Now
I’ve recounted all of the silly alternative soundtracks which Andrew and I
recorded whilst we shared a flat between 1993 and 1996, I’d like to go
back a few years to the early 90’s and recall some more general
Who-related activities that we got up to whilst we were still living with
our respective parents.
Andrew and I attended a couple of celebrity signings around 1990 featuring
various actors and production team from Doctor Who. One was at a Café
Munchen, a bar near Tottenham Court Road in London which is now called The
Conservatory, just round the corner from where the old Forbidden Planet
shop used to be. Amongst the guests on this occasion were Sylvester McCoy,
Sophie Aldred, Nicholas Courtney and I think JN-T. As you can see, I was
having a great time meeting all these Who celebs, but alas I don’t think
the feeling was reciprocated as far as Sylvester was concerned. Other than
this being the first time I had met most of these people, I only remember
the event for one reason, this being the extraordinary length of time we
had to wait whilst queuing for our eagerly awaited autographs. This gave
us ample opportunity to pose for photographs with the various
Daleks
and Cybermen that had appeared during the day as can be seen in the photo,
though I’m glad to say that neither Andrew nor myself are in amongst the
motley collection of Doctor Who fans that can be seen in the shot. I
recently discovered that it’s highly likely that one Steven Alexander (aka
Rob McCow) was also at Café Munchen on this particular day, though he
tells me that he’s not in the photo either. I’m not convinced though; are
you sure that’s not you to the right of the Dalek, Steve, the kid who
appears to be doing up his flies….? There was also a model of the TARDIS
in the café that was about 3 feet tall, and I was told by one of the event
organisers that this was the model featured in the TARDIS shrinking
sequence in Logopolis. These were heady days for us – we would visit the
Forbidden Planet fairly regularly to stock up on Target novels, videos or
factual books. This was years before we had any significant financial
commitments so we were both able to make regular purchases of Doctor Who
merchandise.
The
other signing we attended was a couple of years later at the church of St
Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and this one was for the Tom Baker video
‘Who on Earth is Tom Baker?’ I don’t remember much about this event other
than the fact that it was in the crypt of the church, and it was the first
time I had met Tom. It was, however, an insight here into this most
extraordinary man, albeit a brief one, and it was at this point that I
realised how completely bonkers he is, though of course I mean that as a
compliment. Never before have I met anyone so utterly unique in their
perspective on life; it’s such a shame that he doesn’t really make public
appearances such as these any more.
Now
I’ve recounted all of the silly alternative soundtracks which Andrew and I
recorded whilst we shared a flat between 1993 and 1996, I’d like to go
back a few years to the early 90’s and recall some more general
Who-related activities that we got up to whilst we were still living with
our respective parents.
Daleks
and Cybermen that had appeared during the day as can be seen in the photo,
though I’m glad to say that neither Andrew nor myself are in amongst the
motley collection of Doctor Who fans that can be seen in the shot. I
recently discovered that it’s highly likely that one Steven Alexander (aka
Rob McCow) was also at Café Munchen on this particular day, though he
tells me that he’s not in the photo either. I’m not convinced though; are
you sure that’s not you to the right of the Dalek, Steve, the kid who
appears to be doing up his flies….? There was also a model of the TARDIS
in the café that was about 3 feet tall, and I was told by one of the event
organisers that this was the model featured in the TARDIS shrinking
sequence in Logopolis. These were heady days for us – we would visit the
Forbidden Planet fairly regularly to stock up on Target novels, videos or
factual books. This was years before we had any significant financial
commitments so we were both able to make regular purchases of Doctor Who
merchandise. 
The
other signing we attended was a couple of years later at the church of St
Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and this one was for the Tom Baker video
‘Who on Earth is Tom Baker?’ I don’t remember much about this event other
than the fact that it was in the crypt of the church, and it was the first
time I had met Tom. It was, however, an insight here into this most
extraordinary man, albeit a brief one, and it was at this point that I
realised how completely bonkers he is, though of course I mean that as a
compliment. Never before have I met anyone so utterly unique in their
perspective on life; it’s such a shame that he doesn’t really make public
appearances such as these any more.