And one whacking great kick up the backside for the Silence.

Neil Armstrong's death reminds us of the huge effort that made manned space exploration possible. As a tribute to the man, here is one of a series of four programmes I made for Channel Four commemorating the 40th anniversary of his epic journey. You might recognise that the narrator is the sixth Doctor - Colin Baker !

Doctor who did it's own little tribute to the man when his mission to the moon became a focal point for the resolution of last year's episode Day of the Moon .

As his famous first words upon stepping onto the surface were watched by the millions of viewers around the world, the Doctor was able to broadcast his own message to defeat the Silents.
 

That's the Box. The Blue Box. It's always there. Like a magic carpet.

Another posting in my occasional series featuring comments from the Visitors Book. This year, as you can see, some of our our younger guests have been inspired to create some really lovely drawings.

Just imagine the Vision On gallery theme as you look at them!

“A great cottage I love all the Tom Baker episodes (the special FX are a bit iffy though!)

“We had a great holiday! We watched lots of Classic Who. I cried like a baby at the end of Earthshock. Thanks for a brilliant weekend! Don’t forget to be awesome!

“As a Dr Who fan I loved it – great location and a dalek as a friend lol” 

“Lovely cottage. Great holiday for a 20th birthday, Doctor Who fan! Been to Rye, lovely cobbled streets, visit the Cobbles tea room for an old fashioned brew! Dungeness very weird, like stepping back in time.”

“We thought having breakfast in the tardis would be a little cramped for the five of us, but once we all got in there we realised how spacious it was…!”

“The cottage is really great. Very much enjoyed the Dr Who stuff…’ahem’ I meant the kids did obviously. Dungeness is just strange + wonderful! Really glad we visited + Rye as its charming”

“Fantastic place! Geek Heaven for a Dr Who fans – and a cosy retreat for anyone else. Loved it!”

“Fantastic stay, kids loved seeing Dolphins in the sea at Dungeness – so much to do close by! Thanks!”

 “Brilliant cottage - bit of a Dr Who convert now...We hope to return."

“We are massive Dr Who fans, including Mum + Dad!! Your house is ‘amazing’ not only for the Dr Who memorabilia but the cozy cottage with a fab vintage looking cooker!!!”

"Wonderful break once again. We have found our favourite retreat. Hopefully be back early next year. Many thanks”

As I have mentioned, running a holiday cottage has turned out to be a lot more hard work than I had imagined, but comments like these make it all feel worthwhile and I am sure that my late brother would have really loved the fact that so many people are enjoying his collection.

They tell legends of Mars, long ago.

Here is an extraordinary photograph of the Curiosity Rover, coming into land, taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

So there is life on Mars - at least, man-made life capable of taking a photo of another piece of man-made life!

Of course, the Doctor has had more than a few adventures with life on Mars - namely the Ice Warriors.

Personally, I think it is about time the Eleventh Doctor had a run in with them.

The Tenth Doctor got there just a bit too late, but the images of Mars from his story are in HD and a lot better quality than Curiosity's have been so far!