Yes, it’s the moment you’ve been waiting for – my report from Big Finish Day 5 last Satuday!
What do you mean you’ve not been waiting for it? Nonsense. I know you’ve been checking the blog every five minutes.
After a morning of greeting old friends and sneaking cups of coffee when no-one was looking, it was time for my first panel. And what a first panel it was. I had the great honour of interviewing William Russell, Maureen O’Brien and Peter Purves (also known as the First Doctor’s companions Ian, Vicki and Steven respectively). We talked about their views of 21st Century Doctor Who, memories of working with William Hartnell, how fandom has changed over the years, plus, of course, returning to their roles in Big Finish’s Early Adventures line.
Next up, after some signing and (and more coffee), it was time for panel number two. I took to the stage with John Ainsworth, Trevor Littledale and Ian Brooker of the Pathfinder Legends range (which I write for) and Simon Clark, the author of Night of the Triffids (which I don’t, but can’t wait to hear). As well as discussing adapting the Pathfinder game paths for audio and getting chucked out of my D&D club at school, I was fascinated to hear author Simon Clark discussing adapting his Triffids novel for audio – and the challenges of having not-so-silent plants as the antagonists. Thanks to Scott Handcock for asking the questions.
With five minutes to spare, I went for a wander and found a room hidden away with a lot of familiar costumes from a certain BBC TV show.
Just who would wear togs like this?
Or a frock like this?
After some more signing (and not singing as I originally typed there, which as I’ve admitted elsewhere online isn’t one of my talents) it was back on stage for my third panel of the day. It’s not every day that you find yourself crammed into the TARDIS with a load of giggling guests. No wonder we stopped for a quick selfie (and got told off for being a noisy TARDIS by interviewer Nick Briggs!)
It’s fair to say that the following panel was a little chaotic, but in a good way. We discussed our various Big Finish projects (the upcoming Dark Shadows weekly soap opera, Vienna series 2 and Terrahawks (yes! Terrahawks!). However the conversation swerved into often surreal directions, taking in the Beano (I wonder who mentioned that), Scooby Doo‘s origins and pun-toting cyborgs.
Soon it was time to head back to Bristol, already looking forward to the next Big Finish day. A great big thank you to everyone who made it such a good day – the Big Finish team, the fans and the person who made the coffee!
And there’s loads more photos to check out too! Head over to the Big Finish Facebook page to see them all.
Cavan,
Well I was waiting for the report – I couldn’t get to Slough in the end (last minute problems) and followed the day on twitter. I’d hope to catch up with lots of people – January will have to suffice for Big Finish Day 6!
I read about your D&D confession – I have to say I will look at you in a new light from here on in!
Thanks for the report!