A meeting of Doctors

Wow - have I got something real cool coming up for you!

I’ve just returned home after an amazing day down in Cardiff doing an all-day photoshoot with two of my favourite Doctor cosplay look-a-likes, with a superb Amy Pond to moderate.

Many of you will know US-based Kevin Coppa (see left) from The Ultimate Tennant Suit I made him, something he proudly wears to many US conventions; you will also have hopefully seen UK-based Matt Elliott (see below), who is the most awesome Eleventh Doctor look-a-like.

Well, I wondered what would happen if I could get the two of them together in the same photo – and now I know!

It didn’t take much persuading to get these guys in the same place together, but it took several weeks of planning to make it happen.

Here’s a little teaser photo for you, with more to follow soon.
We shot about a dozen scenarios, some just portraits; others are hilarious, so watch out for them in this and my Tennant Suit blog.

I won! I WON!

Now this doesn’t happen to me often, but I won myself a competition!

Last year I had read about the Punchdrunk production of The Crash of the Elysium a while back when it was on in Manchester in July 2011. I didn’t know too much about it, but described as an immersive theatre experience, it sounded intriguing. Only thing was, Manchester is a bit of a trek from where I live, so I didn’t go. It was also billed as an adventure for 6 to 12 year old.

Its launch had a surprise visitor when The Doctor himself, Matt Smith turned up, and I read some favourable reviews of it, so in hindsight I felt I had missed out.

Well as part of the lead up to the London Olympics, there is a programme of cultural shows and productions across the UK, and The Crash Of The Elysium is being restaged at a theatre in Ipswich, still a fair way but reachable for me.

Ipswich Arts Festival
The Crash of the Elysium

New braces - the race is on!

I don’t want to be a spoiler for series seven, but I thought I’d give you a heads-up something now rather than later.

Matt Smith was seen filming somewhere-or-other for scenes in an episode-thingy and had to do some running around (phew - managed to keep that spoiler free!). This gave some fan observers and pappazzai a view of the latest addition to The Doctor’s wardrobe - some new braces.

They are distinctively different from series five and six, so worth a mention.

Previously he wore burgundy (and navy) crossover narrow braces with silver clips. These ones, however, are Y shaped, in a brighter red colour, and have much wider straps. The clips look to be gold coloured with black leather connectors.

As far as I’ve seen no-one has yet 100% identified them, but there are a couple of very good options out there if you look around.

The best so far can be found on Amazon.co.uk for £11.95, and are called Mens Scarlet Red Braces Clip on 3.5cm.

Amazon.co.uk
Mens Scarlet Red Braces

Cut sleeves - but not entirely cut price!

One of my readers put my on to this.

I’ve seen a lot of original PS Paul Smith shirts on eBay, some of which have been pretty unique with Striped Cuffs; Plain Cuffs; and even French Cuffs – but I’ve never seen one with NO cuffs! In fact NO SLEEVES - well, short sleeves.

It opened with a £14.99 starting price, and in the last couple of days leapt to £72.

An interesting curio on the Paul Smith shirt.

ITEM DESCRIPTION
Men’s Scroll Stripe Shirt as worn by Matt Smith on Dr Who!!
RARE SOLD OUT ITEM, ONLY EVER SEEN A HANDFUL AVAILABLE ON EBAY & CAN FETCH £200+!!

Item Brand
Paul Smith

Item Size
Label States M
21" from Armpit to Armpit giving a Chest Measurement 42"
Slim Fit

RRP
£120

Colour
Light Grey and Blue Scroll Stripes

Series seven filming - costume SPOILERS

Now I don’t normally like to write entires like this – with SPOILERS – cos I like a bit of surprise when I see the latest Doctor Who episodes for the first time.

However, various bits of filming for series seven have been widely reported in the press, and some images have even been posted by Steven Moffat himself on Twitter.

More recently an official set of images have been published on the official BBC website showing the latest filming taking place in  . . . . SPOILERS!

READ MORE to see a preview of what The Doctor will be wearing epiosde-by-episode in the new series.

Yes, Prime Minister

I was out today doing my job as tour guide for the Unofficial Doctor Who London Locations Tour for Brit Tours.

I had a bus-load of fourteen eager Doctor Who fans to show around London, and we took in the usual sights from episodes of the classic series.

Butlers Wharf (see left) and Windmill Walk were the highlights, since they were used in popular Dalek stories, Resurrection Of The Daleks and Remembrance Of The Daleks, and we also saw St Peter’s Steps near St Pauls (as seen in Invasion) as well as The Globe Theatre (from The Shakespeare Code).

Since the new series is based in Cardiff, not much gets filmed in London these days, so it gives us the Brandon Estate near Kennington (which was where Rose Tyler lived); and John Adam Street around the back of The Strand (which doubled for Downing Street in Aliens Of London).

When we get to John Adam Street I usually have to show the episode clip on my iPad to show how it looked redressed as Downing Street as it a bit of a stretch.

However, today was a bit of an unexpected surprise. As we rounded the corner I could see a film crew with lights and camera tracks littering the street right where we needed to go. They weren’t actually shooting, but to our collective surprise they had dressed the door to look like Number Ten Downing Street – just like in Aliens Of London!!

As a reminder, this is what the street normally looks like, taken when I did  guided tour for Mark Ferris in 2010

I had a word with one of the crew and found they were filming Coup, a four-part tv series for Channel 4 based on A Very British Coup by Chris Mullin.

Cardiff Convention - BBC news report

With the convention drawing to a close, there has been a number of articles appearing online covering the event.

I found the following reports:

The Independent
Doctor Who convention attracts hundreds of fans

Wales.com
First Official Doctor Who Convention in Cardiff

SFX.com
Official Doctor Who Convention: The Verdict

Metro.co.uk
Doctor Who convention brings thousands of fans to Cardiff

One of the best – naturally – is by the BBC itself, on the BBC News Website.

They also had a slideshow of images from the weekend.

I was just thinking, who’s that handsome fella growing out of the Silurian’s neck?

Cardiff Convention - Matt Smith ganger

As well as wanting to get to meet Matt Smith, there was one other Matt I was looking out for tho weekend – Matt Elliott.

“Who?”, I hear you ask. Well, he’s someone you’ll be seeing a bit more of in the future, as he is a dead ringer – or ganger – for Matt Smith.

The first I became aware of him was when a friend linked me to his Facebook page, and I saw some of his great pictures taken at the Waring House housing estate, as seen in Night Terrors.

He was photographed with Lisa Baxter, who you may recognise from the Entertainment Media Show I attended in October.
She was the superb Amy cosplayer, wearing the handbook armour from The Girl Who Waited.

Anyway, I had been wandering around all day Sunday and hadn’t spotted him, so stepped outside after the final event to get some air and maybe some exterior photos before the convention finally started to wind down.

THAT was when I spied Matt, not far from the Torchwood watertower.
I went over and introduced myself and he knew of my blog, being a regular reader.
he was with his girlfriend, her brother and Lisa, who was in one of her Amy outfits.

It didn’t take too much persuading to get them to pose for me, with the Millennium Centre as a background. We did a couple of shots of Amy and Matt together, before I got Amy to drop back a bit, giving some more dynamics to the composition.

My favourite image from this set-up is below.

Cardiff Convention - Sunday signings

Having given myself the luxury of a ticket for both the Saturday AND Sunday of the convention, it means I could focus on different things each day.

Yesterday I made the effort to be as close to the front as possible for the three panels, and got some great pictures in the process (see left).
I attended the SFX demo; prosthetic demo and Restoration Team lectures in the lobby, so by the end of the day I felt I had got my money’s worth there.

Today my focus is elsewhere, and although I will attend the panels again, I’m less concerned about being first through the door.

This morning I took the TARDIS set visit, which was seriously the coolest thing ever (see right). It topped anything that happened yesterday, and I can’t see much exceeding it today, but we’ll see.

We got back from Upper Boat in good time, and I joined the queue for the Meet The Stars panel. This time I was near the back, which was fine. The discussion was amazingly similar to yesterday, so I was able to soak up the atmosphere of the event.

This view gives you some idea of the size and grander of the venue, as well as the size of the audience.

So today I decided I’d spend a lot more time autograph chasing. Later I’m due to meet Matt Smith for both photo and autograph, but in the meantime I’m after some of the other guests.

These were signing for free in the lobby, with a regular circulation of guest on offer.

I had a real nice chat with Nicholas Briggs, who I had previously seen at both Chicago TARDIS last November and again at Gallifrey One in February. I said how we have met more than once and tried not to sound like a stalker!

Cardiff Convention - TARDIS set tour

Yesterday was a surprisingly smooth event. I got in on schedule and pretty much everything ran like clockwork throughout the day.

First on my schedule for today is the TARDIS tour. I elected to go early on Sunday morning to minimise it clashing with any of the main events.
There is a coach to take us to and from the studios, and I have an allocated place on the 8.15am departure, so I don’t need to rush down to the Millennium Centre like I did yesterday. The clocks go forward today as well, so by doing this tour it gives me a more relaxed start to my second day.

Well that was the original plan.

A few weeks before the event everyone had an email that the coach would leave at 8am rather than 8.15am, which was okay.
I got there in good time and the queue had already formed so I found the end and was quickly checked in by the waiting crew.

8am came and no sign of the bus.

Time was ticking on and 8.15am was not far off. Looks like I didn't need to rush after all.

8.20am and still no sign of the bus.

One of the crew came to apologise, as the bus was delayed due to road closures in connection with the Sports Relief Charity Mile, which starts and finishes right by the Cardiff Bay water tower.

8.30am and still no bus, but we were now asked to walk around the corner to meet the bus.

8.40am and in the distance we glimpse the bus. It can be seen two blocks away - being stopped by security who seem to be asking it to turnaround!

The bus doses a three-point-turn, and starts reversing down the road towards us. We then all move down the road to meet it, and FINALLY we we off - 45 minutes late.


It takes a good 30 minutes to get to the Upper Boat Studios, which are some non-descript units of an industrial estate.
We are divided into two groups, to make our on set time more comfortable.

I'm in the red group - the second to get on set - so while we wait we have a coffee in the Blue Box Cafe, often seen on Doctor Who Confidential. It sounds glamorous, but it's more of a Welsh version of The Apprentice Bridge Cafe.

While I'm in there one of the tour guides, who are all Upper Boat staff, remarked on my tweed, noticing it was more accurate than most she had seen, which was flattering.

Finishing my tea it was finally time go on set!
We walk around to the main entrance, and down some corridors before turning into the studio. To a collective gasp we are confronted by the back of the set, constructed of wood and scaffolding, with a bright internal glow.

Around the side there is a series of ramps up to the TARDIS exterior doors, and following a quick briefing we were invited in.

WOW!

Cardiff Convention - Costume exhibition

The Cardiff Millennium Centre is a pretty big building once you are inside, and the organisers made good use of the facilities.

Tucked away in a room near where the SFX Demo took place was a cut-down version of the exhibition, last seen as part of the Doctor Who Experience at Olympia.

The experience had close in late February 2012, and is due to reopen at a purpose-built venue in Cardiff Bay later this summer.

This has left the contents of the exhibition in storage while the new building is constructed, so for the Convention as much as possible has been put on display here for everyone to see.

Here is what was on show.

In the centre of the room was a display of mainly Doctors and companions.
The first thing you could see was the Matt Smith TARDIS, flanked by his series five costume (without the creepy head) along with the David Tennant and Christopher Ecceslton.

Next to them stood The Silence, Davros and a Cybershade with a Cyberman on each side.

Around from the Cybermen was a cryogenic cabinet from A Christmas Carol, followed by a line of companion costumes.

On show were Rory from The Hungry Earth; Any Pond’s outfit from Victory Of The Daleks; River Song’s dress from The Time Of Angels; Donna Nobel’s trademark brown leather coat; Martha Jones’ iconic burgundy leather jacket outfit; Captain Jack Harkness; Rose Tyler from Stolen Earth; and Sarah Jane Smith from School Reunion.

Coming back round to the Matt Smith TARDIS, the line up was completed with K-9 from School Reunion.

Cardiff Convention - Saturday afternoon

I have to say I have been very impressed with how well the convention has run so far. It has been slick and well timed and as a group we have been moved around the Millennium Centre with ease and not missed any headline timetable event. Bearing in mind there are 1,500 people here, I think that is saying something.

So far I’ve seen the Creators And Directors panel; the VFX demo by Danny Hargreaves; part of the Millennium FX prosthetic demo; and a talk by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.

Having grabbed some lunch while taking in the last of these, I wandered through the reception area, seen in New Earth and The Girl Who Waited, and realised the queue for the next big panel, Meet The Stars, had hardly begun to form, so I join the line, only a dozen or so from the front.

It was a good 45 minute wait, but once we were allowed in I managed to grab a seat on the second row, right at the front - prime position! Result!!

I wasn’t too long before the panel was ready to start, moderated by Jason Mohammed, a Welsh sports reporter, who has the distinction of appeared in Doctor Who as a news anchor in Voyage Of The Damned.

After some cheap patter to arm us up he introduced the panel, made up of executive producer Caroline Skinner; lead writer Steven Moffat; the ever popular Arthur Darvill; Karen Gillian; and the man everyone had been waiting to see, Matt Smith.

The packed auditorium erupted into cheers and applause for everyone as they came on stage, moreso for Matt.

Once everyone was settled it was time to start grilling the panelists, asking them first when they became aware of or watched Doctor Who.

Steven had been watching the series from a young age, and had even been writing his own short Doctor Who stories. Look at him now.

Cardiff Convention - Saturday morning

So the day has finally dawned. Booking opened on the ticket back on 14th November last year, so it’s been over four months coming, so I can’t believe today is the start of the first official Doctor Who convention.

The convention opens at 9am, with the first timetabled event at 9.30am.

I don’t want to be stuck at the back, so I got up bright and early and was down at Cardiff Bay by 7.30am.

The queues had barely begun to form, so it looks like getting up early has been worth the effort.

To maximise the number of people through the door, but keep a cap on crowds, they are running two identical programmes in parallel, with the same event taking place at different times.

These tracks are labelled OOD and SILURIAN. Today I’m Ood (tomorrow I’m Silurian) so I found the right queue I was only 14th in line for entry! That’s a relief, but a long wait ahead.

While waiting for opening time, we were kept entertained by the obligatory costumed Ood and Silurian who peered at the waiting fans and posed for photographs.

At the side a queue for the TARDIS tour formed, and off they went in their coach - that will be me tomorrow!

Slowly the queue built up behind me, snaking off around the corner of the Millennium Centre and out of sight.

About 20 minutes before opening, the event crew started moving down the line and checking tickets, compressing the line as they went.



Then it was time - the doors opened and we were ushered in. We were quickly guided up to the Donald Gordon Theatre, the largest auditorium in the venue. Being so closet the front of the queue, I was able to get a front row seat.