NovelCon - a pubcon celebrating the Doctor Who novels from Target, Virgin, the BBC and beyond

Event information

Following on from “Vworp Vworp! Comic Book Adventures in Time and Space”, the next instalment at the Lass O’Gowrie will focus on the famed Doctor Who novels – “from Target to the BBC Books and beyond”. The event will explore the genesis of the range, the rise and fall of the New Adventures and their indelible impact on Nu- Who, the transition to in-house publishing and the future of the range now the programme is back on the air.

Weighty topics we will be debating include ‘guns v frocks’, ‘BBC v Virgin’, ‘past Doctors - what's the point?’, ‘roots of the TV revival - begged, borrowed and stolen?’, ‘bigger and broader - are the books the real home of Doctor Who?’ and ‘a question on canonicity - was it all a dream? Guests confirmed to date include Paul Magrs, Mark Morris, Mark Michalowski, Steve Lyons, Paul Dale-Smith, Andrew Cartmel, Daniel Blythe, Simon Guerrier, Martin Day, Trevor Baxendale, Paul Cornell and Gary Russell.

We passionately believe the novels deserve their own event.

Our pubcons at the Lass are renowned for their relaxed, informal atmosphere (see for http://disraeli-demon.blogspot.com/2008/10/vworp-vworp.html, http://kasterborous.blogspot.com/2008/10/vworp-vworp.html or http://www.paulcornell.com/2008/10/return-of-meggan-comics-and-who.html for a flavour of what we’re about). We don't go in for the usual straight interviews and autograph sessions, but try and do things a little more imaginatively, using powerpoints and AV in a relaxed, easy going proper pub atmosphere. We're a lovely old pub, located right in the middle of Manchester down the side of the BBC so very easy to reach by car and public transport. We also do a mean line in homemade pies and real ale!

More details on the pub can be found at www.thelass.co.uk .