Clacton Sci-Fi Report 2002 redone

Hi Marc,
 
Had to amend this slightly but it's back now.
 
Clacton  Sci-Fi Convention September 15 2002

I have to be honest, the only reason  I went was to see Ed Bishop again,
and I
wasn't disappointed - he is such a  nice man. I've been a fan since the late
1980's and I kept in touch with him  for a long time, but lost touch in the
1990's so it was great to meet him  again and he remembered me which was
really nice.
While I was speaking to  Ed, a committee guy came over and asked Ed if he
wanted water, Ed replied  "No, but we could do with the doors open" he was
concerned that people would  get too hot then the guy said "Its dark too"
and
Ed quipped "Well, I don't  need good lighting any more but I do need
oxygen.."
they got the message and  opened the doors. Ed is such a considerate man
that
he wanted to ensure  everyone was comfortable, but the heat was unbearable,
it
hit you like a wave  as you went in

The con itself was geared towards Star Wars and the 2  dealers room
reflected
this, although there was a tiny amount of Anderson  related merchandise. The
area had been set out so that as you walked in  through the entrance and
turned left you went into a packed dealers room and  if you looked closely
you
just caught a glimpse of the guests on the stage,  almost hidden behind a
sea
of people queuing for autographs (bizarre set  up).
If you turned right, you went into another dealers room and on through  into
the speaking area and bar - again bizarre.

The organisers allowed  smoking in all areas at the con (which is not
pleasant), it was a very warm  day inside and it was stifling. This is the
first con I remember going to  which allowed this, there were a lot of
people
here too and it was  exceptionally warm. Both myself and my husband are
asthmatic and it made the  day difficult to say the least.

A little later Ed gave a talk - question  and answer session and it was
ruined
by the antics of two females in the  ajoining bar (not good planning to put
a
guest next to a rowdy bar) who were  singing over Ed - very rude to say the
least. But Ed being the professional  he is soldiered on, the session
started
slowly and at first no-one seemed to  want to ask questions, and I almost
asked my standard question (who did you  base Straker on, cause he's such a
hard ass and you're.....not) to keep  momentum going, I know the answer, but
it just keeps things ticking over till  someone else gets an idea and it
doesn't leave Ed standing there with nothing  to do. He gave us the voice
over from the start of Captain Scarlet which drew  loud applause and cheers
(and he deserved it). He told us how when he was  filming Whoops Apocalypse
how he took a glass of water in to the studio and  the guard said "Ere mate"
(exact words) "No food and drink on the set", to  which Ed responded "I'm an
actor and its for the show", the guard said ok and  let him in with it. Ed
then hid the water under the table and when he thought  no-one was looking
took a drink, it went quiet for a moment then he heard  laughter and looked
around to see a camera on and his furtive water drinking  was being seen by
the live audience who were tickled by it. Ed went on - by  then of course, I
had the audience on my side, they thought it was gin and I  played up to the
camera every chance I got, you know slicking my hair back,  adjusting the
tie....that sort of thing.

Someone asked a question  about Peter Gordeno and Ed told us that he is now
a
leading interior designer  in Beverly Hills.

All in all, a good chance to see Ed Bishop again, and  he did exceptionally
well in the Q&A session despite strong competition  from the 2 tipsy females
singing in the bar!.

In my opinion, I would  have had the talks in the dealers room where they
were
having the autographs  done and moved that dealers room to the bar. I have
suggested this to the  organisers and raised the issue of the smoking, so
perhaps it will be a  little better next year (and yes, I will attend if Mr
Bishop goes  along).

There will be a few photographs which I took at the con, but I  have to have
them developed first, hopefully won't keep you waiting too  long.

Thank you.

Claire Steed
 



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