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Gallifrey Archives
Last Updated: December 18, 2005

Gallifrey Conventions/Gallifrey One welcomes you to our online archive of memories... sixteen years of the world's longest-running annual Doctor Who and science fiction media convention. The archives have been written and put together by Shaun Lyon, Christian B. McGuire, Alan Hale and Robbie Bourget, with contributions from the Gallifrey One family.

The Conventions
Introduction
Translation of a document that was sent backwards through time, for reasons unknown...

A Long Time Ago, On This World, Dude, There Was This Gallifrey...

One of the greatest achievements of the last decades of the second millennium of western civilization was the dawn of Gallifrey One. From our perspective this year at Gallifrey Six: Car 54 Where Are You?, it is difficult to imagine a time when humanity was denied Pax Gallifreyous.

The end of the Old Ways was an age of base culture, world wars and fast food. Who could live in a world without the phrase "We are Meddlers, therefore we Dine!"? Individuals were isolated and alone. They had to type into desktop workstations (at work, no less!) in order to be connected to the fannish collective. There was no thumb to the nose, then --zip-- we're in the virt. People left their beds in order to experience sensos (they called them movies). The people were at the mercy of a terrible class of tyrants for their entertainment; the producers. There was no box wherein we now create the Doctor Who we all share. They had only written stuff called fanzines. No jest, words on a page; reading! Such primitive times.

It was into this empty, lonely, desperate world that the light of Gallifrey One was born. It did not come out of Zeus's forehead whole and complete as Robbie did. No, it had to fight, strive and suffer great challenges to its very existence before becoming the shining symbol of Fandom, and through Fandom, civilization.

Thousands of personalized sensos exist now depicting the struggle and triumph of The Triumvirate: Robbie, Shaun, and the Holy Christian. They only reflect a pale shadow of what truly happened in that tumultuous time of Gallifreyan genesis. Their personal demons came close to overwhelming each in their turn. Robbie was a member of the cult that found themselves second up against the wall after the revolution came: an accountant. Shaun belonged to a minority now long wiped clean from the face of the earth for a very good reason: a blond. And the Holy Christian was chronically plagued by the effect of his swallowing a metronome as a young child; the tragic consequences were there for all to see (as long as their eyes could track back & forth, back & forth, back & forth.....) How three such different people could come together is beyond modern understanding. I direct your array to the cliffs of Dover where the massive carved visages of The Triumvirate stare out in unison with a purpose and determination in their eyes captured from pictures and holos of that period of their lives. In those hard orbs is visible that element of human spirit which embodies the minds, bodies and souls of true visionaries.

Visionaries alone do not make a convention. Blood, sweat & tears are also necessary, through ceaseless dedication to bringing those first Gallifreys to fruition. There were Alan, Tony and Trill, the TARDIS Masters. Princess Diana, selfless in her giving. Sherri, Allie and Michael, the unchallenged royalty of con suite. Dave... well, does anything else need be said? Deanna, angel of the Tombs. The Dans, extrasolar amorphous beings that appeared on this earth only to do a favour then disappear back into the ether. Gary Louie, the patron saint of children and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri. MiracleMedicalMelodiousMetalMatt? Unforgettable all.

What about Jim, without whom the men of the world could not have come out about their love of women's clothing? Or Charles and Mary Jane, Jerome and Elizabeth, sweeping out of the greater fandom to make art a focus so enduring that at Gallifrey Four: You're 86 Maxwell Smart, Utah -- an old state of the North American Union -- was entirely dedicated to the Art Show? Ah, those were the good old days, when Gallifrey could be confined to just one world. Lin of Registration, the Dancing Queen. Lee and her signature patch, the one-armed, one-legged ballet dancer (which became the universal sign for Access). Ingrid and her yin and yang, Bill and Julie, the keepers of the animals: stars, writers, monkeys. Bob and his faithful golem George, the movers and shakers of infinity, responsible for convention logistics in the medieval days when matter transmission was less commonplace. They came from all corners of the universe.... Ken and Diane, the merchants troubadour. The Beckstead clan, large in number, varied in stature. Sister Suze and Brother Busman, martyrs to the Viking horde. Carol, Gary, Beckie and Joyce: the shepherds of the flock. The GrassHooper, a leader in free thinking who openly shared the joys of his harem: Lady Christina, Lady Susan, Lady Katherine and Honored Tadao -- the deity of Pine. Mike and Helen, George and Ruth: guardians of the portals. The Hoffman fellow and his penchant for panda-monium. Paul and Wendy, wicket wards of Babylon. Lynx, half-man, half-hormone. The Amazonian princess Stefnee. Emily, the Jedi Vixen. Don Gregorio and his henches Don Charlio, Don Dwaineo and Dona Roberta, the mafioso wizards of speed and time.

And so many, many more....

Here before you is the document unearthed only days ago. It is recreated in its original print form, albeit in a senso medium, so you can relive it the way those poor slobs did way back when. The document heralded as greater than the phone book, more spiritual than your grocery list, and involving way more cool sex and violence than the Bible ever offered. I offer to you the Gallifrey Archive.

Quentin German B'ecq-Stedd
Chief Archivist
Gallifrey Universalis
8 Spoo
654 GT (GallifreyTime)

As translated by Christian B. McGuire, when the book fell out of a timewarp from aeons in the future...