Dragon*Con - Day Three

Doctor Who and a Star Trek record attempt.

by Tony Sullivan

My pick for best fancy dress at Dragon*Con goes to the man with the Home Depot Horta from Star Trek's first season.
My pick for best fancy dress at Dragon*Con goes to the man with the Home Depot Horta from Star Trek's first season. Photo: Tony Sullivan
My third day at the Dragon*Con scif-fi and fantasy event kicked off with a Doctor Who companions panel. Present were Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones) and veteran John Levene (Sergeant Benton). When asked what their favourite creature was, Myles quickly responded "John Barrowman".

Next up, Team Arrow, Kelly Hu, Seth Gable, Janina Gavankar, Manu Bennett and the irrepressible John Barrowman. In fact, I think they should just hand over the whole convention to Barrowman. Gavankar managed to hold her own, while Barrowman recreated falling off his chair from a panel the previous day and re-enacted a torture scene with Manu Bennett standing in for Stephen Amell, which involved a gratuitous nipple tweak.

Another Doctor Who panel followed, this time featuring former Doctors Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy, which included a spirited duet with Davison on guitar accompanied by McCoy on spoons.

The day ended with an attempt on the world record for the most costume clad Star Trek Fans, hosted by Star Trek Voyager's Garrett Wang (Harry Kim). As the masses assembled and were checked for 'authenticity', Wang regaled the masses with anecdotes concerning meeting Shatner (not very complementary apparently) and an impromptu lookalike competition featuring Spock and Scotty.

Despite the throng of blue, gold and expendable red, the record remained with the previous holder, Atlanta could only field 917 (unofficial) fans including one gold clad three-month-old baby and a sciences guide dog. My pick for best costume went to an ingenious fellow with a Home Depot Horta, the rock creature that featured in an original series episode.

In general, the day was a little less hectic than yesterday. The kilt ruled the day costume-wise and formed part of Doctor Who, Star Trek and steampunk'd outfits. A Stormtrooper Maus caught my eye and a fellow dressed as Sharknado drew the crowds.

Share this with others on...
News

Precision filmmaking Casey Walker on setting rules, layering complexity, and making Home Bodies

A dangerous woman Rebecca De Mornay on finding characters' truth and making The Gentleman Thief

Divine transformation Eriko Katagiri on the itako tradition and When You Open The Door

Learning to let go Gloria Mercer and Bethany Brown on filming sex, drugs and A Safe Distance

Framing a feature Michele Fiascaris on expanding his short Rain Catcher into a rain-slicked noir thriller

A heroine of the people Avid Liongoren on the Filipino animation industry and Zsazsa Zaturnnah

More news and features

We're bringing you news, reviews and more from the Fantasia International Film Festival.



We're looking forward to the Locarno Film Festival, the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Frightfest.

We've recently brought you coverage of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Muslim International Film Festival, Docs Ireland, Sheffield DocFest, ImagineNative, Tribeca and Cannes.



Read our full for more.


Visit our festivals section.

Interact

Don't forget that you can follow us on YouTube for trailers of festival films and more. You can also find us on Mastodon and Bluesky.


It's a busy time for festivals and here's the latest:


Dinard Amira Casar to head jury, plus opening film announced


San Sebastian Leigh, Naishtat and Larraín among those joining line-up


Fantasia Nighborn is Cheval Noir Best Film; full list of award winners announced


Frightfest Full line-up announced


Sarajevo Festival to honour Asghar Farhadi and present tribute programme