More news for next month’s Gallifrey One’s Miracle on 34th Street… including our long-awaited preview at some of the best daytime programming this year’s convention has to offer, and the addition of several new convention guests.  We’ve also got a list of some very important upcoming dates, including when we’re releasing our full schedule, online signups for this year’s Kaffeeklatsch program, and more.  Read on!

New Guests This Year

Kevin McNally

Kevin McNally is among the small group of guest actors who have been part of both generations of Doctor Who: as Hugo Lang in Colin Baker’s debut story “The Twin Dilemma” during the classic series era, and more recently as Professor Eustacius Jericho in three episodes of the “Flux” season starring Jodie Whittaker.  His many television roles include I, Claudius, Poldark, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Life on Mars, Midsomer Murders, Downton Abbey, Turn: Washington’s Spies, 24, The Crown, Supernatural and Dad, among many others, while also appearing in such films as the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Valkyrie, Cry Freedom, The Phantom of the Opera, Conspiracy, De-Lovely, The Spy Who Loved Me and Robert the Bruce.  We’re delighted to welcome Mr. McNally to Gallifrey One; our special thanks to Howard Hayes for helping us bring him to this year’s convention.

Jaye Griffiths

Jaye Griffiths joined the Doctor Who universe playing Jac, Kate Stewart’s UNIT attache in “The Magician’s Apprentice” and “The Zygon Invasion” opposite Peter Capaldi.  More recently, she’s starred in multiple audio adventures from Big Finish Productions, including the new recurring role of Lady Audacity Montague alongside Paul McGann.  Her many credits include lengthy runs in Bugs, The Bill, Doctors, Silent Witness and Casualty as well as appearances in Wizards vs. Aliens, Sherlock, EastEnders, Midsomer Murders, Death in Paradise, Holby City, Coronation Street, Peak Practice, Hard Cases, Skins, Kingdom and A Touch of Frost.  Ms. Griffiths appears courtesy Big Finish; special thanks to Jason Haigh-Ellery for arranging her appearance.

Robert Strange

Robert Strange is an actor and creature performer/puppeteer who recently appeared on screen in the Doctor Who anniversary special “The Star Beast” as a Wrarth Warrior, and whose work includes special effects, droid puppeteering and creature work in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Rogue One and Solo: A Star Wars Story.  His other work includes appearances in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Winter King, The Flatshare, Vampire Virus, Red Dwarf, The Crown, Penny Dreadful, Boys from County Hell, Keratin and The Nightman of Nevermoor as well as visual work for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run.  Robert will be joining us in our Dealers Room all three days, signing at his dealer table.

Peter Anghelides

Peter Anghelides is a writer, editor, and producer, currently running the Doctor Who Short Trips and Blake’s 7 ranges for Big Finish Productions, as well as contributing to a number of other audio projects. He has written dozens of novels, short stories, audio scripts, audiobooks, and articles for BBC Books, BBC Audio, Virgin Books, Big Finish, and Doctor Who Magazine – contributing to ranges that include Doctor Who, Torchwood, Blake’s 7, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and Bernice Summerfield. An eyewitness to the notorious Gauda Prime ambush, Peter has been in hiding from the Terran Federation for more than four decades, while appearing at many Gallifrey One events over the years, and we’re always happy to help keep him safe from harm.

Additional Program Participants & More

We’re also delighted to welcome several new and returning local guests to this year’s convention.  Our friend Anita Sengupta from Hydroplane Ltd. returns to present a new science panel for us on Friday, The Journey to Hydrogen Powered Flight.  We’re also happy to welcome composers David Raiklen, whose work includes the web series Space Command (previewed several years ago at Gallifrey One) and many independent & short films, and George Shaw, film, TV and gaming composer who’s worked with Dreamworks Animation, Riot Games, and Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop, among others.  David and George will be joining us on Sunday for our composers roundtable event “Music To My Ears” on the main stage, along with Segun Akinola and Dominic Glynn.

Today’s update completes this year’s major guest announcements, specifically Doctor Who-related guests.  We will likely have a few last-minute additions of local signing guests, as always, and will make those announcements as soon as we have them.  We’d like to thank all of our attendees who have been so patient this year with our unexpectedly late guest announcements… though we’re thrilled that we’ve been able to bring you so many first-timers at this upcoming convention!

Upcoming Important Releases, Dates & Deadlines

The last few weeks before Gallifrey One arrives is filled with lots of web updates and social media posts… we don’t want you to miss anything, so here’s a list of things you need to keep an eye on over the next five weeks:

T-Shirt & Tote Bag Preorders Closing: This Monday (January 15)

Gallifrey One’s 2024 convention T-shirt and tote bags are available for pre-orders for the next couple of days!  Pre-orders for these items will close at the end of the day this MONDAY, JANUARY 15.  While we do expect to have a small stock of additional shirts & bags on hand for sale at the convention, pre-ordering guarantees your purchase.  We can confirm that this year’s shirts are maroon, just like the overall cover of our website!  You can pre-order yours by clicking here, and pick them up at the Gallifrey One Sales booth along the back wall of our 2024 Dealers Room (left side) during regular business hours on Friday and Saturday, or before 1pm on Sunday.  You can also purchase our additional stock, including some items from prior convention years. 

Schedule of Events: Starting Next Week

We’ll be posting our convention schedule beginning sometime next week.  Once again, we’ll be using the Sched online schedule system, and we’ll have a special news announcement when it happens.  The initial version of the schedule will have all the programming in our four primary program rooms (Program A-D), along with select social events and meet-ups, and our Kaffeeklatsch program.  Subsequent releases of the schedule (usually over the week or two following its release) will add autograph sessions, photo ops, our evening guest receptions and special add-on events, and more.

Evening Guest Receptions On Sale: Also Next Week

Gallifrey One’s Evening Guest Receptions are one of the most popular events of the convention.  These special add-on events hosted by our partners Convention Photo Shoots have the ambience of a cocktail party (we provide the wine); the guests at these functions rotate through each small group of attendees.  As soon as the receptions go on sale, we’ll announce the schedule and list of guests… stay tuned!

Kaffeeklatsch Online Signups: February 3

Online sign-ups for this year’s Kaffeeklatsches will take place on Saturday February 3 at 12:00pm (noon) Pacific Time.  The kaffeeklatsches are a very popular part of Gallifrey One (free of charge) combining a small group of up to twelve attendees along with one or more special guests, for a chance to get up close and personal about their careers.  Very casual and friendly (and we recommend bringing your own beverage!)  Kaffeeklatsches are assigned by lottery, open to anyone who participates in the online signup event (though we prioritize people who are ready to go at noon and sign up in the first five minutes.)  More details will be posted the week prior to the signup event.

Last Day for Ticket Updates: February 11

Although we no longer allow ticket resales, we do allow changes made to individual tickets, by the person(s) whose names are on them.  If you’ve purchased tickets and want to give them to friends or family members, change the name on a ticket, or add a badge name, you have until the end of the day on Sunday February 11 to do so.  After that date, changes may only be made in person at our Registration desk when it opens on Thursday afternoon February 15, and only by the person whose name is currently on the ticket.  If you need to make ticket changes, please contact us and we’ll get to it as soon as we can.

Daytime Programming Preview

Although we’re not quite ready to release our complete schedule of events for this year’s convention — you can expect that in the next week or so — we’d like to give you a glimpse into some of the amazing panels, programming and events you’ll find at this year’s convention throughout our daytime hours.  (For a glimpse at our evening programming, see our previous update.)

Radio Free Skaro: More Than 60 Years in the TARDIS: A special 90-minute session of our official podcasters’ live show, which opens Gallifrey One every year.  Join the Three Who Rule (Steven, Warren & Chris) as they chat with composer Segun Akinola and director Kevin Jon Davies, and then later are joined by a panel of Doctor Who actors for a feature-length roundtable chat featuring Annette Badland, Shaun Dingwall, Kevin McNally and Jaye Griffiths.

Interviews & Roundtables: You’ll find dedicated one-on-one stage interviews all weekend, in both our Program A main hall as well as the Program B panel hall, with such special guests as Sir Derek Jacobi (Friday & Saturday), Billie Piper (Friday & Saturday), Alex Kingston (Saturday & Sunday), Matthew Waterhouse, Camille Coduri, Jacqueline King, Frazer Hines, Brian Herring, Kevin McNally, and Rachel Talalay.  We’re also planning multiple group interviews and roundtable chats throughout the weekend with many other convention guests… our schedule is jam-packed with fun things all weekend.

The 2024 Bob May Memorial Charity Auction, Benefitting the Trevor Project: Gallifrey One’s pride and joy: our annual charity benefit event taking place Sunday starting at noon, auctioning off attendee-donated Doctor Who and SF/fantasy genre merchandise for a great cause.  This year, we’re honored to support a very unique and wonderful charity, The Trevor Project, which is the premier organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ teens and young adults.  Donations of merchandise to the auction are very welcome; find out more about donating, about the Trevor Project and the auction itself, on our Auction page.

Live Commentaries: This year, we’re hosting two live Doctor Who episode commentaries in our main hall, each hosted by a moderator.  On Friday late afternoon, join us for “The Star Beast” with Jacqueline King, Brian Herring and director Rachel Talalay.  Then on Saturday mid-day, it’s “Village of the Angels” (you knew we’d sneak in the Weeping Angels somewhere!) with Kevin McNally, composer Segun Akinola and costume designer Ray Holman.

Ray Holman Spotlight: We have two great panels focusing on the work of our esteemed costume designer guest this year.  First, Amanda-Rae Prescott hosts an interview with Ray on Friday afternoon to discuss Doctor Who and related costume design, a deep dive into the technical parts of his work and how it all came about.  And then, join us Sunday afternoon with Ray and author Piers Britton (“Design for Doctor Who”) for a visual review of Ray’s work, through hand-selected photos and stories only he can tell.

The Tyler Family Album: Rose Tyler and her parents are at last reunited on the stage at Gallifrey One… join Billie Piper, Camille Coduri and Shaun Dingwall on Saturday for a lively hour of fun hosted by Sage Young and Kim Rogers of Head Over Feels.

Segun Akinola: Desert Island Who: We’ll take a trip through four seasons of amazing Doctor Who scores created by one of the series’ finest musical talents, featuring audio clips of his work selected exclusively by the artist, in an examination of what went into their composition and how it brought out the very best in the show.

Big Finish Productions at Gallifrey One 2024: You’ll be able to enjoy presentations about Big Finish’s 2024 output (and all the wonderful audios in the pipeline), as well as meet some of their actors and producers, and even join us for the annual Big Finish Talkback at the end of the weekend.  But that’s not all…

“Death and the Queen” Dramatic Reading: This year, we’re bringing a special live reading of Big Finish’s Doctor Who audio adventure “Death and the Queen” written by Gallifrey One 2024 guest James Goss, on Saturday afternoon, performed live for the audience by cast members from our own theatre troupe The Idiot’s Lantern.  A popular event at other conventions, this will be Gallifrey One’s first-ever performance of this type.  Our thanks to James, to Jason Haigh-Ellery, and to Karen Tucker-Parks at Big Finish for helping us to bring this to reality.

Music To My Ears: There’s so much more to composing music for films, television, animation and gaming, beyond the creation of those memorable scores. Musician Jess Jurkovic hosts our Doctor Who guests Segun Akinola and Dominic Glynn, along with several other local composers including David Raiklen and George Shaw, as they take a deep dive into the creative process, the challenges of making a melody into a reality (such as electronic scoring versus live orchestra), and the always-challenging entertainment industry.

A Blake’s 7 Reunion: We’re thrilled to have Sally Knyvette, Jan Chappell and Brian Croucher with us this year, and they’ll be together on stage Friday afternoon for a trip down memory lane about one of our other favorite shows, Blake’s 7.  

TARDIS Talks: Our annual program of academic topics on all things Doctor Who, this year in a two-hour block.  Don’t miss it!  Our previous update has the full list of topics being presented this year.  (This will take place on either Friday or Saturday afternoon, to be announced.)

Science Programming: This year, Trina Ray, Kim Steadman, Sarah Milkovich and Krys Blackwood from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) join us for presentations on a variety of current and upcoming missions, including the Europa Clipper and Mars Sample Return, and the latest from the Mars Rovers Perseverance and Curiosity.  We’ll also have Anita Sengupta from Hydroplane Ltd. back with us, talking about The Journey to Hydrogen Powered Flight.

Shakedown: A Look Back: Nearly 30 years ago, the Doctor Who spinoff drama Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans helped fill the gap left by the cancellation of the show and its subsequent wilderness years.  Stars Jan Chappell and Brian Croucher join director Kevin Jon Davies for a look back at this landmark drama and the impact it made on Doctor Who mythology.

Novelizing Doctor Who: BBC Creative Editor Stephen Cole is joined on stage by four of our writer guests to discuss their novelizations of the latest Doctor Who episodes starring David Tennant and Ncuti Gatwa: Gary Russell (“The Star Beast”), Mark Morris (“Wild Blue Yonder”), James Goss (“The Giggle”) and Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson (“The Church on Ruby Road”).

Cutaway Comics: Gareth Kavanagh and Ian Winterton join us to talk about the latest Doctor Who spinoff releases from Cutaway Comics, including Omega, Paradise Towers, Lytton, Orcini, Gods & Monsters and Eldrad Must Live!

The Companions of Doctor Who: The new book from Fayetteville Mafia Press (a follow up to A World of Demons: The Villains of Doctor Who) will be out by this year’s convention, so we invite you to join the editors and some of the writers to talk about their favorite companions… and how much those wonderful characters, and the actors who have played them, have shaped our love of Doctor Who.

Voice Acting Roundtable: We’ll go in-depth with some of our attending guests to talk about their work on audio, including audio work for Big Finish, voice acting for animation, and participating in radio dramas.

Workshops and Seminars: We’re hosting no less than seven workshops & seminars, separate and apart from the kaffeeklatsch events (and allowing a larger group).  Paul Cornell will lead a one-hour workshop focusing on writers just getting started in the business.  Tony Lee brings us a one-hour session focused exclusively on the world of self-publishing.  Our guests from JPL will join us for a seminar we’re calling Adventures in Space (not Time): Stories From Spacecraft Operations.  Two annual favorites return, Paul Breese-Garelick’s Bow Ties Are Still Cool and Shawna Hafen’s Circular Gallifreyan Workshop.  The members of the Idiot’s Lantern troupe will have their annual post-mortem Sunday morning (after their live show on our stage Saturday night.)  And finally, in the spirit of our convention’s namesake film, Julia Ree will host a show-and-tell event about Christmas ornaments, with a particular focus on pop culture, film & TV themed items (including, yes, Doctor Who ornaments!)

Kaffeeklatsches: Up to a dozen attendees, in a room with one or more guests, chatting about over coffee and tea for an hour about their work… what could be better?  The Gallifrey One Kaffeeklatsch program is one of our most unique and memorable experiences of the weekend, but you have to plan ahead.  Advance online sign-ups for the Kaffeeklatsch events — which are first come first served, open to all ticketed attendees, at no cost — will take place on Saturday February 3 at noon Pacific Time. We’ll have more details about that sign-up event closer to that date.

VIP Script Reading Events: This year, our partners at Convention Photo Shoots have arranged six special VIP script reading events, for an additional fee (noted as “VIP Talk” on the catalog); these special optional add-on events help us pay for our guests’ time and are tons of fun.  You can expect script events from Billie Piper (Saturday at 10am), Derek Jacobi (Sunday at 10am) and Alex Kingston (Sunday at noon) on our main convention floor, along with events with Matthew Waterhouse and Camille Coduri in our 16th floor receptions lounge (dates & times to be announced, and no, none of these events will conflict with each other.)  You can purchase tickets to these events here

Meet-Ups: We have meet-ups.  Lots of them.  For everyone.  We have dedicated meet-ups for cosplay enthusiasts of all varieties (including a few specialized ones this year such as a Romana/Gallifrey Audios gathering and the Noble Family Reunion!)  We’re doing a Teen Social again, a meet-up for POC fans, one for Blake’s 7 fans, our annual LGBTQ+ meetup (which always fills up to capacity!), a Goth fans meetup, and a crafters’ meet up, and that’s just the beginning.  And where would we be without a plethora of Gallifrey One’s Ribbon Exchange meet-ups throughout the weekend… and the very first official meet-up event of the weekend, our annual In-n-Out Burger Run at 5:15pm Thursday evening?  If you’re interested in hosting something else, in our Program E meet-up lounge, on our outdoor convention patio, in the hotel lobby or even by the pool, let us now!  (Note: space in Program E is limited so make sure you contact us quickly!)

The Year in Review: Just before Closing Ceremonies on Sunday, it’s our annual look back at the previous year of Doctor Who in the media: all the highlights, the press, the interviews, the fun moments you may not have seen here in the US (as well as the latest trailer for the upcoming season of the show.)  Erik Engman takes over the production this year for us (in memory of our previous presenter and friend, Matt Dale.)

And this is just the beginning…  We have tons of discussion panels happening throughout the weekend, some with our attending professional guests, some with your fellow convention attendees, and many with a mix of both.  We’ll have three full days of photo ops with all of our major guests (some available for advance purchase here.)  Autograph sessions will take place all three days in multiple locations, including at our sponsors’ tables in the Dealers Room; some guests’ individual tables in the same room; or at our Autograph Alley, which this year is located out in the convention foyer. Our Children’s Program runs all three days (more details on that very soon as well.)  The Art Show will be open Friday & Saturday, the Video Room and Gaming Hub will be open all three days, and you can visit the Dealers Room… where, as in previous years, we’ll have a display area featuring a full size TARDIS and console for photographs, courtesy our friends at AZTARDIS.  And let’s not forget all of our amazing evening events including the Masquerade, the Idiot’s Lantern Stage Show, Dominic Glynn’s music show, three nights of karaoke, our Saturday dance and much more (detailed in our previous update.)  Look out for our complete schedule of events coming very soon.  More news next time…