Dr. Jack Beven's Images of Visions '95

I. Introduction

The Visions science fiction convention used to be held annually at Thanksgiving Weekend in Chicago, Illinois. I attend when possible, and I've had a pretty good time. Here's some pictures I took at the 1995 Visions.

II. Opening Ceremonies

Visions had an opening ceremony to introduce the guests, usually with some sort of little gags. These sequences show various guests during introduction.


Norman Lovett (31K JPG)	Paul Cornell & Kate Orman (28K JPG)	Terry Walsh (29K JPG)	Paul Darrow (30K JPG)	Mira Furlan (28K JPG)	Michael Praed (30K JPG)


Anneke Willis (33K JPG)	Hattie Hayridge (33K JPG)	Michael O'Hare (30K JPG)	Gareth Thomas (37K JPG)	Brian Blessed (49K JPG)

The first picture (31K JPG) in the first row is of Norman Lovett, who played the computer face and voice of Holly on the British science-fiction comedy Red Dwarf. The second (28K JPG) is of Doctor Who New Adventures writers Paul Cornell and Kate Orman. The third (29K JPG) is of stunt man/fight arranger Terry Walsh, who has participated in numerous British TV shows. The fourth (30K JPG) is of Paul Darrow, who played the notorious Avon on the British science-fiction drama Blakes 7. The fifth (28K JPG) is of Mira Furlan, who plays Ambassador Delenn on Babylon 5. The last picture (30K JPG) in the first row is of Michael Praed, who played Robin Hood in the first season of Showtime's Robin of Sherwood series.

The first picture (33K JPG) of the second row is of Anneke Willis, who played Polly on Doctor Who in the 1960's. The second (33K JPG) is of Hattie Hayridge, who played the computer face and voice of Hilly on Red Dwarf. The third (30K JPG) is of Michael O'Hare, who played Commander Sinclair on Babylon 5. The fourth (37K JPG) is of Gareth Thomas, who played Blake on Blake's 7. Last (49K JPG), but certainly not least, is "the man who needs no microphone", Brian Blessed. Brian has had numerous stage and screen roles, including that of Vultan, King of the Hawk-men, in the Flash Gordon movie.

III. The Celebrities and Me


Michael O. & Mira (68K JPG)	Terry & Michael P. (50K JPG)	Hattie & Norman (47K JPG)	The Doctor Who Troop (54K JPG)	Brian, Gareth, and Paul I (57K JPG)	Brian, Gareth, and Paul II (49K JPG)

Visions featured many chances to get your picture taken with the celebrities. This sequence shows myself with the various guests. Three of the pictures require some further explanation. The Doctor Who Troop (54K JPG) includes three guests who didn't make it to the opening ceremonies: Sylvester McCoy (the 7^th Doctor), Sophie Aldred (who played Ace), and Michael Craze (who played Ben Jackson), along with Anneke Willis. Obviously we were all in goofy mode!

The fifth picture (57K) is the "normal" picture of myself with Brian, Gareth, and Paul. Right after that, somebody (I can't remember who) said something that caused us all to crack up. The photographer surprised us all by taking another picture (49K JPG) and catching us all looking like doofuses!

By the way, my white T-shirt says "Tardis Express: When it absolutely, positively, has to be there yesterday!".

IV. An Interesting Panel Session


Anneke Willis (18K JPG)	Sylvester & Anneke (29K JPG)	Anneke & Michael C. (28K JPG)	Sophie & Michael C. (24K JPG)	Sylvester McCoy (25K JPG)

Visions' panel sessions were somewhat similar to "Meet the Press" - the celebrities come out and answer questions from the audience about themselves, their careers, and the shows of interest. I didn't get to many of the panels due to time spent in autograph and photo lines. However, I did attend this one featuring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Michael Craze, and Anneke Willis.

I would like to apologize to Kate Orman and Jon Blum for this sequence. I sat directly behind them, and I may have fried their follicles with my flash!

V. Some Friends


The r.a.drw Crew (66K JPG)	Jon Blum & Kate Orman (52K JPG)

One reason for attending this convention was to meet in person the people that I'd been acquainted with from the USENET newsgroup rec.arts.drwho. The first picture (66K JPG) shows some of the USENETers in attendance. On the top row are (left-to-right): Don Gillikin, Jon Blum, Carrie O'Grady, Paul Cornell, Graeme Burk, and Kate Orman. The bottom row (left-to-right) includes Robert Smith, Mike Doran, and Steve Traylen.

The second picture (52K JPG) is of Kate Orman and Jon Blum.

VI. A Couple of Miscellaneous Images


War of The Worlds (41K JPG)	Big Rocket (34K JPG)

Visions and most other science fiction conventions feature dealer rooms with memorabilia from many TV shows, movies, or books. The first picture (41K JPG) is a model of the Martian fighting machines from the movie "War of the Worlds". The cons can also include exhibits from science- or science-fiction oriented groups. The second picture (34K JPG) is an exhibit by a group promoting model rocketry - a 6-foot high rocket that looks more like a surface-to-air missile to me!

Visions '96 Pictures

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