FANS galore traveled in their droves to a weekend SF spectacular.
The SFX Magazine weekender brought science fiction fans from across the world to Prestatyn Pontins on Friday, with a phalanx of stars, stormtroopers, dancing cyborgs and sneak-preview screenings.
The mood at the venue, kitted up in suitably futuristic style, was electric, with cyberpunk soldiers rubbing shoulders with Daleks and cosplayers from every corner of the genre.
With special guests including Eve Myles of Torchwood fame, renowned authors Peter F Hamilton, Robert Rankin and China Mieville, and the ever boisterous and bombastic Brian Blessed, there was plenty to draw the crowds.
There were a few hiccups - inclement weather and a rail problems led to the non-appearance of fan favourite Anthony Stewart-Head from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Merlin, but the SFX staff kept the crowd entertained with a mix of mock panel-games, interviews, previews, competitions and comedy.
The itinerary was packed, so finding a moment to eat or run to the loo was sometimes difficult, with the 3,000-plus visitors queuing up for fish and chips or scoffing a swift snack before their next hero climbed on stage.
The only complaint centred around the logistics, as loitering visitors were shuffled out of the main hall (or Void) to prepare for the evening shows, leaving them to mill around the Queen Victoria pub or the smaller screening section.
This was not ideal, as the Welsh weather prevailed outside and the merchandise zone was also cleared, leaving those who weren't staying in the Pontins chalets with limited places to spend an hour.
Fan interaction was at the core of the event, with sessions thrown open to Q and A for a crowd-pleasing twenty minutes at a time, and some notables, including members of the Friday night cabaret act the Imaginarium, mingling with the punters, including a bevvy of stilt walking beauties.
Perhaps one of the best parts of the weekend was not the acts, as entertaining as they were, but the creativity and enthusiasm of the people who attended the SFX weekender.
The Galactic Knights, recognisable locally from their annual appearance in the Llandudno parades, were in attendance in full battle gear, but they were matched by individual guests who dressed to impress as N'avi, Futurama characters, escapees from the world of Watchmen and more.
And like a football match or a rock gig, the fans were all there for the same reason, all willing to talk about the series they loved, discuss the characters they admired or analyse the latest move or literary offering.
The award ceremony, hosted by an irreverent Robert Rankin, segued from silly to serious and back again, as the award for “biggest disappointment of the year” gave way to the touching delivery of the lifetime achievement award to literary legend Brian Aldiss, and then on to an impromptu ukulele sing-song.
The event ended as it began - with a bang. The kinetic Area 51 dancers kicked off the opening ceremony and returned to the stage on the final night to get the after show masked ball started, alongside a surprise cameo from a pint-sized Mario, proving that sci-fi fans party just as hard as anyone else.
BRIAN Blessed is known to millions as the bombastic Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon, but the actor and adventurer is in line for a real life cosmic adventure.
The Yorkshire-born actor, 75, trained as a cosmonaut in Moscow and is first reserve for the International Spacestation.
He is also working with scientists in Abingdon on Skylon, which could provide unpiloted transport to the moon.
He said: “For me it’s Flash Gordon with reality. They’ve found Helium three on the moon, which comes from the Sun, bounces of the surface of the earth and lands there.
“One tonne of Helium three would give Britain pollution-free fuel for 500 years, so what’s going to safe the earth is our sister planet.”
Speaking at the SFX Weekender in Prestatyn on Saturday, the avid mountaineer said that he has climbed Snowdon many times, but joked that he had to rescue someone every time he went there.
He added: “The Welsh mountains mean a hell of a lot to me, because my mother was Welsh.
“Wales, I feel, is God’s country.”
The warm reception that Brian received from fans at the event came as a pleasant surprise.
He said: “Looking at these people and meeting them, they’re very alive - they’re also Peter Pan, in the fact that they will never grow up.
“That is essentially mature, and I find them inspirational.
Brian also told the Journal that his many of his lines in Flash Gordon came from his days in the RAF during his national service.
“One of the parachutists crashed his Dakota in Oxfordshire, where we were jumping from, and I thought he was dead.
“His name was Gordon Darrant, and I just said ‘Gordon’s alive!’, and I could relate it the film.”
Brian also gave his thoughts on why the simple line had gone into movie legend.
He said: “I think it’s a cry for freedom and happiness.”