Although Saturday, 16th April dawned bright and cold, Weston-Super-Mare was beginning to gear up for the summer season.  The sea was within sight, and some hardy people walked along the sands.  Café owners optimistically set out tables and chairs in the open air, and an ice-cream van forlornly plied its trade along the almost deserted sea front.  However, a stone’s throw away in the Winter Gardens, things were very different.

Around two thousand people passed through the doors that day, to meet actors from Dr Who, Star Wars, and Blake’s 7 who had been brought together for a one-day convention.  The guest list was extensive.  There were many Dr Who assistants, including Nicola Bryant, Mary Tamm, Wendy Padbury and Elisabeth Sladen, as well as ‘the Brigadier’, Nicholas Courtney, and Colin Baker representing the Doctors.   Jeremy Bulloch, Dave Prowse, Warwick Davis and Kenny Baker were the faces behind some famous Star Wars characters.  There were props on display, including the Tardis, and many costume characters stalked the autograph and dealers’ rooms – Daleks, Davros and Cybermen rubbing shoulders with Storm Troopers, Boba Fett and Darth Vader. 

Paul Darrow wore his Blake’s 7 and Dr Who hats and was kept extremely busy from 10am until late afternoon signing autographs.  There was a break in proceedings from around 5pm until 7 pm when the limited attendance evening sessions began.   While some watched the new Dr Who episode, most attended one of the two question and answer sessions.  Paul joined Nicholas Courtney, Wendy Padbury, Michael Sheard and Shane Rimmer for the ‘Dr Who’ Question and Answer panel.  When everyone was seated, one of the organisers announced that a member of the audience would have to be the MC.  He gave the microphone to a volunteer and left!  Within a couple of minutes, Michael Sheard had commandeered the microphone and set about extracting questions from the audience, who were willing enough to participate.  However, the tendency to ask a question to each guest in turn took away the opportunity for interaction and spontaneity, so the session became rather hard work.  However, Paul did manage to liven things up by telling Jon Pertwee’s ‘how to kiss a duck’s bottom’ joke!

A buffet commenced around 8.30 pm with most of the guests attending.  There was a ‘grab a celebrity’ photo opportunity, which was a novel idea.  Each photo was produced digitally within a couple of minutes so that the celebrity could sign it immediately.  The event drew to a close around 10pm when all the guests were called on stage to thank them for making the event such an enjoyable one and to present each with an award.

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