Doctor Who Am I (2022) - full transcript

An infamous Doctor Who screenwriter is reluctantly dragged back into the American Whoniverse, in this funny and moving documentary about finding family in the unlikeliest of places.

1963 was born below zero,

but it's the blessing

of our temperature--

...to the assassination

of President Kennedy--

Have you ever thought

what it's like to be wanderers?

I'm the Doctor.

The definite article,

you might say.

I'm half-human

on my mother's side.

Who are you?

I'm not running away

from things,

I'm running to them.

But there is a sidekick, proper.

Fifty of them.

Millions of people

have watched it in 75 countries.

- How's it feel?

- 94, I was told.

- Oh, 94.

- Hello, Albert Hall!

Stand back.

This is my film school

graduation film.

45 minutes of crap.

More scripts. Oh!

The very first draft

of The Emperor's New Groove,

when it was called

Children of the Sun.

Oh, my God! Floppies.

- Do you want this?

- Jesus.

It's like I was on the run.

I got the lid,

'cause I have the pot.

Okay.

Finding this in the query pile?

This would be just like

the meetings that we have,

but with George Lucas.

Oh, United States.

No. Denial.

Oh,

somebody gave me that.

Do you want it?

Not yet.

-This is relevant.

-It's like Christmas.

Doctor Who: Regeneration.

This is all about my--

my Doctor.

And, um,

it's written by Phil Segal,

and he says some deeply personal

stuff about me in here,

which is totally inaccurate.

I was just a hired hand,

I was a writer,

who came up with a good idea,

which was, "Let's have

the Doctor lose his memory,

and then have to try

and work out who he is,

and that will introduce him

to the American public."

Yeah,

really bad special effects.

That light's meant to be coming

from his eyes,

instead of him sitting up

and peering

into my storage unit.

Doctor Who was conceived

as a children's show

in 1963,

about a Time Lord

from the planet Gallifrey,

who travels through time

and space saving people.

And his spaceship

is called the TARDIS,

T-A-R-D-I-S, Time and Relative

Dimension In Space.

It's bigger on the inside.

He's an alien,

he looks like a human,

but he has two hearts.

You also can't kill him.

He regenerates

and comes back to life

as a different Doctor,

but the same Doctor.

He's had about 12

or 13 lives so far,

maybe 50, who knows?

Depends

when you're watching this.

I wrote the Eighth Doctor,

played by Paul McGann.

Since the BBC

abandoned the show,

nearly a decade before,

my job was to write

a TV movie pilot

with the hope

that it would spawn

a new American

Doctor Who series.

So we had Paul McGann

as the Eighth Doctor,

we had Daphne Ashbrook

as his companion,

we had Eric Roberts

as the Master.

We were sure this could be

a long-running show.

But our big mistake

was to make the Doctor

half-human.

The Doctor is half-human!

No wonder.

And we had him kiss.

-What?

-What?

What?

What?

Two fatal errors.

And it wasn't picked up

as a series.

I'd always assumed

that maybe the reason

he wasn't doing conventions

was perhaps he, um,

was feeling defensive

about fans asking questions

about the movie.

Bad Doctor Who is better

than no Doctor Who.

Are you saying,

then, you liked the movie?

'Cause if you didn't,

that's fine, too.

No, no, I di-- well, I'm aware

that the writer's

within earshot, um...

It was recognizable

as Doctor Who.

I didn't go to conventions

for a very good reason.

I thought

the fans would kill me.

But my longtime collaborator

and friend, Vanessa Yuille,

encouraged me

to accept invitations,

and indeed,

make a film about my journey

back into that world.

Now, opportunity had arisen,

and I needed the money.

People are gonna pay me

20 bucks for my signature.

And now I'm beginning to wonder

why I've never done this before.

But also, this is the budget.

So, over the next year,

Vanessa dragged me

to conventions in Los Angeles,

in New York,

and in and out of fans' homes.

Be nice.

It sounds like I'm the only one

at the table here

who actually saw your movie

the night

it was broadcast on Fox.

Well, I'm one of people

in America

that did watch it, you know?

We were hoping

this was the birth,

the pilot to a series,

that this was going to

launch us,

that Doctor Who

was going to be back.

I knew that Doctor Who

had been off the air,

they'd stopped showing it

on PBS,

and then this thing

was coming out

and it was new,

and people were excited.

There was a lot of enthusiasm

around the movie coming back

in 1996, um,

and people were really

putting all their hopes

into it leading

to a new TV series,

and I think a lot of people

were very devastated by the fact

that it didn't lead

to a series at that point.

It's 2005,

and the Doctor is finally back!

Christopher Eccleston

stars as the Ninth Doctor,

and he's ready

to save the world.

Since they brought

the series back in 2005,

it's just taken off.

Nobody really expected

Doctor Who to come back anytime

at-- at any point

in the near future.

And then when it did,

I think it was just--

it was literally

the second wind in a life.

- Hi, how're you doing, sir?

- Good, you?

Good.

It's a bit posey, isn't it?

I don't look like a dork.

- There you go.

- There you go.

- Yeah.

- All right.

Good compromise.

Put your hand down.

The movie bridges the gap

from the old series

to the new series.

And it's--

it's very much a forerunner

of what Doctor Who

has become now.

This isn't Comic-Con.

This is a very particular

kind of fair.

These guys are fanatics,

but they exist

within a special corner

of American fandom.

-Hi! Hi!

-How are you?

-Good, how are you?

-Good.

This is the thing,

this is like--

I'm not a celebrity,

I don't have fans,

but somehow, in this world?

I'm suddenly a guest.

- No.

- Here all on me own?

Well, then you come back there.

Right.

I mean, it may seem like

I'm a dickhead,

going around,

being followed by a camera,

but-- but really, um... I'm--

I'm hoping to deflect it

and find out about the fans.

This is the best place

to drown your sorrows.

You know?

They're 3000 Whovians,

and lots and lots of booze.

Ah, the American fans.

They are the diehards.

Balls-to-the-wall

kind of attitude.

All through medical school,

I was still kind of the--

the closet Whovian.

But, no, yeah,

we're just a normal couple.

We just got married

two years ago.

I'm special.

Please don't hurt me

because I am so special.

This convention,

Gallifrey One,

has been a part of my life,

my entire adult lives.

I was 19 when we started this,

and I'm 46 now.

I'm a-- I work at a restaurant,

I'm a food server,

and I also am a teacher

part-time, so, yeah.

Ooh.

Hello. And Piper's a baby.

There's a whole community

of people that do this.

That knit specifically

Tom Baker scarves.

And we sit there and talk

to each other and stuff,

and that I found

because this is what I did.

I found myself working in toys,

I worked in industrial design,

and then I ended up

in chocolate.

So Anna and I

are sign language interpreters

for an elementary

and a high school

from where we're from.

It's like, I will do anything

for anybody,

I wanna make sure

that people are okay

in their lives.

-And I'm Andrew Skinner.

-Andrew Skinner!

And that's a good

English accent.

Oh, thank you,

I live in Syracuse.

But I'd say

I'm the mad man with the box,

'cause if I had a TARDIS,

I would be all over the place.

It was very, very

in-the-closet, so to speak.

When we were growing up,

holding a Doctor Who book meant

"Please, please,

punch me in the face."

Um, "Please--

please reject me

every time I ask you out."

You know, it was kinda tough

to be a fan in the '90s,

because it was-- it's always

been a niche program,

but-- but even then,

it was, you know,

a niche within a niche.

Doctor Who fans

are the people that, uh, they--

the Star Trek fans

don't even appreciate very much.

But now it's--

it's grown and it's--

it's that freedom

to finally say,

"Yes, Doctor Who is a thing,"

whereas in Britain,

it's sort of always been there.

The Brits have been enjoying it

for 50 years,

and it's only been,

like, the last ten

that Americans

have really caught on to it.

I actually, um, well--

not from the States,

I'm from Canada,

so I think you have to

change the name

of your documentary

The-- the fans of America,

and one boy from Canada.

Okay.

It's like,

this is our little TARDIS

that's bigger on the inside,

the entire world fits in here

for a weekend,

-and then we all go off again.

-Yeah.

I love it.

Doctor Who has helped

a lot of people

find who they are.

Beg your pardon, sir.

"Doctor Who am I?"

It's like identity.

It's a line from the Doctor Who

movie, of course.

"Doctor Who Am I?"

was the pitch

that I made

to get the 1996 movie.

It's a very iconic moment.

Um, it's a divisive moment.

Some fans love it,

some fans hate it.

The Eighth Doctor

just regenerated,

and he's in the shroud--

the Shroud of Turin,

as I call it.

And he falls down to his knees,

he doesn't know who he is,

and he says, "Who am I?"

At some point or other

in our lives,

we all ask the same question.

Who am I?

There haven't been

too many conversations about

where Matthew is.

But that's because people

seem to be more concentrating,

I think,

on the kind of Doctor, right?

And-- and the stars.

So, then you came to the States

in 1990--

-Two.

-Two.

Or three, yeah.

1992, 1993.

Are you an American citizen?

No, I'm a resident alien.

But that's just 'cause I'm lazy.

I could be a citizen.

-Um...

-Would you be a citizen?

Well...

There's so much marketing.

It's just,

America is in-your-face

with the marketing,

I mean, everywhere you go,

you're gonna see

David Tennant's face everywhere,

because they know--

they know how to sell things

here as well.

And they're just very,

um, visual about it.

Okay,

Daleks have no gender.

- That's right. They're pulsing.

- Genderless.

American conventions, you have--

you have fans

re-enacting things in the lobby,

you've probably seen groups

of people crowding round Daleks

and people striking poses

and having photographs taken.

That doesn't really go on

at UK conventions.

So what do they do?

Uh... ...hmm.

American fans

are very enthusiastic.

They like to do cosplay,

they like to dress up,

they will wear a t-shirt, I--

I did a couple of conventions

in the UK,

and it looked as though

they had just rounded people up

at the bus stop and--

and sent them in.

No--

hardly anybody wore costumes,

hardly anyone wore t-shirts.

But here, almost everybody has

either a Doctor Who t-shirt on,

or a scarf, or something to do

with Doctor Who,

to proclaim that

they are a Doctor Who fan.

People come here

because they love this thing

that society says

you shouldn't love

as much as you do.

And then you're surrounded

by other people

who love it just as much,

if not more than you do.

So, in some ways, being a fan

is almost like

coming out of the closet

when you come to a convention.

Because you're allowed

to be who you are,

and you're allowed

to kind of experience

the things that

you want to experience, in--

in-- in the safe space

that you can.

We just have a couple more

quick announcements

we want to share with you.

I'm forgetting many,

many things,

and I can't see

the schedule here,

cause I'm blind as a bat.

Americans feel religion

so strongly.

Americans feel rights

and freedom so strongly.

So, perhaps,

that's why there's--

there's kind of

an unbridled feeling in fandom

in America, too.

In my opinion,

the American fan

is a particularly

more virulent species of fan.

They practically

destroyed Mark Twain,

Sherlock Holmes,

or any of those,

they're making them

into cult figures.

Oscar Wilde as well, actually,

he did an American tour

and had lots of fans

following him, yeah.

What did you want to talk about?

Oh, I-- I want to

talk about your movie.

Okay,

did you ever see the movie?

-Be honest.

-No.

- Okay.

- No, I-- I-- I wouldn't lie.

Oh, good.

Lot of people

haven't seen the movie.

Yeah, I don't have any hatred.

You know, people hate RTV,

people hate Moffat,

people hate,

with all due respect...

- No.

- ...your work.

- Oh, hello!

- How's it going? I'm Kevin.

-Hi, Kevin. Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

And you've got

the paperback version--

-Yeah, I got some questions.

-Yes?

We're gonna talk later

about the TV movie.

Okay.

Writer of the-- the TV movie.

1996.

Uh, first of all,

you seem like a nice guy.

Uh, the Doctor being half-human.

Is that you?

It was--

I wrote it in the script...

-This interview's over.

-...and then--

Yeah, I just wrote it off as,

"Well,

Fox must have wanted that,"

and-- and I just thought

it was--

- But it wasn't Fox.

- Yeah.

It was this guy,

I've learned this--

But what's your problem with it?

Oh, come on, he's the Doctor,

he's a Time Lord,

he comes from Gallifrey.

Ah, no, I hate it.

I remember

the criticism at the time

was it felt like Mr. Spock.

Cause Mr. Spock

was half-Vulcan, half-human.

Oh, yes, that's right,

I hadn't realized that.

So, maybe subconsciously

-I was ripping off Star Trek.

-There you go.

...and half-human

on your mother's side

is like-- is like saying

you're really Jewish.

Um, and there's a lot of

references--

I'm not Jewish, I'm half-Jewish

on my father's side.

You should write

a Big Finish audio drama

and title it "Half-Human."

We-- Yeah,

it would be a big hit.

It would be.

Because everybody would tune in,

you know?

They will be like--

they will be like,

"He has to hide

his half-humanness."

Just like,

you know, in Nazi Germany

you have to hide

that you're Jewish.

Do you see what I'm saying?

When will you pay attention,

you know?

And all those people

will think, you know,

and he can't admit

that, in fact,

he's not totally alien.

And then he turns around

and he says, "Wait a minute...

humans are aliens, too."

Yeah.

I have ventured

onto Tumblr, God help me.

These are people that

absolutely flat-out refuse

to watch any classic Who.

'Cause it's boring.

And they just keep nattering on.

"David Tennant, David Tennant,

David Tennant, David Tennant."

Do you watch the show?

Do you know

what the show is about?

You know, in very broad,

pretentious terms...

you-- after Jesus dies,

you start getting

religions and rules.

Now I will ask you,

the Doctor and Grace,

they share a kiss.

- More than one, actually.

- More than one!

We went through

decades of Doctor Who

with no kissing,

and suddenly,

"Oh, look at this!"

Well, maybe that's why

you were persecuted

in the playground.

-Ooh.

-See now-- See now--

I still like you as a person...

...but you, you know,

it-- it's not

to the George Lucas level,

but a little bit,

you destroyed my childhood.

As I was writing

that Doctor,

I was pouring myself

into that character.

I was pouring my experience

of the Doctor as a child,

and all the wit

and all the warmth

and all that sort of love

that the Doctor has of humans,

I was pouring

into this character.

And I was loving doing it.

I was putting myself

on the line there.

Someone wrote to me

and said...

"You've got it

the wrong way round."

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- I would--

- Don't need as long.

My Doctor, the Eighth Doctor

has been mainly on audio

- all these years.

- Right.

So, I've played

the Doctor on the radio.

You've been alive

for-- as a Doctor,

you've been alive for longer

than any other Doctor.

The longest

and the shortest,

it's become me.

The idea of coming

to these fan shows,

it's just-- I don't know, no.

- Same-- same here.

- Creepy. Weird.

Why would I want to--

I was invited on a cruise.

Cause it had a kind of--

it had a str--

it has a strange reputation.

And some of it's merited.

Um, and I thought,

"Well, I wouldn't enjoy that.

Why would I--"

So, I didn't do 'em

for a few years.

And when I did,

I really did enjoy it.

In a way, I mean, the simple--

I suppose,

the simple feedback, um...

it's just a pleasure.

Oh, you got the script!

I haven't even got

a copy of this.

I gave it to my son.

This is the first time

I started signing anything.

- Really?

- Yeah.

This is a real fan book

that you have here.

But Philip Segal

is the wonderful person

who's really responsible

for bringing...

- Right, right.

- ...the Eighth Doctor back.

-Did you want me to write in it?

-Yes, I did.

Or did you-- what--

what did you want me to write?

Well, there's this--

oh, there it is.

The Jacobs script.

- Jacobs script.

- The Jacobs script.

Dun dun dun!

I don't know

if you got the criticism,

and I know a lot of people

criticized the...

- What, the shoes?

- ...American--

no, the Americanization stuff.

We were making

an American film.

- Yeah.

- What can you do?

- Right.

- This.

So it's 15.

-Thank you so much.

-My pleasure.

Okay.

It seems to me,

that everyone

connected with this show

is trying to cash in

in some way.

I'm in the middle

of the dealers' room here.

There's a lot of rather,

sort of pathetic,

middle-level writers,

like myself,

and reduced us

to a narrative work.

They're enjoying the fact

that they're getting

this stardom.

And I-- it's happening to me!

I-- I feel that, too.

This is the Radio Times cover.

So it's all to do

with identity and ego.

And pissing contests.

I think, "Oh, my God,

am I part of that gang?"

It's kind of-- little scary.

-Nice to meet you at last, sir.

-Hey, nice to meet you.

You won't be coming

to a dinner tomorrow night?

-Yes, and I'll see you then.

-With-- with-- yeah, yeah.

All right. Brilliant. Thanks.

Oh, thank you, yes, yes, yes.

I just woke up.

Couldn't be better,

you sit at a desk,

people come over to you,

they tell you

how much they love you,

then they give you $15,

and then they walk away.

It's the kind of relationship

we all need.

A lot of people

don't give me $50-- $15, though.

They don't.

-They don't give me $15.

-Yeah.

-They just come up to tell me--

-Well, they give you 25.

Hi, I'm Daphne,

an actress and-- and-- oh!

Um, yeah, I wasn't gonna

be here this year,

because I figure, you know,

you can overstay your welcome.

This is Daphne Day for me.

Daphne's introducing me

to uber-fans.

Let's have the camera

cut that out!

For me, it was just another kiss

with another leading actor.

But it was a funny kiss.

And I'd never had a funny kiss.

I make him laugh,

and I don't know why.

I-- so, I--

you know what I think it is?

I think it is,

I'm always gonna make

a bigger fool of myself

in front of people with him

than he could ever,

so he feels totally safe

around me,

because he knows I'm always

gonna be the bigger idiot

in the room, and it works great.

It really works,

and I don't mind.

Yeah, it's really cool.

We're literally-- I've got

my script in the hand,

and we're just goin'--

A lot of people

don't buy a damn thing!

-How are you?

-I'm really good now!

Well, what can I say?

Life isn't complete

until I see you again!

They come up just to say,

"Hi, how are you,"

uh, "Good to see you,

love the show."

I mean, I'm tellin' you,

I have lots of people

that come up,

and I spend as much time

with those people...

-Same here.

-...that don't give me a cent.

I spend

just as much time with them

as I do with somebody

who came up with,

you know-- buying stuff.

- Hey there!

- Hey. I'm back.

Oh, this is hard to find.

And look at that.

"No sex, please, he's British."

No sex, please,

he's Matthew Jacobs.

Yes, okay.

Oh, I was gonna draw a penis,

but I don't think

that would be good.

- Maybe not.

- Oh. Okay.

- Sorry.

- Thank you very much.

And-- and that

was totally inappropriate.

-Nice talking to you.

-Thanks. See you later.

Nice talking to you.

It's probably embarrassing.

I was 18, and it was the most

exciting weekend

of my life up to that point,

when I got the video.

There you go,

so I wrote-- I wrote...

"To handsome Tommy D."

No, wait, two of you together!

The nature

of obsessive, zealot fandom

is something I'm interested in.

Yeah, cause there are people

that-- that's what they do.

- Yeah.

- All year round.

- Exactly.

- Every day.

And we're cogs

in that wheel...

-Yeah.

-...actually.

You know,

going to the conventions,

-um, we're cogs--

-We're part of the problem,

- are you saying?

- Yeah.

Yeah, we're part of the problem.

We're part of the problem.

We're enabling people.

Oh, now you're hangin' that

around my neck!

I'm in trouble!

These people are gonna hate me.

Cut that out, Vanessa!

- Ay.

- We're enablers.

We're enablers. Dude!

Uh,

it's nice to get out of LA.

I'm expecting

any minute to be shot.

You guys are terrible,

you snuck up on me!

Hey, Malaki.

Every fan has a story.

Every fan has, um,

an emotional journey.

And the deeper you go,

the more you see the kind of

creativity of fandom.

Wally

knew a guy named Bob Mitsch,

and Bob knew the Batman guy,

which was, uh, Scott.

-Who made this, Malaki?

-Malaki made it, yeah.

Oh, don't-- yeah, don't do that.

-Sorry.

-They don't move.

Uh, but if you hit

that black switch up top,

it does light up.

So we were already sort of

in the group, we didn't know it,

and then, yeah--

the circle started closin'.

I told Bob,

"I wanna do a cyberman,

because I-- you know,

everybody else is doing Daleks,

and I wanna do a cyberman

because I think

I can do that out of foam."

And he's like,

"You know, foam, what's that?"

And then I made one.

The following year we--

we were starting to up it,

we were like "Okay,

we need a bigger costume,

we need the-- the K1."

So I made that in about a week.

Do you think

you're a frustrated

-costume designer?

-No. No, I am not.

No, I am not, I am just a--

a very, very big fanboy.

Hey, look at that.

Okay. So.

I want to be able to be

that kind of person where,

yes, I can be serious,

yes, I can be funny,

yes, I can be, you know, stupid,

all at the same time,

and still,

you know, be accepted.

There's plenty of research

that ties the idea of play

both to childhood

and to fandom, and to adulthood.

Adults play

just as much as children play.

We just have

different names for it.

We call it,

in-- intermural sports,

or-- uh,

we call it a hobby, right?

But it's-- it's still play.

This is my own creation.

- Yes.

- And I'm basically

kind of a time fairy.

- Right.

- And...

I wanted to be able to make, um,

-the Doctors regenerate with...

-Oh!

...these,

that I would be able

to spin around them

and make them regenerate,

- and to fly through the vortex.

- Right.

A time fairy helps Time Lords

be able to regenerate

into their new faces.

- What have we got in here?

- Oh, I have Ross's head.

This is the--

that's quite heavy.

It's, uh, it's also made--

uh-oh, he's goin' for it.

-Here we go.

-No.

I've got--

my head's too big, yeah?

Uh, if-- if you want,

I-- I'm telling you,

it-- it'll go on, it stretches.

Get the back first, I got it.

-Right.

-Yup.

And then you pull it forward,

there you go.

Boom!

You should situate,

and your mouth will find the--

the little eyeholes

and the mouth hole,

so you can breathe.

And thi-- these were cut out

on the real one,

so I could see through it.

But wow. Yeah, there you go.

You're ready

to command the Daleks.

- You okay?

- Yeah.

Wait a second.

I feel strangely aroused.

Where'd you get the money

to do all this?

It's expensive,

let me put it that--

Uh, it-- it can add up.

It depends on the costume.

And how'd-- how--

what's your day job?

Do you have a d--

I mean, this is your day job.

At the time I did this,

I actually did, uh,

background checks for, uh, Uber.

This was my homage

to the gunfighters.

Says, uh-- you don't see it,

it got cut off,

but it actually says

Doc Holliday on the very bottom

-of the original graphic.

-Which was my dad.

Yep. Yep.

Doctor Who is present

throughout my life,

or my conscious life,

for the most part,

because it began in 1963.

The same day

as Kennedy's assassination,

and I was only about seven.

And my father was an actor.

His name was Anthony Jacobs.

He was

in an early Doctor Who adventure

with the First Doctor,

called "The Gunfighters"

in 1966.

How're you proposin' to handle

this little clamp matter?

What is your way,

Doctor Holliday, hmm?

Where the Doctor

travelled back

to the O.K. Corral,

and befriended Doc Holliday,

who was played by my father.

Oh, you don't owe me nothin',

mister.

You're my first customer,

you have this one on the house.

There was the mirror,

you know, the back of the bar,

and when they wanted

an over-the-shoulder shot,

they slid back the mirror

and the camera

would poke through.

And beside that camera was--

I was there as,

little ten-year-old.

They'd given me a chair

and in front of the chair,

they'd put a little TV monitor

of the selected shots.

It was my birthday treat.

And I had a set of cans,

and I was listening

to Rex Tucker,

who sh-- who was the director

up in the gallery,

calling the shots.

And of course,

for me it was wonderful.

You know, can you imagine,

it was like being there

with my two heroes.

This was my dad and the Doctor.

And my dad was the doctor.

Even more confusing.

Yeah, that was confusing,

it's account of

my fucked-up childhood.

So this is around the time

that I went with my father

to see him shoot Doctor Who,

and it's also trying to look

very much like hero.

This is my dad taking us

on a small vacation,

in a very small tent.

This is when I was writing

Young Indiana Jones.

And I took the boys on set,

and they met

Sean Patrick Flanery.

And they hung out

with Indiana Jones for the day,

so it was--

I was kind of doing for them

what my dad did for me

with Doctor Who,

which was-- was very sweet.

We haven't taken this camera

out of this house, have we?

Hi, Dad.

What have you got there, Josh?

-What's that?

-This is my new pocket knife.

It's got two blades, but, um,

I'm about to carve

Anthony Jacobs' initials

on-- on the tree outside,

after I've had one of--

after I've had a Pop-Tart.

Well,

this is my daughter, Piper.

We named her after Billie Piper.

And she's three months old

and this is

her very first cosplay.

She just came back

from her first convention,

San Diego Comic-Con,

we just got back from.

And, uh--

so she did really well.

She was on the floor

every day, all day long

with, you know, couple-- what,

it's what, 75,000 people a day,

something like that?

All the white noise,

all the people together

kind of kept her soothed,

-so, uh--

-She slept through a lot of it.

Yeah, she slept through a lot.

But she cosplayed every day.

This is all new for us.

We've only been doing it

for what,

- two years?

- Two, three years.

Yeah, the cos--

the cosplay aspect.

It kind of

jumped on us.

I made a costume for Halloween,

and happened to wear it

to WonderCon.

And it was such a hit

that we kind of went with it,

and then

it just expanded from there.

Her dress is really what got us

invited to Graham Norton.

I'm just gonna rest it

on my head, if that's safe.

What-- what that looks like?

At San Diego,

I literally ran into Matt Smith

in a hotel lobby.

I was gonna have this--

a tattoo project.

We picked the elbow,

which, thanks Matt,

I don't know if you've ever had

your elbow tattooed.

Where's-- where's that?

That's big.

The original idea was that

I was gonna do

the TARDIS sleeve,

and then if I ever happened to

run into David,

there's a blank space

in the middle of the vortex

there for his signature.

And this one's very readable,

- Peter Capaldi--

- Yeah, well,

it's also the newest, so it's--

it's, uh--

Oh,

that's why it's so sharp.

We talk about

the Doctor Who in you,

but you don't have

a Doctor Who in you,

- you have a Doctor Who on you.

- And all over me.

- Yeah.

- All over you.

Yeah, so I have--

I have every Doctor

except for Chris Eccleston

right now.

As a married couple,

it's-- for me, anyway,

I found that it's been important

to, you know,

when we find something

we're both interested in,

-to, like, hang on to that...

-Exploit it.

...and not let it go, ever.

Um, cause it's really,

you know, strengthened

our relationship considerably.

I feel like I'm just--

I'm just a huge fan

that loves this show,

and brought me so much joy

in my life,

and in our home.

Just like he brings joy to me!

I just got married last year.

Had a big fat gay wedding,

and when we walked into

the reception, it was like...

...kind of disco thing,

and everybody

was just on the floor.

They're like,

"Yes, finally, finally."

Finally!

Oh, my God! Come in this house!

- Aww.

- Look who's here.

- Great to see you.

- I'm in love

with being married.

We've been together, now,

almost 30 years, and, uh,

I've learned how to really

do this job

of being the husband.

- True.

- And I like it.

We've been in, I don't know,

two dozen movies together.

We love working together.

And we--

we're gonna do a count once

of how many times

we've killed each other

in various shows.

Here's my relationship

to conventions.

I go 'cause she tells me

to go for the fans.

And I had the best time!

I-- I effectively have fun,

because of the fans

are havin' a great time,

and they're dedicated!

I think what's interesting

about Doctor Who fandom is

it fills this hole

of belief structure,

that religion used to do.

The Doctor's belief

of the attempt of non-violence,

the bravery, and so, you know

you can meet the right person

and you know

that the people in the room

are the right people

because they share your values.

Fandom

can be kind of religious.

Mm-hmm.

And religion can be sought

by the fans of that situation,

which-- just weird.

There is a worship thing

that goes on,

there's no question about it.

But I think

that you can find that

in a million places.

Amen.

You know, we met the keeper

of the Holy Grail?

There's a lot of people

who have memorabilia from shows,

not just-- you know,

not just Doctor Who,

that are very--

like, this is mine.

You know, uh, I--

I don't feel that way, I-- I--

I think it's--

the responsibility is to share.

So, like, dynamic.

This is the only TARDIS console

in the United States.

And it's one of the only ones

in existence.

I understand what that means.

When we had

the Doctor Who movie reunion

at the Gallifrey Convention,

Phil Segal was there.

He thought

it had been destroyed.

And he was really

emotionally touched by the fact

that somebody had saved it,

and somebody had restored it.

He looked down and he said,

"Oh, you know,

I see you guys built a replica

of the Doctor's bag.

You know,

I have the original one."

And I'm like,

"Oh, wow, that's great."

He goes, "You know what?

I-- I want you

to come to my place,

and I'm gonna give you

some of the props

I have left over from the show,

'cause I want you-- I want 'em

to be with the console,

I want you to sort of

be in charge of that.

Be a curator of, sort of,

the Doctor Who movie."

Which, of course, you know,

I'm sitting there going,

"Hmm. That would be wonderful."

And inside I'm going,

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God!"

We're outside

Philip Segal's office.

And Philip is now

a major reality TV CEO,

and so we've decided

to out-real the reality...

TV guy.

I'm really hoping this is good.

I'm obviously

incredibly excited to see him,

um, after all this time.

A little trepidatious as well.

He completely distanced himself

from the script.

I see all of the things

that I wish

I could've done better,

or wanted to change,

or weren't supposed

to be the way they are.

We sadly were in a time

where we weren't allowed

to make the script

as fantastic

as it could have been.

Hey there.

- How are you--

- I'm good.

It's Matthew Jacobs

for Philip Segal.

Okay, let me call him.

He's probably

the number one American fan.

Without him,

there would be no Doctor Who.

He is the reason, in my mind,

that Doctor Who

has stayed alive.

Philip, Matthew's here for you.

- Oh, my God.

- Hello, darling.

- How are you?

- Nice to see you.

Good to see you.

You look terrific.

-You haven't changed

-Same to you.

-Well, maybe we both...

-You, you got taller.

...few little gray hairs.

-Yeah.

-It's the aggravation.

-Why, it is.

-How are you?

-I'm good. You've got taller.

-Have I?

No, either that,

or I got smaller.

Better posture, I think.

No, I think it's better posture.

-I think it is.

-Oh, my God, what an operation.

Yeah, that was a gift

from Discovery Channel.

For, uh,

shall we call Deadliest Catch.

Well,

we did a show called Ax Men,

and we've been doing it

for eight years now.

We do a show called

-Ice Road Truckers.

-Right.

I mean,

who knew you could do a show

about men sitting in a truck

driving at 15 miles an hour

for 15 hours at a time,

doing nothing?

-You did.

-We did.

This was a gift

from the BBC.

If you pull the top up,

it used to have a lighter in it.

We saw a Dalek that had a baby

in the middle there--

-Oh, right.

-Don't know

-if you have seen that one.

-Yeah.

-No, but a real baby.

-Oh, right.

Look at this.

It's got a wonderful detail.

Look at the, uh, the face.

He looks a little crazy.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-No, you sit there.

-All right. I'll sit there.

This is your thing.

Yeah.

I haven't seen you

in 20 years.

Almost 20 years.

-96. Yeah.

-Yeah.

I'm left with an image

in my mind.

-Yeah.

-And you're left with an image

in your mind,

of a thinner Matthew

-who probably wore glasses, so--

-Well, yes, you did.

- You wore glasses.

- Yeah.

And, um, but you always had

that impish smile, and...

you looked curious at the world.

- I was impish?

- Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

On The Seven-Year Itch,

you said--

oh-- you said, "Oh, Matthew,

he's mad,

he's completely mad,

he's totally mad."

And I was thinking of it,

"Was I really mad?"

No, was I insane?

I-- no, looking back on it now,

that wasn't a fair statement.

It wasn't mad.

It was passionate.

- Driven.

- Passion, yeah, yeah.

And, um, you--

you were really driven

by what you saw in your head.

- Right.

- Everything, you saw everything

- in pictures, I think.

- Yeah.

Everything was images

in your head,

and you wanted to express that.

When Doctor Who came out,

when our movie came out,

right, I felt as though

I just-- it was like,

even though there

was some nice reviews...

-Mmm.

-...people universally

-went after the script.

-Yes.

People would say, "Lovely movie.

Shame about the script."

-Yes.

-And they would say--

They were gonna say that

about any script.

Any script.

Uh, I was at a convention

in Chicago...

-Yeah.

-...uh, right after

it first came out,

they flew me out there

and all this stuff,

but I got physically assaulted

by someone

who was so angry at the idea

that the Doctor

would kiss anyone.

I mean, I-- yeah,

it was physically,

I thought he was going to hu--

- I was very scared.

- Yes.

It was a very bizarre moment.

But-- yeah,

I wanted to do the kiss.

-Didn't you? It was like--

-Of course.

I mean, the--

the whole idea was

we were doing

a more romantic Doctor.

Well, he w-- and he w--

he was half-human.

Exactly.

That's why

if he kisses somebody,

then he no longer belongs

to everybody, does he?

-He belongs to someone.

-That's right. That's right.

That-- but, but it's cool now,

because there are--

-there are women involved.

-That's right.

There are girls involved.

And so now you can be romantic.

-Yeah. Exactly. But it's all--

-But before,

-it was an anorak boys thing.

-That's right.

And all the anorak

boys things were--

they were useless at chatting up

girls,

-and they had this hero.

-Exactly.

This guy who couldn't get laid,

and they went,

"Yay, he's just like me,

-he can't get laid!"

-Exactly.

We-- he'll never kiss anyone,

I don't know--

Exactly, I'm not

in the club anymore.

If you really don't understand

what Doctor Who is,

the essence of it--

and I think most people

who are not rabid fans, or fans,

or-- or really are into the,

sort of,

the-- the universe of it.

-Right.

-You would n--

you'll never understand what

Doctor Who really means

-inside to us.

-Right. Right.

I'm probably not

a fan.

I'm kind of closer, in a way,

close enough

so that

I don't have to be a fan.

- Does that make sense?

- No.

I feel, um--

I feel--

it's-- I feel like,

uh, I don't want to

regard myself as a fan.

A fan is somebody who's slightly

outside of the main thing.

Um, uh, and they've--

they worship it.

I'd rather be

the one who's worshipped.

Okay.

Worshipped or blamed or...

I think at the end of the day,

probably both.

Let's see.

You could--

it's very hard to see it,

Greg, but-- can I show it, Dad?

- Yeah.

- AJ.

- Yes.

- Initial here first.

Anthony Jacobs.

- My grandfather.

- Yeah.

My dad was a big nerd.

That definitely

rubbed off on me,

and it was Star Trek.

But I'm a nerd. I like science.

Tech.

So, I like the show.

I think it's a fun show.

Shall we? All right.

Let's break her down!

Here we go!

But you've already

gotten this door off.

Good.

Is it a healthy thing?

Where everybody's

just running away

from the problems in their life?

And to a degree...

I feel as though I've done that

by being a writer.

Down she comes!

I think, as a writer,

I've run away from my real life.

And I live in fantasyland

that my great characters

are going to,

you know, be fantastic.

Doctor Who ends up

affecting your entire life.

My TARDIS is nine foot tall,

1100 pounds,

and she flatpacks into

a trailer,

and then I drive her

literally from coast to coast.

She is the United States'

only bicoastal TARDIS.

You know what,

she's a very interesting person.

She shows up at these events,

and she brings that TARDIS,

and I helped her disassemble

that thing

last year, after LI Who Two.

And I'm gonna

kind of avoid it this year.

I hope she gets some volunteers.

It's a lot of work!

I can't believe she does that.

During the summers,

I'm a herpetologist,

and I show schoolchildren

that snakes are not the monsters

they're made out to be, and...

that, to me,

is part of the Doctor.

I mean, he tries to make

everybody get along, you know?

Let's-- let's-- let's embrace

each other's differences.

Let's not, you know,

be petrified of people

because they're different.

We can all find our place.

- Oh.

- Yeah.

So the Eighth

is this guy right here.

Oh, there you go.

When the Doctor

gets regenerated,

is there a little regeneration

going on

-for the sonic screwdriver?

-No.

No. Not at all.

Well,

maybe the TARDIS is the Doctor.

Whoo. Interesting.

Like, one day

he'll actually become the TARDIS

in a later regeneration?

What do you think?

-What do you think, Kev?

-You know, any--

Bob, I think it's all right

to tell him he's wrong.

It's all right

to tell him he--

It's all right to

tell him he's wrong.

The TARDIS is not the Doctor,

what's the matter with you?

Brains locked.

Eyes locked. Eyes locked.

No one distract me. Go back.

-What's that?

-I feel like

I'm missing something.

It's silly.

It's the Doctor.

It's Doctor Who, you know?

It's-- it's just a story.

They're moving so slowly,

I still know who towed me.

Hey.

The-- Stop it!

The improv punctures

all of that pomposity

and self-importance

that seems to be attached

to really appreciating

this piece of science fiction,

which at the end of the day,

is a piece of fun.

Doc meets the Doc!

You play your father,

and we'll be different Doctors.

Yes, that's good.

Yes, okay, bring the light here.

Hold hands.

Okay. We're reaching out.

How would you like to see

a companion die?

- Just trying to pick up a...

- A signal?

You picking up a vibe yet?

Sorry,

I was squeezing too hard.

No, no,

don't squeeze too hard.

Immediately become

a sonic screwdriver?

No! No! No!

I-- no, you--

It's me.

Matthew Waterhouse.

I played Adric.

Remember me?

Is it-- which companion is it?

That's his-- I was the, uh,

last companion,

uh, for Tom Baker,

I was in the spaceship that,

uh, ended up being the meteor

that, uh, killed the dinosaurs.

So I'm important

to history as well.

So if anyone has

any more questions

for old Matthew Waterhouse,

I'm right here.

So why would

you channel Matthew Waterson?

I have no idea who he is.

Well...

because that's just it.

- That's just it.

- He's--

He's kind of a bleak guy

who thinks a lot of himself,

- kind of like me, you mean.

- Yeah.

Yes, you're being insulting.

Okay. All right,

this improv is over.

But I had

some great Keith Moon stuff

going on

about Matthew Waterhouse.

Perfect.

Do you feel like

you're getting into character?

I-- I am, yeah.

- Do you enjoy it?

- No.

What, this?

Oh, it makes me feel very,

very old.

You're just

getting into character.

Makes me feel-- well,

everybody has

their own personal Death

following them.

Sure. Yeah.

-Mm-hmm.

-That's right.

So one day,

I'll walk around the corner,

and I'll meet

a version of me like this.

-Like this?

-Yes, wearing that and saying,

"Hello. Your time has come,

Matthew."

And no regenerations for us,

right?

No regenerations, no.

I think-- I don't think so.

I wanted you to read

some of these letters

that you got.

Oh, yes,

this was a nice little letter,

round from the '90s,

from my son.

"Dear Dad, your love

and humor touches the hearts

of everyone and you are a man

who doesn't need description

to make you strong,

because those men are weak,

and all you need is

20,000 by the end of the week.

Josh."

This thing

that I was gonna be part of

is-- is so big.

And...

and, uh, you know,

I got left behind.

And I got so close to, you know,

kind of being my ticket

to security.

I'm so glad you're here.

- Huge fan of the '96 movie.

- Oh.

And here we are-- I-- I--

this is so cool!

It was lovely. It was so lovely.

And-- and I-- I'm a-- I--

you know, it's--

it's very meaningful

for me to be here.

Two things

about being a Doctor Who fan.

One is to be able to make

that contact...

- Yeah.

- ...with people I admire

- and all my heroes.

- Yeah.

And the second thing is,

to bring them to my home.

-Yes--

-They're not at my house,

but they're at my home,

they're on my island.

You have now

come to Long Island,

you've seen things,

you've driven on a parkway

I drive-- drive on

- every day I go to work.

- Yeah, yeah.

I'm driving along, and I go,

"Wow! Matthew drove on this,"

right?

I'm starting to realize,

maybe it's not all about

the show at all.

It's about the--

the sense of community

and companionship

that they find with each other.

Do you have

the Eighth Doctor at all?

What, like an action figure?

- Yeah.

- Um...

not sure, it'd be over there,

if it is.

It would be over there.

-All right.

-Can't vouch for it,

-I'm sorry.

-Okay. No, no worries.

Now the question is,

am I finding that companionship

with this gang of people?

There's something

about the childlike,

uh, innocence and wonder

that Doctor Who gives us.

What do you think

you're gonna be

-when you grow up?

-I'm really,

really want to be a scientist.

You want to be a scientist.

So tell me about that.

I have been studying rocks...

and minerals,

and I am also really in--

interested in finding fossils.

Putting aside your--

your dad's involvement

with being in The Gunfighters,

you were a Doctor Who fan.

You-- it was, it was a show

you knew and loved.

Are you Doc Holliday?

Sorry.

He was a murdering maniac.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

I think I was behind

the picture there.

Yes,

we finally get our first view

-of the saloon set.

-That's right.

It's down.

It's just starting to, sort of--

Suddenly

it's all starting to come back.

- Yes.

- Yes, no.

I have a wonderful

treat watching these, yes.

- Mm-hmm, do you--

- So, I wa-- yeah,

I was probably very pleased

that my dad was shooting people.

Jackie Lane

is famous, kind of,

for almost vanishing

from Doctor Who fandom,

and has never really done

a convention

or been interviewed about

her time on Doctor Who.

Do you remember

meeting her on set,

- or seeing her--

- Yes, yes,

-I did meet her.

-Mm-hmm.

This is strange story, I mean,

it's all a half memory,

but my father, um, uh,

my-- my father w--

my father was bipolar.

So sometimes he would be,

you know,

manic, and sometimes

he would be depressed,

and in those days it was

a perilous kind of illness.

And one day he put together

a village fete,

where we lived out in Essex,

and he invited her

to be the celebrity who came

and, you know,

opened the village fete.

Um, and so my memory was

us picking her up

from Harlow Town station,

and I was very excited.

And Dad had said,

"You! You-- you, Matthew

you know,

you can play the guitar,

and you can sing

Leonard Cohen songs.

Um, so you're gonna dress up

a minstrel.

Um, uh, and walk around

the fete singing,

'Suzanne took me down,'"

that kind of thing,

uh, which of course,

I was a little kid,

it was totally weird.

Everybody ignored me,

and I was very upset,

but she was, I think,

quite sympathetic.

You are on hallowed ground.

You have actually been able to--

actually get to speak with her,

and, uh, have a relationship.

Well, I wonder why

she didn't turn up?

You know, maybe--

I hope we didn't scare her off.

Maybe that's why

I kept away as well.

Possibly.

Being connected with my dad,

yeah.

I think

most of my work's intertwined

with my relationship

with my father,

and with a very turbulent era

of my life.

This is me.

Looking a little bit shocked,

basically.

Where the big shift

that happened around 1963,

which is when

my mother committed suicide.

And when the whole life shifted

in this giant gear.

And even though

it wasn't like I'm going around

every time I see Doctor Who,

I-- you know,

I turn into...

Bates Motel.

Um, you know,

it's f--

it is-- it is, um, it is

a very seminal part of my life,

the early '60s, um,

and then it stayed

as a constant reminder,

that is Doctor Who.

I think that it applies

to a lot of people.

A lot of people hold onto,

um, their memories

of TV shows at certain points

in their lives.

All right, just forget it.

We're gonna take a picture.

All right.

I see we have

a very young fan down there.

-How new are you?

-Two years.

My mom was re-watching

the whole series...

and so I was just like, "Oh,

what is this she's watching?"

And then that's when

my Whovian-ship started.

My favorite Doctor

- is Matt Smith.

- Ah.

And when I first discovered him,

I started to see

a lot of myself in him,

and as was brought up earlier,

I also was-- was bullied

quite a bit as a kid.

And I always felt ashamed

for being the odd man out,

and ever since Matt Smith,

he has helped me

to embrace the silliness

and just go out and have fun

and-- and do whatever.

So is fandom a form of escape?

I don't feel an escape,

or a leap of faith.

I feel a close

emotional connection.

In some ways, I aspire as a fan,

I aspire to be like what I see.

But I also see myself reflected

in it,

um, so it's--

it's a learning experience

and it's also

an aspirational experience.

Snogged Madame de Pompadour.

Praise him.

Praise him!

I know I have the body

of a weak and feeble woman,

but I have the heart

and the stomach of a king!

And of a king of England, too!

And to think that Dalek,

or Zygon,

or any creature of the universe

should dare to invade

the borders of my realm,

I myself shall take up arms!

Good Doctor!

The Doctor never a more noble

of a subject.

We shall have victory

over the enemies of my church

of my Kingdom, and of my people!

Best in Show

for the Masquerade

of Mandragora...

a queen's words win wars,

Joanna Dunlap!

It's turned my head a bit.

It was easy, at first,

to kind of...

not laugh at it.

I mean, it's easy to lampoon,

and some of it

is worth laughin' at.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Come on. But...

there's somethin' about it,

there's somethin' about...

you know, when you get people--

and these shows,

and these meetings

and these conventions,

and these weekends.

You know,

aside from being sociable,

Who-- you know

it's got a sense of humor...

- Right.

- ...which is a great relief.

- Um, something goes on.

- Yeah.

You know, friendships that form.

And I mean that,

I mean that sincerely.

Yeah. And I've been

really-- that's why--

that-- that's what's keeping me

coming back to it.

That's what-- that's what

I enjoy the most about it.

Um... it--

-It is like finding a family.

-Yeah.

You're a part of this now!

- Forever.

- I know,

- it's mind-boggling.

- Forever, one of us.

Maybe we could do

a musical version

of the TV movie, you know,

a Broadway version.

- Yes.

- Maybe you could write it.

Would you write it?

Cause it lends itself.

"Who Am I?"

I've actually been a fan

since the '96 movie,

which I've been laughed at for,

but--

-Why?

-You know what?

Which-- which I wrote.

- Nice.

- Yeah.

-And-- and co-produced.

-Can I get your autograph?

- Yes. Absolutely.

- Yes.

Ah, I am so frickin' pretty!

Do you ever have those moments

where you're like--

no, really, really, it's a thing

with cosplayers

where you're-- you're working

on your cosplay,

and you're like,

"Ah, my gosh, this sucks,

I suck,

my skill sucks,

and I don't know what I'm doing,

and I feel so inadequate

and, ah, I'm crying

because I can't do this!"

And then you put it on,

and you're like,

"Oh, my God, I'm beautiful."

Oh, my God, I'm beautiful!

I got three awards,

yeah.

That's so good.

Did you-- did you kind of know

that you were gonna win?

- Let's face it.

- No, not at all.

You always hope,

but you never know.

How have you changed?

Oh,

do you think it's changed me?

No, it hasn't, has it?

Hasn't changed me at all.

I have a feeling

this is not gonna change me

at all.

If anything, maybe--

Just make me

bigger-headed, yeah.

Or it is then

the searching questions.

I want to get to the bottom

of what the Doctor is.

It may be in me, I don't know

what that represents,

looking back into my life

and looking forward.

Oh, yeah,

these are my mother's poems.

She did write a funny one, once

Hm.

Here we go. Tell of my Death.

"Tell of my death

to the honeybee,

and the high wind-hover,

that by craggy steep,

and humble skep

they made my vigil keep.

But tell of my death

to no child,

nor my lover,

they cannot leap the chasm deep

nor comfort one another."

I'm always touched by--

they'll say,

"You know, when th--

when I saw that,

or when-- when-- or, um,

I was kind of in trouble,

or something was happening..."

- Right.

- "...my life, or my family,"

or something like that,

"And that really helped."

Yo, Paul's here!

- How are you, lad?

- Near the end of it.

- Good to see you.

- Yup.

You gonna come into this panel?

- Yes.

- Right in here.

It's a bit of a responsibility,

I think, that we have.

You know, stories are powerful,

mythologies are powerful.

- Right.

- This is-- this is

a particularly-- this is now

fifty-odd years of it.

With this-- some of these kids

really take it--

they're just kids, aren't they?

They really

have taken things to heart.

So my husband passed away,

completely unexpectedly,

in 2009.

He had a heart condition,

and he just--

one minute he was here,

and the next minute he was gone.

And it was... pretty devastating

for my son and myself.

Those quiet, silent times

between sunset and sunrise,

the house is a little too quiet

and...

...yeah.

You can escape

instead of thinkin'.

And it pulled me outta my head.

And out of my sorrow.

And gave me

something to laugh at.

And look forward to.

Without that,

I don't know where I would be.

People come here

and they get involved

in time travel

and they can forget about

what's going on outside,

which unfortunately

there's a lot of things

that we don't

want to even talk about.

All right, dude...

hold that thought.

I got to do a panel

here on The Gunfighters.

- I don't have anything to say.

- Just start talking.

- Okay. I will.

- You'd be amazed what comes out.

I will, I'll try.

But they will, um--

they are ruthless.

-Okay.

-Yeah.

And they ask

kind of loaded, and...

- Um, complex questions.

- Okay.

- You're gonna be fantastic.

- Um, I will.

Because you were fantastic

yesterday,

and you're gonna be fantastic

on The Gunfighters.

Cause you're gonna go back

to your boyhood memories.

- Yeah.

- Of being there with your dad.

Okay, well,

if I drink enough,

with--

They'll get some good stuff.

- Yeah, you'll still remember.

- That was fun.

- I love you.

- Yeah, it was good to--

-Yeah.

-We finally got to do a panel

-together, I'm glad of it.

-Yes.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

Yeah. I'm talk--

I'm talking to you tonight

-about The Gunfighters.

-Oh, my God, yeah.

I don't know

what I'm gonna say about that.

All right.

- Are you that nervous?

- Yeah.

I really don't want

to do The Gunfighters panel.

It's freaking me out.

♪ Happy birthday to you

happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday, dear Paul

happy birthday to you ♪

Sweet. Bless you, my son.

Thank you.

-I'll see you around.

-See you.

What?

- Aw.

- Aw, come here.

- Me?

- Yeah.

I'd like to say,

you two need to get

a sense of humor, though.

Oh, look!

We're here.

Scene 30 off the tape,

one, mark it.

In my mind, why not?

Maybe I shouldn't be.

But, here. I want to show you

something before we start.

Then tell me

why you're freaking out.

We were just filming--

we were just filming,

uh, Paul, but look.

I... ...wait a sec.

I mean--

This is him getting his cake.

My hands are shaking.

And it was like-- the--

it was like the Pope.

It was-- seriously.

He was, um, oh gosh.

Everybody had

their cell phones up.

I was relatively close.

So sweet.

That's really cool.

I think at the end of the day,

I'm a bigger fan than I knew!

I'll be back just as soon

as you've finished

bringing up my character.

But you were there

when you were a kid.

Yeah, I mean, I was on the set.

I was by there,

it was like the best day ever.

And it was not long after

my mother's death

and all that jazz, yeah.

Uh, and he was on the verge of--

of a breakdown anyway

when that happened.

It was a shitty childhood,

and Doctor Who was

part of that shitty childhood,

at the end of the day.

Uh, I mean--

I could be sentimental

and say it was a respite,

it was a place to run to.

Uh, sadly films were...

uh, and still are.

Here come the lights.

Now!

Get 'em.

I'd say that

you are a fan now, for sure.

Yeah. Well, maybe...

I'm as screwed up

as the rest of them.

I mean, cause, let's face it,

a pretty screwed-up

bunch of people.

I mean, not screwed-up,

they're very real.

You know what I mean,

I can't say they're screwed-up,

but, uh--

but there's-- there's--

uh, you know, every--

each one of them looks like

they're dealing

with either being bullied,

or-- or, you know,

some crisis that they went to,

and they moved to Manhattan,

but they found a friend,

you know.

Everybody's crisis, uh,

it ha-- seems to be

how they resolve their crisis,

that they attach to The Doctor,

and I'm beginning to realize

it's the same.

There's still joy

to be had there.

Well, there is

with making this film.

This is joyous.

Uh, and look at those people.

They-- how happy they were.

- A community.

- No, it is, definitely is.

But will I come back

to another convention?

Uh, who knows.

You know, will I sort of

be circling my past forever?

I don't think I can do that.

It's cheaper than therapy,

I suppose.

My father was in a show

that was set in America,

and I ended up writing a show

the Doctor Who set in America.

Um, uh, you know,

and so there's a lot of sort of

synchronicity there that is

strangely moving, in a way.

- What...

- Yes.

...would you consider

to be the best period

for when you when you worked

in film and stuff?

You know,

the most enjoyable for you?

- For me, the best period?

- Yes.

Actually, right now.

To be honest,

making stuff like this,

making small films

and Hollywood's

an ageist industry,

so as you get a little older,

you have to find

other ways of making films.

And I've stopped waiting

for permission to make films.

It's a touching thing

that you guys have done,

putting together these clips.

It's really nice.

Ah, it's-- it's part of LI Who

-that's doing this.

-Yeah.

They're putting

all of this together.

-But, uh--

-No, I mean, really nice.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

This was fantastic! Oh, my God.

Hey there!

Hello?

You guys--

Oh, okay. Um, I'll--

I'll see if the buzzer works.

-Nice to see you.

-Good to see you too.

- Ooh, sorry!

- Oops, sorry.

- Good to see you.

- Good to see you.

Hello.

So are you moving tomorrow?

The moving people come tomorrow.

This is what,

when I graduated middle school?

- Yeah.

- It's a lot of stuff!

Three thous--

3000 pounds as well?

Who knows, it may not be

that much stuff.

Hey, how's it going, gang?

- Greg's here.

- What's up, Josh?

- Hey. Good to see you.

- How are you?

Hey, Laura. How are you?

- How are you?

- Good to see you.

We see each other

on the holidays,

and every once in a while,

and when you come up, and so--

Yeah. And you'll be

able to come down to LA.

Yeah, and now

I got someone to stay with

in Los Feliz, so actually,

this is pretty awesome.

Sorry

about filming this, guys.

Dude! It's not--

it's not like that.

Don't worry about it.

It's all good.

- We knew what to expect.

- Ah, okay.

And dude, it's you.

You grew up--

we grew up in a movie.

Like, remember

when we were kids,

and we used to make movies

all the time?

- It was you!

- It wasn't!

- He made me do it!

- Action!

No, it wasn't!

It wasn't me at all!

Here!

Stay away from me!

Stay away from me,

or the little one gets it!

You moved the body!

He did, he did!

You're right!

You're right!

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to make you do it.

Just had a dreadful childhood.

I mean, you decided to do

something different, right?

To focus on your career

in a different way.

Does that say

anything about who you are,

or have you changed?

Yeah, maybe

I've been the Doctor.

- Hmm.

- Maybe I'm regenerating.

Which is sweet,

do you know what I'm saying?

- It's-- it's nice.

- Sweet 16.

You know, going off

into the sweet 60.

Not sweet 16, yes,

that's very true.

There is a new Doctor born

at the end of each series,

and I think that happens

to us all when we go through

certain stages in life.

We regenerate, and then

we regenerate in our families.

♪ Are you carried

by a restless wind? ♪

So I'm a regeneration

of my father.

Or my mother.

And you're a regeneration

of your parents.

♪ With battle scars

and souvenirs ♪

♪ To hang across

your shoulder blades? ♪

Action!

♪ If you're hot as the sun,

I will not question your ways ♪

♪ Oh, if you're hot as the sun ♪

♪ Be not afraid of the fire ♪

I just want to say

a massive thank you to Sean,

that came with a little crew

to make a film

called Doctor Who Am I,

and, uh-- and I've-- don't know

if I've got an answer,

but it turned into, um,

"Doctor Who Are We,"

um, because I feel as though

this is a giant family,

and it's full of love.

♪ Oh, they sparkle

like a wedding ring ♪

I don't know,

I feel a great deal

of weight off my shoulders now,

after the--

after the TV movie time.

Yeah. Good. I don't need that.

One did.

♪ They hold you like a melody ♪

♪ Oh, if you're drawn

to the flame ♪

♪ I will not question

your ways ♪

♪ Oh, if you're drawn

to the flame ♪

♪ Be not afraid of the fire ♪

♪ In the creases

of our histories ♪

♪ From candle wax

to motherhood ♪

♪ To sliding

down the banisters ♪

♪ Oh, fate will have

no grudge to hold ♪

♪ Oh, if you swallow the fuel

I cannot question your will ♪

♪ Oh, if you swallow the fuel ♪

♪ Be not afraid of the fire ♪

I'm so proud of you, baby!

How do you spend

your Valentine's Day?

Uh, as an ancient

alien Minotaur, you know,

hangin' out.

Hey.

Good luck

with that, Ross.

Praise him!

Oh, thank you.