Dufus & Shirt...

...An Adventure in Space and Crime.

The previous year’s EM-Con had been overshadowed by Dufus’ hospitalisation meaning that he could not attend with Shirt. However, the announcement of guests including the star of ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’, David Bradley, two-thirds of the Paternoster Gang, and a selection of Classic Who villains meant that tickets were quickly booked for the 2016 event.

Dufus and Shirt met at Nottingham Station and made their way to the Arena, which Shirt managed to find with a minimum of wrong turns. Again there were multiple queues, so they picked one, waiting for about fifteen minutes until the doors opened. Once inside, Shirt desperately attempted to find a door that they could use to get down to the arena floor, but they ended up having to walk the entire length of one side of the arena to get to steps down, passing the Villains who seemed to have a signing area of their own.

Once on the floor, they scouted around to see where everyone was signing, and began by queuing for Madame Vastra herself, Neve McIntosh.

Only Dufus wanted a signed photo and a photo with her (Shirt having got one on a previous occasion).

Neve appeared to be in a playful mood as she pulled various silly faces whilst having her photo taken with Dufus.

Sidestepping, they joined a queue for Mrs. Madame Vastra, Catrin Stewart, who was taking no chances in a draughty hall, wearing a fur coat.

Photo signed, and Shirt struggled to take a photo of the two of them where the light didn’t make Dufus look blurry.

Moving on, next was Shaun Parkes (Captain Zachary Cross Flane in ‘The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit’), who signed Shirt’s ‘Series 2’ poster.

Dufus then attempted to take a non-blurry photo of Shaun with Shirt, before realising that someone (mentioning no names) had left a fingerprint on the lens when holding the camera earlier ready to take the Paternoster Gang photos. This cleaned off, and Dufus finally managed to take a slighty surprised photo of Shirt with the ever patient Mr. Parkes.

Next up were the Doctor Who villains, with both meeting Gabriel Woolf (Shirt getting the ‘The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield - Vol 2: The Triumph of Sutekh’ boxset signed, and Dufus a photo), then posing for a photo with him and his action figure.

Next up were Peter Miles and Stephen Thorne, who again only Dufus met (despite Stephen being one of the Merrison Lestrades).

Moving back to the main arena, they joined a queue for David Bradley, which moved slowly, but eventually they were there with both getting their ’AAISAT’ DVD covers signed (Shirt having a complete set, having previously met Jamie Glover, Claudia Grant & Jemma Powell), with Dufus also buying a print of David in costume as the ‘First Doctor’, which proclaimed him as ‘The Doctor’.

They then spent some time looking at various starship models and fan-made Daleks in an adjacent hall, before browsing the stalls in both the main arena, and in the corridor around the arena.

It being lunchtime, and raining heavily, they both partook in a meal deal featuring the largest cup of soft-drink in the known universe, struggling to find somewhere to stand and consume them. Both ended up having to throw the cup away not empty, as to drink any more would have caused them to burst.

The rain having gone off, they moved outside to look at the car display, then made for the Nottingham branch of Naughty Asteroid International. A few small things finally bought, they briefly returned to the Arena for a final look at the stalls, with both purchasing ‘Sherlock’ themed posters from ‘The Zero Room’, before making their way back to the Station, where Dufus’ train was first. Having waved him off, Shirt changed platforms and sitting on his train home waiting for it to start, he mused on an experience that was at least twice as enjoyable as the previous year’s.

[PL]