Great Doctor Who Quotes #36

"Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica takes the Universe! But bad news everyone, 'cause guess who? Ha! Except you lot, you're whizzing about, it's really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute because I am talking! Now, the question of the hour is: Who's got the Pandorica? Answer: I do. Next question: Who's coming to take it from me? Come on, look at me! No plan, no back up, no weapons worth a damn, oh, and something else I don't have - anything to lose! So, if you're sitting up there, in your silly little spaceships with all your silly little guns, and you've got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who's standing in your way! Remember every black day I ever stopped you, and then... do the smart thing. Let somebody else try first!"

- The Doctor, The Pandorica Opens (June 19th 2010)

Written by Steven Moffat

The Titanic Centenary

RMS Titanic began her fateful maiden voyage a century ago this week, when she sailed from Southampton. Five days later, the luxury liner lay broken in two at the bottom of the North Atlantic. Now the world is in the grip of Titanic fever yet again. The 100th anniversary of the sinking of the most famous ship in history is being marked by events across the globe, and in all media. 

A memorial cruise aboard the MS Balmoral is following Titanic's original itinerary, and will join many othersships that will converge at the site of the disaster. 

Walter Lord's definitve account of the wreck, A Night to Remember - first issued in 1955 - has been republished, and the classic British film (to be shown on BBC2) based on the book has also been given a new release.

The highest-grossing movie of all time, James Cameron's Titanic (1997) has been re-released in 3D, to positive reviews. Here in the UK, the TV and radio schedules are packed with a plethora of new documentaries and dramas to remember the tragedy:

• the National Geographic channel presents Titanic: Case Closed, Titanic: The Final Secret, Titanic: The Final Word (also from Cameron), and Save the Titanic (with the discoverer of the wreck, Bob Ballard)
• Titanic: The Band Played On was shown on Yesterday, and Channel 4 will screen Saving the Titanic
• the Discovery channel broadcast Titanic Conspiracies (with Bernard Hill), Titanic: Birth of a Legend, and Titanic: The Aftermath
• Heroes of the Titanic, Nazi Titanic, Titanic: A Tale of Two Journeys, Ghosts of the Abyss (again with film director Cameron), and Titanic: Mystery Solved all feature on the History channel's Titanic 100 weekend
• the BBC's Titanic 100 season includes SOS-The Titanic Inquiry (starring Paul McGann), a repeat of Timewatch: Myths of the Titanic (2002), a Newsline Special: Ryan Vs. the White Star Line, Titanic: A Commemoration in Music and Film live from Belfast, and A History of the Titanic in 30 Pieces
• the 12-part costume drama, Titanic: Blood and Steel, is also due to air on the BBC
• the 1996 Titanic TV movie is screened by Channel Five
• Titanic: The Myths and Legends was transmitted on Radio 2, followed on Saturday by a 'live' news programme from the stricken ship, Titanic: Minute by Minute - the BBC World Service series, Discovery, aired Titanic: In Her Own Words
• Titanic Letters - a series of 44 shorts - and Titanic Town are both for Radio Ulster
• this Sunday, 100 years to the day, the sinking is re-enacted in the final part of ITV1's lavish Titanic mini-series - and will be shown in 80 other countries - followed by Words of the Titanic
• the BBC History website features an animated timeline of The Titanic

Great Doctor Who Quotes #35

"I lied to you 'cause I liked it. I could pretend, just for a bit, I could imagine they were still alive underneath the burnt orange sky. I'm not just a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. The Face of Boe was wrong. There's no one else. There was a war. A Time War. My people fought a race called the Daleks for the sake of all creation, and they lost... Everyone lost. They're all gone now, my family, my friends, even that sky. Oh, you should have seen it, that old planet. The second sun would rise in the south, and the mountains would shine. The leaves on the trees were silver, and when they caught the light every morning, it looked like a forest on fire. When the autumn came, the breeze would blow through the branches like a song.."

- The Doctor, Gridlock (April 14th 2007)

Written by Russell T Davies

Date With History: 1982

Thirty years ago today, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands - a British territory since 1833 - which led to a bloody, ten-week war. A Royal Navy armada of over 100 ships took almost 3 weeks to sail the 8,000 miles to  the South Atlantic colony, and Argentine forces eventually surrendered on June 14th.

The conflict resulted in the deaths of 255 British and 650 Argentine servicemen.

The republic of Argentina still claims sovereignty of the Falklands, which it calls Las Malvinas.