![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
locker_monsterWhew, got home on Thursday. Spent an extra day in London because my flight got delayed. The airline was nice enough to put up everyone in a hotel for the night, but still. I lost a day there and man I was pooped when I got home. The whole thing felt rather fishy, too. They told us the co-pilot was "ill" and there was no one to replace him. Seriously? There were no pilots to fill in? I think it was because the flight was half full and they didn't want to fly out and waste fuel on a half full plane. Because the next day? The flight was absolutely full. Sigh. Oh well, what are you going to do?
Had a great time in London, though. It was colder than I expected but it wasn't like I was freezing to death. No rain, too! I even saw the sun a few times. ;-) And everything is so green. I'm used to bare trees and dead grass during the winter.
So yeah, basically went to London for Doctor Who's 50th anniversary. I did a tour of the TARDIS set (yes, that TARDIS set) on Friday, I was at the con on Saturday and watched the special in a theatre, and then I capped it off with a Doctor Who walking tour on Sunday.
The TARDIS tour was a thing they were doing for the 50th through the Doctor Who Experience so it wasn't that hard to get tickets. It's only a two hour train ride to Cardiff. Who knew. I mean, you have to drive three hours to get to the next biggest city in Alberta. A two hour train ride and I'm in another country? Awesome.
It was great to see the actual TARDIS set. It's all green around the doors to allow for green screen shots, like Clara riding her motorcycle into the TARDIS in "The Day of the Doctor".
It's much smaller than I thought it would be. The TV makes it look so much bigger.
You weren't allow to touch anything and there's just the one room so really all you got to do was take a lot of pictures for 20 minutes. Filming starts again in January, as we were told, so expect the spoilers for the new season to come flooding in after that.
And one thing I didn't know about the new TARDIS set: the only reason the Doctor got a new TARDIS interior in "The Snowmen" was because they moved studios. If they had wanted to move Eleven's first TARDIS interior they would have needed to tear it apart and put it back together again. It was just easier to make new one.
Went through the Doctor Who Experience after the set tour. Now, I've done it before, so it was nothing new, so I was looking forward to seeing the museum bit. They add new things as the show goes along so it's always changing. When I got there, it felt... empty. I mean, there was stuff to see, but it wasn't packed to the ceiling with old props and costumes. I figured out on Saturday why that was the case.
I did see the replica TARDIS console they used for "An Adventure in Time Space". I had an opportunity to get a photo-op on the set if I upgraded my ticket, but I didn't have the time. Shame, really. And upon re-watching "The Day of the Doctor", I'm fairly certain they had David Tennant film on the remains of his old TARDIS set. Just from the way they blocked the shots, very tight with very little movement, it matches the limited space that's available.
Oh, one funny thing I saw in the gift shop. So, they had season seven playing while you shopped. By the time I got there, they were playing the end of "The Name of the Doctor", specifically, the last five minutes. A group actually formed to watch the ending, even though I'm sure every person had already seen it. With it being a day before the anniversary, obviously everyone was excited.
Walked through Cardiff to get back to the train station and naturally we had to stop off at the Hub. Took some pictures outside of the Millennium Centre and the Water Tower and stood on the paving slab that's the secret entrance. :-) Then we swung by the bay and saw a shrine to Ianto.
I kid you not, there's an actual shrine dedicated to Ianto. The property managers had to put up a plaque saying it was for a fictional character in case people were concerned that it was an actual shrine.
I also saw the 50s diner they used in "The Impossible Astronaut". I didn't go inside though, because I thought it would be weird to enter, snap a few pictures, and then leave again. I wish I had more time in Cardiff but I had to get back to London for the con next day. Perhaps a trip to Wales will be a future vacation.
So, the 50th anniversary con. Weird set up. It was over three days but each day had the same programming (sort of). I didn't really like the set-up. You only have one day to do everything so you're kind of rushed. Plus, it felt like I was missing out on stuff. Each day had a different line-up of Companions, as there are so many of them, so if you wanted to see all of them, you would have needed to attend each day, which was impossible. I get why the BBC did it, for crowd control, but they need to re-think this set-up for the future.
Aside from that, there were no mishaps. Lots of queuing, but that's a given at any con. They had one giant room for the major panels, with smaller rooms and areas for other panels. I didn't get to see much beyond the major panels as I was in line to get autographs. I really wanted to get a bunch of autographs, but that would have cost me an arm and a leg, so I settled for getting two Doctors and two Companions. So my 50th anniversary calendar is now signed by Frazer Hines, Deborah Watling, Peter Davison, and Colin Baker, which already had John Barrowman and Sylvester McCoy from earlier in April. Oh, and Frazer Hines was wearing a Second Doctor costume t-shirt. It was pretty awesome. I laughed and mentioned how awesome it was when I got up there.
I chose to attend Saturday because that was the one day Tom Baker was appearing. In hindsight, Sunday would have been a better day as it was after "The Day of the Doctor" and Moffat and Matt Smith would be able to talk about it, but, meh, whatever. It was great to see Tom Baker; he can still spin a good yarn. And no hints whatsoever that he was in the 50th anniversary special. Kudos, Mr. Baker. So one panel had Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy and it was moderated by Nicholas Briggs. It didn't get too silly or out of hand, which you think it would with four Classic Doctors, and they all played off of each other nicely. But one hour wasn't enough. Those guys deserved a longer panel.
The last panel of the day for me was one with Matt Smith, Steven Moffat, Jenna Coleman, and Marcus Wilson. You could tell they were all really anxious about the special. That's why Sunday would have been a perfect day to go. Fans could have grilled Moffat about numerous things. They said they were all watching "The Day of the Doctor" together with John Hurt and judging by the after party, they were all at the BFI watching it there. So cute to imagine all of them sitting in a room, finally knowing that fans can see all of their hard work.
Also, Matt Smith's hair is coming back nicely. I like it how it is now. Very cute. :-)
Oh yeah, so the empty Doctor Who Experience. Turns out they moved a ton of props and costume to the con. Bessie was there! And they had Sarah Jane's car and her attic, too. Plus a lot of Time Lord costumes, a bunch of monsters, the junk yard TARDIS from "The Doctor's Wife", and a few other things. So I'm glad I hit up both places.
Sunday's walking tour wasn't bad. Obviously things change over 50 years so some filming locations aren't there anymore or are different. The guide did take us to the steps in front of St. Paul's Cathedral.
I couldn't find them last time I was in London, granted I didn't look too hard for them, and while the steps have been redone since "The Invasion", it's still an iconic location. And it's amazing how close a lot of the filming locations are.
So that was my big geek vacation. Happy to be home but a little sad that it's all over. Back to work on Monday. :-P
Had a great time in London, though. It was colder than I expected but it wasn't like I was freezing to death. No rain, too! I even saw the sun a few times. ;-) And everything is so green. I'm used to bare trees and dead grass during the winter.
So yeah, basically went to London for Doctor Who's 50th anniversary. I did a tour of the TARDIS set (yes, that TARDIS set) on Friday, I was at the con on Saturday and watched the special in a theatre, and then I capped it off with a Doctor Who walking tour on Sunday.
The TARDIS tour was a thing they were doing for the 50th through the Doctor Who Experience so it wasn't that hard to get tickets. It's only a two hour train ride to Cardiff. Who knew. I mean, you have to drive three hours to get to the next biggest city in Alberta. A two hour train ride and I'm in another country? Awesome.
It was great to see the actual TARDIS set. It's all green around the doors to allow for green screen shots, like Clara riding her motorcycle into the TARDIS in "The Day of the Doctor".
It's much smaller than I thought it would be. The TV makes it look so much bigger.
You weren't allow to touch anything and there's just the one room so really all you got to do was take a lot of pictures for 20 minutes. Filming starts again in January, as we were told, so expect the spoilers for the new season to come flooding in after that.
And one thing I didn't know about the new TARDIS set: the only reason the Doctor got a new TARDIS interior in "The Snowmen" was because they moved studios. If they had wanted to move Eleven's first TARDIS interior they would have needed to tear it apart and put it back together again. It was just easier to make new one.
Went through the Doctor Who Experience after the set tour. Now, I've done it before, so it was nothing new, so I was looking forward to seeing the museum bit. They add new things as the show goes along so it's always changing. When I got there, it felt... empty. I mean, there was stuff to see, but it wasn't packed to the ceiling with old props and costumes. I figured out on Saturday why that was the case.
I did see the replica TARDIS console they used for "An Adventure in Time Space". I had an opportunity to get a photo-op on the set if I upgraded my ticket, but I didn't have the time. Shame, really. And upon re-watching "The Day of the Doctor", I'm fairly certain they had David Tennant film on the remains of his old TARDIS set. Just from the way they blocked the shots, very tight with very little movement, it matches the limited space that's available.
Oh, one funny thing I saw in the gift shop. So, they had season seven playing while you shopped. By the time I got there, they were playing the end of "The Name of the Doctor", specifically, the last five minutes. A group actually formed to watch the ending, even though I'm sure every person had already seen it. With it being a day before the anniversary, obviously everyone was excited.
Walked through Cardiff to get back to the train station and naturally we had to stop off at the Hub. Took some pictures outside of the Millennium Centre and the Water Tower and stood on the paving slab that's the secret entrance. :-) Then we swung by the bay and saw a shrine to Ianto.
I kid you not, there's an actual shrine dedicated to Ianto. The property managers had to put up a plaque saying it was for a fictional character in case people were concerned that it was an actual shrine.
I also saw the 50s diner they used in "The Impossible Astronaut". I didn't go inside though, because I thought it would be weird to enter, snap a few pictures, and then leave again. I wish I had more time in Cardiff but I had to get back to London for the con next day. Perhaps a trip to Wales will be a future vacation.
So, the 50th anniversary con. Weird set up. It was over three days but each day had the same programming (sort of). I didn't really like the set-up. You only have one day to do everything so you're kind of rushed. Plus, it felt like I was missing out on stuff. Each day had a different line-up of Companions, as there are so many of them, so if you wanted to see all of them, you would have needed to attend each day, which was impossible. I get why the BBC did it, for crowd control, but they need to re-think this set-up for the future.
Aside from that, there were no mishaps. Lots of queuing, but that's a given at any con. They had one giant room for the major panels, with smaller rooms and areas for other panels. I didn't get to see much beyond the major panels as I was in line to get autographs. I really wanted to get a bunch of autographs, but that would have cost me an arm and a leg, so I settled for getting two Doctors and two Companions. So my 50th anniversary calendar is now signed by Frazer Hines, Deborah Watling, Peter Davison, and Colin Baker, which already had John Barrowman and Sylvester McCoy from earlier in April. Oh, and Frazer Hines was wearing a Second Doctor costume t-shirt. It was pretty awesome. I laughed and mentioned how awesome it was when I got up there.
I chose to attend Saturday because that was the one day Tom Baker was appearing. In hindsight, Sunday would have been a better day as it was after "The Day of the Doctor" and Moffat and Matt Smith would be able to talk about it, but, meh, whatever. It was great to see Tom Baker; he can still spin a good yarn. And no hints whatsoever that he was in the 50th anniversary special. Kudos, Mr. Baker. So one panel had Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy and it was moderated by Nicholas Briggs. It didn't get too silly or out of hand, which you think it would with four Classic Doctors, and they all played off of each other nicely. But one hour wasn't enough. Those guys deserved a longer panel.
The last panel of the day for me was one with Matt Smith, Steven Moffat, Jenna Coleman, and Marcus Wilson. You could tell they were all really anxious about the special. That's why Sunday would have been a perfect day to go. Fans could have grilled Moffat about numerous things. They said they were all watching "The Day of the Doctor" together with John Hurt and judging by the after party, they were all at the BFI watching it there. So cute to imagine all of them sitting in a room, finally knowing that fans can see all of their hard work.
Also, Matt Smith's hair is coming back nicely. I like it how it is now. Very cute. :-)
Oh yeah, so the empty Doctor Who Experience. Turns out they moved a ton of props and costume to the con. Bessie was there! And they had Sarah Jane's car and her attic, too. Plus a lot of Time Lord costumes, a bunch of monsters, the junk yard TARDIS from "The Doctor's Wife", and a few other things. So I'm glad I hit up both places.
Sunday's walking tour wasn't bad. Obviously things change over 50 years so some filming locations aren't there anymore or are different. The guide did take us to the steps in front of St. Paul's Cathedral.
I couldn't find them last time I was in London, granted I didn't look too hard for them, and while the steps have been redone since "The Invasion", it's still an iconic location. And it's amazing how close a lot of the filming locations are.
So that was my big geek vacation. Happy to be home but a little sad that it's all over. Back to work on Monday. :-P
Tags:
