Dr Who 50th Celebration

Posted by Anura Samara, 25 November 2013

The big day has arrived, the day that has been 50 years in the making! To be honest, even managing to get the tickets alone was pretty impressive – they sold out in under 90 minutes so I was very impressed with myself. Remember, I had booked these tickets back on 10 June 2013 so it had been a long wait for the day.

The hardest thing about the day was that we had missed the actual 50th episode on TV, as we had been at the Jeeves and Wooster show the night before. Although it had been recorded, we hadn’t yet seen it. But all the gathering crowd were chatting about the program and of course it came up in all of the presentations.

Travelling there

We travelled from Ewell West by traing before connecting to the Underground and then the DLR. Even at Ewell West, a group of young fans were on board in various forms of fan dress – more joined us as we approached London and by the time we got on to the DLR it was clear that everyone was going for the same reason.

Morning

We were impressed with London Excel when we arrived. It is a massive exhibition centre but manages to mostly avoid the cavernous effect you get in those sorts of places. The main thoroughfare through the middle has a range of permanent food stands with lots of eating areas.

On arrival, we were channelled into a massive queue inside one of the display halls where we waited for the official opening time. It turns out that there is method in their organisation of the event, as the queue took as straight into a massive auditorium, capable of hold every ticket holder for this stream.

It was really good to be in a setting where everyone was interested in the same thing, and many many people had various constumes. Lots of people (male and female) in realistic versions of every single incarnation of the Doctor. Then there were people who had come in costumes are other characters (am Amy Pond in her police uniform here, a River Song there). And then there were people in the truly wacky interpretation of some aspect of the show, like the guy in a Dalek costume that was a t-shirt and headpiece with various Dalek appendages. And lots of girls in police box dresses.

The first session was by some people who to the physical special effects for the show – rain,wind, snow, explosions, fire etc. Two young boys were called on to the stage to repel a mock Cyberman attack (although they looked pretty scared as the monster came towards them) – the point was to show how they create physical explosions on the characters themselves.

After that session, we thought we better get to our pre-booked sessions. First up was a photo session with Jenna Coleman. Frankly, I was kicking myself for not being more on the ball and getting a photo session with one of the Doctors but Jenna Coleman is still pretty good. My God, what a production line? As you near the head of the queue, one of the assistants grabs your bags and spare gear and then when it’s your turn you stand with Jenna, an arm around our shoulders, SNAP! and then you’re on your way. Just time for a quick word and you’re out the door.

The next photo session was in one of the original sets of the Tardis console. Again, very much a production line but at least the whole set was recreated so you had a real sense of the dimensions of the inside of the Tardis, the console area itself. One hand on a control, SNAP! and then keep moving. Although we had pre-booked tickets, there had still been a massive queue so we really needed to stop and have a drink. We had a look around the merchandise stalls before heading out to the main thoroughfare to grab a pasty for lunch.

Afternoon

In the first session of the afternoon, we got to see three of the Doctors – Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy. I remember a much younger Peter Davison playing the Doctor – of course, now he’s older but still carries that youthful look. Colin Baker was completely unrecognisable – carrying more weight, lanky and thinning white hair and a beard. Only Sylvester McCoy looked no different, and in personality he appeared to be the same playful person – mucking around with the others and falling off the back and the front of the sofa they were sitting on, ending up on the floor.

It was interesting to hear them talk about some of the earlier celebrations and attempts to get more than one Doctor together for a special episode. It almost felt like they were trying to counter the fact that they weren’t included in the 50th episode itself.

The last session was with Steven Moffat, Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman which was really good. It was interesting because they could talk about the 50th episode and what it meant (unlike the sessions on the previous days), as well as Matt Smith’s forthcoming departure from the show. Of course, not too many hints if any where given away. But it was really exciting to see them in real life.

Then it was time to hit the merchandise stalls and start buying some gear. Of course, getting lots of stuff for Catherine was the first priority – hopefully she’s happy with what we got for her. A couple of t-shirts for the boys, a few things for me (OK, more than a few – two t-shirts, a mug, a Dalek and Tardis set) plus some smaller things as presents for Lily and others. I lost track of how much we spent but frankly who cares?

We really hadn’t sat through any of the smaller sessions that were on throughout the day so we stayed for a presentation by the model makers. It was interesting to see their creativeness in using whatever they could lay their hands on to make models. Often they would put a lot of work into a model only for it to be blown apart in the last scenes. It was interesting to hear about the tricks they use to fool us, the audience, into looking past the manipulation of the models. Of course, these guys do models for a range of TV shows – one of them was literally the pilot of Starbug on Red Dwarf – pulling the strings that controlled the model in flight.

And then the day was over. It felt like a long day, much of it spent on our feet. Was it worth it? I’m definitely not a fan in the same way as many others that day, but I love the character of The Doctor. I think it respects us, the viewers, with complex story lines and themes. It’s great that a show that has been going for 50 years can get people from every age and both genders to be so dedicated. If we were so close, we just had to make it there.

If nothing else, I have a photo of us with Jenna Coleman!

Categories: Shows

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