Meet the new Doctor Who

Peter Capaldi is the new Doctor Who. Courtesy BBC

PETER Capaldi has been announced as the new Doctor Who, the 12th actor to take up the coveted TV role.

Fans eagerly awaited the news, which was broadcast during a special live show on ABC this morning.

The 55-year-old Scottish actor will replace Matt Smith, who announced in June that he was leaving the sci-fi show later this year.

Scroll down to see the first XI Doctors and tell us who your favourite has been

Capaldi is best known in Britain for his starring role as a sharp-tongued spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in the critically-acclaimed UK political comedy The Thick of It.

Capaldi said the chance to play the famous time traveller was "an amazing privilege". Picture: Tim Whitby/Getty Images

He has a long list of movie, television and stage credits, from the 1983 film Local Hero to a role alongside Brad Pitt in the recent zombie horror World War Z. He's also an Oscar winner - he directed Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, which won the Academy Award for best short film in 1994.

In a live interview with the BBC Capaldi admitted he had been a long-time fan of the show. He said he used to pretend to be the Doctor as a child growing up in Glasgow.

"Being asked to play the Doctor is an amazing privilege. Like the Doctor himself I find myself in a state of utter terror and delight. I can't wait to get started," he said.

"I haven't played it since I was nine. As an adult actor I've never worked on it.

Speculation was rife about who would land the role of the new doctor. Photo: Vivid Sydney/BBC.

"(For the audition) I downloaded some old scripts from the internet and pracitised that in front of the mirror."

The role will be a dramatic change from Capaldi's turn as Tucker, a political manipulator known for his ceaseless and creative use of expletives. Doctor Who is a firmly child-friendly program.

"I think Malcolm has been banished from the mirror by this Doctor Who, who certainly would not put up with any of Malcolm's language or attitude," Capaldi said.

Capaldi attributed the longevity of the show to the creative team behind it as well as to its millions of fans around the world.

Peter Capaldi has won the UK award for Best TV Comedy Actor in 2012. Courtesy BBC

"Doctor Who belongs to all of us," he said. "Everyone makes Doctor Who."

The show is a television institution, making its debut in 1963. In the show the galaxy-hopping Time Lord travels in the Tardis, a time machine shaped like an old-fashioned British police telephone booth. 

Its longevity is due partly to the flexibility of the premise. The Doctor can regenerate into new bodies, and can travel to any point in space or time.

The show went off air in 1989 and was revived in 2005 when Christopher Eccleston took on the role. David Tennant then starred for three seasons before Smith took over in 2010.

Peter Capaldi won an Oscar for his short film, "Frank Kafka's It's Wonderful Life," in 1995. Capaldi is the new "Doctor Who." (AP Photo)

Talking about his time in the show, Smith told the BBC live show: 'I'll miss playing a character who can bounce from A-Z and be the smartest in the room and the silliest in the room... what a character!"

The Magnificent 11 - all the actors who have played Doctor Who

William Hartnell (1963-66), Patrick Troughton (1967-69), Jon Pertwee (1970-74), Tom Baker (74-81), Peter Davison (82-84)

The first five actors who played the Doctor in Dr Who. L-R, William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker and Peter Davison. Source: Supplied

 Colin Baker (1984-86)

Colin Baker as Dr Who Source: Supplied

 Sylvester McCoy (1987-89, 1996)

Sylvester McCoy played the seventh Doctor Who. Source: Supplied

Paul McGann (1996)

Paul McGann in Doctor Who Source: Supplied

Christopher Ecclestone (2005)

Christopher Eccleston and actress Billie Piper as Rose Tyler in Doctor Who Source: Supplied

David Tennant (2005-10)

David Tennant as The Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble. Source: Supplied

Matt Smith (2010-13)

Matt Smith as Doctor Who Source: Supplied

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Parody posters put Rudd to sea

A group of middle-class Australians paid for their own political advertising, parodying the Federal Government's multi-million dollar anti-asylum seeker ad campaign. Picture: Jess Miller Source: Supplied

A GROUP of middle-class Aussie taxpayers have funded their own political campaign posters designed to point out the "hypocrisy" of Kevin Rudd's asylum seeker policy.

In response to the Federal Government's multi-million dollar anti-asylum seeker ad campaign a group of twenty-somethings have created a parody of the ad, "designed to tell a different story and point out the hypocrisy and mean spirited asylum seeker policy", according to one of the group's members, freelance digital strategist, Jessica Miller.

Three-metre tall posters were erected on George Street in Sydney over the weekend, featuring a picture of the Endeavour - the ship on which Captain Cook sailed to Australia's shores - with a message that read: "You came here by boat without a visa, you settled in Australia".

Ms Miller told news.com.au that she wasn't a particularly political person and said that neither she nor her affiliates were members of any political party or group but said that the "whole conversation around asylum seekers has deteriorated into real nastiness".

"It was a pretty bad ad that the government put out," she said. "To us it was just begging to be messed with".

The posters cost the group about $600 to design, print and put up. Ms Miller said they would love to print out more but said they had already exhausted their budget.

"We don't have a $35 million budget to keep printing it," she said.

Kevin Rudd spent $30 million dollars on its ad blitz - which Ms Miller says is designed to "frighten middle class Australians" - than Coca Cola spends in a year, (roughly $22 million) The Sunday Telegraph revealed.

Kevin Rudd spent more on his anti-asylum seeker ad blitz ($30 million) than Coca Cola spends in a year, (roughly $22 million). Source: Supplied

One of the group members - who wished to remain anonymous - told news.com.au that Kevin Rudd had "embarked on a race to the bottom of the moral abyss" with his "cynical exercise in Rank political expediency, exploiting some of the worlds most disadvantaged and persecuted people".

"The purpose of their ad campaign is to appease the people of western Sydney and parts of Queensland, areas of which will largely determine the outcome of the up and coming federal election and is not pointed at the Indonesian people smugglers as suggested," he said. "The procurement of the $30 million to fund this campaign was also done under the most dubious of fashions, not to mention the misleading nature of the ads themselves".

A second anonymous group member told news.com.au that the idea behind the posters was not only to target Rudd and his policy "but also those who he is appealing to in return for their vote".

"We wanted to remind people that none of us would be here now if it weren't for our ancestors, the original boat people," he said.
"While it's a long bow to draw, we felt the analogy was fitting and might resonate with people who view asylum seekers as invaders rather than refugees".

The collaborator said their parody posters weren't specifically aimed at Kevin Rudd either.

"Tony Abbott with his 'Stop the boats' and shadow immigration minister Scott Morrison and his oxymoronic cries of 'illegal refugees' are also in our sights," he said.

Despite the fact that the group doesn't have an official Facebook page or even a website, the, pictures of the posters have been shared more than 8500 times from Ms Miller's Facebook page since she posted it on Friday.

The digital strategist said that the posters had unfortunately already been taken down from George Street, but that she would happily make the poster available for people to print out and put up in their own areas.

As for the election, Ms Miller said she doesn't know who she was going to be voting for.

"I'm going to find it really difficult," she said. "Both parties are as bad as each other.

"The whole tone of Australian politics is really sad."

Ms Miller said she would likely be voting for whichever candidate or party is "most polite".

"That generally tends to be The Greens at this stage," she said. "They're coming to the table with something positive rather than just being nasty. But then again I just don't know.

"I'll decide on the day, I suppose".

The poster can also be found on the Facebook page of Ms Miller's design business, Goody Two Shoes.

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The world's friendliest places

Hobart has been voted one of the world's friendliest cities. Picture: Supplied Source: News Limited

LOOKING for the most welcoming places in the world to visit? It turns out you don't have to look very far.

Travel magazine Conde Nast Traveler has unveiled the results of its readers choice survey on the world's friendliest cities, with two Australian destinations making a list of the top 10.

Scroll down for the list

Hobart was beaten to the top spot only by the 'Island of Magic', Florianopolis in Brazil. It's a city described as having "outgoing locals, gorgeous views and an excellent airport".

Meanwhile, the Tasmanian capital, which was also recently named one of the world's best cities to visit in 2013 by Lonely Planet, was praised for its 'unique location, beauty and kind, friendly city natives'.

"They know how to treat visitors," one commenter said. Another described it as "one of the best places I've visited".

The second Aussie destination to make the top 10 list, Margaret River tied with Paro, Bhutan, for sixth place and was praised for its vineyards and beaches.

A Conde Nast Traveler spokesperson said: "It's no wonder this small town, just south of Perth on Australia's west coast, ranked high in the friendliest category: It's known for excellent vineyards and plenty of surfing; who wouldn't be happy? Our readers also praised the town's ambience and restaurants."

Marget River also made the cut. Picture: Augusta Margaret River Tourism Association Source: Supplied

The survey also uncovered the world's most unfriendly cities.

Newark, New Jersey was voted the worst, with one reader saying she "ran into a lot of rude people there" and others arguing the only reason to visit was for a cheap stopover on the way to somewhere better.

Islamabad, Pakistan was named the second unfriendliest, followed by Oakland, California and Luanda, Angola.

YOUR SAY: Do you agree? Tell us below.

Friendliest cities:

1. Florianopolis, Brazil

2. Hobart, Tasmania

3. Thimpu, Bhutan

4. Queenstown, New Zealand

5. Charleston, South Carolina

6. Paro, Bhutan

Equal 6. Margaret River, Australia

7. Mandalay, Burma

9. Kilkenny, Ireland

Equal 9. Ubud, Bali

10. Chiang Mai, Thailand

Florianopolis, Brazil. Picture: Atramos/Flickr Source: Supplied

Unfriendliest cities:

1. Newark, New Jersey

2. Islamabad, Pakistan

3. Oakland, California

4. Luanda, Angola

5. Kuwait City, Kuwait

6. Lome, Togo

7. New Haven, Connecticut

8. Detroit, Michigan

9. Atlantic City, New Jersey

10. Tangier, Morocco

Newark, New Jersey. Picture: Dougtone/Flickr Source: Supplied

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Mary Coustas inspires with heartbreaking tale

For 20 years she has made us laugh by poking fun at her Greek heritage. But off stage, Mary Coustas' struggle to become a mother has been marred by tragedy. Excerpt courtesy of Sixty Minutes, Nine Network

Mary Coustas, affectionately known to most Australians as Effie, has revealed her heartbreaking struggle to become a mother. Picture: 60 Minutes Source: Supplied

LAST night, Mary Coustas bared her soul on TV, detailing her heartbreaking struggle to become a mother, through a decade of miscarriages and IVF treatment.

The woman Australia has affectionately known as Effie, shared her story with 60 Minutes, detailing the emotional roller-coaster she and her husband George have endured trying to fall pregnant.

Over her 10-year quest to become a mother, Coustas has endured IVF treatment, miscarriages, using donor eggs and her devastating story of falling pregnant with triplets, facing selective reduction and then giving birth to a stillborn daughter.

Hundreds of people took to Twitter to express their admiration at Coustas' bravery and share in the surprise news that she is once again expecting.

Coustas has revealed she is 22 weeks along and her doctor says everything is progressing well.

"I'm pregnant, it appears that we're getting there," she said.

Her obstetrician Dr Vijay Roach confirmed: "The baby is healthy and well and growing normally, her pregnancy is progressing normally, her health is excellent and I think there is every reason to expect this pregnancy will progress normally and Mary will have a healthy baby at the end of her full-term pregnancy."

Tom Malone, executive producer of 60 Minutes said Coustas' story was familiar to many.

"Mary and George's brave decision to share it so openly and honestly was because they wanted to help others who go through the same thing every day, but in silence," he said.

"The response to their story is a testament to Mary and George, and vindication of their decision. "Of course we're so happy for them, that they'll finally realise their decade-long battle, when their baby arrives in December."

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Boardwalk carnage: 'Bodies strewn across path'

CCTV has captured the moment a car was intentionally driven into crowds at the Venice Beach boardwalk, killing a woman and injuring 11. Courtesy LiveLeak

A NEW Zealand tourist has described the horror of hearing the screams of people being mowed down by a car speeding along Los Angeles' famed Venice Beach boardwalk.

An Italian bride on her honeymoon was killed and 11 others were injured while the alleged driver, 38-year-old Nathan Campbell, was arrested on suspicion of murder.

He is in custody on $US1 million ($1.13 million) bond.

"It was chaotic," New Zealander Stefan Dujakovic told Los Angeles TV station NBC4.

"I heard all of the commotion and screams."

Emergecy workers tend the injured after a car rammed into beachgoers at Venice Beach, Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Maarten Smitskamp) Source: AP

Security video shows a man parking his black Dodge Avenger car alongside the seaside boardwalk as the sun sinks, surveying the idyllic scene for several minutes before getting back into the car and speeding into the crowd.

The footage shows hundreds of people walking lazily or sitting at cafes before the car suddenly appears and sends them scrambling wildly.

Horrified witnesses said the man drove the vehicle around barriers to enter the boardwalk and then purposely swerved the car to hit people.

In this image take from a security camera, pedestrians scatter as a car drives through a packed afternoon crowd along the Venice Beach boardwalk in Los Angeles, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013. At least a dozen people were injured, two of them critically, according to police. (AP Photo/Snapchat) Source: AP

Others reported a horrifying aftermath.

"There was people kind of stumbling around, blood dripping down their legs looking confused not knowing what had happened, people screaming," said 35-year-old Louisa Hodge, who was out enjoying the day on the Venice Beach boardwalk with a friend visiting from San Diego.

It was blocks and blocks of people just strewn across the footpath."

Police and fire officials assist an injured pedestrian at the scene where a car drove through a packed afternoon crowd along the Venice Beach boardwalk in Los Angeles, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013. At least a dozen people were injured, two of them critically, according to police. (AP Photo/Venice311.org, Alex Thompson) Source: AP

Aaron Mason, a tourist from England, suffered cuts on his legs after the car sped through the crowd, struck him and sent his body flying.

"It was basically coming at me and everyone just started running," Mason said.

"I turned around and looked over my shoulder and a guy has gone over the bonnet.

"His wheel has clipped me and I've gone flying."

In this still frame made from security camera footage from Snapchat, Inc. headquarters, pedestrians scatter as a car drives through a packed afternoon crowd along the Venice Beach boardwalk in Los Angeles. One woman was killed and 11 people injured. (AP Photo/Snapchat Inc.) Source: AP

The boardwalk is famous for the Muscle Beach outdoor gym, street vendors and carnival atmosphere.

As well as striking walkers on the boardwalk, witnesses said the driver ran over street vendors, including 75-year-old psychic reader Linda Alvarez, who had a stall at Venice for decades and was being treated in an LA hospital.

Authorities identified the dead victim as Alice Gruppioni, 32, who was on her honeymoon from Bologna, Italy.

- With AP

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Too hot to be an engineer?

Florencia Antara is a developer featured in the ads that were blocked by LinkedIn. Picture: TopTal Source: Supplied

JOB networking site LinkedIn has been caught in an embarrassing backflip, forced to re-post ads it pulled after the women featured in them were deemed too attractive to be real-life engineers.

Developer network TopTal posted a series of advertisements on the site with a mixture of male and female staff, with the aim of attracting new clients and employees.

However they recently logged on to find their ads inexplicably disabled, according to TopTal CEO Taso Du Val, who blogged about the incident.

"Today was a disappointing day at TopTal. We saw extreme sexism within the tech community, from an industry leader and advertising partner that we work with quite extensively: LinkedIn," he wrote in a post entitled In Defence of Female Engineers.

Mr Du Val said having regularly advertised on LinkedIn with a combination of stock and employee photographs, they were told their ads had been taken down after "many LinkedIn members complained about the women images you were using," according to the blog.

TopTal initially republished the ads themselves with the same images, including that of Argentinian web developer Florencia Antara, only to find themselves barred from the site and allowed back once the ads were changed.

The ad originally posted on LinkedIn. Picture: Toptal. Source: Supplied

"The fact of the matter is: members of the tech community (LinkedIn users) saw it as impossible that our female engineers could actually be engineers, and a leader of the tech community (LinkedIn) agreed with them."

"Unfortunately we're banned from showing anything except 100%, all male software advertisements from now on and so, that's what you'll be getting. I'm disappointed both on a personal and professional level. I expect better," Mr Du Val wrote.

A spokeswoman for LinkedIn said the ads were rejected in error while the customer service team was going through the standard review process.

"We have taken the necessary measures to approve the previously rejected ads, and TopTal can now run them on our platform as intended," they said.

The issue sparked plenty of debate in the tech community, with one user writing under the name whatever, accusing LinkedIn of "slut shaming" and "nerd oppression because no female engineer could look good".

The article was also criticised on Twitter.

However Macman 851 commented that while he thought blocking the ads went too far, he could see why the pictures were rejected.

"What's with the bra strap showing? How does that help emphasise her abilities as a developer? Why is she staring at the camera as if she is about to make love to it? The images are a bit suggestive and I would like to kindly turn the tables and ask you why you felt you needed to portray these women in such a sexually suggestive light than a professional light," he commented.

Other writers on Hacker News said the photographs had a "scammy" feel of adult sites.

"The text sounds scammy and the photos of attractive women just give the entire thing a 'spam' feel. It's not a slight against female engineers," said one person.

Another wrote: "I don't think it's the fact that the women are intrinsically attractive, but rather the fact that they're consciously choosing the pose/makeup/lighting in order the emulate the design language of the adultFriendFinder-style ads ... The fact that most of the copy could apply equally well to sex trafficking doesn't help much either."

Mr Du Val later updated his blog to say LinkedIn had agreed to run the ads and admitted the company had used stock photos for some of their advertising, although he said they were not the ones that got the company banned.

Do you think LinkedIn went too far by blocking the ads? Continue the conversation on Twitter @Victoria - Craw @newscomauHQ

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Why should I bother voting at all?

Leader of the opposition Tony Abbot helps Federal member for Kooyong Josh Frydenberg launch his election campaign from his office in Kew. Picture: News Limited Source: News Limited

Kate Midena. Picture: Supplied Source: NewsComAu

YESTERDAY, the election was called, and my heart sank.

A girlfriend messaged me about it, and my only reply was: "Argh, really?"

Although I have only been of voting age for eight years, never have I felt so disillusioned about an election. My problem? I just don't agree with many of the policies any of the political parties hold.

And even more than that? I don't particularly like any of them, either.

My conflict has been dormant for quite some time, but flared up when Labor announced their asylum-seeker policy change in July. That was the last thread tying me to the Labor Party and when it announced plans to send future asylum seekers to Papua New Guinea, they lost the only thing I felt like they had going for them.

My response to this decision was influenced by a recent holiday I took to Darwin. While there, I met a 17-year-old boy who had fled Nepal, seeking asylum in Australia. He had been held in detention for six months when I met him. He came alone. A friend he had made while in detention committed suicide weeks before. The pain on his face was heartbreaking. As I looked at his frail little figure I thought about all the other 17-year-old children I knew - the ones who are studying for their HSC, starting apprenticeships, working after-hours at Coles. At the time, I could not believe we treated anyone like that in this country, let alone a child - but little did I know that it would get worse. We would now be sending these people to one of the poorest and most dangerous countries in the world. It seems to me we'd rather pay another country to take away our "problems", rather than carry the social cost of embracing a group of broken people. Remember, that's what we're talking about here. People.

I cannot tell you how much it upsets me that yesterday, before Rudd announced the election date, he went to church. It seems Rudd uses Christianity when it's convenient, and it not only smacks of hypocrisy, but highlights a lack of personal identity. The more Rudd changes his mind on things he has previously been so vocal about, the less I trust him. If you're an avid social media user, you would have seen a picture doing the rounds which shows an excerpt from an article Rudd wrote for The Monthly in 2006. The quote reads:

"Another great challenge of our age is asylum seekers. The biblical injunction to care for the stranger in our midst is clear. The parable of the Good Samaritan is but one of many which deal with the matter of how we should respond to a vulnerable stranger in our midst. That is why the government's proposal to excise the Australian mainland from the entire Australian migration zone and to rely almost exclusively on the so-called Pacific Solution should be the cause of great ethical concern to all the Christian churches. We should never forget that the reason we have a UN convention on the protection of refugees is in large part because of the horror of the Holocaust, when the West (including Australia) turned its back on the Jewish people of Germany and the other occupied countries of Europe who sought asylum during the '30s."

How someone can backflip so much on an issue they seem to feel so strongly about as a Christian completely baffles me. But it also frightens me. If Rudd and the Labor Party can change their minds about an issue that affects the world's most vulnerable, what else will they change their minds about? The carbon tax? Disability care? The volatility of their party casts doubt on their ability to lead - I didn't agree with the ousting of Rudd in 2010, but I agreed even less with Rudd's re-entry to the leadership in June this year. People around me were saying things like 'Justice has been served!" - but since when do two wrongs make a right? And don't even get me started on the multi-million dollar "You Won't Be Settled in Australia" campaign.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and wife Terese Rein leaving St John the Baptist Anglican Church at Bulimba before announcing the September 7 election date. Picture: Mark Cranitch Source: News Limited

Heartbreakingly, the Liberal Party agrees with Labor's asylum-seeker policy. Tony Abbott's insistence that we need to 'stop the boats' is fear mongering at its worst. His campaign is designed to scare us. Little do many Australians realise that the 45,000 asylum seekers who have recently come here by boat are what other nations receive in a single day, not to mention the fact that we are one of the wealthiest and most spacious countries in the world.

In addition, the attitude of "Let's help the rich get richer" seems to be entrenched in the Liberal Party, as evidenced by their stance on public education and public health - two issues which have always been election deal-breakers for me. I strongly believe this country should be pouring its money into the areas that need it the most. Will the Liberals commit to doing that? How long will the Gonski reform last if Abbott is elected? Abbott said on Friday that he would honour Labor's funding commitments to schools for four years from election, but what happens after that? And will Abbott be able to engage with world leaders?

I can't even begin to lift the lid on Indigenous affairs. Neither major party has a strong solution to minimising the huge gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The intervention just hasn't worked, and when it was extended for another ten years in 2012, indigenous leader Djiniyini Gondarra, who represents 8000 Yolngu people of East Arnhem Land, told AAP: "For those of us living in the Northern Territory the anguish of the past five years of intervention has been almost unbearable. This legislation will be the cause of great suffering in our hearts… it will be a day of mourning for all Aboriginal peoples."

I've been to one of these intervention set-ups in the NT, which claims to be drug, alcohol and pornography-free on paper but translates in real life to third-world housing conditions, through the roof domestic violence rates and a people who are scrambling to find and keep their identity. The apology to the stolen generations in 2007 seems like the distant past when faced with the fact that for every five Indigenous kids living in NT communities now, only one will be able to read at the minimum NAPLAN standard. Where is the party committed to working with Aboriginal leaders like Dr Djiniyini, rather than ruling them?

I almost feel it's hardly worth writing about the minor parties - they have become so overshadowed by the major parties in the past few months. But I will admit that Katter's Australian Party scares me in their radicalism, and while the Greens are highly passionate, they also seem young, inexperienced and impulsive. A vote for them or any other minor party will essentially go towards supporting either Labor or Liberal, and then we're right back to where we started.

So what do I do? Who do I vote for? There seems no real point of difference between our major parties, and it leaves me at a loss. I don't want to cast an informal vote, and I want to play a part in our nation's future. But at what cost? If I lean one way, I'll be damaging people who come to this country to seek refuge; if I lean the other, I'll be putting thousands of kids in public schools and the welfare of poor Australia at risk.

I know that the election is not just up to me, but surely I'm not the only one feeling the weight of this?

Comments on this story have now been closed.

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Mag editor loses cancer battle

A radiant Sarah McCarthy in February 2011. Picture: Andrew Cowen. Source: Supplied

(L-R) Sarah McCarthy from Girlfriend magazine with Ursula Hufnagl from Chic Model Agency in 2008. Source: Supplied

(L-R) Gemma Daniels from Rimmel with Sarah McCarthy at the 2009 Girlfriend Rimmel Model search. Source: Supplied

VIBRANT, clever and always vivacious, former Girlfriend magazine editor Sarah McCarthy (nee Cornish) died over the weekend at the much-too-young age of 38.

A loyal, hard and passionate worker, friends said she worked just as hard on fighting her cancer diagnosis over two years ago.

The effervescent beauty was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in late 2010.

"Sarah found the joy and beauty in anything," says Nicole Sheffield managing director, NewsLifeMedia, who worked with McCarthy during her time at Pacific Magazines.

"She was a joy to work with, her creativity and passion inspired so many young girls through their turbulent tweenage and teenage years. 

"I truly loved working with her in her easy going yet graceful style, it is indeed a sad day and she will be missed by our entire industry."

After trying for a baby with her husband Dan for two years, routine tests performed on McCarthy in 2010 found an ovarian cyst that was cancerous. 

McCarthy had chemotherapy and ultimately underwent a hysterectomy. A few months later, the cancer had spread to her bowel, bladder and colon. But she continued her fight.

Recently friends and family had said McCarthy had been doing well, but after feeling ill late last week she was taken to hospital where she suffered a heart attack on Saturday morning. 

In a statement to staff at Pacific Magazines today, CEO Nick Chan said the news had come as a shock to everyone. 

McCarthy resigned from her successful position as the editor of teen magazine Girlfriend in August 2011 in order to focus her energy on her health. 

A creative and innovative editor, McCarthy was instrumental in the success of the magazine taking it to the number one position in the teen girls' magazine market for the first time since its inception. 

Prior to this she was the editor of Total Girl for four years, the number one 'tween' title in the country.

Under her leadership, Total Girl won two MPA awards, one for 'General Excellence' in 2006 and a 'Consumer Marketing Campaign of the Year' in 2007. 

McCarthy had previously worked across many fashion and lifestyle titles in a number of editorial roles and was instrumental in the launch phase of a number of youth websites including tvhits.com.au, kzone.com.au and the award-winning Girlfriend.com.au.

Like all of her magazine masthead contemporaries, McCarthy was an advocate for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month which supports women battling the disease. A disease where three women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every day in Australia.

Not one for lengthy goodbyes, when McCarthy announced her departure from the magazine in her editor's letter back in 2011 to focus on her health, she was her usual upbeat and energetic self.

"I'm not good at goodbyes or anything that might lead to tears," she told her loyal readers in 2011. "… so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. This is goodbye. Farewell, and lots of love."

A sentiment undeniably echoed now by her peers, colleagues, beloved family, husband and many good friends.

Pay tribute to Sarah McCarthy in the comments below

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The Wolverine diet: What Hugh had to do

Hugh Jackman bares his famous flesh in this still from his new movie, Wolverine. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

HUGH Jackman's own superpower: the ability to drink gallons of water in a single day.

While he's appeared incredibly pumped up in his previous turns as Wolverine, Jackman and director James Mangold decided that for his outing in The Wolverine, the actor was going to have to get even bigger. "Veiny" big. His arms could be read by a blind man.

"I think this is the best or closest to the way that I imagined the character," Jackman tells The Post. To get the ripped silhouette he'd always pictured but never had enough time to build in a gym, Jackman deployed an old bodybuilding trick.

Ahead of key shirtless scenes, he went on a dehydration diet, guzzling up to four gallons of water every day for a week. Then he'd stop drinking all liquid for 24 hours.

"You can lose up to 10 pounds of water weight, particularly the water that sits under your skin," Jackman says. "It really cuts you up."

The actor also trained for months, working out three hours a day over two sessions. For diet help, he turned to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The advice: Pack away 6,000 calories worth of lean meat, fish and vegetables. Every. Single. Day.

On Jackman's Twitter account, the actor occasionally posted photos of that day's menu, which looks like take-out for five people, with rows of containers stuffed with salmon, chicken breast and steamed broccoli. He jokes that "digesting food" is his main occupation now.

Besides helping his body look particularly jacked, the dehydration diet served another purpose: It helped the actor get into character.

At a time when every celebrity foible winds up on YouTube, nary a bad word has tainted Jackman's long showbiz career. He seems to be one of Hollywood's truly nice guys, which makes his transformation into Wolverine even more remarkable.

"On today's menu we have..." Picture: Twitter @RealHughJackman

Wolverine - aka Logan - is a vicious killer, a mutant born with sharp claws that extend from his knuckles and a healing factor that repairs wounds and makes him virtually immortal.

Wolverine was recruited into a secret government program, his bones coated with an indestructible metal and his memory wiped. He eventually joined mutant superteam the X-Men to fight for good, but he continues to be tortured by his past and his animalistic nature.

Meanwhile, Jackman, 44, enjoys show tunes.

Playing the killer required its own method, starting with that dehydration diet. "Trust me, that really pisses you off," Jackman says. "I wouldn't recommend that for everyone."

He also begins each day with a cold shower, because that's a good "physical trigger" to becoming angry. The morning workouts are also key.

"That kind of zone you need to be into with that intense training is similar to the state that Wolverine lives in all the time," he says.

Jackman no doubt puts so much into playing the mutant superhero because landing the role helped turn him into a superstar. (He scored the Wolverine gig after fellow Aussie Dougray Scott got held up making Mission: Impossible 2.)

The Wolverine marks Jackman's sixth outing as the character, beginning with X-Men. Considering that most franchises get rebooted and actors replaced after three films, having a single man play the role for more than a decade is quite a feat.

"5am car park deadlifts with @davidkingsbury" Picture: Twitter @RealHughJackman

So 13 years on, a lot is riding on The Wolverine, in part because the character's first solo outing, 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, was considered a dud by critics and fanboys alike.

"Oh, yeah. I'm aware of the disappointment [some people felt], and on some level, for good reason," the actor says. "Everyone would stop me in the street to tell me all about it. It's a character that's been around for a while, and people are passionate about it, and they're not bashful in coming forward."

Jackman promises that this movie will be different, presenting a purer picture of the character. The plot is based on one of the most beloved comic book arcs in history, 1982's Wolverine by writer Chris Claremont and artist Frank Miller (of "Sin City" and "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns").

Jackman first read the series preparing for "X-Men" and immediately told producer Lauren Shuler Donner, "Now this is a movie!" He's been waiting 13 years to see it on-screen.

The Wolverine finds Logan traveling to Japan at the behest of a dying former soldier, whose life the hero saved during World War II. Once there, Wolverine hooks up with the old man's granddaughter, Mariko (Tao Okamoto), battles ninjas, yakuza and the armored Silver Samurai (Will Yun Lee). He may also lose his healing power.

"I always thought it would be a great juxtaposition to have this guy in Japan, because in many ways, he embodies the opposite of all Japanese traditions and honor and codes," Jackman says. "He's a lone wolf. He does what he wants."

As the film progresses, Wolverine learns to appreciate the Japanese way of life. "This is a person who's lost. He's a warrior but he's struggling to find purpose," Jackman says. "That whole code of the samurai and honor and bravery and him coming to respect that and know himself is a really good canvas for the writers to work with."

The movie could have been very different. Initially, Darren Aronofsky of Black Swan was hired to direct. He later dropped out of the project, saying he was reluctant to spend so much time overseas away from his family, but rumor had it that he bolted after clashing with the studio over the film's rating. Aronofsky was supposedly keen to do a hard-edged, blood-soaked, R-rated adventure.

Watch the official trailer exclusive for The Wolverine, starring Hugh Jackman

Jackman says that's not entirely true and that Aronofsky wasn't completely sold on making a film for adults. "At the end of the day, even Darren was aware that I run into so many 12-year-olds or 13-year-olds [to whom] Wolverine is not just cool, he's very important," Jackman says. "To deliberately exclude them was never something we were going to do lightly."

For fans who love Jackman in the role that made him world-famous, this may well be one of the last times to see him on screen. The 44-year-old is currently shooting the sequel to X-Men: First Class, called X-Men: Days of Future Past, and after that, he doesn't yet have plans to strap on the claws again.

"I don't want to tease you and say this is the last one," Jackman says. "But my basic philosophy is that I go movie-to-movie and see how it all goes, but if I don't feel I have anything new or different to offer or the story doesn't progress in some way, then I won't be doing it."

So, yes, there may come a time for someone else to grow those iconic muttonchops. But here's hoping not for many years.

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Ivan Milat's other victim

Ivan Milat with two of the firearms among his arsenal of weapons. Picture: Supplied. Source: Supplied

AN 18-year-old who was stabbed and then shot, execution style, and his body covered with branches in the Jenolan State Forest forest west of Sydney is serial killer Ivan Milat's eighth victim, says the former task force commander who led the backpacker murder investigation.

Following Milat's conviction in 1996 for the murder of seven backpackers, police reconsidered dozens of unsolved murder cases to see whether the victims could have been slain by Milat.

But former NSW Police assistant commissioner Clive Small has revised down the potential cases to just one, whose style of killing, burial - and the date of his death - make him a certain victim of Milat's killing spree.

Former NSW Police assistant commissioner, Clive Small. Source: News Limited

"There was a pattern to the Ivan's killing that had to do with his personal circumstances," Mr Small told news.com.au.

"When he killed he was by himself, or he wasn't in full control of his relationship, or it was falling apart or it had ended.

"With Ivan it was all about control and when Peter Letcher was murdered Ivan had broken up with his partner.

"The other murders [that have been attributed to Ivan] don't fit the pattern."

It was on a Friday in November 1987 that Mr Letcher found himself flat broke and in need of a lift to Bathurst from Sydney.

An unemployed sawmiller, he had travelled to Sydney to propose to his 15-year-old girlfriend, who told him she was too young to get married.

Peter Letcher's clothes. Source: Supplied

Mr Letcher, one of four children, had lost touch with his family and had not lived at home for the two years before his murder, after losing his job at a timber mill.

"He was as good as gold before he lost his job but he had been a bit of a wayward person after that," his mother, Ann Letcher later said.

He was last seen alive on November 13, when he left Busby in south-western Sydney, saying he intended hitchhiking back home.

Mr Letcher never made it home.

Peter Letcher intended hitchhiking from south-western Sydney home to Bathurst — he never made it home. Picture: Supplied. Source: Supplied

Around the same time, Milat was working for the Department of Main Roads (DMR) as a surface sprayer.

Milat had been charged, but acquitted, of the rape of two young female hitchhikers he picked up near Liverpool railway station in south-western Sydney in 1971.

When that occurred, Mr Small said, Milat was not in a relationship.

He subsequently married a young woman, Karen Duck, but in 1987 the relationship was falling apart.

He had a growing obsession with guns which frightened Ms Duck, and an armoury which included large knives, a pistol, a revolver and a Ruger 10/22 rifle.

Serial killer Ivan Milat. Picture: News Limited. Source: News Limited

He took her on four tours of the remote Belnaglo Forest and once to the Jenolan State Forest, to see a dirt track and a pine plantation.

Ms Duck decided to leave her marriage with Milat, setting off, Mr Small says, the same emotional circumstances which triggered all his killings.

In the days before Mr Letcher disappeared, Milat was working for the DMR in the Jenolan State Forest area, 160kms west of Sydney, and living in south-western Sydney.

On January 21, 1988, two bushwalkers came across Mr Letcher's remains, 15m off a forest trail in a clear-felled section of forest about 20km from the tourist attraction, the Jenolan Caves.

His body was lying face down in a shallow ditch, covered in branches and leaf litter.

He was clad only in jeans, football socks and running shoes.

Nearby lay his shirt and jumper, which were riddled with bullet holes.

The body was badly decomposed and it was only after forensic tests that police discovered the bullet wounds to his head.

Investigating detectives concluded Mr Letcher had been bound and blindfolded, stabbed multiple times in the back and shot five times in the head with a .22 calibre weapon.

A whisky bottle was found at the scene.

Police search the Jenolan State Forest where the body of Peter Letcher was found in January, 1988. Source: Supplied

Mr Letcher's murder happened two years before the first known backpacker murders were to occur, of Melbourne teenagers, Deborah Everist and James Gibson, who died from multiple stab wounds in December, 1989.

Twenty-six days after their disappearance, British hitchhiker, Paul Onions, escaped from the vehicle of a gun-wielding man on the Hume Highway, 800m north of the Belanglo Forest turn-off.

Milat's other victims were:

• German Simone Schmidl, 20, who disappeared in January 1991, who died from multiple stab wounds, including a knife through her spinal cord.

• Britons Caroline Clarke, 21, who was shot 10 times as if she was target practice and Joanne Walters, who was stabbed.

• German former soldier, Gabor Neugebauer, 21, who was gagged and shot six times and his 20-year-old girlfriend, Anja Habschied, who was decapitated and her spinal cord severed.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr Rod Milton concluded the backpacker killer took great enjoyment out of the killing scene and arranged his victims' bodies like "babes in the wood".

Beer bottles and cigarette butts were found near some of the burial sites and the bodies were placed in shallow graves and covered with branches and leaves.

"After his wife left him, Ivan went off the rails," Mr Small said.

Milat has been named as a suspect in the murders of Sydney nurses Gillian Jamieson and Deborah Balkan, both 20, who disappeared from a Parramatta Hotel in 1980, and many other cases.

"But it's the Peter Letcher case that fits Ivan," Mr Small said.

Police made a search of the area where Mr Letcher's remains were found following Milat's conviction on the backpacker murders, but at the time could find no evidence of any further killings.

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