Wales 2013, Part 4 – Stone Angels and Good Wizards

So here we are on the final page of this particular Wales trip, as it was our last day the plan was to make it a busy one!

At 9am we arrive at Southerndown beach, it you watch Doctor Who you should know this place, it’s most well known for being Bad Wolf Bay, it’s also been a location in a number of other episodes, basically if the production team needs a beach they go here! 

When we arrived the tide was quite a way in, as a result the iconic sand beach was underwater, however the stone parts the ‘Time of Angles’ and ‘Dinosaurs on a Spaceship’ were still accessible so Amy and I had a wander over the rocks, I decided that I wanted to get as close to the water as possible, this almost resulted in me getting very wet and also an impromptu Capt. Jack Sparrow impression…

Wales 2013, Part 3 – Is There A Dalek On That Sign?

Ah, Monday we meet again! But this time it’s a holiday Monday!! Woohoo!

Today’s plan was quite simple, wander around Cardiff Bay and visit the new Doctor Who Experience!, I’ve been twice previously when it was in London but, as yet, hadn’t managed to visit the new one in Cardiff.

Cardiff Bay first of all, I’ve been to the Bay a number of times, but I always love to go back as it’s just such a nice place to visit. Amy had never been to the Bay (or the UK for that matter) so I went into tour guide mode and pointed out the various locations that had been used for filming, which is most of the bay!

Wales 2013, Part 2 – ‘Who’ Ya Gonna Call?

It’s Sunday morning and it’s too early, however I’m up and working to once again get my hair to defy gravity for a few hours, so having offered up the correct prayers to the hair gods I’m good to go. Once again Kate was being difficult (she and I will be having words soon…)

Having found the event location and parked up, it was time to spend the day at Cardiff International Comic Expo.

Wales 2013, Part 1 – Here We Are Again…

Everyone knows that Wales is the spiritual home of Doctor Who, so when my friend Amy came to the UK to visit then a pilgrimage was definitely on the cards!

It’s Saturday March 2nd and having picked up Amy from the airport at a horribly early hour it was time to head from London over to where the Welsh come from…

I do have one major issue with driving to South Wales. That issue is the how much it costs to go over the bridge!! £6.20, how much??!! £6.20 really!!

Ten Plus? – Redux

Yesterdays post got some interesting reactions. Some thought it was deep thinking, others a goodbye and others just weren’t sure what to make of it...

Me :)

Well... Don’t panic! I’m not going anywhere (see you can breathe again now). What it was is me looking back over what I’ve done and how much of an influence the man in the pin stripe suit has had.

What I want to do now is move forward from this point, what that does mean is expanding what I do, which will probably result in Ten taking a bit of a back seat for a little while, after all I can’t be me if I’m standing behind a Ten shaped shield.

Allons-y!!

Ten Plus?

How I'm best known. The Doctor

Recently I’ve been putting together a bucket list and it’s got me thinking (dangerous I know). My main thought is what do I want to be known for...

I’ve mentioned before that the Facebook page first launched back in 2010 I envisaged only ever getting a few likes, almost two and a half years later the page has over three thousand three hundred which is totally mad, I’m just me after all!

Back when I first started all I ever did was a few pictures and hang out at events, which while being good fun had a danger of becoming very ‘samey’ within a short space of time. As a result, in October 2010 I did my first event write up which added to what I do...

Lords of Time - To Benedick Or Not To Benedick...

David Tennant as a guest at a convention, that’s a no brainer I hear you say! Well, yes normally it would be, but with me flying back from 5 days at Dragon*Con only a couple of days before hand I wasn’t overly sure what sort of state I was going to be in...

So, I arrived back in the UK on Tuesday morning with only about 30% of my voice and not feeling anywhere near 100%... by Friday I was feeling more with it and could actually maintain a conversation without my voice failing, as such Friday lunchtime I decided, why not, may as well go to Lords of Time, hey it’d be rude not too...

Getting to the Hilton around 7pm Liz and I picked up tickets on the door. What did surprise me was what number tickets we ended up with, I was Gold 54 (out of a max of 150) I had a feeling this could be a very quiet event...

Corsham Sci-fi Day – We Need A Bigger Boat...

I’ll never work out why I always struggle to do a write up for Corsham, but I always do, but here goes...

If you read by blog about Corsham Sci-fi 2011 you’ll already know that I love this event! My comment last year was (and I quote) “a review cannot just say “AWESOME!!” in massive letters...” and I had a feeling this year would be no different!

Corsham Countdown!

This was my third time at Corsham (I know time flies!!) and this time it was going to be a bit of a special one, why? It was also my 30th birthday!

When Corsham 2011 came to an end there was a section on the Charity Sci-fi Forum asking for guest suggests for next year. As always I had a suggestion, no prizes for guessing who! Yes, Nicola Bryant.

What I hadn’t banked on was the answer... If you want her to be there Matt, then you need to invite her! You don’t need to tell me twice, email was sent and then it was a case of waiting for a reply...

To my great relief, Nicola replied and was available for the event and was also able to attend the pre event meal the night before. This was going to be a good birthday!

Entertainment Media Show, Day 2 – Benedick meets Benedick (aka Matt meets David Tennant!)

So with day one of EMS completed and the series finale of Doctor Who watched it was time to put my mind to day two of EMS.

Why was day two so important, well unless you’ve been living on the moon you’d know that David Tennant himself was going to be there as a guest.

Benedick

Now call me a fanboy all you like, but for me this was epic and I have to confess I was very excited! However, I also had a dilemma... What do you wear to meet someone who you class as an icon??

I’d been pondering this very question from the moment that he was attending was announced. Normally for an event I’d simply don the 10^th Doctor suit and swan about as normal, but this was different, did I really want to meet David Tennant dressed at 10? How would he react and what would he think?

I asked the very question of what to wear to my Facebook Page and they replied with Ten but I still wasn’t really feeling it. I think the fact that the world and it’s mother (classic expression!) would be there dressed as Ten also didn’t really help, when I saw him did I want to be (or not be) remembered as just another Ten?

Entertainment Media Show, Day 1 – Has It Really Been Two Years?

Approximately two years ago the ‘Entertainment Media Show featuring Collectormania London’ (EMS) was simply known as Collectormania London, it was also the first convention event I ever went to so this event (in name rather than strict timing) was my 2^nd anniversary for being on the convention scene...

Why does this always happen to me?

Originally I was going to go for my standard 10^th Doctor look for this event, then the British weather intervened and we had an unseasonal October heat wave , so the Doctor gear was out and Benedick was in (complete with white paint!).

So Saturday morning Jemma was given the highly amusing show of me preparing to be Benedick, following on from Benedicks first outing at Glasgow (and another viewing of Much Ado About Nothing)  I’d got a better idea of how to apply the paint without having too many hand prints.

It's All About The Hair...

Here's the how to video I did for Tennant hair...

The Doctor Who Experience - Is It Any Good?

It's now late in the evening on Sunday March 6th, it's been a couple of days since I walked round 'The Doctor Who Experience' so now the initial 'WOW' factor has worn off it's time to have a look back over the experience as a whole and give my thoughts, and don't worry I won't spoil the interactive element if you haven't been yet. 

I've been to a three of the previous Doctor Who Exhibitions (Cardiff, London and Newcastle). My personal favourite was the one held at Earls Court, most likely because it was my first and it just seemed bigger than the others, as such I was intrigued to see how the new 'Experience' would differ from what had come before. 

So, to begin. Tickets..... There were three options. Standard, Silver and Gold. I'd gone for the Gold option (hey, why not!!). 

On arrival to 'The Experience' you get the lift up to the second floor, you can tell it's still fairly new as the staff seemed confused by what a gold ticket did, but I wasn't overly worried by this minor glitch....... 

The 'Experience' itself is split into two sections, the 'interactive adventure' and the exhibition. So not to spoil the adventure part for anyone who's not been I won't say too much about it. However what I will say is that it works, there is a good mix of action and fun as well as fear. If I was 12 again I'd be raving about it. 

The effects are really good and it's pitched well, the only downside with the adventure part was that it was all over a little too quickly, but that's not really a downside is it? 

Matt Smith and Tardis

Once the adventure ends it leads into the exhibition. The first item you encounter is the Pandorica from the end of season 5. It's really impressive up close! 

The exhibition then leads to a life-sized statue of the 11th Doctor standing in front of his Tardis, surrounding it are the costumes of the previous 10 Doctor's. It's a really awesome sight to see, almost 50 years and 11 versions of the same character in the same room. 

Following on from the costumes are the Screwdrivers and Tardis Keys as well as few props from the more recent series including the 'wing mirror, invisible monster seeing device thingy' from Vincent and The Doctor. 

Moving round there is then a Cyberman and Cybercontroller, a great place for a photo op! However, there is a far bigger distraction to draw the eye, the complete Tardis interior used by the 9th and 10th Doctors. 

The Tardis. My Tardis!

It's a really awe inspiring sight and you're able to get really close to the whole thing, it's almost like being on the actual Tardis and, for me, it's was quite an emotional experience. The only thing that took away from it for me was that 10's Regeneration sequence plays on a loop in the background. Personally I'd prefer it if there was a bit of a gap and the Doctors theme played as backing music instead (a suggestion I've made to the curator). 

After being dragged away from the Tardis interior we then got to see costumes from the Master, Timelords and all the recent companions, a real good selection of things to see! 

This then leads onto another Tardis set, this time from Peter Davison’s Era and next to that is the Tardis from Tom Bakers day. 

Following on from the costumes and Tardises, Tardi..... (Erm, what is the plural for Tardis??) come the monsters, more specifically, Daleks. Davros is first, accompanied by the Dalek version of 'Who do you think you are' starting with the 60's Dalek up to the modern day 'LGBT' Dalek. 

After the Daleks is then a selection of both classic and new series monsters. In addition to the monsters there are also a couple of interactive areas, one of which teaches you how to walk like a scarecrow from Human Nature/Family of Blood which was kinda cool. 

Designers Area

In the same area as the monsters is also a mock up of the design offices as well as the mock up sculpts of the Ood heads. 

The final part of the exhibition is the little shop (love a little shop!). The downside to this shop though it is a tad on the expensive side, £55 for a Who season on DVD is a bit much in my opinion......... there is a good selection of stuff though. 

As for the tickets that I mentioned at the beginning, if you haven't been yet I'd recommend just going for the standard pass, the gold does get you a programme (that separately is £10) and a limited edition print but I'm not convinced it's worth the extra. 

Overall, the new 'Doctor Who Experience' is well worth a visit. The exhibition part isn't as big as some of the previous ones but it is very well done and has some elements that should not be missed (Tardis interior!!!). 

The staff are really nice and enjoy being there and are more than happy to chat about the exhibit. While in the coffee shop we had the curator pull up a chair and ask us what we thought would make it better! 

One tip, avoid weekends or school holidays like the plague!! When I went there were only about 12 people in there so you could spend lots of time looking at everything and not feel crowded or rushed. 

I'll be going again for definite. 

Clic Sargent Charity Abseil - I Really Hate Heights....

It’s a cold and windy day in Lowestoft and I find myself standing 100ft in the air on the side of Orbis Energy on a 4inch slither of wood, what was I thinking............ 

100ft doesn't sound that much, but close up......

As you may (or may not) know I have a (rather large) fear of heights, as such the thought of being suspended from the side of a building by a small rope wasn’t an instantly appealing thought, I was however talked into it, the best way to face fear is head on as they say, and anyway, it’s for charity!! 

Today started out like any other, the main difference to normal was at some point after 2pm I’d be walking down the side of a building. 

So, we’re at Orbis, located in the shadow of ‘Gulliver’ the Lowestoft Wind Turbine, it’s cold and slightly overcast, oh why couldn’t it have been a sunny day, it would have helped my confidence!! 

Worryingly enough when I first arrived I missed where the actual abseil was taking place, on second view the small ominous wooden board gave away its location, having seen where the abseil would take place my initial confidence had a bit of a ‘wobble’....... 

Several cups of tea later (you all know, tea cures everything!!) we’re up on the 4th floor of Orbis ready for harness fitting and abseil training. At this point I was asked if I’d rather just prefer to use the Tardis to go from the roof to the ground, but after some thought decided that would be cheating so I’d use a rope like everyone else. 

What part of this was a good idea??

The harness was two parts, the first part wrapped round the thighs and waist, at this point I discovered what women in history felt like wearing a corset!! 

Tom: Is that tight on your waist? 

Me: Yes! 

Tom: Let’s get it a little tighter..... 

Me: Urgh..... 

Second part was a nice over the shoulder jacket sort of thing, with that the harness was on..... 

Now, a problem, Abseiling requires the wearing of a helmet, this would be very un-fringe friendly!!! Oh well, needs must!! 

So fully kitted up it’s time for Abseil training (see the video). The nerves again at this point were beginning to make their presence shown....... 

Training complete, it was time to head to the roof, Ali (my partner in crime for the day) was to go first..... 

For those of you who aren't familiar with an abseil, it kind of works in three stages: 

Stage 1: Getting onto the edge of the roof 

Stage 2: Standing on a tiny bit of wood and leaning back..... 

Stage 3: Walk down wall!! 

Ali successfully managed all three parts, the hardest are definitely the first two!! 

So with Ali safely down it was my turn.... (gulp). 

Converse. Foot ware for all occasions!!

Now I had a minor (well, I say minor) problem. I’m left handed. This meant that all the ropes were backwards, as a result it made it not possible to fully clip me up until I was on the wooden ledge (feel quite ill thinking back about it!!). So the safety line was tied on to my harness I then had to clamber onto the previously mentioned wooden ledge, at this point Sarah (the abseil technician) had to clip my main rope to my harness, at this point I’m holding onto the wall with, what can only be described as a death grip!! 

With all ropes fitted I could then begin the task of leaning back to begin the decent, at which point I realised I had a second problem, as the ropes were all backwards the safety rope had crossed the main rope tangling my hand in them..... So dangling from the top of the building I had to quickly let go with one hand to let the ropes sort themselves, I’ve never moved so fast in my life!!! 

This is why when you watch the video I’m at the top of the abseil for what seems like ages!! 

The decent itself went without any real drama. Yay for converse, they’ll grip anything!!! 

So successfully back on terra firma, I’d done it, I’d abseiled 100ft off the side of a building and gone some way to getting over my fear of heights. 

And best of all I’d raised money for charity in doing so, which is a good result all round. 

Don’t forget, my online sponsor page will remain open for about two weeks, so if you do still want to donate you can at www.justgiving.com/mh10th 

How This All Began....

I've recently been asked how I got into the whole Doctor Who look-a-like thing, well here goes.

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away..... (insert Star Wars intro music)

Clearing the fog from my memory, we need to go back to April 2007, I think it was my birthday but the exact date is a little hazy......

It was a Saturday night and I was in London visiting some of my friends, towards the end of the evening we ended up sat in The Walnut Tree, a Weatherspoons pub located in Leytonstone High Street. Sat at a table in the middle of the pub chatting I was surprised to have a random, slightly drunk (and from memory not unattractive girl) stumble over to me and proclaim “Did you know you look like David Tennant?!?”

I think my reply was ‘That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me’. After that I didn’t give it another thought as she’d had a few.........

One of the first pictures of me as the Doctor back in 2008

Skip forward a few months to August and it happened again, this time it was at home, my house mate of the time had friends round, I’d come home wearing a (pin stripe) suit and the same comment was made.... Ok I thought to myself, perhaps there is something to this.

So based on this my hair style began to change and I developed Tennant style sideburns. From this point the comments started to come more regularly, the best ones being when people walk past and then whisper to their friends “was it me, or.....”

Around March 2008 I decided that I needed to make more of the DT resemblance and got myself a 10th Doc suit and coat (back then it cost me just over £30 off of eBay, the suit wasn’t great but the coat looked fine).

By this point I’d also got a new housemate (Michelle) who, as it happens, worked for BBC Radio Suffolk. For the 2008 Suffolk Show they were going to broadcast live from the show and have a Doctor Who display in tent. Michelle said that I should go along in my Tennant gear as it would be good fun.

On Radio Suffolk with Terry Molloy

The result, I hadn't expected. It was manic, I’d never before been photographed so many times! As part of the event Terry Molloy (Davros, Classic Who) was there signing, he was also due to be interviewed about his career as well as the return of Davros to Doctor Who.

What I wasn’t expecting was that I’d end up on the radio too, chatting with Terry!!

After the radio interview (which at that point was one of the most nerve racking things I’d done), Terry gave me some valuable advice.

“Get an agent and make the most of it while you can, there’s probably only about 18 months of Tennant left (this was prior to David’s leaving announcement)”

So that’s exactly what I did, the rest as they say is history............

Me now, the look has improved!

MCM Winter Expo - Hot Zombies!

Wellll..... what can I say about Expo.

This was my first Expo, went purely by chance to be honest so wasn't sure what to expect.

Camille Coduri -
Her first words to me were 'hello old friend'

Wow, was it busy!! I've never seen so many people in my life!! There were thousands of them!!

My initial reaction was to be slightly overwhelmed! It really was an experience.

Queue, oh the queue, the never ending queue!! Took two hours to get in on the Saturday. The queue itself was an experience, as it just never seemed to get any shorter! Once we'd finally bought as ticket, there was then an unexpected bonus queue to get a wrist band thing......

So at 2pm on Saturday we made it into Expo, it was just too busy, couldn't move for people!! One thing that I'd never come across was a phenomemon for carrying signs offering 'free hugs' have never come across that before, I've personally never had to ask for hugs (people just seem to like hugging me, lol!)

Managed to meet Q from Star Trek (John De Lancie) and got a photoshoot with him, he was really nice and easy to chat to.

I forget what I was going to write....

There was also a Delorean (yes the car from Back to the Future) that people could have a picture in, had to be done!! (Well, the Tardis keys are now in the hands of Matt Smith so got to get creative!!)

As a random bonus I stumbled across Camille Coduri, she was on one of the dealers stands signing, was really nice to meet her (never met her before) she was really chatty and loved the suit and my look, when i first walked over her inital greeting was "Hello old friend" which i thought was really sweet.

The one major downside I found with Expo was the cost of meeting guests, £20 for a photoshoot and £15 for most guests was a little steep in my opinion, but it's not a guest meeting event, the big thing about Expo is Cosplay!!

There was lots and lots of Cosplay, some truly epic outfits, could have spent all day people watching and taking pictures.

Mini Dalek!

So, Sunday came and I went back to Expo (hadn't planned to!!). I had a plan, get pictures and just spend the day wandering round, and that's what I did!

Met loads of people, got hugged lots (told you I don't need a sign) and had lots of nice comments about my look :)

I've learned a valuable lesson, if someone has "free hugs" written on their hand in biro do not hug them!! I was lifted off my feet by one guy and spun round like a rag doll, much to the amusement of onlookers!! I also discovered that some of the people there can be a little grabby, my bum got pinched a few too many times!!

At one point I had a guy come running up to me and demand to know why I'd left my Tardis in plain site (there was a photo area with a Tardis, Cybershade, K9 and 10 look-a-like, who was also the photographer). He then followed this up by telling me that some fake Doctor had claimed my Tardis, that did make me smile.

'When Fangirls Attack!'

Many thanks to Sue for being my camera operator for the day! One thing I've found when I go to events is that i never end up taking any pictures!! As such I get photographed lots but have no pics of my own!!

Have a look at the album, there are some great pics, especially the mini Dalek!!

Will definitely go again!! 

My opinion: Awesome event, especially if you are an Anime fan!!