I’m sitting in the lobby at the LAX Marriott where, mere hours before, hundreds of Doctor Who fans were assembled for the unofficial gathering known as “Lobbycon”—AKA the time where you drink and hang out with other fans and argue the merits of A Good Man Goes To War…

I had to miss out on that last night—I had back problems that sent me to bed early!—but I intend to be there tonight and report on it then.

I was, however, around for Day One of Gallifrey, so here’s some random observations in no particular order:

1) Friday is the “off” day for Gallifrey, ie. the day when fewer people are present. It was packed.

2) In the opening ceremonies, William Russell got a longer round of applause than Paul McGann. Respect.

3) Paul McGann explained what the deal was with that “alternate”, unofficial costume he debuted at con in New Zealand. As I suggested at the time, he was sick of the same limited amount of photos of his Doctor from 15 years ago on the covers of Big Finish audios and, with the help of some fans and the people at WETA, designed his own new costume. He tried to arrange with the BBC to use the costume in promotional materials using his Doctor, but found his requests fell on deaf ears.

4) There was much effort to come up with a collective noun of Amy Ponds, given the sheer number of Amy cosplayers. Suggestions included “A Lake of Ponds”, “A River of Ponds”, “A Nuisance of Ponds”, “An annoyance of Ponds” and others.

5) Best costume of the day: someone dressed as Sarah Jane in her Nerva space station outfit from The Ark in Space.

6) Biggest sign we’re through the looking glass based on a visit to the Dealer’s Room: There’s now an Image of the Fendahl action figure playset.

7) Funniest, but oddest, opening speech: Torchwood: Miracle Day actor Danielle Favilli, who apparently offered to cook for every convention guest because he’s Italian…

8) A friend of mine was in the lineup for Starbucks in the lobby when she discovered the person behind her in line was Paul McGann. It’s that sort of a con.

9) The panel discussions continue to have a high quality of discussion on all things Who.

10) The most bizarre moment still remains to be passing by someone you think is a Jackie Tyler cosplayer and realizing, actually, it’s Camille Coduri...