Inside Whooverville 15: Fans, Guests, and Doctor Who Magic
I’ve been to a few conventions over the years. None have been as welcoming, ambitious, and downright STACKED as Whooverville. Specifically the latest one, Whooverville 15 (2024) – my first one! Let’s travel back to Saturday 31st August 2024. This was a crazy day, so let’s dive right into it.
I arrived at the QUAD cinema in Derby, which I have walked past many times but have never been into. There were a few incarnations of the Doctor and a Cyberman milling around (AKA, cosplayers). A friendly chap in front of me in the queue to get in gestured to the Cyberman, saying “I tell you what… I wish I had some gold on me right now.”
Oh yeah. I’m in the right place.
On arrival, Stephen – one of the ‘Whoovers’ fan groups responsible for organising the convention every year – gave us attendees a blue wristband to show we were ticket holders, an autograph sheet to keep track of our free autographs included with the ticket (this is a HUGE benefit to this convention by the way), and a program of events in the style of a 1960s edition of the Radio Times (nice touch).
I went in and bought coffee from the QUAD cafe because I had quite the early morning to get there on time, and then walked upstairs to the very top of the building to its main cinema. I couldn’t believe I never came here before! QUAD is a small-looking building from the outside, but is huge on the inside (dimensionally transcendental like a TARDIS, you might say). It has three floors, several conference rooms, and two cinemas (one small, one huge) on the top floor. It’s a great venue for a convention; it’s no wonder the Whoovers have used it for the past few years for this event.
Let’s Talk!
So, in the main cinema, we had the welcome talk by Stephen, which, well, welcomed us to the event. While the excitement was palpable in the room, this talk was mostly a sombre affair; Stephen spoke about how this awesome venue, the QUAD, is lacking in the funding it needs to stay alive and they can’t be guaranteed to host the event next year (more on how you can do something to help at the end).
Despite this, we were all still happy to be here and excited for the day ahead. My eyes were darting through the event program thinking “What am I gonna do with my day?!“.
The good news is that there was so much to do at this convention and it was worth every penny spent on the entry fee. But my decision paralysis kicked in a few times and I had to make a few snap decisions on how I would spend my time. There were two lots of talks running throughout the day, tonnes of traders, and several guests to meet and greet. I would have liked the schedule to have been made available before the event, but alas, with cancellations and chaos rife in the convention planning business, I can appreciate why this wouldn’t be possible for a smaller-scale event like Whooverville than, say, an LFCC. So, quick decisions it had to be!
First off, I attended the talk with Tommy Knight which followed the welcome talk. They went through his entire acting journey (including his whole time on The Sarah Jane Adventures). All I can say from the emotional nature of the subjects covered – from making friends with his co-stars to his memories of the late, great Elisabeth Sladen – and the way he seems incredibly happy to have packed in the acting business to work in Software Development, is that Tommy seems like a lovely chap. And this was evidenced further in my interaction with him later that day (keep reading!).
Then I had a choice… Philip Hinchcliffe and Roger Murray Leach, two Doctor Who legends talking about the release of their new book The DNA of Doctor Who: The Philip Hinchcliffe Years, or… Chris Chapman, director and producer of documentaries for the Doctor Who Collection boxset, talks about all things Doctor Who the Collection. Gahh!! Sorry 1970s Doctor Who alumni, but I wanted some Blu-Ray exclusives. And we blooming got some!
I adore the collection range. I only started when the standard editions began rolling out in 2021, but since then I have collected each one. I love the artwork, the high-quality new special features, the upscaling, and most of the original classic DVD range special features being included, making it truly the ultimate way to own Classic Doctor Who! So it was cool to see an integral person in what I believe to be a legendary Doctor Who merchandise endeavour.
Chris Chapman, hosting the talk by himself, showed us some clips from the upcoming Season 25 Blu-Ray special features. Fun fact: Whooverville happened on the same day as the BFI screening for The Happiness Patrol, which my Big Blue Box colleagues Garry, Adam and Maria attended. But guess what, you three! Chris Chapman said these clips wouldn’t be shown to you before the afternoon, so I got to see them first. HA!
I jest, of course.
This content looked cool, particularly the latest ‘Looking for…‘ documentary, where Toby Hadoke goes on a mission to find out more about a late Doctor Who alumni. This time it is for Dursley McLinden who played Sgt Mike Smith in Remembrance of the Daleks (1988), who I hadn’t known had died shortly after the transmission of that story in 1990. That documentary is sure to be informative and a celebration of a dashing young actor tragically lost so young.
Following this, Chris Chapman moved on to talk about another Collection range the same team is working on… Blake’s 7! We got to see some clips from the special features of that upcoming release; namely from the first in a series of feature-length documentaries they plan to make looking at the legacy of the program season by season (Chapman likened it to the Third Doctor era documentary Doctor Who and the Third Man which was on the Season 10 boxset). So for you Blake fans, you’re in for a treat! I’ve never seen the show, but judging by the apparent quality of the set (and the fact I like shiny Blu-rays), I think I might pick up this release and experience it for the first time.
Chris didn’t give too much away about upcoming releases, but he did say that they were making another ‘Looking for…‘ documentary for a 60’s companion. I wonder what box set that might be for…
No time to wonder, onto the next talk: Katy Manning! An absolute delight, Katy spent most of the interview talking about anything other than Doctor Who! It was all a bit of a blur, to be honest – she kept going from being sat on a chair, to stood up, to lying down – but it was thoroughly entertaining, as you would expect. Three moments stood out to me, however.
First, Katy spoke about the ridiculousness of the modern-day acting industry. She seemed to condemn self-tapes (recorded auditions done at home and sent online instead of or in addition to an in-person audition), citing examples of actor family members of her’s who were asked to do crazy stuff like ask a staff member at Aldi to borrow their uniform for a character or make their living room look like an airport terminal. Let me tell you dear reader… as someone who has worked as an actor and sent many CRAZY self-tapes, it felt very validating to have the legendary Katy Manning on my side with this point of view!
Secondly, Katy also didn’t seem keen on the idea of writing an autobiography about her life, saying she would much rather live in the moment than dwell on the past. This perspective left me with a pep in my step, I have to be honest. It explains why she is such a free spirit, and maybe there is something to be learned from that. The third thing: Katy expressed her utmost gratitude for her fans and seemed super happy to be at the event meeting them. Katy’s positive energy rubbed off on everyone in the room; so I was glad I attended this talk!
But wait, it’s nearly 1 pm, and I have been attending talks and not getting my autographs and photographs. Better hop up and hop around!
Turn around, bright eyes
I darted to the bottom of the venue where all the guests were meeting fans. There was a super long queue leading into the auditorium, leading into what I could only assume was for… autographs? Photographs? It was difficult to tell. So I joined it for a few minutes, and when I realised it was to have a photo with whichever guest’s session it was, I ejected myself from the queue and ended up in another dimension. Well, it was just another room, but it felt like another dimension… probably the confusion, or the hunger, or the caffeine wearing off.
The first face I saw was Simon Fisher Becker, who was looking right at me, beaming! I have wanted to meet the actor who played Dorium (a blue alien who got his head chopped off in the Matt Smith era, in case you don’t remember) for a while because I heard he was very friendly with fans, and he lives up to his reputation. He complimented my multi-coloured Tom Baker scarf. I complimented his bow tie. I got his autograph and had a nice chat with him. He was a pleasure to meet.
And then we moved on to another cool interaction. I turned around, and Mat Irvine – Doctor Who visual effects designer on favourite episodes of mine such as The Face of Evil and The Stones of Blood – was sitting there with the original K-9 prop. I mean… what?! This was the coolest thing ever. I had to have a picture with them both.
Mat was the designer for the very short-lived spin-off K9 and Company, and also the primary operator for K-9 Mark IV in School Reunion 2006. Hence the reason that these two were best pals.
But it didn’t stop there! I turned around, and Mr Trillbee Tardis – Whotuber extraordinaire since 2010 whose reviews I had watched for years – was standing right there! “Oh my God, you’re Mr Tardis!” I said. I had a little chat with him and told him I always enjoyed his content. He was not an official guest and just another Who fan enjoying his day, so I am extra grateful that he was kind enough to have a picture with me. Nice chap!
After this, I decided to dart to the second floor, which I hadn’t explored yet. And then I see Neil Cole, curator of the Museum of Classic Sci-Fi in Allendale! It was nice to say hello again, having visited the museum a couple of times before (read my article to find out more about it). On his table were a couple of items; namely the Skarasen from Terror of the Zygons! Neil was in the middle of restoring it to be displayed in the museum and it was cool to see it here.
I then bought a copy of his new book and asked him to sign it for me. It is called It Belongs in a Museum: The Second Doctor, which explores objects that survived from that era of the show. Looking forward to grabbing a cuppa and reading through that one!
But I have no time to waste! I had to get upstairs to another talk with someone who might say is a legend… an unearthly legend.
Susan Foreman?!
That’s right. Carole Ann Ford! I was particularly stoked about Carole being at this convention. One of the original Doctor Who crew. The Doctor’s granddaughter. Say what you will about Susan Foreman as a character but it was her weirdness and endearing nature which was part of what worked so well about the start of Doctor Who, and that was due in large part to Carole’s performance. So it was cool to see her at this event.
In her brilliant interview, she spoke very fondly of the rest of the fab four – William Hartnell, Jacqueline Hill and William Russell. She also coyly neither confirms nor denies if she will show up at all in the next season of Doctor Who, having had her character mentioned several times in the latest series. Fingers crossed, eh? I don’t tend to get star-struck with Doctor Who stars nowadays, but I was pretty close after seeing Carole chatting away on stage. So I had to take the opportunity to have a picture with her!
I was too amazed to say anything beyond small talk. But I’m sure she’s been told how great she is a million times already!
Queue-mongous!
Oh, shoot! The day’s getting on a bit and I need to get my free autographs! OK, let’s dive right in.
Philip Hinchcliffe and Roger Murray Leach signed me a copy of their new book I mentioned earlier, another coffee table read I picked up at the event that I look forward to perusing. I got to tell them how much I appreciated their work on the show in the 1970s, which was cool.
I then spent a really, really long time queuing to meet Katy Manning, who is so lovely she made sure to have a nice long chat with everyone. I got her autograph and she gave me a hug, so it was honestly worth the wait!
Then I got Carole’s autograph. And then Wendy Padbury (did I mention Wendy Padbury was here too! How awesome she is!). Oh, I also managed to get David Gooderson’s autograph somewhere in this sequence of events. I am pleased to say Davros from Destiny of the Daleks was very happy and smiley; it was nice to have a little chat with him.
The busyness and haziness around the quest for autographs illustrate the event’s ambition – there were so many cool Who guests to meet at this relatively small-scale event. But this does lead me to talk about the closest thing I have to a grumble about the day, and that was the queues. Unfortunately, the afternoon was slightly muddied by the fact that there was a lot of confusion and stress around which queue was for which guest, whether it was for an autograph or photograph, and where it was starting or ending. The QUAD is only so big on the inside and there were more tickets released for the event than in previous years, which contributed to this. For much of the afternoon, it felt less like a series of queues and more like a crowd that most of us – even some of the volunteers helping out – found difficult to navigate.
Now, I want to stress that this only slightly muddied the day for me. And I will give credit where it is due – the volunteers and QUAD staff maintained professionalism and patience throughout and I applaud them for still giving us a great day. Stephen, at the end of the day, said that this situation was unacceptable and acknowledged this was a result of selling more tickets than normal for the event. So my only hope is that they can learn from this and come up with a system that makes the event more organised in subsequent years.
I wouldn’t let this put anyone off attending this event – it showed a willingness to admit a flaw in the organisation, and it didn’t take away in the slightest from being able to have a great interaction with each and every guest. I’m just pointing it out to give our readers a comprehensive account; if I were down at the pub chatting about this event, it probably wouldn’t even come up!
And to emphasise that point and finish on a super positive note, let me tell you about my interaction with Tommy Knight. In the summer of last year, I was thinking about making a career jump from Acting to Software Development (dramatic, right?!). At the time while looking for training courses, I had read in Doctor Who Magazine an interview with the Sarah Jane Adventures cast. Turns out Tommy Knight had made a jump of his own from Acting to Software Development, and was very happy about it.
Reading that someone who had been on my screen during my childhood and in various other TV shows had decided to make the same career change I was pursuing was validating and inspiring. I am paraphrasing, but Mr Knight in this interview was very happy with this change and expressed the same sentiment when asked if he is no longer acting in his Whooverville talk which I mentioned earlier.
Tommy Knight was a motivator for me finding a new occupation and being more stable. So, a year later, now a fully-fledged Software Developer and having the opportunity to meet him at Whooverville, I had to tell him! He seemed to find it cool that he had inspired me and we had a little natter about coding (not Sarah Jane Adventures funnily enough, but he’s been told how brilliant he is many times before I bet!). To my joy, he wrote the following on his autograph to me:
To Harry, best wishes, may your code be error-free! Tommy Knight.
This was one of the best convention interactions I have had, for sure. And I have Whooverville to thank!
At the end of the day
Well, I’m exhausted! And I didn’t have lunch. It’s nearly the end of the day though. Time to mop up the last few bits.
So I took some pictures, of course. One with the TARDIS…
And another with this Dalek. For a Nazi-esque race of aliens, they sure love a selfie.
Had a quick look around the traders. I bought the Target novelisations of the two Pertwee-era Auton stories from one trader because I had watched them recently. And I saw some Target novels on another trader’s table wrapped in bags. What is this… four copies of the original print “The Wheel in Space“?
‘They’re rare. Only so many exist because of a warehouse fire.” the Trader said. Turns out the internet confirmed his story to be true (would have been a master con if it wasn’t!). I was gonna regret it if I didn’t get a copy, so… I bought one! So I finished this day getting something of a Doctor Who relic. How much more packed can this day get?!
Sadly, I couldn’t find Jason Quinn – editor of DWM who I was hoping to sign my copy of the print that came with issue 600 – or Gary Russell – who I was hoping would be able to sign my copies of Beautiful Chaos and the recent novelisation of The Star Beast – so, all that was left was the raffle (didn’t win anything!), and closing words.
Stephen thanked all the guests and traders, apologised for the queues, and we all reflected on what a great day it was. Once again, we were reminded of the QUAD’s financial situation, and I felt compelled to make a little donation for them before I left, having had such a great day out at their venue.
On the bus home, I was very tired, and a little bit overwhelmed, but immensely happy. Whooverville was an awesome event, and I am still feeling the fuzziness from it. I have no doubt that I will be attending the next one, and encourage my Big Blue Box colleagues and you, dear reader, to make the trip to Derby next year.
And if you have it in your heart to kindly support the livelihoods of the team who run an awesome independent arts venue, and even if you have the littlest amount of money going spare, why not donate to Derby QUAD? Maybe we can all come together next year there? Because I would do it all over again!
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