It has become almost a tradition at Gally for me to spend the majority of the day on Sunday camped out in Program A. This year, weirdly, that was my Saturday instead.
We had a nice slow start to the day, chilling in the Lobby for nearly four hours before programming began. Then we met up with our friends to get into the Diamond Pass line for photos with Jodie. (I have learned that for a popular guest, the lines will be ridiculous, and unless I’m willing to wait interminable hours, a TARDIS Tag (which goes for an insanely large amount of money) or a Diamond Pass (still large, but not as insanely so, amount of money) is really a necessity.) Even so, the scrum in the hallway was both large and confused. It eventually got sorted, though, and the process was relatively smooth. We got out the other end in decent time with photos we actually like.
Our first dip into Program A for the day came as we recovered from the photo op experience, sitting at the very back of the room for the end of “The Second Doctor Era” and beginning of “The Third Doctor Era” Big Finish panels. Mostly that involved Frazer Hines being very Frazer, Katy Manning being very Katy, and Jon Culshaw demonstrating what an incredible impression of the Brigadier he does.
Before we got through that second panel, though, it was time to run off and get in another (much shorter than it could’ve been) line for Jodie autographs. It was interesting to see how they worked it. We all just lined up as we arrived, and then as they were ready for us, they called for those holding increasing Pass numbers (ours were 062 and 063, so fairly early in the ranks).
We were each allowed to buy one (and only one) extra autograph beyond the one allotted to our Diamond Passes. (Which makes sense; there were so many people trying to get through, they had to minimize the time each could take.) With the one for my usual autograph-collecting friend and Kiddo’s twin sister who couldn’t come (because she was singing in the All-State Choir instead), that made four that our party was getting signed. That actually allowed us enough time to have a tiny conversation with Jodie, mentioning said twin. Jodie was absolutely lovely, and I am so grateful to her for going through all this for us, her fans. Her schedule was truly ridiculous, and the fact that she could remain cheerful throughout the day is a testament to her character and commitment to her fans.
With the time we had remaining until the top of the next hour, we took the chance to eat our packed lunches in the courtyard, catching our breath and making our gameplan for the rest of the afternoon. We still had a greenscreen photo with Jodie coming to us with the Diamond Passes, and the Saturday session was at 3:45. We wanted to do the time-honored “find seats and ootch forward between panels” maneuver so we’d be set for the Jodie interview at 5:00, and we had a party of 6-7 to accommodate.
Four of us had Diamond Passes, so the others could’ve held our seats, but in the end, only the one who hadn’t yet joined us in the seats ended up doing the greenscreen on Saturday. The rest of us decided to try the same trick on Sunday instead, and stayed for all the panels.
That made for a 5+-hour-long block of panels to watch. First up, at 1:00, was “Ace & Tegan Return! Plus, This or That” hosted by the Head Over Feels podcasters, Sage Young and Kim Rogers. It was a delight listening to Sophie Aldred and Janet Fielding tell stories and rib each other good-naturedly like the old friends they are. Two of my favorite Classic-era Companions together on stage? Yes, please!
The next two panels were ones I wouldn’t have attended for their own sakes, but they were still interesting in their own ways. “Doctor Who Production Stories” involved Matthew Sweet interviewing Chris Chibnall, Arwel Wyn Jones (art director/production designer), Daf Shurmer (production designer), and Jamie Magnus Stone (director). We got to hear a bit about the process from script to screen, which was cool.
After that came “Titan Comics Doctor Who Spotlight” with comic artist Christopher Jones interviewing “comics legend” (it says so right there on his bio) Dan Slott (who is best known for his extensive work on The Amazing Spider-man) and Jody Houser, who has been writing Doctor Who comics for several years now. It made me actually interested in checking out some of these comics! Slott will be doing a one-shot with the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones around the anniversary, and Houser recently did a Doctor Who: Origins series with the Fugitive Doctor. I can envision more money escaping my pockets.
The daily programming in Program A ended with three big guest interviews in a row: Bonnie Langford, Colin Baker, and the guest of honor herself, Jodie Whittaker. Although I heard a few of the same things as yesterday from Bonnie, there were some new stories, too, and her long-time friend Gary Russell made a good interviewer.
Colin’s interview ended up being a little more “exciting” than intended, as he accidentally spilled almost an entire (quite large) cup of coffee all over his jacket and the underlying couch next to the chair he was occupying. Interviewer Riley Silverman (who is herself a fabulous person with great perspectives and opinions—one of my fellow panelists on Friday’s Deathmatch panel, who basically made every point I was thinking of making before (and more eloquently) than I could)—handled the minor crisis very well, making sure someone backstage took the coat to clean it, and moving the interview onward with aplomb.
After the stagehands quickly swapped out the offending couch segment between panels, it was time for Jodie. There are two interview panels with Jodie this weekend, but I really wanted to see this Saturday one, as the interviewer would be Deborah Stanish of Verity! Podcast.
Deb indeed did a lovely job, and we got to see a slightly goofy side of Jodie that actually matches remarkably well with her version of the Doctor (if somewhat more (self-edited) sweary). I understand why everyone talks about her being generous and friendly. She’s very self-effacing, and says she’s “just nosy!” when asked about how she welcomes others onto the set, but as far as I can tell, she’s simply a warm and caring person. If possible, I adore her (and her Doctor) more now than I did before.
We also got a special surprise at the end of the interview, with Chris Chibnall coming on to share the stage with Jodie for a while. It was nice to see them together and get some back-and-forth between them. Unfortunately, those extra fifteen minutes really wore on me. We’d already been in the room for five hours straight before Chibnall came on; I was ready for some dinner and a call back home to my spouse and Other Kiddo.
After filing out of Program A, Kiddo and I made a beeline to the food trucks, where we got some dinner and finished in time to dash back to our room for a pre-bedtime chat to another time zone. I’d kind of planned to go back out to the con afterward even if Kiddo didn’t, because it was still pretty early, but there weren’t any of the evening activities that appealed (improv comedy is not my thing), and half of my close friends were either retiring, too, or headed to the Idiot’s Lantern.
As the other half of those friends were our roommates, I simply let them know we were cashing it in for the night. Then Kiddo and I settled down on the bed with Netflix for a couple hours until we were ready to turn in for the night.
It was a good, if tiring, Gally Saturday! Sunday promises to be relatively chill, with only about three-and-a-half hours of projected programming to see in Program A. Onward!