Raven On Podcast

Weeping Angels! So many Weeping Angels! Plus a psychic, a creepy kid, a village cut out of the planet and a proper stiff-upper-lip British paranormal investigator. Nat & Stu are joined by Greg Wah from the Smart Enough To Know Better podcast to deep dive into "The Cursed Village", a title we never actually mention, but that's fine, because there's a whole bunch of stuff we DO mention. There's lots of talk about where The Flux series might be heading too; as well as Greg and Stu dipping into the world of Cowboy Bebop right at the end. Enjoy!

We've reached the half way point of The Flux, and the extended story is all becoming clear! Jokes, there's some more characters introduced this time and a whole bunch of timestorm back story drama to keep your head spinning. Nevertheless, Nat & Stu are ready to dive in to discuss how the Doctor saves Yaz, Dan and Vinder from being sucked into... something? While simultaneously being dragged back into her own past to meet the Jo Doctor again and her first encounter with the "Ravagers". Also, this pod has a number of particularly good tangents, if we may be so bold. From devastating burns for Cybermen, to hot babies (context is important here), it's a chuckle-fest. Enjoy!

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SERIOUSLY, SPOILERS! Do not listen unless you have seen the film! No Time To Die was finally released in Australia, and Nat & Stu took in the movie TOGETHER with a bunch of friends in a private screening (big ups to Greg Wah of the SE2KB podcast for organising!). Afterwards, they huddled in the corner of a carpark to get down on tape their initial impressions of the film and some MAJOR FUCKING SPOILERS YOU GUYS. Seriously, if you listen and get spoiled, IT IS ON YOU. Nat & Stu will be back at some point with a longer, deeper dive into this massive event in the Bond franchise.

It's War of the Sontarans time, which means a lengthy tribute to Mary Seacole from long-time fan Nat, while Stu politely listens. But there's other things to natter about too in this second instalment of "The Flux" series: the Sontarans' temporal war-waging; stupid British military generals; Dan running around Liverpool with a wok; Yaz and Vinder finding themselves trying to repair some offline high priestesses of time, or something. Our mysterious trio of baddies are back, as is everyone's favourite man without a dog because he IS the dog, Karvanista. Enjoy!

Weeping Angels! Sontarans! Dog creatures! Some weird creepy possibly incesty disco makeup twins! The Flux! It's all happening in the first episode of The Flux, Jodie Whittaker's last full season of Doctor Who. The Doctor and Yaz save a new likely companion in the shape of Liverpuddlian Dan, who turns out is VERY important to one special pooch. The Flux seems to be a ravenous planet-eating cloud machine heading towards Earth, while some ancient enemy of the Doctor's called "The Swarm" has freed himself from prison and rescued his very blue sister for some possible incest? So much to digest, and Nat and Stu are keen to get cracking! Also there's a Sontaran Tongue Thing, so enjoy that. Thanks for listening!

Natalie and Stu are joined by special guest Eloise to deep dive into the gaping maw that is 1997's Batman & Robin. George Clooney dons the Batsuit, but doesn't really seem to care; Chris O'Donnell is Captain Whines-a-lot; Alicia Silverstone turns up to be a winsome Batgirl while illegal street racing on the side; Uma Thurman camps it up as Poison Ivy and Michael Gough brings the acting chops as a dying Alfred (not that anyone seems to care). But the real star is Big Arnie as Mr Freeze, and his ice/snow/cold puns. It's a thing of beauty. Or at least, enough to help tank the Batman franchise for almost ten years. Enjoy!

Your friends Nat and Stu are *somewhat* excited about the first official teaser trailer for "House of the Dragon". And by *somewhat*, of course we mean *LOSING THEIR FRIGGING MINDS*. Listen as they go back to Raven On Classic Edition and chat all things HOTD, including jousts, swords, Hand of the King badges, and of course, an astonishing number of blonde wigs. Valar Morghulis!

It's time for Nat & Stu to tackle Val Kilmer's solo outing as the Caped Crusader, Batman Forever. Or, as special guest Nick calls it "The Gay One". Certainly it seems new director Joel Schumacher added something to the franchise beyond just the Bat Nipples and Bat Butt (a loving shot of Val Kilmer's taut buttocks in tight leather). This movie is a rollercoaster of convoluted or possibly non-existent plot, 60s campiness mixed with 90s angst, two incredibly hammy villains vying for priority, and Nicole Kidman with a bat fetish that Batman himself is totally awkward about. And yet... it still might be better than Batman Returns? Enjoy a deep dive into Batman Forever, citizens!

Nat & Stu return to the Raven Bat series with a look at 1993's animated film "Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm", one of Stu's personal favourites. Bruce Wayne is faced with his past in more than one way when a new masked vigilante arrives in town wreaking revenge. Also, the Joker is there. Your intrepid interlocutors mourn the inability to crack as many jokes as they'd like because the film is not only competent, but actually comprehensible!

So Batman Returns was the BEST 90s Batman, right? RIGHT? Nat & Stu get quite a shock as they revisit this classic from their childhood and realise it's WAAAAAAY hornier and messier than they remember. From Danny DeVito's unhinged Penguin with many plans but none of them good; to Michelle Pfeiffer's banging but batshit insane Catwoman, to Christopher.. Walken... doing what... he always... does, there's tons to enjoy in this episode. Also, Natalie takes you down memory lane with a wild story from her high school musical days involving a catsuit and a very inappropriate award. Hoorah!

Have you ever danced with some podcasters in the pale moonlight? Well, now you can, as Natalie, Stu and guest Scott Driscoll throw themselves into the weird twisted parade that is 1989's Batman. Stu takes us through the pop culture moment that this film created; while Nat gets into a shame spiral about Vicki Vale's alleged weight. Stu and Scott discuss why Batman is a great film, but not the best Batman film. NOTE: Natalie's audio is slightly muffled in the first half of this podcast, due to not realising she was being recorded on her AirPod microphone. Around half way through we had technical difficulties and lost Stu, so there is a sharp cut. However after that Natalie realised her mic situation and switched back to her proper mic and the audio is much better!

Holy tardy podcasters, Batman! Yes, after being teased for months, Raven Bat - the Raven On Batman-based sub-section - is finally here. Time to strap on the seatbelts in the Batmobile and jump into the screen exploits of the world's most popular brooding superhero. Nat & Stu kick off in the only acceptable manner - with the classic Adam West/Burt Ward 1966 masterpiece, "Batman". It's high camp and low budgets all the way, baby. Enjoy!

Nat & Stu team up for one final trip to the Citadel At The End of Time to confront the Big Bad - who actually seems to be the same dude they've been hinting at all season! Loki and Sylvie have a long conversation with "He Who Remains" about life, the universe and everything, before turning on each other about how best to deal with him. Meanwhile Mobius & Ravonna have it out, and Loki winds up in...GASP! A second season! There's some diversions along the way, of course, particularly about Natalie's hair, but that's par for the course at this stage. Enjoy!

This week Nat & Stu drag Dan from the Smart Enough to Know Better podcast down to their level as they have a romp about The Void in the penultimate episode of Loki. The team all agree it was a belter of an episode in terms of character, comedy and some fricking hilarious easter eggs (Thanos Copter!) Natalie comes up with what she thinks is a very clever prediction for whom the Big Bad might actually be; and tune in til the end to hear Dan and Stu absolutely ROAST Nat over her poor form in consuming classic cinema. You'll need hot sauce, it's so smokin'.

Nat & Stu are once again joined by guest Greg Wah from the Smart Enough to Know Better podcast to discuss an overabundance of pruning and self-passion in episode four of Loki. Has Loki found his true love in himself? Will we see Mobius on a jet ski eventually? How proud is Nat of herself being right about the TimeKeepers? And how giggly can Stu and Greg get about those surprise guests at the very end?! All this and more as we head into the final two eps of the series. Enjoy!

It's a villainous buddy adventure bottle episode this week, and Nat & Stu are joined by Greg from the Smart Enough to Know Better podcast to break it down. Loki has found himself - and herself, or maybe not? - on the doomed planet Lamentis-1. In a fit of irony nobody saw coming, Loki and Sylvie have 12 hours to recharge a TemPad and establish a shaky truce so they get off the rock before it's obliterated. There's lots of end of the world tropes, magic from Loki, small revelations from Sylvie and a cool one-take fight scene. Enjoy!

Things get a little bit SAUCY on this episode of Raven On Loki, which Stu describes as "surprisingly blue". He and Nat get into the Battalingus controversy rocking the comics world, 70s-era weird cartoon porn 'Fritz the Cat', the erotic sounds of cash registers and Sex and the City's pansexual foretelling. Somewhere in there they also discuss episode 2 of "Loki", which, you know, was pretty fun! Enjoy!

They're back, and they're low-key excited! Nat & Stu dive into the multiverse, or at least, multiverse-adjacent, in the first episode of the new Marvel Disney+ show "Loki". They discuss the Tom Hiddleston's wonderful acting despite his greasy hair, try their best Owen Wilson accents, and talk about the heavy-lifting this exposition dump episode does. Enjoy!

Good lord, it's finally here - the long overdue Falcon and the Winter Soldier season finale recap wrap-up! This podcast was recorded just days after the final episode of "The Wild Stallion and the Sexy Guy" dropped - but you can blame Natalie's stupid face and busy schedule for not getting the edit finished on time! Nat & Stu wrap up the final episode, it's good points and flaws, starting of course with the tremendous debut of Sam Wilson as Captain America. There's also a sidebar into "House of the Dragon" territory, because goddamn if Nat isn't going to try to recap former glories if at all possible. Enjoy!

They're back, and they're... OK? about the penultimate episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (aka Wild Stallion and the Sexy Guy). Both Nat & Stu are sad at what seems to be Zemo's departure from the series, but excited about the potential for Sam to realise the role of Cap from next week. There's an interesting chat about Marvel trying to have its cake and eat it too when it comes to thorny issues of race and the Captain America "brand", a lot of boat fixing and montage talk, as well as a breakdown on *that* cameo appearance. Also don't be distracted by the early sidebar discussion on Dragonball Z, Nat & Stu just needed to get that out of their system.