Saturday, December 18, 2010

Kopic's Doctor Who & Torchwood News

Kopic's Doctor Who & Torchwood News

watch Doctor Who Season 5 Episode 14 - TV.com

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 04:32 PM PST


watch Doctor Who Season 5 Episode 14
TV.com
Dr. Who is coming this Sunday. Titled "A Christmas Carol", Rory and Amy will be orbiting an alien planet on a pleasure cruise spaceship when it finds itself ...

and more »

REVIEW: NOW DR WHO IS THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS - Express.co.uk

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 10:12 AM PST


REVIEW: NOW DR WHO IS THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS
Express.co.uk
This time last year Matt Smith was sitting at home with his family watching David Tennant as Doctor Who, knowing he had the role and had already filmed ...

and more »

Reality television 2: They're the new generation games - Independent

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 10:02 AM PST


Reality television 2: They're the new generation games
Independent
... Day featuring contestants who include the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, and Torchwood actor John Barrowman) as Saturday-night family entertainment. ...

and more »

Day Nineteen: Matt Smith's Cracking Christmas Challenge, Part Three

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 10:00 AM PST

Day Nineteen: Matt Smith's Cracking Christmas Challenge, part three

Adventure Calendar 2010

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 10:00 AM PST

Count down to Christmas and beyond with our traditional Adventure Calendar... A new treat every day to guarantee it's more fun than mince pies and mistletoe!

Odds on a Who Christmas (2010) Update

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 09:20 AM PST

Last month we listed odds on shows broadcasting over Christmas Day from betting company Paddy Power; with one week to go before the festive programmes go head-to-head once more for the largest audience of the day, here's a sample of the odds you can find online as of tonight: 
 
                                      Paddy Power    Ladbrokes      William Hill    Odds Bet
                                       On the Day   For the Week    For the Week   On the Day
BBC1  2:00  Top of the Pops             100/1         100/1            66/1            -
comb  3:00  The Queen                    33/1            -             20/1          33/1
BBC1  4:30  The Gruffalo                   -             -               -          100/1
BBC1  5:00  The One Ronnie               50/1          50/1            50/1         125/1
BBC1  6:00  Doctor Who                    9/2           9/4             4/1           5/1
ITV1  6:00  Emmerdale                    16/1          33/1            25/1         125/1
BBC1  7:00  Strictly Come Dancing        50/1            -               -          125/1
BBC2  7:00  Top Gear                     33/1          33/1            25/1            -
ITV1  7:00  Coronation Street             7/1           7/1             3/1          25/1
BBC1  8:00  Eastenders                    4/9           2/5             1/2           1/2
ITV1  8:00  All Star Family Fortunes       -             -            100/1         150/1
BBC1  9:00  The Royle Family              4/1           4/1             7/2           7/2
ITV1  9:00  Poirot                         -             -               -          150/1
BBC1 10:00  Come Fly With Me             10/1          20/1            16/1          28/1
BBC1 10:30  BBC News                     33/1           -                -             -

Other programmes are also under consideration for the Christmas week, which include Upstairs, Downstairs, The Nativity, Harry Hill's Christmas TV Burp, and Rock and Chips.

It is quite clear from the charts that the top four programmes for Christmas Day are consistently Doctor Who, Coronation Street, The Royle Family and Eastenders, with the latter ranked highest by all companies! All four performed well last year; though the Doctor Who top spot was 'muddied' by BBC1/BBCHD rating considerations, this year the results should be clear ...

... tell everyone you know to watch A Christmas Carol!


The Doctor Who News Page

A Confidential Christmas

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 07:35 AM PST

When A Christmas Carol has been sung don't be too hasty to break your post Christmas slump in front of the telly (if you can) -  why not flick over to BBC Three and catch all the festive merriment of Doctor Who Confidential?

Follow Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill as they turn on Cardiff's festive lights, hang out back stage on the festive episode, hear Sir Michael Gambon chat about swapping wands for time travel and listen to Welsh Soprano Katherine Jenkins talk about her acting debut.

For a sneak peak of this years hour long special head over to the BBC's site.

Doctor Who Confidential: Christmas Special 2010 airs Christmas Day at 7pm on BBC Three and BBC HD, Boxing Day at 1:25am and 5pm on BBC HD and 8 PM on BBC Three and 27th December at 4:25 am on BBC Three

Smith Teases Newsround

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 07:23 AM PST

Matt Smith has been teasing CBBC Newsround with a handful of festive soundbites for A Christmas Carol.

In the clip Smith has promised fans 'a very "Christmassy" Doctor Who' Smith has praised Steven Moffat for his ability to mesh together all the fabulous Christmas tales into one satisfying Who Christmas Pudding.

There is also footage of the Doctor discovering Abigail Pettigrew (Katherine Jenkins, in her first dramatic role) frozen in suspended animation, and his dramatic entrance down the chimney.

Featuring Sir Michael Gambon (The Singing Detective), Katherine Jenkins and fellow debutante Danny Horn, A Christmas Carol airs 6pm Christmas Day on BBC 1

(via CBBC-Newsround)

A Spoiler-Free Christmas Carol

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 05:39 AM PST

In less than a week (!) Doctor Who will be back on our screens for the first Christmas special to neither be starring David Tennant or written by Russell T Davies!

This year, we're treated to a brand new take on the traditional episode by a new production team and a new Doctor as well. Whilst some of you may be worried, there's no need-just remember how good the new series was after all that fretting that Steven Moffat may not be as good as Russell T Davies or Matt Smith was too young to be the Doctor.

Remember all that and remember it again as we prepare for A Christmas Carol.

Den of Geek have given their verdict of the episode a little ahead of time to reassure those who may be having doubts that the episode does in fact rock. Let's have a look at some of the things they said about the episode:

"For his [Steven Moffat's] first Doctor Who Christmas special, he's done away with massive monsters, old foes and visiting companions' extended families. In its place, he's decided to try and weave Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol into a Doctor Who story, while also putting together a tense, festive adventure for the Time Lord… not for the first time; he's set himself a big challenge. And not for the first time, he really has delivered the goods."

And also this reassuring little paragraph:

"It really is an impressive piece of writing once more that he's put together, and we'll never tire of saying so. Firstly, he weaves in the strands of A Christmas Carol in a manner that both appreciates the Dickens text, but also works properly for Doctor Who (it's not a slavish adaptation, rather a clever one). Then, he coils his narrative expertly, structuring it in a way that allows him to keep you firmly on your feet… plus, he remembers to throw in at least one big scare.

"It's a good one too…what he also does is tip the hat to some of his other writing work. We get a bit of Sherlock-style deducing for one, but also there's space for some very, very funny Coupling-esque relationship advice. It knits together, as you'd hope, very well indeed."

To sum up, the Den of Geek boys and girls reckon:

"It's a lot different from the end of an era stories we were getting last year, certainly. But it's also as good an hour of telly as you're going to find this Christmas, we'd wager… hats off to you, Mr Moffat. Roll on the spring…"

So, first review is a good 'un, which was to be expected. It looks safe to say that this year's special will be one of the strongest yet and certainly a different direction to what we got last year. In other words, it's going to be excellent!

Stick with ATMOS!

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 02:24 AM PST

A great new piece of Doctor Who-inspired merchandise is now available on eBay!

ATMOS (Atmospheric Omission System) the device that promised human salvation from Carbon Emissions and instead delivered choking clouds of clone feed related death in The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky may not seem like something you'd want to fit into your Corsa – so instead why not get passing thumbs up from commuting geeks by installing (slapping it on your back window) an ATMOS sticker?

The professionally made ATMOS stickers are ideal for your car or your bedroom window and can be purchased from eBay for just £2.99

So for the sensible stratagem choose ATMOS.

Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time Review - Doctor Who TV (blog)

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 02:16 AM PST


Doctor Who TV (blog)
Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time Review
Doctor Who TV (blog)
One thing to note is that, unlike the other games, there is no voice acting from Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in this one, which is a shame. ...

and more »

Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time Review

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 02:16 AM PST

2010 has seen two commercial Doctor Who games released – Evacuation Earth on the Nintendo DS and Return to Earth on the Wii. The former received lukewarm reviews while the latter, well, the less said the better. So how does The Mazes of Time on the iPhone stack up? The short answer is – much better.

The Mazes of Time quickly drops you into the action with The Doctor and Amy arriving on a space station responding to an SOS signal. It turns out the Daleks are up to no good and are after a piece of technology that could change history. Before you know it, the Cybermen and Silurians are on the scene and, as ever, things go from bad to worse for the TARDIS duo.

Read more ...


Jessica Jones to Get Her Own ABC Show - Inside Pulse

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 02:02 AM PST


Inside Pulse
Jessica Jones to Get Her Own ABC Show
Inside Pulse
About this time last year, it was guaranteed David Tennant would be appearing in a new NBC called "Rex Is Not Your Lawyer. ...

and more »

The Twelve Blogs of Christmas: Six

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 01:13 AM PST

A Doctor Who Mod for Apples to Apples.

A couple of things have happened since yesterday. For one thing, a blizzard has descended on my house, turning today's walk to the post office into a story of courage and survival (and cream cakes, actually). CBR'S series of DC Writer's Relay interviews has concluded with me interviewing Scott Snyder. And the Dirty Whoers Podcast has released an episode in which they talk to me, Nev Fountain and some Daleks.

Today's blog is going to be a bit boggling for those who haven't played Apples to Apples, a wonderful party card game that I was first introduced to at Convergence (the world's best convention TM). Since the game's now being sold in the mass market in the UK, and indeed, being pushed a bit in the Christmas rush, I feel rather more confident about presenting the basics for an absolutely non-official, no money to be made, Doctor Who version. Apples to Apples works by using two packs of cards, green cards, which have adjectives printed on them, and red cards, which show nouns or phrases. The game is about finding the green card which best describes a played red card, and that's where the hilarity lies. Doing a Doctor Who version would be less hilarious, I feel, if the green cards were changed to be more Who-ish, with adjectives like 'dimensionally transcendental', so my version keeps the green cards as is, also reflecting DW's mainstream nature. So a player will indeed have to decide if the Sensorites are 'quaint'.

Thus, my 162 red cards, complete with their 'flavour text' descriptions (which don't really describe the subject unless it's very obscure), would be:

The First Doctor: Not a mountain goat, and he prefers walking to any day.
The Second Doctor: Oh my word!
The Third Doctor: A cosmic yo yo.
The Fourth Doctor: What?! Ah!
The Fifth Doctor: Interesting!
The Six Doctor: Repeat three times, loudly.
The Seventh Doctor: Burnt toast and bus stations.
The Eighth Doctor: Half human on his mother's side.
The Ninth Doctor: Coming to get you!
The Tenth Doctor: He likes a little shop.
The Eleventh Doctor: Geronimo!
The Master: That jackanapes.
Davros: Made the Daleks in his own image.
The Daleks: Exterminate! Do not deviate!
Skaro: From the Lake of Mutations to the Petrified Jungle, the Dalek home planet.
The Kaleds: Kind of fated to become the Dalek race.
The Cybermen: You will be like us.
Mondas: Cyberman home, Earth's twin, with it's own Isle of Wight.
The Tardis: With a swimming pool, a boot cupboard and a typewriter control surface.
The Tardis food machine: You can get goo that tastes like bacon and eggs.
The Key to Time: A crystal that can stop everything so the universe can be fixed.
K-9: The shooty dog thing.
Playing Doctor Who in the playground: Who were you?
The Fourth Doctor's Scarf: Made by a witty little knitter.
The Song of the Ood: Ood mood music, made psychically.
The Blinovitch Limitation Effect: You can't mess with your own history (except when you can).
Luke Smith: He's not a real boy. But he is Sarah Jane's son.
Captain Jack Harkness: Does time travel the long way round.
Torchwood: Have never bothered with a pension plan.
The Slitheen: Always just a zipper away from revealing themselves.
The Sontarans: Sontar-ha!
UNIT: United... Something... Intelligence Taskforce.
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: Enjoy saying his full name.
River Song: The Doctor's wife... oh, isn't she?
Rory Williams: No longer a Roman, or made of plastic.
Rose Tyler: Bad wolves like chips.
Martha Jones: A proper doctor.
Mr. Smith: Sarah Jane's computer partner.
Gallifrey: Seems to produce its share of renegades.
Christmas Special: A BBC institution.
The Archimandrite's Hat: From 'Androids of Tara', extraordinary millinery.
The Scarecrows: There's got to be a word for that lolloping they do.
Amy Pond: Come along, Pond!
The Sensorites: The Ood must hate it that their neighbours are psychic.
Spoilers: It sounds better coming from River Song.
My First Episode: You're old enough to have seen 'An Unearthly Child', right?
My Sonic Screwdriver: Could it be a bit more sonic?
My Favourite Companion: Who would you take on adventures?
My Favourite Story: Or the one you'll admit to.
My Doctor Who Fantasy: Could be a what, could be a who.
My Squee Moment: When you screamed at the screen in delight.
My Fan Fiction Experience: Do we want to hear about your Adric fic?
My Opinions on Dalek Design: No, go on, tell us.
My Doctor Who Impersonations: Your Mum says they're very good.
My Merchandise Collection: Do you have a special shelf?
My Convention Experience: What, really, in the elevator?
My Cosplay Moment: As Captain Jack, in the library, with the lead piping.
My Green Cathedral: I could play all day in it.
Bessie: The Third Doctor's car. I'm betting 'yellow' isn't in the pack.
Allons-y: Redirects to 'Tenth Doctor' on Wikipedia.
Donna Noble: Watch it, spaceman!
Executive Producer: One day it'll be you.
Question Mark Umbrella: The Seventh Doctor never seemed to need it for rain.
The Rod of Rassilon: Controls great power on Gallifrey.
Doctor Who Annuals: Used to be the only book about the show.
Terry Nation: He created the Daleks, and Blake's 7.
Silurians: The Earth's theirs, we're just squatters.
The Peking Homunculus: Otherwise known as Mr. Sin in 'Talons of Weng Chiang'.
The Pandorica: A trap for a Time Lord.
The Meddling Monk: Didn't seem bothered about the laws of time.
Adric: He had a badge for mathematical excellence.
The Zygons: Enjoyed life in Loch Ness, organised local charity functions.
The Ogri: Every stone circle is probably them.
The Zarbi: An actor inside every ant.
Venom Grubs: The grubs don't work, as The Verve nearly said.
Jelly Babies: Would you care for one?
UNIT Dating: Well, we don't know what they got up to, do we?
Running Down Corridors: About a whole episode's worth in the old days.
The Last Great Time War: They'd know it's the last one.
The End of the World: The episode or the concept.
Jago and Litefoot: The impressario and the doctor from 'Talons of Weng Chiang'.
Being Exterminated: You can get a cream for that now.
Sonic Lipstick: Careful with the settings.
Multi-Doctor Stories: So there are five of me now!
Regeneration: When two becomes three.
Venusian Aikido: hai!
Quarries: Sometimes not standing in for alien planets.
The Fall of Troy: Is there a Doctor in the horse?
Time Paradoxes: I hope I never have to write another one.
Quarks: They had strangeness and charm.
The Weeping Angels: Don't look away from this card.
Alternate Universes: Where there are always dirigibles, for some reason.
Vincent Van Gogh: Go on, describe his troubles with a funny noun.
Kroll: Kroll! Kroll! Kroll!
Harry Sullivan: Only qualified to work on sailors.
Movellans: Like the seventies never ended.
Reversing the polarity of the neutron flow: Can solve anything.
The Miniscope: The galactic zoo from 'Carnival of Monsters'.
Getting Knocked Unconscious: Tom Baker does it three times an episode.
The Fast Return Switch: Written in biro on the Tardis console.
The Destruction of Atlantis: You choose which version.
Target Novelisations: Often by Terrance Dicks.
Kissing the Doctor: Yuck, soppy stuff!
Screaming: Something companions used to do.
Waistcoats: Most Doctors favour them.
Spraining Your Ankle: Only happened three times in the whole series.
Slash Fiction: We've all written some adult fiction involving series characters.
Chameleon Circuit: He could fix it if he wanted to.
A Junkyard in Trotter's Lane: Where we first met the Doctor.
The Cloister Bell: Goes boom when there's doom.
Event One: The start of the universe.
The Panopticon: Named after a prison.
The Next Doctor: Carried a real screwdriver.
The Ark: At least they preserved a small elephant.
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop: Where bleeps come from.
The Spacetime Vortex: Seen in the title sequence.
Omega: Born Gallifrey, Died Amsterdam.
Frock Coats: The Doctor tends to favour them.
Hypnotism: The Doctor's skills in this vary wildly.
Autons: Plastic but fun.
Traken: Where Nyssa comes from.
Russell T. Davies: The man who brought back Doctor Who.
Steven Moffat: Current Executive Producer.
Rani: At least three characters called that.
The Eruption of Vesuvius: You have to save somebody.
Bigger on the Inside than the Outside: To put it simply.
Queen Elizabeth: We think we've worked out what happened.
The Doctor's Dancing: He could have danced all night.
Madame De Pompadour: The girl in the fireplace.
Ianto Jones: Made the coffee.
Retcon: The drug that... erm...
Question Marks: On the Doctor's clothes, sometimes.
Wearing a Fez: He does that now.
Giant Maggots: They're on the slag heap. I think they're breeding.
E Space: Not like our own universe. Cheaper.
The Mara: Not just a big snake prop.
The Mona Lisa: Or possibly in the plural.
Pete Tyler: Always crashing in the same car.
Cat Nuns: Armed and fabulous.
Hello Sweetie: Should be on a t-shirt.
Sally Sparrow: The angels have the phone box.
Being Ginger: The Doctor would like to be.
The Vashta Nerada: Stay away from the shadows.
Sarah Jane Smith: The defender of Earth.
Gold: What Cybermen are afraid of. Well, one of the many things.
Talking Straight to Camera: Tom and Matt both do it.
'Doctor in Distress': A charity record to save Doctor Who.
The Great Fire of London: The Doctor's responsible for almost everything.
Janis Thorns: What Leela uses to kill things.
Bad Wolf Bay: Looms large in Rose's legend.
Mickey Smith: Not just a tin dog.
Wilfred Mott: Was in the Paras, you know.
The Adipose: Made of fat, like so many good things.
The Shadow Proclamation: Were the law in the universe.
The Judoon: Fo Mo Po Ro Sho!
The Matrix: Not that one, where Time Lords go when they die.
DVD Easter Eggs: Just click all over the menu.
The Family of Blood: Not unjustly dealt with at all.
The Not We: How the Kinda tribe describe outsiders.
Paris: 'City of Death' as we call it, to the French tourist board's chagrin.
Pure Historicals: Stories with no monsters.
The Yeti: The ones with the spheres in their chests.

And that's it! Consider this a play test, let me know if there's anything wrong with the above list (I'll edit the blog entry) and do tell me how you get on if you make up the cards and play this version.

All this led Laurie Pink to wonder about a Tardis Cluedo board...

And to John Kovalic, the original artist on Apples to Apples (and the creator of Dork Tower), sending us this lovely note:

'So here is Paul Cornell, professional Clever person, coming up with a very clever idea - a Doctor Who version of Apples to Apples.

I worked on Apples to Apples for over a decade: more than simply drawing the Apple and the logo, I was - amongst other things - pretty much the guy directly responsible for the foolish "flavor text" idea on the bottom of each card. (If you're unfamiliar with this, the flavor text allows anyone who may believe - say - that "Charlotte Bronte" is a budget brand of cake mix, to nevertheless play a Charlotte Bronte red apple card with confidence, style and verve in the game.)

Flavor text was probably my cleverest contribution to Apples to Apples, which was an enormously clever game to begin with. So as somebody who occasionally comes up with clever ideas, and who is also fanatical about the galactic cleverness of Doctor Who, I have to say Paul's Doctor Who version idea really is Extremely Clever.

Oh. And I also drew this. Just to show I can draw things other that damn apple."



Thanks very much for that, John. Until tomorrow, Cheerio!

Advent update: Day eighteen

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 12:39 AM PST

Snow is falling all around us, and today's advent calendar update is hopefully enough to warm you up! Today we're pleased to unveil WhovianNet's very own 2011 calendar, which you can print off and stick on your bedroom wall! Sometimes it can be difficult to keep track of time (as the Doctor knows all too well!), so our exclusive calendar will make [...]

Katherine Jenkins Interviewed about a christmas carol

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 11:30 PM PST

 

from Digital Spy.

Resurrection of the Daleks Figures

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 11:02 PM PST

Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks toysIf past January's are anything to go by you'll still be suffering from the Christmas bloat (if not still indulging in the 8,000 tubs of Celebrations left to consume) and be a little light in the wallet department- so why not treat your January self now by pre-ordering the Doctor Who Resurrection of the Daleks action figure set?

The set includes Davros, Supreme Black Dalek, the Grey Dalek and the Fifth Doctor all modelled on their Resurrection counterparts.

The Resurrection serial was "Earthshock for Daleks" with the master race returning with all the best bits from their long history scrambled together along with a lot of whiz-bang set pieces and little else.

Following on from the events of Destiny of the Daleks in which the Doctor's eternal enemies were locked in a stalemate with disco androids the Movellans, Resurrection sees Skaro's master race now all but destroyed, hunted down and subject to biological warfare by the Movellans. The Daleks intend to recover the imprisoned Davros in order to lead them to victory.

You too can re-enact those action set pieces for £34.99 and becomes available on Monday, 17th January 2011.

Doctor Who – A Christmas Carol *Spoilers* - Unreality TV

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 10:17 PM PST


Unreality TV
Doctor Who – A Christmas Carol *Spoilers*
Unreality TV
About the series, Lead Writer and Executive Producer, Steven Moffat, commented: "Oh, we're going for broke with this one. It's all your favourite Christmas ...

and more »

Guest Stars for next series of The Sarah Jane Adventures revealed - ATV Today

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 09:57 PM PST


Guest Stars for next series of The Sarah Jane Adventures revealed
ATV Today
... season included guest appearances from Matt Smith as The Doctor and Katy Manning reprising her role of Jo Grant from the original series of Doctor Who. ...

Don't miss the free Doctor Who DVD in The Sun!

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 09:19 PM PST

Don't miss today's bumper edition of The Sun, as it comes with a free Doctor Who DVD featuring both parts of David Tennant's final story, The End of Time, as well as the Eleventh Doctor's first episode, The Eleventh Hour! In addition, it includes a 14-day Christmas TV listings mag which features Matt Smith and Karen Gillan on [...]

Fan Cast: Spider-Man reboot series - Comic Book Movie

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 09:13 PM PST


Fan Cast: Spider-Man reboot series
Comic Book Movie
David Tennant is one of my favourite actors and he's my choice for The Riddler, but if he won't play The Riddler then I think he can do Mysterio, ...

Oswald the Otter?

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 08:30 PM PST

Dinosaurs are on Doctor Who star Matt Smith's wishlist for the future, while he also has a pet in mind for the Time Lord!

A return to an Invasion of the Dinosaurs (a 1974 Jon Pertwee adventure) scenario should be welcomed – but knowing the Doctor Who production team and Steven Moffat in particular the end product would no doubt be far more interesting.

"I'd quite like to go and see the dinosaurs, but I imagine it would be really expensive," he said. "That would be really cool. I'd also love to go under the sea – that would be fun."

Smith was speaking to BANG Showbiz, who also coaxed out of the Eleventh Doctor that he would like a pet in the TARDIS.

"We should get him [a] sort of pet. An owl. An otter. Oswald the otter."

He's turning into Tom Baker, isn't he…?

(Via Digital Spy)

Could You Be the Doctor?

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 07:22 PM PST

The Irish Times has published a small article entitled "Could you be Doctor Who?" in which it looks at several key features that make our favourite Time Lord unique and grounds them in a reality similar to ours.

For example, the article talks firstly about regeneration. This is something that we have no knowledge of but it specifies that:

"Some animals are able to regenerate body parts though. If an adult salamander loses an arm or leg, it can regrow that limb: it's thought to be the only back-boned animal that can pull off this trick. But if you look in other areas of the animal kingdom, some species have even more amazing powers of regeneration.

"One marine animal, Hydractinia echinata, can even regrow a lost head…Understanding regeneration in real life (rather than Doctor Who-style morphing) could help us find better ways to help humans heal after serious injuries or illness."

When looking at the Doctor's incredibly long life, we know that Time Lords have "little tricks" as well as an advanced physical make up to achieve these extended, near immortal years but how close are human beings to slowing down the aging process? The article explains:

"Mice may also offer clues about ageing, and scientists are looking at how quieting down a process called inflammation in mice could lengthen their lives. In another experiment that has just been published in the scientific journal Nature, researchers switched off an enzyme called telomerase, which helps to protect the ends of DNA strands in cells as they get older.

"The mice aged quickly but when the telomerase was turned back on, the mice appeared younger, even inside their cells."

Time travel is mentioned as well, dabbling with atomic clocks (as mentioned in the TV movie) and with satellites haven't got us that much nearer unfortunately and as for evil beings like the Daleks or the Cybermen coming round our way anytime soon… well the possibility can never be ruled out but it's unlikely that we'd be looking at full scale intergalactic war (fingers crossed).

All in all, we're a long way off from being a race of Gallifreyans but science and technology have advanced so much in the last 50 years, who's to say what could be hanging around the corner?

A Christmas Doctor Who to remember - Daily Post North Wales

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 07:07 PM PST


A Christmas Doctor Who to remember
Daily Post North Wales
It stars Matt Smith (the Doctor), Karen Gillan (Amy) and Arthur Darvill (Rory), with a special guest appearance by singer Katherine Jenkins. ...

and more »

Festive treat for fans of the Doc ; Christmas special with Matt Smith in the ... - California Chronicle

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 07:03 PM PST


Festive treat for fans of the Doc ; Christmas special with Matt Smith in the ...
California Chronicle
Since debuting as the eleventh Doctor earlier this year, Matt has gone on to become a hit, with Scots sidekick Karen Gillan making as much- if not more - of ...

and more »

DVDs: "24," Fantasia" & Other New Releases That Make Easy Gifts - Huffington Post (blog)

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 05:31 PM PST


DVDs: "24," Fantasia" & Other New Releases That Make Easy Gifts
Huffington Post (blog)
Who would want to be the next Doctor following David Tennant? But darned if Matt Smith didn't just dive right in and charm the pants off us. ...

Day Eighteen: There's an 'Eggheads' Doctor Who special on Monday at 6pm. Check out a preview clip now!

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 10:00 AM PST

Day Eighteen: Preview of Doctor Who-themed Quiz Show

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