Guests: Carole Ann Ford, Frazer Hines, Anneke Wills, Maggie Stables, Virginia Hey, Mira Furlan, Judson Scott, Gordon Michael Woolvett, Keith Hamilton Cobb, Mark McDonnell, Dan Freedman, Jason Haigh-Ellery, Celeste Yarnall, Bob May, Julie Caitlin Brown, Marjorie Monaghan, Richard Lynch, Nicholas Briggs, Philip Segal, Robert Trebor, Mojo, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly, Iona Morris, Andras Jones, Bill Baggs, Keith Barnfather, Jonathan Blum, Keith Topping, Paul Cornell, Paul Ebbs, David J. Howe, Iain McLaughlin, Rob Shearman, Caroline Symcox, Dave Stone, Beata Pozniak, Tucker Smallwood, Carrie Dobro, Stephen Austin, Bill Blair, Lisa Getto, Joe Reinkemeier, Robert Engels, Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, Ethlie Ann Vare, Carleton Eastlake, Dave Owen, Emily Skopov, Jim Swallow, Marc Scott Zicree, Elaine Zicree, Keith Hartman, Nigel Fairs, Paul J. Salamoff, Nev Fountain, Paul Condon, Arnold T. Blumberg, Jeff Cioletti, Steve Johnson, Nigel Fairs, Jill Sherwin, Martin Trickey, Rob Francis, Phideaux Xavier, Laura Palmer and Eric Hoffman. (Originally confirmed guest of honor Nicola Bryant had to cancel due to health reasons; Sarah Mowat of Big Finish's "Dalek Empire" series was unable to attend due to work commitments; invited guest Michael Sheard had to decline due to a schedule conflict; and several Doctor Who authors from the UK were forced to cancel due to various reasons.)

A new era of the Gallifrey conventions began on February 15, 2002 with The Thirteenth Floor of Gallifrey One... mostly new behind the scenes, with some noticeable changes. For the first twelve years of the convention, Gallifrey One had been bogged down with the debt from its first year, which was finally paid off in 2001. With that, and out of necessity, some other changes came: long-time chairman Christian McGuire stepped down, opting to concentrate on other concerns (notably the LA bid for the 2006 World Science Fiction Convention), and the Board of Directors changed, folded into a group called Sparrow Creek (a not-for-profit established years before by Nicholas Cravotta, one of the original committee members.) Christian remained on the board, as did Robbie Bourget and Shaun Lyon, both convention founders, joined by Sherri Benoun (vice-treasurer), Nick and Diana Dougherty, who succeeded Christian as committee chairman.

But what did not change was the fun; the same old Gallifrey, mature and still growing. "The Thirteenth Floor" was not as well attended as the previous convention, slightly dropping below 700 (almost certainly due to the economy and the war on terrorism), but still plenty healthy and enjoyable for all. Carole Ann Ford and Frazer Hines were early confirmations as guest of honor; this was Carole Ann's first trip to Gallifrey and Frazer's second (he having been a guest at the 1993 convention). Carole Ann was accompanied by her husband Harry; both spent several weeks in California on an extended holiday prior to arriving at the convention. They were joined by the returning Anneke Wills (last in town in 1997), who was a very late replacement for Nicola Bryant; Nicola, who had faced a critical injury of her psiatic nerve two years prior, was on a good course for recovery but suffered a relapse in early January, forcing her to cancel. At the last minute, Anneke stepped in -- and she was most certainly welcome. Carole Ann, Frazer and Anneke together, all three companions in the black & white era of Doctor Who, made a great team, and steeped the convention in history.

And pumpkins. Not to be outdone by the tropical theme of Gallifrey 11 or the "London in Los Angeles" of Gallifrey 12, "The Thirteenth Floor's" overreaching theme was "Halloween in February". To that end, the entire convention experienced the décor befitting the October festivities... cobwebs on the stage, spooky surprises in the con suite, and so forth. On Saturday, the traditional costume day really made sense this year.

There were some other first-time guests at Gallifrey 13. Big Finish Productions' Jason Haigh-Ellery returned (without Gary Russell, who'd been forced to stay behind due to last-minute changes to their recording schedule) and brought with him Maggie Stables, Nick Briggs and Mark Donovan. Stables, the actress who has portrayed Dr. Evelyn Smythe, their first original companion (accompanying Colin Baker), proved to be as popular as the character she portrays; Donovan, fresh from recording the "Dalek Empire" serials, also was quite entertaining, as was Nicholas Briggs, writer/producer/director/musician extraordinaire. So were Dan Freedman (producer) and Nev Fountain (script editor), creators of the BBCi webcasted story "Death Comes to Time," making their first North American appearances. The Doctor Who guest list was rounded out by a depleted, yet nevertheless energetic, group of novelists: Paul Cornell & Keith Topping (Gallifrey perennials), returnees Jonathan Blum, David Howe, Dave Stone and Caroline Symcox, and newcomers Rob Shearman and Paul Ebbs. (Many other authors had confirmed throughout the year, but for one reason or another - mostly that same pesky economy/war thing - they had to send their regrets.) And BBV and Reeltime were back; Bill Baggs and Keith Barnfather made their happy returns to the convention, with BBV also bringing Steve Johnson and Nigel Fairs (who had been quite fun in his Cabaret performance the previous year) with them.

Science fiction was also well represented. The lovely Virginia Hey, who had played Zhaan on "Farscape" for two years, proved immensely popular, spending the entire weekend at the convention. Brief appearances were made by Judson Scott ("Star Trek II") and Richard Lynch (the character actor whose SF appearances are numerous). Mira Furlan ("Babylon 5") returned for her second visit, this time appearing on stage, as well as the ladies of Babylon (all returnees): Carrie Dobro ("Crusade"), Marjorie Monaghan (Number One), Beata Pozniak (President Luchenko) and the delightful Julie Caitlin Brown, a great friend of the convention who once again helped with the guest lineup. Bob May ("Lost in Space") was back, and we knew we'd missed him; Bob's energy is unbelievable, and his presence in the dealers room and on stage made everyone happy. Bob was joined in the dealers room by the lovely Celeste Yarnall ("Star Trek"). Both Bob and Celeste turned out to be the one-two punch that kept half the convention in the dealers' room all weekend. Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly, who 20 years prior had starred in "The Evil Dead," joined us for a panel and autographs and had a great time, as did our old friends Robert Trebor ("Hercules"), Tucker Smallwood ("Space: AAB"), Lisa Getto, Bill Blair and Stephen Austin ("Babylon 5") and the gorgeous Iona Morris. And musician Andras Jones ("A Nightmare on Elm Street") proved immensely popular, especially with the ladies of the convention committee!

Philip Segal (producer of the 1996 Doctor Who movie), now at Tribune Entertainment, procured two guests from the series "Andromeda": actors Gordon Michael Woolvett (Harper), announced prior to the convention, and surprise guest Keith Hamilton Cobb (Tyr). This made a huge impact with the assembled Andromeda fans, who had supported the convention with intensity on the internet. Author Jill Sherwin helped get a writers' panel together with producer Joe Reinkemeyer and author Zack Stentz, and they were joined by new head writer Bob Engels. Meanwhile, writer Ethlie Ann Vare, formerly of "Andromeda", was with us along with several other authors including Gallifrey veteran Marc Scott Zicree and his wife Elaine, Carleton Eastlake and Emily Skopak for discussions on SF television. These were joined by Jim Swallow, a TV author from the UK; Paul Salamoff, a local TV writer; and Phideaux Xavier, a producer on the NBC daytime drama "Passions". And rounding everything off, of course, was our annual visit from Mojo, the visual effects wizard who captivates audiences for hours on end.

Without a doubt, it was Gallifrey's largest guest list ever -- rather unwieldy at times, too, even with the reduction in one track of programming from the previous year. There were, however, many well-attended sessions; Friday night's Haunted House Party turned out to be a roaring success, turning into a dance in the late night hours while party coordinator Suze Campagna and her "dreaded minions" team actually created a short "haunted house" walkway with pipe & drape board. The Masquerade, on Sunday night, was also extremely well attended, hosted by Eric Hoffman and Tadao Tomomatsu.

Saturday night's Cabaret was the longest on record, beating out the previous year's record (with Bonnie Langford's performance) by clocking in at over three hours! The usual opening was foregone this time with a brief voiceover by Shaun Lyon, leading into master of ceremonies Paul Cornell's debut with a song. Frazer Hines did a spot of comedy, while author Rob Shearman did a brief poetry session and Dave Owen performed standup comedy. Maggie Stables performed a song while both guitarist Andras Jones and Julie Caitlin Brown performed several songs from their latest CD's. Keith Barnfather assisted with Jason Haigh-Ellery's card trick session, which was beamed onto the main screen. Nigel Fairs sung the song "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" and additional performances were featured from David Howe and Mark McDonnell. The British Contingent didn't fail with their impossible rendition of "Paperback Writer" (featuring Paul Condon, Keith Topping, Caroline Symcox, Paul Ebbs, Dave Owen, Rob Shearman and Paul Cornell "as Ringo"), while Carole Ann Ford performed a dramatic reading from the new Telos novella "Time and Relative", featuring a full soundtrack of audio effects and music put together by Shaun Lyon. At the end of the cabaret, a segue was made to a dramatic reading of "The I Job," Jonathan Blum's audio play for BBV. Featured in the cast were Blum, Maggie Stables, Julie Caitlin Brown, Nigel Fairs, BBV's Steve Johnson and Rupert Booth.

There was an even larger-than-usual contingent of fans from the UK present at this year's Gallifrey, despite the real-world troubles. Paul Condon, Rob Francis and Martin Trickey of BBCi were all present; in addition, tons of fans from the UK had come over, including the always eccentric Andrew Beech - who this year got into the act with a "Weakest Link" event on Sunday night that found with Nigel Fairs, Nev Fountain, fan Emily Kirkpatrick, Paul Ebbs, Carole Ann Ford, Jason Haigh-Ellery, Anneke Wills and Frazer Hines participating. Rupert Booth, the legendary fan video creator from Britain, had come over as well alongside the debuts of some of his works, along with producer Neil Johnson and friends. And Australia was well-represented too (by the bubbly Ian Mond, the man with the South Park yamulka), in addition to the legions of American fans come to show their support.

The first four-day convention in quite some time (and the first in what would be a series of them) featured three nights instead of two, meaning that the Haunted House and Cabaret would be joined by a third night of fun with the Masquerade and the Weakest Link. During the convention proper, Philip Segal was filmed live before a studio audience for "Mythmakers on Gallifrey: Philip Segal" by Keith Barnfather, a video to be released later in the year; also at the convention was the debut of "Chronotrip," Jeff Cioletti's documentary (for which footage of Elisabeth Sladen was filmed earlier at Ambrosia Books). Telesnap videos and a full video program were also shown as well as the largest fan video program in Gallifrey's history: 14 hours of fan video! Reeltime Pictures, Telos Publishing, BBV and Big Finish all had presentations, and panels included "Episode II: Attack of the Lucasfilm Marketing Machine," "Hogwarts Academy High," "Cooler Britannia," "We're Talking Time Lords," "Into the Mines of Moria," "Short Trips and Side Steps: Where Doctor Who Might Have Gone," "The Internet Viability of Doctor Who," "Into the BBC Archives," "There's a New Sheriff in Sunnydale," "Angel Investigations," "Companions Who Never Were," "Farscapin' Across the Universe," "Fan-Dromeda," "Queer as Fandom," "Canon Fodder II," "An Enterprise of Paramount Importance" and "The Doctor Who Book Roundup". Nev Fountain presented a panel on "Dead Ringers," while he and Dan Freedman spoke about "Death Comes to Time" and Laura Palmer presented updates from BBC Worldwide Americas including previews of things to come. And if that wasn't enough, Dave Stone's "Five a Side Jackanory" returned, as did Paul Cornell's "Everything I Ever Learned About Writing" course. A well rounded program for four days, certainly.

All in all, an exceptional way to kick off a slightly new 'era' of Gallifrey One. And the adventure continues...

Prior to Gallifrey 2002, in the summer of 2001 Gallifrey One and Ambrosia Books organized an afternoon with Elisabeth Sladen ("Sarah Jane Smith"). Ms. Sladen had been a potential guest at Gallifrey: 1999; unfortunately due to scheduling and other reasons, she was unable to make it, and her subsequent schedule would prove nearly impossible to work out a visit. Sladen did, however, happen to be passing through Los Angeles for a two week holiday, and with the assistance of Andrew Beech, Ambrosia and Gallifrey were able to put on a joint, rare appearance by the actress on Saturday, July 7.

The Ambrosia Books store was decorated by proprietors Ken Barr and Diane McClamma and others. Sladen was present for four hours along with her daughter, actress Sadie Miller, and husband Brian Miller. Also in attendance were Los Angeles local and former Doctor Who con organizer Lucy Chase-Williams, who presented Sladen with the nameplate from the panels of her very first US convention in LA in 1979, and Kevin Parker, the organizer of the Elisabeth Sladen Information Network (ESIN), who had flown in from Chicago. Also stopping by were long-time Gallifrey friends Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier and 1996 Doctor Who producer Philip Segal throughout the afternoon, all of whom had been prior guests of the store. Gallifrey publicist Shaun Lyon and Ken Barr had put together an extensive publicity package which paid off with over 150 attendees for the afternoon, including at one point lines out the door and down the street. It was an enjoyable afternoon for everyone.