BritSciFi ONLINE
The National Space Centre will be hosting a FREE online weekend of talks, Q&A sessions, workshops and fun fan and family science fiction experiences.
Join us for a celebration of Doctor Who, Blake’s 7, Sapphire and Steel, Thunderbirds, The Prisoner, The Tomorrow People and many other iconic science fiction films, tv programmes, books, comics, games and art.
Friday is our learning day, with sessions for schools, children, families and fans. This kicks off into a weekend of guest Q&A sessions (get your questions in now to beat the crowds), workshops and social sessions with many of the fantastic groups who have supported our events at the Centre.
Our guests and hosts are all giving their time freely to support the event, however, there will be opportunities to purchase autographs and merchandise throughout.
Guests and Attractions
Joanna Lumley
Joanna found fame in 1969 when she became a Bond Girl in the 007 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, going on to become the strong female lead, Purdey, in The New Avengers, among many other roles she made her own. More recently Joanna has been wowing audiences with her hilarious interpretation of the lush fashion director Patsy Stone in the classic comedy series Absolutely Fabulous.
Alex Kingston
A multi-award winning actress, Alex is famous for her title role in the British miniseries The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders and her regular role as Dr. Elizabeth Corday in the NBC medical drama ER. More recently we have enjoyed watching her as Mrs. Bennet in the ITV1 period-drama fantasy Lost in Austen and Dinah Lance in The CW’s superhero fiction drama series Arrow.
Paul McGann
Paul came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial The Monocled Mutineer, then starred in the dark comedy Withnail and I, which was a critical success and developed a cult following. We know him for portraying the eighth incarnation of the Doctor in the 1996 Doctor Who television film.
David Bradley
Initially David played Solomon in the Doctor Who episode “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship”. He returned as William Hartnell, the actor who played the First Doctor, in An Adventure in Space and Time, reprising the role in 2017, appearing as the First Doctor in “The Doctor Falls” and “Twice Upon a Time”. Since January 2018, he has starred in the audio stories released by Big Finish Productions entitled The First Doctor Adventures.
Colin Baker
Colin’s association with Doctor Who began in 1983 when he played Commander Maxil, a Gallifreyan guard who shoots the fifth Doctor, playing opposite Peter Davison in “Arc Of Infinity”. Colin made a big impression and was cast as the sixth BBC Doctor Who in 1983, seeing him battle Cybermen, Daleks, Sontarans, Sil and even Kate O’Mara. It was to be a role that would make Colin’s face recognisable all over the world.
Sylvester McCoy
Best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor, becoming the final Doctor of the original run, he briefly returned in television film in 1996, to hand over the reigns to Paul McGann. He is also known for his work as Radagast in The Hobbit, as well as returning to play the Seventh Doctor in a series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions.
Dan Starkey
Dan made numerous appearances in Doctor Who, portraying a number of different Sontaran characters, most notably Strax, who has come across the Eleventh and Twelfth incarnations of the Doctor, played by Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi respectively. He reprised the role in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.
Sophie Aldred
Sophie played the Seventh Doctor’s companion, Ace, becoming the final companion of the series’ first run. She can also be heard as the voices of many of our most iconic animated characters, including Dennis the Menace, Tree Fu Tom and Muck in Bob the Builder. In 2020 she released the novel Doctor Who: At Childhood’s End.
Daphne Ashbrook
Best known by UK audiences for playing Grace Holloway in Doctor Who: The Movie, Daphne joined Paul McGann as his time travelling companion. Sci-fi fans may also recognise her as “Melora”, from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Nicola Bryant
Nicola is known for her roles as Peri Brown, from 1984 to 1986, first with Peter Davison, and then with Colin Baker as the Doctor. However, she has also worked with Patrick Troughton the Doctor Who serial The Two Doctors, and Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy and Jon Pertwee on The Stranger for BBV.
Mark Powers
Mark Powers is the author of the Spy Toys and Space Detectives books for Bloomsbury. He sold his first comedy material to Radio 4 when he was 17. Spy Toys was a winner of the Fantastic Book Awards in 2018. Mark will be joining us to talk about character creation and world building when writing Science Fiction for both kids and adults.
Avenue Who
Muppets and Doctor Who collide in new adventures from Avenue Who. We will be joined by the creator of Avenue Who, as well as a few very special surprise visitors for our Saturday night BrtiSciFi chat show. Come along to find out more about the show, ask questions and meet a Doctor… or two!
Yee Jee Tso
Best known to Doctor Who fans as Chang Lee in the Doctor Who movie, YJ has continued his Doctor Who journey thanks to Big Finish Audio, where he has played the part of Doctor Goddard in the webcast Real Time, and the parts of Major Jal Brant and the role of Warrant Officer Charlie Sato in audio stories.
Team Blake
Team Blake are a group of fellow B7 fans and friends who get together to bring Blake’s 7 to life through their own events and in support of others.
They have hosted social events, location visits, amazing costume and prop displays and very popular charity events.
Working to run events created by fans for fans, they have raised money for good causes and honoured the cast and crew of Blake’s 7.
Mike Holloway
Mike was the drummer and percussionist in Flintlock and at the same time stared in the cult TV series The Tomorrow People. Flintlock appeared on programmes such as Blue Peter, Magpie and Top of the Pops, and their own programme Fanfare. He was awarded the TV Times Personality of the Year award in 1976.
Nicholas Young
Nicholas portrayed John in The Tomorrow People and was the only member of the cast to stay for the full six years of the series. When the show was reprised in 2013, he was invited to play the part of Prof, Aldus Crick. While working on The Tomorrow People he featured in Space: 1999″ as Peter Rockwell, and, in the same year, played alongside Jon Pertwee (the 3rd incarnation of Doctor Who) in the film Adventures of a Private Eye.
Peter Vaughan Clarke
Peter is best known for his portrayal of Stephen Jameson in The Tomorrow People in the 1970s, a character he returned to later in life in the audio continuation of the series by Big Finish Productions. He has also appeared in the 1975 British film It Could Happen to You, along with his Tomorrow People co-star Nicholas Young.
The Gamelab
The Gamelab team run mobile escape rooms and virtual escape experiences (check out their Apollo 13 online experience, filmed exclusively at the National Space Centre).
As part of BritSciFi the Game Lab will be offering a FREE online escape room adventure entitled “Adventures in Time and Space Centre”. There is even a prize (an Annual Pass to the National Space Centre) for the fastest team to complete the challenge during the Festival weekend.
Portmeirion
Nestled between the Dwyryd esturary and the majestic Snowdonia mountains, Portmeirion Village is a wonder to behold. Portmeirion Village provided the backdrop for the 1960’s cult classic series, The Prisoner, probably one of the most influential pieces of television of the 1960’s, starring Patrick McGoohan (even The Beatles were fans).
Thanks to Portmeirion’s Location Manager, Meurig Jones, BritSciFi audiences will be able to enjoy an exclusive video tour of The Village and filming spots of The Prisoner.
Big Finish Productions
Since 1996, Big Finish has been producing high-quality audio drama on CD, with hundreds of productions to choose from. The majority of Big Finish’s audio plays are based on popular TV series such as Doctor Who, Dark Shadows, Stargate, The Avengers and Blake’s 7, with many of the original actors. As part of the BritSciFi weekend Big Finish will be giving viewers an end-to-end oversight into a Big Finish audio. Meet the writers, script editors, producers, sound designers and musicians to see just how much work goes into hours of entertainment, excitement and intrigue.
The 15th UK Cyber Legion
The 15th UK Cyber Legion is a non-profit Doctor Who fan costuming group, who have attended many events including exhibitions, SciFi cons and even the Doctor Who BBC Staff party at BBC Broadcasting House in London. They help support charities and have brought happiness to fans throughout the UK.
Join the 15th Cyber Legion online as they have a cuppa and a chat with the 2nd, 3rd, 10th and 13th Doctors, as part of the BritSciFi festival.
Project Dalek and The Sons of Skaro
If you have ever considered building a Dalek, Project Dalek is the place to go to find plans, information, support and everything else you may need. The Sons of Skaro is an awesome group of fan-built Daleks who attend events throughout the country (including their own) raising money for charity and EXTERMINATING!!!
Both groups will be hosting a very popular ‘Audience with the Daleks’ online as part of the BritSciFi weekend. The 2nd and 3rd Doctors will take on these ultimate Time War foe (there may be cake!)
Chris Thompson
Chris is a freelance creative based in Belfast, who hit viral fame with his impressive stained glass Dalek work of art. He has work across variety of projects and amassed a wide range of skills, working with brands such as Anderson Entertainments, Big Finish, Eaglemoss and Haynes Publishing.
Chris will be joining us twice over the BritSciFi weekend to show you ‘how to illustrate a 3D Tardis’, and a behind the scenes of concept designs session.
Fantom Publishing
Fantom is a small media company based in the West Midlands publishing Horror, Fantasy and Classic Audio Books, Non-Fiction Limited Edition Books, as well as organising regular Doctor Who events. Fantom Publishing has a long history of producing and releasing high quality audio titles. These consist of a mixture of full length readings, abridged classics, and full cast dramas. With a whole spectrum of genres, from horror to romance, autobiographical to science fiction
As part of BritSciFi the team at Fantom will be hosting an exclusive “Who Talk” session.
Penguin Random House Audio/2000 AD
Five new dramatic audio adaptions of the best-selling 2000 AD graphic novels have been produced by the award-winning Penguin Studios. Working closely with authors and editors at 2000 AD, all 300 characters in the graphics novels have been voiced by over 40 narrators, alongside mesmerising sound effects and original music. All titles available via Audible, Apple Books and Google Play.
We will be hosting a Q&A with Senior Producer Chris Thompson about adapting the scripts, sound design and rise of Sci-Fi audio as part of the BritSciFi festival, so get your questions in for Chris now on our Facebook event page.
Lee Sullivan
Lee trained as a wildlife and technical illustrator, then spent five years as a graphic artist for British Aerospace. In 1988 he started working for the comics industry including Transformers, Doctor Who, 2000AD, Eaglemoss, TV21, Titan and Marvel. He produced character and background illustrations for the BBC’s online Doctor Who webcasts, as well as working on the graphic novels for Ben Aaronovitch’s series of Rivers of London novels.
Lee worked with his comic book artist hero and friend Mike Noble on three projects featuring Gerry Anderson’s Zero X and Captain Scarlet. These were a career highlight for Lee, who will be joining us for a Q&A as part of the BritSciFi festival.