2/3 of Gallifrey One

As I mentioned last week, Kris and I attended the 36 “Legends of Gallifrey One, Stories Untold”.  As we were told last year, this is the antepenultimate Gallifrey – which means there are only two more.  After that, the creators and co-chairs are retiring.  We are all saddened by that news, but to be fair, we can’t be surprised that after 38 years of doing this voluntarily, they decided it was time to hang it up.

They have taken this from a convention of 300 attendees to over 2,500 attendees.  And the logistics of such a growing convention increases exponentially, especially when you consider they have to bring over almost all of their guests from England.

Kris and I attend three cons a year regularly; Gallifrey One, Comic Con Revolution and Loscon.  At one point, when we were dealers, we attended up to eight cons a year.  Gallifrey has always been my favorite convention, not only for the amazing guests from overseas, but also for the people and the community they have created. 

There is an event called Lobby Con, which the producers of Gallifrey will tell you is an unofficial, unauthorized, not-a-part of Gallifrey One.  Fans gather Wednesday night and Thursday night before the con starts and hang out in the lobby.  They show off their costumes, exchange badge ribbons and celebrate everything Doctor Who.  It’s one big party in the hotel lobby.

And most cons sequester their guests from the attendees, but one of my favorite memories of Gallifrey One was the show runner and writer for Doctor Who, Steve Moffatt, sitting in the lobby just talking to fans.  He is one of my writing gurus and to sit there and just listen to him was amazing.  It reminded me of when I was back in high school and I attended my first science fiction convention, a one-day event at Benjaman Franklin High School.  One of the panels was in a classroom and it was basically having a chance to sit and talk to Gene Roddenberry, my original writing guru and have him sign my copy of, “The Making of Star Trek”.

But back to this Gallifrey One:  The first thing we did Friday was set up Kris in the art show.  She had a number of beaded bracelets and pen wraps. 

Then we sat in on three panels in a row.  The first was the Freema Agyeman panel, she was Martha Jones during the David Tennant era.  She spoke of her time on Doctor Who and other shows she’s been on sense. 

Next was Peter Davison, the fifth Doctor.  At one point, his wife joined him on the stage, which was great because we had never seen her before.  They were talking about how their two sons are now into acting, and so is David’s daughter, Georgia.  Then Peter mentions his daughter is married to some sort of actor as well.  The audience broke out in laughter knowing his daughter is married to David Tennant, the tenth doctor.  So Peter Davison, the fifth doctor, is the father-in-law of David Tennant, the tenth doctor.  David met Georgia when she was on the show playing the tenth Doctor’s Daughter…it can get complicated from there.

Next was an interview with Millie Gibson, the first companion of the current Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa.  She talked about how when she started on Doctor Who, Ncuti was still wrapping another project, so she had to carry the shoot without even having met the Doctor yet and not knowing how their relationship worked.

Then it was time for lunch at our favorite food truck, Baby’s Badass Burgers.

After checking out the art show and dealer’s room, it was time for our traditional trek with friends to Denny’s.

Kris wasn’t feeling well on Saturday, so we skipped that day.  Hence, the 2/3 of Gallifrey One.

Sunday we saw Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso.  They were the companions to the Paul McGann Doctor in the American-made Doctor Who TV movie.  This was the 30^th anniversary of the movie.  Paul McGann was also supposed to be at the convention, but at the last minute, he started another shoot.

After hanging out with friends, we went to the Year in Review and then the closing ceremonies.  It was another great convention, although there were significantly less people attending.  Usually, when a major panel lets out, the hallways become like the planet Gidion in the original “Star Trek”.  Such was not the case this year.  You could always navigate the halls.  Still, it was fun and we are looking forward to the last two Gallifreys.

Dennis

308th blog completed.

Second Steampunk novel: 17,740 words.  Chapter Five done.

Second Steampunk screenplay:  157 pages.

First Steampunk screenplay:  Updated with notes from the novelization.

First Steampunk novel:  77,546 words.  Completed until an editor reviews it.

Third Steampunk screenplay:  38 pages.

Obi-Shawn brought his car Sunday – with a few modifications.