Tom Baker & Stormtroopers (what a week!)

Yes, is Sunday already (where has the week gone dear reader?) which leads me to look back on my week. I should perhaps begin by saying that I didn’t post last week (sorry Mum), however I was a little snowed under with Star Wars planning (boring paperwork) which took up most of the following week, so I’ll skip that bit.

However, the highlight of the missing week was my final trip to Chiswick for the year, to meet amongst others Tom Baker (would you like a jellybaby)! Trips to Chiswick are becoming quite regular now, however the delights of public transport do their best to catch me out. Firstly proper Welsh weather had a go (torrential rain), then rail replacement struck, as if that wasn’t bad enough bus one, broke down so bus two was sent. However, I did eventually get to Chiswick, just perhaps not as early as I’d hoped, where once again, it was raining! It was nice to catch up with a few people at the event.

As I imagine happens wherever Tom Baker goes, there was quite a crowd, it was packed. As ever he was on wonderful form and happily chatted to everyone. Amongst the rest of the line-up there were a few others who I was particularly excited to meet, namely Nicholas Parsons, Prentis Hancock and John Bloomfield. I was especially surprised when John Bloomfield was announced due to his extensive career beyond his two Doctor Who stories, having gone on to work in Hollywood, on films such as ‘The Mummy’, but he was never the less happy to talk about his work on Who and brought along copies of his designs, which were great to see.

Having returned from a very rainy trip to Chiswick, Star Wars was very much the theme of the following week. Our task was to dress four areas of the college as Star Wars locations/themed areas. Whilst one was a theatre space, and the other a studio, the final two were public areas, a corridor and an entrance hall, so I was a little unsure what we’d do with those, but the team pulled it off.

The first half of the week was spent painting flats and trying to build things, however the real week started to happen Thursday and Friday as everything started to come together and we were allowed to make a mess in the public areas. By 18.00 there was still a lot to do before the event, but with an hour to go, we managed to make all the necessary finishing touches (spread snow). Once our fellow students arrived and the night started, my work was done. I was left to wander around, checking that everything was going ok which was quite relaxing really. It meant I got to have a good look at all the venues with LX and SND which was nice. I think the highlight of the event for me was having two Stormtroopers as people entered the venue as it made the space more than just a set and the guys in the costumes were brilliant!

As soon as the event was over, the two public areas had to be cleared, and within 45 minutes, there was no sign of Hoth (google it) or Cloud City (again, google it). Finally Saturday was spent properly clearing up and binning things, including the X Wing which the MA Designers had built (I helped cover it in fabric and paint it, but they did all the real work), which was very satisfying to take apart. By 18.00 we were done, with almost no sign of the event in any venue (bar six massive arrows on the floor which we need to paint over, but they can wait).

Doctor Who was the highlight of the week, which I really enjoyed, as it was very different to any other episodes, in the way that it was shot and narrated (can we have more like that please). Having thought that I may pop across to the Festival today (Sunday), but realized it would completely knacker me for the rest of the week, I’ve spent the day sorting everything out that I’ve abandoned for the last few weeks (washing, tidying, really boring things). Exactly what I shall do without meets about X Wings and Stormtroopers, I don't know!