Cosplay Roundup
Each day of the con, we encountered a ton of cosplay. Here’s a little sampling of what we saw:
Doctor Who Premier and Panel
By far the most exciting thing at this year’s NYCC for me. I’ve loved Doctor Who since 2009 and was incredibly thrilled to get a female Doctor… but to get to see her live in person for a panel? Mind blown!
The first episode was amazing, but I’ll be talking about that tonight in tons of detail with Emily and Laura during the first ever episode of TARDIScuss, which begins at 8:30pm ET! After that they jumped into the panel, featuring Jodie Whittaker (the Doctor), Chris Chibnall (showrunner) and Matt Strevens (executive producer).
There were a ton of great questions, including one about how they handled any negative misogynistic, racist noise regarding Jodie being the Doctor and the companions being not white females. Jodie replied that it was easy to ignore because “those ideas are daft.” Matt Strevens stepped in to tell us that the BBC number crunch regarding the worldwide reaction to the announcement of Jodie as the Doctor was 83% positive. They assured us that oftentimes the loudest voice is not the real representation of how the majority feels. Perhaps a good thing to remember these days.
They also spoke about the diversity in the show, including a reveal of tons of guest stars (almost none of whom I recognized, but they’re probably a big deal in the UK). I think maybe one or two were white, one of those being Chris Noth. Also Chibs (as we’re allowed to call him now) told us that episode 3 will have Rosa Parks in it! So that is super exciting to look forward to in only 2 weeks’ time!
There was also quite a bit of chat about the Doctor’s costume, and Jodie recognized one of the audience members who asked a Q&A on the topic as someone who recreated two of her costumes already and complimented her work as incredible. Jodie explained that the costume is very intentional, the dark blue of the coat interior representing the dark space she falls through to land on Earth and the light greyish exterior being the color of dawn. She also said every stitch and cut has a meaning, but she wants us all to wear it and give it our own meaning before she reveals it to us (so hopefully when she regenerates, in say… 2025, we’ll remember to ask). She said it takes 2 seconds to put on her costume, and she feels ace in it.
All in all a great panel, solid Q&A, and a thrilling first episode. I hope everyone reading this tunes in tonight and every Tuesday for TARDIScuss at 8:30pm ET and watches Doctor Who on BBCAmerica (BBC1 in the UK) on Sundays at 8pm ET (18:55 in the UK).
Charmed Roundtables
I was lucky enough to get to sit down with the three leads from the new Charmed show. I know everyone is calling it a reboot, but I don’t really feel like it’s a straight reboot based on these interviews. While some core elements stay the same: there’s a focus on sisterhood, a Book of Shadows, a giant house no one could afford nowadays, and a whitelighter to guide them, the base characters are different people entirely.
One of the topics discussed in the roundtables was the modernization of the show. They spoke about how one sister wants to understand the science behind the magic and desperately is trying to figure it out. They’re also using modern technology and communication methods, like DMs and group texts. The political tone of the show is different as well to reflect the current sociopolitical climate of the world. Also, the cast itself is much more diverse than last go round, another sign of modernization. When I asked Sarah Jeffery, who plays Maggie, if this diversity would play out in using different culture’s magic, she said that it was a topic the writers and showrunners were strongly pursuing. I really hope they do it!
I recorded the interviews for you guys, but they contain some spoilers for the premier, so check back on Monday October 15th for the full interviews and coverage of Charmed. Charmed premiers on the CW Sunday October 14th at 9pm ET, right after Supergirl’s premiere.
That’s a wrap from NYCC Sunday and this year’s NYCC! We will check you all at the next comic-con adventure, but in the meantime read all our comic-con coverage. Also I’m throwing out the suggestion of Good Omens as some required reading before 2019 when the six-part series comes out on Amazon. It looks so good!
