Posted by It’s the sixth year of this little seaside towns annual celebration of science fiction and general television! And Temple of Geek was there for the first time to experience this small town Sci-Fi event. It took place on Sunday the 17th of June this year! Sci-Fi by the sea is a local con in the English seaside town of Herne bay, in the county of Kent, nestled in the southeast corner of the United Kingdom! Running for one day each year, this little celebration of Sci-Fi punches above it’s weight indeed!
THE VENUE: AND A SLIGHT HISTORY OF HERNE BAY!
The venue is the playing fields at the back of Herne Bay Junior School in the town. Herne bay is a seaside town situated in the county of Kent, England. It is the hometown of Doctor who writer Anthony Coburn, who was born in Australia but came to live in this little town whilst working on Doctor who! Anthony was involved in the early development of the worlds longest running science fiction show.
Coburn worked closely with the series’ first story editor, David Whitaker. They established the format and characters of the show. It is rumored that Coburn developed the idea for the Doctor’s travelling companion, Susan, to be his granddaughter. This is due to him being disturbed by the possible sexual connotations of an older man travelling with a teenager who was not a relative.
Four full serials were written for the program by Coburn. Those serials were An Unearthly child, The Robots (also known as The Masters of Luxor) and two other unnamed scripts. An Unearthly Child was the only one ever produced and it happens to be the first Doctor Who serial to be made. This was despite both Coburn and the production team’s having disagreements about the serial’s prehistoric settings. The Robots was delayed and then put into production but ultimately if was rejected. It was because of this that Coburn decided to severe all links to the show. (Courtesy of Wikipedia).
THE GUEST LIST
There was a small array of actors from doctor who,Torchwood,Game of thrones and the Doctor who spin off Class! John Leeson (K9 doctor who). John did the voice for the Doctor’s companion K9, firstly with the 4th Doctor(Tom Baker). John has reprised the role of K9 many times over the years.
Matthew Waterhouse: Matthew played the companion Adric alongside the 4th and 5th incarnations of the Doctor!
Gareth David-Lloyd: Gareth played Ianto Jones in the Doctor who spin off Torchwood. He also appeared in the doctor who stories,Stolen earth/journey’s end at the end of season 4!
Adjoa Andoah: Adjoa played the role of Martha jones’ Mother (Companion to the 10th doctor who) in the show. Adjoa is an accomplished author and an exceptional Royal Shakespeare company trained actor too!
Greg Austin: Greg played the role of Charlie smith in the Doctor who spin off class. Greg also played the role of Gordon Selfridge on ITV in the uk show Mr Selfridge too!
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THE COSPLAY AND PROPS
The event had a vast array of costumers and TV/Movie props too! Many different shows and movies were covered on the day, both by the costumers and exhibitors. You’ll see We’ve mainly focused on the the Doctor who cosplayers, but there were many impressive cosplayers from all fandoms of TV and movies. But there is always a large contingent from the Whoniverse at this particular event!
The Delorean from Back to the Future
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THE WRITER’S PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
And a few encounters with the various costumers and guests on display.
THE EVENT AREAS
The event had a various array of stalls selling all kinds of geeky and sci-fi related memorabilia/collectables.
There were things from Chewbacca cupcakes to full replica props to be bought at the event. There was also many interactive areas for gamers and lovers of all things geek related too! Most of the actual props on show were interactive to the paying event attendees, which adds a lovely touch to the paying publics overall experience of the day as a whole.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE
At this point we are going to give a special mention to the Autism All-stars! The charity is for the support and wellbeing of Autistic children and their families! It’s a cause that is very dear to myself . As I have two Nephews with Autism and quite a few friends too!
IN SUMMARY
The overall event is nowhere near as big as many events around the UK and the World! But what the event lacks in size,it more than makes up for in it’s friendly and fun environment indeed! This is the first time we have covered Sci-FI by the sea, and it is a thouroughly recommend event for anyone who likes that intimate and fun side of science fiction. We will be returning for the next installment of this great one dayer, around the same time next year!
If you attended or participated in this event, please share your experiences of the day!
All photographs, unless otherwise stated, are taken by members of the Temple of Geek team!
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