Is it the 4th of October 2015 today? How time flies!
Last weekend from the 25th-27th of September, 2015, I attended the ‘Pandorica 2015’ convention in Bristol. It was a lovely weekend. The sun was shining on both days and I got to see some of my favourite stars of ‘Doctor Who’. Let me share with you some of the highlights of that weekend!
The stars that attended the convention included Sarah Sutton; Peter Purves; Frazer Hines; Deborah Watling; Anneke Wills; etc. Not everyone was there on both days of the convention. Saturday was the highlight for me as Sarah was attending that day and she’s my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ companion.
Day 1 (Friday 25th September 2015)
I arrived at the Future Inn hotel where the convention was taking place on the Friday. I settled nicely into my room in the afternoon. At 5:00pm, I went up to the sixth floor where the convention was held and registered in to get my convention pack for the weekend which was great!
In the evening, I went to ‘The Pandorica Pub Quiz’ at 8:30pm where I met the fans. I’m afraid I was hopeless during the quiz. 😀 I didn’t stay up all night after the quiz, as I went back to my hotel room to get ready for Saturday and settled down for the night. I was looking forward to the next day!
Day 2 (Saturday 26th September 2015)
Next morning, I had breakfast at 9am before going to the convention. On my way back to my room, I met and said hello to Peter Purves (Steven Taylor in ‘Doctor Who’). It was nice to chatting to him. The convention started at 10am. There was then an interview panel with Peter Purves, which I enjoyed attending as he shared some memories of working on both ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Blue Peter’.
After that, I met up with lovely Sarah Sutton (Nyssa in ‘Doctor Who’). She said “Hello!” to me as she was on her way to sign autographs. I told her I’d see her later on. Inside the main hall, Anneke Wills (Polly in ‘Doctor Who’) was doing a commentary on ‘Episode 2’ of ‘The Underwater Menace’. This was the first time I’d seen that episode and I was pleased to see it.
I then went to have some autographs signed by the stars. First person I saw was of course Sarah. Sarah is someone I’ve met a lot at conventions. She’s genuinely friendly and very nice to talk to. We chatted and Sarah signed items for me including the CD cover of ‘Wirrn: Race Memory’ and the DVD cover of her ‘Myth Makers’ interview with Nick Briggs. I told Sarah I had something else for her to sign so I’d be back later on.
I went to meet Ian Hallard, who was in ‘Robot of Sherwood’ and in the Big Finish audio ‘Primeval’. I also met people from ‘The Caves of Androzani’ and got my DVD cover of the story signed by Roy Holder; Martin Cochrane; Steve Wickham and director Graeme Harper who I met in Swansea, 2010. When I met Sarah again for a second time, I also had the DVD cover of ‘Caves’ signed by her. I also bought one of Sarah’s photos that she had on sale and she signed it for me which was nice.
Before the convention, I had found and printed some information from the Internet about the radio plays Sarah did in the 70s/80s. I showed these pages to Sarah and she was pleased and amazed I found them. She asked if she could keep these pages and I said ‘yes’ since I saved them online.
I had a photo with me and Sarah after the second signing session with her. I also had photos with Ian Hallard; Roy Holder; Martin Cochrane; Steve Wickham and director Graeme Harper afterwards. That afternoon, I had a Saturday Group Photo with the stars at 1:30pm. I waited before going to see Sarah’s interview panel at 2pm.
Sarah’s panel was the highlight of the day for me. I asked Sarah a question and helped her with info regarding her, Nyssa and ‘Doctor Who’. Sarah made me a part of that panel. The interviewer thanked both me and Sarah at the end. Everyone knew my name afterwards and I thank Sarah for that.
After Sarah’s panel, I went to see Peter Purves and Anneke Wills for signings. I had a nice chat with them during the signing sessions and had photos taken with them. I saw Sarah for a photo shoot before saying goodbye to her. I apologised to Sarah for butting in during her panel, but she was okay with that and told me I was very helpful to her. She told me we make a good ‘double act’! 😀
Later on, I joined the fans at 7:45pm to watch ‘The Witch’s Familiar’, the second of the two-part Dalek story with Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Michelle Gomez. I enjoyed watching the episode on the big screen. There was a Q&A session afterwards with Barnaby Edwards and Nicholas Pegg.
I didn’t stay up all night afterwards, as I went back to my hotel room to get ready for Sunday and settled down for the night. I looked forward to the next day and going back home to Cardiff.
Day 3 (Sunday 27th September 2015)
Sunday wasn’t as exciting as Saturday for me. But I enjoyed going to the convention that day as I wanted to see Frazer Hines and Debbie Watling before I went home. I had breakfast at 9am; got packed and went to the Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling panel first thing at 10am that morning.
Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling played Jamie and Victoria in ‘Doctor Who’ with Patrick Troughton. I enjoyed attending that panel first thing on Sunday. Frazer got to be funny during the panel and Debbie was very sweet. I managed to ask a question to them both during the panel which was great.
After Frazer and Debbie’s panel, I went to have some autographs signed that morning. I met Barnaby Edwards and Nicholas Pegg, who are Dalek operators and Big Finish supremos. I had a great time chatting to Barnaby and Nick about ‘Doctor Who’; Daleks and the Big Finish audios they’ve directed.
I also met Michael E. Briant who directed ‘Doctor Who’ stories during the 1970s with Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. I had a nice chat with him and had the DVD cover of ‘The Sea Devils’ signed by Michael. I had photos with Barnaby Edwards; Nick Pegg and Michael E. Briant that morning.
At 12:00pm, I went to have a photo shoot with Frazer Hines and Debbie Watling which was nice. Later on that afternoon, I met Debbie and Frazer and had a nice chat with them whilst they signed some items for me. I also had photos with Debbie and Frazer during the signing sessions.
I also met Elliot Chapman who now plays Ben Jackson in the Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’ with Anneke Wills and Frazer Hines. He was a great guy to meet and chat to. I had a photo with him and I hope to listen to him as Ben on audio soon.
I finished for the day and went home back to Cardiff. ‘Pandorica 2015’ was a great weekend for me and I enjoyed meeting the guests and everyone who attended. It was great to meet the fans as well and some of them kindly asked to be friends with me on Facebook and of course I said “Yes!” to them.
I’m looking forward to the next convention in Newcastle called ‘Dimensions 2015’. This will take place from the 16th to the 18th of October (though I’ll be going on the Saturday). I’m looking forward to seeing Sarah Sutton again at that convention as well as the other guests and fans attending.
I hope to share some memories of that weekend soon.
Bye for now.
Tim 🙂
Bradley's Basement 