A guest post on the educational applications of Doctor Who by Prof. Jan Eldridge

Celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of Doctor Who

World ships - planets which move under the deliberate control of their inhabitants or others - are a staple of science fiction. But how plausible are representations of world ships in SF, and why are they so popular?

Time travel is a wide-reaching topic in science fiction, but one recurring area of fascination is the predestination paradox - the idea that an event may only occur because of efforts to prevent it, or as a result of its own consequences.

For the many young people who thrilled to the adventures of characters such as Dan Dare or Doctor Who, the factual information presented in Annual gift books may well have provided their first insights into the genuine science and sweeping discoveries which lay behind their idols.

The visual imagery of humans struggling with everyday objects many times their own size, or encountering usually benign animals as terrifying monsters, captures the imagination. Hence the popularity of the SF of miniaturisation.

Many science fiction stories consider the possibility of terraforming Mars - but what about the reverse: areoforming Earth?

Alternate histories are one of the mainstays of science fiction. A subset of these are notable for the attention they pay to our scientific history, and how it influenced the development of modern culture.

Looking at Jodrell Bank's representation in science fiction and SF paratexts.

My essay "Who's Moon" in "Doctor Who and Science" (eds Lindy Orthia and Marcus K Harmes) has just been published. Here I explore in a little more depth two articles which present aspects of the Moon and its exploration to the avid young readers of the 1979 and 1980 Doctor Who annuals.