Over 21
years from 1981 to 2002 I attended dozens of Doctor Who conventions and events
reviewing many of them at the time for various print fanzines. In this series
of posts I’m reproducing some of those reviews which hopefully capture the
spirit and flavour of what conventions and also smaller events were like. They
remain largely unedited except for anything completely embarrassing! These are
very much personal opinions of the events, what I saw and the people I shared
them with.
(Originally published in 1982 in `Frontier Worlds`)
In late November, Edinburgh played host to the second
social of 1981, and those who attended enjoyed themselves a great deal. Set in
the impressive structures of the University, the formal side of things kicked
off with a showing of `Beyond the Sun`. a story which perhaps lacked pace but
certainly fell in no way short on drama. It was an opportunity that gave the
cast a chance to stretch out a bit (yes, they all got to lie on the floor) and
a tense atmosphere was quickly attained by the increasing tension between just the main four characters.
Some scenes were literally gripping - such as Susan running riot with a pair of
scissors, and Ian trying to throttle the Doctor, who himself has a blazing row
with Barbara. As the story went on, there was a gradual change from confusion
to fear and finally hope. When their problems were at last over, the relief
flooded over to the audience such had been the conviction of the acting and
script. Definitely an adult story, though, which probably lost the younger
audience at the time. (Originally published in 1982 in `Frontier Worlds`)
