Well, the day starts early if you’re on the crew of Bedford Who – Andrew (our genial stage manager), Tabi, Philip Bates [who he? — Ed.], and I arrived at the King’s House, Bedford, at 7am for the get-in, as we crew people say. Daleks and dealers drifted in and Silurians, Sontarans, and Sutekh were unloaded from vans. My task was to provide the dealers with tea and croissants: a task well suited to my powers.

By about 8.30am, we were all set, and the first attendees started to arrive – some 250 in all by the time the event proper started at 10am. Lots of cosplayers: the Sixth Doctor’s costume was perhaps the most popular but there was a superb Cheetah person (from Survival) and Cyberman amongst the other Doctors and companions.

The guests arrived: Lisa Bowerman, Wendy Padbury, Nicola Bryant, Terry Molloy, Sarah Berger, David Banks, Mark Hardy, and no fewer than three Doctors: Colin Baker, David Bradley, and Jo Martin. I was wearing a new t-shirt featuring the original 1964 cover from Dr Who and the Zarbi and David Bradley asked me if the picture was him or Hartnell. I said it was Hartnell, but was a bad drawing and looked more like him; he laughed and said he didn’t think he looked a bit like Hartnell anyway and wondered why they had cast him…

Simon Danes, the convention organiser and genial host, launched into the panels. One USP of Bedford Who is that the attendees ask most of the questions and David Bradley was asked what the difference was between playing William Hartnell, playing William Hartnell playing the Doctor (both in An Adventure in Space and Time), and actually playing the Doctor (in Twice Upon A Time). David gave a thoughtful and considered reply, explaining that he had to be very respectful and as close as possible to Hartnell’s performance as the Doctor in the scenes in An Adventure in Space and Time in which Hartnell played the Doctor; he had more leeway in playing the First Doctor in Twice Upon A Time and didn’t have to copy off Hartnell’s performance. Sarah Berger (Rost in Attack of the Cybermen) talked about how uncomfortable her costume had been; she had to wear distorting lenses, a mask that covered her whole head, and a bubble wrap collar. The set was then drenched with dry ice and it crept up between her mouth and her face, so that she couldn’t see at all. Sarah said she watched the finished episode with her sister, and neither of them could work out which of the identical Cryons was actually Sarah.

The Three Doctors panel featured Jo Martin, David Bradley, and Colin Baker. Jo was asked if she would return to Doctor Who and gave such an ambiguous reply that many were left speculating that she would and will be in this year’s 2026 Christmas special. David Bradley was asked who should play the next Doctor Who: he laughed and said, “Me”.

Attendees queued to have their photo taken with the guests, who were all assembled on stage by the TARDIS. There is no charge for the photo but attendees are asked to put a contribution for charity in the buckets as they queue. “Don’t put coins in; they scratch the bucket,” said the resourceful Andrew, our stage manager. Simon reminded attendees that this photo call was an annual feature of Bedford Who, inaugurated at the first convention in 2015, and it had been Nicola Bryant’s idea – and Nicola was back today, eleven years later. We efficient stage people ensured that 250 attendees had their photos taken in an hour, and the photo call alone raised £2000 for charity. As last year, Bedford Who raises money for SMART, a charity which cares for the homeless in Bedford: a town of 165,446 souls (according to the 2021 census), of whom 500 are homeless.

I grabbed a sandwich for lunch. Tabi and I undertook the exciting task of ensuring that the lavatories were well stocked with paper towels. The café did brisk business. The guests fanned out to their autograph tables in the afternoon. Then the final events: a sketch – another USP of Bedford Who – and questions from the TARDIS tin. Colin Baker played the prosecuting counsel in the sketch, and Terry Molloy a man accused of saying that Doctor Who was a children’s programme. Other guests played the judges and joined in with gusto. There was some confusion when David Bradley and David Banks both said the same lines – Colin Baker pointed out that the script just read “David”.

5.30pm and time for farewells. Guests said goodbye and were thanked; the attendees left and said, again, how much they had enjoyed themselves. The crew did the get out (another stage management term): monsters were carried into vans and Daleks disassembled. The King’s House team started vacuuming the venue. At the final moments of the convention, Simon announced that Bedford Who 12 is to be on Saturday 10th April, 2027 and that Sophie Aldred and Sylvester McCoy are to be the start guests.

A few days after the convention, Simon posted that Bedford Who 11 had raised £17,189 for SMART: a record for Bedford Who and £88 more than the last highest total raised at Bedford Who 9 in 2024. If you would like to make a donation to SMART, please visit https://smartcjs.org.uk/

Check out the Bedford Who website at https://bedfordwhocharitycon.co.uk/

We hope to see you next year!