Today is the 49th anniversary of Doctor Who. And that means we're just 365 days away from the show's big 50th birthday — complete with what will assuredly be the anniversary special to end all anniversary specials.

Joanna Lumley plays a female Doctor in the classic spoof Doctor Who and the Curse of the Fatal Death, but if Doctor Who's creator had gotten his way, she might have taken on the role for real, replacing Colin Baker.

The Doctor Who audio adventures sold by Big Finish have gone a long way towards rehabilitating the much-reviled Colin Baker version of the Doctor. Are they about to throw all that away now?

Nothing warms the hearts and soothes the soul at holiday time like a hot laser slicing through your pain receptors. That's why we put together this list of the top seven torture scenes from science fiction, including one that spawned one of the lamest action figures in the world. (We didn't include the Star Wars…