"Doctor Who" sci-fi fans from Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami and New York were among the crowd of over 50,000 that gathered to attend BBC-TV's first "Doctor Who" Convention at Longleat House in England over the Easter weekend, it was announced by Wynn Nathan, President, Lionheart Television.
Lionheart is currently distributing the "Doctor Who" series of 172 half-hours — starring Tom Baker—in the U.S. 81 markets have been sold to date.
In giant field tents surrounding Longleat, three of the five stars who have played the role of "Doctor Who" over the past 20 years were on hand to meet their fans and sign autographs: Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Jon Pertwee. Other actors and actresses joined in the festivities including Elizabeth Sladen and Anthony Ainley, together with the series' current producer, John Nathan-Turner. Also, studio sets, visual effects and a dozen of the series' classic monsters were on display. Further, some 200 props and costumes from the series were put up at auction with the proceeds of over $10,000 donated to charity.
The attendance set all records for a BBC-TV promotional event, attesting to the incredible cult popularity of the "Doctor Who" series which is now seen in 39 countries around the world with worldwide audiences now totalling over 100 million viewers each week.
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