The 11th Hour -- the Extended Version
So. This weekend was the Doctor Who "11th Hour Convention", hosted by Starfury. It took place at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole -- a hop and a skip away from the Birmingham International Airport and the train station along with the NEC. It's a great location. Easy for everybody to get to. Although I'm located in Surrey, it took less than three hours to get there by train.
I missed the Friday night events because of work but I headed up on Saturday. For various reasons, I didn't arrive until the afternoon and after dropping my luggage off, I found a table for four in the bar and waited for my friends (who were all listening to the Sheppard's talk) to join me. Once they did, we spent the balance of the afternoon/evening in the bar, having a grand old time, but calling it a reasonably early night just shy of midnight as some of our group had photoshoots with Matt at 9:15 a.m. :)
And then -- onto the main event. Matt Smith -- the obvious head liner -- was originally scheduled to appear on Saturday but had to reschedule for Sunday. Bless him though, he was a real trooper. He started the photos at 9:15, continued with them until noon by the sounds of it (and apparently he was a doll during the shoots -- happy to take up props -- hats, screwdrivers-- and utterly fabulous with the kids!, and with a devilishly gorgeous smile for everyone!), took a brief break, and then jumped into the autographs. And -- apparently everybody got an autograph -- and he was even personalizing one item per attendee. I'm impressed. Very impressed. That went above and beyond the call of duty as most of us were only expecting his signature.
Once all that was completed, he appeared on the stage at 5:00 p.m. (well, shortly thereafter) and did a brilliant Q&A showing just how much of an utter professional and gentleman he is. I've attended many, many cons over the years, and, without any reservation, I would have to say Matt Smith was simply amazing. Considering his current status as "The Doctor", the iconic character in British television at the moment -- for him to be so generous and considerate of the fans at this event was admirable. He's a true gentleman, through to the core.
On that note ...
Just, as an apology in advance, the quality of my pictures could be better. The lighting in the panel room was difficult to work with to say the least and I was in the last row of the Gold Seats -- so a ways back. The below are the best out of the lot.
And now, onto the pics and commentary! Prior to Mr. Smiths' appearances, the rest of the gang appeared on the stage. The first group to appear was the so called "Good Man Goes to War".
On that note, the first would be Catrin Stewart. A Welsh actress, she played "Jenny" in a "A Good Man Goes to War". She was very lovely and very sweet.
Along the same lines, we had Neve McIntosh who played a Silurian in two Doctor Who episodes. Also lovely and sweet, she apparently created a twitter account during the convention and, by Sunday, had more followers than Sean Harry (the convention organizer who's been on twitter for ages :)).
Then we had Simon Fisher Becker. He played Dorium Maldovar in three episodes of Doctor Who -- think "he of the blue skin". He was delightful with a wry sense of humour. When asked what superpower he'd like to have, he responded -- with the ability to make hypocrites see and speak the truth.
And finally we had the brilliant Frances Barber who played Madame Kovarian in multiple episodes of Doctor Who. She is whip smart with a razor blade sense of humour. She was a delight on the stage. When asked about what superpower she'd like to have, she quickly quipped back, "the power to strike people dumb such that they continue to blah, blah, but nobody can hear them". I *like* that power. Kudos to Frances for thinking it up!
Then we moved onto the next panel which consisted of Mark Sheppard, W. Morgan Sheppard (father to the foregoing) and Stuart Milligan (who played Nixon in Doctor Who). All three were lovely, but Mark definitely stole the show. He was queried about his various roles as villains and went on a monologue about his characters being morally ambiguous. He did make an interesting comment about Crowley though; he pointed out the fact that have we ever seen Crowley's eyes go black? The crowd thought about it and agreed the answer was nay. Hmmmmm. Demon or not a demon?
And here are the three gents of the panel -- with Mr. Milligan on the far right. Unlike everybody else, Mark and his father (and correspondingly Stuart) refused to actually stay on the stage. Instead, they were all on their feet on the floor in front of the stage and both Mark and his father frequently came right up to the people in the queue for questions to stare them down.
And it was very obvious, very quickly, that neither of the Sheppards bear fools lightly!
But at the same time, their sense of humour and joyfulness shone through. Like father, like son :D.
And as it was Father's Day, Mark pulled his father in for a big hug. Awwwww....
And finally, *the Guest* arrived -- looking all chipper and energetic.
For the first time ever (that I've seen in my many years of convention going), instead of going straight into questions, Sean Harry sat down with Matt and opened up the Q&A with a number of questions.
They talked about Matt's original career choice as a professional footballer being sidelined because of an injury and his mentor's suggestions that he consider acting.
And then the conversation skipped from subject to subject. There was a lot of discussion about Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill and it turns out that Matt and Arthur were friends pre-Doctor Who. But, all three became very close friends during the filming, not only through the experience of filming but through the experience of being on Doctor Who and becoming iconic figures in the minds of the great English public.
Here. Have some pretty. He does the profile look beautifully :D.
When they opened up the questions to the public, the first question was from a little slip of a girl. Matt asked her how old she was and she promptly replied five. They had a lovely conversation about her possibly wanting to become a companion some day. ::hearts melted in the room::.
Hello sweetie. Now that's a "come hither look". Boy ... what are you up to? Speaking of "sweeties", he spoke very fondly of Alex Kingston and her ability to flirt with "anyone" and "everyone" convincingly.
He was brilliant during the Q&A. His answers were quick and to the point, he gave us that hint of teasing when posed with spoilery questions (particularly about the new companion and villains to be seen). When asked if we'd ever see the Doctor meet up with Sherlock (perhaps on a Comic Relief sketch) he did say something along the lines of "you've got the right writer to do it!".
Hmmmm. Lovely neck. Don't you think?
And finally -- Mr. Smith -- thank you! You were utterly awesome and earned all of the cookies the internet can send your way.
I missed the Friday night events because of work but I headed up on Saturday. For various reasons, I didn't arrive until the afternoon and after dropping my luggage off, I found a table for four in the bar and waited for my friends (who were all listening to the Sheppard's talk) to join me. Once they did, we spent the balance of the afternoon/evening in the bar, having a grand old time, but calling it a reasonably early night just shy of midnight as some of our group had photoshoots with Matt at 9:15 a.m. :)
And then -- onto the main event. Matt Smith -- the obvious head liner -- was originally scheduled to appear on Saturday but had to reschedule for Sunday. Bless him though, he was a real trooper. He started the photos at 9:15, continued with them until noon by the sounds of it (and apparently he was a doll during the shoots -- happy to take up props -- hats, screwdrivers-- and utterly fabulous with the kids!, and with a devilishly gorgeous smile for everyone!), took a brief break, and then jumped into the autographs. And -- apparently everybody got an autograph -- and he was even personalizing one item per attendee. I'm impressed. Very impressed. That went above and beyond the call of duty as most of us were only expecting his signature.
Once all that was completed, he appeared on the stage at 5:00 p.m. (well, shortly thereafter) and did a brilliant Q&A showing just how much of an utter professional and gentleman he is. I've attended many, many cons over the years, and, without any reservation, I would have to say Matt Smith was simply amazing. Considering his current status as "The Doctor", the iconic character in British television at the moment -- for him to be so generous and considerate of the fans at this event was admirable. He's a true gentleman, through to the core.
On that note ...
Just, as an apology in advance, the quality of my pictures could be better. The lighting in the panel room was difficult to work with to say the least and I was in the last row of the Gold Seats -- so a ways back. The below are the best out of the lot.
And now, onto the pics and commentary! Prior to Mr. Smiths' appearances, the rest of the gang appeared on the stage. The first group to appear was the so called "Good Man Goes to War".
On that note, the first would be Catrin Stewart. A Welsh actress, she played "Jenny" in a "A Good Man Goes to War". She was very lovely and very sweet.
Along the same lines, we had Neve McIntosh who played a Silurian in two Doctor Who episodes. Also lovely and sweet, she apparently created a twitter account during the convention and, by Sunday, had more followers than Sean Harry (the convention organizer who's been on twitter for ages :)).
Then we had Simon Fisher Becker. He played Dorium Maldovar in three episodes of Doctor Who -- think "he of the blue skin". He was delightful with a wry sense of humour. When asked what superpower he'd like to have, he responded -- with the ability to make hypocrites see and speak the truth.
And finally we had the brilliant Frances Barber who played Madame Kovarian in multiple episodes of Doctor Who. She is whip smart with a razor blade sense of humour. She was a delight on the stage. When asked about what superpower she'd like to have, she quickly quipped back, "the power to strike people dumb such that they continue to blah, blah, but nobody can hear them". I *like* that power. Kudos to Frances for thinking it up!
Then we moved onto the next panel which consisted of Mark Sheppard, W. Morgan Sheppard (father to the foregoing) and Stuart Milligan (who played Nixon in Doctor Who). All three were lovely, but Mark definitely stole the show. He was queried about his various roles as villains and went on a monologue about his characters being morally ambiguous. He did make an interesting comment about Crowley though; he pointed out the fact that have we ever seen Crowley's eyes go black? The crowd thought about it and agreed the answer was nay. Hmmmmm. Demon or not a demon?
And here are the three gents of the panel -- with Mr. Milligan on the far right. Unlike everybody else, Mark and his father (and correspondingly Stuart) refused to actually stay on the stage. Instead, they were all on their feet on the floor in front of the stage and both Mark and his father frequently came right up to the people in the queue for questions to stare them down.
And it was very obvious, very quickly, that neither of the Sheppards bear fools lightly!
But at the same time, their sense of humour and joyfulness shone through. Like father, like son :D.
And as it was Father's Day, Mark pulled his father in for a big hug. Awwwww....
And finally, *the Guest* arrived -- looking all chipper and energetic.
For the first time ever (that I've seen in my many years of convention going), instead of going straight into questions, Sean Harry sat down with Matt and opened up the Q&A with a number of questions.
They talked about Matt's original career choice as a professional footballer being sidelined because of an injury and his mentor's suggestions that he consider acting.
And then the conversation skipped from subject to subject. There was a lot of discussion about Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill and it turns out that Matt and Arthur were friends pre-Doctor Who. But, all three became very close friends during the filming, not only through the experience of filming but through the experience of being on Doctor Who and becoming iconic figures in the minds of the great English public.
Here. Have some pretty. He does the profile look beautifully :D.
When they opened up the questions to the public, the first question was from a little slip of a girl. Matt asked her how old she was and she promptly replied five. They had a lovely conversation about her possibly wanting to become a companion some day. ::hearts melted in the room::.
Hello sweetie. Now that's a "come hither look". Boy ... what are you up to? Speaking of "sweeties", he spoke very fondly of Alex Kingston and her ability to flirt with "anyone" and "everyone" convincingly.
He was brilliant during the Q&A. His answers were quick and to the point, he gave us that hint of teasing when posed with spoilery questions (particularly about the new companion and villains to be seen). When asked if we'd ever see the Doctor meet up with Sherlock (perhaps on a Comic Relief sketch) he did say something along the lines of "you've got the right writer to do it!".
Hmmmm. Lovely neck. Don't you think?
And finally -- Mr. Smith -- thank you! You were utterly awesome and earned all of the cookies the internet can send your way.