Shirt...

...Gets The (PC) Boot

After all his travels the previous day, Shirt slept in a little later than intended, before making his way to his second event of the weekend. However, his first point of call was Naughty Asteroid, who had had a signing of the DW Free Comic the previous day, hoping that they may have some left that he could give to Chalky and Dufus. In fact, there were piles and piles of both the regular cover, and the NA exclusive cover drawn by actress (and new Seventh Doctor audio companion) Jessica Martin, with a sign saying “Please take as many as you want”. Shirt therefore picked up the limited edition copy for the three of them, and regular copies for Chalky, Dufus and Mavic Chen.

It was then a fifteen minute walk to the venue for ‘London Film Fair’, a large hotel near to Russell Square. Paying for entry, Shirt found that the signings were taking place in three interlinked rooms. Having identified who was signing where, Shirt decided to start with Jenny Hanley, whose role in the three-hour version of ‘The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes’ had been entirely cut from the released two hour version, with the excised footage being destroyed (a la Sixties ‘Doctor Who’). However, photographs taken on set still remain, and Shirt managed to print a blurry version of one of these to be signed by Jenny, who was delighted that this lost role was remembered.

“Where did you find the photo ?”, Jenny asked Shirt, who informed her that the American DVD release and the more recent UK Blu-Ray featured reconstructions of the lost scenes, using script pages and photographs for Jenny’s sequence. [Some sequences exist as film without sound, some sound only, and some only through photos or scripts]. Jenny expressed an intention to seek out the DVD, signing the photo and then posing for a photo with Shirt.

The next two guests that Shirt wanted – Trevor Laird and Ray Burdis – were talking together at the latter’s table, so he browsed some of the stalls, returning to find Ray on his own. However, it was not for any of the multiple credits listed on the event website that Shirt wanted to meet him. One of Mr. Burdis’ first roles was in the first two episodes of Shirt’s beloved ‘The Baker Street Boys', as a Police Officer, PC Boot. Having to screen-capture an off-air recording uploaded to YouTube to get a photo of Ray as PC Boot, the resulting photo was of a reasonably poor quality, but Ray signed it happily, identifying the production.

“This is the second ‘Baker Street Boys’ thing I’ve signed today”, he said to Shirt’s surprise.

“Is that the one with my mate, Jay Simpson in ?”, asked the guest at the next table, Perry Benson (star of ‘Benidorm’, ‘You Rang M’Lord ?’, and ‘The Eleventh Hour’). [Indeed, Jay Simpson does appear as the Irregulars’ leader, Wiggins].

He then posed for the obligatory photo with Shirt.

Returning to the adjoining room, Shirt found that Trevor Laird was still away from his table. However, passing the table for Simon Williams whom he had met several times before, Shirt saw an image that looked familiar.

“What’s that photo from ?”, asked Shirt, pointing at an image of Simon in top-hat and frock coat.

“Sherlock Holmes”, replied Mr. Williams, confirming that it was indeed from Granada’s ‘The Eligible Bachelor’ (based on the short story, ‘The Noble Bachelor’).

Unsurprisingly, within two minutes Shirt had paid for and got said photo signed by Simon, who complained about the silver pen that he had been given.

Trevor Laird was now back at his table, and so Shirt went over, paying for two items. [Trevor is part of the small group of actors that have been in both classic and NuWho]. First up was Shirt’s ‘Mindwarp’ cover, then a photo of Martha and her family that he had previously got signed by Adjoa Andoh.

Tapping the signature, Trevor commented, “Adjoa was one of my favourite screen wives”, before adding his own signature.

Photo taken, and Shirt wandered around the stalls finding nothing that he wanted to buy.

Shirt found himself in dire need of ‘the facilities’ and having finally found them, found that he needed to wait for a cubicle to become free. Whilst he was waiting, Hugh ‘Captain Hastings’ Fraser came in, queueing up behind Shirt. [Phil Daniels also came in, but left swiftly]. Having finally got a cubicle, Shirt wondered whether he should have let ‘the celebrity’ queue-jump. Having washed his hands at the next basin to Hugh, Shirt made his way out of the venue, and back home via Notting Hill, where the majority of the second-hand stores seemed to be closed, despite stating on their doors that they were open 7 days per week. As he made his way home, Shirt mused on a very successful weekend – comprising a total of five Sherlockian co-stars, and one multiple DW guest-star.

[PL]