Anyway, on
with the show… I’ve been looking forward to the celebration for months. I
booked the ticket as soon as they went on sale (the got sold out in few hours)
and was lucky enough to get an opportunity of photoshoot with Matt Smith.
Arriving to the venue appeared to be an easy task, but underestimated the
vastness of the place and little conversance of the place by the staff, so
instead of West entrance I found myself in the East. Fortunately that turned
out to be no problem at all. Before getting to the panel, the tickets were scanned by the staff and I received a card and lanyard that entitled me to enter the panels of my group, various shows and the arena. I decided to follow
the first bigger group of people and unknowingly ended up at the first panel:
SFX show.
The Arena
was divided into several sections – there was the TARDIS console (screen-used
one where the photographs were taken), Costumes sets and props (10 out of 11
Doctors’ costumes were there and many other from both New and Classic era),
Make-up trailer (they had David Tennant’s wig there, hehe), Pub quiz (you could
test your knowledge of Doctor Who there), Production trailer (a double-decker
used as a canteen), visual effects (the actual models used before the CGI and
you got to talk to Mike Tucker and Mat Irvine – specialists in the area),
Millenium FX (where the shows about the prosthetics for DW monsters were held),
Sound Lab (with all the ‘ancient’ equipment they used in early days of the show
and you could chat with Dick Mills there as well). Of course there was the
merchandise corner, always overflowing with crowds and there was a massive
queue to enter the BBC merchandise store.
There were
two more levels with DW goodness to raise a bit of panic about not being able
to attend everything you’d like to (which was truly impossible). On the second
floor they arranged a lounge for TARDIS ticket holders with refreshments. The
third floor was more Con-like, with screening room that played Doctor Who episodes with actual live
commentaries (so it was better if you’ve seen the episode before, because all
the guests talked about the behind-the-scene and funny incidents and such); and
with Classic lounge (which offered comfort to Classic Who fans to listen to
stories and interviews of previous companions).
Okay, I hope the introduction is over and I didn’t put
you off with all the information. But there’s still so much more to come…
My Experience
Now to the fun stuff. As I stated before, the whole convention was a bit confusing at first. I had no idea where to go and was just herded into the Theatre, where I sat down and prepared myself for the unexpected. It was really a huge space, filled with chairs and podium in the front. I could clearly see the screen as the BBC trailer for the Special episode was shown. I must admit, my mood went up the ceiling. That’s when I finally admitted to myself: I’m in London about to witness something unbelievable for sure!
They screened variety of clips for us while we waited
for the SFX show to start, mostly the trailer and the opening tune. Then the
presenter, Dallas Campbell (to be honest, this was the first time I heard of this
guy, is he well-known in Britain?), started the show and invited the special
effects guy, whose name I unfortunately never caught up. They talked about
blowing up Daleks, how it’s important to have a break-up Dalek so they don’t
fly away in pieces (which might hurt someone). Lot of things in Doctor Who nowadays
are made in CGI, but the prosthetics and Visual Effects are always needed as
well. Especially an explosion. He liked the explosion behind David Tennant in
the "End of Time" (even though it was made higher through CGI). The Guy
also mentions that he set David Tennant’s hair on fire (by accident, but I
think he was just a little bit jealous, hehe).
After a hearty applause we were rushed out the Theatre
by Daleks' threat to be exterminated (it did the trick: we were all out in five
minutes). My next stop turned out to be a photoshoot with Matt Smith! I
hurry-scurry run through the venue in a search of a map to locate the photo
studio. Fortunately all the visitors were helpful and with an aid from a German
couple I found the studio, respectively the queue to the studio, in no time.
With a time to spare, I chatted with the pair. Both coming to celebrate the
Anniversary from Germany, enjoying the London along the way and both were
pretty excited about the Special. We reached the studio in 20 minutes and let
me tell you, when I first saw Matt, I wanted to run. I and the German girl had
a bit of a fangirly moment. From all I could see, Matt was extremely polite to
whoever he met, posed and chit-chatted a bit. When it was my turn, I gave him a
smile, introduced myself, passed over the greetings from Czech Whovians and
asked him to dance with me in the photo. It all lasted less than a minute, but
it was a pleasure. What a bigger surprise awaited for me at home when I looked
at the picture and noticed there’s another one. I got two pics with Matt and
they already hang on the wall.
After leaving the German couple with the photos in my
hands, I practically run to the Arena so I could have another picture taken,
this time in the TARDIS console. What I wasn’t prepared for was the line that
stretched throughout the Arena and I knew I’d end up there for ages. The queue
slowly proceeded to the TARDIS, but it could have been miles away for all knew.
Solid hunger forced me to buy a little snack (my first food that day for I woke
up quite late to have any time for a proper breakfast) and waited and shifted
and waited. As I was closing to the TARDIS’ door I remembered I also purchased
an autograph from Sylvester McCoy. Being just few meters from my final
destination, I had no other option then to ask the staff guy to hold my place
for me so I wouldn’t miss Sylvester.
As I got back, I noticed with some horror that the guy
I spoke to and who would let me back to the line where I was, was replaced by
someone else. I tried very hard to convince him that I hadn’t my photo taken
yet and I was promised to be let back into the line. And that’s when my
‘personal’ Doctor came in.
His name was Richard and he simply said that he
knows me. I was bit confused but the guy said ‘oh, you know him, you can go’
and so I was back in line! I don’t think I would be mentally capable of waiting
in the line from the start. I’d end up in a little ball of tears somewhere.
Anyway, I finally had a company, a Brit living in the States and we had a very
lovely chat. At that time I was getting quite confused whether any Brits
actually were at the Event at all…
The time flies fast when you have a partner to chat
and laugh with. He turned out to be a massive DW fan, who bought the family
ticket because the single ones were sold out! And he built TARDIS out of Lego
(which looked impressive, positioned by the sea with waves crashing around it)
and knitted 4th Doctor’s scarf by himself. We got to the door in no
time and then I entered the TARDIS though the main door and… I was taken aback.
I was in the TARDIS. Everything was flashing and moving and I had to be moved
to the position to have the pic taken. I tried the best pose I could master but
all I could see was the wonderful machine. The huge grin that appeared on my
face hadn’t left me till I was back in Purfleet, where my temporary base was
set.
I started with the Costumes, sets & props. There
were 10 Doctor’s costumes (3rd Doctor’s missing), which were
beautiful and you could examine the patterns on each of them real close. Then
there were companions, Donna Noble’s dress, Martha’s outfit, Amy Pond’s
Kissagram, Rory’s adorable shirt (with him and Amy in the heart on the chest of
the shirt), Jack Harkness’ coat and so many more. There were placed Classic
costumes and props as well. The one prop I remembered clearly was the
Snowmen-making machine from the Snowmen episode. Quite cool thing to look at.
I kept on wandering through the crowd, stopping by
Visual Effects, where I got to talk to people who build the miniatures and next
to them we could touch glass-like shards, which were in fact made of some kind
of jelly or touch the insides of the Dalek. I had to climb inside the
Production trailer (even though it looked more like canteen) to see how far the
whole place stretches. Awesome view, overlooking the crowds you knew where your
people, people who shared the same passion for one Doctor we all call our own.
As mentioned at the beginning, there were three other
stages in the Arena. I only caught glimpses at each of them. I listened, while
waiting in the queue for the TARDIS photo, to Dick Mills talking about creation
of the iconic opening tune of Doctor Who. He went layer by layer and revealed
its complexity. Then I saw the Walk like Cyberman show, where they called
children and taught them how to move and shoot like a proper Cybermen (we all
shall be upgraded soon, no doubt about that). And the last one I saw was a
stunt school, where they showed the audience various tricks, at times very
impressive.
Of course, there was the merchandise corner, filled
with T-shirt, Big Finish audiobooks…
Unfortunately I missed the Regeneration panel with Colin
Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Peter Davison and Nicolas Briggs. I nearly missed
the beginning of Eleventh hour panel, starring Steven Moffat, Matt Smith and
Jenna Coleman. I made just in time to get a decent seat and the talk began with
discussion about the idea of Matt’s costume, which should have been all piraty,
blazers, and wasn’t supposed to have the bowtie (Moffat didn’t like it) but
upon seeing Matt in it, he changed his decision. Moffat was being sassy
throughout the panel, throwing stuff like ‘old boffin’ which should have
described the perception of Matt to Steven. There was actually a lot about
casting the 11th Doctor, as you may have heard before, because Matt
was taken almost immediately. It was about his eyes, which looked so old, yet
set in such a young (lovely) face.
“People get all emotional, and they don’t even make it. Imagine how we feel about the end.”
-Steven Moffat
They added that the saddest moment of filming was definitely the last scene of Matt
(which comes this Christmas), the scariest monsters were the Weeping
Angels for Matt, the Silents for the director. and for Jenna, the Whispermen. When the panel
reached its end, all the guests earned a very long and heartfelt applause, it
sounded as thank you from fans to Matt.
The last bit I decided to explore was the third floor
with its screening room. I signed up for the screening of School Reunion. It
was really commentary about the episode, here present were the producer and
costume designer. A few fun-facts: they had 4 schools in which it was filmed, the
best costume wore Rose (the school canteen worker), Mickey caught himself
talking to the metal dog (K-9) instead of to the actor who voiced him instead.
After this, I bid my last goodbye and farewell to the
venue, carrying unforgettable memories and warmth in my heart.
One more thing, I spotted quite a lot of cosplayers.
Do some googling and find them. They are awesome.
If you made it this far, congratulations, and a huge
thank you. It was an honour and privilege to be able to attend and I’m most
grateful if I was able to pass some of the awesomeness along.
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