Doctor Who Festival - PicturesBookmark and Share

Thursday, 19 November 2015 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC has released a large number of pictures taken at last weekend's Doctor Who Festival, held at the ExCel Centre in London.

15,000 fans attended across the weekend to an extravaganza of cast and crew panels, behind-the-scenes demonstrations, workshops, stunts, explosions, sets, monsters, props and costumes.

Paula Al-Lach, Head of Exhibitions and Events at BBC Worldwide, told Doctor Who News
We were incredibly pleased with how it went, and the feedback from fans has been overwhelmingly positive. We had over 15,000 fans attend across the weekend, and have had an overwhelming response on email of great customer feedback. The fans particularly loved the Cosplay Showcase Competition, which 600 fans took part in over the weekend.

What were the highlights? The creativity and obvious excitement from fans is always the highlight of an event like this. The fans love the Festival – 600 ticket holders took part in the Cosplay Competition and look AMAZING. It‘s always great to see how dedicated the fans are to the show and how they interact with all the content that was at the event. Many shared their love of the Festival through social media and the response has been fantastic. Other highlights include seeing visitors act with a Dalek coached by Nick Briggs and Barnaby Edwards and being directed by Director Douglas Mackinnon in a scene from Listen. Of course the emotional farewell to Jenna Coleman as she bowed out as Clara was sad but a memory that I’ll take away from the weekend.
The Festival now moves to Sydney, where it opens this weekend.





FILTER: - Festival

London Doctor Who Festival OpensBookmark and Share

Friday, 13 November 2015 - Reported by Marcus
The London Doctor Who Festival has opened at London's ExCel Centre.

The three day celebration of Doctor Who, saw fans queuing from the early hours of Friday morning for a chance to meet stars Peter Capaldi, Michelle Gomez, Ingrid Oliver, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss.

The festival follows on from the 2013 Doctor Who 50th anniversary celebration, also held at ExCel and features floor shows and presentations as well as panels with the writers and stars of the series.

Peter Capaldi told the assembled press of some of the hazards of playing the Doctor, revealing that he has had an operation on his knee to repair damage caused by the constant running down corridors. It was an injury previously suffered by Matt Smith.
I had keyhole surgery on the meniscus membrane. It got torn and it doesn't grow back so they had to snip it away to make it all fine. I was worried that it would get worse, because they couldn't do the surgery while we were filming. But I’ve become rather drawn to the cane that I had. Obviously I wanted one with a silver fox or a skull on the handle.
Capaldi denied he had agreed to direct two episodes of the HBO series Veep.
I’m not. A journalist asked what I was doing and I said I’d been asked to direct a couple of episodes of Veep but I couldn’t because of Doctor Who. But that is not what was chosen to be printed
Steven Moffat revealed that the casting for the new companion had not yet taken place.
We went to the BBC yesterday to talk about the type of person we might be looking at. To my unending terror, we have not yet finished episode 11 and episode 12 is nowhere near finished so we haven’t actually delivered the show yet.
The festival continues over the weekend where the team will be joined by Jenna Coleman.

A small number of tickets are available for Sunday. The Festival then moves to Sydney next weekend.
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FILTER: - Festival

Doctor Who Festival - UpdateBookmark and Share

Friday, 4 September 2015 - Reported by Marcus
BBC Worldwide have announced additional guests for the London Doctor Who Festival, taking place in November.

Writer and actor Mark Gatiss will be appearing on the Friday of the three day event, which takes place at London's Excel Centre, in November.

Also joining the line up is guest Nicholas Briggs, voice of the Daleks and Big Finish stalwart, as well as presentations from Real SFX LTD and Millennium FX, the companies that supply the Special Effects and Prosthetics for the series.

Events confirmed:
  • Meet the cast panel led session. Featuring the Doctor himself, Peter Capaldi and stars of the latest series, Michelle Gomez and Ingrid Oliver
  • Meet the Writers – led by Steven Moffat and featuring the Series 9 writers including Mark Gatiss on Friday only
  • Special effects supervisor Danny Hargreaves and his team at SFX reveal the tricks of their trade in a live show.
  • Millennium FX reveal their trade secrets as they show how a monster is created, from the beginning briefing stages to the creation itself
  • A display of costumes and props featured in the latest Doctor Who series
  • Experience a day in the life of a production member. Try your hand at a variety of jobs that go into producing a series for Doctor Who
  • Learn the techniques and secrets the actors use in the filming of Doctor Who
  • Show off your best Doctor Who cosplay outfits at the Doctor Who Festival Cosplay showcase.
  • Think you’re the ultimate Doctor Who fan? Test your Doctor Who knowledge in the Doctor Who Festival’s specially-themed fan challenges
The Festival runs from 13-15 November in London and from 21-22 November in Sydney.





FILTER: - Festival - Special Events

Michelle Gomez and Ingrid Oliver confirmed for DW FestivalBookmark and Share

Monday, 13 July 2015 - Reported by Marcus
BBC Worldwide has announced that Michelle Gomez and Ingrid Oliver will be joining Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat at the official Doctor Who Festival, which will take place at ExCeL, London, on the 13th, 14th and 15th November 2015. The Festival will offer fans an exclusive and interactive glimpse into how the inimitable world of Doctor Who is created.

The BBC have also confirmed that photo opportunities* will be available with Peter Capaldi, Ingrid Oliver and Michelle Gomez, plus the opportunity to have a photo taken on the set from Series 9. NB: Photos opportunities are subject to availability and will need to be purchased in advance of the Festival via the website.
In a weekend event like no other, television fans of all ages will be invited to see how one of the UK’s most-loved television programmes is created. Ticket holders will be able to discover the inspiration behind the Doctor’s recent adversaries, the imagination required to create whole new worlds and the ingenuity that goes into designing and making the beautiful backdrops that give Doctor Who its unique look. This Festival is a must-attend event for die-hard Doctor Who fans and for those who want to learn more about television production, with many, many more exciting announcements to come.
Included in the ticket price price
  • THEATRE SHOWS –see the writers and cast from the series as they talk about how to make an idea become reality on a series as big and bold as Doctor Who.
  • WARDROBE DEPARTMENT – a display of costumes and props from the series.
  • COSPLAYERS SHOWCASE - fans can showcase their impressive Doctor Who-themed outfits.
  • THE FAN CHALLENGE! –fans young and old can test their knowledge of Doctor Who.
  • DRAMA SCHOOL - the techniques and secrets that the cast learn when filming Doctor Who.
  • OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE - the official fan shopping area.
  • PRODUCTION VILLAGE – a chance for fans to understand what it takes to film a scene in Doctor Who.
  • PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES - an opportunity for fans to purchase an individual photograph with the current cast members appearing.
Further information and monthly newsletters are available from doctorwhofestival.com

As announced last week Doctor Who Festival will also be coming to Australia a week after on 21st-22nd November 2015. Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat will also be attending the Australian event.




FILTER: - Festival - Special Events