Doctor Who UK Tour 2010 - Sunderland

Yesterday I visited Sunderland Uni for the Doctor Who UK Tour 2010, and frankly, it was marvellous. I thought I'd do a blog post to tell the world about the fun times had by the true fans, not those kids sitting watching The Eleventh Hour (bless them).

Arrival, Confusion, and Joy

When I arrived it was between 5 o' clock and half past. I wandered around (and I thought of Matt's face [get it?]) until coming to the Prospect building. I was told that it was a closed event, and I asked "The whole thing?" as that didn't sound right, but one bloke said if you go round the back you'll see them come in. So, I thought "Oh, right. *facepalm*" as that made sense and made my way round the back, where I found a gathering of fellow Who fans. Now that was a joyous moment, to find I wasn't alone.

The Wait For The Doctor To Appear

And so I met people who shared the same passion for this awesome show as I have. And thus began the long wait. The first feature of amusement was the awesome Jack bear:

 
The bear, owned by the awesome Abi Sanders (who is also responsible for some of the photos you see on here) would go on from that silent vigil to stand next to the Doctor himself, but more on that later.

So, we fans chatted for a bit and had some fun. After getting into a conversation about sex on the TARDIS and playing around with Sonic Screwdrivers, we were all too eager for their arrival.

Matt and Karen Materialise

Getting close to 6pm, the people in the Prospect building started hyping the kids up. Random Doctor Who music was playing (at a much louder volume than any of our phones could manage). We guessed that the Doctor's arrival was imminent, and some of us scurried closer to the river to see if there was anything.

I think it was just after 6 they came round. All of us outside were waving enthusiastically; Matt waved back. They passed us and went inside to a glorious heralding. Then the waiting game began again (yes, you just lost the game).

All I managed to get was a far-shot of their approach, but once again credit to Abi Sanders for the latter photo:

Left Out in the Cold, Scurrying After The Doctor, and Fun with a Bus

And so, with Matt and Karen now inside, we were left waiting again. After a while, a few of us took a trip round to the tour bus, and had fun taking photos with it. However, as we made our way round to it, we saw Matt and Karen walking on the outer walkways of the building. Oddly ,it seemed as though we were following them on the outside. Anyway, bus photos:

Look North To The Skies

And so we came back round and waited again. After a while we saw Matt and Karen come down to do the Look North interview. So, there we all were trying to peer in through the window from a distance. It must have been in between calls or something that Matt and Karen were walked around to the rear entrance with the broken doors, right near to where we were. We took the opportunity to wave at the first moment and Matt duly wove back.  He did seem to be on his phone most of the time though, most likely something to do with interviews and stuff that the official website mentioned.

What! These Guys Again?

During the Look North stuff, one guy came out and handily told us where to be to get our best chances of seeing Matt and Karen and getting autographs before they leave. After the weather ,we hurried round to the main square to get a glimpse of them on their way to the David Puttnam Media Centre. Of course, they walked straight by us! We didn't get any decent photos but it was still awesome.

We all then scurried around to the back of the building where we waited for them coming back out to the bus. On the way there we were given posters, which hinted at things to come.

While we stood waiting, we amused ourselves with more chat, anxiety, the awesome Jack bear, and everyone pointing up to the security camera shouting "We are coming!" in a Torchwood tribute. Even the police were getting involved. Photos below provided once again by Abi Sanders.

Moment of Destiny: Meeting the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond

Then it came to the destined moment, when Matt and Karen emerged and happily got stuck in signing autographs. Karen looked beautiful and was absolutely lovely. She even asked to borrow my pen to do someone else's poster before even doing mine. Of course I let her, 'cos she's awesome, (I'm never getting rid of that Sharpie now!).

Matt was truly epic and did not disappoint. He let one kid standing next to me get hold of his sonic screwdriver (what a moment!) before getting stuck in with autographs. Going around just like the Doctor would signing away, everyone giving a resounding "Thanks, Matt!") when they received it. He then got stuck in doing photos as well, of which you can see below. Thankfully, one of the lasses there got her dream and had that photo with Matt right next to her. This is also the photo I'm in, which I managed to jump in with my head above Matt's shoulder =D ) Matt also had a photo with Jack the bear. it was all over too quickly and before we knew it, it was time for them to leave. We stood there and waved them off, not knowing the historic moment that was about to happen.

The New Titles, first seen in... Sunderland.

As they left, the new titles came through to Matt, Karen, and executive producer Beth Willis. So they witnessed the new titles as they left my home town. What an awesome thing to happen.

What An Awesome Evening

So, after walking the long way round and meeting back up with everyone, I talked a bit with them and one awesome guy. As they all took the Metro/whatever back to wherever they were staying, I walked across the Wearmouth bridge overjoyed, signed poster and postcard in hand.