It’s interesting how unique a character each of the three days of Gally has, and how consistent those characters are from year to year. For me, at least, Friday is fairly giddy, with a “pinch me; I can’t believe how much awesome there is, and it’s only just starting!” vibe. Saturday is the super busy con-in-full-swing day that never seems to slow down. Then there’s Sunday, which always suffers a vague pall of sadness somewhere in that mental space between denial and acceptance as everyone tries to squeeze all possible awesomeness out of the last of our time together.

As the day marches inexorably toward Closing Ceremonies, the harsh reality of another ending becomes ever more undeniable and friends cling together or seek each other out, having somehow missed each other the rest of the weekend. So as I sit in the unusually empty lobby on Monday morning, I look back on Day Three with a combination of melancholy and gratitude for more great experiences.

My Sunday on the con floor started in the audience of an interview panel with Sir John Hurt. There were several memorable moments, including his answer to an audience question about whether he’d ever, shall we say, taken anything home from the set that he wasn’t strictly supposed to take. He said that after the first Harry Potter movie (in which he played Olivander the wand maker from Diagon Alley), he brought home four wands for his two sons and a couple of nephews. Then he told us that people sometimes bring their wands in boxes to him to be signed and “I remember making every one of them.”

If that comment didn’t break a crossover fandom, the line readings that the moderator asked him to do broke those of us who love Hurt as the War Doctor. He read a piece of Tom Baker’s famous speech from Genesis of the Daleks (the “could you then kill that child” part), the bit at the end of Planet of the Daleks when Pertwee’s Doctor warns Taron and the other Thals not to glorify war (complete with audience participant as Taron; “you just acted with Sir John Hurt!”), and Capaldi’s epic speech from The Zygon Inversion. To end the panel, though, there was only one possible choice—and let me tell you, Sir John Hurt delivering Hartnell’s “I will come back” speech to Susan was nothing short of electric. I still don’t know how I managed to keep from weeping openly.

I stayed in Program A for the following panel. Although a live commentary of Heaven Sent with director Rachel Talalay had been scheduled (and I’d really been looking forward to it), Ms. Talalay had to cancel due to a family emergency. Instead, the interview panel with Samuel Anderson (who played Danny Pink) was moved to that slot.

Especially as I’d had to miss both Ingrid Oliver and Michelle Gomez, I was really glad to hear what Anderson had to say. He was funny and charming and down-to-earth. We got cryptic clues about his next job and heard about some of the things he loves (jazz). One of the highlights, though, sprang from his mention of growing up on The Fresh Prince of Bel Aire (in the context of wanting to work with Will Smith). A later audience question challenged him to prove his cred by doing the Fresh Prince theme song—which he promptly belted out word perfect.

Unlike previous years, I actually had a bit of a gap in my Sunday schedule at this point. It allowed me some time to sit on the balcony of our hotel room with my friends and soak up a little LA sunshine before the marathon into the end of con programming.

Next I went to the “Verity! Podcast’s ‘In Defense Of'” panel. Audience members wrote down suggestions for topics and/or their names to volunteer as contestants, and those were collected and drawn randomly. Two people at a time then were chosen to go up to the front and speak for sixty seconds in defense of whatever topic was drawn.

I was lucky enough to have my name drawn at one point, so got to give it a go. The topic we were given in my first round was “Kamelion is better than K-9,” and after ten or fifteen seconds, the defending champ from the previous round gave up in despair. I thus won the round by default—assuming I could actually make it to the end of the minute.

I don’t know how everyone actually felt about my defense, but I got a few laughs, so I was satisfied. Although my challenger in the next round beat me (as was the case more often than not as the rounds continued), I wasn’t disappointed. That hotseat can be fun, but it’s stressful, too. Having been once now, I’ll make a particular effort to get back to any future “In Defense Of” panels.

The rest of the day was spent in Program A, as is my tradition for a Gally Sunday. There were two hodge-podge panels—the ones where they kind of throw every guest who’s still at the con on stage and make the moderator sweat. The first was focused on pre-Hiatus (“Classic”) Who, with Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant, Frazer Hines, Andrew Cartmel, India Fisher, Jessica Martin, and Patricia Quinn. The second, a more modern version of the same, included Samuel Anderson, Neve McIntosh, Ian McNeice, Claire Higgins, Andrew Hayden-Smith, Jami Reid-Quarrell, Matthew Doman, Will Thorp, and Seán Carlson. Both were entertaining, but not what I’d consider must-see.

Then it was down to the video Year in Review and Closing Ceremonies. And just like that, another Gally was over. I spent a brief time at Lobbycon giving out the last few of two of my ribbon designs (the third will no doubt return next year), and called it a night.

It’s hard knowing I won’t see these friends in person again for a year, but if I had to pick the one thing that makes Gally so special those friendships would be it. I dearly love seeing the guests and hearing their stories, but if the high-profile headliners went away, I’d still want to come back to Gallifrey One every year. It’s those fan panels and the time with friends that are the heart and soul of this con. As long as they keep putting it on, I’ll keep coming back.

See you back in LA in 2017.