Dear DWC Reader,
You are hereby invited to the Bedford Who Charity Con 4, taking place on Saturday 7th April 2018. In recognition of your clear discernment, good taste, and high intelligence in choosing to read The Doctor Who Companion, I’d also like to offer you 10% off the ticket price!
Bedford Who Charity Cons are relatively new on the convention scene but we’ve established for ourselves a niche for running friendly, relaxed, and informal events. Huge fun, with uniformly positive audience (and guest!) feedback. Here’s a comment on a previous one that’s typical (really!): “One of the best [Doctor Who] events I’ve been to. Warm and relaxed atmosphere, amazing guests and fascinating panels.”
Details of how to take up your ticket discount are below; a few more details about the event follow first.
WHO? Colin Baker (definitely Who!), Sophie Aldred, John Leeson, Angela Douglas, Mike Tucker, and Elen Thomas. Mike’s going to be doing a presentation on the effects for Thin Ice and for the new DVD of Shada, and he’s promised to bring some props too. Elen’s a newcomer to the convention scene; now a make-up artist, she specialised in playing aliens in the early years of nu-Who. She was an Auton in Rose, the female Clockwork Droid in The Girl in the Fireplace, one of the original Weeping Angels in Blink, and a Futurekind in Utopia.
WHEN? Saturday 7th April, 10am to 5.30pm.

WHAT? Charity Doctor Who convention. Huge fun. Last year’s DWC review (no, I didn’t bribe them!) commented, “A ‘must attend’ event if you live anywhere nearby. Or if you live just anywhere, actually. Just make sure you get there… for a traditional style convention on a small and intimate scale that allows you the feeling of being up close and personal with the guests. In a good way.”
There’s going to be a mixture of interviews (with the audience asking most of the questions), performances by the actors, the chance to meet the guests, get their autographs and have your photo taken with them. The emphasis is on giving you a fun, relaxed, and enjoyable day… and raising a lot of money for charity.
The ticket price covers everything; there are no supplementary charges for any of the activities at the convention. Guests do charge for autographed photos; this is generally between £15 and £20. We also have a session where you can have your picture taken with the guests in exchange for a donation to the charity bucket, but there are no fees as such for photos.
WHERE? The Quarry Theatre, Bedford MK40 2NN.

• Bedford is about 50 miles north of London, easily accessible by train and by the A1 and M1. It’s about 45 minutes’ drive from the M25. People come to this convention from all over the country (and beyond – true!).
• London trains are frequent; fast trains leave from St Pancras and take just 35 minutes. Direct trains, too, from Brighton, Haywards Heath, Gatwick Airport, Luton, St Albans, Nottingham, Loughborough and Leicester. Saturday day returns are good value (usually!); have a look at nationalrail.co.uk
• Economical and frequent bus services from Oxford, Cambridge, Buckingham, Bicester, Northampton and Milton Keynes. Again, Saturday day returns are good value.
• The theatre is in Bedford town centre, just five minutes’ walk from the bus and train stations.

WHY? Because we want to provide an enjoyable day for Doctor Who fans.
Also, once we’ve paid off our costs, everything raised by Bedford Who Charity Con 4 will go to Bedford Foodbank. They provide emergency food for local people in crisis. Every month, some 600 children and adults receive three days’ nutritionally balanced food supplies; the Foodbank also provides nappies, toiletries, and sanitary products for people who need them. And they give small grants to those who need help with electricity and gas (not much point in having food if you can’t afford to cook it).

Each Bedford Who Charity Con is a major fundraiser for Bedford Foodbank; we raised £2700 for them last year. The conventions come under the umbrella of The Tobias Vaughn Philanthropic Foundation (Dedicated to the Advancement of Mankind). The Foundation has, indeed, raised £11,400 for the Foodbank since its inception.
We couldn’t have done this without the generosity of Doctor Who fans, and we’re hugely grateful to them.
We hope all this makes you want to come to the con!
If you do, and would like to take advantage of the 10% discount, please email me (Simon Danes) at info@bedfordwhocharitycon.co.uk and I’ll forward you the details of how to pay. You can only access the special offer by contacting me directly; the theatre sells tickets too, but they won’t be able to service the special offer, you see. To qualify for the discount, please mention in your email that you read about the event on The Doctor Who Companion.
Prices are:

Adults: £42.50 (less 10% discount: £38.25)

14-18 year olds: £22.50 (less 10% discount: £20.25)

Under 14s: £15 (less 10% discount: £13.50)

Family Tickets (bona fide family parties only, please, and children must be under 14):

1 adult and 1 child: (£50 less 10% discount: £45)

1 adult and 2 children: £55 (less 10% discount: £49.50)

2 adults and 1 child: £80 (less 10% discount: £72)

Additional children under 14: £8 each (less 10% discount: £7.20 each)

Children under 12 are very welcome but must be accompanied by an adult, please.
And finally: Hope to see you there!