Collectormania 2012: An Overview

This article can also be found on Step2TV.

For people across the nation, last weekend marked the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, but for me and many others it also marked the 18th annual Collectormania. Held at Milton Keynes stadium, the event saw hordes of collectors, fans and convention-goers flock for the opportunity to meet some big names in the film and TV industry. Armed with a dictaphone, press pass and sonic screwdriver, I too made my pilgrimage to Milton Keynes to try and catch a few words with some of the celebrity guests.

Still somewhat of a convention newbie, having attended my first two events only last year, I naively thought I knew what I was in for; I did not. The main thing about Collectormania is that entry is completely free for everyone and as such it gets a lot more passing trade. The stadium was absolutely packed when I arrived on the Saturday at 11am, comprised of hard-core fans and inquisitive casual visitors alike. It was the proverbial sardines in a can situation, with Daleks patrolling the halls seemingly as a kind of crowd control, but probably also part of some insidious plan to exterminate Tom Baker/Peter Davison/Colin Baker/Sylvester McCoy/Paul McGann (delete as applicable).

Along with friend and colleague Josh Harris and a handful of his mates (Michael, Leon and James), we formed a ragtag press party and ventured into the bizarre world of the convention. First port of call (simply because it was the closest) was the bar, which was shockingly lacking in single malt scotch, and from there we began our circuit of the stadium. We made several attempts to try and get an interview with Brian Blessed, so that he may regale us with tales of his adventures in that glorious voice of his, but alas his queue was so long it may as well have been measured in miles. We kept trying throughout the day, but the queue never really diminished. This was the case with a good many of the guests (particularly the likes of Jason Mamoa, Karen Gillan and Tom Baker) with both they and their agents wanting to try and make time for each visitor.

As is often the case with these events, we decided that attempting to chat to people would be best left until towards the end of the day when there was less of a swarm – provided the guests didn't go for an early dinner. In the mean time, we made our way to the conference room, where a number of talks were being held throughout the course of the day. As luck would have it, we were in time for the session with Karen Gillan. The first ten minutes or so comprised of Gillan answering questions, only to be continuously interrupted by an announcement informing the owner of a blue fiat that their car was about to be towed, but after a while the Doctor Who star was eventually able to get more than five words out before the announcement blared out yet again. Whether the owner of the offending vehicle ever moved it is a complete mystery...

When asked about her favourite moment working on Doctor Who, Gillan said, “it may well have been my final moment as this character, which you haven’t seen yet so that’s not interesting yet... But of what you have seen, it’s either being in the Pandorica and getting to say ‘ok kid, this is where it gets complicated’, that just felt really cool! Also, in the Eleventh Hour, running around Matt, all those scenes were quite fun.” As the next series of Doctor Who will sadly be Gillan’s last, she also spoke briefly about her dream jobs outside of Who and, if they were still in production, she would have loved to have been a part of Star Trek: Voyager or Star Trek: The Next Generation – especially if it meant she could wear a prosthetic horn. Evidently a woman after my own heart, although personally I'm more partial to Vulcan ears!

Gillan's talk was immediately followed by a Q&A with John Barrowman. Fantastically funny and frank, Barrowman was engagingly informal and personable, making it feel more like a casual chat than a Q&A. Unfortunately, Barrowman was unable to comment about a second series of Torchwood: Miracle Day, nor did he wish to talk about his upcoming projects for fear of jinxing things, but he was more than willing to share skincare tips (incidentally, his men’s skincare range HIM is available through QVC) and his coping mechanism to overcome his fear of flying. “The pilots who are flying the plane want to get home safely, so... For me, it’s a control thing. I’m a control freak. My biggest worry before getting on a plane is ‘what has that pilot been up doing all night?’ … Is he going to be really angry and want to crash the plane?!”

Afterwards was scheduled to be a Q&A with the five actors at the event who had played the role of the Doctor during the classic series of Doctor Who. However, the door opened and only Tom Baker walked in, so we listened to his majestic voice for a few minutes. Suddenly, the door at the back swung open, and in walked Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann. “Are you related to Colin Baker?!” boomed Colin Baker, as a way of announcing their entrance, with McCoy explaining how they'd been stood outside waiting to be shown in, unaware that Baker had started without them.

And thus ensued the most surreal 45 minutes of my life, as the five Doctors crossed their own timelines and risked causing a reality-rendering paradox to take the stage. It very quickly turned from them answering questions to a discussion amongst themselves about the show, the BBC, life, the Universe, and everything. From anecdotes of Tom Baker's days as an altar boy and Sylvester McCoy asking why his incarnation wore a jumper covered with question marks, to Peter Davison's celery stick, and how all five of the actors have also worked on the Big Finish audio productions of Doctor Who; it was a very extensive chat indeed!

Inevitably, the infamous Tom Baker stole the stage with his overwhelming presence and delightful madness! One of the main things that strikes you about these guys is that in person they are incredibly similar to their portrayal of the Doctor, which is an absolute pleasure to watch – especially when the five collide like there's been some bizarre temporal anomaly.

After the talks concluded, we hit the main convention again to try our luck for a couple of one-to-ones with the guests; and we were in luck! Josh talked at length with Finn Jones about Game of Thrones, whilst I stood by boggling intelligibly – unfortunately being a Freeview-er I haven’t seen the show, and have yet to read the books – and Josh concluded the interview with one of his patented hugs, lifting Jones to the Josh-like height of seven foot.

We then decided to try and catch a few words with the five Doctors – I had bumped into Paul McGann by the urinals in the men's toilets beforehand, but felt it was probably the wrong place to try and spark up conversation... I at least waited until he'd done his flies up before I introduced myself! We elected to take a more conventional approach for the others, and made our way to the booth with Sylvester McCoy and Peter Davison.

“Oh no, not you again,” said Sylvester McCoy jovially as I approached. Having spoken with him briefly about his role in The Hobbit at London Film and Comic Con last year, he hadn't been particularly forthcoming due to the secretive nature surrounding the production, so I hoped that as we were nearer the release date he may be able to reveal more. Unfortunately, he could not. “I can't even tell you the colour of my costume,” McCoy jested. As he's featuring in the film as Radagast the Brown, I think I can hazard a guess...

This was followed by a brief chat with Peter Davison, who spoke about his familial relationship with David Tennant, and how even before Tennant started seeing his daughter (Georgia Moffett) Davison's grandson ranked David Tennant as his favourite Doctor. “Well ok, who's your second favourite Doctor?” Davison had asked his grandson pryingly. After a moment of consideration, his grandson replied, “Tom Baker.” Apparently Davison’s rank on his grandson’s Doctor-o-meter fluctuates depending on whether he’s been particularly generous with pocket money that week or not!

We also managed to catch a few words with Christina Chong, attending her first large-scale convention and finding it quite an eye-opening experience! Chong featured as Lorna Bucket in the mid-series finale of the last series of Doctor Who, A Good Man Goes To War. Whilst Chong’s character was primarily used as the catalyst that in an inadvertent manner reveals the identity of River Song, there were numerous allusions to the fact that Lorna had met the Doctor a while ago in the Gamma Forests, but it was yet to happen in his personal timeline. I thought that this background, and her implication on the episode’s narrative, made Lorna Bucket more than the usual supporting character with the potential for future (past, present, really depends on your outlook!) adventures. Alas, Chong said that she has yet to be invited back to do more work on Who, so it seems unlikely we’ll be seeing more of Lorna any time soon. Mister Moffat, if you’re reading this, please consider expanding the story of Lorna Bucket; there’s a tale to be told about the Gamma Forests, and Christina Chong would make a fantastic companion! She may have died at the end of A Good Man Goes To War, but with a time machine, death is seldom an issue and very rarely permanent.

I’m not really sure what to say now; I think I’ve already rambled on for far too long, so I’ll leave it at this. It was a complete pleasure to have the opportunity to chat with some truly iconic actors from equally iconic series and films. My only regrets are that we were unable to talk with Brian Blessed about his adventures, and that I didn’t ask Christina Chong out for a drink...