DWAS Capitol Six Decades convention review

A new friend I met this year posted on Twitter something that really resonated with me about the annual convention organised by the DWAS. When you arrive for the two-day gathering for our favourite show (this year there were 320 people attending the Crowne Plaza Hotel) as a member of this geeky tribe you are greeted “with open arms and a warm hug”.

The DWAS convention is a great mix of guest panels, on-screen presentations, autographs, a photo studio, merchandise and also some surprises every year. I can’t quite believe it had been a year already but in April I escaped the hustle and bustle of London at breakneck speed for the quieter suburbs of Crawley in West Sussex. This year was the Capitol Six Decades convention aiming to showcase every era up to and including the 13th Doctor.

Saturday morning opening and the convention begins…

There is something really exciting about the start of a convention. With a full English breakfast sitting comfortably inside me I went to the “Panopticon” room which is where all the various panels would be held over the weekend. Tony Jordan, part of the DWAS convention organisation team and whose responsibility is social media/promotions welcomed us as attendees to Capitol Six Decades in such a positive way that you know you are well on the way to a good weekend.

There were seven panels on Saturday and six on Sunday (lucky 13) and if you attended all of them you wouldn’t fit in anything else but the panels over the two days represented all the Doctors from one to thirteen in line with the anniversary year.

Actors Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant and Dean Hollingworth panel

It seems fitting that the first panel of the event was Sixy himself and honorary president of DWAS Colin Baker joined by friend and companion Nicola Bryant and actor Dean Hollingworth. Colin had promised he would attend this year after commitments last year prevented him. He was in good form launching into a humorous rant at his inability to get a caramel latte in the hotel or how plugs aren’t situated by the beds. This truism gave your humble reporter also a restless night because I didn’t want to miss the convention start on Saturday.

Early discussion started on Colin’s recent appearance in Jodi Whittaker’s swansong story Power of the Doctor where he joked, he had only watched his appearance here. He confirmed that his filming had been done a year before the episode screened and whilst the segment had been fragmentarily filmed other Doctors David Bradley (1^st Doctor) and Sylvester McCoy (7^th Doctor) were also there at the time.

Nicola Bryant also talked about the trailer she filmed The Eternal Mystery for the Blu-ray release of The Collection: Season 22. She reprised her role as Peri and talked about some of the challenges of filming on an all-day shoot and feeling cold. Thinking back to their era both praised their directors and especially Graham Harper and Peter Moffat.

Dean Hollingworth joined them. He played the Bus conductor in Greatest Show in the Galaxy and also the android in Timelash He recalled his early experiences on Doctor Who as a young actor just out of drama school and how Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant and Eric Saward “took him under their wing” and looked after him. Having had a lovely chat with Dean Hollingworth later when collecting autographs he chuckled at the longevity he has had in his career. 

One of the surprises at the end of the first panel was an award to Colin presented by Tony Jordan for an Outstanding Contribution to Doctor Who recognising what an ambassador he has been for the show over the years despite being effectively sacked from the show.

My particular highlights from the Saturday

Panel with Showrunner Steven Moffat

Steven Moffat generously gave his time in a very busy weekend for him his debut theatre play The Unfriend due to finish at the Criterion Theatre, London with a 45 minutes panel discussing the 12th Doctor’s era. Peter Capaldi was originally meant to leave in The Doctor Falls and Steven Moffat gave him a suitable epic battle.

Not one to take himself seriously, having to write Twice Upon a Time later because Chris Chibnall wasn’t going to do a Christmas special meant Steven joked that Peter Capaldi was regenerating for three b****** episodes! The DWAS surprised him with a special award The Terrance Dicks Award For Writers. Moffat was presented with the award, a statue of The Master crafted by Gary Glover of Mooncrest Models, by last year’s winner Gary Russell.

Script Editor Andrew Cartmel and writer Stephen Wyatt panel

One of the most anticipated panels for me as the Cartmel era of the 7th Doctor was an exciting era of change that I lived through as a younger fan in the late 1980s. Talking about their working relationship with Andrew Cartmel and Stephen Wyatt what came across was the speed that both had to work on the new scripts for Season 24. Andrew Cartmel revealed going into Eric Saward’s old office after he had quickly left, without any handover and just finding an empty red wine glass in a locked cabinet.

Stephen Wyatt described the writing process of the time as grotesque with the script of Paradise Towers having to be ready in a few weeks. The script wasn’t specifically for any actor at that point but fitted in with the interest of Andrew Cartmel in the macabre. The story was based on a real-life experience of Stephen Wyatt visiting a friend in a high-rise tower where he was trapped in a lift going to all floors as naughty kids pressed all the buttons.

Reviewing the finished story there was an acknowledgement that the director could have been firmer to dial down some of the more exuberant aspects of Richard Briers performance as the possessed Chief Caretaker.

For his second story The Greatest Show in the Galaxy Stephen Wyatt felt far more comfortable writing as Sylvester had established the Doctor’s exploratory nature and Stephen’s script was more tailored to the 7th Doctor’s character.

Andrew Cartmel has previously expressed the amount of freedom he was allowed by John Nathan Turner and acknowledged that he got on well with John once he had shown he could script edit well. Sylvester McCoy wasn’t cast yet when Andrew joined the production and he was allowed by John Nathan Turner to sit in on the auditions. Andrew didn’t have any decision in who was cast but understood that John Nathan Turner was very clear about what he wanted for the Doctor and the stories that he felt would work.

Whilst Andrew had no burning ambition to write a story for the Doctor at the time Andrew does feel very proud of all the writers he brought into the series. Regarding the term “The Cartmel Masterplan” it wasn’t a term he created but there was a conscious plan to restore ” majesty and mystery” to the character of the Doctor who he thought had become a figure not to be taken seriously.

Andrew nurtured and encouraged the writers but feels it was a shame not all of them had the careers he felt they should have had afterwards. He expressed regret that he was unable to continue to support them due to him leaving the BBC.

Other panels and bits of fun

Representing the 11th Doctor era…

Stuart Milligan – recounted how he is always asked to do magic tricks. He did meet Verity Lambert and praised the pioneering role she carved as a woman in what was in the 1960’s very much a man’s world. I did find his very distinctive voice alluring! He played President Nixon in the episodes The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon but is probably better known though for his role in the TV mystery series Jonathan Creek as magician Adam Klaus.

Dan Starkey loves his character Strax but describes him as a well-meaning “psychopath who takes his work very seriously”!

Representing the 13th Doctor era…

Kammy Darweish impressed the audience with a mean impression of 007 aka Sean Connery. An experienced actor who played the Guru in the Jodie Whittaker 13th series Flux

A Presentation on the making of The Day of the Doctor 50 year trailer

Amongst the extras of the convention was a 30-minute presentation by collector and producer Andrew Beech. He served in 2013 as props and costume supervisor on the Doctor Who:50 Years trailer and described the process of how the trailer https://youtu.be/7hRy2N2CMhQ was created.

I couldn’t get to see all the panels so I missed the effervescent Katy Manning with her panel (Jo from the 3rd Doctor Pertwee era) and unfortunately also the 5th Doctor panel with Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhouse (Nyssa and Adric from the Davison era). But there was so much else to do as they ran from buying prints from the artist’s room or items from the merchandise room, (which seemed a little sparse this year) to autograph hunting or getting photos taken in the studio.

A charming Andrew Cartmel (script editor during the 7th Doctor era) persuaded me to buy the limited edition of his book Script Doctor But I already have a signed copy of your book Andrew! Oh, but another version (with the aqua cover and extra photos). Yes, please! To his credit Andrew Cartmel I believe he sold every copy of the book bar one that he brought to the convention. More on that later…

Fun at the Crowne Imperial

During the Saturday evening event, the Crowne Imperial DWAS held an event. Alister Pearson, the artist, entertained the audience with his impressions of Tom Baker whilst also auctioning some prints of his work. With writer Robert Shearman playing the role of showing off all the items (without complaint!) the DWAS held a charity auction with donated signed artwork, prints, replica props, posters, CDs, photos, books and other collectables which raised £6,556 in total for Parkinson’s UK and Prostate Cancer UK.

Chilling on a Sunday… Day 2

On the second day of the convention and I headed to the “Panopticon” room again to welcome, along with other attendees, a fresh group of guests on Sunday who would between them cover six eras of the show.

Actors Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury panel

Coming together for the 2nd Doctor’s era were two actors familiar from 1960’s Who playing companions Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Herriot. Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury in an animated panel recollected the fast turnaround of episodes for their era. Their Doctor Patrick Troughton they found was a generous actor, someone who was quite private generally and only met the guest cast when shooting. Frazer remarked one of the things he learned early on as an actor was to be a nice person to people working on set. All the cast on the tv series Emergency Ward 10 where he had worked previously introduced themselves to the guest stars.

The most recent episode Power of the Doctor featured old companions returning and the discussion turned to the possibility of either character returning. It seems unlikely as their memories were wiped although both actors did return in 1983 for the 20th anniversary “The Five Doctors” (with Zoe in a bubble wrap dress Wendy remarked!) It was great fun for them both although Frazer said wasn’t sure at the time that the show he was doing Emmerdale Farm would actually release him. A question from the audience addressed Frazer’s famous romantic reputation asking for his most successful chat-up line.

Frazer insisted with a twinkle in his eye that he didn’t need one and urged his partner in the audience not to listen. His girlfriend who was sitting next to me piped up. “I could add something in there” too much laughter. Frazer revealed that on occasion where he had invited a lady to his flat in Leeds in the past he would have a guest room there ready but hint at the room being haunted which would normally have the desired effect!

After Wendy left Doctor Who her association didn’t quite end as she appeared as companion Jenny in the 1974 stage play at the Adelphi Theatre in London Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday opposite Trevor Martin as the Doctor. She explained how for the opening she and the other actor playing a companion would sit in the bar as if they were members of the audience and then when the bell went for a 5-minute call to the curtain going up they would sit with the audience. When Trevor Martin came out of the Tardis collapsing they would exclaim loudly that he needed help. Other audience members would shush them being really annoyed.

One audience member, Wendy recalled too much laughter, did hit her over the head with an umbrella. Wendy and the other actor would then two minutes later rush up to the stage and help the Doctor into the Tardis and the adventure would begin. Wendy thought it was a brilliant beginning as all the children would exclaim if only they had been a bit quicker they could have been in the Tardis instead! She mentioned this to Terrance Dicks who said grumpily it wasn’t his idea but the directors and he hated it!

Wendy has been a talent agent for actors and spoke of when she took on Matt Smith as a client. She visited the National Youth Theatre during a production of a quite difficult play looking for new talent. Matt was there and she “couldn’t take her eyes off him”. His performance was so captivating. She approached Matt and offered if he wanted to be an actor to take him on, He agreed and Wendy told the girls in her office that someone amazing would be arriving “he has got a lot of features, an amazing face”.

The casting director at the Royal Court called Wendy a couple of days later, desperate for help to find an actor for a quirky 70-year-old character with a New York accent. She quickly offered Matt Smith and luckily he was very keen and excellent. Wendy was living in France when she received a call from her daughter Charlie that Matt Smith later became the 11th Doctor and she knew he would be brilliant in the role!

Director Graeme Harper, Writers Phil Ford and Gary Russell panel

At first sight, there may not be anything to connect these three guests to the 10th Doctor era but there is one story The Waters of Mars where they come together as director, writer and script editor. Phil Ford remembered how excited he was to write with Russell T Davies and submitted an idea involving unicorns and fairies in a Park Lane hotel for what he thought would be a Christmas story. However the idea was abandoned as too ambitious by Julie Gardner (or expensive really!) so a new direction was required, Russell T Davies was keen on a story set in the near future.

A news report that water had been discovered on Mars but was frozen became the genesis of an idea for the story. Phil Ford thought of the “Water zombies” and remembers there were a lot of discussions regarding how the scary look of the monsters was to be achieved. At one point the transformation as the humans are infected was considered too scary and reshot. The name of Bowie base came from Garry Russell in a reference to David Bowie’s Life on Mars https://youtu.be/AZKcl4-tcuo

Graeme Harper has as a director contributed to both classic and the revived series and had a unique perspective to share. He has had experience in both multi-camera recording in the studio and also single-camera shooting. Single-camera shooting in terms of the pace and action that can be created he felt was superior and gave a better result.

It is a longer process, similar to making a film, than using multi-cameras. Using four or five cameras in the studio and being in the gallery looking at monitors is quicker as it is a planned shot-by-shot product but not something he enjoyed doing.

He far preferred to be on the studio floor, amongst the actors to understand and solve any issues quickly that occurred. One of the most praised stories Graeme directed was The Caves of Androzani and conscious of the lack of money he made sure of good casting. Graeme explained how he got on well with John Nathan Turner and it stemmed probably from a similar production career pathway they both had.

Before John Nathan Turner agreed to let him direct Doctor Who Graeme directed a BBC soap opera of the late 1970s & 1980s called Angels about student nurses which gave him the experience he needed to impress John Nathan Turner.

At the end of the panel, Tony Jordan from DWAS presented Graeme with an Outstanding Contribution to Doctor Who award at The Capitol.

My particular highlights from Sunday

Panel with writer, director, and producer Matthew Jacobs 

For the 8th Doctor era, the DWAS managed a bit of a coup as Matthew Jacobs is a British screenwriter based in the US. He was the screenwriter for the 1999 Doctor Who TV movie and the director of the 2022 documentary Doctor Who Am I about the legacy of the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie. This was Matthew’s debut at a British convention. He has a connection to Doctor Who as his father Anthony Jacobs played Doc Holiday in The Gunfighters and Matthew remembered a trip then to the set of Doctor Who as a small child.

Revealing that he wasn’t really one to go to conventions before 2013 partly because of the unfavourable reaction to the 1990’s movie from fans who drew issues with various things: the Doctor’s romance with Grace, the American co-production of the film and the “half-human” reveal. He felt people blamed him as the writer, and there was a sense he could have done better. Doing the “Doctor Who Am I” documentary has meant more people have approached him and said they liked the movie and had a lot of love for Paul McGann’s performance.

He did write the 8th Doctor of course and Matthew was very happy also with Daphne Ashbrook’s performance as Grace Holloway. He felt she was the eyes of the audience. The reason he disclosed that the film wasn’t picked up for a series was not due to any bad ratings. Universal Studios instead chose a show called “Sliders” which had already run one series and which they understood more about. In many ways, he distanced himself from the show afterwards and moved on.

It was interesting to hear if a series had gone ahead Matthew would have liked to head the design team with a proposal that Tardis itself would become more than a vehicle. The Tardis would be a gateway to multi-dimensional worlds. This development would have also used the grandness of the Tardis set which had been a very expensive set costing almost $2 million to build. He had actually put a cloister room in the script, which is usually the smallest room in a church so was surprised by the largeness, cathedral style of the set.

Matthew Jacobs described the genesis of the recent documentary “Doctor Who Am I” https://youtu.be/Cn9OFpjWMBk stemming from a visit to a convention in Jacksonville, Florida in 2013. The mini-episode Night of the Doctor had brought renewed interest in the 8th Doctor and Matthew Jacobs started being invited to conventions.

He recalled that Doctor Who always had had an American fan base, and importantly a growing base due to the screenings on PBS television and he wanted to explore why. He discovered that humour travelled with both the US and the UK. The documentary also turned into a personal journey for him as he never realised before he did the documentary that he was a fan of the show.

Personal assistant to Verity Lambert Anna Callaghan & Director John Gorrie panel

Covering the 1st Doctor’s era was personal assistant to Verity Lambert, Anna Callaghan and director John Gorrie. As someone doing a rewatch from the beginning of classic Who I’ve developed a real fondness for the William Hartnell era so it was lovely to catch most of this panel.

John Gorrie was the director of The Keys of Marinus in 1964. It’s a story that doesn’t always get the love it deserves I think. As a late replacement for another story that fell through I love the majority of it. The idea that Marinus is a world of different cities feels innovative even if the budget couldn’t afford the ambition of Terry Nation’s story.

John Gorrie acknowledged that there were challenges within the production with a different location in every episode. He expressed reservations now about how “The Keys of Marinus” was shot as the camera can be seen to be static. Filmed in a new studio at Lime Grove if the cameras moved too much, however, they would have gone into the next set.

With the technical restrictions, casting thus became more important. His opinion was “casting is everything” and that does become an important success factor within a story. He remembered receiving a letter from a young Fiona Walker (playing villainess Kala and later in 1988 Lady Peinforte in Silver Nemesis) asking if he could give her work and then later cast her for Doctor Who.

Looking at how television is produced today the main difference John Gorrie said is directors do not cast actors anymore as that has become the responsibility of the producer. Lack of rehearsal for TV has been detrimental in his opinion but he was used to working with multiple cameras and creating a planned camera script.

John Gorrie also confirmed during this panel that he didn’t direct the third episode of Reign of Terror when director Henric Hirsch became unwell and collapsed shortly before recording. He believes that Verity directed, as she could oversee the vision mixer and follow the camera script. She couldn’t give her own name as a director but may have given his name as they were friends.

Anna knew Verity Lambert for a long time as her personal assistant. She recollected her strength in her last days driving herself for cancer treatment to the Royal Marsden hospital. Anna highlighted some of the notable collaborative projects Verity was involved in with her own independent production company, Cinema Verity. including the tv series boys from the Bush and the film A Cry in the Dark starring Meryl Streep about the baby taken by a dingo and the subsequent court case.

A less successful project was the soap opera Eldorado, a co-production with the BBC, set in a British expatriate community in Spain. It was one of the most expensive commissions given to an independent company at the time and Anna remembers Verity saying one day that the casting was wrong. Sadly the soap was cancelled after a year by the incoming controller of BBC1, Alan Yentob.

Actors Louise Jameson and John Leeson panel

From the 4th Doctor’s era, it was good to see Louise Jameson (companion Leela) back at the Capitol convention from her last attendance before the pandemic. It was fantastic to also welcome John Leeson (the voice of robot dog K9). John has been an actor in the Ronnie Corbett comedy “Sorry”, but has also been in children’s programmes such as ITV’s Rainbow from 1972 as the original Bungle bear. He has also had a second career as a wine educator on cruises and a magistrates justice of the peace.

Louise is a hugely experienced actress currently being seen in “Emmerdale” as Rhona Goskirk’s mother Mary. The era of Doctor Who these actors played in was a time of high inflation and producer Graham Williams carefully tried to manage where the series had by necessity low budget stories. Louise Jameson has made it known previously that The Sunmakers is her favourite story with the scathing criticism of the unfair politics of government overburdening ordinary people with taxation.

The interviewer asked John how he became involved in Doctor Who and he explained his agent called with two possible jobs, including voicing K9. The inspiration for K9 came from Louise’s dog Bowsie whose ears would pick up as Louise cooked at home.

It was probably fortuitous that John came when he did they both said as Louise wasn’t getting on with Tom Baker at that point and it brought a welcome change of atmosphere. John recounted anecdotes of occasions when on location John would sit and do the Times crossword, still in character as K9 with Tom and himself sharing clues over the walkie-talkie.

John Leeson is a genial unassuming man who was not expecting anything as the panel ended but there came a lovely surprise as Tony Jordan from DWAS closed the panel. Tony highlighted the importance of the year 1977 when the first convention was organised by the DWAS but also was the first appearance of K9.

As the award for an Outstanding Contribution to Doctor Who was read out, John seemed genuinely overwhelmed with emotion and humbly thanked the audience. He disclosed this was a second award for their household as his wife Judy had also received an award this year, a Lifetime Achievement Award for Set Design from the British Film Designers Guild.

The convention closes

All good things come to an end but the convention was a brilliant time and I was left on a high for about a week. There were a lot of panels to see this year. The organising team set themselves a real challenge to put on 13 relevant panels to ensure they covered 60 years of history. In that respect, they truly succeeded. Sunday proved slightly easier to catch more panels as the itinerary timings had planned breaks in such a way as to allow people time to queue for photos in the studios and spend time getting autographs.

I couldn’t catch every panel of course but everyone will have their own experience at the convention and takes what they want from it. Sometimes it was nice just to chill in the bar area and regroup your energy.

To be honest there were large queues for some of the guest’s autographs but it felt much better planned than last year, Guests were spread over two rooms for autographs so you could nip into a shorter queue and come back to your place again. The opportunity to chat informally with the guests as they sign your items or you have a photo is lovely. I did have some favourite people from this year’s event and next year there will be different people. It’s a relaxed environment for all the queues that snake into corridors.

Oh and to finish why Steven Wyatt had one copy of Script Doctor left? He signed the wrong version for me originally and his friend tracked me down on the Saturday and they made sure I received the correct blue version of the book. How nice is that? Thank you so much!

I do heartily recommend making a long weekend of Capitol if you can. The guests are having a lovely time at DWAS alongside us and one of my favourite things is people-watching. It was fun in the evenings sitting in the bar recognising guests as they came into the bar for a drink or went into the green room.

But there was also always the opportunity to chat with other fans through the day and meet up with new friends in the bar in the evenings (hello Joe! What happens on a Sunday at Capitol stays at Capitol!) or also catch up with old friends (hello Mark sorry we didn’t chat more, until next time).

The DWAS as with other conventions does publicise their guests well in advance with usually a good mix every year from classic Who and the revived series. Convention attendees receive their wristbands, a draft itinerary to start planning what they would like to see, or do, an event guide and free autograph allocation in advance of the event. Special room rates and deals on food for convention attendees are offered by the hotel, this also adds to the value of the weekend.

The bookings for the next DWAS convention in 2024 are already open and the venue for it has moved to Birmingham to be a bit more central for people to travel to. The Capitol Seven Wonders: Two-day Doctor Who convention organised by the DWAS (dwasonline.co.uk) There is an early booking discount for tickets which only applies until 31^st July 2023.I hope to see you next year in the Midlands and if you see me in a queue come and say hello!