Galaxy Con (Doctor Who con)
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| Name: | Galaxy Con |
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| Location: | Glasgow, Scotland |
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| Focus: | Doctor Who |
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Galaxy Con is the first Doctor Who con in Scotland.
The first Galaxy Con was a two-day convention held 26-27 May 1990 at the Eastwood Recreation Center in Glasgow, Scotland. There were roughly 150 fans in attendance.
Con Report: 1990
Before I gush with my usual superlatives I'd have to say, that in all honesty, the convention was not especially well organised. When I first contacted the organiser in early April, I was told that the guests would include the ever-popular Nicola Bryant, the ever-courageous JNT and Doctor Solon himself, Philip Madoc. (I was surprised to hear that an actor as established and prolific as Mr Madoc was interested in a Doctor Who convention but apparently he'd been waiting to be asked for years!)
As it happened, various other commitments prevented these people from appearing. That's fine - everyone knows that these things happen, but I felt that it would have been good to announce the change at the beginning of the convention. Most attendees were left to ascertain for themselves from various rumours, which publicized guests would be there or not. Having said this, the guests who did appear gave no-one any cause to complain. And Who did appear? Well, yes he did, and others (including one particularly distinguished actor whose presence, as far as I'm concerned, made this convention the first of its kind anywhere).
First - just one small moan - any itinerary would have been nice. The friendly informality of the convention was one of the best aspects, but when the presenters didn't seem to know what was happening next, the novelty wore thin. There must have been an awful lot of fans in the audience, sitting with their legs crossed, afraid to leave the auditorium to relieve their bladders in case they missed anything important, having no way of knowing when things were supposed to be happening. On the other hand, perhaps this complaint is just sour grapes from me, because my artwork was supposed to be on the front cover of the itinerary, but there wasn't one.
This aside, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable two days. The infamous Nick Briggs of Mythmakers fame held everything together (as much as possible), keeping the audience and guests thoroughly entertained. His interview skills were also put to good use.
No one could dispute that another Nick, also present, more than deserves all the acclaim his portrayal of the Brigadier has drawn. But I found that Nicholas Courtney's caring and dedicated attitude towards fans is surely as great a reason to salute him (pun intended) as a main factor in the popularity of Doctor Who. He endured not just one but two grueling autograph sessions, smiling and finding time to speak to everyone. Going beyond the call of duty, he then spent a further hour posing for photos with fans, smile never wavering. Nick's `panel' was a perfect blend of earnestness and humour, and he gained many rounds of applause for his replies to questions. Especially, when a member of the audience asked him how he felt about the Brigadier's job being taken over by a woman. [See the rest of this report by Alistair Hughes at NZDWFC: Special #1: Event Report: Galaxy Con, Archived version] [1]