Watching Doctor Who

Today I come to you live from my husband’s laptop, as mine is still a brick. Sigh. Anyway, I was able to access only a couple of photos from day two of Gallifrey One, but that is better than nothing, yeah?

Day two saw me going to relatively few events, but what events they were! We started out the day with the live commentary for Steven Moffat’s episode Blink. The room was packed. Seriously. There were about twice the recommended amount of people in there. (They’ve promised to do these in the Main Room next year, seeing as they are so popular.) Now, I am very claustrophobic, but I managed to not look behind me and instead to pay attention to the event itself. Mr. Moffat was fabulous. He accidentally said the name of his episode for next series at one point, then gave in and said it a couple times more. (It’s a two-parter, but one episode is called “S~~ in the Library” I could have sworn he said “Sleeper in the Library”, but Erik disagrees. So at least we have the “s” and the library part. Sorry. I know that I should have written it down.) We were also treated to his impression of David Tennant filming. Moffat can really switch accents perfectly. It’s difficult to recreate in text but, it was something like: (English)Take that you…(/English) (Scottish)Oh, Fuckity Bollocks.(/Scottish) Um…yeah. You’ll just have to take my word for it. (He and David are both from Paisley, after all.)

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Gallifrey One, Steven Moffat, Blink

Gallifrey One’s Nineteenth Symphony: Opus 2008 was possibly more fun than last year, even given that I had to drive the seven hours by myself again. (That drive is just exhausting. Remind me to take an extra day off next year so that I don’t have to go back to work the day after a drive like that.) I arrived in L.A. a day early, so my Evil Twin and I found some time to go over to the Harry Potter Store in Santa Monica. This also allowed me to call my Mum from just outside her High School.

Anyway, the day of the Con finally arrived and we drove there through slightly less traffic than I was expecting. Once we got our badges sorted out we headed straight for the Dealer’s Room. Sadly (or…perhaps not so sadly considering that I had much less money to spend this year) the fabulous artist from last year was not in attendance. Also, the jewelry artist from last year did not arrive until much later. It didn’t really matter though. There was still plenty to look at. And look I did. I purchased a couple of pictures almost right away. One was a sexy Billie Piper pic for my husband who could not join me, and the other was a publicity still from the Torchwood episode: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. I’ll be adding these to my Wall of Who, so you’ll be seeing them at some point. I just need to buy more frames. Thinking of the long drive home that I wuld be dealing with in a couple of days, I also bought the Big Finish Doctor Who Audio Adventure: The Marian Conspiracy. It’s number six of those adventures, but I’ve been told several times that it’s good, so there you are.

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Hello all! I’m back. I don’t want you all to think that I’ve forgotten about you, so here is my annual picture of me in front of the TARDIS to prove that I did in fact go to Gallifrey One 2008. This year I even remembered to take my hair down for the picture, so that I don’t look like I haven’t got any. Fabulous convention, by the way. I’ve already signed up for next year (and saved a bunch of money by doing so.) The Con reports shall begin tomorrow once I get home from work, but for now, I’m exhausted after driving for seven hours to get home. So, I’ll leave you with a picture of Five Doctors Dancing (thanks to Erik for this pic, as mine didn’t turn out.) I did take lots of pics, so I’ll sort through them and be sure to post the best.

Gallifrey One

Hello Folks! It’s that time of year again. The Doctor Who convention known as Gallifrey One will be at the Los Angeles Marriott on February 15-17 this year. This week, my question for you is quite a simple one: Are you going to Gallifrey One this year? I and my trusty red trainers will be. (Okay, and my husband, and evil twin, and my evil twin’s dad. Quite the entourage, actually.) I plan to take lots of pictures and take in as much of the programming as possible. Oh, and get Steven Moffat’s autograph. Seriously. I didn’t get it last year, and I’m still annoyed. I am also hoping not to faint in the autograph line for Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred.

As a side note, I have taken next week off of my day job. As such, the posts next week will not stick to their usual pattern. I’ll see what fun I can cook up to keep you entertained in my absence. When I return, I will type up my Con Reports, just like I did last year. I’m bringing my camera to the Con. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

So, will any of you folks be there?

Doctor Who, Gallifrey One

With the Gallifrey One convention coming up I got to thinking about who I’d like to see at one of these events. They have all sorts of folks at conventions: screen actors, voice actors, scriptwriters, authors, etc. This led me to this week’s question: Who would you most like to see at a Convention? Are you keen to see Paul Cornell? Are you dying to meet Sophie Aldred? Would you be interested to see Janet Fielding? Who would make you appear at the convention, regardless of what you had previously planned on doing? As usual, I offer you a few ideas to get you started, but feel free to wander off like most companions do.

Some folks that you may have heard of:
1. Peter Davison (The 5th Doctor)
2. Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon)
3. Billie Piper (Rose Tyler)
4. Tom Baker (The 4th Doctor)
5. Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones)
6. Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart)
7. Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith)
8. Christopher Eccleston (The 9th Doctor)
9. Paul McGann (The 8th Doctor)
10. Russell T. Davies (Mastermind)

Personally, I’m keen to see all sorts of folks at a convention. It takes so little to make me go all fangirl, as those of you who read my convention review last year know. (Ohmigod! It’s Paul Cornell! I can’t eat. He’s sitting right there!) The person that I would change all sort of plans for, and perhaps figure out how to bend the laws of time to see, would be Christopher Eccleston. Sadly, I rather expect that he is the last person that I will ever see at a convention. That’s okay. I can wait until he’s eighty and needs the money. My second choice would be David Tennant. I know that my husband would choose Billie Piper.

So…who would you love to see at a convention?

Gallifrey One, Christopher Eccleston, convention

Well, the Conflux Virtual Mini-Con was this last weekend, and I had a blast. It was 1am in Canberra (Austrailia) and 8am the previous day in California. I believe that Catslyn from Watching Stargate and I sufficiently entertained the few folks that showed up to chat. I was *so* nervous, as I’ve never been the person that folks were coming to see at a con before, but it turned out just fine. It turned into quite the mix of trivia and conversation. If you missed out and still would like to see what we talked about go here to enjoy the “Sci Fi in Cyberspace” group.

Catslyn’s Con Report is here. Check it out!

During the San Diego Comic-Con (that I didn’t get to go to *sniffle*) came the announcement of a Doctor Who Comic Book featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha. The stories will take place in the latter part of series three and word has it that they are canon. Gary Russell (Doctor Who script editor) is signed to write the stories, and Nick Roche will be doing the artwork. We can expect these comics to appear beginning in early 2008. For more info (and more sketches) check out the article over at Comic Book Resources. And now I have yet another thing to hunt for in comic shops.

In other news, I am going to be participating in a Convention. As an invited guest, if you can believe it. Yep. Catslyn from Watching Stargate and I are filling the 1am (Australia Time) timeslot (That’s 8am, Pacific Time) for the Conflux Virtual Mini-Con. We are the SciFi in Cyberspace group. Go us! The Mini-Con is free, so come on over and chat with us.

Torchwood is coming to HD in the US in September. It will appear on HDNet. (Now, if only I had an HD TV.)

If you would like to read some spoilery information about series 4 of Doctor Who, and series 2 of Torchwood, you might just check out this interview with Julie Gardner from iF Magazine. She has a bunch to say. (pssst! She doesn’t think that RTD will quit.)

Colin Baker (the 6th Doctor) is glad that the new show is doing well, because now his daughters think he is cool. (They’ve even gone back and enjoyed his episodes now. I’m glad to know that they’ve seen the light.)

The folks over at david-tennant.com are raising money for the ACCORD hospice in Paisley in memory of David’s mother Helen. Be sure to stop by and see if you can help out. Go here to check out the auction. You can read a BBC article about the effort here.

John Normington, who played the older Tom Flanagan in the Torchwood episode Ghost Machine, has passed away. He was 70.

First a comic book, and now a video game. That’s right, a video game. Not much is known about the Doctor Who video game at present, beyond its appearing during the holidays, and availability on more that one platform. In the UK, anyway. No word on theoretical availability in the US yet (sigh.)

*whew* Well, that’s it for this week. Don’t forget to join me for the mini-con.

Image Source: Comic Book Resources

San Diego Comic-Con, Gary Russell, Doctor Who, Nick Roche, Conflux Virtual Mini-Con, Torchwood, Doctor Who, Julie Gardner, Colin Baker, John Normington

(My friend Erik, with whom I attended Gallifrey One this year, spent last weekend at the San Diego Comic-Con. Because he is incredibly cool, he took some pictures for me while he was there, and even wrote up a wee con report. So, take it away Erik - our reporter in the field!)

A Brief Report on Comic Con by Erik

There won’t be much in the way of gossip or brand spanking new details of the upcoming series here, but more of a general feel at the convention.

This was the 4th Comic Con I’ve been lucky enough to attend. They are complete madness…but in a good way. It has everything a geek could want (apparently a lot of geeks as it has become almost unbearably crowded lately). However, one thing that was for the most part missing from the con was signs of Doctor Who. Sure, you could sometimes find some back issues of the Marvel comic from the ’80s stuffed in random long boxes or the occasional plastic K-9 but no real sense that he was there.

That all changed this year. Among other things, there was the Doctor Who booth that was larger than twice the size of the average booth (not counting the huge ones from the studios and such) and there was always a large crowd around it. Besides the life-sized Dalek threatening us, it was filled with all the new toys, including the new line based on the third series. There was even a Face of Boe that made me happy. And what was most significant to me were the two Convention Exclusives, a Dalek
and Cyberman variant that were only available there. There was also a large amount of bootlegs of the episodes yet to be shown in the States, including Torchwood, the Fox movie from a few years back and the Sarah Jane Adventures.

The other thing that caught my attention was the number of people dressed as the Doctor. I saw five 10th Doctors alone! This compared to zero the previous three years. Heck, there was even a woman dressed as a character from Torchwood! There were more Doctors than Batman’s or Spider-Man’s. Granted, there were still more Stormtroopers and Anime characters walking among us, but this showed me that he has made his way into the community at large in a big way over the last couple of years.

Sadly, I missed the Torchwood panel (was working on Thursday), but again, that was something very exciting to see included in the main programming, among the Kevin Smith & Kate Beckinsale appearances and “Heroes” panels.

All in all, it did this long time Whovian’s heart good to see the strong showing our old friend had this year. There wasn’t even that “true fan” feeling of “Oh, sure, NOW you jump on the bandwagon!” I was just happy that so many people are discovering and enjoying him. Now next year, I’m thinking Mr. Tennant needs to make an appearance…

San Diego Comic-Con, Doctor Who, Dalek, Face of Boe, Torchwood

You may recall some of the stuff that I mentioned purchasing in the Dealer’s Room at Gallifrey One. Yes? Well, I got some pictures of a couple of things, and I thought that I’d share them with you. Enjoy!

Picture 1: My Necklace from Springtime Creations. (They really need to update their website.) Please note the Seal of Rassilon. They had several necklaces featuring that motif, as well as some with tiny old-style TARDIS keys.

Picture 2: Newly Framed Art by Carolyn Edwards, who now has a bit of a Con Report of her own up on her blog. She has also posted a wee picture of this, her best-selling picture at the Con. It sounds like she’ll be back next year. Yea! (Now, I need to start saving to be able to afford some of her custom work.)

Picture 3: Autographed Gallifrey One Program Cover that was easier to frame than Colin Baker’s Autograph. Yes, this is sort of turning into a slide show, but I had to show y’all this one. The program cover was already “suitable for framing.” (Hey…are the Dalek and Cyberman surrounded by Stargates?) I had way too much fun getting everyone’s autograph, even if I didn’t manage to get one from Steven Moffat. (Paul Cornell’s signature is to the right and slightly above the R.)

Picture 4: My Big Geeky Wall that has all of this stuff on it. Sgt. Benton is on the right above the Billie Piper calendar. The three pictures above my Colin Baker autograph are some art that my husband has been working on lately. As you can see, there is room for more. *grin*

So, there you go. Now you see what happens when I have a bit too much fun at a Convention. I come home and get creative with a blank wall. It’s a darn good thing that my husband is also a fan, eh?

Gallifrey One, Springtime Creations, Carolyn Edwards, Colin Baker, Steven Moffat, Paul Cornell, Sgt. Benton, Billie Piper

Sorry that this bit has taken so long, but I’ve been a bit busy with the changing of my job. Anyway, the picture at the top of this post was not taken by me. You can tell this, because the image isn’t blurry. You can easily tell that it is a picture of Erik and Colin Baker. Thanks for letting me use the pic, Erik! Well, on the third day of the Convention, we didn’t arrive until after lunch, so I missed out on Steven Moffat’s autograph session (pout). When we arrived, we went straight for the Dealer’s Room where I purchased a Valentine’s Day gift for my husband. Yes, I got him the TARDIS playset. (It moves and makes the proper noises. He’s put it together already, and he loves it.) I picked up a few other odds and ends, and completely ran out of money. Once we were done, Erik kindly took my new copy of Doctor Who: The Inside Story into the second autograph session where he got the picture with Colin Baker and had Gary Russell (the author of my book) sign it for me. During this time, Erik’s Dad and I sat in on some of the Charity Auction. Ah, yes, the Charity Auction. Please recall what I said about having run out of money, so that you can feel my pain when I tell you that Steven Moffat’s autograph went for $5. Argh! Well…*sniffle* maybe he’ll be back next year. A little after I didn’t get Steven Moffat’s autograph the second time, I got into the last autograph line of the day. That line was in fact the only reason that I was still at the Convention, as I still had a seven hour drive ahead of me. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will understand when I tell you that Paul Cornell was signing autographs at that time (along with his wife, who is currently working on a graduate degree in Theology at Oxford. Sigh. I always wanted to go to Oxford. She has also co-written some things with Paul.) I got several more autographs on my program cover, and I actually got to talk to Mr. Cornell for a few seconds. I told him that Father’s Day was my favorite episode from series one, and that I enjoyed his discussion of canonicity on his blog. He told me that the canonicity post had spread across the web, and he had started to feel that he’d come along holding a sign saying “don’t do this” into a room of people who hadn’t thought to do that until they saw the sign. Poor guy. Oh, and Peter Anghelides was wearing another cool t-shirt with a picture of the TARDIS at the bottom, and “Da-da-da-dum…” above it. The words to the theme song, you know. And then, sadly, it was the end. We ran off to have dinner, and I got home at about one a.m. I had a great time, and I hope that I get to go back next year. I’m pretty sure that we’ll get a room at the hotel next time. That way we can take a nap when we need to.

There you go! I hope that my Con report gave you an idea of exactly how much fun I had at Gallifrey One. TTFN

Colin Baker, Steven Moffat, Doctor Who: The Inside Story, Gary Russell, Paul Cornell

On Saturday, we arrived at the Convention before breakfast, and drove past Colin Baker walking along the road (we later learned that the breakfast queue was too long in the Convention hotel, so he was off to a different one). We really enjoyed the breakfast at Latitude 33, and thus fortified we set off for the Dealer’s Room. (Cue the choir of angels and the bright heavenly spotlight) Well, there weren’t really that many dealers, but they had so much *stuff*! I would like it known that I did actually make it once around the room before I started buying things (yes, I will have items to review for a while). Springtime Creations had some wonderful jewelry, and it turns out that they are located in the same town as my new job. They really need to update their website to show their little TARDIS keys and Seals of Rassilon. I eventually gave in and purchased a lovely garnet necklace with a Seal of Rassilon as the pendant (purrrrr). Bearing in mind my mission to buy many cool things for my Husband, I decided that it would be best to start with a Billie Piper calendar. I followed that with a copy of the sign on the front of the TARDIS. Then we found Carolyn Edwards at her table selling some beautiful art. Erik and Gerry parted with much hard-earned cash at this point. I bought one piece of her art that is even now out getting framed. (Yes, out getting framed. I have all kinds of things that need professional framing work, but I went out on Monday and got her art to the framer.) Check out her art, and I think you’ll see why. I’m thinking that I should start collecting her work.

Anyway, we were in the Dealer’s Room until lunchtime. Lunch was Latitude 33 again, and my food tasted *so* good. (It seems to me that they must put something addictive in the dip for the Chicken Satay.) We got done in time to see the end of the Eric Roberts interview (it appears the Mr. Roberts is a Doctor Who fan), and then is was time to get in our first autograph line. Things were a bit late in starting, but that was just as well, as Eric Roberts turned out to be signing autographs in the Dealer’s room instead of with the other folks. Erik got through Mr. Roberts’ line and back to where I was waiting before my line started. (Gerry was sitting on one of the benches near the Dealer’s Room this whole time, so his autograph from Mr. Roberts says “Gerry, where were you?”). I’d never done an autograph line thing before, but it turned out to be quite fun. Everyone signed the front of my program (as you can imagine, I’m framing that) and I profess myself well pleased by the cross-section of Doctor Who folks that were there. Peter Anghelides was wearing a t-shirt with a artistic rendering of The Empty Child that said “Are you my Mummy?” Simon Guerrier pointed out that if you remove the vowels from his last name, it becomes merely “Grrr.” I was almost too nervous to talk to Colin Baker, but by the time we got to Terry Molloy I was able to joke with him about the previous night’s game show. “I had to let Colin win. He cries, you know.” Oh, and I did buy pictures from Colin Baker, John Levene (Sgt. Benton) and Mike Tucker for them to autograph. So, between the Dealer’s Room and the Autograph line, my funds were quite depleated. Sadly, the autographs took so long that I missed out on the live “Girl in the Fireplace” commentary. (That is to say, when I walked by the room was packed.) We did manage to watch the very end of the Caroline John interview, after which Erik took my picture in front of the TARDIS. The Memories of Doctor Who panel with John Levene, Terry Molloy, and Geoffrey Beevers turned out to be very illuminating. Did you know that John Levene is married to a Warner Brother’s executive? Well, he didn’t know that Geoffrey Beevers was married to Caroline John, so you’re even. (Mr. Beevers turned to the audience and asked, “How many of you didn’t know that I’m married to Caroline?” Only 3 half-raised hands greeted this question, so he turned to John with a “See? They knew.”)

We had planned to stay and see the production of The Ten Doctors play, but we were really tired by this point. This is why I’m thinking that I need to get a hotel room next time, that way I could go take a nap and be ready for evening activities. I should also mention here that I didn’t see all that many folks in costume at this event. I saw one 10th Doctor, one 9th Doctor, two Captain Jacks, one Ianto, one Rose, one Jamie McCrimmon, and one random tall bloke in silver that might have been a headless Cyberman(?). This only re-affirms my plan to make a Romana II costume. Oh! I should point out that among the other cool things that I purchased for my husband in the Dealer’s Room was one of those disappearing TARDIS mugs. For myself, of course, I bought some of the Doctor Who Magazines. Anyway, that was the end of the second day of the Con. One more post to come.

Colin Baker, TARDIS, Carolyn Edwards, Eric Roberts, Peter Anghelides, Simon Guerrier, Terry Molloy, John Levene, Mike Tucker, Caroline John, Geoffrey Beevers

Well, Friday I got up early to find that my husband was ill (it turned out to be food poisoning, not the flu that’s going around) and couldn’t go to the convention as we had planned. I thought that my trip would be over before it began, but he insisted that I go without him…and buy him lots of cool stuff at the convention. As you can imagine, I eventually gave in. Seven hours later I and my little green car arrived at my friend’s place in Southern California. (I should mention here, that I don’t normally drive anywhere past the Grapevine on my own.) A tiny bit later we were headed for the Gallifrey One Convention. We paid the weekend fee, and I began to realize that I am not used to being around this many other fans. I kept hearing things like “Bad Wolf” and “Dalek” and people arguing about episodes. It was wonderful (and really weird)! We checked the schedule, and decided to attend the Opening Ceremonies, as none of us had ever been to one before. I am very glad that we did. It may be that I am easily impressed, but I realized suddenly that I recognized some of the folks in the room…and I turned into a star-struck fangirl. Sigh. The phrase, “Oh My God! That’s (insert name here)” seemed to leap repeatedly from my lips. Soon, Outpost Gallifrey’s own Shaun Lyon appeared on stage to greet a larger than expected audience, bring us up to date on a couple of last minute emergency cancellations, and introduce the folks that we were there to see. I should note, that by and large, the men seemed to run for the stage when called, and the ladies showed a bit more decorum. Well, according to one of the ladies, anyway. There were a bunch of folks on the stage at once, so everyone tried to keep their greetings short. When it was Steven Moffat’s turn, he only said “Hugo” and passed the mic along. Cheers and laughter followed that remark, and after everyone else had had their say, Colin Baker had to add “Hugo, I’ll stay.” (Groan. I love a good pun.)

We were starving by the time the opening ceremonies were over, so we went off in search of food…and somehow ended up sitting at a table in the same area with a bunch of Con VIPs. I mean, Paul Cornell walked past me to join his wife at the next table from ours. (Oh My God! Paul Cornell is sitting at the next table!) Dinner ended just in time to watch all but the first 10 minutes of the Doctor Who Christmas special: The Runaway Bride, which Erik and Gerry hadn’t seen before. They really enjoyed it, and we ended up staying for the next event in the “New Earth” room. “Just a Minute” is a game show normally played on the radio, but this time it appeared on the main stage with Paul Cornell as Emcee, and his wife Caroline Symcox as scorekeeper. The object of the game? To speak for a minute on a subject such as “My favorite season” or “My home town” chosen by the Emcee, without pausing, repeating words, or straying from the subject. Colin Baker was born to play this game. Only Terry Molloy (Davros) gave him a run for his money. I could have watched that game all weekend. At one point the token American (I forget his name, sorry) actually got a point, prompting the audience to begin chanting, “USA, USA.” Paul Cornell’s response? “I’ve never seen them do that before. It’s kind of scary.” Not to be outdone, Colin Baker started everyone chanting “Gallifrey, Gallifrey.” In the end, the American (Mark something?) ended up with a whole 2 points, and called Colin a competitive bastard (half-jokingly). Mr. Baker replied, that he was indeed. He won with 17 points. Maggie Stables had one whole point, and Terry Molloy had something like 8. It was 9pm by the time the game was over, so, sadly, the Dealer’s Room had closed. On the way out of the hotel, we ended up on the escalator at the same time as Colin Baker. It was a really long escalator, come to think of it… And that was day one. (I would like to complain that I was wearing hairsticks that are the same color as the TARDIS in the pic above, and so…it looks like I have short hair. Just sayin… Apparently I am more vain than I thought…) More to follow.

Edit: According to Paul Cornell’s post about Friday at Gallifrey One the guy who’s name I couldn’t remember was Mark Waid.

Gallifrey One Convention, Outpost Gallifrey, Shaun Lyon, Steven Moffat, Colin Baker, Paul Cornell, Doctor Who, The Runaway Bride, Just a Minute, Caroline Symcox, Terry Molloy, Maggie Stables

Well, I got home at about 1am, but I returned safely from the Gallifrey One Convention in Los Angeles. In this picture you can see me with my friend Erik in front of the TARDIS. I had a great time at the Con, but I didn’t manage to get Steven Moffat’s autograph. I did get to talk to Paul Cornell for a few moments while getting his autograph. The Dealer’s Room was fairly small, but really packed with stuff. Sadly, my husband was not able to join me on this trip…so I just had to buy his a bunch of stuff. Well, I’m exhausted, so I’m going to go pass out. I’ll write up a proper Con Report when I get up.

Gallifrey One, Steven Moffat, Paul Cornell