The Guests

Paul McGann


Born in Liverpool, Paul trained at RADA.  His television work includes the lead in The Monocled Mutineer in 1986 (for which he first appeared on a Radio Times cover); this was followed in the same year by the film Withnail and I.  Theatre work includes Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, Constantine in The Seagull and Vershinin in Three Sisters.  Other major television roles include Mr Bush in Hornblower, Jonathan Creek, Luther, and John Gaskell in Holby City.


Paul was cast as the Doctor in the 1996 Universal / BBC film; he continues to play the role for Big Finish and returned as the Doctor for The Night of the Doctor (2013) and The Power of the Doctor in 2022.


This is Paul's first appearance at Bedford Who Charity Con and we look forward to welcoming him to Bedford.



Daphne Ashbrook


Daphne's very kindly flying in from the States to be with us at the convention. 


Born into an acting family in San Diego, California, Daphne's first stage appearance was as Shakespeare's daughter Susanna in A Cry of Players at Grossmont College.  She was six.  Theatre remains her first love; she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Ovation Award for her role as Rosalie in Landscape of the Body, and she won a Dramalogue Best Actress Award for Hearts.


TV and film work includes The O.C., JAG, NCIS, Law and Order, Cold Case, CSI, Crossing Jordan, Without a Trace, Murder She Wrote and Knight Rider.  She is one of the few actors to have starred in both Star Trek and Doctor Who:  three years before teaming up with Paul McGann, she played the title character in the Deep Space Nine episode Melora.


Daphne is also a singer (her first CD was Grace Notes), and a writer: she has written a number of screenplays and her biography, Dead Woman Laughing - An Actor's 'Take' From Both Side of the Camera, was published in 2012.


She is, of course, Dr Grace Holloway in Doctor Who


And yes, she's coming to Bedford!



Jemma Redgrave


Jemma is best known to Doctor Who fans as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, the head of UNIT and the daughter of Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.  She first appeared in The Power of Three in 2012, starring alongside Matt Smith as the Doctor; her most recent appearance was in The Giggle, with David Tennant and Ncuti Gatwa.


A hugely respected and prolific actor, Jemma's television work includes Bramwell, Cold Blood, Mansfield Park, Holby City, Dracula, and Grantchester.  Stage roles include Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Rosalind in As You Like It, Miss Julie (title role), Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, and An Ideal Husband.


We're very much looking forward to seeing her.



Mike Tucker


Mike is an old friend of Bedford Who and it's good to have him back.


In fact, Mike is one of the few people to have worked on both the classic series and on nu-Who.  As an assistant special effects designer for the BBC, Mike helped design the effects from The Trial of a Time Lord onwards; his work included the husks in Ghost Light.  As director of The Model Unit, Mike's countless contributions included many of the icons of 21st Century Doctor Who:  he was responsible for the spaceship crashing into Big Ben, and for building the prototype Dalek used in Robert Shearman's episode Dalek. (The prop was later resprayed and became Dalek Sec.)


Mike won his first BAFTA for the drama-documentary Hiroshima; his second was for The Day of the Doctor.


He is also a prolific author of Who novels and reference books, and he is a script writer for Big Finish.


 

Tim Treloar


Tim was a civil servant for ten years.  He then switched to acting, training at LAMDA, The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He is best known to Doctor Who fans for playing Jon Pertwee's Doctor for Big Finish.


Tim was a member of The Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre.  His television work includes Casualty, Midsomer Murders, Silent Witness, Father Brown, Call the Midwife, and Grace (with John Simm).  He was Ross in the Chichester Festival Theatre's Macbeth, (Patrick Stewart played the title role); the play was later remounted for BBC4. 


Other activities include his audiobook readings, being covered in dots for motion capture -- and acting as Robert Downey Jr's voice coach.


Tim will be joined by:



Daisy Ashford


Daisy is Liz Shaw in Doctor Who for Big Finish; she plays the same part her mother played on television.  She is the daughter of Caroline John and Geoffrey Beevers.


Daisy has played numerous other roles for them, especially in the River Song and Pasternoster Gang adventures. 


Her television appearances include roles in Emmerdale, Wallander, The Midwich Cuckoos and Elizabeth.  Like Tim, Daisy was a member of The Royal Shakespeare Company. 


We're very excited that both the third Doctor and Dr Elizabeth Shaw will be joining us at the convention!



Una McCormack


Una last came to Bedford Who Charity Con in 2017; it's good to have her back!


Una taught creative writing at Anglia Ruskin University at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.  She is a prolific author; her work includes original novels from the universes of Star Trek, Blake's 7 and Firefly.  Her Star Trek: Picard novel The Last Best Hope (2020) was a USA Today bestseller.


Una's Doctor Who novels include Molten Heart, The Way Through the Woods, Royal Blood and The King's Dragon; she has also contributed to a number of Who anthologies.  She is a scriptwriter for Big Finish's range of Doctor Who audios.



David Hankinson


David last came to Bedford Who in 2021, when he led a very funny workshop called How to be a Dalek.  He's enormous fun and it will be good to see him again.


David first trundled onto our screen's in Christopher Eccleston's swansong, Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways.  He was a Dalek operator for all of David Tennant's tenth Doctor Dalek stories.


David was Max in the P.R.O.B.E. video Ghosts of Winterbourne; he was also Anton Lichtfuss in Doctor Who: Loups Garoux for Big Finish.  His other work includes Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and A Little Rain Must Fall.




Sincere thanks to Julian Owen and Ian Kubiak


As is standard with all conventions, guests may have to cancel if they are called away for filming et al.