Saturday (October 27) saw a two hour mini-convention called "Return Of The Daleks", which I was responsible for organising and running, along with tons of help from Producer Rob Thrush and Stage Manager Dave Tozer.
This took place before the matinee performance and involved me getting together our guests and ensuring that the whole event ran smoothly. I do believe that I managed this rather well, if the very kind comments from people both on the day and over on the Outpost Gallifrey Forum (see the link to the right) are anything to go by.
The MC for the event was noted Who historian David J Howe and our guests were:
- Nick Scovell - our old Doctor and the man behind the play
- Rob Thrush - the show's producer
- Peter Labrow - from Dalek Links website (see the link to the right)
- Rob Shearman - writer of 2005's TV episode "Dalek" and some of the Big Finish stories
- Barnaby Edwards - principal Dalek operator in the current series
- Nick Briggs - our new Doctor and Dalek voices for both the play, the TV series and Big Finish
- Terry Molloy - Davros throughout the 1980s on TV and now for Big Finish
It was a really great event and at the end we not only had chance for a Q&A time from the floor, but also a charity auction in aid of the hospice where David Tennant's mother worked and was cared for before her death. We had various items, including a signed photo of Jon Pertwee, props from the play and items signed by members of the original TV series. Our star item was a giant poster for the play signed by all the cast and crew along with cast and crew from 1960s Who, which went for £300! Once I have the final figure of how much was raised, I'll let you all know.
At the end we had time to let the 400 or so people attending (which was a sell out itself) chance to come down and get autographs of our guests. Everything ran very smmothly and stayed nicely on schedule, although the autograph time was a little pushed as we needed enough time afterwards to set the stage for the matinee. However, everyone went away happy and with their items signed.
Thank you to our guests for giving up their their time to help us, to everyone who came along and enjoyed it and to the cast, crew and theatre staff who helped.
Oh, my biggest fanboy moment happened after I met our guests at the hotel. Barnaby and Rob walked round to the theatre, but I got a lift with Terry. How cool - me in a car with Davros! I did (sadly) say this to him and was treated to his Davros voice. Thanks Terry, you made an old fan very happy with that!
Dalek Spy has got both video and photo treats for you from the event. First up is the opening title sequence for the mini-convention, with music by Martin Johnson, and then there's some pictures.
- Return Of The Daleks opening title sequence - will open in a new window
- Backstage with (left to right) Nick Scovell, Terry Molloy, Rob Shearman and Peter Labrow
- On stage with (left to right) David J Howe, Nick Briggs, Rob Shearman, Barnaby Edwards, Peter Labrow and Nick Scovell
- Autograph time with (top to bottom) Terry Molloy, Barnaby Edwards, Nick Briggs, Rob Shearman, Peter Labrow and Nick Scovell
Click on an image for a larger version in a new window
