This weekend I am attending the 20th Doctor Who Convention presented by Gallifrey One. I have not been to a Sci-Fi convention in many, many years (probably 15 or so), back when Star Trek was really at its peak. I am not ashamed to admit that I used to visit Star Trek Conventions from High School through College, as it gave me a chance to interact with some of the stars from all of the Trek shows over the years. I never did dress up in a uniform, but I do have a great picture of George Takei and I that I am proud of to this day.
Flash forward to last year as I introduced Daniel to the wonders of Classic Doctor Who (as something to watch while waiting for new Who at the end of Series 4). Daniel wanted to attend the convention this weekend, and I said, “Sure, why not..”
I had vague memories of old Trek conventions, but I had no idea what to expect. From reading the history of this particular convention, it seemed to be on the small size, but since the new series of Doctor Who, it seemed to be growing. I was also excited to see the Dealers room since this was one of my favorite things from Trek conventions past.
Arriving at the convention today, it was apparent that it was indeed a smaller convention, but that the people were more of a mix of different types of people than your normal Trek convention. Sure there were the housewife/obsessive fans and the geeks in costume, but for the most part it was a fairly normal group.
We sat through a bunch of Q n A sessions, and one of my favorite moments was when Naoko Mori showed up in the middle of a session with Gareth David-Lloyd and Kai Owen from Torchwood. Naoko played Tosh on Torchwood, but also has a special place in my heart as Sara/Titicaca from Ab Fab. Sadly I could not think of a great Ab Fab question to pose, but it really was a thrill to see her. Another highlight was seeing Wendy Padbury and Frasier Hines during a game show session after missing out on them earlier in the day. I can’t wait to get a photo with them tomorrow! Hopefully, they will pose with the Gorn as well..
Off to bed tonight and back to the convention tomorrow. I do wish we were staying at the hotel so we could have gone to the parties and Karaoke, but perhaps next year!