Guests: Bonnie Langford, Mark Strickson, Sarah Sutton, India Fisher, Lisa Bowerman, Justin Richards, Jason Haigh-Ellery, Alistair Lock, David J. Howe, Philip Segal, Keith Barnfather, Bill Baggs, Jo Castleton, Nigel Fairs, Peter Anghelides, Arnold T. Blumberg, Simon Bucher-Jones, Stephen Cole, Paul Cornell, Sue Cowley, Gary Gillatt, Craig Hinton, Chris Howarth, Steve Lyons, Jon De Burgh Miller, Dave Owen, Lance Parkin, Lars Pearson, Steve Roberts, Philip Segal, Dave Stone, Keith Topping, Nick Walters, Mojo, Mira Furlan, Brad Dourif, Peter Woodward, Robert Trebor, Jeffrey Willerth, David Allen Brooks, Tim Choate, Denise Gentile, Marjean Holden, Daniel Dae Kim, Herb Jefferson Jr., Richard Hatch, Marjorie Monaghan, Iona Morris, Maggie Egan, Beata Pozniak, Larry Niven, Frank Kelly Freas, Mark Altman, Stephen Austin, Bill Blair, Jeff Cioletti, Steve Kriozere, Matt Kiene, Robert Burnett, Joe Reinkemeyer, Steve Melching, Kay Reindl, Mark Allen Shepherd, Jill Sherwin, Zack Stentz, Ashley Miller, Ethlie Ann Vare, Dan Vebber, Harry Werksman, Gabrielle Stanton, John Bro Wilkie and Eric Hoffman.  (Paul Darrow was a confirmed guest for some time but did not appear because his representative reneged on the deal. Richard Biggs and authors Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Fiona Avery had to cancel due to work commitments.)

No one expected that, without a Doctor, The Twelfth Regeneration of Gallifrey One would be the big one. But to this date, Gallifrey 12 remains the most attended convention in our long history. Perhaps it was interest in the guests, or just the renewed interest in conventions after the demise of Visions, Gallifrey's sister event, which passed on as its chairman Bob McLaughlin retired on his laurels. Either way, Gallifrey 12 promised a lot of fun, and according to attendees it delivered.

Sarah Sutton was the first confirmed guest of honor of the three, all of whom had never been to an LA convention before. Sarah had previously been contacted about attending Gallifrey 8, but had to pass up due to schedule conflicts. Mark Strickson, meanwhile, had first been approached at his last Visions appearance and seemed keen to do it; however, Strickson is currently a busy, world-traveling documentary producer, and narrowly avoided a booking in order to come to the convention. The big coup, however, was the appearance of Bonnie Langford... her first convention appearance since 1986 while she was in production on the series. While much maligned by a segment of fandom, and lacking an interest in the program in the meanwhile, Bonnie first contacted the convention actually trying to get in touch with the producers at Big Finish, who were subsequently sent her information. Bonnie then agreed to join the convention, and as a further incentive, was persuaded to bring her one-woman show to LA for a live performance, in return for which the proceeds of the convention charity were donated to her personal charity, the Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) Foundation.

And all three proved tremendously popular at the convention, though Sutton was unfortunately stricken by a horrible flu that kept her out of sight for portions of the convention. Mark and Bonnie, however, kicked in when it was needed. Mark Strickson in particular was a busy man; Reeltime Pictures producer Keith Barnfather spent the weekend taping his travails (including his flights to and from LA) for a video sold as "An Englishman on Gallifrey: Mark Strickson's Guide to American Conventions," a best-seller in their range when it went on sale in July 2001. Adding to their appearances was a huge dose of Big Finish fun: producer Jason Haigh-Ellery brought with him India Fisher ("Charley Pollard") for her first American convention, joined by the lovely Lisa Bowerman, returning to the US for the first time since her last appearance at Gallifrey: 1999, and Alistair Lock, the audio wizard whose work has been featured extensively on their CD's. Bill Baggs of BBV, meanwhile, brought back with him the delightful Jo Castleton, who had proved immensely popular the previous year, as well as actor/author Nigel Fairs and "Cyberon" stars PJ Ochlan and Camilla Aitken. Editor Justin Richards of BBC Books was also on hand for his second appearance, and a large number of authors joined him including former DW editor Stephen Cole and authors Paul Cornell, Simon Bucher-Jones and Kelly Hale, David Howe, Peter Anghelides, Craig Hinton, Steve Lyons & Chris Howarth, Dave Owen, Lance Parkin, Dave Stone, Keith Topping, Nick Walters and Jon de Burgh Miller (the largest group of Doctor Who authors at our convention ever!) 1996 film producer Philip Segal was on hand to autograph his book "Regeneration", while Doctor Who Restoration Team members Steve Roberts and Sue Cowley presented some video extravaganzas and Lars Pearson ("I Who") participated in panels.

The science fiction contingent was an eclectic mix. Actors came from Babylon 5: Mira Furlan, signing at her table; Denise "Lise Garibaldi" Gentile (celebrating a birthday at the con); Tim "Zathras" Choate, late to his first panel but nevertheless great to listen to; Jeffrey "Kosh" Willerth, who presented the "Babylon Park: Grudgematch" video; Marjorie "Number One" Monaghan, her first Gallifrey visit; Beata "President Luchenko" Pozniak; and Maggie "ISN Anchor" Egan. The "Crusade" cast was well-represented, with Peter Woodward, David Allen Brooks, Denise Gentile, Marjean Holden and Daniel Dae Kim assembled together, surely the largest Crusade actor gathering since the cancellation of the TNT spinoff series. Richard Hatch and Herb Jefferson Jr. were both present from "Battlestar Galactica" while Robert Trebor of "Hercules" and characters actors Stephen Austin and Bill Blair and "Deep Space Nine" perennial Mark Allen Shepherd joined us. A surprise guest was found in actor Brad Dourif, a favorite of our guest liaison, who was not announced until his arrival. Equally enjoyable was actress Iona Morris, making her first appearance; the voice-over actress was very popular not only among the attendees, but the guests as well! Artist Frank Kelly Freas presented a slide show, while Mojo of "Voyager" visual effects was also on hand, as was famed SF author Larry Niven, and writer duo Mark Altman & Robert Burnett were present with a TV author panel including Steve Kriozere, Steve Melching, Kay Reindl, Dan Vebber, Harry Werksman and Gabrielle Stanton. Finally, the "Andromeda" series was represented with authors/producers Matt Kiene, Joe Reinkemeyer, Zack Stentz, Ashley Miller and Ethlie Ann Vare.

The theme for Gallifrey 12 was "London in Los Angeles". It had actually come out of a committee meeting nearly a year before, noted by concom member Ed Hooper; the theme was expanded to include the set design (including a Union Jack flag) and various bits of London-ish scenery. Also incorporated was a brand-new "Gallifrey Underground Map" in the center of the program book, a fold out created by Shaun Lyon (the map is clickable, see "art & archive" below). A farcical map of 'Underground stations,' the Map proved immensely popular.

Among the many events at the convention were the opening Masquerade, hosted by Eric Hoffman, followed by the game show "Doctor Who Wants to Be A Millionnaire" (actually turned into a game, as opposed to the previous year's cabaret sketch!) The charity auction raised over $3,600 for the CdLS Foundation on Saturday. Debuting at the convention was Jeff Cioletti's film "Millennium's End: The Fandom Menace" and a huge number of fan videos... indeed, Gallifrey 12 was the first-ever year for an actual dedicated fan video program, which continues to date. Panels at this year's event, meanwhile, were comprised of such items as "Down Among the Dead Men" (a Bernice Summerfield presentation), "Fan Video Made Simple", "Cool Britannia," "Gallifrey is Dead" (about recent developments in the BBC books), "Queer as Fandom," "Guilty Pleasures," "Buffy, Buffy Come Back to Me," "Co-Authoring a Doctor Who Novel," "Audio Versus Video," "Andromeda Rising" and "The Charity Fanthologies," as well as the now-infamous Peter Anghelides/Stephen Cole panel "Answering 'The Ancestor Cell'" which they had promised to do for some months.

The Cabaret was a mixed bag of fun. It began with a parody of Survivor, yet as the votes were read, they all turned out to be Dave Stone... who then came up on stage and started, "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted..." -- the continuation of the joke began at Gallifrey 11 as he was removed from the stage by his fellow authors during the closing ceremonies. Stephen Cole did a brilliant job hosting, including a rendition of "My Way", while Peter Anghelides and Justin Richards continued their comic sense with "The Glitz & Drax Insurance Hour". Jason Haigh-Ellery and India Fisher participated in a skit, while Simon Bucher-Jones attempted musical comedy (and was himself removed from the stage!) The Federation's Robert Warnock, Scott Alan Woodard and Jennifer Kelly performed "Derided Loyalties" while the group of British authors did their usual hack job with "Go West". Jo Castleton and a clad-in-drag Nigel Fairs performed "Who's Doctor Who" courtesy the audio stylings of that lovely young Roberta Tovey, while Sarah Sutton read poetry and Mark Strickson provided amusement with his Gallifrey first: a cooking demo.

Then Bonnie stole the show. For over one hour, Bonnie Langford performed excerpts from her one woman show, "Now," singing eight songs to the delight of the audience. For those who had been with us since the beginning, it was without a doubt the highlight of the history of Gallifrey cabarets.

The biggest Gallifrey yet, The Twelfth Regeneration of Gallifrey One featured two signs of the end of an era: a goodbye by chairman Christian McGuire, chair since the start; and the announcement that with this year, the last of the Gallifrey One debt (from 1990) was paid off. Gallifrey was free to roam new horizons as the Man in the Suit bid farewell. Onward to next year...