Glasgow Who | Doctor Who Blog

Hey Guys,

If you weren’t at the meeting last night or if you were but weren’t listening, then we are looking at going to the Doctor Who Experience in London the weekend of July 8-10

Travelling down there is still being looked at but I’ve been doing a little research on the Greyhound buses. They depart from Buchannan Bus Station about 10pm and arrive in Victoria, London about 7 in the morning and the prices will be not more than £40 return. They only allow 3 months in advance booking online but if we most of us go that option we could be getting a return for as little as £20 each. Several people are already thinking of making their own way down so we will arrange to meet up in London in case you want to make your own travel arrangements.

Ticket for the exhibition will be no more than £20 and we can get a discount for a block booking but we’re thinking the Saturday.

We were also thinking of staying overnight on the Saturday, making a weekend of it, and returning on the Sunday night. So I’ve been looking at the cost of rooms. On the Sunday we are thinking of doing a Doctor Who themed tourist day. If everyone is in favour there is even a company that does this, although we may have a better time making it for ourselves.

If we get twin rooms and share then the big hoteliers (Premier Inn, Travelodge, Holiday Inn, Hilton) would be about £90 per room WITHOUT breakfast. So I’ve also looked at the B and B option. For double rooms per person and the average price is £45 per person per night, including brekkie.

Most of the places I’ve looked are in the Kensington area which is no more than 3 miles from the Olympia, where the Doctor Who Experience is.

It looks like a spend of about £90 plus whatever food and drink you decide.

We will leave all the travel arrangements up to yourselves but we want to get enough people to commit so we can get a discount for a block booking on the exhibition. To this end if you are interested we would need to get deposits by all concerned of £10 by the first April meeting so we can get numbers and get booking, as the sooner we book the cheaper it would be.

Let me know what you think

Barry

Hi everyone!

Sorry I haven’t got round to blogging for a while. I’ve been busily beavering away, making sure by the time May comes around we give you all the best Doctor Who convention ever seen in Scotland!

And I’m now quite remarkably excited to be able to announce our 11th guest for this year’s event.

Quite probably the most popular producer in the history of Doctor Who, the man behind the first “Golden Age” of Doctor Who, none other than Philip Hinchcliffe has kindly agreed to join us in May for a rare convention appearance, subject to work and personal commitments.

Philip was producer of the show between 1974 and 1977 and oversaw Tom’s first three years as the Doctor, producing some of the show’s most iconic and popular episodes during that time.

Our guest list, subject to work and personal commitments, is now;

• Tom Baker - The Fourth Doctor
• Colin Baker - The Sixth Doctor
• Sylvester McCoy - The Seventh Doctor
• Sophie Aldred - Ace
• John Leeson - The voice of K9
• Richard Franklin - Captain Mike Yates
• Philip Hinchcliffe - Producer, 1974-1977
• Andrew Cartmel - Script Editor, 1987-1989
• Tom Goodman-Hill - The Reverend Golightly / The Vespiform (The Unicorn and the Wasp)
• Michael Cochrane - Lord Cranleigh (Black Orchid) - Redvers Fenn-Cooper (Ghost Light)
• Prentis Hancock - Reporter (Spearhead from Space) - Vaber (Planet of the Daleks) - Salamar (Planet of Evil) - Captain of the Guard (The Ribos Operation)

This event marks Tom Baker’s first Doctor Who convention in Scotland since 1993 and will be the first time a Scottish convention has ever had three Doctors on the same guest list!

Add in a rare convention appearance by one of the show’s most popular producers, Philip Hinchcliffe, and a Doctor Who convention debut for Tom Goodman-Hill, along with many huge names from throughout the history of Doctor Who, and it’s an event not to be missed!

Tickets are still available from www.glasgowwho.co.uk/aog4.html and the sooner you buy yours, the sooner we can tell how many more guests we can go for… and how big they’re going to be!

I think we have a truly great guest list shaping up here… it would be a shame for any of you to miss out!

Cheers!

Al.

Well, what a finish to Ten’s Era. I must say I really enjoyed it.
Don’t forget the next Glasgow Who meeting is on 10th January at the Crystal Palace, 36 Jamaica Street in Glasgow from 7pm onwards. Don’t forget also that Army of Guests 4 tickets are now on sale at http://www.glasgowwho.co.uk/aog4.html so get buying if you want to be part of our first 2 day convention!
Oh, one more thing.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Barry Stanton, Online Coordinator, Glasgow Who

Well,I know it’s been a while but it is time for a little update from me. Since the 15^th November there has been so much Doctor Who I’ve not even had time to breathe.
The Waters of Mars:- Well it was better than Planet of the Dead and I actually liked the last 15 minutes unlike most of the others on the forum.
Dreamland:- Good so far and Georgia Moffett has certainly been taking American Accent lessons from her mother
Army of Guests:- The “Four Who Rule” met up last night (23^rd November 2009) and apart from celebrating the birthday of our favourite show we have started on plans for AOG4. Yes, it’s public now and the publicity machine has started but I’m gonna say no more at the moment as it’s in the VERY early stages.
So, after a quiet Summer it’s about to start in earnest including The End of Time at Christmas and I’ll be there on December 6^th so I hope to see you all there.
BFN
Barry

By now you should all have received an email with details about our plans for next year`s event - the biggest we`ve ever attempted and I`m sure our best yet!

Please read the email carfeully as it`s vital that we get as many advance sales as possible. If we don`t get those advance sales by the cut-off date - November 23rd 2009 - then the event will NOT happen.

And, in the words of Brigadier Winifred Bambera that would be a real “Shame!”

Alan has some great plans for this event but we really need your upfront support to make sure it goes ahead.

The future of Glasgow Who  - and the events on which its reputation has been built - is up to YOU!

I`ll see you all on November 8th! 

Now that the dust has settled on our latest event, I think we would all agree that The Whole Shaban was a qualified success. There were certain technical issues on the day which I hope didn`t spoil anyone`s enjoyment too much but on the whole I think it went really well. And from talking to Nabil at dinner afterwards he certainly had a good day!

Thanks to everyone who turned out and supported the group and especially to those who bid so generously in the auction. We raised a total of £220 for the FSID so well done you lot and give yourselves a pat on the back!

I think it`s only right and proper that I record my thanks to Uncle Alan for once again taking the time and effort to organise such an enjoyable event for the group. Make sure and take the time to thank him and let him know how much his efforts are appreciated at our next meeting this coming Sunday. See you there!

Well, we had a great meeting last night with three new faces - Hooray! - in the form of Christine, Pauline and Louie. Welcome guys and I hope you had a good enough time to mean that we`ll be seeing you all again. David Jamieson and David Darlington [Big Finish] also put in an appearance along with John Hughes LOTP. Had such a good time - great craic with darling David D & Uncle Alan - that I missed my last train home!

Thanks to Bazza for the McDonalds and the organisers of whatever was on in Glasgow Green for the Marquee which provided shelter from the elements until I could get the first train home at 6am!

Whilst wondering aroung G Green in the wee small hours I spotted a banner promoting “Fizzers” an exhibition at The People`s Palace. One of the caricatures used was none other than a certain Mr David Tennant! Might be worth checking out. Fizzers runs until September 28th, the day after our Nabil Shaban event. Speaking of which…

The Whole Shaban, our afternoon with the real star of 1980`s Dr Who, takes place on Sunday 27th September. The event is now confirmed  and if you haven`t bought your ticket yet then please do so asap as it`s going to be a great day. As well as Nabil being interviewed you will be able to hear him give a LIVE Commentary on a specially edited version of his second appearance as the villainous Sil, “Mindwarp”. This will be a unique event in fandom that you don`t want to miss out on.

As if that wasn`t enough, we will be auctioning off a signed copy of Steven Moffat`s script for “The Curse of Fatal Death”, autographed by The Moff himself [and printed off on his own printer using his own ink!]. All proceeds will go to the group`s nominated Charity, the FSID. There will be loads of other stuff happening on the day which you`ll only find out about if you`ve got a ticket. So check out the Site page for the event, give Uncle Alan a measly £10 and settle back knowing that you`re going to have a great day a fortnight on Sunday.

See you there!

Well, what a weekend that was!

Spent Saturday & Sunday @ Collectormania at the Braehead Arena. Not an experience I`d like to repeat anytime soon! OK so we got a free table but we were tucked away in a corner and were pretty much overlooked most of the weekend. There were quite a few people took flyers but we only sold two tickets for our Nabil Event. We really need to promote this event as much as we can over the next week as it`s going to be a cracker and it would be a real shame if we have to risk cancelling it. It`s really not enough for people to say to us that we can count on them being there, we need ticket sales in advance. Alan has put a lot of time effort and money into organising this and it`s going to be a cracking event so please get your tickets by this weekend at the latest.

On a brighter note, Sophie Aldred & Mary Tamm made brief visits to our table [Peter Davison was probably too busy] and there is just the faintest possibility we may be able to organise something if Mary comes to Glasgow on her book signing tour for her autobiography…

As you probably know, we will be manning our usual tablefull of Doctor Who goodness at this year’s fabulous Collectormania at the Braehead Arena on 29 and 30 August (that’s next weekend, fact fans!)

We’re fully covered for the Sunday but we need one or two brave souls to help man our table on the Saturday…

If you think you have what it takes to help us sell the group (plus our Nabil Shaban event and a few photos,) let us know!

Ideally, we’re looking for someone who can be there for the whole day… but if you can only make it in the morning, or just in the afternoon, we may be able to fill our slot (ooh err missus!) with two people rather than one! (Yikes!)

Just let us know on this thread (or by PM if you’re shy!) and we’ll let you know the arrangements!

(Please don’t be offended if you ask to help and you’re not chosen - we will hopefully find someone to fill the gap quickly and we’ll have to get arrangements made as quickly as possible… so don’t hang about if you want to help us out!)

Cheers!

Al.

To quote the opening line of Dragonfire - you lucky, lucky people!

 Glasgow is awash with events and activities for the discerning Doctor Who fan over the next month or so.

 We kick off with the next meeting of the local Torchwood fan club this Thursday evening, run by the lovely Leigh. Just pop along to the Crystal Palace from 7pm and look out for people talking Torchwood at the comfy couches by the window. Beers will be imbibed, chat will be partaken of and a good time will generally be had by all comers. Lovely!

Then, a little over a week later, the sheer loveliness of Collectormania Glasgow once more descends upon those of us lucky enough to be in the vicinity of the Braehead Arena over the weekend of 29 August. Doctor Who guests confirmed to date include Peter Davison, Mary Tamm, Sophie Aldred and Dave Prowse… (I’m led to believe the latter has also appeared in some film series or other but I wouldn’t know about that. Star Warts or something. I think it’s the shocking story of celebrities in space contracting a variety of disfiguring carbunkles.) It’s well worth popping along as, apart from anything else, your very own local Dr Who group will once more have a table at the event, plying our wares. (That’s us, by the way, in case you hadn’t guessed…) We should hopefully have some exciting news by then so please pop over and have a chat!

Meanwhile, over in Edinburgh, there’s still time to catch the lovely Katy Manning in her one woman show at the fringe, hot on the heels of the wonderful event Martin and the Edinburgh group arranged at the start of the month.

Then we high tail it into September (already?! It feels as though May’s Army of Guests were only yesterday…) And week one, as always, sees our triumphant return to The Crystal Palace from 7pm onwards on Sunday 5 September. I’m sure uncle Bryan has been slaving away in his meetings lab, concocting something exciting for us all to partake in amidst the booze and chatter… but I shall leave it to his good self to reveal the results of his dabblings…

And, of course, the end of September (the 27th, to be precise) sees our next event of our very own, The Whole Shaban - An Afternoon with Nabil Shaban, between 14:30 and 19:30 at Trader Joe’s on Hope Street. Amidst the traditional blend of interviews, autographs and photographs, we have one or two very exciting little additions… which we can’t tell you about just yet! And all this for just a tenner! Bargain! Buy your tickets quickly or you will miss out on a fantastic day!

And, not wishing to go too far into the future just yet, but fans of the recently released Delta and the Bannermen will be interested to hear that Agent Hawke himself, Morgan Deare, will be appearing in The Stripper at the King’s Theatre in the first week of October. Ticket prices for the play start at a very reasonable £14.75.

So keep your eyes peeled for even more Dalek-table goodness and we’ll see you at one (if not all!) of these fabulous events!

Cheers!

Al.