hobbit@sunybcs.UUCP (Thomas Pellitieri) (06/19/84)
[ Benton, yoU-NIT! Next Year in N'awrlins! ]
Well folks, Just returned from Panopticon West 1984 in Columbus, Ohio,
and again the Prydonian Renegades did a fine job. Special Guests
were Colin Baker (Doctor #6), John Nathan-Turner (Producer), Gary
Downie (Production Manager and Choreographer), and Marion Wyatt Baker
(Mrs. Who), all of whom took off the weekend from working on the
newest story "ATTACK OF THE CYBERMEN" (22nd season). The last three
stories from the 21st season (Planet of Fire, Caves of Androzani, and
The Twin Dilemma) were shown.
The Art auction had some very nice items, including some props from
the show. A Gallifreyan Guard Helmet went for $275, and a picture
of the late Richard Hurndall (First Doctor in "The Five Doctors",
died in April this year) went for $550. Other interesting items
from the show that were available included a Silurian gun and a
working Sea-Devil gun (from the Pertwee era), and some very nice
artwork by (my personal favorites) Gail Bennent and Cheryl W. Duval.
Unfortunately, the very last autographed picture of the late William
Hartnell, donated by his widow Heather, was *STOLEN!* But, fear not...
Sunday morning a collection was taken to replace it, and that collection
resulted in $1650.00 from all of the fans. After the money was handed
over to the convention staff, it turns out that the picture was recovered,
although it was not done cheaply. By the way, all profits from this
year's convention will be going to the Special Olympics, so you see
there are a LOT of people who will be happy about this!
Several running jokes made it through the convention this year, one
was quite literally accidental. On the first day of the convention
one of the staff (dressed as Sgt. Benton) was bringing orange-juice
to the guests on stage when she tripped!! The rest of the weekend
turned into a running joke. Every time Benton brought up juice,
SOMETHING happened! It ended with two pitchers of water being dumped
on the last day.
The other running joke concerned a cat. Colin and his wife own five
cats currently (named Eric, Lolita, Morris, WEEEEE, and the fifth
yet to be named, although a fan suggested Serendipity) (WEEEEE is
the sound the fourth cat makes, not Meow) and the rumor of a Gallifreyan
cat running loose in the hotel made for a lot of fun. Rumors of the cat
being rather large and vicious (like a Gremlin) came through, as well as
the report of an attack on a Gopher, a bowl of caviar, and a cake. Also,
a rumor that a man dressed in black with a gotee (sp?) was holding the
cat for ransom also arose... More info is available, but that would
be spoiling it 8-) 8-) 8-)
More info on Panopticon will probably become available from other
people who were there. Anyone who was there who wants to join the
Gary Downie Fan Club may send their name and address via E-mail and
I will see that the Acting President gets the info.
Colin Baker IS the Doctor...
Happy times and Places,
--
-The Parker Hobbit
a.k.a. Thomas R. Pellitieri
UUCP: {allegra, seismo}!rochester!rocksvax!sunybcs!hobbit
decvax!watmath!sunybcs!hobbit
ARPA & CSNET: hobbit.buffalo@rand-relay