Simon Guerrier & Dr Marek Kukula:
The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who
Thursday 12th January, 7.45pm

The Great Hall, Oundle School, New
Street, Oundle

The first official guide to the science of Doctor
Who by acclaimed Doctor Who novelist
Simon Guerrier and Dr Marek Kukula, the
Public Astronomer at the Royal Observatory
Greenwich.

Weaving together authoritative scientific
discussion with a series of new adventures
by acclaimed Doctor Who writers including
Jenny T Colgan, George Mann and Jacqueline
Rayner, Simon Guerrier and Dr Marek Kukula
explore the possibilities of time travel, life on
other planets, artificial intelligence, parallel
universes and more. From the dawn of
astronomy and the discovery of gravity to the
moon landings and string theory, the authors
show how science has inspired Doctor Who,
and how, on occasion, life has mirrored art,
such as the 1989 discovery of ‘ice-canoes’
on Triton which were featured in the 1973
episode The Planet of the Daleks.

Simon Guerrier is co-author of The Scientific
Secrets of Doctor Who for BBC Books, and
has written countless Doctor Who books,
comics, audio plays and documentaries.

As research for one of his Doctor Who
stories, he studied GCSE astronomy at the
Royal Observatory Greenwich – resulting in
an A* and the plot for another Doctor Who
story. In 2015, Simon was a guest on Front
Row and The Infinite Monkey Cage on Radio
4, and with his brother Thomas, makes films
and documentaries – most recently HG and
the H-Bomb for Radio 3.

Dr Marek Kukula initially wanted to be a
Time Lord when he grew up but settled on
becoming an astronomer as the next most
exciting thing. He obtained his PhD in Radio
Astronomy at Jodrell Bank Observatory, then
carried out research into galaxies and black
holes at a number of institutions including
the University of Edinburgh and the Space
Telescope Science Institute, home of the
Hubble Space Telescope. As the Public
Astronomer at the Royal Observatory
Greenwich he gives talks, curates exhibitions
and liaises with scientists and the media.
Marek is a judge on the Insight Astronomy
Photographer of the Year competition and is
also the author of The Intimate
Universe, published in 2015.

Doctor Who stories are many
things: thrilling adventures,
historical dramas, and
science fiction tales. But how
much of the science is real?
And how much is fiction?
Come along to the TARDIS,
otherwise known as the Great
Hall and find out!

£1 off early bird tickets bought
before 5th January Oundle Box
Office.

Jane Hawking:
From Fact to Film to Fiction
Saturday 28th January, 7.45pm

The Great Hall, Oundle School,
New Street, Oundle

Jane Hawking, Ph.D., is an English
author and educator. She is the ex-wife
of Stephen Hawking and the author of the
autobiography Travelling to Infinity: My Life
with Stephen.

Jane and Stephen met through mutual college
friends at a party in the early 1960s and
married in 1965, despite Stephen’s diagnosis
of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Jane and
her husband separated in 1990, and divorced
five years later. In 1999, Jane wrote an
autobiography about her first marriage, Music
to Move the Stars: A Life with Stephen.
Jane once stated that there were four
partners in their marriage. Stephen and her,
motor neurone disease and physics. If you
took out motor neurone disease, you were
still left with physics.

Jane and her first husband established a
working relationship following his separation
and divorce from his second wife. In 2007,
an updated version of the autobiography
was re-published under the title Travelling
to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, and
was subsequently made into the
award-winning film The Theory of
Everything. It was nominated for
five Oscars, four Golden Globes and
ten BAFTAs; the film has grossed
£77 million worldwide.

Silent Music, written in 2016, is Jane’s
latest book. It is a coming-of-age
novel about the unpredictable nature
of human behaviour and about taking
control of one’s destiny; it is a timeless
portrait of post-war Britain, as well as a
lyrical paean to hope and aspiration.
Jane now resides with her second husband,
musician Jonathan Hellyer Jones, in
England.

This will be a fascinating chance to hear
Jane speaking about her life with Stephen,
her thoughts about the film, The Theory of
Everything, and she will also talk about her
latest book, Silent Music.

£1 off early bird tickets bought before 21st
January from the Oundle Box Office.

Tickets £8, conc. £6, from the Oundle Box
Office, 4 New Street, Oundle, open
Mon-Fri 10am to 4pm on 01832 274734
or at www.oundlefestival.org.uk
Any queries, call Helen on
07743 988 181 or email
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