Watching Doctor Who

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