I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the sold out Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Celebration! I was going by myself, and I was pretty nervous. I left the hostel at 7:30am, and hopped on the Tube. I then took the DLR to the ExCel convention center in East London. I actually really enjoyed the DLR. It's above ground, so you can actually see what's going on:
Can't see this on the Tube!
I arrived at ExCel nice and early. Just in time to stand in two different horrific queues.
I got my pass in the first queue. Then I moved on to this bad boy:
Waiting to get into the theatre.
So after queuing for like 2 hours, I finally got into the theatre. The first show was a special effect show with the guy who does all the special effects for the show.
Waiting for the show to start
HE BLEW UP A DALEK
THEN HE BLEW UP THIS CYBERMAN, AFTER IT BLEW UP A WALL
HE THEN SET THE STAGE ON FIRE.
After the show, I wandered around the main exhibition hall. They had tons of props from the show:
The 9th Doctor's clothes
Rory's shirt from the stag party. (AKA my favorite shirt)
Donna! With some creepy masks
11 <3 <3
My all time favorite Doctor Who character, Captain Jack Harkness.
Ladies and Gentlemen, The most British thing ever
Oswin!
So many Daleks!
10! (so tall)
I then went and watched a classic episode of Doctor Who, while the director did commentary. It was really cool. I believe the episode featured the third Doctor.
The next show was the Regeneration show. I didn't know what this was going to entail, so I was really happy to find out that the 5th, 6th, and 7th Doctors were at this show!
From left to right: Peter Davison (5), Sylvester McCoy (7), and Colin Baker (6)
Also, the guy interviewing them does the voices for the Daleks
Sylvester McCoy was hilarious. He's currently in the Hobbit playing Radagast.
I really enjoyed this. The talked about filming Doctor Who way back when, and how much it's changed over the years. Sylvester McCoy kept talking about how he's in the Hobbit. I can't remember who told this story, but they said that they were filming a scene in London once, and they set off a controlled explosion. Well, this was on the anniversary of the Easter Rebellion, so of course there was a bit of a panic. The police arrive, and out of the smoke rolls three Daleks. I would have run away screaming.
The next show was the one that I'd been looking forward to for a long long time. It was the panel with Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffatt, and Nick Hurran (the director).
Matt couldn't sit still the entire time.
LOVE
They kept showing this really unattractive picture of Matt. He stated that it looked like he had been kicked in the crotch. He then proceeded to rub his crotch, and this was the aftermath. Lord help me.
:'(
I absolutely loved this panel. Moffatt kept complaining about how hung over he was (he deserves it). Jenna was just adorable. Matt was awesome. I've always wanted to see him in person, and he delivered. I thought it was just a myth about how he's so clumsy. But it isn't. He was sitting down. And he dropped his coffee cup. It went up. Moffatt was in the middle of a really serious story and then you hear "OOP!" and a coffee cup just flies upward. It was awesome. Matt was also really flirty. He was all "Oh Jenna, you have the nicest hair ever. I know you have a boyfriend, but I just needed to tell you that." It was slightly uncomfortable, but if he said that to me I would have died. Jenna was like, "Oh I thought you were going to say something like really profound." You can tell she's used to it.
It was seriously like the greatest day ever. I loved being able to see everyone in person. It got really sad since Matt is leaving soon. But whatever. Still good.
I had a really great day at the 50th Celebration. I'm really glad that I was able to go. Even if it was by myself.
-Shannon
