Never meet your heroes...

...was something I always told myself, they'll only dissapoint! How wrong I was. I have always been an admirer of Colin Baker, in no small part due to his role as Doctor Who, but in general as an actor I have always enjoyed his work, be it on Television, stage or audio. It is slightly bizarre that I find his characteristics inhernt in my best friend, himself a rather eloquent chap capable of being just as verbose as Mr. Baker and with alarmingly similar physical features. I digress.

I heard at very short notice that Dimensions 2009, a Doctor Who convention, was happening in my home town of Newcastle. As I was on holiday from work and had not planned much form my weekend, it seemed like a good plan, although in all honesty despite being at a Doctor Who convention before I expected my good self to fade in to the background of big stars and perhaps even bigger egos. In some small part, I did, however that was not the case with one of the stars attending, Mr. Baker himself.

I first met Mr. Baker during the morning's photo shoot, in which I was quite nervous. I was surprised at how charming and personable he was when it came to my photo shoot with him, which put me at an instant ease. I was also delighted to see age had not dulled the spark in his eyes and the intellect that shone through them. However it was down to the coffee morning with Mr. Baker which vastly changed my perspective on meeting my heroes.

I had expected for the coffee morning to find the stewarts at the convention to see to the guest stars demands, and I thought at least making a coffee for them was not beyond their duties. This wasn't the case and after a few hints from Mr. Baker, I offered my services as coffeemaker. I have been known to make a rather good cuppa. It felt rather bizarre thinking "I am making a coffee for Doctor Who" (which swiftly became my new facebook status :D). White, no sugar, BTW. Mr. Baker then moved on in to a game of introductions, in which myself and the other coffee morning attendees spoke a little about themelves.

At first I was nervous to speak, though I wasn't going to let my damn social anxiety kick in now. I was rolling my own eyes when I exclaimed the 6th Doctor was my favourite, but I progressed in to talking about my studies in philosophy and cosmology to which Mr. Baker seemsed very interested and we exchaged a few words on the subject. The game proceeded around the room and it was nice to hear from fellow Who fans. It was after the talk when Mr. Baker asked me to pick up some items of his he had placed on the floor (my knees worked better than his, so he remarked) that we shook hands and he wished me luck in my studies, commenting I was a "nice guy". Geeksquee # 1.

The evening rolled on, most notible events were Kia Owen's talk in which he entertained the audience with an open mic forum rather than a stuffy interview on the chairs on stage. I asked him if he felt comfortable displaying his rear end on television, I don't know what brought that to mind! (Ok yes I do). Later on however was the group photo shoot with all the guests stars that evening. It was set up much like a conveyor belt of fans who would jump in a seat surrounded by grinning stars and have their picture taken. To my delight, Mr. Baker recognised me from the coffee morning and exclaimed "ah, here's my friend", he proceeded to place his hand on my shoulder in a rather approving way. For a student of cosmology, a subject taken no less for my interest sparked in the universe by watching Doctor Who, this felt like a pat on the back by the boss. Geeksquee # 2.

I hurried through the autograph session with Mr. Baker later that evening for worries any further contact would tarninsh the awesomeness of the earlier part of the day. I left the evening having met one of my heroes and not only with good memories but with a sense that I had met a very intelligent and likable man who for a small time found me agreeable also. I had prepared myself for a rather placid affair at Dimensions, so what I recieved was, for me, out of this world.