Revealing the scientific secrets of Doctor Who

Posted on 16 May 2018

Authors of The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who will talk to audiences at the York Festival of Ideas about the truth behind the fiction.

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Writer, Simon Guerrier, and Astronomer, Marek Kukula, will explore the possibilities of time travel, life on other planets, artificial intelligence, parallel universes and more.

They will show how Doctor Who uses science to inform its unique style of storytelling - and just how close it has often come to predicting future scientific discoveries.

Planets and universes

Marek said: “Doctor Who takes its audience to different planets and universes and introduces us to creatures and lands beyond our imagination, but many people will be surprised to learn just how much of its storytelling is shaped by real scientific discovery.”

Simon said: “The stories we know and love can be extraordinary and strange, but we invest in these amazing adventures because they speak to issues that are very familiar to us – love, revenge, war and so on. We hope that our discussion of these stories will help visitors to the Festival see Doctor Who – and science - in a whole new light.”

The award-winning York Festival of Ideas will run from 5-17 June 2018 with a programme of over 200 mostly-free events on the theme of 'Imagining the Impossible.'

Free festival

The Festival was established and is coordinated by the University of York. It has grown to become one of the largest free festivals in the UK, last year attracting over 32,000 people.

To see the full festival programme visit: yorkfestivalofideas.com.

'The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who' will take place on Friday, 15 June, at 6:30pm in the Piazza Building, University of York. Tickets are available here: http://yorkfestivalofideas.com/2018/talks/scientific-secrets-of-doctor-who/