Oh, sure, she'd heard of it. It's practically impossible to grow up in the UK without hearing the occasional 'Doctor Who' joke or seeing the Labour Party drawn as Daleks in the papers, but Simmons wasn't a fan of science fiction. Real science was so much more exciting, so full of applications and potential.

She was finishing up her second dissertation when her mum dragged her out of her room-"you've been holed up for months, I'm not even sure you still know what a conversation is-" and sat her in front of the telly. Brain still full of mitochondria analysises, she barely noticed the swirling title sequence that culminated in the words "Doctor Who."

When it was all over, she had only one question. "What's the bloke with the big ears doing with the plastic arm?"

Her mum huffed something about "longest-running scifi show" and "historic event,' but Simmons ignored her. Best to raid the fridge while they were distracted-no need to let them see how much pop and biscuits she was eating.