Back in November,
1988, NJN - New Jersey Network - held a special event in
Newark, New Jersey at the Marriott Hotel in Newark
International Airport to mark the silver anniversary of the
series, and I was one of about 500 people to attend, back
when I was 16 years of age.
The first I heard of
the event was by a short advertisement shown on my NJN
station - channel 50. This was shown following their weekly
broadcast of Doctor Who for several weeks on
Saturday nights. I seriously doubted that I could convince
my father to allow me to attend. Much to my surprise he
did, and even paid for the entrance fee, which was $15.
When the ticket arrived, enclosed within was a description
of a raffle being held, the grand prize for which was a
trip for two to London. My mother saw this and gave me an
additional $5 so that I might enter.
A number of things
still remain in my mind regarding the Saturday of the
convention proper: having Tom Beck take my ticket, viewing
The Making of Doctor Who on a hugh projection TV,
seeing the first few minutes of Remembrance of the
Daleks Part One on a camcorder viewfinder, and chatting
with a few fans whom I'll probably never see again. Oh, and
about that raffle: I did enter; however, I did not win the
grand prize. What I did win was a free stay
overnight at the hotel, and breakfast the following morning
with the guests, Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, as well
as NJN producer Eric Luskin and 19 other winners and any
guests they might invite.
Unfortunately, having
no money meant that I couldn't afford to eat anything, so I
found myself drinking about a dozen glasses of water from
the sink in my hotel room's bathroom. For food, I ate the
little Andes candies left on the bed by an anonymous maid.
For some reason, the TVs in the hotels could not receive
NJN, so I could not see Sophie Aldred during her pledge
appearances. To this day I have not. Is there any kind soul
out there who'd be willing to make me a copy? :-)
The following
morning, after a restless and hungry sleep, I awoke, tried
my best to make myself appear presentable, and went
downstairs to eat like a proverbial pig. Sylvester McCoy
didn't arrive until about a half hour after Sophie did,
since he was incredibly tired - there are some pictures in
the book Ace that were taken that night... All in
all I enjoyed myself, despite the torrential rain that was
falling when my father arrived in his trusty blue K-car to
pick me up shortly afterwards.
I still have the card
which announced me as a winner. Sophie Aldred kindly
autographed it at breakfast. To see it, click here.
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