Grafty

I was mostly coming to see Sylvester McCoy today, but he changed days (filming I think?) so I had to scramble a bit. Fortunately I had a good, pretty full day! I met Andrew Cartmel who invited me to come take a seat and have a chat. He was happy to sign a novel he wrote in the 90s and a DVD of his last Doctor Who story as Script Editor so long as I purchased something, which is fair enough. Had a lovely chat with him about his book Script Doctor, then bought his Rivers Of London graphic novel. He was happy to take lots of photos; it ended up looking like a flick-book. I intended to meet Ben Aaronovitch but my own fault, I must have misread the site - he was only here Friday. Whoops. I met Nicola Bryant for an autograph and again, she as happy to take a photo. I had actually booked one with her later, but it seemed a silly thing to pass up. She asked for a donation to a dog charity, happy to oblige. She was lovely; I was a bit concerned about a wrist brace she had on, she said she was fine, just trying to keep her hand healthy. I guess autographs take it out of you! Had my proper photo with her not long after. I met Julian Glover who was really nice, I gave a him a Doctor Who DVD to sign and he wrote his character's name on it, so I'm guessing this was a memorable one for him. He didn't object to photos with other guests but I didn't think to ask; my friend snapped us together though, so result. Finally had a photo with Robert Picardo which turned out great. Outside of meetings I had a nice chat with Paul Butcher, bought some art off him (he did a print of Yoda being attacked by seagulls - you might be familiar with the Bad Lip Sync song that's referring to, Paul agreed it's super catchy), picked up some bookmarks and a couple of iZombie and Harry Potter items as gifts. I'm utterly exhausted but I had fun. Sylvester, I will meet you. :P PS: There was a "pose as Elliot from E.T." thing for £2 which my friends and I did, well worth it. A nice, inexpensive bonus.

Sorry, ignoramus alert - what is YALC?

Speaking of, can anyone confirm if Andrew Cartmel is there this year? He’s on the Facebook page but not the Showmasters site?

Sorry, yes, I booked Sunday so that’s a bit ruined now. Originally booked a photo with him and Sophie Aldred but she moved days too. I wouldn’t mind meeting Robert Picardo so that’s something. I’m sure he’s lovely, it’s just a pain that this has happened again. Glad other people can still meet him. Try my luck again next year I guess. Probably purchasing closer to the date...

Two years in a row - I was going specifically to see him this time. Very annoying.