Behind the Sofa - The Collaborative Doctor Who Blog

In Dreams Begin Responsibilities

So the Doctor’s new companion is Karen Gillan and I’m very excited.

Not because like the also largely unknown Matt Smith I can claim knowledge after having watched something she’s been in – with the exception of The Fires of Pompeii in which she played the Soothsayer -- you couldn't get me to sit through The Kevin Bishop Show if you paid me -- but because once again it demonstrates that the new production team are thinking very carefully about what the new version of the show is going to be like.

Selecting someone who's not already a household name, a Freema rather than a Catherine, potentially resets the dynamic of the show; the companion can once again be the viewpoint character for both kids and adults as we discover who the Eleventh Doctor is in much the same way that Billie did in Rose, something which has changed over time as we’ve become used to David.

Does the look in the publicity picture point towards the kind of character she'll be, someone rather more angstier than we're used to, perhaps prone to the odd voiceover relating how she's feeling any given second?

"When I stepped into the TARDIS for the first time, it was like, stepping into a new world.  It was, like, bigger, on the inside, than the outside.  I wondered if the Doctor's brain was like that too.  Or something."

Sponsor a Doctor Who fan to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro - UPDATED!

UPDATE: now with added Rula Lenska Appeal and extended to June 4th...

Regular listeners to Tachyon TV and readers of this blog will almost certainly know about my Kilimanjaro Challenge next month but if you don't please click here for more details. A while back I mentioned something vague about a Doctor Who charity auction. Well, here it is. Many, many thanks to everyone who contributed something. You're all brilliant.

I had originally intended to use this auction to make one last push towards my fund raising target but late last night a Radio Free Skaro listener made a massive contribution which sent us over our £3000 target. However fantastic that is - and it is bloody fantastic - there's nothing stopping us smashing that target to bits. And with your help we can.

How this works:

The good news (or bad, depending on how tight you are) is that even if your bid fails then your money still goes to charity. That's right, everyone's a winner; especially UNICEF.

If you wish to bid you'll need to donate some cash to my climb. You can do this with any debit card, credit card or paypal. If you are a UK taxpayer you can use Gift Aid to donate an another 25% at no extra charge! All the money goes directly to UNICEF - none of it goes towards the funding of my expedition. Which is a shame because it's almost bankrupted me.

Anyway, when you make your donation you'll be asked to leave a short message. All you have to do is put the following code in brackets somewhere in this message when you make your bid so I will know which item you want.

Here are items and codes:

• Scream of the Shalka novel signed by Paul Cornell (BTS1) - minimum bid £20
• British Summertime novel signed by Paul Cornell (BTS2) - minimum bid £15
• Martha's Story signed by Rob Shearman with personal message (BTS3) - minimum bid £20
• The Kingmaker Big Finish CD signed by Nev Fountain with personal message (BTS4) - minimum bid £20
• Signed 10x8 photograph of Mary Tamm which has been mentioned on many TTV podcasts over the years! (BTS5) - minimum bid £10
• A Christmas Treasury Short Story Collection signed by me because I contributed to it. My story isn't very good but all the other stories are great! (BTS6) - minimum bid £15
• Signed 10x8 photograph of Kate O'Mara (BTS7) - minimum bid £5
• Signed 10x8 photograph of Jacqueline Pearce from The Two Doctors (BTS8) - minimum bid £5
• Signed 10x8 photograpgh of Bernard Horsfall from The War Games (BTS9) minimum bid £5
• Signed 10x8 photograph of Frank Windsor from Ghost Light (BTS10) - minimum bid £5
• Signed 10x8 photograph of Michael (not actually in TV Dr Who) Praed from Dynasty (BTS11) - minimum bid £5
• NEW! - The Nightmare Fair novel signed by Nicola Bryant with personal message (BTS12) - minimum bid £15

You can put multiple codes in your message if you are happy to win something from a selection of items, for example "BTS1-6" or "BTS1, 4, 6"  or BTSALL if you aren't bothered what you get and put the numbers in order of preference if you like.

UPDATE: The closing date for bids is Thursday 4th June at 7pm GMT. The highest bid made at that time for each reference number wins.

I will announce the results on here shortly after that.

PLEASE BID HERE

Many thanks to everyone who has supported me so far and happy bidding! Please use the comments section below if you have any questions...

Cheers

Neil

Prose And A Con

Fab Cafe, Manchester, 3rd May 2009

I'm a seasoned, if somewhat lapsed, convention goer. I've done them all, the Trek cons in the mid 1980s to the big Blackpool Babylon 5 bashes in the 1990s. The last Doctor Who con I attended was the Panopticon in Manchester way back in 2002. A one day event at Fab Cafe in Manchester seemed the best way of gently easing myself back into the way of all things con wise.

"You're a bad dog baby, and I don't want you around... oh, I thought you said Gilbert O'Sullivan"
Photo courtesy of Dave Cooper

A good line up from the Classic Series of Doctor Who was present: Frazer Hines, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Nicola Bryant and Mark Strickson. Which does kind of beg the question these days as to whether they'll have anything new to say. Surely, their anecdotes will be etched permanently on the brains of most fans of the original series? It's entirely possible the audience will end up reciting all the appropriate bon mots without the need of guests at all. I suppose they'll be fresher to younger fans who've only just decided to investigate the back catalogue of the series having seen the new series ponce itself in all its multi-media, cross platform glory since 2005. Still, we got some very interesting anecdotes about Mark winning the role of Turlough and nearly being eaten by crocodiles, chased by komodo dragons and finding John Nathan-Turner in his Lanzarote hotel room, McCoy (looking more like Blakey from On The Buses) on King Lear, the obligatory trouser and ferret incident and kid's telly legend Tony Hart, Aldred on that other legend Brian Cant, Bryant (doing a wearing sunglasses indoors Audrey Hepburn on us) on her failed career as a ballerina and Baker... well Baker has started to resemble Pertwee with his mane of silver hair as he nattered about operettas. Same spiky attitude too! All had very positive things to say about new boy Matt Smith and there was a general thumbs down for the new series indulgence of Doctor/companion 'romance'. Don't ya just love the stoicism of Classic Series ming-mongs! And a big thumbs up for Big Finish which quite rightly kept the flag flying during the Wilderness Years.

Nicola "I'm just crazy about Tiffany's" Bryant
Photo courtesy of Tim Drury

Frazer "I say Jamie, that is a BIG one" Hines
Photo courtesy of Tim Drury

However, the question here is not how entertaining the guests were, and, by and large, I did enjoy the Frazer Hines and Mark Strickson chats for, in the former, the lovely, finger fiddling impressions he did of Pat Troughton and, in the latter, a interesting jaunt through his wildlife film-making career since resigning from the role of Turlough. Conventions have moved on from the days when you'd go and watch new episodes of whatever show you were into and swap fanzines, because they've had to, and they are now more about being able to meet people in conducive surroundings whilst also being able to pop into a panel discussion when you feel like it. They are about social interaction and even a one day event such as this must recognise that it's as much about friends meeting up and having a natter than it is watching Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy play a version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire no matter how much fun it might be. It's still great to see those we have loved interacting with fans and overall each panel was entertaining but I just wish it had taken place in more convivial surroundings. In the background, 21st century social interaction was in full flight as instant reactions hit the web via Twitter and I wonder how Twitter, Twitpic, Facebook, MySpace, vodcasts, podcasts et al will impact on one day gatherings such as these. Perhaps we should just hold a virtual con on Twitter? You'd be £25 better off for a start. Mind you, you wouldn't get McCoy and Baker recreating the playful antagonism that existed between Pertwee and Troughton that kept many of us convention whores entertained back in the day.

Mark Strickson trying not to say 'fuck' every five minutes with strategic positioning of pint
Photo courtesy of Dave Cooper

"I'll get you Baker" (c) Behind the Sofa Comedy Department
Photo courtesy Dave Cooper

The huge problem that Fab Cafe had yesterday was that it is simply too small a venue to cope with an over-subscription of attendees. I personally felt like one of several hundred East European prostitutes crammed into a shipping container, suffocating to death on the rank, Flanders like stench from the venue's loos and, no doubt, from various orifices during the long, often frustrating, hot day. This was then compounded by having the signing sessions about ten minutes down the road at the Tiger Lounge, the kitschier cousin to the Fab Cafe, where the great British tradition of queuing was defiantly upheld as we waited for guests to sign bagfuls of merchandise in the environs of what looked like a lap dancing club. And that's no exaggeration as some attendees were clearly intent on getting the remaining contents of Zaavi covered in florid handwriting by a, shall we say, slightly grumpy Colin Baker. Me, I just admired the Tretchikov paintings on the wall and gossiped with the Behind The Sofa triad.

Eastern European prostitutes, yesterday
Photo courtesy Dave Cooper

Its heart was definitely in the right place but the Fab Cafe's one day event did remind me of how frustrating conventions and similar events can get when guests don't arrive on time and you haven't got a plan B up your sleeve, the venue is overcrowded to the point where you would quite happily walk out the door in a strop, the loos resemble a WW1 trench, egos and self-importance are flying all over the place (and that's just the fans) and the organisers don't communicate the reason for the delays. It was probably a nightmare to organise and my sympathies do go to Erica Egerton of the DWAS Liverpool group for trying to hold all this together. My suggestion, if you indeed want it Erica, would be to find yourself a better venue or at least organise within your means and not oversell the event.

Pictures courtesy of the very fabulous Dave Cooper and Tim Drury

Planet of the Dead reviewed by sock puppets.