Blog on the Lillypad
Saturday, November 29, 2003
 | It's the Convention Report! Day 2
Day Two of the Doctor Who convention dawned gray and cold, and by afternoon, snow was falling. Inside the hotel, however, everything was sunny. Breakfast began with the Sheraton's vast and diverse buffet. One of the Doctor Who celebs, Anneke Wilks, was down there early, and we chatted for a moment before finding plates. She went off to the VIP section, and my two convention cronies, Tom and Kevin, found me and we ate together. |
Later, the merchandise room opened. I went in and bought four hard-to-get stories on video and then saw Kevin and called, "Kevin, do you have any money?" This earnest call made everybody laugh, but good old Kevin coughed up $20 for me so I could by an audio story that he had recommended. Later, I went to the ATM and paid him back. He was pleased that I had immediately purchased a story he had recommended.
 | Anneke Wills and Frazer Hines played two companions to the Second Doctor (Remember, I am a fan of the Third Doctor, but I have seen several Second Doctor episodes, and he is my second favorite.) They told stories about working on the series. (Both of them, of course, had been in their early twenties--perhaps late teens, and Patrick Troughton, the man who played the second Doctor, had been fortyish atthe time.)
Patrick Troughton had been both fatherly and yet a rascal, and his favorite way of getting through the long days had been to form a tightly knit group of happy friends who played practical jokes. Frazer told of a scene in which the Doctor (Troughton) and Jamie (played by Frazier himself) were supposed to dash a half cup of cold water into the face of an unconscious victim of a ravenous alien creature who eats every living thing he finds. The Doctor scoops up a small cup half filled with water, dashes it in her face and exclaims, "Peri! Peri! Wake up! We've got to get you out of here!" And the lovely Peri blinks and says, "Oh Doctor! What's happened? Help me up!" |
| So they did it once the right way, and then by prearrangement the director told them they had to do it again. So the girl who played Peri lay back down on the slab and feigned unconsciousness. Then the two men ran in with a huge bucket of water between them and threw it over her and Troughton exclaimed, in character, "Peri! Peri! Wake up! We've got to get you out of here!" To her credit, the young lady who played Peri, trying not to sputter and---drenched from head to foot---blinked and said in perfect character "Oh Doctor! What's happened? Help me up!" to the delight of the crew. |  |
The jokes were frequent and usually slapstick, but Frazer told of finding a hat with a logo that said, "Boring Old Fart" on the front So he gave it to Troughton as a joke, and Troughton's eyes actually got wet and he said, "Frazer, do I really come across as a boring old fart?" And he was so concerned and worried that Frazer had to reassure him. Anneke also recalled that once she got comfortable working with Patrick (after a year with Bill Hartnell as te First Doctor), she and her co-star Michael Craze (Ben) bought t-shirts that said "Bring Back Bill Hartnell". They thought this would be hilariously funny, but Troughton was crushed.
Meanwhile, our other guest (who played the Sixth Doctor), went down to the merchandise room to meet people and shake hands (on his own time, which was very nice). He has taken great pains to learn again every character name and person who played each character (even minor, one-off characters) during his stint as the Doctor to keep his anecdotes vivid for the fans (because the fans love to hear stories about the behind-the-scenes stuff). He is a big man in every way, and I was really impressed with how carefully he does a good job. I shook hands with him and told him I follow his adventures on audio and really enjoy them. I thanked him for coming.
Back to the pub for beer and lunch with Tom and Kevin. Kevin and I split an overpriced lunch of chicken fingers and fries. The snow was coming down and nobody wanted to drive out to find cheaper food.
| Tom, Kevin, and I spent some time together and were joined by others who wandered in, stopped to talk, and ordered food or beer or both. Then back to the dealers' room just to look at the tables. At 4:00, Fraser, Anneke, and Colin were all on stage for a tribute to Pat Troughton. The program began with a 3-minute video from Troughton himself as he introduced a PBS call-in viewing of the show back in the 80's. On air, he twitted Colin Baker for his weight. But he was charming and endearing to watch, and it lent a moment's poignancy to the program. Once again, it was clear---especially with Colin Baker---that they had made an effort to recall stories and details to tell us. |  |
 | Later in the evening, we had only one fan video to watch. It started incredibly well but wilted as it progressed (which happens a lot), so I finally left and came upstairs to my room for some sleep. I am having a really wonderful time and feel much better, though I am watching what I eat very carefully and avoiding the foods that have bothered me. I've only had two beers each day instead of my usual rate of three per day at a convention. When I sleep, I sleep very well, and two days have gone by with no tightness in my chest. Last night I had a brief moment where I felt like my throat was having trouble, but it passed as soon as it came. Stay tuned for the next report! |
