I cannot believe I have not mentioned this in my blog yet! The day I met companion to the third Doctor, Jo Grant! Or Katy Manning as she prefers to be called in real life.
I heard mention that she was going to be in a play at the Lyceum theatre in Crewe. As this was just down the road from me then I thought it was to great an opportunity to miss. I tweeted her on twitter to ask her when was the best opportunity to meet her and she said I would see her if I waited in the lobby after the show. The only snag here was that I knew when the show started but I had no idea at all as to when it ended! Being terrified of missing my chance I arrived way to early and spent the next hour or so walking around outside the theatre getting some strange looks. I'm a paranoid individual in nature and I was beginning to worry that my activities seemed rather suspicious so I retired to the pub round the corner to gather my wits and try to calm my nerves.
Not long after, I began to see some people spilling out of the theatre and so I finished my drink and got myself positioned in the lobby feeling like I was planning an ambush. Waiting with me were two other men, both quite a bit older than me. I assumed they were there for the same reason as me as I noticed that one of them had some Doctor Who DVD sleeves for Katy to sign. As I stood there all nervous and wet (it had been raining!), clutching my little notebook and pen I realised I was very much a novice at this autograph hunting and I was stood next to a master. I was pleased there were only a few people there as I had seen many autograph signings online and they sometimes turn into a free for all!
After about 10 minutes she came out to the lobby with Melvyn Hayes who was also starring in the play. The other two men descended on them first whilst I remained at the back and patiently waited my turn. I thought I was the most polite out of all of them really! I started to wonder whether I should ask Melvyn for his autograph too. Personally I didn't really want it but started to panic that I would seem rude to only ask Katy for hers.
Katy was so so nice! She would have stayed and chatted with us for ages but unfortunately Melvyn was trying to hurry her away as they had to get ready for another show later that night. I began to panic that I had missed my chance but I managed to accost her and asked her politely if she would mind signing my notepad. She did and smiled at me when I told her how great it was to meet her.
The guy with the DVD covers got a picture with her and then the other guy asked me if I could take a picture of him with both Katy and Melvyn to which Melvyn exclaimed "This really must be the last picture!" at which point my heart sank. Melvyn was in no way being nasty and I understand that they had to rush off but I really wanted a picture of me with Katy! It would have been a brilliant addition to this blog but alas, due to the fact that I had been to polite and held back to allow the other guys to get their pictures first then I had missed my chance! Not only had I missed my chance but I was holding the camera to take the final picture for the autograph hunter who had jumped in front of me!!! Argh!! I must admit that a spiteful part of me wanted to completely screw up the picture for him but I did my duty and took the picture and left.
Despite the disappointment of not getting a picture I had met a true Doctor Who legend. She even stroked my arm! And I had an autograph to prove it!
No comments:
Post a Comment