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Peter Capaldi gave fans exactly what they wanted this weekend at Dr Who Festival, by suggesting we should not fret about the sonic screwdriver for much longer.
The Scottish actor who plays the 12th generation of the Doctor was attending a cast panel with fellow Dr Who actors Michelle Gomez and Ingrid Oliver on Friday, when he revealed the iconic screwdriver will be back on our screens.
Capaldi also hinted that the wearable technology of Raybans in this new series could have been influenced by himself. He said: “For me it’s any excuse to wear shades, I would wear shades all the time. If someone said to you, you could play with a screwdriver or wear shades, there’s just no contest!”
Dr Who Festival is the third of its kind and second to be held at the ExCel in London for excitable Whovians across the globe. This year, the event surrounded series 9, with cast panels, meet the writers sessions including Sherlock star Mark Gatiss and Millennium special effects performances all held within the humongous theatre.
Fans lucky enough to have tickets for Saturday and Sunday’s events were treated to an appearance by Jenna Coleman aka Clara Oswald, the Doctor’s current companion. When not watching the shows fans had plenty to keep them entertained throughout the day.
The costume and prop centre showcased the best outfits of the series, including Game of Thrones star, Maisie William’s Me character’s flamboyant costumes and Missy the master’s authoritative power dress.
At the drama school you could become a multitude of characters including an emotionless Dalek. Speaking of Daleks, fans could have a mooch around Dalek leader Davros’s infirmary set from series 9 episode 2 and take numerous selfies with the “man” himself.
The production village proved extremely popular with regular shows throughout the day under the enormous Viking set from series 9 episode 5.
Next door at the sfx centre, they showcased an abundance of prosthetics including The Mummy from series 8, The Ood and even the clockwork monsters from David Tennant’s Madame Du Pompadour episode. They were even crafting a future monster that we will be seeing soon!
BBC paid for opportunities were incredible this year also, with a chance to hang out in Clara’s flat and meet the cast all with personal photos.
In between all the excitement fans could shop till they dropped in the shopping village which circled a giant life-size Lego Tardis. Comic books, scarves, coats, mugs, badges, whatever you want it was there in full Dr Who fashion, with the stall owners clearly loving the day as much as everyone else.
And if that wasn’t enough there was also an impressive cosplay contest with many fans spending the entire day dressed up. Matt Smith’s 11th Doctor proved quite popular, however there were many old school Doctors knocking about. Osgood had cemented herself as a clear fan favourite with many choosing to cosplay the new character, however some previous characters such as Donna made it too!
When there’s just too many favourites to choose from the Tardis itself is always a good choice!
To round up Dr Who Festival was a massive success. It was a fan’s perfect day in which they didn’t have to hide just how passionate they are about Dr Who without feeling silly. To all you non-whovians out there, Dr Who is not a child’s program, it’s not silly and it’s not boring.
To quote the 9th Doctor, IT’S FANTASTIC and after this weekend it’s clear to state that Whovians are some of the nicest people you could ever meet.If by any chance you were unfortunate enough to miss this event and possibly have the time, money and determination, the next and last Dr Who Festival will take place on the 21st-22nd of November 2015 at the Royal Hall of Industries and Hordern Pavilion in Sydney Australia.
If only we had the Tardis eh?
Doctor Who Series 9: Part 1 is available to buy on DVD and bbcstore.com