Gallifrey One is the world’s largest and longest-running annual Doctor Who fan convention.
A fully non-profit event founded in 1989 by active fans in local Los Angeles science fiction fandom, Gallifrey One Conventions has run events annually since 1990 (all but the first two occurring in February), and has over time become one of the world’s most popular fan-run themed events devoted to the Doctor Who classic and new television series, and its spinoffs, including Torchwood, Class and The Sarah Jane Adventures.
While very much a modern celebrity-driven convention, Gallifrey One stays extremely close to its roots in “old school” fandom: one admission cost for nearly everything at the event, with no preferred seating or tier packages, where pros and fans alike mix throughout the day. Our convention still boasts a classic-style art show, a supervised children’s program room, hallway fan tables available for free to clubs and conventions, and specialized costuming events, as well as a dealers room and special themed events (such as our Thursday night launch party!) Plus, unlike other celebrity shows, our event goes well into the evening on Friday and Saturday nights with extensive evening programming, dances and karaoke (sometimes going until the very early hours of the morning!), and a fully judged Saturday night costume competition and fashion show (the Masquerade of Mandragora).
Click here for a list of our previous events
We are proud to host the Bob May Memorial Charity Auction, our annual charity fundraising event which takes place on the Sunday afternoon of each convention. Named for our late friend and long-time convention guest, the man behind the Robot on Lost in Space, over the years the Bob May Auction has raised over $200,000 for a variety of local, national and international charities including the Foundation for the Study of Infant Death, the Downs Syndrome Association, the American Red Cross, the Dyslexia Scholarship Fund, the Hurricane Mitch Disaster Relief Fund, the War Child Charity, the Afghan Women’s Mission, the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Juvenile Diabetes Association, the Starlight/Starbright Foundation, the American Heart Association, Actors and Others For Animals, the American Cancer Society, Direct Relief International, Pet Orphans of Southern California, Students Run LA, the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer, the Aimee Hoff Memorial Scholarship Fund, the Wounded Warrior Project, the LUMOS foundation, the Denville Hall retirement home, the Pop Culture Hero Coalition, the LASFS Building Fund, Project MotorHouse, and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
With over 400 guests spanning three decades, Gallifrey One has welcomed nearly every living principal cast member of classic Doctor Who, as well as many behind-the-scenes guests from the classic series and the 1996 TV movie, including Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Maureen O’Brien, Waris Hussein, Peter Purves, Anneke Wills, Michael Craze, Frazer Hines, Deborah Watling, Wendy Padbury, Derrick Sherwin, Dick Mills, Terrance Dicks, Barry Letts, Jon Pertwee, Caroline John, Nicholas Courtney, John Levene, Richard Franklin, Katy Manning, Elisabeth Sladen, Philip Hinchcliffe, Roger Murray-Leach, Louise Jameson, Mary Tamm, John Leeson, Mat Irvine, Lalla Ward, June Hudson, Stephen Thorne, Julian Glover, Geoffrey Beevers, John Nathan-Turner, Margot Hayhoe, Michael E. Briant, Peter Davison, Matthew Waterhouse, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Graeme Harper, Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Terry Molloy, Bonnie Langford, Dominic Glynn, Philip Martin, Michael Jayston, Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Andrew Cartmel, Rona Munro, Stephen Wyatt, Patricia Quinn, Jessica Martin, Marcus Gilbert, Lisa Bowerman, Paul McGann, Philip Segal, Daphne Ashbrook, Yee Jee Tso, Matthew Jacobs, and Eric Roberts.
We have also hosted many guests from the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, both from on screen as well as behind the camera, including Christopher Eccleston, Sir John Hurt, Steven Moffat, Billie Piper, Catherine Tate, Pearl Mackie, John Barrowman, Tosin Cole, Freema Agyeman, Arthur Darvill, Matt Lucas, Michelle Ryan, Michelle Gomez, David Bradley, Jemma Redgrave, Murray Gold, Ingrid Oliver, Camille Coduri, Noel Clarke, Neve McIntosh, Dan Starkey, Catrin Stewart, Samuel Anderson, Phil Collinson, Frances Barber, Clare Higgins, Annette Badland, Brian Minchin, Steffan Morris, Tracie Simpson, Joy Wilkinson, Vinay Patel, Pete McTighe, Hayley Nebauer, Ian McNeice, Tony Curran, Yasmin Bannerman, Simon Fisher-Becker, Ellis George, Adjoa Andoh, Shaun Dingwall, Caitlin Blackwood, Georgia Moffatt, Louise Page, Velile Tshabalala, Lachele Carl, Stuart Milligan, Tracey Childs, Sonita Henry, Will Thorp, Jami Reid-Quarrell, Matthew Doman, Jimmy Vee, Emma Campbell-Jones, Andy Pryor, Sallie Aprahamian, Arwel Wyn Jones, Claire Pritchard, Lawrence Gough, Wayne Yip, Anna Louise Plowman, Tilly Steele, Mark Dexter, Danny Hargreaves, Paul Cornell, Jamie Mathieson, Sarah Dollard, Peter Harness, Phil Ford, Tom MacRae, Mark Corden, James DeHaviland, Mark McQuoid, Matt Rohman, Howard Burden, Andrew Hayden-Smith, Ryan Carnes, Christine Adams, Robert Shearman, James Moran, Nicholas Briggs, Richard Hope, Paul Kasey, Nina Toussaint-White, Ryan Carnes, Nicholas Pegg, Barnaby Edwards, Toby Haynes, Richard Senior, Steve Hughes, Saul Metzstein, Douglas MacKinnon and Mark Gatiss.
We have additionally welcomed guests from the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood, Class and The Sarah Jane Adventures, with guests such as Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Tommy Knight, Anjli Mohindra, Gareth David-Lloyd, Kai Owen, Naoko Mori, Tom Price, Cush Jumbo, Anna Shaffer, Finn Jones, Sam Watts, Paul Marc Davis, Anna Shaffer, Daniele Favilli; esteemed writers, editors and illustrators including Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, David Gerrold, Larry Niven, Barbara Hambly, Harry Harrison, J. Michael Straczynski, Nancy Holder, Jane Espenson, Ronald D. Moore, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Rachael Stott, Nick Abadzis, Wendy Pini, Pia Guerra, Stephen R. Donaldson, Dorothy C. Fontana, Christopher Jones, Chris Achilleos, Simon Fraser, George Mann, Jenny Colgan, Tony Lee, Matt Fitton, Emma Reeves, Una McCormack, John Dorney, Cavan Scott, Richard Dinnick, and John Peel; as well as popular guests from a variety of genre television series such as Red Dwarf, Babylon 5, Blake’s 7, Space: 1999, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, Farscape, Crusade, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Andromeda, Dark Shadows, Lord of the Rings, Land of the Giants, Mystery Science Theater 3000, AlienNation and Lost in Space, including Walter Koenig, Ben Browder, Mark Sheppard, Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, Mira Furlan, Paul Darrow, Gareth Thomas, Richard Hatch, Anne Lockhart, Virginia Hey, Hattie Hayridge, John de Lancie, Gigi Edgley, Brent Spiner, Robert Picardo, Joel Hodgson, Erin Gray, Andrea Thompson, Connor Trinneer, Nicole de Boer, Jeffrey Combs, Anthony Montgomery, Vaughn Armstrong, Robert O’Reilly, Suzie Plakson, Jeff Conaway, Brad Dourif, Amber Benson, Bill Mumy, Veronica Cartwright, Danny Strong, Daniel Dae Kim, Julie Caitlin Brown, Rekha Sharma, Chris Hardwick, Stephanie Beacham, Alexis Cruz, Herbert Jefferson Jr., Tucker Smallwood, Kent McCord, Casey Biggs, Peter Woodward, Gary Graham, Michelle Scarabelli, Judson Scott, Richard Lynch, Celeste Yarnall, Kathy Garver, Camden Toy, Stuart Pankin, Deanna Lund, Don Marshall, Vaughn Armstrong, Kathryn Leigh Scott and Nichelle Nichols.
Gallifrey One has also become an international event, hosting hundreds of fans from outside the US, as well as attracting dozens of writers of Doctor Who fact and fiction and many science fiction, fantasy and horror producers, writers and technical wizards.
Among our milestones and achievements over the years, Gallifrey One has been
- to date, the only North American Doctor Who fan convention to host Steven Moffat (four times!) and Murray Gold
- the first-ever convention appearances of Paul McGann, Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso, and the first North American Doctor Who convention appearances of producers Philip Hinchcliffe and Derrick Sherwin
- the first North American Doctor Who convention appearances in 15 years for Bonnie Langford (2001) and Janet Fielding (2004), and in over 20 years for Lalla Ward (2017)
- the only North American Doctor Who convention appearance of John Hurt, costume designers June Hudson and Louise Page and casting director Andy Pryor
- the go-to convention for Philip Segal during the making of the Doctor Who TV movie in 1996
The Gallifrey One organization was originally established in January 1989 through the Time Meddlers of Los Angeles, our local Doctor Who fan club. The convention was split off to become an independent organization in May 1989, and our annual events began in May 1990.
Gallifrey One’s founding team in 1989 included Robbie Bourget, Shaun Lyon, Christian B. McGuire, Alan E. Hale, Tony Benoun, Bill Watson, Matthew Mitchell, Kory Doyle, David Keller, Deanna Bayless, Jim Terry, Michael Troncoso, David McGorray, Sherri Benoun, Bob Null, Korina Johnson, David Johnson, Allie McGuire, Ken Barr, Nicholas Cravotta, Dori van Brocklin, Andrea Spilholtz, Lee Wygand, Gary Louie and Michael Mason; and by the mid-90s also included Ingrid Oliansky, Scott Beckstead, Cathy Johnson, Steve Smyth, Michael Pell, Helen Oxford, Diane McClamma, Dan Sandifer, Maribeth Mitchell, Carol Loessin, Dwaine Maggart, Gregory Hart, Peter Burcham, Laurel Rayner, and Elayne Pelz.
In Memoriam
In fond remembrance of our dearly departed Gallifrey One team members, gone but never forgotten: Michael Mason, Ken Barr, Charlie Hoff, Gary Louie, Bob Null, Jennifer Adams Kelley, Aimee Hoff, Paul Condon, Maribeth Mitchell, Cathy Watson, Zack Lockhart, Michael Pell, Helen Oxford, Ruth Rigel, Bruce Pelz, Jim Cryer, Diane Elliott, Terri Miyashiro, and David “The Brigadier” Keller.
Special thanks to the honored Gallifrey One guests of the past, who have since left this Earth for that immortal TARDIS in the sky: Jon Pertwee, Sir John Hurt, Nicholas Courtney, Deborah Watling, Elisabeth Sladen, Terrance Dicks, Mary Tamm, Derrick Sherwin, John Nathan-Turner, Barry Letts, Caroline John, Craig Hinton, Michael Craze, Maggie Stables, W. Morgan Sheppard, Gareth Thomas, Paul Darrow, Philip Martin, Len Wein, David Wise, Frank Kelly Freas, Richard Hatch, Terry Walsh, Jeff Conaway, Deanna Lund, Dorothy C. Fontana, Michael Forrest, Celeste Yarnall, Grant Imahara, Don Matheson, Stephen Thorne, Don Marshall, Tim Choate, Leonard Stone, Richard Arnold, Forrest J. Ackerman, and Bob May.
The Fine Print
Gallifrey One is presented by Gallifrey One Conventions, a subsidiary of The Institute for Specialized Literature, Inc. (ISL), a California 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
The Board of Directors of Gallifrey One Conventions includes Robbie Bourget (Logistics & Support Services Director), Shaun Lyon (Program Director & Public Relations), Joyce Lloyd (Facilities & Hospitality Director), Dan Sandifer (Operations & Daytime Events Director) and Cathy Johnson (Technical & Evening Events Director). Gallifrey One’s Board of Directors is responsible for setting policy and administers each year’s event.
Elayne Pelz is the Executive Secretary of the Institute for Specialized Literature, Inc., and serves as the Treasurer of Gallifrey One Conventions.
Gallifrey One operates annually with the gracious support of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS) and the Southern California Institute for Fan Interests (SCIFI), Inc.
The Gallifrey One website is created and edited by Shaun Lyon and hosted by A Small Orange Web Hosting.
The Gallifrey One Conventions logo was created by artist Christopher Jones.
Videos
End of the Line (from Gallifrey One 2013) by Ed Stradling
Gallifrey One on the Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2011)
Gallifrey One 25th Anniversary Retrospective (2013)