Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
My ‘convention memories’ continue today, as I share about my second ‘Doctor Who’ convention experience on my blog. My first convention experience was the ‘Fifth Element’ event back in February 2010. After I’d finished my IT degree at Cardiff University, I attended ‘Regenerations 2010’.
This was a two-day event held at the Village Hotel in Swansea. It went from Saturday the 18th to Sunday the 19th of September 2010 and was run by Cary Woodward. These ‘Doctor Who’ Swansea conventions had been going on for a while since 2005, the year when the TV show was resurrected.
As my second ‘Doctor Who’ convention experience, I found it better than ‘Fifth Element’. I came away happy as I felt ‘Regenerations’ was a proper ‘Doctor Who’ convention and that it fulfilled all I wanted to achieve in meeting the stars, attending the panel talks and to have photos with the stars.
Cary Woodward is a genuinely kind man and a great organiser of these ‘Doctor Who’ conventions. He accommodated everybody’s needs and made sure the attendees were happy and enjoying themselves at the conventions. For me, Swansea is the best place to have ‘Doctor Who’ conventions.
‘Regenerations 2010’ was a great convention, especially as I saw Sarah Sutton for the second time since ‘Fifth Element’. I saw her for both of the two days and was really happy coming away with having spent more time with Sarah, chatting to her during the signings and having a photo with her.
Day 1 (Saturday 18th September 2010)
So how did this weekend begin for me? Well it began with arriving at the Village Hotel on Saturday itself, before going in and enjoying the opening ceremony of the convention. Then there was a panel talk with Terry Molloy, so well-known for playing Davros in ‘Doctor Who’, conducted by Charlie Ross.
There was then a panel talk with Deborah Watling, who played Victoria in the TV series, conducted by David Bickerstaff. I didn’t get to meet or chat to Debbie for the first time at ‘Regenerations 2010’ since that would happen at later conventions. I took a photo a 1960s movie Dalek at the convention.
There was then the Big Finish panel that Saturday morning, which also featured Sarah Sutton, who plays Nyssa, on it. Incidentally, Sarah was a sponsored guest by Big Finish for the two days at ‘Regenerations 2010’. I enjoyed seeing Sarah on the Big Finish panel and I asked her a question too.
I asked Sarah if she found the Big Finish audios had helped to develop Nyssa’s character and whether they were the sort of stories she’d like to have done in the TV series. She said “WOW, Yes!” and that they’d helped to extend the character. I was very pleased Sarah got to answer my question.
I later saw Sarah in the afternoon for a signing session and had a nice chat with her. I got to chat up with her since seeing her at ‘Fifth Element’ and took some photos of Sarah at her desk where she was signing things with Big Finish. If I say it myself, I took some really good photos of Sarah that day.
I did stay overnight whilst I was at the Village Hotel. There was evening entertainment, which included watching some YouTube videos of ‘Doctor Who’ that I enjoyed watching. There was also a quiz with some of the stars attending that weekend, which I enjoyed watching. It was all a lot of fun.
Day 2 (Sunday 19th September 2010)
The next day on Sunday was an equally great day. First thing that day was an interactive panel talk with director Graeme Harper and writer Keith Temple of ‘Planet of the Ood’. I got to take part in that interactive panel talk which was exciting, since I played the Doctor and Graeme Harper directed me.
I also got to see Sarah again later that day. Back then, I didn’t realise Sarah was there for the two days of the weekend. I had two photos of me with Sarah taken by Lisa Bowerman that day, which I was happy about. I asked Sarah if she would write her own autobiography, but she wasn’t keen on it.
During the day, there was a panel talk with David Warner, who I would get to meet proper at future conventions. I also met Colin Baker, the Sixth Doctor, for the very first time at ‘Regenerations 2010’. I had a happy time meeting Colin that day, as I chatted to him for a signing and had a photo with him.
I also met Julian Glover, who played Scaroth in ‘City of Death’, that weekend. I saw him on the Saturday to have him sign a photo of himself from ‘For Your Eyes Only’ on behalf of my best mate, Stephen. On Sunday, I had a professional photo taken of me with Julian Glover and I also attended his panel talk that day.
I saw Sarah for one more time that day to say goodbye to her before she left at 2 o’clock. I wished Sarah a safe journey home and she likewise wished me a safe journey home. Then she said she’d hoped to see me again if I come back to another convention. I was thrilled to bits when she said that.
The day finished for me with attending a panel talk with Anneke Wills and Colin Baker that day. We then had the closing ceremony, which saw all the guests who attended that weekend saying goodbye to the fans. The organiser, Cary Woodward, also wished us a safe journey home on the day.
‘Regenerations 2010’ Group Photo – Swansea, September 2010
‘Regenerations 2010’ is a convention I look back on with fond, happy memories. It was my second ‘Doctor Who’ convention and it was better than the first one. I miss attending ‘Regenerations’ conventions in Swansea these days, since they made me feel great about being a ‘Doctor Who’ fan.
Stay tuned for my next ‘convention memories’ blog post, which will be on the ‘London Film and Comic Con’ that I attended in July 2011.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim. 🙂
Bradley's Basement 
When you go to conventions now surely your on first name terms with actors, “Hi Tim” lol
I loved it when Sophie Aldred was telling Bonnie about your timelines & how they help her with Ace, that has to be the highest compliment.
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Yes it’s so different nowadays compared to when I started going to conventions in 2010. Nowadays people like Sarah Sutton, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Louise Jameson and Sophie Aldred recognise me and know my name. They also know what I’m like as a person. I think that’s a good thing. 😀
I can’t wait for the next convention/comic con I go where I reunite with stars like Sarah Sutton, Peter Davison, etc. I’m waiting patiently but no news has come for a convention I’m able to go to. I am due to be going to ‘Destination Star Trek Birmingham’ in October this year. It’ll be a different type of event compared to other ‘Doctor Who’ focused events I’ve been to. But I’m sure it’ll be exciting.
I haven’t seen Sophie Aldred since ‘Science of the Time Lords’ in January 2016. I would like to see her again and thank her personally for mentioning me in the interviews for ‘A Life Of Crime’. I wait patiently and live in hope for the next ‘Doctor Who’ convention/comic con I go to.
Thanks Simon. Glad you enjoyed my latest convention memories blog post.
Tim. 🙂
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