Yesterday was Folkestone's 3rd Film, TV & Comic Convention at The Folkestone Academy - once again trying out a different location. I must admit I missed last year's so can't comment on The Leas Cliff Hall's facilities, but some people were saying that last year felt a bit more compact and easier to navigate with everything in the one central hall, rather than the narrow-ish corridor and 3 rooms at the Academy, but with that aside, a big congratulations must be given to all at Planet Folkestone who put on a fantastic event once again - and the word on the ground was that more people visited this year than last year. So brilliant! Well done for continuing to put Folkestone on the map!
Obviously to have the great Tom Baker signing and doing a talk undoubtedly must have been the star draw, and indeed the queue for Tom's signature was the longest of all the celebrities.
I met Tom in 1997 when he did a book signing in Folkestone's Waterstones for his autobiography and forgot to get my book signed then. So 18 years later I took my Tom Baker book to be belatedly signed but sadly the queues were somewhat deep than I was expecting and when he made to leave was ushered out past me where I was waiting talking to Matt Irvine.
That said, there were plenty of stalls selling their memorabilia, comics, autographs, action figures, knitted Daleks and even TARDIS wallpaper. Hardcore fans dressed up adding to the ambience and brought homebuilt props including K-9s, Daleks, a TARDIS, Davros. I wished I'd taken a picture of the fans dressed up as Federation guards from Blake's 7 but they were leaving as I arrived.
There was a Simpsons couch with human sized 3D Simpsons characters to sit next to, a Star Trek bridge prop on which to pose, plenty of comic book artists and role playing game groups. But it was the stars that presumably most had come to see.
Now I've never been a fan of Red Dwarf, but it was good to see a loyal following around Robert Llewellyn (who was also in attendance last year) with co-star Norman Lovett.
For Star Wars fans the biggest draws were Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett)
Paul Blake (Gredo)
and Mike Edmonds (the Ewok shaman Logray - although for many, including myself, Og from Time Bandits).
For me however, the draw was Classic Doctor Who. I'm sure I'll have done a disservice by missing out the other stuntmen, writers, actors and extras who were in attendance, but it was great to recognise Peter Miles (Nyder from Genesis of the Daleks) and Terry Molloy (who played Davros against Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy.)
But in missing getting Tom Baker's autograph, I had the great pleasure to talk to Nicola Bryant, who played companion Peri alongside both the 5th & 6th Doctors (as well as Patrick Troughton in the story 'The Two Doctors.') - my second favourite companion after the late Elisabeth Sladen. (Sorry Nicola - coming to Doctor Who as a 4 year old - your first Doctor and first Companion are most likely going to be your favourites!) I would however advise anyone to go back and watch the Colin Baker years for although they may not have been truly appreciated in the 1980s they have more than stood the test of time especially now we are in the modern Dr Who era where we are more used to a 'darker and more alien' Doctor. And Nicola was the perfect counterpart to Colin. I am also looking forward to listening to some of the new Big Finish audio releases featuring both Nicola and Colin.
Also, another great experience was in meeting Matt Irvine from the BBC's special effects department whose work I was familiar with on many shows. I did feel a little sorry that he was in another side hall from the main hall and the footfall in this part of the convention was not as great, but that allowed more of a chance to talk about his work. I'd read articles about his work as a child in my Doctor Who magazines and remember him demonstrating the model spaceships he'd created on 'Blue Peter,' but it's always great to see some of the original props up and close, such as Orac from Blake's 7,
and the original K-9 Mark 3.
And we even got Matt to switch K-9 on give us a demonstration! (N.B. it's not my voice that can be heard on the clip only Matt's and a somewhat overexcited female fan!)
I hope the actors and guests had as good a time as the fans so Folkestone can continue to attract them to future events and this convention can go from strength to strength and be around for many years to come.
Sunday 10th May 2015
