There were 8 of us in total from the Boston area that were
able to get tickets to the show and made the journey to London – some for the
first time.
Getting these tickets was not easy. I have
decided to leave that bit out since it is past and in the end we all got our
tickets. Despite the poor communication, multiple unnecessary emails and
ridiculous 4 am wake up calls the show was, to quote the 9th
Doctor, FANTASTIC!
The above photo represents the high level schedule for each day of the convention. The main presentations were the same each day running on two tracks: Weeping Angel and Ice Warrior. That meant that each talk was done twice a day. There were also various other talks and presentations. When advertising the show the BBC asked people to pick one day as the programming would be the same but we knew better. While the programming was the same, the guests attending were not. When I say "we knew better", it was more like we guessed better as very few guests were actually announced at the time the tickets went on sale. I personally bought all three days based on two factors: they announced that Tom Baker would only be there on Saturday (setting a precedent for other guests to only show on one day) and also if I am making the trip to London for this I am bloody well going all three days!
The first day of the show was exciting. We had no idea what to expect and none of us had been to ExCel. The night before we were able to roam around the empty corridors to get a lay of the land since they keep it open to pedestrian traffic until around midnight due to the hotels and transport in the area. I cannot accurately describe how big it is, but in true fashion for us our hotel was on the opposite side from where the show would be. That meant we had to build in a good 15-20 minute walk time to get down to the right area.
Picking up the tickets was a breeze, but then we were greeted with this - our first line of the day.
This was the line into the main theater where the Doctors were talking. But despite the crowd we actually all fit very comfortably into the theater and there were plenty of seats to spare. Luckily we figured that out the first day/first talk as it made lining up subsequently a lot less stressful.
The three main panels in this theater were SFX (special effects) Show with SFX supervisor Danny Hargreaves; Regenerations (Classic Doctors) with Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Peter Davison - and Tom Baker on Saturday; Eleventh Hour with Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, and Steven Moffat. I posted some video from Tom's talk here.
There were also ticketed (not charged, just ticketed) talks with classic guests going on in a smaller room. These featured Carole Ann Ford, Lalla Ward, William Russell, Julian Glover to name only a few.
Then there was the main exhibit hall. It featured many things to occupy the rest of your time at the show. Costumes, sets and props on display. The retail area where you could buy souvenirs from the BBC Shop, the Stamp Centre, Forbidden Planet, Big Finish and more. Two stages with even more guest talks and special effects shows. There was just a lot going on.
The ExCel Exhibition Centre is a good place for an event like this. It is very big and spread out so it never felt too crowded. There were plenty of food options, plenty of restrooms, and two stops on the DLR, not to mention quite a few hotel options within easy walking distance.
I thought the show ran quite smoothly and was impressed with all of the activities going on. Nothing seemed to run too late and the staff were quiet pleasant and helpful. There were a few issues with seating in the main theater - we wanted to sit up in the stadium seating but were being all but forced to fill in the floor first - but we found our way around that. All in all, it was a great show and I am very happy that I was able to attend.
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