Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ and I’m Tim Bradley!
Before I share my latest convention report on the ‘London Comic Con Spring’ from last weekend, let’s talk about another set of ‘convention memories’! It’s time to talk about the first convention I attended back in 2014 – the ‘Cardiff Film & Comic Con’! This was held at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, March 2014. This was one of the happiest conventions I attended, since it was close to home. 🙂
I didn’t have to stay overnight at a hotel or book a train to go anywhere like I did with Tunbridge Wells, London, Slough, Swansea and Newcastle back in 2013. It was also great to see Sarah Sutton, my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ companion, at the event. It was a great couple of days for me back then. 🙂
The film and comic con took place from Saturday the 1st of March to Sunday the 2nd of March 2014. I attended both days, especially since it was close to home. This was a Showmasters event and it was quite easy to access compared to the ‘London Film & Comic Con‘, which I attended in July 2011. 🙂
And that isn’t just because it was local to where I live. The event was smaller compared to the London event. There were fewer guests in attendance compared to the London events run by Showmasters. Let me share how positive and happy my memories were of the Cardiff 2014 event. 🙂
Saturday 1st March 2014
On Saturday, there were ‘Doctor Who’ guests like Paul McGann who plays the Eighth Doctor; Katy Manning who plays Jo Grant; Nicholas Briggs who voices the Daleks (both on TV and audio); David Warner who plays the Unbound Doctor in Big Finish; and Bernard Cribbins who plays Wilfred Mott. 🙂
There was also Julian Glover who played Scaroth in ‘City of Death’; Eve Myles who plays Gwen Cooper in ‘Torchwood’; and John Rhys-Davies who played Gimli in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ film trilogy. I didn’t see every guest or have long chats with them, but I savoured all that I could that day.
I had a photo with Nick Briggs and he signed my CD cover of the ‘Destiny of the Doctor’ story ‘Night of the Whisper’. I met up with Katy Manning and had photos with her. She also signed my DVD covers of ‘The Three Doctors’ and ‘Carnival of Monsters’, two of my favourite Third Doctor stories. 🙂
Katy also whispered ‘chicken sounds’ in my ear, which was something she did in ‘Carnival of Monsters’, which was a joy to hear. 😀 Incidentally, I took a photo of the Batmobile from the 1960s ‘Batman’ TV series with Adam West and Burt Ward. I hadn’t seen the 1960s ‘Batman’ TV show then.
I also met up with Paul McGann; had a photo with him; and he signed my CD cover of ‘The Chimes of Midnight’, which he told me he loved. 😀 I had a brief encounter with John Rhys-Davies and he signed an autograph for me. I also had brief photos with Eve Myles and Bernard Cribbins on that day.
Eve Myles signed my DVD box set of Series 2 of ‘Torchwood’ and Bernard Cribbins signed my CD cover of the audiobook version of ‘Beautiful Chaos’. I also met up with Julian Glover who signed a photo I had with him back at ‘Regenerations 2010’. I found these quite pleasant encounters indeed.
I recall my best mate from school Stephen attending the comic con that day. I’m sure he met up with Paul McGann and David Warner and had an autograph from John Rhys-Davies. I also recall meeting up with David Warner since he signed the audiobook CD cover of the story ‘Plague of the Cybermen’.
There was a Big Finish stall at the ‘Cardiff Film & Comic Con’. I recall the producer David Richardson and Lisa Bowermen (Bernice Summerfield) being there. I purchased Volume 1 of ‘The Lost Episodes’ of ‘The Avengers’ with Anthony Howell and Julian Wadham for my Mum’s birthday. 🙂
Sunday 2nd March 2014
Sunday was of course the highlight day for me at the ‘Cardiff Film and Comic Con’. There were guests like Sarah Sutton (of course) who plays Nyssa; Sophie Aldred who plays Ace; Caitlin Blackwood who played Amelia Pond; and David Gooderson who played Davros in the TV story ‘Destiny of the Daleks’.
Kai Owen who plays Rhys Williams in ‘Torchwood’ was also there that day. It was lovely time for me to attend that Sunday, especially with Sarah Sutton and Sophie Aldred being there. I recall having lovely chats with Sarah and Sophie, sharing my love of ‘Doctor Who’ to them as well as other things.
I had photos with Sarah, including one of me, her and my toy dog Cuddles. 😀 Cuddles didn’t even have his mouth back then. 😀 Sarah also signed some memorabilia for me, including my DVD covers of ‘Time-Flight’ and ‘Arc of Infinity’ and the Big Finish Christmas photo with her and Peter Davison. 🙂
I chatted to David Gooderson; had a photo with him; and he signed an autograph for me. 🙂 I also had photos with Sophie and she signed my ‘Survival’ DVD cover. I also briefly met up with Caitlin Blackwood where she signed an autograph for me. Again, these were pleasant encounters indeed. 🙂
There was a ‘Doctor Who’ panel talk that day which included David Gooderson, Sarah Sutton, Caitlin Blackwood and Sophie Aldred. I believe it was Scott Handcock who moderated the panel talk. Sadly, there weren’t any Q&As from the audience, but I met up with Sarah after the panel talk had finished.
Kai Owen also signed my DVD cover of Series 2 of ‘Torchwood’ that day. The day concluded with me saying farewell to Sarah. I told Sarah a joke about where she forgot me which was funny. We also chatted about her favourite film ‘Ratatouille’. 🙂 I was looking forward to seeing her at the next convention. 🙂
The ‘Cardiff Film and Comic Con’ of March 2014 was a happy weekend for me. I’m glad I was able to attend a convention that was close to home and that Sarah Sutton was able to attend. It was great to see people like Sarah Sutton, Sophie Aldred, Katy Manning and Paul McGann for that weekend. 🙂
That was the first of quite a number of conventions for me to attend in 2014. Each convention would be exciting as the year went on, but it’s always a joy for me to see people like Sarah Sutton when they come to my home town of Cardiff. I’m hoping that more experiences like that will happen again soon.
Incidentally, I did wear the Eleventh Doctor’s fez at the ‘Cardiff Film and Comic Con’, which I received from ‘Dimensions 2013’. Sarah Sutton and Nick Briggs were amused when they saw me wearing it. 🙂 Sarah Sutton and Sophie Aldred also commented on how rubbish the ‘Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty’ was on the 50th anniversary night in November 2013. 😀
The next convention I attended was the ‘Time Warp’ convention in Weston-super-Mare, July 2014. Stay tuned for my ‘convention memories’ blog post on ‘Time Warp’.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim. 🙂
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