‘See you in Stockton’. Star One 2005 had
signed off with those words, laughter, applause and Paul’s signature tune
‘Amarillo’. Almost 12 months later, travelling north past Junction
13 of the M1 – the slip road for Bedford - on a grey March Friday morning,
there was a moment’s regret that journey’s end would not be the Moat House
Hotel this year. Late afternoon, having crossed the River Tees, the
rigging of the moored replica of Captain Cook’s ship, Endeavour, came into
view. Opposite, stood a multi-storey car park, which served as the
back entrance for the location of Star One 2006 – The Swallow Hotel, Stockton
on Tees.
For those arriving Friday evening, Andrea, Sue and Sarah had prepared another excellent brain-teasing quiz. Another option, for those feeling less cerebral, was a leisurely dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Having registered, a quick glance at the timetable for the weekend showed that, despite the change of location, the familiar ingredients which had made the previous Star One conventions so enjoyable were still in place. The guest list was as impressive as ever – Paul Darrow, Colin Baker, Gareth Thomas, Michael Keating, Steven Pacey, Jacqueline Pearce, Peter Tuddenham, Michael Melia and Ian Thompson. The registration pack contained a potted history of all the guests, together with some interesting photographs and flippant comments, eg Paul supports Manchester City Football Club – oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!
The crammed schedule featured on-stage talks, autograph sessions, photo sessions, an auction and coffee clubs (where, for a donation to the convention charity, Denville Hall - a retirement home for elderly members of the entertainment profession - twelve lucky people had the chance to talk with the guest of their choice in a relaxed atmosphere). Saturday evening commenced with a Tribute to David Jackson, followed by the Celebrity Dinner. A Movie Quiz, hosted by Paul Darrow and Derek Hambly rounded off the evening in fine style.
In addition, there were two special attractions this year. The first was the opportunity to buy Paul Darrow’s hot-off-the-press autobiography ‘You’re Him, Aren’t You?” Apparently, it was a close run thing. Big Finish, the publishers, were unhappy with the quality of one or two of the photos in the book, but agreed to an initial print run of 200 copies. Subsequent copies would be slightly different, so the 200 represented a kind of limited edition. In any case, they sold extremely well as was evidenced by the enormous length of Paul’s autograph queue!
Another ‘first’, was the screening of the short film ‘The Visitation’ starring Paul Darrow as Doctor Hector Lovelock. This took place on Sunday morning and was followed by a question and answer session with Paul and the Director of the film, J. J. Guest. Based on an incident at High Beech, when a strange glow was reported over the forest, five eye witnesses told of their experiences during this phenomenon. Doctor Lovelock’s expert analysis interspersed their reminiscences. A tale of the supernatural or The X-Files meets Play School? The eye witness accounts varied as widely as the eyewitnesses themselves, who included a lady whose dog was ill, so she was ‘walking the dog, without the dog’, and a children’s author whose grip on reality appeared tenuous at the best of times. And Doctor Lovelock? The forceful delivery of his pronouncements, accompanied by some wonderful facial expressions, suggested this expert’s opinions would carry weight. Or would they, seeing his preferred reading seemed to be Tilly and Tom’s Adventures in Teapot Land!
The fifteen minute ‘mocumentary’ which asks the question ‘Where does reality end, and fantasy begin…’ will be edited down to ten minutes and entered into the short film category at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Saturday morning sessions got off to a flying start with Paul Darrow and Steven Pacey teaming up once again – a very popular formula! Steven rashly disclosed he had worn lederhosen in a film, something Paul is unlikely to let him ever forget! Steven’s joke about cowboy boots also brought the house down – unrepeatable here, but ask him if you see him!
Jacqueline Pearce’s on-stage talk was as interesting and frank as ever. Dismissing her fight against breast cancer as a walk in the park compared with her fight against depression, her courage and determination touched everyone. She spoke about her forthcoming visit to South Africa to help care for orphaned and wounded monkeys – stationed well away from civilisation somewhere in the bush. Wishing her well, Paul Jones voiced everyone’s hopes that she would return to Star One next year to relate her experiences.
The afternoon auction featured some unusual and rare items, ranging from an original Terry Nation script – Dalek Masterplan – Ep2 Day of Armageddon, which was donated by Kate Nation to Paul’s Science Museum Pass, used on the day of the recording of his interview for the series 4 DVDs.
The photo studio worked hard to produce photos in time for them
to be signed at autograph sessions. A lovely group photo was taken
of the guests on both days. These could also be signed at any of the
autograph sessions, and made a very nice memento of the weekend.
All too soon the closing ceremony was upon us, with heartfelt ‘thank yous’ expressed to all – Maureen and Derek especially - who had organised and worked hard to make the weekend such an enjoyable and memorable occasion for all concerned. Stockton had been fun, and the friendly staff of The Swallow Hotel had made us very welcome, but it was still something of a relief to hear the final words ‘See you in Bedford!’
For those arriving Friday evening, Andrea, Sue and Sarah had prepared another excellent brain-teasing quiz. Another option, for those feeling less cerebral, was a leisurely dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Having registered, a quick glance at the timetable for the weekend showed that, despite the change of location, the familiar ingredients which had made the previous Star One conventions so enjoyable were still in place. The guest list was as impressive as ever – Paul Darrow, Colin Baker, Gareth Thomas, Michael Keating, Steven Pacey, Jacqueline Pearce, Peter Tuddenham, Michael Melia and Ian Thompson. The registration pack contained a potted history of all the guests, together with some interesting photographs and flippant comments, eg Paul supports Manchester City Football Club – oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!
The crammed schedule featured on-stage talks, autograph sessions, photo sessions, an auction and coffee clubs (where, for a donation to the convention charity, Denville Hall - a retirement home for elderly members of the entertainment profession - twelve lucky people had the chance to talk with the guest of their choice in a relaxed atmosphere). Saturday evening commenced with a Tribute to David Jackson, followed by the Celebrity Dinner. A Movie Quiz, hosted by Paul Darrow and Derek Hambly rounded off the evening in fine style.
In addition, there were two special attractions this year. The first was the opportunity to buy Paul Darrow’s hot-off-the-press autobiography ‘You’re Him, Aren’t You?” Apparently, it was a close run thing. Big Finish, the publishers, were unhappy with the quality of one or two of the photos in the book, but agreed to an initial print run of 200 copies. Subsequent copies would be slightly different, so the 200 represented a kind of limited edition. In any case, they sold extremely well as was evidenced by the enormous length of Paul’s autograph queue!
Another ‘first’, was the screening of the short film ‘The Visitation’ starring Paul Darrow as Doctor Hector Lovelock. This took place on Sunday morning and was followed by a question and answer session with Paul and the Director of the film, J. J. Guest. Based on an incident at High Beech, when a strange glow was reported over the forest, five eye witnesses told of their experiences during this phenomenon. Doctor Lovelock’s expert analysis interspersed their reminiscences. A tale of the supernatural or The X-Files meets Play School? The eye witness accounts varied as widely as the eyewitnesses themselves, who included a lady whose dog was ill, so she was ‘walking the dog, without the dog’, and a children’s author whose grip on reality appeared tenuous at the best of times. And Doctor Lovelock? The forceful delivery of his pronouncements, accompanied by some wonderful facial expressions, suggested this expert’s opinions would carry weight. Or would they, seeing his preferred reading seemed to be Tilly and Tom’s Adventures in Teapot Land!
The fifteen minute ‘mocumentary’ which asks the question ‘Where does reality end, and fantasy begin…’ will be edited down to ten minutes and entered into the short film category at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Saturday morning sessions got off to a flying start with Paul Darrow and Steven Pacey teaming up once again – a very popular formula! Steven rashly disclosed he had worn lederhosen in a film, something Paul is unlikely to let him ever forget! Steven’s joke about cowboy boots also brought the house down – unrepeatable here, but ask him if you see him!
Jacqueline Pearce’s on-stage talk was as interesting and frank as ever. Dismissing her fight against breast cancer as a walk in the park compared with her fight against depression, her courage and determination touched everyone. She spoke about her forthcoming visit to South Africa to help care for orphaned and wounded monkeys – stationed well away from civilisation somewhere in the bush. Wishing her well, Paul Jones voiced everyone’s hopes that she would return to Star One next year to relate her experiences.
The afternoon auction featured some unusual and rare items, ranging from an original Terry Nation script – Dalek Masterplan – Ep2 Day of Armageddon, which was donated by Kate Nation to Paul’s Science Museum Pass, used on the day of the recording of his interview for the series 4 DVDs.
Snow fell overnight on Saturday on the countryside
outside Stockton. The guests were staying at a country hotel but, happily,
the snow didn’t prevent them from returning to
Stockton on the Sunday morning, ready for another full day.
Gareth was on stage first before being joined by Michael Keating
and then Paul Darrow. The coffee club auctions then took place, generating
a little friendly rivalry between Gareth, Michael and Paul as they
auctioned each other's tickets.Gareth and Michael then went
on to the photo studio, whilst Paul hosted a Coffee Club.
All too soon the closing ceremony was upon us, with heartfelt ‘thank yous’ expressed to all – Maureen and Derek especially - who had organised and worked hard to make the weekend such an enjoyable and memorable occasion for all concerned. Stockton had been fun, and the friendly staff of The Swallow Hotel had made us very welcome, but it was still something of a relief to hear the final words ‘See you in Bedford!’
