Tony Lee, Frazer Hines and Terrance Dicks from the 1960's panel
Hurricane Who was started several years ago, and started off by holding a series of one-day events in and around the Central Florida area. In 2009, Hurricane Who held its first convention which I attended. That first year, the headliner guests were Gareth David Lloyd (Ianto from Torchwood) and Louise Jameson (Leela). Since that time, the convention has held three more events, this year's version being labeled Category Four.
This year's guest list was much larger than that first year, and it was a rather nice touch that each decade of Doctor Who had a representative, along with every entertainment form (the television show, the audios, books and comics).
The 1960's were represented by Frazer Hines (Jamie) and Terrance Dicks (writer of The War Games, amongst many other things). Terrance Dicks, of course, was script editor during the Pertwee Era of the 1970's, and Pamela Salem guest starred opposite Tom Baker (and later, Sylvester McCoy in the 1980's). Bob Baker was also present, the creator of K-9 and writer of the Three Doctors (amongst many other episodes).
Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor) and Colin Spaull (guest star in the Colin Era, and again in the David Tennant Era) represented the 1980's. The 1990's were represented by Daphne Ashbrook, Grace Holloway from the TV Movie.
The 2000's featured Spaull and Gareth David Lloyd (Ianto from Torchwood), which the 2010's were represented by Ian McNeice (Winston Churchill in Victory of the Daleks opposite Matt Smith).
Representing the comic book end of things was Tony Lee, writer for many of the IDW Doctor Who comics, David Howe and Terrance Dicks both writers who've worked on various Doctor Who projects (reference, novelizations and original works) and Chase Masterson representing the audio-only contingent.
The convention didn't actually begin until Friday, but a Convention kick-off party opened things on Thursday. Basically a chance to socialize, dance, eat and drink, this was a fun event even though it was rather lightly attended, probably due to the somewhat high extra charge (on top of the cost to enter the convention).
Friday featured one of my favorite panels of the weekend, the 1960's panel with Frazer Hines and Terrance Dicks. Frazer talked quite a bit about the recently found Enemy of the World and Web of Fear. Frazer even had a limited edition print made for the Web of Fear available at the convention.
Bob Baker and Ian McNeice also headlined two separate panels that were also quite entertaining. Bob talked about his years on the show, including the creation of K-9, and also talked about the creation of the more recent K-9 series as well.
Saturday, of course, was the big day for the convention. Lots of costumers in attendance all three days, but Saturday had by far the most variety. All Eleven Doctors were represented, along with many various companions, adversaries and monsters. The Masquerade, held Saturday evening, allowed those interested in participating a chance to show off their costumes. Frazer Hines even made a surprise appearance as the Second Doctor, appearing opposite a Jamie costumer.
Sunday was also quite excellent, and features my favorite panel of the weekend, the Companions panel. Ian McNeice, Chase Masterson, Daphne Ashbrook and Frazer Hines had a very good rapport with each other, and it was quite entertaining.
While I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and I'm making plans already to attend next year's Hurricane Who, there are a few things that I think would make some great additions to the con. The long dinner break is a nice idea if one is planning a sit-down dinner. However, I was on a budget and I didn't really need a two hour dinner break. Thankfully, Downtown Disney wasn't all that far away and provided the filler needed for that two hours. Still, if Hurricane Who had a video room or some gaming in that lull period, I might have partaken of that rather than driving over to Downtown Disney.
Overall, if you're a fan of Doctor Who and you live anywhere near Central Florida, Hurricane Who is a convention you simply don't want to miss. Jarrod and the other convention organizers are already working on next year's convention and have already announced a few guests for the 2014 version, including Terry Molloy (Davros).
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