I didn’t see much of Con Buddy on Saturday.

I think it had to do with our different approaches to getting photos and autographs. He’d done a lot of that on Friday, and had a stronger interest in the programming being offered Saturday. Not that this stuff didn’t interest me – there’s stuff I’m pretty sad I missed – but my priorities were different.

So I spent most of my day standing in lines. I started with some autographs. I got them from Eric Roberts, Daphne Ashbrook, Maureen O’Brien, and Richard Franklin. I also stopped by to give Caitlin Blackwood one of each of my ribbons, since I’d heard she was collecting them, and get a picture of her with her mum. Of course, I’ve since lost my camera… (Here’s hoping it’s at the lost and found this morning.)

Con Buddy actually beat me into the next line by about five people. I got to chat with a lovely woman who was there in her wheelchair with her service dog Wiggles (who was wearing a K-9 vest signed by John Leeson) before going in to have my picture taken with the TARDIS console from The Movie. Then I headed strraight to the next room to stand in line to have my picture taken with Paul McGann. (I ended up looking a bit manic. While a bit irritating, I suppose it’s not completely surprising.) Right behind me in line were a lovely young couple with whom I’d struck up a conversation over lunch on Friday. It almost felt like chatting with old friends.

By the time I got done with the photo op, I was already nearly too late to get in line (a half an hour or more early) for the Premium 1 autographing session. I spent two hours in that line before getting to McGann (and his son Jake, who has had some voice acting parts for Big Finish opposite his dad, and seemed gratified that I’d asked him to sign my program, too), Yee Jee Tso, Philip Segal, and Louise Jameson. It nearly killed my back, but it was completely worth it to meet the awesome ladies (and gents, though I talked to them a bit less) immediately next to me in line. (Hi! Thanks for helping to hand out business cards for the blog while I was giving out ribbons!)

I got out in time for a half-hour breather, so I sat in the back of the ballroom to listen to the Mark Sheppard interview. Sadly, I had to duck out just after his father (William Morgan Sheppard) came on stage to go get in yet another line. Time for the IAN shirt photo!!! A little surprisingly, I was the second one in line. The first gentleman, a good-looking young man dressed as Ianto Jones, was extremely keyed up and great fun to talk with. It made our wait seem short. Or maybe it’s the fact that it wasn’t two hours…

By now, it’s just past 4:30, and I’m about to sit down for my first real programming of the day (well… to stay through the whole thing, anyway). Con Buddy had a seat for me near the front of the ballroom, so I got to hear most of the “Tales from the Doctor Who Set” panel with folks involved with the post-Hiatus stories. Caitlin Blackwood, poor lovely girl, tended to keep her answers to single words, which amused the crowd quite a bit. “How was doing X?” “Good.” “How did you feel about Y?” “Excited.” Her lack of interview savvy was absolutely charming.

Before “The TV Movie Reunion” panel came on, Con Buddy took off (getting only 5 hrs of sleep Friday night – or ~ahem~ Saturday morning – had caught up with him), but I stayed. McGann, Ashbrook, Tso, and Segal were all there, but Roberts was conspicuous in his absence. Segal actually made a snarky comment about it near the beginning, but the day went to the con member who came up during the Q&A time to ask, “Is Eric Roberts busy dressing for the occasion?” The audience roared.

That panel was the last of the daytime programming. I got myself some dinner, chatted with the gentelman sitting next to me, and headed off to get in line for the Masquerade of Mandragora, which is the cosplay costume contest. That line was nuts. They had the floor taped off to keep the queue orderly, and even though I got there 45 minutes early, I still ended up halfway back in the ballroom. However, I had a lovely time talking to the woman in front of me in line (a Long Term Fan) about the perspectives on the show and on various Doctors, coming to it from our different directions.

The Masquerade itself was fun. The very first entrant, “Tot Baker,” was a maybe 18- to 24-month-old child in a Tom Baker (Four) scarf and hat (and possibly coat – it was a bit hard to see). Total “awww” factor. There were several really impressive and really fun costumes, but for my money, the best were the giant Adipose and Morbius (as patchwork monster). Awesome.

I’m told Saturdays are the busiest day of the con, which is good, because I could do with a bit of a break. Sunday should be mostly programming, so I love that. I have got to get the Ladies to come with me next year!