PETER DAVISON (IN PERSON)

PETER DAVISON is known for playing the Fifth Doctor during what has now been labelled the Classic era, although he has also popped up in the newer Doctor Who in the “Time Crash” special and “The Power of the Doctor”, as well as writing and directing “The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot” in 2013.  He also continues with Big Finish audios whenever Janet fielding insists on it.

Prior to being the Doctor, he appeared in the BBC series of All Creatures Great and Small, Love for Lydia, as well as The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. He later played the leads in Campion, A Very Peculiar Practice, The Last Detective; Fear, Stress and Anger; and At Home with the Braithwaite’s.  More recently he has been seen in Gentleman Jack, Life, ITV’s The Larkins, and two series of The Gold. He is mindful that few, if any of these shows will have reached Minnesota, but thinks you are the kind people who love a challenge. He also thinks he appeared in Good Omens 2, although he sadly didn’t recognize himself.

NICOLA BRYANT (IN PERSON)

NICOLA BRYANT landed the part of the American companion Peri immediately after she finished attending The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, in 1983, for which she secured a scholarship. Cast by John Nathan-Turner she first appeared alongside Peter Davison's fifth Doctor in the 1984 story Planet of Fire coming face to face with The Master. This was immediately followed by Davison’s final story the The Caves of Androzani, which is always high on the Doctor Who Magazine list of their all time favourite stories. As the then sole companion, Nicola enjoyed playing Peri opposite Colin Baker's sixth Doctor with whom she battled against Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, The Rani and Sil.

Since leaving Doctor Who, Nicola has worked extensively in theatre up and down the country. In London her work ranges from leading roles in the West End in Killing Jessica at Savoy Theatre, in the award winning Strive at The Duke of York’s, and in Tom Stoppard’s multi award winning Rock ‘n’ Roll. She has also made guest appearances in numerous television shows, most notably as Rowan Atkinson’s niece (Millicent) in Black Adder’s a Christmas Carol and the award winning comedies 10% ers and My Family (twice); as well as spending 3 years playing Martine in the BBC series The Biz. Nicola has guest starred in numerous other tv shows as well as the American thriller Headhunter, playing a real the American psychiatrist, who released Ted Bundy back into society. At the end of 2017 Nicola was seen in the two final episodes of Star Trek Continues playing the guest lead Lana and last year she appeared in the horror movie The Wilds, for which she won a best supporting actress at the British Horror Film Festival. In the summer of 2025 Nicola is excited to announce she will be filming a new horror called Elvis vs Zombies.

Nicola has recorded numerous audio books and appeared in many audio dramas. She is still keeping Peri alive in the wonderful Big Finish range and has featured in the two Blu-Ray releases of seasons 22 and 23.

It was an honour for Nicola to be involved in the fabulous Tale Of The Tardis with Colin Baker and she has been enjoying all of the 60 years of Doctor Who celebrations that have taken place in 2023.

Nicola is very excited to be coming CONsole Room and looks forward to meeting everyone there.

IAN MCNEICE (IN PERSON)

Ian McNeice's television breakthrough was as Harcourt in the award-winning series Edge of Darkness with Bob Peck. He played the alcoholic sous chef Gustave La Roche on the television series Chef! opposite Lenny Henry and went on to appear in the 2000 miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune as the evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen with William Hurt a role he later reprised for the 2003 sequel Children of Dune with Susan Sarandon. His television appearances have included all nine series of Doc Martin with Martin Clunes, in which he plays Bert Large. He appears as the Newsreader in the HBO/BBC historical drama series Rome from 2005 onwards. McNeice has also appeared in a number of films, including 84 Charing Cross Road with Anthony Hopkins, Day of the Dead with Ving Rames, No Escape with Ray Liotta, From Hell with Jonnie Depp and The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain with Hugh Grant. His breakthrough into American films occurred when he played Fulton Greenwall in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls opposite Jim Carrey (1995). He played the Nazi Gerhard Klopfer in the 2001 BBC/HBO television film Conspiracy with Stanly Tucci and Kenneth Branagh. Since then, he has been in Around the World in 80 Days with Jackie Chan (2004) and the 2005 supernatural thriller White Noise with Michael Keaton. He also appeared as Potiphar in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donnie Osmond and Joan Collins.

He had a cameo role as Joachim von Kortzfleisch, a German general who refused to put his troops under the command of officers plotting to depose Hitler's government, in Valkyrie playing opposite Tom Cruise. Recently he was in The Man who invented Christmas with Dan Stevens. He appeared as Winston Churchill in four episodes of Doctor Who in 2010 and 2011; he had previously played Churchill in the 2008 premiere production of the Howard Brenton’s play Never So Good at the National Theatre, and later played him again in the 2012 stage version of The King's Speech at Wyndhams Theatre in the West End. Recently he played Cardinal Wolesley at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in Henry V111.

In July 2022 he was in the 10th and Final Episode of Doc Martin as Bert Large. Since then he was Alfred Hitchcock in a Mini Series of the Life of Carey Grant called “Archie". Also he appeared as Louis XV111 in Ridley Scott’s Napoleon

GAELYNN LEA (IN PERSON)

Violinist, composer, and disability rights activist Gaelynn Lea has captivated audiences since winning NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert in 2016. In 2022, Gaelynn Lea composed the original score for Macbeth on Broadway, starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga. She is a sought-after public speaker about accessibility in the arts and was awarded the Disability Futures Fellowship in 2024. Most recently, she co-wrote and performed in a new musical fable for the stage, Invisible Fences, with disabled storyteller Kevin Kling. She now co-directs the Music Inclusion Ensemble with fellow disabled musicians Adrian Anantawan and Molly Joyce. Her new book about touring adventures and disability advocacy will be published in late 2025.  (Read her full Bio here.)

JEFF THOLE (IN PERSON)

Jeff Thole is the Geology Laboratory Supervisor at Macalester College. He arrived at Macalester in 1996 after spending 5 years as an environmental consultant. Jeff was also a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia, prior to graduate school. Currently, his primary duties include teaching introductory geology labs and maintaining, running, and user instruction for the instrumentation housed in the Macalester Science Division’s Keck Laboratory. Jeff received Master of Science in Geology (Volcanology) from Washington State University in 1991 and Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Minnesota – Duluth in 1987.

STACEY SMITH? (IN PERSON)

Stacey Smith? (the question mark is part of her name) is a professor of disease modelling at the University of Ottawa in Canada. Using mathematics, she studies infectious diseases such as HIV, malaria, human papillomavirus, COVID-19, influenza, neglected tropical diseases... and zombies. She’s published over 100 academic articles; is a winner of a Guinness World Record for her work on modelling a zombie invasion; was the winner of the 2015 Mathematics Ambassador award, given by Canada's Partners in Research association; won the 2018 Society for Mathematical Biology Distinguished Service Award for exceptional contribution to the field of mathematical biology and its advancement outside of research; was awarded a 2021 prize for her outstanding contributions to the advancement of diversity, equity, inclusion and justice at the Society for Mathematical Biology Annual Meeting; and was the winner of the 2023 University of Ottawa President’s Award for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. She was the first University of Ottawa employee to transition... but won't be the last! Outside of her day job, she has more than 20 books to her name, including The Top Ten Diseases of All Time (uOttawa Press), How to Write/Edit Your Scientific Article (World Scientific), Bookwyrm (ATB Publishing), Who is the Doctor, Who’s 50 and The Doctors Are In (ECW Press), Look at the Size of That Thing! (Pencil Tip Publishing), as well as a Black Archive on Doctor Who and the Silurians (Obverse Books), guides to the wonderful world of Doctor Who. She's also the editor extraordinaire of the Outside In series of pop-culture reviews with a twist (ATB Publishing), covering Doctor Who, Star Trek, Buffy, Angel, Twin Peaks and The X-Files. Oh, and she’s the world’s leading expert on the transmission of Bieber Fever, but let’s not worry about that one.