Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
It’s that time again for me to share another set of ‘convention memories’ as a ‘Doctor Who’ fan! 🙂 In September 2014, I attended the ‘Pandorica 2014’ convention at the Future Inn in Bristol, run by Fantom Films. I would later attend another ‘Pandorica’ convention in 2015 at the same Future Inn. 🙂
Sarah Sutton (Nyssa of Traken) was meant to attend the convention. I was looking forward to seeing Sarah at the convention, after having seen her at ‘Time Warp’ in Weston-super-Mare, back in July 2014. Sadly, on the day that I arrived before the event, it transpired that Sarah wasn’t able to attend.
As you can imagine, I was upset and disappointed that Sarah couldn’t attend. It was revealed to me that Sarah’s dad sadly passed away in the week leading up to ‘Pandorica 2014’. Of course, Sarah’s family must come first in this regard. Thankfully, I would see Sarah Sutton again at the next event. 🙂
Despite Sarah not being there at ‘Pandorica 2014’, I was determined to not let it spoil the weekend, as there were other ‘Doctor Who’ guests and things to enjoy at the convention. The other guests included Katy Manning, Louise Jameson and John Levene, who I was really looking forward to seeing.
‘Pandorica 2014’ was a 3-day convention from Friday the 26th to Sunday the 28th of September. I stayed overnight at the Future Inn whilst attending the convention. I hope to share what I enjoyed at the convention and what I was able to achieve from meeting the guests who attended the weekend.
Day 1 (Friday 26th September 2014)
I can’t exactly recall the Friday evening entertainment we had at the convention, although I’m sure we did a ‘Doctor Who’ quiz of sorts in the main hall where the panel stage talks were taking place. I recall enjoying the quiz. I’m certain I was helpful with providing answers to some of the questions. 😀
Day 2 (Saturday 27th September 2014)
For the first proper day at ‘Pandorica 2014’, I took some photos of the TARDIS in the hotel lobby. The first panel talk for the day was with Katy Manning (Jo Grant), conducted by convention co-organiser Paul Ballard. I greatly enjoyed Katy’s panel talk, as she cheered me up for the rest of the weekend. 🙂
I later met up with Katy for a signing session and had some photos with her. I enjoyed chatting to Katy, as she’s so easy to talk to. The things that Katy signed for me included the DVD covers of ‘The Claws of Axos’ and ‘The Sea Devils’. She also signed my autograph book, which I’m very pleased about.
The next panel talk was with director Timothy Coombe and actress Pik-Sen Lim, who shared their memories of making ‘The Mind of Evil’. I met up with Timothy Coombe at a signing. He happily signed my ‘Doctor Who and the Silurians’ DVD cover and my autograph book, which is pretty good. 🙂
I also met up with Pik-Sen Lim at a signing session and had a nice chat with her, including talking about her appearance in ‘Johnny English Reborn’. I had a signature from Pik-Sen Lim in my autograph book. Whilst I attended the convention, a Dalek was also there. I had my photo with it. 😀
Despite not getting to see Sarah that weekend, I purchased ‘The Moon Stallion’ novelization from the Fantom Films bookstalls, which had been released that year. I’m glad I purchased ‘The Moon Stallion’ novelization, and I was looking forward to having it signed by Sarah the next time I saw her.
I got to see John Levene (Sgt. Benton) for the first time at a convention. I enjoyed his panel talk, conducted by Ian Kubiak. It was interesting to hear his thoughts about playing Benton in ‘Doctor Who’. I later met John Levene, as he signed my original ‘Claws of Axos’ DVD cover and my autograph book. 🙂
In terms of other people I saw at the convention, they included Alexandra Tynan (also known as Sandra Reid) who created the Cybermen costumes in ‘The Tenth Planet’. I had a nice chat with Alexandra/Sandra and I managed to get a signature from her in my autograph book on the Saturday.
I also met up with script editor Andrew Cartmel, having seen him recently at the ‘Time Warp’ convention in Weston-super-Mare. He signed a Seventh Doctor postcard for me that day. I also met up with Anneke Wills (Polly) at the convention. It was lovely to meet her and have a chat with her. 🙂
Anneke signed my autograph book too and I also met up with Elliot Chapman, who, at the time, had just been announced to play Ben Jackson in the Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’ with Anneke and Frazer Hines. It was nice to meet Elliot that Saturday, even though I hadn’t heard him on audio yet.
I also briefly met John Greenwood (who played D’Artagnan and Sir Lancelot in ‘The Mind Robber’) and had an autograph signed by him. I also met with Phillip Bond (who played Ganatus in the first ‘Daleks’ story with William Hartnell. I didn’t chat to Phillip much, but he did sign my autograph book. 🙂
That Saturday evening, we ‘Doctor Who’ fans got to see the sixth episode of Series 8 with Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor called ‘The Caretaker’ in the main hall. I enjoyed the episode. It was interesting to see it with Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Samuel Anderson in it as well as Michelle Gomez at the end. 😀
Day 3 (Sunday 28th September 2014)
On the Sunday of that weekend, Louise Jameson (Leela) was there. I enjoyed the panel talk she had, conducted by Paul Ballard. I eventually got to meet Louise at a signing session and have a photo with her. She signed my Special Edition DVD cover of ‘The Robots of Death’ as well as my autograph book.
I told Louise I was looking forward to her upcoming ‘Timey Wimey 1’ convention in Brighton that November. It was something to be excited about, especially with Sarah Sutton also going to it. Also attending ‘Pandorica 2014’ that Sunday was Bob Baker, co-creator of K-9. I got to enjoy Bob’s panel talk that day. 🙂
I also met up with Bob Baker at a signing session and he signed my original DVD cover of ‘The Three Doctors’ for me. There was also an ‘Earthshock’ Cyberman in attendance at the convention. Even though I’m not a fan of the ‘Earthshock’ Cybermen, it’s always nice to take photos of them at conventions.
I also met Barnaby Edwards and Nicholas Pegg at the convention. They turned up as surprise guests and I managed to get their signatures in my autograph book as well. I recall having nice chats with the two chaps. I would see them both again at the next ‘Pandorica’ convention in September 2015.
I managed to get plenty of signatures for my ‘Revelation of the Daleks’ DVD cover, meeting people like Bridget Lynch-Bloss who played Natasha, Trevor Cooper who played Takis, and John Ogwen who played Bostock. It was lovely to get those signatures and to meet those three people on that Sunday.
I also met Bernard Holley that day and he signed my original DVD cover of ‘The Claws of Axos’. It was nice to chat with Bernard about his ‘Doctor Who’ appearances, which also included ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’ as well as briefly mentioning his role in a ‘Keeping Up Appearances’ Christmas Special. 🙂
The other guests who attended the convention but I didn’t get to meet included writer Jim Mortimore, Alun Raglan and Samuel Davies (who played Mo and Elliot in ‘The Hungry Earth’/’Cold Blood’) and Ruari Mears who played some monsters in the series (I saw a bit of his panel talk on Sunday). I’m sure they enjoyed the weekend.
‘Pandorica 2014’ was a good convention weekend back in September 2014. It’s a shame Sarah couldn’t attend, but I’m glad I got to see people like Katy Manning, Louise Jameson and John Levene at the convention. It’s also very good I got plenty of signatures in my autograph book that weekend.
I kept my spirits up throughout the weekend. There was plenty to enjoy with all the guest panel talks going on as well as the autograph sessions with guests and the merchandise stalls taking place. After ‘Pandorica 2014′, I was keen to attend the next convention, which thankfully Sarah would attend. 🙂
The next convention I attended was ‘Collectormania 22’ in Milton Keynes, November 2014. Stay tuned for my ‘convention memories’ blog post on ‘Collectormania 22’.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
Bradley's Basement 
Hi Tim.
I enjoyed reading your experience of this convention. It’s good that you got to meet Katy Manning, Louise Jameson and John Levene amongst others. It’s a shame that Sarah couldn’t attend, but her reason was good enough. Poor Sarah. It must have been difficult for her. 😔
Speaking of Sarah, my review of ‘The Keeper of Traken’ should be ready by tomorrow. I rewatched the making-of documentary for ‘Logopolis’ recently. I laughed when Janet tried her costume on and it fitted her perfectly, to which Sarah said “I hate you.” 😆
P.s. I recently found out that Hilary Minster was in ‘Planet of the Daleks’, so I had a look at your review of that to see if it was mentioned. Did you know Hilary Minster was also in ‘Genesis of the Daleks’? I also know that Sarah is a fan of ‘Allo, Allo!’.
Take care, WF92.
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Hi WF92,
Glad you enjoyed my ‘convention memories’ of ‘Pandorica 2014’. It is a shame Sarah couldn’t attend, but thankfully I met up with her at ‘Collectormania 22’ in Milton Keynes in November 2014, which I hope to write up a blog post on sometime today.
Looking forward to your review on ‘The Keeper of Traken’. I remember Sarah jokingly saying to Janet, “I hate you” when her costume fitted her perfectly in the ‘Logopolis’ making-of documentary.
I don’t remember Hilary Minster being in ‘Genesis of the Daleks’. I’m sure he was in it, though it might have been a small role since he played being a Thal soldier. I’ll have to double-check to be sure. Yes, Sarah is a fan of ‘Allo, ‘Allo’. We chatted about the show at the ‘Film & Comic Glasgow’ back in August 2019 where Richard Gibson and Kim Hartman also attended.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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