Well I thought I'd better put a few pictures on here, similar to what I did after last year's visit. However, as this year I was volunteering as a helper I got to see very little of the convention itself!
I was sitting for most of the day in between the 5th & 7th Doctor Who's, assisting Sylvester McCoy with the running of his table and taking money for autographs and selfies, so it was an enjoyable experience getting to meet and, in between the queues, briefly talk to two actors that I grew up watching on TV - although it was not about Dr Who that I had to ask Mr McCoy about, but his performance in 'The Secret Policeman's Ball' and his antics which included hammering a 4" nail into his nose and an escapology stunt involving a model train set in a sketch featuring Ken Campbell and David Rappaport ("...NOT the smallest man in the World, but f*cking close!") And later on some of the fans were eve treated to a performance on the spoons.
Also just along from where I was sitting was Miriam Margolyes who was in fine form with her badinage with the punters together with some risque comments and she mentioned to me in passing about her liking of the writing of Jill Murphy's 'The Worst Witch' books for which she recorded audiobook versions, even in preference over J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, in which films she also starred.
Other stars at this year's event included Julian Glover (General Veers - Empire Strikes Back, Dr Who - City Of Death & The Crusade, Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade, Bond - For Your Eyes Only), Shane Rimmer (Thunderbirds voice actor of Scott Tracey), & Ray Brooks (the voice of Mr Benn)!
The only downside to the volunteering was as mentioned having very little time to visit the other rooms and traders stalls, which seemed to have grown in number form last year's convention, however I did get to take a picture of the 4 Dr Who actors at this year's convention by a replica TARDIS; and one thing I always find impressive is the lengths fans go to dressing up in costume, with the quality of authentic replica masks and props available these days - especially from the Star Wars fans.
Peter Davison (5th Doctor), Sylvester McCoy (7th Doctor),
Deborah Watling (Victoria), Dan Starkey (Strax)
Some of the Star Wars fans in costume
So all in all a very worthwhile and enjoyable day from 8am to 6pm but with the heat it was tiring. And as an added bonus I did manage to pick up from a Japanese food stall some green tea flavoured biscuits; and briefly catch up with a former comic shop owner who I used to play Dungeons & Dragons with as a teenager!
Let's hope the convention was a financial success so that another in 2017 takes place, and the dementia charity for whom the organisers were fundraising gets a sizeable donation too.
Sunday 8th May 2016
