Science fiction

Science fiction was a literary genre, usually dealing with futuristic or technological themes. H. G. Wells coined the term during an adventure with the Sixth Doctor. (TV: Timelash)

In the real world, the term was invented by Hugo Gersback in 1929, although there is one anomalous occurrence in the 1850s.

In February 1970, Stevens dismissed Greg Sutton's outlandish claim that a green slime from the centre of the Earth transformed scientists into wolf monsters during the Inferno Project. He described Sutton's story as sounding like the plot of a "science fiction potboiler." (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy)

Popular science fiction television series in Britain included Nightshade and Professor X, though American series such as Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek were well known. (PROSE: Nightshade, No Future; COMIC: Ophidius; PROSE: Escape Velocity; TV: The Empty Child)

Some of the known science fiction film franchises included Star Wars, Alien, and Terminator. (PROSE: Mission: Impractical, TV: Dreamland, TV: Greeks Bearing Gifts, TV: Warriors of Kudlak, Prisoner of the Judoon; PROSE: Escape Velocity and others)

Amy Pond once pretended to be a science fiction fan. She cited Jules Verne as an example of a science fiction author whose work she had read. (COMIC: The Screams of Death)

Dr. Ivan Asimoff was a writer of science fiction from the planet Sigma. (COMIC: The Free-Fall Warriors)

Behind the scenes

• Obviously, Doctor Who itself is part of the science fiction genre.