Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley.
After enjoying ‘MegaCon Live Birmingham’ at the NEC in Birmingham at the end of March, my second of two convention weekends was ‘Capitol Cutaway’ at POSK (Polish Social and Cultural Association) on King Street in Hammersmith, London on the 6th of April 2025. 🙂
This was a one-day event run by the Doctor Who Appreciation Society (DWAS). I attended a DWAS event before, which was ‘The Capitol II’ at the Arora Hotel in Gatwick in May 2017. ‘Capitol Cutaway’ was smaller compared to that two-day weekend event. 😐
It was also stricter in terms of running by the timetable provided to us at the event compared to ‘MegaCon Live Birmingham’ which I found more flexible. I couldn’t have any selfies with any of the guests attending ‘Capitol Cutaway’, which I found a real shame. 😦
At least I got to have professional photos with the guests attending the event, including Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Peter Davison (the Fifth Doctor), Jo Martin (the Fugitive Doctor), Peter Purves (Steven) and Katy Manning (Jo). It was still a pretty enjoyable convention day.
I enjoyed ‘MegaCon Live Birmingham’ more than ‘Capitol Cutaway’, but I’m pleased I got to see Sarah Sutton for a third day after seeing her for two days the previous weekend. We also managed to have a few lovely chats during the convention and when saying goodbye.
The day began with the event being opened by its organiser Tony Jordan. We then had the first panel talk with Jo Martin, who played the Fugitive Doctor in the new TV series and the Big Finish audios. I enjoyed Jo sharing her stories of playing the Fugitive Doctor in the series.
There was then a talk with three ‘Doctor Who’ stars from the Ncuti Gatwa era of the series, including Steph de Whalley (Anita Benn in ‘Joy to the World’), Susan Twist (Susan Triad) and Jemma Redgrave (Kate Lethbridge-Stewart). The talk was conducted by Robert Dick.
After the first two panel talks, I went to see ‘Doctor Who’ stars for autograph sessions, including Sarah Sutton, Peter Davison, Peter Purves and Jo Martin. Katy Manning was late coming to the event, but I was able to see her after having a little lunch in the POSK’s café.
It was great to see Sarah Sutton again. She said, “Long time, no see, Tim”, which was something I was going to say to her as a joke after not long seeing her in Birmingham. 😀 Sarah signed my CD cover of ‘Genesis of the Cybermen’, which I’m very pleased about. 🙂
I met up with Peter Davison and he signed my CD cover of ‘Genesis of the Cybermen’ too. I’ve yet to hear the story, but I’m looking forward to checking it out this year. I watched ‘Enlightenment’ in the build-up to the weekend and shared how much I enjoyed the story to Peter.
It was good to see Jo Martin, who signed one of my Blu-ray covers of ‘The Power of the Doctor’. It was also nice to see Peter Purves, who signed my DVD cover of ‘The Savages’. I’ve yet to see the animated version of the story, but I’m looking forward to checking it out.
When I saw Katy Manning after lunch, she signed the CD sleeve notes of ‘The War Master’ audio story ‘Killing Time’. Sarah signed my CD box set cover of the story last week. It was lovely to chat to Katy and I’m very pleased that she made it to the convention.
Fellow ‘Doctor Who’/Nyssa fan Tom Mitchell and his mum Bev also attended ‘Capitol Cutaway’. I met them whilst having a cup of tea and lunch in the café. We also had a brief chat with Sarah Sutton outside the autograph room before she went off to have her lunch.
I saw the end of the panel talk with Anita Dobson (Mrs. Flood), but sadly didn’t get to take any photos of the talk. I didn’t get to meet all the guests at ‘Capitol Cutaway’, including Anita Dobson, which is a shame. Hopefully, I’ll get to meet Anita at a future ‘Doctor Who’ event.
The next panel talk was with Peter Straker (Sharrel in ‘Destiny of the Daleks’) and Simon Slater (Edwardes in ‘Terror of the Vervoids’ from ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’). I enjoyed their panel talk. It turns out ‘Capitol Cutaway’ happens to be Simon Slater’s convention debut.
There was then Katy Manning’s panel talk, conducted by Tony Jordan. That was a lot of fun, especially when Katy tended to be dithery and scatterbrained whilst being talked to by Tony that it was almost like a stand-up comedy show, as she was so bubbly and lovely.
The highlight of the convention was the photo shoots. I had four pre-paid photo shoots. I would have liked to have had photos with the other guests, including Simon Slater and Steph de Whalley, but I’m really pleased I managed to have four photos with some guests.
I had a photo with Sarah Sutton and Peter Davison, a photo with Sarah Sutton, Peter Davison, Jo Martin, Peter Purves and Katy Manning, a photo with Sarah Sutton, Katy Manning and Peter Purves, and I had a photo with Sarah Sutton (which is my personal favourite 😀 ).
There were the afternoon autograph sessions where I got to see Jemma Redgrave, who signed one of my Blu-ray covers of ‘The Power of the Doctor’. I also met Simon Slater, where we chatted about him playing Mr. Fleming in the BBC TV series ‘Monarch of the Glen’.
Simon signed my autograph book, which I hadn’t used in a long time. I saw and had a nice chat with Steph de Whalley, who also signed my autograph book. I believe this was Steph’s ‘Doctor Who’ convention debut too. Both Simon and Steph seemed to enjoy attending the event. 🙂
The Big Finish team attended ‘Capitol Cutaway’ and I purchased a Big Finish audio story called ‘Devil in the Mist’, featuring the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Kamelion. Simon Slater is a guest star in ‘Devil in the Mist’ apparently. I’m looking forward to hearing the story soon.
There was a panel talk with camera operator Dudley Darby and Peter Purves, conducted by Robert Dick. And the convention ended with a panel talk featuring Sarah Sutton and Peter Davison, which I greatly enjoyed. I’m very glad the day ended with them.
I’m also pleased I was the first person to ask a question to Sarah and Peter during their panel talk. I asked if they’d be interested in doing a live Big Finish audio recording in a theatre like Cadogan Hall in London, which Paul McGann and India Fisher did last year. 🙂
Sarah seemed keen on the idea, but Peter wasn’t so keen. Maybe he’ll change his mind should Big Finish ask him. 😀 Peter Davison was also presented with the DWAS Outstanding Contribution to ‘Doctor Who’ award by Sarah Sutton at the end of the day. 🙂
I can’t exactly show you the video of Peter receiving the award by Sarah in this convention report, but you can find it in the Facebook link here. You also might see me in the audience in the video. 😀 Apart from that, it’s fantastic Peter received the well-deserved award before the day ended.
Before leaving; me, Tom and Bev got to say goodbye to Sarah as she was leaving, which I’m very pleased about. I got to tell Sarah a joke, which she enjoyed. We looked forward to seeing each other again at the ‘Bury Comic Con’ which will happen very soon in June.
‘Capitol Cutaway’ was a very enjoyable day. It wasn’t as flexible as ‘MegaCon Live Birmingham’, as I got to see more of Sarah Sutton at that event compared to this one, but I’m very pleased I was able to see Sarah for a third convention day as well as other guests.
I’m glad I got to see Peter Davison, Jo Martin, Peter Purves, Katy Manning, Jemma Redgrave, Simon Slater and Steph de Whalley. A shame I didn’t get to see Anita Dobson and Susan Twist, but hopefully I’ll see them properly at a future ‘Doctor Who’ convention.
I’m hoping to see Susan Twist at the ‘Collectormania Milton Keynes 2025’ in May. It’s good I had four photo shoots with some guests, including with Sarah Sutton, and I’m pleased I got to have chats with the ‘Doctor Who’ stars, even if some were rather brief and quick. 😐
The past two weekends I’ve had with ‘MegaCon Live Birmingham’ at the end of March and ‘Capitol Cutaway’ at the beginning of April have been fun-filled and enjoyable for me. I’m very pleased I got to see my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ star Sarah Sutton at both conventions.
I’m looking forward to seeing Sarah Sutton along with Peter Davison and Janet Fielding at the ‘Bury Comic Con’ at the end of June. Hopefully, it’ll be an enjoyable weekend as much as Birmingham and London were. I’m looking forward to sharing my experience of the event. 🙂
First things first though. I’m looking forward to attending ‘Collectormania Milton Keynes 2025’ next at the end of May, where I hope to meet Millie Gibson again along with Colin Baker, Marina Sirtis and Susan Twist. Stay tuned for my convention report on that soon. 🙂
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
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