Conventions

Living out in far-flung New Zealand, the opportunity to go to conventions are limited without significant expense. Fortunately, I have been lucky to go to three reasonably large conventions in my time, and was able to take my son William (who is a keen Doctor Who fan himself) to two of them.

Time Quest 2 (13-14 March 2010) was my first convention, and I couldn't have picked a better one to go to for my first. In attendance were five Doctors, along with Janet Fielding, Michael Jayston, several cast and crew of Big Finish, and several other guests. [Time Quest 2: Day 1, Day 2]

Tom Baker

Peter Davison

Colin Baker

Sylvester McCoy

Paul McGann

Janet Fielding

Michael Jayston

The photo sessions were independent of the signing sessions and the conference talks, so one had to choose what to do at any given time, but on the whole the event was extremely well run. The photo sessions were over very quickly, and you barely had time to speak with them, but the signing sessions allowed a little more time for a chat. Along with my Journal of Impossible Things, we bought a few stock photos and had them signed too.

The next two conventions I attended were held in New Zealand: The Lords of Time (13th April 2013), Auckland, and Armageddon Expo (1-2 March 2014) in Dunedin.

The Lords of Time wasn't quite as big as Time Quest 2, but it did bring Doctors 5-8 and Nick Briggs to New Zealand and was more about the talks, but we did get an opportunity to get our photo taken with all of them at once, along with several informal chats with them as they occasionally mingled with the crowds. Sylvester McCoy and Will seemed to hit it off and had a lovely time together, and Will had a good chat to Nick Briggs about his Dalek voices. For me it was much more relaxed - like meeting up with old friends again! [Lords of Time: Event]

All of the Doctors at once, and proof that Sylvester McCoy invented the Sonic Glasses

Armageddon brought Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant to Dunedin, and Mark Strickson (who lives in Dunedin nowadays) came along too. Bizarrely, the first time I met Mark was in Mitre 10 while our sons were playing together in the in-store playground. For me, I was nervous about meeting Nicola as I had somewhat of a crush on her when I was a young lad... :o