Shirt...

...Is Very Camp in Wales !!

Day Two – Saturday

Grabbing some breakfast from the supermarket, Shirt queued to get into the main stage area for the first event of Day Two – a Q&A with Toby Whithouse, about Series 4 of “Being Human”, which was due to begin the next day. Clips that Toby believed to be ‘spoiler-free’ turned out to be just the opposite, with the first revealing the death of a major character, to many shocked cries from the assembled throng.

Between panels, Shirt popped into the merchandise area where he got Paul Finch to sign his “Hexagora” CD sleeve, picked up a photograph of Hattie Hayridge as Holly, and ‘gave in’ and bought a embossed metal bookmark of the Sixth Doctor. Returning to the main stage, he stood to one side for a panel featuring Eve Myles, whose story about what John Barrowman did to her with his “little Barrowman” on the Brecon Beacons, getting almost as much shocked reaction from the hall as the revelation of the death of [spoiler removed].

Shirt then moved into the signing area, joining a queue for ‘The Two Hollies’ – Norman Lovett & Hattie Hayridge. This queue moved slowly, but not as slowly as a queue at the far side of the hall for Brian Blessed. Next door on the main stage, Colin Baker was in full flow, being piped into the signing room on speakers. Finally Shirt reached the front and got his “Red Dwarf – Series 2” DVD cover signed and the photograph of Hattie purchased earlier. He then posed for a photo taken by FXS staff, which was taken very quickly.

Moving across the room, Shirt joined the queue for Eve Myles, which again moved quite slowly, until eventually Shirt was getting his “Torchwood: Miracle Day” DVD boxset signed. The queues for both Brian Blessed and also Colin Baker who was now signing, were far too long for Shirt, and so stowing his items in his bag, Shirt rushed to the screening zone, arriving just in time for the showing of “Red Dwarf” episode “Parallel Universe”, followed by a Q&A with Norman and Hattie. Rushing back to the main stage, Shirt caught the tail-end of the booming Brian Blessed panel. There was then a great exodus to join the already long queue waiting for Brian (and also for Colin) in the signing area, but Shirt took the opportunity to have some lunch, and go to the Naughty Asteroid stall to get Paul Cornell to sign his ‘Series 3’ poster and “The Mark of Mandragora” graphic novel. He then took a seat in the main stage area for the rest of the afternoon’s panels.

First up was a discussion about maps in fantasy books with six fantasy novelists, which Shirt found only slightly interested. But next was the session that he had got there early for – stand-up from Holly1 and Holly2. Hattie was first with good observational material, including comparing the icy slopes of the footbridge at Prestatyn Station and her chalet accommodation to a winter sports holiday, before describing the camp as a ‘council estate’. Norman was slightly more random, and seemed to be ‘coasting’ on his involvement in “Red Dwarf” meaning that fans would enjoy his performance of shaking out empty plastic bags.

A final look at the still gigantic queues for Colin and Brian, and Shirt returned to his chalet. A few more excerpts from classic movies, interspersed with early Saturday-evening television, and Shirt was ready for the evening’s entertainment. Having stopped for dinner at the canteen, he made his way to queue to get back into the main stage area for the FXS Sci-Fi Awards. Finally being let into the auditorium, Shirt found a seat high on the gantry at the back of the hall. After about half-an-hour, the Awards began with dancing robots and girls on stilts. The MC was legendary sci-fi novelist, Robert Rankin, ably assisted by his (much) younger wife.

A pattern then emerged, almost none of the winners had attended to pick up their awards, sending videos instead. That said, Neil Gaiman’s video-acceptance for winning was superb, and Shirt was amused by Stephen Mangan’s apology for not being there which was filmed on Friday at Euston Station where his train had been cancelled. Even Brian Blessed had had to go early, and so was not present to pick up his award. However, Phil Ford and the lovely Anjli Mohindra were on hand to pick up an award for “The Sarah Jane Adventures”, Toby Whithouse for ‘Series 6’ of “Doctor Who”, and Brian Aldiss for his Special Award. The ceremony ended with a ukele-version of “Perfect Day” by Mrs. Robert Rankin.

Shirt then attempted to hurry to a screening of “Once More With Feeling”, but in doing so, slipped down the stairs, jarring his arm again, as he grabbed onto the bannister to stop his fall. Therefore, another night was lost, as he quickly returned to his chalet to rest it, missing the screening, and the ‘Maskerade Ball’ featuring Craig Charles’ ‘Funk and Soul Show’ in the main stage area, instead having to settle for another early night.

Day Three – Sunday

Sunday had dawned, and Shirt needed to be off-site by 12pm. Due to an oversight and believing that there would be sessions on Sunday also, his return journey was booked for 5.30pm. Due to planned engineering work, there would be no trains from Prestatyn Station, instead a replacement bus service from the station to Chester station. Shirt made the decision that due to his problems on the way up (which were allegedly all fixed), and the fact that there had been snow-fall on the route he needed over the past couple of days, he needed to amend his ticket and get an earlier train. The cost of this would probably be covered by the promised refund of his fare on the way up due to his delay being over two hours.

Leaving the site at about 10.30am, Shirt made his way to Prestatyn Station to catch the half-hourly bus. Unsurprisingly there was already a long queue outside the station of fellow Weekender attendees. As he arrived, a coach pulled in, but was soon full with sci-fi/fantasy fans. Shirt did a quick calculation, and decided it would be close whether he got on the next one. Half-an-hour later, Shirt was less than confident, as the queue moved forward. Stowing his case underneath the coach, he stepped onto the coach to find three empty seats. Squashing himself into one, he settled back as the coach went a circulatory route to Chester Station, stopping at several other stations to tell people that had already failed to get on the previous two coaches that there was no space on this one either.

‘It seems no-one told the train company about the Weekender’, mused Shirt, feeling that the waiting passengers would never find a coach with space for them, given the number of people queuing at Prestatyn.

At Chester Station, Shirt managed to amend his ticket, following various charges, and was soon swiftly wending his way home, musing on the weekend’s events, whilst listening to “The Curse of Davros”.

[PL]

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