The dog did not bark last night. I guess I slept better. But I still need a nice sleep in, which I won't be getting until next Sunday. ::groan:: That's the worst thing about WHOlanta not being on Memorial Day weekend: we don't get tomorrow to sleep in.

So this morning was the same as yesterday: get ready, get set, drive, and then have breakfast at the hotel buffet. No French toast and no breakfast company this morning, and we didn't have to rush because neither of us had a ten o'clock panel we had to go to. I decided to skip Disney live-action because it was probably all about the new stuff. I'm still not interested in Beauty and the Beast and would prefer to talk about the classic stuff that no one remembers anymore.

Instead after breakfast we registered for next year, then took another turn around the dealer's room, and checked out all the vendors and writer's tables outside. Still not seeing anything that's floating my boat. James bought books and I didn't! All I was doing was seeing cute Who themed charms and thinking "Where can I get those so I can make my own stuff?"

Our first panel was "Ask a British Person." This was a hilarious panel! I asked about Marmite; not what it is, but why they would eat it! We talked a lot about what the British think about Americans (and other members of the EU) and the most annoying thing they are asked as a British person, and of course about Brexit. Oddly, not a lot of Britishisms were mentioned, even when the biscuits (in the British sense) were passed around. The digestives with dark chocolate coating were quite yummy.

James went off to the Star Trek panel and I attended "The Women of Doctor Who" with Nicola Bryant and Camille Couduri, who spent a lot of time egging each other on. (Caran came to sit next to me; goodness it was cold in that room!) They talked about their first experience watching the series, and Nicola recounted a long story about how she got the part of Peri, by basically auditioning with an American accent because they were only looking for an American for the part. Her agent said "We will tell them if you get the part." Then he said, "Well, you got the part, but we'll tell them after you sign the contract." And then she was set to be interviewed on a BBC breakfast show about being chosen. "Now we tell them?" They never did. She said she married two Americans and has lived in America, so she hoped it counted. Camille seems really sweet. I think she has a picture in her closet! Anyway, as the panel was ending, Nicola was recounting all the terrible things that had happened to Peri—with Camille commiserating—and then declared boldly "But I survived!" in a super-loud voice just as Colin Baker walked in the door, whereupon he turned on his heel and fled!

Colin's "Greatest Hits" panel was next. Alan was supposed to show some clips of his different roles and ask Colin about them, but he'd forgotten to load them on his laptop. So they just talked about the roles instead: his first role with Helen Mirren, in which they were supposed to be making love; he asked for a flesh colored undie, but she walked in stark naked and began talking to the crew unconcernedly, while they all studiously stared at her eyes and nothing else. He also talked about his role in The Brothers, which got him voted "The Most Hated Man in England." They got off the topic a bit, talking about Big Finish, so when they asked for questions, my hand shot up and I asked about his role on Blake's 7. Colin said that was a fun role because he was so bombastic and he thought Paul Darrow got his nose out of joint because Bayban was badder than he was. 😁

Next to warm up a bit in the Gallifrey room with a panel that's been promoted all weekend with funny posters (Peter Davison, dressed as the Doctor, with the legend "Wanted for impersonation of a veterinarian"; Peter Capaldi for having "attack eyebrows," the Valeyard for practicing law without a license, etc.), a discussion about the Time Lords and what was it about them that spawned so many nonconformists (and evil ones at that, except for the Doctor and Susan, like the Valeyard and the Master and the Rani and the Meddling Monk). Basically it boiled down to hubris and restrictiveness.

Said goodbye to Maggi and Clay here, as they were going to lunch and then heading back home to Warner Robins, and then it was a quick skip to the "British Pub" room for "British Myths and Legends," mostly talking about King Arthur, with a quick skim at Robin Hood. A lot of the conversation revolved about how the myths change to reflect what we want them to say (the French throwing all the courtly love in with Lancelot and Guinevere, for instance, when the "real" Arthur would have lived in AD 500, not AD 1500 as portrayed in the films) and how even real people become mythological (Kennedy and the "Camelot" legend, the adoration of Princess Diana, etc.). Lee Martindale talked a little about the background of the Arthur legend, but I missed that because I stepped in late; it was mostly Welsh. We talked briefly about our favorite Arthur book and movie and also a little about our favorite Robin Hood.

I had a choice here: Doctor Who or Sherlock. Since I went to 221B, I chose the former. This was a discussion about who might play the next Doctor. The usual suspects were discussed, the bookies' favorite Kris Marshall, of course, and a few other suggestions (I'd still love Sean Pertwee, or since they've proven the Doctor can pick his face, can't we have McGann back?), and then if they would cast a woman at this time, and who you would want. Olivia Coleman seemed to lead the pack here, but definitely not a pop tart type woman, someone older. And would she get a male companion? We also discussed some good companion ideas. They were running a slide show above the panelists' heads the whole weekend with Who/Sarah Jane Adventure photos, and when Rani and Clyde popped up, I thought, well, how about Rani? She's old enough now. And someone did suggest that at the end of the panel.

And then it was time for the very last proper panel, "The Great Big Doctor Who panel," with Colin, Nicola, Camille, Jamie Mathieson (Who scriptwriter and author of one of my favorite Capaldi episodes, "Flatline"), and Louis Robinson. Alan asked them all sorts of funny things, like to sing the song of their favorite television series when they were a kid (Colin sang the Robin Hood song, and at the end all five sang the jingle to Muffin the Mule with Louis). The actors were asked about their first acting role, so we got to hear the naked Helen Mirren story again, and Nicola said hers was appearing on the BBC breakfast show as an American! Camille's first role was at 21, and she played a prostitute in a movie (A Prayer for the Dying) that had quite a stellar cast, including Mickey Rourke, Bob Hoskins, and Alan Bates. At the end they thanked us and gave the con committee a standing ovation. Colin said he would love to come back again.

It was a good thing we had such a good laugh, because the closing ceremonies were a welter of sadness and congratulations for jobs well done. Everyone was thanked, from guests to staff, and prizes were given out (Moxie drew the numbers, of course, and also did the last of her "Moxie Minutes" from the con on Facebook Live) and then the tech support was motioning to Alan and it was time for a last bathroom break and on to home. I used my Tin Drum app to order dinner for us (James was not impressed with the orange chicken, sorry to say) and we came home, changed, and watched Call the Midwife and Thursday's MasterChef, which we'd forgotten about in con preparations. We still have to watch Big Bang Theory, though.

Oh, and Fox5 Atlanta had a 30-second report from the convention. Looks like they filmed around the time Ken and Audrey Spivey were performing.

Labels: conventions, food, friends, television

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