Part The Second: Saturday at the Con
After another not-so-pleasant meal in the grill, I got in line for my badge to the con. The lines seemed to be longer than they anticipated, and I heard someone say they had set up two lines to try to get everyone through faster. Still, it was nothing like lines at a Wizard World.
As it was, despite the fact I was there fairly early, I did not make it to the welcoming session until just before it began. Since I was traveling by myself, it was actually fairly easy to find an empty seat near the front, so I got some reasonably decent pictures despite my lousy camera phone.
The ceremony to welcome the guests (Andrew Cartmel, Kelly Yates, Lady Soliloquy, Gareth David-Lloyd, and Sylvester McCoy) began with the arrival of the Tardis. Okay, the Tardis was sitting there in front the whole time, but they dimmed the lights for the welcome video and at the end, they lit up the Tardis in the dark and played the vworp vworp sound effect. It was fun, and got everyone excited about the fact that we were actually at a con where everyone there shared our love for Doctor Who.
The Tardis materializes in Huntsville!
Just when everyone started to settle down, suddenly, there was The Silence! 
He made sure we all saw him! But I think the three Doctors and Captain Jack hiding behind him on the stage managed to reverse the polarity and neutralize him because everybody remembered him.
The Silence made its presence known.
He sure kept trying though. The Silence are persistent. Next, it was time for The Doctor! When our beloved Seventh Doctor came on stage, everyone roared.
Look! It’s the Seventh Doctor!
At first. Then we got a good look at him, and realized he wasn’t our Doctor! He was an impostor in a clever disguise.
Oops. Maybe not.
Here’s our real Doctor!
Here’s the real Doctor!
After a short break, Sylvester McCoy returned to visit with the packed room of excited fans. I had the opportunity to briefly meet Sylvester several years ago and got an autograph, but I had never been able to see him at a panel. He is amazing. He gives Barrowman a run for his money. I loved the fact that Sylvester walked down from the stage and prowled the floor. Every single person in the room had a chance to get a good look at him. I got a particularly good look at him, as he stopped right in front of me as I was snapping a picture.
He could have smacked me with that cane if he wanted.
And, even better, I happened to be sitting on the aisle that he decided to take when he started playing the spoons. The video is here on YouTube if you want to see the spoon-playing up close.
So up to this point, things have been going great. However, when they ended Sylvester’s session, they announced that everyone needed to get up and get in line as they were going to do Sylvester’s photo ops next. That’s not what the schedule said, however. Next up was the Enoch the Traveler panel with Gareth David-Lloyd. Photos weren’t scheduled until after lunch. Nevertheless, we were all herded out of the room. I asked a security guy if he knew what was going on, and he said no and directed me to one of the people running the program. I asked her why we were lining up for Sylvester’s pictures when there was supposed to be another panel in the room and the pictures weren’t for another couple of hours. She didn’t know, but she said she would try to find out.
I didn’t know what to do, so I sat down in the room to wait for the Enoch panel. I had a two-day pass, so I would get my picture with Sylvester on Sunday if I missed it (and I was worried before all this even started that I might miss it since it was scheduled the same time as the GDL photo shoot). While I was sitting, and while there were still a couple of hundred people snaking around the room supposedly being led out of the room to be led back in to get their picture with Sylvester, one of the organizers came up to the mic to tell everyone that the line was just for people who hadn’t already paid for their pictures. Everyone who had prepaid was ok. Huge sigh of relief. I could sit back and enjoy the Enoch The Traveler Q&A.
The cast of Enoch the Traveler, Gareth David-Lloyd, Abby Marie Steninger, and Matt Steninger, with Lady Soliloquy. The Doctors and Captain Jack approve.
The Enoch crew has been making the rounds of the con circuit the last few months to promote the miniseries. I originally picked up the book and read it because Gareth was involved, but I was pretty impressed with the premise of the story. Maybe some day when I have more time, I’ll reread it and do a review of the book itself. How can you not be intrigued by a book that has both Biblical characters and quantum mechanics? It takes a lot of chutzpah to pull something like that off, and the theory geek in me is pretty stoked to see where Lady Soliloquy, the author, is going to take this. I’ve had the chance to see them at several other cons, meet the actors involved, and hear readings of both the original story and of the screenplay. If they come to a con near you, go see them. You won’t be disappointed.
I just realized, this is the first time I’ve posted anything about Enoch since March. How did that happen? The big news is that Gareth David-Lloyd will not be playing the villain, Nicolov, in the miniseries–instead he will be playing the lead, Enoch. If you want to see him in costume as Enoch, go look at the poster for the show here. If you haven’t seen a picture of Gareth recently, you really need to look at the poster. He has grown in his beard and he looks amazing.
This first panel was intended to be a Q&A about the book and miniseries, but there were a considerable number of people there who had not read the book, so the cast introduced the concept of the series to the group. They did a good job of answering questions without being too spoilerly; they are at the point in the production where things are moving along but because of non-disclosure agreements, they can’t give many details (like what channel it will be broadcast on and when!). They are currently working on the screenplay; Gareth is working with Lady Soliloquy to adapt the novel to the screen. Lady S also announced that they will be filming in North Carolina next spring and that Chris Hansen, Director of Film and Digital Media at Baylor University, has agreed to direct the film. They will post information about casting calls and extras on the Enoch Facebook page.
So, now the next dilemma after the panel–how do I manage to get photos taken with both Gaz and Sylvester when their photo ops are scheduled overlapping in two different rooms? Where is Hermione and her time-turner when you need her?
As I said earlier, i assumed that my prepay for Sylvester would work for the entire weekend. The pics with Gareth, you had to choose which day you wanted. I had picked Saturday so that I could get the picture back in time for an autograph, which is what I assumed would happen with Sylvester. However, after the big miscommunication about photos, I thought I’d better try to find someone and make sure I knew what was going on.
I went to the main table and explained my concern and the lady informed me that my prepay for Sylvester would not be valid on Sunday. When I explained to her the issue with the overlap and asked which one I should go to first, she told me to go to Gareth’s photo shoot first as there probably wouldn’t be as many people there and If Sylvester had finished before I got there, to come back and she would give me a new wristband that would let me get a picture with Sylvester on Sunday.
So I’m a good little girl, cross my fingers, and do as I’m told. I’m a bit worried because there are a lot of people waiting to get pictures with Gareth (I don’t think the organizers realized how much of a draw he was going to be); the room was about two-thirds full. I got my picture with Gareth (and I’m glad that I did because he has added to his wardrobe of hats with that adorable number that you see in some of the pictures I’ve uploaded) and then ran next door to find out that Sylvester had just finished up. He’d actually just gone to sit at his table, and I asked the security guy if it was too late and he gave me a smug look and shrugged like You’re shit out of luck bitch.
I knew it would happen. I knew it.
SO AGAIN, I’m a good little girl and I go back to the table and find the woman I talked to. Turns out, they won’t let her give me a new wristband until tomorrow. She writes down my name and promises that she’ll take care of everything in the morning.
At this point, I am really frustrated. This means I have to get up early on Sunday and come down and go through the whole registration line AGAIN and once I do they’ll probably claim that they have no idea what I am talking about.
At this point, I just decided to walk away from the con for a little while. There were other panels I wanted to see and episodes of Doctor Who I wanted to try to catch, but I just had to blow off some steam. I went for a walk around the mall a couple of times to get it out of my system and then stopped at P.F. Chang’s to have some lemon chicken. I then went back to the hotel, closed the drapes, and took a nap.
At the Enoch Q&A, Gareth had announced that he had added an after-hours session immediately before the dance. It was going to be a no-holds-barred, ask-me-anything session, and by the time I got down there, the room was already packed. People were sitting on the floor and lined against the walls and doors. The organizers were actually checking IDs to keep kids out (really?).
Anyway, given what you can hear at any Barrowman session, there was nothing horribly shocking here. There were some, let’s say, provocative questions, but Gareth handled them well and was straightforward (and sometimes very funny) with his answers. If you are a die-hard Torchwood fan, you’ve probably heard the stories before. But it’s always fun to hear them again. They’re a shared part of our community now. All devoted fans know them, and now the newbies to our fandom know them too. The after hours was so successful that, instead of running for an hour, it ran for an hour and a half, all the way to the beginning of the dance. It was fun, and it was great that Gareth was willing to do the extra session for the grown-ups at the convention.
The dance was more geared to the kids. I’ve been to Lady S’s dances before, and the others that I had been to seemed to have more adults at them. This one had lots of kids, and those of us of a certain age found ourselves wandering in and out and spending a lot of time at the bar. Sylvester was no where to be seen, but Gareth was wandering in and out of the dance as well and fans had a chance to chat with him a bit.
However, it was pretty clear that the kids had taken over and there wasn’t much for the grown ups to do. I had to get up early to sort out the photo mess, so I gave up around 11:30. I actually found myself missing FandomFest; at least there are things to do there past midnight.
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