I was very fortunate to be able to attend the Entertainment Media Show at Earls Court in London on Sunday 2nd October, in which the lovely Georgia Moffett was one of the guests.

I will confess that one of the main reasons for going was the chance to meet David Tennant, and EMS was the first proper event he has ever done. When Georgia was announced mere minutes after him I knew I had to go because I am not just a David Tennant fan, but I am a Georgia Moffett fan as well and have been for quite a few years. I knew I had to go. On top of that two other guests were the lure for me as well: Alex Kingston (who sadly had to cancel) and Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper in Torchwood).

I arrived at Earls Court just after 8am and as I had booked Early bird tickets, I joined the queue and waited for 9am to arrive. As soon as I made it into the hall I made straight for the queue where virtual queue tickets for David Tennant were being handed out. He was one of the few guests that I saw that you were given a number for and had to wait for your number to be called before being allowed to join the proper queue. I was number 398 and at that time they were only letting in people with tickets numbers 1-20. I decided to walk around the hall and get my bearings before going to meet other guests.

David was separated from the other guests, in his own little cubicle so you couldn’t see him at all and this was due to the expected amount of people who wanted to see him and possibly for his own protection. All the other guests sat at a row of tables along the back wall with posters stuck to the wall behind them declaring who they were and what they were known for. Georgia was quite centralised, sitting beside Ian Mc Neice (who plays Winston Churchill in Series 5 and Series 6 of Doctor Who) and on her other side was Anneke Wills (an old companion in Classic Doctor Who).

First I bought 6 autograph holders as I had hoped to at least obtain 6 autographs that day.

First on my list of guests to meet was Georgia Moffett. The lovely and talented Miss Moffett. She had a short queue forming for her but she was not on a ticketed system so I joined the queue while my mother collected a Virtual Queue ticket for Eve Myles who was on the same type of ticket system David was. With my ticket in hand for Eve, I started to move up the queue for Georgia Moffett.

I had already decided upon 2 autographs from Georgia as I wanted one from The Doctor’s Daughter and one from Merlin. I also hoped that I could get David to sign The Doctor’s Daughter promo picture of Ten and Jenny as well so I would have a joint pic of both their signatures. The Merlin promo had Bradley James (Prince Arthur) and Georgia as Lady Vivian on it.

What can I say about the lovely Georgia? I have always admired her as an actress and it was an absolute pleasure to meet her. She asked me my name which I told her and she said it was a lovely name.  She asked me if it was my first time at an event and I said ‘yes it was’ and she said that she hopes I have a lovely time and enjoy looking around. She signed both my pictures, personalising them The best thing about this encounter was that I can remember talking to her. I can recall telling her that I thought she was brilliant in Doctor Who and Merlin and that she was a brilliant actress. I wish I could have said more to her but my mind kind of froze as I realised that I was talking to Georgia Moffett.

If I hadn’t have clammed up I would have gone on to say that The Doctor’s Daughter made me cry and that her performance in it was astounding and that she has great comic timing as demonstrated in White Van Man. Hopefully there will be another opportunity for me to tell her that in future.

I then thanked her and said it was real pleasure meeting her. She replied back ‘thank you’ and I left the table.

Two fun facts are that I noticed was that Georgia had a Tenth Doctor action figure guarding her can of coke. The second fun fact is that Georgia has a thing for pens, or seemed to, as she deliberated over what colour she should use for each picture. She had a choice of black or silver Amusingly, when I met David later on he did the same thing!

Georgia was absolutely lovely and a real gem. I could have stayed talking to her for ages!

It was nearing 10:30am and Georgia’s photoshoot was about to start so I made my way over to Photoshoot Area B where Georgia was due to arrive any minute. I joined the queue and I estimated there must have been about 100 people who were waiting for a photo with Georgia already and more were piling in behind me.

The queue moved quite fast and soon it was my turn. Georgia greeted everyone with a ‘Hello, How are you?’ but with me she recognised me from the autograph table from ten minutes before and added: “Hello, Good to see you again!” I was absolutely thrilled that she recognised me and it felt very surreal to be standing next to her and having my photo done with her. I stood there for about 15 seconds and the photographer checked the photo before saying I was all done and Georgia said: “Have a nice day” and I said “Thank you” before leaving the photoshoot area. This was not the last of Georgia that I saw that day however I will come back to that later.

After the Georgia photoshoot I went to check to see what number David Tennant’s autograph queue and got to and he was only accepting numbers 1-150 and since I was number 398 it boded well that David was taking his time with people though I understood that they had given out 999 virtual queue tickets in total so they would probably have to start rushing people through if he kept taking his time.

David’s photoshoot was due to start just after 11am in Area A and I had quite a low number for that so I figured I would wonder over to Eve Myles first while I waited around. I was able to join the queue as my virtual queue ticket for Eve had been passed. Like Georgia, I selected two autographs, one from Torchwood and one from Eve’s appearance in Merlin. Eve Myles is lovely.

When I approached her I told her that it was really nice to meet her and that I loved her in Torchwood and in Merlin. I think I managed to have more of a conversation with her then I did with Georgia. Eve was really nice and said I was very sweet. She saw my mum hovering there with a camera and asked if I wanted a photo with her. I said ‘yes’ and Eve leaned over the table and my mum took the photo. She was so nice. Again I went away wishing I could have said something more!

After meeting Eve my mum and my other friends who I had met up with for the day went and found a quiet corner to sit down in since two of us were due for David’s photoshoot and we figured it would be better to sit down and wait. They were calling his numbers in batches for 50 and I believe the amount of photoshoots David did in the whole day was 1299.

He had an hour allocated each for his photoshoots as they had to split them up, thankfully I was in the first batch and it wasn’t long before I was allowed to join the queue. I was number 283 for David’s photoshoot. I left my mum and friends since I had the lowest number and joined the queue, feeling quite nervous as I had hoped to meet David at his autograph table before the photoshoot however since that queue had been moving so slowly I realised that the first glimpse of him I’d have would be at the photoshoot.

I am a very big David Tennant fan. He was what got me interested in Doctor Who and I had seen him in Much Ado About Nothing during August but had not had a chance to say a word to him though I had done the stage door but had clammed up. As I moved up the queue for the photoshoot I got my first glimpse of David Tennant. The queue was moving quite fast and soon there were only about 10 people in front of me.

David was courteous and lovely to everyone, saying ‘hi’ to everyone and putting his hand on their shoulders. There were a few people he said a few things too, mainly because they were in costume and he was impressed. There was a man dressed as the Fifth Doctor, carrying a small boy, who seemed very shy or didn’t really seem to understand what was going on David remarked how he liked the guy’s costume and said he loved that Doctor. The photographer remarked at the end of the photo how the man had a handsome little boy which David agreed with.

Then it was my turn and I stepped forward and David said ‘Hi’ and I’m sure I managed to mumble something before I was standing next to him and his hand was on my left shoulder. I smiled for the camera and the photographer had to check the image before sending me away but to my surprise they had to take the photo again which meant I got to stand next to David for longer which was very surreal and strange since I completely admire this man. The second image was fine so I was sent away in a complete daze, hardly daring to believe that had happened.

I admit I was all of a fluster for a long while after that.

When I had recovered and we’d had lunch, I decided to walk around the stalls and see what I could buy. There was a lot on offer and I ended up spending a lot of money on various Doctor Who pictures, as well as a David Tennant themed coaster which I couldn’t resist.

We went back periodically to see what number David had got up to in his autograph queue which he returned to after the second photoshoot had finished just after 2pm.

During our wait we saw a guy wondering around dressed as Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing which David had just finished performing in a month ago. I thought that costume was brilliant and so unusual and made him stand out. It was incredible to see what other costumes people had come as: one came in a TARDIS dress, another dressed as the Eleventh Doctor with a TARDIS on his head, quite a few Tenth Doctors swanning around… a River Song and I’m pretty sure I saw a Jenny as well! There were other people dressed up as Jedi, Stormtroopers, Darth Maul from Star Wars… and other people from sci-fi programmes and films. It was amazing to see how much work they had put into their costumes.

The photos from the photoshoot photos started to come back with Georgia’s arriving about 45 minutes before the first lot of David’s started to appear. I was thrilled to discover that because my photo with David had to be done twice I got two photos for the price of one!

Around 3pm my number for David’s autograph queue was finally put up on the board and I eagerly joined the queue. I originally was going to get two autographs from him but I simply couldn’t afford double the amount so I paid for one and took in my The Doctor’s Daughter promo that Georgia had signed earlier. I think I was in the queue for over 10 minutes before I was really in sight of David, sitting at his desk with an entourage of people guarding him.

From walking around the hall I was surprised to see guests walking around unaided or without someone watching over them, however only David and Georgia were escorted around at all times and a guard keeping watch over them at their respective signing areas and photoshoots which was probably a wise decision on the part of the organisers since a lot of David’s fans had come.  

We were not allowed to take photos of David past a certain point in the queue, and this was an excellent idea. Other guests did not have this restriction but it worked with David because it meant his autograph queue wasn’t being held up by people at the front taking photos of him and he was able to have conversations with people.

My time with David was brief, partly because the person in front of me was still talking to him when he was signing my picture however the curse of being unable to say anything struck again and I could not say a word! Unlike Georgia, David was not allowed to do personalisation’s so he just signed the photo however mum was my lifesaver by managing to engage David in conversation, asking him how his hand was coping after using it all day. David responded that “it’s holding up” and that “they were very easy to write with” however he liked to keep changing which colour to use for each person. He seems to be very easy to talk to and interested in what you have to say. I just wish I had managed to say something other than ‘Hello’ and ‘Thank you’.

We left David’s little cubicle and it was nearly time for the Doctor Who Talk which I had booked for which had Georgia Moffett, Caitlin Blackwood and Frances Barber (Madame Kovarian in Series 6) all taking part.

We got quite good seats and were able to see the three participants quite well. The audience could ask any question they wanted and some of the crew came round with a microphone and handed it to those in the audience who wanted to ask a question. I couldn’t think of a question so just sat back and listened.

All three of the participants were quite candid and relaxed.

Frances Barber was quite funny. When all three were asked if they had their own spin-offs, Frances said: “At Home with the Kovarian sisters“ which was hilarious and Georgia said “I don’t think I can think of anything that will top that! Dare I say Jenny Who?”

Caitlin was asked who her favourite companion was. She said “Sorry Karen, but it has to be Catherine Tate.”  This surprised me as I thought she would have said Karen Gillan since they are cousins! But it earned a huge laugh. Frances said Amy, but Georgia agreed with Caitlin and said “Donna. Gotta love Catherine Tate!” which earned another huge cheer.

Caitlin also revealed that her favourite Doctor was not Matt Smith, but rather David Tennant, which had both Frances and Georgia laughing since Caitlin has worked with Matt quite a few times.

Another person asked what advice they could give people hoping to get into the acting industry and how to go about it. Frances gave a really good answer about how she went to University and got a degree and then went from there, and then she turned to Georgia and said that she had a degree too, which Georgia added she didn’t have one and that instead she ‘had babies’. Caitlin couldn’t really give an answer to that question but said acting was something she definitely wanted to keep on doing.

Asked about funny moments on set, Frances was the first to answer, talking about when she had to peer through the port holes in Series 6 and it slid back quite fast, that the stage hand doing that movement, nearly took Frances’ nose off! Caitlin’s funny moment on set was the time in The Big Bang when Matt Smith bends down and picks her up from her suitcase which she is sleeping on and as he did so he split his trousers in two! Georgia debated over what to say but finally chose to say that when she tried on David’s coat to keep warm, she bent over and ripped it, and she couldn’t understand why she of someone at 5”2 could rip David’s coat when he is so much taller and had been wearing it for years and hadn’t ripped it. She added that David wasn’t that pleased…

Georgia was asked a slightly personal question about her Time Lord Family History, the questioner referring to the fact that her father played Doctor Who, and how she had played a Time Lord, and if her daughter, Olive, with David Tennant would follow on in her footsteps. Georgia dodged the question quite well and gave quite a simple answer explaining that: “She is too young to even begin thinking about that and that she wouldn’t force that kind of pressure on someone.” Georgia did add rather cheekily “not until she is about 5.”

Asked about what would be in their fear room (referring to one of the latest episodes of Series 6) Georgia responded that fish would be in her hotel fear room and Caitlin said the Silence.

Georgia was asked whether she would like to return and Georgia said that she would love to return but that it is all down to Steven Moffat. Caitlin added that she finds it difficult to understand Steven Moffat’s writing.

In answer to another question, Georgia mentioned she did a school project on Doctor Who when she was 6 years old which her dad helped with a lot… or rather he did the majority of it. She said that Peter thoroughly enjoyed making this project and it was probably one of the great father/daughter times she fondly remembers.

Georgia also mentioned her father shattered her dreams of becoming an undercover forensic scientist by telling her how can she be an undercover forensic scientist if forensic scientists are meant to be on the crime scene? She added that she always knew she’d be an actress though.

Finally asked what they would all like to happen to their characters, Frances said she’d like the Doctor to fall in love with her and both Caitlin and Georgia said they’d like their characters to be evil.

The talk ended and we all clapped for them and then because I had got everything I needed I left to go home.

Overall I loved my day. Highlights of it were getting to meet Georgia, David and Eve. I certainly hope this will not be my only time attending a convention and I hope to get the chance to meet the lovely Georgia once again.