FORT LAUDERDALE (AP) — More than 300 starry-eyed science fiction buffs, some dressed as Doctor Who, have descended on a Fort Lauderdale hotel to celebrate other worlds.
"I wanted a release from the everyday," said Ann Malcolm, who came to Fort Lauderdale from Naples for the weekend fantasy adventure.
The 27-year-old airline employee dressed in a long scarf, black floppy hat and red-velvet coat to impersonate Doctor Who, the British television time-traveler who is dominating the science-fiction fest called Omnicon.
Among the films shown in Fort Lauderdale this weekend are 21 complete Doctor Who adventures from the British Broadcasting Corp. and the movie "Star Trek II — The Wrath of Khan."
Trekkies are a major influence on the festival, too, but the sci-fi buffs mobbed Peter Davison, the fifth and most recent actor to play Doctor Who, and producer John Nathan-Turner.
Nathan-Turner said Americans are just getting hooked on the show that has aired in Britain for 19 years and is shown in 39 countries. More than half the show's 98 million fans are older than 16, he said.
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