The Doctor Who Convention
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Name: | The Doctor Who Convention |
| Dates: | December 1, 1979 |
| Frequency: | |
| Location: | Los Angeles at on the top floor of the Sunset Hyatt Hotel |
| Type: | |
| Focus: | Doctor Who |
| Organization: | |
| Founder: | Lucy Chase Williams |
| Founding Date: | |
| URL: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Doctor Who Convention was the very first American Doctor Who convention.
It was held December 1, 1979 in Los Angeles.
The chair was 23-year old Lucy Chase Williams and it was sponsored by The Gallifreyan Irregulars.
There were 800 attendees, and 200 were turned away.[1]
The line for autographs filled the entire convention floor. It spilled down to the street outside and they had to continue the following day on Venice Beach.[2]
Preceded "Who 1"
This convention preceded another Doctor Who convention that took place three months later, also chaired by Lucy Chase Williams.
See Who 1.
About
The very first American Doctor Who convention was held in Los Angeles at the Sunset Hyatt hotel on Sunset Boulevard on the week-end of December 1st, 1979. At the last minute, Tom Baker and then-producer Graham Williams decided to come.
[...]
What happened was that a Los Angeles-based group of fans, led by Lucy Chase-Williams, had decided to throw a convention, and had advertised it on the local Channel 56 which used to run Doctor Who in daily episodic form. Upon seeing the ad, Jean-Marc had then contacted the group on behalf of Terrance Dicks (with whom he had been in touch, working on the first version of the Doctor Who Programme Guide), who had expressed an interest. The group was then delighted to issue an invitation to Terrance.
Subsequently, Terrance let it slip at the BBC that he was going to L.A. for a Doctor Who convention. Soon after, a strike interrupted the shooting of SHADA, and producer Graham Williams and lead actor Tom Baker found themselves free at the last minute, and they decided to come too.
The unexpected presence of Tom Baker -- at the height of his popularity in the U.S. -- Graham Williams and Terrance Dicks made this a superb Convention, one that still remains a treasured memory to any fan lucky enough to attend that day. [3]
The Program Book
Disco Recording: Mankind
One thousand copies of a disco rendition of the Doctor Who theme music was produced exclusively for this convention. [4]
References
- ^ from "Dr. who? Dr. Who - that's who!", article in the Lost Angeles Herald Examiner, by Sam Frank, March 9, 1980
- ^ from Mankind (band) on Wikipedia
- ^ from MY DOCTOR WHO COLLECTION - ITEMS No. 2 & 3 ; archive link
- ^ from Mankind (band) on Wikipedia