The 30th annual Doctor Who convention, Gallifrey One, took place at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott February 14-17, 2019. This year’s headliners included the Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, as well as John Barrowman, who played Captain Jack Harkness, and Catherine Tate, who played Donna Noble.
Gallifrey One 2019 was a bit shorter for us, as we were only able to attend Saturday through Sunday morning. This meant we missed out on one of my favorite parts of the convention, The Idiot’s Lantern sketch comedy show that traditionally takes place on Friday night.
On Saturday morning, I dressed up in my 13th Doctor cosplay, and we drove in from Fullerton (north Orange County, for those not from the area). Traffic was light, so it only took 35 minutes. Upon arrival around 9:40am, we encountered a “Lot Full” sign at the Marriott parking lot. But when we told the parking attendant that we were guests of the hotel and checking in that day, he let us in and we were able to self-park (though it was admittedly difficult to find a parking spot).
We went straight to registration, and there were other people checking in as well. However, there were several volunteers checking people in, so we didn’t have to wait at all. Thanks to the light traffic and quick check in, we were able to make it to the first panel of the day in Program A, which began at 10am, with a couple minutes to spare. That panel was the interview with Tony Curran, who played Vincent Van Gogh in the Season 5 episode of Doctor Who titled Vincent and the Doctor.
Tony recalled that the first convention of any kind that he had done was actually Gallifrey One (back in 2012) and was glad to be back. Tony told us about when he was first offered the role, he inquired as to what aspects of Vincent Van Gogh’s life would be explored, and was glad that the episode also included the darker side. He reminisced about how Matt Smith and Karen Gillan were both still new to the show at the time, and how they had filmed the episode of Vincent and the Doctor in Cardiff and Croatia. He didn’t realize that the episode would have such a profound effect on people who are suffering from depression and mental illness. Tony commented that “there’s not much more you can ask for as an artist” than creating something that helps people.
The moderator asked Tony if he had done any research prior to his role as Vincent Van Gogh. Tony joked, “Obviously the Dutch accent was spot on.” In all seriousness though, Tony said that he read a lot about Van Gogh, and went to museums to see his work. Additionally, he read many letters that Van Gogh had written to his brother, Theo. Tony tried to convey Van Gogh’s humble nature through his acting.
The panel was also opened up for audience questions.
One attendee asked him to speak about his role as Datak Tarr on the Syfy TV series Defiance. Tony commented, “He’s a sociopath!” and acknowledged that he was a little different than Vincent. He recalled that it was a fun gig to get, and pointed out that the creator of the Dothraki language on Game of Thrones, David Peterson, had also created the alien languages on Defiance. Tony said that you have to learn the language phonetically, since it is made up. He told us about his first day on set, when he encountered a “Wookie” type character, and went on to recite his first lines from memory! The crowd cheered, as it was a very long phrase. It roughly translated to him saying something about breaking the character’s arm. However, when Tony put the Castithan language next to the English translation, he was surprised to see how much more text the Castithan language had as compared to English. Tony also told us about having to have his whole body painted white at 4:30am in January in Toronto “wearing nothing but a smile.”
Tony also talked about another role he would be playing soon in the CBS TV Series SEAL Team wherein he plays a character who has a traumatic brain injury. Much like Vincent, it’s not visible, and Tony pointed out how people who have non-visible injuries are treated differently.
He told a funny story about a young woman from the set he’s working on who had her phone battery die and got lost on her way to set. Tony told her that back in his day when he first came to LA, he had to use a Thomas Guide to find his way around. However, the woman had no idea what he was talking about. Tony turned to the young man next to him, looking for vindication, but he had never heard of a Thomas Guide either! At this Tony realized, “I’m an old bastard!”
As for the “Coffee or tea?” question, Tony said he drinks both. At the moment, he was drinking coffee, but he also likes to drink tea, specifically Earl Grey, which he takes with a dash of milk.
The question came up of what it was like to battle the Krafayis in Vincent and the Doctor, considering it was imaginary, so he couldn’t see it. Tony recalled that he had just returned from the U.S. and went straight from the airport to set to shoot this segment of the episode. Unfortunately, he had gotten food poisoning and had to have the cab driver pull over so that he could throw up! So then when he got to set, he had both jet lag and food poisoning, which isn’t a good combination, especially when you have to be in a harness, which is “quite tight,” and getting thrown around in it. In between each take, he wasn’t feeling very well, so they asked if he’d rather have a stunt double do it. Tony answered maybe for the back of him, but not if they wanted to see his “big ugly mug” while he was fighting the Krafayis. He added, “If I look terrified, that’s because I was.”
Another question was about Tony’s role in League of Extraordinary Gentleman and what it was like to play an invisible character. Tony answered, “It was great, because I wasn’t on set a lot!” Indeed, out of the six months of shooting the movie, Tony was only on set for 25 days. He recalled the first scene he shot, which was in a 14th century castle with Sean Connery, where he was wearing blue spandex from head to toe and his face was painted blue. “Everything was very tight,” he commented. Tony told us that while they were shooting, there was a lot of flooding in Poland and the Czech Republic. Ironically, the set of the Nautilus submarine became flooded under 15 feet of water. They all had to take a three week hiatus to wait for the flood waters to subside. But other than that, he had a fun time.
The final question brought up a theory about Vincent Van Gogh’s death. The theory was that rather than shooting himself, Van Gogh had actually accidentally been shot by a couple of hunters, but he didn’t want to get them in trouble, so didn’t report them. This was the first time Tony had heard of this theory, but he pointed out that Van Gogh’s death was not instantaneous, that it was a “glancing wound” and it took a little while for him to die. To answer the audience member, he did think it was within his understanding of Van Gogh as a person that his humanity would lead him to cover for the hunters.
With that, the panel ran out of time. This was the first time we had seen Tony Curran, and I really appreciated the message he kept reiterating about the importance of compassion and understanding for people with depression and mental illness. You can view more of our photos of Tony Curran at Gallifrey One 2019 at the bottom of this article.
After Tony Curran’s interview, which was a surprisingly short 30 minute interview (usually the panels are 45 minutes to an hour long), it was time for us to grab some breakfast. Being that there aren’t many options within walking distance, and knowing that Denny’s at 10:30am on a Saturday morning is a madhouse, we opted to eat at the restaurant at the hotel, which has a nice buffet. This restaurant, now called Social Market & Eatery (I can’t remember what it was called before), was under construction last year, so we were glad it was back this year.
Once we finished breakfast, we decided to go check on the status of our hotel room. I had already checked in on the Marriott app, but official check in time wasn’t until 3pm. However, we wanted to check with the front desk just in case they happened to have a room ready for us a bit early. Luckily, they did have a room, and we were able to unload our stuff and bring it up to the room, which was located on the 9th floor.
As we waited in the elevator lobby (as anyone who has been to Gallifrey One knows, it seems like those elevators take forever!), I spotted Walter Koenig, who was wearing a Babylon 5 hat, as he was there for the Babylon 5 panel (though he is probably best known for playing Chekov in the original Star Trek series). He noticed me recognize him, and we just smiled at each other as he passed. Then we finally made it onto an elevator, and who are we sharing the elevator with but Katy Manning, who played the Third Doctor’s companion, Jo Grant! She was absolutely delightful. She was wondering why it was so dark in the elevator, and grabbed my arm for support, then quickly realized it was because she was wearing sunglasses!
We had a little time before our next panel, which was at 1pm, so we stopped by the Con Suite (also called the Hospitality Suite) to pick up some drinks and snacks. This is a really awesome service that Gallifrey One provides, as there are all kinds of varieties of sodas, bottled water, tea, juice, chips, cookies, crackers, Rice Krispies treats, candy, and more, and attendees can just stop by and grab whatever they want. This is located on the lower level, next to the pool. There are couches and chairs in the suite, but it’s usually crowded, so we typically just take what we need and go.
Then we had some time to walk the Dealer’s Room, check out the silent charity auction, and visit the Art Show. We didn’t end up buying anything or bidding, but it is fun to browse all the various wares.
Stay tuned for more of our Galifrey One 2019 articles!
You can view more of our photos from Tony Curran’s interview at Gallifrey One 2019 below.
