MORE than 1,000 sci-fi fans visited Trowbridge Civic Centre across the weekend for the Sci-Fi Southwest convention, which included appearances from former Doctor Who actors.

The show, which landed in Trowbridge for the first time, featured talks from the sixth Doctor Who Colin Baker, as well as his sidekick Nicola Bryant, who played his American companion Perpugillum Brown.

Crowds also enjoyed a Q&A with Thunderbirds voice actors Shane Rimmer, David Graham and Matt Zimmerman, while a full cast of puppet characters from the many shows produced by Gerry Anderson were on display.

Actor Jon Davey, who has regularly appeared in Doctor Who as everything from a Whisperman and Cyberman to a dreaded Dalek, was another who spoke to fans from the show.

He said: “It was great fun and we had fantastic crowds. I have done quite a few events like before, but it was very well organised and it’s always lots of fun talking with fans of Doctor Who.”

Other attractions included the Doctor Who Tardis, costume displays, props from TV shows like Red Dwarf and Blake 7, plus The Simpson’s sofa, which gave people the opportunity to have their photo taken on the famous couch.

Trowbridge Town Council’s direct services supervisor Carl Triggs said: “It was an absolutely fantastic turnout and we had way more visitors than we ever expected.

“We easily had over 1,000 people over the weekend, although we couldn’t have made it the success it was without all the volunteers who gave their time to help out and Charity Sci-Fi, who were fantastic.

“Sunday was the busier of the two days as I think the word had got out by then. It was jammed pack for Colin Baker’s talk and we had to get more seating, while we had a statue of a motorised weeping angel which was also really popular.

“We are already looking at doing it all again next year, but on a bigger scale. I really couldn’t be more pleased with how it went and I must also give my thanks to the guys at Basestar, who created, organised and ran the event.”