Gas Mask Guy at the Dr Who Symphony

I think I'd made it about 3 feet into the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall's foyer when I decided that the audience for the Doctor Who Symphony was clearly going to be as interesting as the performance itself. Possibly it had something to do with the two Time Lords and a Girl In Blue littering the main stairs. But I think the clincher was when this chap flaunting a white 'doctor's' coat and gas mask hove into view. Let's just say it wasn't the usual attire for the Opera House.

I've not had any prior experience of any Doctor Who-related activities. Being pathologically antisocial means that there is no way on God's Little Green Earth that I would attend conventions or any such sci-fi-foolery, even if any such gatherings had been held on Australian soil (which they rarely are, as far as I am aware). My bias against Star Trek, for example, means that I would cheerfully have my eyes gouged out and my limbs cut off rather than go to a ST convention.

But I was curious about this production. One had been held in Melbourne at the beginning of this year, and I'm aware that there have been forerunners of this event in the UK since Cardiff in c.2006. (Too bad that the Sydney production dwelt on the Matt Smith incarnation, which to my mind is a dumbed-down version of Who. But it was better than a slap in the face with a wet fish.)

Spotted in the foyer:
-People of all ages sporting fezzes, bowties and/or braces
-A chap who opted for a low-key approach, with a stick of celery in his shirt pocket and a boater hat on his head
-Multicoloured, seven-feet-long scarves aplenty, worn oh-so-casually, adorning necks, shoulders and draggling onto the carpet
-Tardis beanies (it's summertime, people, are you insane?)
-A Lady Dalek, complete with plunger and whisk
-A Lady Tardis, in hand-made evening gown
-Various groups of Tardis girls, including one creative lass who stuck an upside-down wine glass on her head, painted it blue and garnished it with blue tinsel
-Someone who clearly hadn't received the memo and showed up in a Superman t-shirt
-A couple of debonair Captain Jacks, in full military-coat swagger
- A girl who evidently got more than she bargained for when she tried the usual "So is that a sonic screwdriver in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

Frankly, after this, the performance should have been a complete let-down. But for once, we were allowed to take photographs inside the Concert Hall, so I had a crack at practically anything that moved (although I did feel rather sorry for whoever was in the Silence costumes, as there are only so many ways you can writhe and contort before you start feeling a bit daft. One repeatedly bowed himself backwards and clutched at his neck, looking as if he was choking on an exceptionally large fishbone.) The Judoon and Cybermen probably had more fun stomping up and down stairs.

I'll spare you the blow-by-blow roundup of the performance, at least partly because I am not a Matt Smith devotee and my brain tended to wander off whenever some unfamiliar footage was on-screen. But I was pleased to see that there was shameless (albeit brief) pandering to audience members older than 20, via a round-up of all the Doctors. Much cheering ensued as people championed 'their' Doctor. I suspect a good proportion of the Gen Y-and-younger audience sat there wondering "Who are these people? Why is the footage in black and white?"

I'm not completely sure, but I think as keen as the audience was to see Alex Kingston, Mark Williams, Ben Foster and Murray Gold (and they were), the daleks probably got the loudest cheers. But that went without saying, didn't it?

If you have run out of presents to wrap, finished decorating the tree and generally have nothing better to do, I have uploaded some photos (of varying quality, I might point out) of audience members and the performance, cybermen, etc, for your viewing pleasure here.