Fitzroy Meetup

Every month, on the first Thursday, there's a meetup of Doctor Who fans at the Fitzroy Tavern in Fitzrovia (yes, that can get confusing, especially since there's a Fitzrovia Tavern a block away). Tonight was the first one to occur since my arrival in London and I definitely had to check it out.

Not long after arriving I noticed no less than three distinct pockets of Doctor Who fans, and wound up sitting with one group of folks to talk about the show. Time passed, beer flowed, fun was had by all, and I met some very nice people. It's very refreshing to get one's geek on with like-minded folks, I must say.

There was rumour at one point of Steven Moffat (noted DW writer) being in the building but despite looking from top to bottom a few times I didn't see him. Nevertheless I did see and meet Clayton Hickman, former editor of Doctor Who Magazine. He was a very lovely chap indeed.

The place was not just packed to the rafters as the evening wore on, it was packed outside the rafters in the sense that there were as many people inside as there were standing and chatting outside. It was a very pleasant night temperature-wise otherwise I'm sure there would have been fewer people outside. I was told by one of my compatriots that the brewery which ran the tavern was famous for its cheap beer, and at £1.78 for a pint of bitter, I'd have to agree about the price. I stopped at a sports bar for lunch the other day and paid £3.30 (an outrageous sum) for a pint of Carlsberg.

Altogether I had 6 pints of bitter, a pint of stout, and with a few others a shot of tequila, and when I felt it was time to go I stumbled off quite happy about the evening. I've got tentative plans to meet up with some of the people from tonight at other events before the next Fitzroy meetup in December, however, regardless of anything else I will indeed be in attendance come December 6 for the next event.