Time Lords in Texas!

Guest contributor Nathan May developed an interest in science fiction when he was introduced to Star Wars at age 4. At age 7, he saw his first episode of “Doctor Who” and he’s been fascinated by wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff ever since. Nathan is now 11, and lives in Richardson, Texas. He loves drawing, reading, and acting. His most recent role was as Jem Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. His next performance will be as Peter Cratchet in the Dallas Theatre Center’s production of A Christmas Carol.

On October 2^nd the British Emporium in Grapevine, Texas hosted an event, “Doctor Who Day” and I decided to go have a look.

Even though the British Emporium is fairly small place it was a great event; there were cardboard cutouts of The Doctor and a Dalek outside the building, but the first thing that caught my eye when I arrived was a man pulling out a life sized remote controlled K-9! He built it when he was 15 using all the robot parts he could find, and on the back there was even an autograph by Jon Pertwee (Third Doctor)!

When I went inside I was shocked, there was a huge table with stacks of Doctor Who merchandise, order forms for sonic screwdrivers, Jelly Babies, and “Time Lord Tea.” It was also exciting to see so many cosplayers! I remember seeing the second doctor, fourth, sixth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and A LOT of fezzes!

They were screening classic DOCTOR WHO episodes in a small room, and they were racing remote control Daleks that a man made himself!

It was overall a very friendly environment; I met a bunch of other Whovians, although one girl had to keep shielding her ears, spoilers!

Some people also made a life sized Dalek, and we all had pictures taken with it.  There was a LOT of picture taking. It was a great opportunity to get memorable photos.

I talked with one of the shop’s owners, Alexandra Evans “This is our second time doing this,” she said “The first ‘Doctor Who Day’ was a couple of years back, it’s great fun and I sure hope we do this again soon!”

It was exciting to see that there were Doctor Who fans of all ages, ranging from little kids to people that have been fans since the Hartnell years! Although many people had costumes they weren’t required – I just wore a bowtie and suspenders after all – but some fans go all out, there were two fully painted weeping angels, but with all the attention they were getting you wouldn’t have to worry about blinking!

The only problem I really had with “Doctor Who Day” was that the venue was too small for all the fans, as you know Doctor Who has a large fan base and it’s hard to fit all the DFW area fans in a small shop for four hours. We filled the parking lot too, and I have to admit it was hilarious to see everyone’s faces as they walked past and saw everyone dressed up and playing with robots and bowties! It was a really great experience, and free too! So next time it comes around, as I hope it will, I highly recommend going! Just remember your fez!