afo@pucc-k (Flidais) (11/27/84)
A *lot* of comments on the Tardis 21, Dr Who convention, held in
Chicago over this past weekend:
General Comments: Most of the people I talked to who were there
last year were very much pleased over the way this years con was
handled. The idea of tracking the panels (everyone had a certain
colour dot on their badge) so that a specific amount of people could
get in was a wonderful idea. It did cause a few problems if you
happended to get in a little late for the day (I didn't get to see
the Men of Unit panel), but overall, it appeared to cut down on the
massive overcrowding.
Apparently, the posters were only supposed to have gone to the first
1500 people to buy 3-day tickets. However, whomever was doing the
programming for ticketmaster wasn't informed, so everyone who bought
three day tickets got autographed (not a litho of the autographs, as
it turns out, a *lot* of jokes were made about this) posters. The
two day people weren't very happy about this.
More specific comments: If you haven't seen 'War Games', and it is
played at a con near you, ***make the time to see it!!!***. Yes, it
takes over 4 hours to see, and it is in b&w, but it is *wonderful*.
Besides, the camaraderie at 4:30 in the am is amazing.
Also, if you have a choice at a con between Patrick Troughton, and
anything else, go with Troughton. A very, very, nice, and
intelligent human being. The panel with him and Frazer Hines
(Jaime) was probably one of the best parts of the con. Frazer did
wear his kilt, by the way. Troughton's response to the womens'
request to see Hines' legs was to declare that he had 'the most
beautiful feet in England', and proceeded to take off his shoes and
socks to show us. Pertwee tends to outshine him in the group
sessions, so try to see him at a panel without the other doctors.
The 'we should all look this good when we're 65' dept: Jon Pertwee
was excellent in whatever panel he was in. His act in the Cabaret
was also very good (I went Friday and Sunday nights: note- I wasn't
alone in going to two Cabarets, about 1/3 of the people who were
there Sunday had gone before...more on that later). The Worzel
Gummidge tapes didn't make it in time, but Spearhead from Space
(regeneration episode) and Invasion of the Dinosaurs (complete and
in colour!) were shown. You could see the difference in the acting
style over the five years. The origin of the tatoo (not a question
mark, BTW) was explained in the last panel. The man oozes charm,
and had a very large crowd following him wherever he went.
Speaking of the Cabaret.....It *was* worth the $15 dollars spent for
it. Besides the fact that it is being held in a night club (but
if you wanted to drink something alcoholic, you were on your own), I
couldn't see the reason why they would want to restrict it to over
21 only. Most of the bawdier humor was pretty clean compared to
what you hear out of twelve year olds. Then again, it *was* nice to
get away from the kiddies for the evening. John Levine (Sgt.
Benton) makes an excellent MC (he did the last night in a tux).
Frazer Hines and Mark Strickson's version of 'Old Dr Who's farm'
(which will be posted at a later date) was an absolute scream.
Richard Franklin's 'Daddy wouldn't buy me a bow-wow', complete with
him knocking the stuffing out of a toy cat, has to be seen to be
believed.
The 'I can't believe that someone would actually do that' dept:
section 1: Massive behavioural problems with the fans. I became
very, very tired of fans wanting to present something to the
panelists, rather than asking a question. Also, some of these
people seem to have it mixed up what is reality, and what is 'Dr
Who'. I mean, Dr Who is a fine television programme, but I wouldn't
equate it with a mystical experience.
section 2: Did they actually say *that*? One person asked Janet
Fielding what her natural hair colouring was, and why she did *that*
to her hair. Someone also asked Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton
if they would mind, twenty years down the road, since they would
probably be dead, if someone else were to play their part in a 'Nth
Doctors' programme. Also at the Sunday cabaret, when Pertwee took
his jacket off to do mime, someone yelled out 'what do you have on
under that?!?'. Tacky....
Various and Sundries dept: Don't go to see the 'Psychology of Dr
Who'. Find a video or *something* else to do. The Psychiatrist has
Freud on the brain, and is just looking to make a few bucks off of
his ramblings. You still had to show up an hour in advance if you
wanted to get close up to see a panel. A lot of the larger groups
had one person saving ten seats for his friends. There will be a
Doctor Who play in Chicago, in May, called 'The Inheritors of Time'.
From the reading (Patrick Troughton played the Doctor), it looks
like a goodie.
possibly more ramblings later...
--
Laurie Sefton
{harpo,ihnp4,allegra,decvax}!pur-ee!pucc-h!afo
I am the sword, the spear, the arrow. You are the flower, the tree,
the vine! Never will I, or anyone force you to be other than what
you are -Never Again!