the past four years, “Radio Free Skaro” has been attending and reporting from the Gallifrey One Convention in Los Angeles and their live podcast has recently become a main stage event not to be missed.
Steven Schapansky recently spoke online with Heather Maloney and discussed the show, the podcast and how he met his partners in crime.
With over 300 podcasts completed, what has been your favorite moment?
Most of my favourite moments to do with the podcast have occurred at the Gallifrey One convention in LA. We’ve been lucky enough to interview so many guests over the course of the four years that RFS has attended the convention, and the convention itself is the most wonderful experience for any Doctor Who fan, that the con has become a focal point to everything we do on RFS.
How did you, Warren and Chris meet?
Chris and Warren knew each other from school, but I first met Warren when working at a TV station in 2001. We both discovered we were Doctor Who fans, which was astonishing for me because I had never known anyone else who was as big a Doctor Who fan as I was. We started talking endlessly about Doctor Who on midnight shifts, and the idea of a Doctor Who podcast was born. Chris started listening to the show, and I met him for the first time a few weeks before he became a regular part of the show. The most off-putting element of meeting Chris? At 6’10”, he’s six inches taller than I am…and (at) 6’4″, I was not used to having to look up to talk to people!
What was the most surprising moment that you experienced on RFS?
I think the moment where we realized that we actually had people who listened to us!
What is your favorite Doctor Who Episode?
“The Caves of Androzani”. Superb acting, quality writing, and a tour de force directorial effort from Graeme Harper. It was a lifelong dream fulfilled to meet and interview Harper, a personal hero of mine and Warren’s, in 2010 at Gallifrey, and his energy and passion for Androzani and directing was still evident almost 30 years after the story was made.
If you could write one episode in the upcoming series, what would it be about?
It would contain ice mines, space Vikings, a talking cat, and an amusing hat for the Doctor, but I have no idea how I’d concoct a story around it.
Check out Radio Free Skaro on iTunes or at their website.
Please stay tuned for additional “Doctor Who” updates.
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