Heroes - ordinary people with extraordinary powers. Photo courtesy of BBC Pictures
IF you could choose to have any super power, what would it be and how would you use it?
Heroes, the smash-hit US show, returned for its second series on BBC2 last night.
The show follows the adventures of normal people who discover they have super-human abilities.
One hero can travel through time, another is able to instantly regenerate, one of them can hear people's thoughts and another can fly.
News Shopper staff were asked to say what power they would like to have, and what they would do with it. Would they use their special power to do good or bad?
Here's mine first:
Simon Bull
The saying goes that knowledge is power, and so I would choose being able to absorb vast amounts of information as my special ability - being able to instantly learn new skills without being taught, memorising the whole of the internet, being able to get through a novel in seconds.
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This would have obvious benefits in my job as a web editor and would also enhance my chances of winning any TV quiz shows I might enter. It would also mean I could get through the big piles of books on my bedside table.
Best of all, I would never be wrong about anything ever again.
Claire Bennet's super power is spontaneous regeneration. Photo courtesy of BBC Pictures
And I suppose that if someone came along and begged me long enough to put my power to a worthy use for the good of the world then I might reluctantly be tempted.
Matthew Jenkin
I would definitely have the ability to bend time and space like Hiro in the show. That way I can have a month-long lunch break in Brazil and re-live all the best bits whenever I like.
Colin Miller
I would very much like the ability to teleport. It would save me a fortune on car tax, petrol and insurance, plus I wouldn't be subjected to public transport. I also wouldn't have a problem with timekeeping.
Claire Burke
It might be a bit predictable but I would choose to be able to fly. I wouldn't have to endure the horrors of a packed rush-hour Nothern line tube, and when trains are delayed it wouldn't matter because I could just fly to my destination.
It would be a great way of seeing the wonders of the world, imagine flying over Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, the Amazon - and I reckon flying might be a good cure for a hangover.
I'm not sure how it would help others, but I'd enjoy it.
Glynn Garlick
One of the new characters in Heroes has the Midas touch - he can turn things into gold.
I'd do good things with this ability in relation to my bank account and my DVD/CD collection.
And, of course, my hi-fi, TV etc.
Mark George
It would have to be time travel for me. Then I could go back to see England win the World Cup, Keith Moon drumming with The Who, find out who shot JFK and, of course, watch some of the greatest moments in baseball history.
Thom Kennedy
I would love to be able to stop time. This would give the same powers as several other talents, as I would be able to zip anywhere in what seemed to others like an instant, dodge things that were thrown at me, and get much more done in my day. I would get out of bed at 8.59am, and saunter to work in a leisurely fashion, maybe stealing ice creams from unassuming time-frozen children along the way (I would be evil, incidentally), and still arrive bang on time.
I would also use this power to have fun with other people's possessions, in a Ferris Bueller's Day Off style, and would occasionally like to stop time just for the sake of putting bras on people for a joke. This would be particularly hilarious were I to step into the middle of a political debate, and dress David Cameron as Little Bo Peep without him realising, or to kit the entire Hartlepool United starting eleven out as cheerleaders just as a match is kicking off.
The downside would be that because I was existing while others were frozen, I would appear to the naked eye to age much quicker than everyone else on earth, so I would naturally have to incorporate some kind of anti-ageing technique into my heroic power (which might also combat the onset of premature hair loss). Since we're on, I might be able to jump really far as well.
And yes, as you ask, I have thought a lot about this.
Amber Windsor
I think mine would have to be the ability to stop time. I know it's a classic but that's it.
Or the ability to spin around really fast and change clothes, like on Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Mark Edwards
I would choose super speed as I am always in a rush.
Also, being so well into my late 20s that I'm actually 38, I wouldn't mind the power of eternal youth.
Something the assorted geeks on Heroes haven't paid any attention to, and which is, in my opinion, the show's main failing, is the costumes. They don't have any! Whatever power I have, the costume will have to be just as super.
Kerry Ann Eustice
It has taken me so long to decide what super power to opt for - if I go for invisibility now, what if I need flying next week? I have decided (or undecided?!) to go for the power of good decision making.
Hopefully this will banish my indecisiveness for good. It will also rub off on those around me - there's nothing worse than someone flaky when you're in a restaurant, shoe shopping or in an emergency.
I've also made some pretty dodgy choices in the past, so this has the potential to banish fashion, hair and lifestyle disasters. I'd also be the best person to come to for advice, so I'd be super popular with all my super-powered pals.
Helen Backway
In a way it would be really amazing to have Claire's ability to run through fire, jump from a high building and still be able to repair yourself, and how amazing would it be to be invisible (to hear what people really think of or to play tricks on people)?
However, following my skydive at 11,000ft which for a few minutes gave me the idea of what it would be like to fly, it has to be flying. If things got too much it would be fantastic to be able to take off and land on the top of a roof somewhere. And travelling by air would be so much easier than waiting for a train which was delayed or getting stuck in a traffic jam!
Now it's over to you. IF you could choose to have any super power, what would it be and how would you use it? Add your comments below.
Posted by: Your Lord Erastus Theobald Piggott The All Knowing Guru, The Library on 5:39pm Fri 25 Apr 08
[bold]Your Lord[/bold] has no real need to possess super powers as he is already a super man.
Still, if I had to make a choice I would choose x-ray vision which would enable me to see inside my butler [bold]Grimes[/bold]' stomach when I suspect that he has been at his master's brandy again.
[bold]Your Lord, Erastus Theobald Piggott[/bold]
Your Lord has no real need to possess super powers as he is already a super man.
Still, if I had to make a choice I would choose x-ray vision which would enable me to see inside my butler Grimes' stomach when I suspect that he has been at his master's brandy again.
Posted by: who do u think u r, here and there on 7:27am Mon 28 Apr 08
id like to possess the power to trace the merchant bankers that frequant this site, going around correcting everyone elses spelling and grammer mistakes just because they have finally learnt how to use microsoft works word, once found id like to expose them and the whiter than white brigade as the caravan dwelling, dole drawing pond life that they really are !
id like to possess the power to trace the merchant bankers that frequant this site, going around correcting everyone elses spelling and grammer mistakes just because they have finally learnt how to use microsoft works word, once found id like to expose them and the whiter than white brigade as the caravan dwelling, dole drawing pond life that they really are !
I would like to have the power of improving people's manners. It's what your parents teach you whilst you grow up but it looks like so many have failed. Wouldn't it be lovely for people to naturally say [italic]sorry[/italic] , [italic]thank you[/italic] , and even adding a little[italic]smile[/italic]for a change. It certainly would help make the world go round in a much more calmer and methodical manner.
I would like to have the power of improving people's manners. It's what your parents teach you whilst you grow up but it looks like so many have failed. Wouldn't it be lovely for people to naturally say sorry , thank you , and even adding a littlesmilefor a change. It certainly would help make the world go round in a much more calmer and methodical manner.
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