Norcon - A Local Show At Last!

Having driven back from Weston Super Mare the night before I was understandably a little tired, it was also raining heavily on the morning, not a good way to start a day........

Me with Warwick Davies

Got to UEA where the event was being held at around 10.15, finally got out of my car at about 10.30 (I really hate rain, my hair hates rain even more!!)

So having spent 15 mins hiding from the rain Lucy and I finally went into the event, really didn’t know what to expect so it would be an experience, my reason for going (apart from it being local) was to have a catch up with Terry Molloy (as you may or may not know, he’s the reason I got into all this).

A convention in a uni common room/student union, this was a new one for me, not a bad venue all told, it was a shame there wasn’t a bit more signage within the uni to tell people where to go, but that’s probably me just being picky.

For me doing Stars of Time the day before took something away from Norwich Sci-fi Day, a number of the guests were the same, but I can’t hold it against the event, let’s face it, Stars of Time was the other side of the country!!

Autograph signing...

There was only one real downside to Norwich Sci-fi was the layout of the room, it was set in a sort of S shape, it was the best layout due to the sunken stage area but it did mean walking round was slightly difficult a you ended up walking from one end to the other then had to turn round and walk back to the entrance door, personally I’m a fan of circles, but that’s just me :)

The major plus side of having an event in a student union was the cost of food and drinks, i.e. really cheap!

When I arrived my first port of call was to grab a cuppa, have a sit down and generally take in the surroundings. While sitting drinking the aforementioned cup of tea I was approached by two girls from the University Live-wire service to have a chat on camera about events.

It appears that this was a weekend for autographs, I must have signed about a dozen 10th Doctor Battles in Time cards, it’s a very strange feeling signing pics of DT!!

I had my catch up with Terry Molloy, was good to see him again, last time I saw him was back at Regenerations in September, it’s always good when guests remember your name.

10 and 5. It's Timecrash all over again!

As well as Terry Molloy I also got to meet Chris Barrie (Rimmer – Red Dwarf), this was the first time I’d met him, I’d been to events he’d been at before but had never got round to meeting him. Seeing Chris Barrie made Lucy very happy as she is a big fan of his! In addition to Chris I was also able to meet Warwick Davies (Willow!!) which was very cool.

While I was there I did meet some new people including members of the Norwich Time Travellers, a Doctor Who fan group. It's always good to meet new people who have similar interests.

All in all a good day, doing two events in the same weekend definitely took something away from this one though, I’ll be waiting to see what they have planned for next year.

Stars of Time II - My First Audience with the Daleks...

It’s 8.30pm on Friday November 5th, it’s raining heavily and we finally arrive at the Commodore Hotel, just outside Weston Super Mare. The journey had taken just under five and a half hours but Lucy and I had made it to our accommodation for the night. It’d been a long day of travelling, but it’s far easier going the day before rather than on the day.

The Doctor

So onto the day of the event, we got their around 9.30 an hour before it opened so that we could have a walk round and see what the plan was for the day.

This was my second appearance at Stars of Time, it’s a relatively small family orientated event. Due to its size it means that there is plenty of times to chat to the guests and queues aren’t too long.

David from Toymachine (the event organisers) had managed to get a good selection and number of guests. The main ones for me being Wendy Padbury (Zoe – Doctor Who) and Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore – Goldfinger).

In addition to the guests there was a Doctor Who photo area where people could have their picture in the Tardis or with a Dalek, there was also a Star Wars photo area courtesy of the guys from Garrison. I’d been asked to do a couple of pictures by the Tardis so the photographer had some to display, this would not be the last time I was photographed with the Tardis.

Audience with the Daleks

Part of the event is the ever popular, audience with the Daleks. On this occasion I’d been asked to be compare, the Doctor and three Daleks, what could possibly go wrong................

The audience with the Daleks was highly amusing, many jokes and the mandatory soaking of most of the audience by the Dalek water guns. The video has made it to You-tube, there is also a link on my page.

With the first Dalek audience completed it was time to wander (or should that be swagger?!?) around the event. At one point I was stopped by two children who wanted my autograph, this has happened to me before, but is something that I’ll never get used too!

Autograph Signing

For those of you who have never been to Stars of Time, it’s held in the Winter Gardens in Weston Super Mare. The Winter Gardens are also next to a shopping centre, so you can imagine what was bound to happen........ Dalek invasion!!

Nothing can really describe the shocked look on the customers of Burger King when a Dalek bursts in demanding Ice Cream and then proceeds to join the queue.

Early afternoon arrived and the two children who’d asked for my autograph earlier came and found me again, this time clutching a printed copy of a picture they’d had with me, they both asked me to sign them. As you may (or may not know) a biro won’t work on a photo, so a Sharpie was required, so off I ran to see Dave Prowse to borrow his!

Me with Wendy Padbury

Audience with the Daleks part two then started, the Daleks had been caught somewhere in the Time Vortex (or were suffering from technical difficulties). To pass the time and to stop me needing to do a one man show I was joined you a young assistant for a short bit of banter.

Two of the three Daleks materialised and the show went on. This time I was far more settled and feel I gave a better performance, far more jokes from the Daleks with a bit more adult content, Nicola Bryant somehow made it into conversation and I had to avoid laughing when the Dalek plunger shot upright and extended to its full length.

Anyway, back to the guests. Wendy Padbury was lovely, I’ve never met her before, I had her sign a picture for me, I’d also been sent a drawing of her to get signed which I did.

The Doctor

Honor Blackman was fab, i must admit I did get a little start struck (not normally like me) but she was really nice and I had a picture with her.

Nisha Nayar (Doctor Who and Tracey Beaker) I met her at the last Stars of Time event and she remembered me which was cool, she’s cool and was great to talk to, I look forward to seeing her again.

Dave Prowse (Darth Vader, but I’m sure you all knew that!!), again really easy to talk too, we ended up chatting about the best way to get to Norwich of all things!!

All in all, it was a really good event, not as busy at the last one (but there was another Doctor Who event that day so that probably explains it).

A really good family day out, I’d only make one minor amendment and that would be to have a set area for the paid for pictures which wasn’t in the main dealer hall. May also be an idea to have the possibility of an area with guest talks, but that’s just a thought.

If you’re ever in Weston Super Mare when a Stars of Time event is on its well worth a visit