A I type I keep glancing up at the window to make sure the land hasn’t been covered in a sheet of white. Storm Ciara has hit the UK and it’s a bit, uh, blustery out. And cold. And sleety. And snowy. I’m off to Glasgow later today, where I’m flying from tomorrow, but there’s been a landslide on the trainline. So I’m taking a bus, whose usual pick-up point has been flooded by the River Dee bursting its banks and flooding the road. I’m ninety percent sure of where I’m supposed to go instead.
So all’s well there. Not stressed. Everything will be fine.
More cheeringly, once past this weather, Gallifrey One awaits! Tis only the best of all Doctor Who conventions! An amazing weekend of fannishness and friends that I look forward to every year. and as well as trying to squeeze in as many panels and interviews as I can without collapsing, I’m taking part in a couple of panels. My schedule is over here at the handy schdule page where you can plan your days (v handy!), and also there’s a wee bit of chat about it below:
Friday, Feb 14th, 1.00pm, Verity in Defence Of
This is the Verity! podcast panel where we play our delightful Just a Minute/fannish joy and/our outlandish fibs game. Audience members (don’t worry, you have to volunteer, we don’t just grab you out of your seats!) have 60 seconds to defend a character, monster, or some aspect of Doctor Who that is far from universally admired. Commit to genuine positivity! Come at it from a weird angle! Make stuff up! It’s always tons of fun, and we hope you’ll come and join in!
Saturday, Feb 15th, 2.00pm, A Salute to Terrance Dicks
I’m honoured ot be on this panel with some amazing people to talk about the great Terrance Dicks who sadly passed away last year. I know his Target novels were a hugely important influence on so many fans, but for me it was his era of Doctor Who that had the biggest impact. Given how he thought of himself he might have been surpirsed at just how important a formative influence his telly work was on my feminism.
Saturday, Feb 15th, 6.00pm, Ready, Steady, Flash
I don’t mind admitting I’m a little nervous about this panel. Hosted by Paul Cornell, this is a game show where four writers have 5 minutes to write a piece of flash fiction based on a story suggestion title. I’m hoping my many years of writing fan fiction will serve me well here. And I’m fighting some heavy imposter syndrome given that my fellow panelists are Jody Houser, Joy Wilkinson, and Vinay Patel (!!).
Sunday, February 16th, 12.00pm, Verity! Meet-up
The annual Verity! meet-up where myself and my fellow attending Verities gather for a chat and to meet podcast listeners. It’s always a delight to meet listeners, and I apologise in advance for (1) probably being a wee bit tired at this point in the convention, (2) actually being rather shy in real life.
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Other things I’m really looking forward to are the TARDIS talks, run by the brilliant Joy Piedmont and Paul Booth, which have been one of my highlights of the convention for the past couple of years, and meeting one of my very favourite actor, Jeffrey Combs (I normally avoid actors – they look exactly like my heroes on the telly! It’s very disconcerting) but even if I embarrass myself terribly, I’d be more annoyed at myself for not getting an autograph. I’ve adored his work, both in horror and Sci-fi since I was a young teenager. And, of course, Christopher Eccleston!!
And now to try to check I haven’t forgotten to pack anything! There’s always something…
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Lizbeth Myles 