Convention 2005
Eighth Convention was a great success!
Every year we wonder how we can build on previous Conventions, make them different and even more successful, well, without doubt, this years annual gathering was not only the biggest to date but also the best by far. As in previous years the weekend of the Convention starts many months before the actual event, with plans being put into place to make sure every eventuality is covered to ensure everybody enjoys a great day out.This year we opened the doors earlier, 10am to be precise, to allow everyone a little more time to get their all important autographs and exclusive merchandise, as in previous years the autograph queue started to form within minutes of the doors opening. At 10.30am Keith went on stage to inform everybody about what had been happening with Only Fools and the Society during the past 12 months, of course the big news being the spin off series ‘Green Green Grass’, which was already becoming a favourite.
By 11.00am we were ready to meet our first guests, where better to start than with Roy Heather (Sid) and Paul Barber (Denzil), both have been to previous Conventions, they came on stage to a huge round of applause. Roy told us that he would be making an appearance in the forthcoming Christmas Special of Green, Green Grass, Paul explained how he’d been in Coronation Street and turned down the chance to make his part bigger and appear in the ITV drama for a further six months. We were conscious of keeping the interviews down to a minimum so we brought our next guests on together, Ivan Kaye (Bryan), Ella Kenion (Mrs Cakeworhty), Pete Hepplethwaite (Jed) all as I’m sure you’re aware have become favourites from Green, Green Grass, unfortunately Jack Doolan (Tyler) was running late but he did make an appearance later in the day and again received a warm welcome, from some 2000 people.
Our final guests had been to many previous Conventions and have supported us right from the start, so we were once again proud to welcome John Challis (Boycie) and Sue Holderness (Marlene) to the stage, the applause was almost deafening. Both actors told us of the fun they were having resurrecting there famous characters and how they were about to start filming the Christmas Special, I think the biggest crowd reaction came just as John and Sue were about to leave stage, when John stopped and made his infamous laugh.By about 11.15am the actors were sat in their usual Convention places and ready to start the huge autograph marathon. We thought by opening the doors two hours earlier than usual that the actors would be finished earlier, how wrong we were. I think the last autograph was given at about 9.00pm, once again the actors between them must have signed their name nearly 50,000 times.
Around the hall, we had our usual vast array of new and exclusive merchandise and our recreation of the ‘Trotter’ flat, which included Del and Albert look-a-likes. In the middle of the hall was the Trotter Van and Del Boy’s Capri Ghia, finally you could see most of the costumes used in the show including ‘Triggers’ famous blue suit. Outside the vast hall you had the chance to go into the Trotter museum, ‘Trotters Ethnic Tours’, where again you could many original props used in the show.Finally our thanks must go out to everyone that attend and made this years Convention such a huge success, everybody was patient and waited for their autographs, the actors were as always as gracious with the last signature as they were with the first. So until next year we hope to see you all in 2006
Will there be a new convention