David and Freema at HMV

[fairyd123]

So totally worth the 5 and a half hours of queuing:




So woke up at the ungodly hour of 4:00 a.m. and after some remonstrations with the taxi company (with the driver continually saying that he was parked outside my flat, which, not unless he was borrowing Bond's invisible car he wasn't) I finally made it to Oxford Circus at about 5:20 a.m.

Passed the people camping outside Virgin for the McFly signing (and how irritated must they be that the security people were still desperately trying to get rid of wristbands for their signing at 10:30 when my friend and I went in there!) before ending up in front of HMV ...and finding there was noone else there.

I knew I couldn't possibly be the first and before long I was accosted by a shout of "Doctor Who? " nods "Down here!".

I then went down a side alley to discover everyone queuing there behind barricades. A very nice Welsh lass (who poor thing had been there since 4 pm the previous day) took my name and wrote a number on my hand with sharpie (No 40.) Thankfully a friend of mine who I know from conventions arrived at the exact same time as me which at least meant I had some company in the queue. Found out that the people at the front of the queue had been there since 6:00 p.m. the previous day and had camped out.

And then we queued...and queued...and queued! Very long wait but the Welsh lass was hilarious, the security guard looking after us was entertaining (even if every time he wanted our attention he addressed us with "Listen up geeks!" )and we met some really nice people in the queue which frankly I think is what these sort of signing events are really all about. There were only 250 wristbands although they went a little slower than I had expected. I think a lot of people very new to this sort of event waited until fairly late to show so the majority of the wristbands went between 7 and 8. The last wristbands went at 8:30 with a few lucky souls sneaking in (there were 4 bands left and 10 people waiting - so they all got in). After that the guard started turning people away and I did notice a few tearful people complaining loudly to the manager at the front of the store.

We got our wristbands, went on a wander down Oxford Street, queued again (and met some more really nice people) before it was time to go into the store for the signing. The place was completely packed with loads of people behind barricades. As I had suspected when I found out that they were only handing out 250 wristbands Freema and David were only scheduled to be there for one measly hour! Which meant they rushed us through like you wouldn't believe. One item each (meant to be the box set but a few people cheated) and no photos which was a crying shame as I would really have liked a photo with David.

Anyway they were both lovely and David looked nicely dishevelled all unshaven in his Fratellis T-shirt and jeans. I went up there, he asked me my name and I congratulated him on winning the NTA award last week. He beamed and thanked me and I mentioned that I had booked for Hamlet and Loves Labours Lost and was really excited about seeing both. The rest of the conversation went like this:

Freema : You've booked already!
David: Oh see this just makes me nervous everyone telling me that.
Me: Oh people are really looking forward to seeing the plays - people are travelling from all over the world to see them.
David: Oh god don't tell me that!
Freema: cackles hysterically

Tragically that was about all I had time for before the burly security guard went to hurl me off the stage. So David thanked me for coming and I left. I felt very bad because David was first which meant that I spoke to David and by the time I'd finished talking to him Freema had already signed my set and I was being moved along. Which I think was happening to a lot of people. Hopefully she'll do a signing somewhere else and I can speak to her more then.

My photos were not great - too far back when they came out and being rushed along too much to get all that decent shots but what photos I took are below (I kinda like the ones of him against the big screen- they're unusual).

Comments

[kingbantam.livejournal.com]

How funny, the moment the thought "I wonder how the Tennant thing went?" popped into my head your post went up.

Glad it was worth the interminable wait. God I hope we won't have to do an overnight thing for the Maria event - I'm too old for that kind of nonsense!

[fairyd123.livejournal.com]

If we get tickets I'm not queuing overnight. I have no issue getting there say at 9:00 a.m. if necessary (and i'm still praying that I don't have a completion the next day in Cardiff which could completely scupper it anyway)but no way am I camping on Wood Lane in teh freezing cold!

It was very nice to meet him and he is genuinely lovely - am very keen on the prospect of trying to catch him going into the theatre in Stratford as I would really like a photo.

Just need John to sign my set now - his commentary with David and Freema on the last episode is great and Russell and David say lovely things about him on the Utopia commentary (he's also on the cover of the 6th disc) well worth getting.

[rivier.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if you'd braved the cold / horrible early start / prospects of encountering strange poodles! Glad it paid off, even if you have now added to DT's stage trauma, hee! I'll have to see if any of my local friends can pick up the goss about which pub(s) he might be hanging out in during the run - they can't ALL drink in the Mucky Duck!

Hmmmm... Wonder if JB might be doing a signing for the Torchwood boxset? That would be neat - if so, I might just have to join you in the queue for that. Mind you, if it does happen, that would be right after the hell that will be Pointgasm, right? Too Much Fandom! My anatomy will explode.

[kingbantam.livejournal.com]

Amazon told me mine was dispatched 2 days ago but I'm still waiting...:( Supernatural series 2 Box set turned up though *Yay*

Might try and catch DT in Stratford - long time away, it will be cold in Nov and must confess I'm not that big a DT fan anyway myself.

My days of camping ANYWHERE are long gone. SO unless he's going to join me in my sleeping bag (and bring Scott too *LOL*) I suspect it will be early morning for me too.

[kingbantam.livejournal.com]

Though everyone did drink at the Mucky Duck in Stratford actually - Is there another pub *LOL*?

Might get a JB CD signing first - she said hopefully.

[kingbantam.livejournal.com]

that's *thought* not though :)

[rivier.livejournal.com]

::laughs:: True, most of the luvvies seem to, bless 'em! But there are a few other options - mind you, it's nowhere near as well stocked for nice old pubs as my home town. Stratford got the culture... we got the legacy of being slap-bang on the medieval drover's route from Wales to Kent. Thirsty work, cattle-herding!

[jwaneeta.livejournal.com]

the security guard looking after us was entertaining (even if every time he wanted our attention he addressed us with "Listen up geeks!" )

Ha! Awesome.

Thanks for the report -- next best thing to being there. :D

[krazykipper.livejournal.com]

Wow. Sounds like you had fun anyway.

[fairyd123.livejournal.com]

Well it was his first signing anywhere (instead of him simply appearing at an awards show where you have to battle 6 ft tall German autograph hunters to get near him) so it was completely worth the early start and the 90 minute wait later on behind a woman who clearly hadn't bathed in 6 months.

I should warn you all now that I do want to try and catch him going into the theatre at Sratford as I really want a photo with him (and a signed 10 x 8)because I think the stage door may be manic.

I would love it if JB were doing a signing for the set or his new album but it seems a bit late in the day now with nothing announced.

[oh-mumble.livejournal.com]

Heh, you passed me then! We camped overnight for McFly. But, not irritated in the slightest that we didn't need to, the camping is half of the fun. Idk, it's a bit difficult to explain.

[fairyd123.livejournal.com]

Ah hell if camping is part of the fun then that's all good! There were quite a lot of you I noticed - and they weren't quite as organised as HMV was in terms of getting people out of the way of the front of the store.

Hope you got all the autos and photos you wanted.

[oh-mumble.livejournal.com]

It's like... idk. I was talking about this with my friends last night after we got home, and it's not something that you can actually explain. It's weird. But awesome. We camped across the front of the store because we didn't know where to go, but at 7.30 they walked us down to the side doors to get wristbands so we wouldn't be in the way on the main road. HMV are better at organising, but then, they have Shrek to do it and he is awesome.

I did, thank you :) Even sneakily got my tourbook signed! Was thinking of coming along to the DW signing after getting my wristband cos my friend was going along afterwards, but was too tired and I am not dedicated enough, heh.

[tatiana-baa.livejournal.com]

I like your photos. He looks really cute. Sounds like a good experience, all told. I'm rather impressed with HMV's organisation.
'Listen up, geeks' - that's hilarious!

I didn't even know about this, I've been too busy with work! I don't have the box set yet, it seems pointless to oder it when I'll be working abroad for the rest of the month..

Hang on

[rayden54.livejournal.com]

Is that the U.S. boxset?

Re: Hang on

[fairyd123.livejournal.com]

It's the back of the UK set. The front is a picture of the Doctor and the Master back to back somic and laser screwdrivers in hand. But as Freema was there it wouldn't have been very polite to have asked her to sign the front (which doesn't feature her) even though its a better picture of David - so everyone got the back signed.

Re: Hang on

[rayden54.livejournal.com]

I wonder what ours looks like then. I'm a bit jealous either way. I live in the wrong country to meet them.

Oh. I've heard that the U.S. edition has the podcast commentary for the last episode (even though the inserts say otherwise).

Does the U.K. one have the new D.T./ M.A/ J.B. Commentary? Or is it just a phantom.

Re: Hang on

[fairyd123.livejournal.com]

I think the front of your set is the Martha/Doctor picture.

Yes the UK set has the David/Freema/John commentary on Last of the Timelords and very funny it is too.

Re: Hang on

[rayden54.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but it's the back I'm wondering about.