Watch King Charles and Queen Camilla Take a Trip in the Tardis in a Doctor Who Themed Commonwealth Games Opening

When late to open the Commonwealth Games, King Charles and Queen Camilla had only one option – to requisition the Tardis to ensure that they arrived on time. That’s the amusing premise of this intro to the opening of the games (July 23).  Echoing his mother’s (the late Queen Elizabeth II) James Bond escapade for the opening of the London Olympics in 2012, another Great British Institution (that’s GBI for short) has been used to create a playful and unforgettable entrance to the Commonwealth Games 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland.

There's even something of a plot  – and while not the new material that fans might have been wishing for – it’s a typical Tardis tale, with a twist. It’s the Tardis that kick-starts the whole adventure.  Created by the BBC especially for the event, it opens with Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy and comedian Greg McHugh walking past a seemingly innocuous police telephone box, only for its phone to ring.  On answering, they learn that their majesties are going to be late for the opening ceremony, but there is no Doctor to whisk them away - he is nowhere to be seen.  Never mind, the Tardis takes matters into its own (metaphorical) hands.

With a great little cameo from 82-year-old Sylvester McCoy (the seventh Doctor), this really does push all the right buttons when it comes to providing an entrance for KC and QC at the Commonwealth Games.  And talking of buttons, Hoy and McHugh don’t really have a clue how to drive a Tardis... but it gives the BBC a great excuse to show off some pretty Scottish scenery. Watch the video below.

2001: A Tap Odyssey – Swinging Through the Greatest Sci-Fi Soundtracks

Ask anyone and they will tell you that two things that are featured heavily on Kuriositas are science fiction and dance – and never the twain shall meet.  However, it is with unspeakable joy that I can feature a combination of the two.  World-renowned tap dancer Demi Remick in cahoots with Postmodern Jukebox have created this wonderful dance feature where we can watch Remick go through her paces to the tune of ten of our favorite sci-fi themes – all to a jazzy swing beat. Starting with Spielberg’s Close Encounters,  we move quickly on to Doctor Who and next to Battlestar Galactica.  Next to The X-Files (and Demi knows the truth is out there somewhere).

Did I mention that she does this all in a shiny space suit tap dancing outfit? I have now.  We then get to Star Wars, with the (now not so menacing) Imperial March, swifty followed by the theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey.  The dance climaxes with a section dedicated to – what else – Star Trek.  Both the Original Series and The Next Generation are represented here – I a wonderful medley that may well have you tapping your feet to the beat.  All the way through Demi looks like she’s having the time of your life – and I must say this is some performance is fantastic. Sshe doesn’t look even vaguely out of breath at the end and this attempting this would kill a few people, including me.

It’s the sci-fi tap-dance video we didn’t know we wanted until it was put before our eyes.  Go on, dance along!

Doctor Who – Every Doctor’s Catchphrase

If you conducted a street poll in the UK and asked the participants what is the most famous catchphrase from the TV show Doctor Who, the most likely answer would be “Exterminate!”, the phrase screeched out by daleks whenever and wherever they threw their collective rattle out of their metaphorical pram.  Whether on Earth, Skaro, Spiridon or Vulcan*, it wouldn’t be long before they resorted to extermination to get what they wanted which was often, truth be told, the extermination of one thing or another, so at least the daleks could be trusted to get down to business fairly quickly.  So their cataclysmic catchphrase (often repeated in the homes and streets of the UK by young children with cardboard boxes over their heads) is something almost every adult born in the UK would recognise.

And every adult born in the UK has one actor they call “my Doctor” which usually refers to the doctor they were first exposed to – usually at the ripe old age of four or five when they could safely scuttle behind the back of the sofa if anything got too scary for them.  For me, Tom Baker was “my Doctor” – he took over the reigns of the role in 1974 when I was nine.  Although I can remember Jon Pertwee’s doctor from first broadcast, Baker’s incarnation was the one that properly and thoroughly hooked me on the show for many years to come.

I won’t be giving much away by telling you his best known catchphrase (you can see it on the thumbnail of the video below!).  “Would you like a jelly baby?” has to be one of the more memorable of the Doctor’s catchphrases, surely.  I did not particularly like it as a child – I thought it was terribly childish, to be honest (even at that age, I must have had some subconscious desire for Doctor Who to be treated as serious science fiction).  You have to remember that Doctor Who, at this time, was one of the few TV shows for kids that didn’t treat its audience like children. Yet on mature reflection, it’s a completely brilliant catchphrase.  After all, how best to undercut the tension of a situation than by offering your enemy a sweet?  Food is, after all, a universal language…

The video below covers the catchphrases of all the Doctors (although the claim that Hartnell’s is “mmm?” is rather weak, despite the fact that @whoooob, who created this video, only had to use four episodes to get enough clips of Mr Hartnell doing this).  It was fun watching them all in a single video and being able to compare and contrast.  Like one of the commenters on the video, I hadn’t realised how often 12 (Peter Capaldi) told people to shut up!  However, if I run through the lot that might present too many spoilers (sweetie), so press play and get nostalgic for whichever Doctor your heart claimed as your own as well as enjoying the rest.

*Vulcan does not refer to Spock’s home world, although a crossover between Doctor Who and Star Trek might be fun.  It was the name of a colony planet in The Power of the Daleks, the first story of the Doctor’s second incarnation.

Dalek Made From An Egg - Eggsterminate!

How cool is this?  A Dalek made out of an egg – looks like a brilliant homemade present for a friend or a member of the family who just can’t get enough of the Science Fiction TV show Doctor Who.  But just how do you make one?  We just know you want one, right?

Image Credit Flickr User PugnoM

Here is a step by step guide, from egg carton right back to the egg carton - courtesy of Flickr User PugnoM.  Yes, you too can create your own species of Daleks from the original race, the Kal-eggs (ouch).  You won't even need a sonic screwdriver.

Doctor Who Meets Disney: When Worlds Collide

A young girl, frightened and alone save for her small animal companions, comes across a strange blue box in a forest clearing.  She is wary of the this new addition to the woodland but senses that inside there could be something or someone wonderful: perhaps she will find more questions than answers but she is still drawn towards it....

Hang on... Snow White and the Tardis? Wait a second, Ariel, the Little Mermaid and the Tardis? What's going on here?

Tardis Cover for Disposable Coffee Cups

If you are getting a little embarrassed by the logos on your disposable coffee cups (perhaps because the company behind the logo is a tax avoiding multinational the executives of which should know better) and you just happen to be a big fan of a certain Time Lord then perhaps this is just what you have been looking for.

Or perhaps not. Maybe you didn't even know that this was what you have been looking for until this moment.

Flickr User seelensturm has designed a great cover for your coffee cup.  It comes on an A4 single sheet which, after a little printing, cutting, wrapping and sticking, wraps around your cup and does an excellent impression of that august vessel which travels through time and space, the Tardis (as seen on BBC TV’s Doctor Who).

Click on the design to get your own!

Ex Libris

Thank goodness the fine art of gently paced, slow burn film-making is not dead. Not a single dead body or visual effect to be seen here. Yet down in the depths of the library passions are running high and an illicit relationship plays out among the books. Iris and Thomas embark on a doomed love affair but how can desire, pain, anger and sadness be expressed in the confines of a library? Ex Libris is directed by Jim and Jimmy of Long Arm Films.

The short film stars two very talented and versatile Welsh actors. If you are a regular reader of Kuriositas then you will probably recognize Robert Pugh (Thomas) from his roles in Game of Thrones, Doctor Who and Torchwood. Melanie Walters is perhaps best known for her role of Gwen West in the BBC comedy Gavin and Stacey but has also appeared in numerous British TV series as well as the movie Submarine.

Even Back in Tom Baker’s Day, We Knew Time Lords Changed Gender

I’m going pop a toe – tentatively – in to the hottest debate that is going on at the moment. I want to be flippant about its importance but I am going to resist. Yet the new Doctor is a woman and the internet is smoking (whatever gender the internet may be!).

I’m old(ish).  I can just about remember Troughton first time round. The Doctor was always a man. However, rumours always did abound that new Doctors (post Tom Baker at least) might be a woman. In the new era of Doctor Who we have seen two time lords regenerate in to a different gender (if you are a fan, you know this – if you are a casual viewer, take my word for it).

So much for ‘New Who’.  Yet even in the classic era, there were indications that time lords could change gender when they regenerate.  My point in case is the scene above, where Tom Baker’s Doctor (I was a fan before the numbering system began so forgive me if I forget the shorthand) couldn’t quite see how he could possibly refer to his new companion by her full name, especially in emergencies.

Back in the day fans used to tape record the shows and listen to them time and time and wibbly wobbly time again.  I followed suit and that’s why a line from 1978’s The Ribos Operation came to mind when I heard the news that Jodie Whittaker was taking over the helm of the Tardis.  (I know: my family did not have a VCR in 1978 – how poor-quality and incompatible of format could we have been?).

The Doctor advised that instead of Romanadvoratrelundar he could call this new person in the Tardis ( the one deemed most suitable to help in in the quest for the six pieces of the Key to Time) Romana for short. It was either that or the distinctively masculine four-letter name Fred.  Romana immediately opted for Fred. Now, Romana had obviously done her homework on the Doctor before meeting him and would probably have picked up, from the ‘files’, the nuances of late twentieth-century gender-based naming systems in the English language.

She was that clever, right? As any Gallifreyan knows, gender-based regeneration is an irrelevance where the universe is concerned.

In my opinion, Romana would have picked up the fact that on the Doctor's favourite planet Fred was a name reserved mostly for men.  Furthermore, as a diminutive this alternative name was not exactly the most flattering insinuation of the Doctor's opinion of her current status aboard the Tardis. Yes, we do have the female form of Fred but the way that the Doctor spat out this alternative does seem to me to indicate he meant the male form of the word.  It's there we might not always be able to separate cannon from the time in which it was written...  Yet what could be going through the heads of both time lords at this time can only be guessed at.

In other words, I thoroughly and utterly believe that this was the first time that the fact that time lords can change gender was implicitly mentioned in the show.

My tongue is, of course, firmly placed in my cheek.  However…

Just a thought – what if the gender of the Time Lords is cyclical?  The glimpses we have had throughout the years, with male time lords massively outweighing the female in terms of number may not be a gender imbalance but simply the beginning of a shift from a patriarchy to a matriarchy – part of the natural cycle of things on Gallifrey?

As a final by the by, having loved the show for all of my 52 years on the planet I will undoubtedly do so for the rest of my time on Sol 3.  Although I loved Colin Baker's tweet, re-wording his own first words as the Doctor, I will leave you with words from my all-time favourite Doctor Who character (that's probably counting the Doctors too, if truth be told).  Go, Sarah Jane.

"The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship... Everything has its time. And everything ends."

Doctor Who Filming in Valencia in Pictures

Here are a few photos taken by photographer Sergi Albir in Valencia.  The Doctor Who crew arrived in Spain’s third largest city on 26th July to film scenes of the second episode of the forthcoming Series 10.

Now We Know Why the Daleks Always Fail (and Other Stories)

Doctor Who fans regularly scratch their heads and wonder why a force such as the daleks always seems to be beaten.  Well, now we know.  It seems that the genetic structure of the original beasts of Skaro has been somewhat usurped by that of another life form – the minions.  It seems only right, considering their attempts to do nasty things with our DNA to enhance their own. It doesn’t stop there, however. Their casings have now become multiple rather than single residences.  I guess it’s more fun that way.

This amusing picture and those below were created by Rooners Toy Photography on Flickr.  Pop over and take a look at the whole stream – lots of Doctor Who stuff but representatives, too, from other science fiction shows.

Scientists In TV Shows You May Have Missed

There is often a stigma attached to scientists in that they are normally seen as being rather eccentric and not in touch with pop culture, but if the truth be told that is not always the case. Instead, a number of them have made special guest appearances on popular TV shows and the craziest part is that you might not even have been aware of it. Wonder what we mean? Well, how about these prime examples:

Richard Dawkins appearing in Doctor Who

The scientist Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist, but a number of people will be completely unaware that he actually appeared in an episode of Doctor Who in the UK. The episode in question was “The Stolen Earth” where he played himself in a short clip. However, perhaps the most surprising part is that he admits that he is not even a fan of the show whereas there are so many people that would love to appear and are never given the chance.

Neil deGrasse Tyson in The Big Bang Theory

Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the most amazing astrophysicists in the world and he has certainly had an impressive career. However, he has tried to show that scientists do have a funny side to them and this is perhaps best seen in his appearance in The Big Bang Theory. The episode he appeared in was “The Apology Insufficiency” in which he stood in a corridor with Raj before he was then introduced to Sheldon. He was then ridiculed due to him having demoted Pluto to a dwarf planet (since Sheldon apparently loved Pluto) and this skit certainly helped people to see that he could at least laugh at himself.

Stephen Hawking playing poker with Newton and Einstein in TNG

Cast your mind back to season 6 of Star Trek: The Next Generation and in particular the episode entitled “Descent Part 1.” At the beginning of the episode, the British scientist Stephen Hawking is seen playing poker with Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein as well as Data, but all in hologram form.  This is not the only time that Hawking has appeared on TV as he has also shown up on The Big Bang Theory and even a skit with Jim Carey on The Conan O'Brian Show. Of course we also cannot forget that he has also appeared on The Simpsons and indeed Hawking was known to be extremely happy at appearing on the show.

Buzz Aldrin in The Big Bang Theory

Buzz Aldrin is of course known as an astronaut and for walking on the moon, but you also need to remember that he is also classed as being a scientist in order to become an astronaut in the first place. He is just one of several scientists that have appeared on The Big Bang Theory and in this instance he appears in season 6 when some kids come to his door on Halloween to trick-or-treat. In his part, he talks about walking on the moon. It might be a small part and you might have missed it if you are not paying attention, but it is rather cool that somebody that has walked on the moon is willing to then appear on a TV show such as this. If you knew that Buzz Aldrin lived there, would you not go trick-or-treat as well?

Bill Nye in Stargate Atlantis

Bill Nye “The Science Guy” has really helped to make science seem like fun to so many people across the United States. He has actually appeared in a number of different shows, but he is one of the few people that have managed to appear in Stargate Atlantis as themselves. He appears in the episode “Brain Storm” which is the 16th episode of the fifth season and he actually appears alongside Neil deGrasse Tyson where they are shown as being friends. In it, he is invited to a scientific presentation by Dr. Malcolm Tunney. The cameo is just a few minutes long, so blink and you might miss it.

As you can see, scientists are not all about just being in the laboratory or trying to come up with new theories, and famous scientists are working hard at changing how people view them. OK, some appear in science-based shows, but there are also comedies in there as well, so it just shows that you never know where they will show up next.

Doctor Who Classic Series Mega-Quiz: How Many Monsters Can You Name?

If you are a little bored and just happen to be a fan of the TV series Doctor Who (or the part of it now called the classic series) then this might just alleviate your situation. We have taken forty of the old-time monsters and wrapped them up in to a picture-based multiple choice quiz. How many will you get out of forty? Please don’t forget to share this quiz on Facebook if you enjoyed it!

If the answer you choose goes GREEN, then you got it right.  If it goes RED then you got it wrong.  You will also see how many other people chose the different answers (in terms of a percentage). Ready? Let's go!

Watch the Tardis Take Off and Land Like You Have Never Seen Before

Don’t you just love it when new life is breathed in to something that you already adore? The Tardis, that time and space machine which has carried a certain Doctor around for over fifty of our earth years, is always seen dematerializing (and re-materializing) in the same manner. And who would have it any other way?

Yet – just yet – YouTube Timelord John Smith has created this amazing sequence which shows how take-off and landing might seem from the perspective of the Tardis herself.  It’s so I decided that the screenshot to the left would have to be of the Tardis just before dematerialises so as not to spoil any of it (or was it just the whole thing moves too damn quickly?) Whatever the case, I love it!

Paddington Who? Peter Capaldi Gives our Peruvian Pal a Timelord Makeover

Paddington is an old favorite of Londoners. They (and the Brown family) welcomed the Peruvian bear’s first incarnation way back in 1958.  Just five years later a certain TV show began which, like the Paddington, is still going strong.  Doctor Who lead Peter Capaldi recently joined forces with British charity the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) to bring us Paddington Who? The statue is located at the Greenwich Meridian, Royal Observatory Greenwich in South East London.

Paddington’s distinctive duffel coat has morphed in to a version of the Tardis while the back features a rather jolly looking disco-dalek.  Capaldi’s creation is one of just 50 versions of Paddington Bear designed by a stellar cast of celebrities including Sandra Bullock and Benedict Cumberbatch.  They have popped up around London in recent days to raise awareness for the ChildLine arm of the charity which enables young people to get help and advice about a wide range of issues.  All 50 bears will be auctioned off later in the year with the proceeds going to ChildLine.

Many thanks to Kuriositas reader Darren Kerrison, who kindly sent us these pictures of Paddington Who? We will hopefully include the others in an upcoming feature.

Doctor Who - A Visual History - 1963 – 2014: From Hartnell to Capaldi

As we get closer and closer to seeing just what Peter Capaldi will do with Doctor Who I thought it might be a good idea to present this video to you, lovingly put together by Joe Siegler. I originally shared it a few years ago but Mr Siegler has now updated it, up to and including the introduction of Peter Capaldi.

Although it is over an hour long (which means slightly longer than your average modern episode) it gives a whistle-stop tour of each and every single adventure the Doctor has had on the television. As there are so many you will only get a brief glimpse of each but it is enough to give even the newest of Who neophytes a taste of what has been happening to our time traveling Time Lord over the last fifty and a bit years.

Each and every regeneration is included plus you get to see all of the companions, old and new. Of course you will get to see how your favorite monsters looked in the 60s, 70s and 80s too – before CGI and the BBC bothered to give the show an effects budget.  What is interesting is the way that Joe has bent the timey wimey thing so we see McGann regenerating in to Hurt in the order in which is (should have) happened - all the doctors are in their correct order (if there can be such a thing when it comes to time travel!). 

My advice is go get your preferred beverage and snacks and settle in for a real treat! In fact, for people like me (and you too I hope), this is heaven!

Run (You Clever) Boy Run

So, just over a month to go until the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who.  The BBC showed a specially made one minute plug for the show, which will be broadcast simultaneously throughout the known universe on 23 November.

However, if you are any sort of fan you will have seen that.  Here, then, is a clever compilation of clips held together by Run Boy Run – by Woodkid. Vid by Eva Rechi.

Doctor Who Peter Capaldi Title Sequence

Peter Capaldi is set to take over from Matt Smith on Christmas Day 2014 and – as ever – a million and one questions are unanswered until that day.  However, if the BBC takes the cue from Billy Hanshaw, a motion director, based in Leeds UK - they should really create a title sequence somewhere along these lines.

As well as incorporating the features that we are used to, some of the additions here (including Gallifreyan hieroglyphics, cog-wheels of time and an unashamedly steampunk aesthetic) would make the perfect title sequence for Peter Capaldi’s new Doctor.  Come on BBC... can you do any better?

Vincent and the Doctor

As the time gets nearer to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the best TV show ever, Doctor Who (not that I am biased) I hope to share with you some of my fondest and most enduring memories of the show.  Above is one of them – and possibly my favorite moment of the revitalized version of the series.

Vincent and the Doctor is a very special episode, scripted by Richard Curtis.  I won’t go in to any great detail about the peripheral plot but needless to say it involves our time traveling hero and his feisty companion Amy meeting Vincent Van Gogh.  Once the ‘adventure’ is done the pair decide to take Vincent to contemporary Paris to show him that he and his art do indeed have a future after all (Van Gogh only ever sold one painting in his lifetime).  Alighting at the Musée d'Orsay, they approach the exhibition’s curator who waxes lyrical about the painter while Vincent listens to one side.

The result is one of the most moving pieces of television I have ever seen.  True, I know it’s all down to individual taste but I get bleary eyed every time I watch this.  One would like to believe this moment is true as Van Gogh has such a troubled life – but although it is only fiction if it still very moving: the performances by the show’s regulars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan with Tony Curran as Vincent with an (uncredited) appearance by Bill Nighy as the curator are standout.

Attack of the Giant Straw DaLICK

The quiet English countryside of Cheshire has been recently reverberating to the harsh metallic cries of Exterminate all humans!  Fortunately for the local population this isn’t a presage of (yet another) Dalek invasion but of celebrations to come in November.  To mark the 50th anniversary of the BBC Science Fiction show Doctor Who, his greatest adversary has been lovingly recreated in straw and steel – and it’s 35 feet high! 

Image Credit Flickr User Bruce Stokes

The owners of Snugbury’s, a farm-based ice-cream store which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to taste their splendid treats, decided to mark this anniversary with something special.  Visitors are used to their yearly straw sculpture displays but this year they have outdone themselves with this amazing homage to one of the world’s favorite and most long-lived TV shows.

Peter Capaldi is Chosen to Play the Next Doctor Who

Peter Capaldi is the new Doctor Who and that’s official. The 55 year old actor was ushered in to role with great fanfare on a special BBC 1 show (broadcast simultaneously on BBC America) simply but ingeniously called Doctor Who. Perhaps the name of the special show wasn’t too much of a surprise but did you see the choice of Peter Capaldi coming? Well, the betting shops certainly did, having closed bets on the actor a while ago.

Capaldi is well known to both British audiences and those over the world for his role as spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in the political comedy series, In the Loop.  What is more, he is a lifelong fan of the show.