Guests: Peter Davison, Nigel Bennett, John Anthony Blake, Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier, Harry Harrison, Larry Niven, Harry Turtledove, Brinke Stevens, Larry Stewart, Julie Ann Sczesny, Gary Anderson, Steven Stockbarger, Eric Hoffman, Christopher Britton, and Philip Segal. (Confirmed guest Moira Breen could not attend at the last minute.)

It was a magical moment in the history of Doctor Who, and Gallifrey was the epicenter. Producer Philip Segal of Lakeshore Television, formerly of Amblin Entertainment (the Steven Spielberg company), filled up the main ballroom at The Six Wives of Gallifrey One on Saturday afternoon, and had one thing to say: Doctor Who was coming back. Segal had traveled incognito with a fellow producer, Peter Wagg, to A Fifth of Gallifrey One. He was a long-time fan of the series who had been born in England, who had seen the Hartnell and Troughton stories as a child. At the previous year’s convention, he’d introduced himself to Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, after viewing one of their discussion panels on the series, and subsequently invited them to become the "fan liaisons" for the production, which was now entering full speed. Segal then contacted the convention, making his intentions known. Here, at The Six Wives of Gallifrey One, Segal introduced the world to his version of Doctor Who - the spider Daleks, the Infinity Chamber, the new console room. And yet, while most of these aspirations would go elsewhere, his announcement still made Doctor Who history, and we were the first to see him.

It was a major moment for Gallifrey One. The word had gotten out that in February 1995, this man would make his intentions known. Suddenly, after six years of struggling, six years of relative isolation from national and international fandom, fans from all over the country and the UK were descending on our temporary home deep in the heart of Orange County, the Irvine Radisson Hotel, to witness the rebirth. Segal would return many times in the future, of course, and while his proposed series would ultimately never happen, he would bring to the fannish world the Eighth Doctor, Paul McGann and the 1996 "Doctor Who" TV movie.

Without a doubt, Gallifrey '95 was a popular, warm and inviting event with a major amount of programming and very little negativity. The downward attendance trend reversed itself, raising back up to over 400 attendees on site (a far cry from the 300 of the previous year). The problems that occurred behind the scenes were taken care of with relative ease, and the program itself suffered very little in the way of last-minute change... except, of course, for the addition of the wonderful Harry Harrison, all the way from Ireland on vacation and stopping by at the behest of Todd & Mercy Harrison, his son and daughter in law who have been Gallifrey dealers for years.

Sylvester McCoy had been the confirmed guest of honor up to two months before the convention, but then was forced to cancel due to professional commitments. Ever the gentleman and friend to Doctor Who fandom, Sylvester personally telephoned Peter Davison, who had never been to an L.A. convention, to replace him. Peter was highly visible all weekend, and took a definitive interest in the fans (as well as an interest in the dance floor, it seems, dancing to disco on Saturday evening!) Nigel Bennett of "Forever Knight" fame was also a terrific speaker; he replaced Sophie Aldred, whose rehearsal schedule forced her miss the event. (Thankfully, the proposed Sylvester & Sophie event would come off the following year, at convention #7.) John Anthony Blake (the former John Levene, who was now using his given name) was once again present, and brought with him comedian Christopher Britton, who performed in the Cabaret. Local SF writer Harry Turtledove joined us for his first trip, and our returning repetoire of guests and friends of Gallifrey -- the Lofficiers, Steve Stockbarger, Larry Niven, Brinke Stevens, Larry Stewart, Eric Hoffman and Julie Ann Sczesny -- performed admirably.

Friday night became a big deal at Six Wives, with first an ice cream social leading into a masquerade costume ball (instead of a proper masquerade itself). Subsequent to this was the game show Whopardy, based on a Doctor Who/Jeopardy game played in the early days of the Time Meddlers of Los Angeles club from which the convention began; the game show, which had debuted at the fifth convention with very little fanfare, proved immensely popular, and combined with the other events of the evening, started the trend of big Friday night festivities such as themed parties and other showpieces that continue to this day.

The segue to future years of programming would begin at Gallifrey Six. In another part of the hotel, removed from the main convention area, a small room the con retitled "The Zero Room" would feature smaller programming events. Originally, nobody thought its small size would present a problem, until it was so packed during the Sunday "X-Files"/supernatural panel that there was only standing room in the halls for some events! Larry Stewart would hold his traditional Musical Madness in this room; other panels here included "The Fannish Roundtable"; "Forever Vampire"; a reading session called "Eric Hoffman's Box of Delights"; and "Sure I Can Run a Con," as well as numerous audio presentations. (After the disasterous showing of the "Listening Post" room at the previous con, it was decided to try once again on a smaller scale; con staffer Helen Oxford maintained these audio programs, though it was very underattended.)

More panels filled the weekend. Harry Turtledove and Larry Niven shared the stage on Sunday, as well as the "Whovian Feud" game show. Eric Hoffman presented a few retrospectives on "Robots in Science Fiction" and alien invasions. The "Sound Off Contest," a sound-alike event that had been tried at previous events, would make its last appearance here. Other panels during the weekend included a "Star Wars" revival panel, a discussion about the mysteries of the Tarot, "Publishing Fanzines," a panel discussion on the four versions of Star Trek, "More Props by the Professionals" (with Steve Stockbarger and the local crew); and a very popular opening panel, "Those Loveable Daleks". Local enthusiast Rick Young talked about the space-bound Artemis Project during the weekend, and the Time Meddlers provided the manpower for "Sci-Fi Bingo" which was underattended but fun for all of its attendees. Gallifrey Six also provided for the start of the "Gallifrey Roundtable" Friday night panels, this time discussing Babylon 5; actually, these were based on some early ideas, but we've usually had one of these Friday night discussions ever since. Also held: a primer panel on the Doctor Who New Adventures books, complete with a specially-published flyer which talked about the books and summarized them.

A few things didn't go quite as planned. Larry Stewart had been asked to do another séance but passed on the panel at the convention. Moira Breen, who had been scheduled to do a concernt on Friday night, didn't make it at the last minute, and so other plans had to be taken.

The Cabaret was once again an evening full of merriment. Peter Davison played a guitar ditty, while Larry Stewart performed his annual stand-up routine and did vocal impersonations. John Levene, Rainy Smyth and Linda Rose Harpe did a musical trio, while Linda and Arlene Satin performed a vocal duet. Eric Hoffman performed two numbers: an Addams Family lullaby and the Masochism Tango, which for the latter he was joined by John Levene and Julie Ann Sczesny on stage for a reenactment of this tango. Later, John came out tangoing with Shaun, who sang a retrospective ballad at the beginning, "Just Another Day at Gallifrey", and did comedy interludes. Magician Christopher Britton performed a card-trick act and did some lighthearted "tricks", and Gallifrey's Semi-Professional All-Kazoo Band were a surprise hit as well. In addition, Mike "Amberwolf" Elliott, who helped so much with last year's event, performed on the keyboard and kept everyone spellbound.

Originally planned to be a possible "summer convention," investigation into hotel prospects for the summer of 1995 to move the convention to June proved unsuccessful. Instead, it was proposed that the convention be themed "summer in the winter" complete with beach accoutrements, but sadly this didn’t go very far (neither did the prospect of a luau and barbecue in the Radisson’s expansive outdoor courtyard!)

For the first time since our first year, Gallifrey became more than just a local event. Fans from all over, including representatives from clubs in Arizona, Washington state, Maryland, New Jersey and Florida, all of whom were investigating the convention for the first time. (Indeed, the few Arizonans who had previously made it out brought a number of new members with them.) Previously mentioned only in passing in the pages of the US national fan club, "The Friends of Doctor Who" (the con was only reviewed on one previous occasion, after The Sequel, in a small sidebar), new editor Tom Beck reviewed it as one of his favorite conventions. Subsequently, Gallifrey formed a good friendship with both Beck and the FODW publisher, David Blaise, both of whom would go on to help get the word out about the convention. Likewise, Gary Leigh, then editor of Dreamwatch Magazine (the former "Doctor Who Bulletin" then "DWB") also spent the weekend at the convention and gave support -- the first in a long string of British magazines to visit us.

Six years had paid off. The word was out. Committee members who had begun to believe they might be more apt to throw in the towel were rethinking that prospect. Indeed, Gallifrey was finally coming into its own.