It was a dream come true for me to be going to the Doctor Who celebration, specially considering I travelled all the way to Longleat in England as a seven year old in 1983 to attend the 20th anniversary... and never got in!

The BBC had completely underestimated demand as tens of thousands turned up and many were turned away, and I was one of them! As the queues were growing ever longer, and many parents were venting their anger at the organisers, who should appear to meet the queues but Doctor Who himself. It was a masterstroke of PR, and I went home happy as I actually got to meet the Doctor - Peter Davison. How many children get to meet their childhood hero? So, back in the Tardis we go (it stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space), and fast forward thirty years to 2013, and I was very lucky to not only meet Doctor Who once again in his current guise of Matt Smith, but I actually got a prized ticket for the celebration. I’ve only waited 30 years!

I was joined by fellow time lords David Purdon of Largs, and former Largs man Chris Sewell, who now lives in London, to enjoy the fantastic celebrations, as the Excel was taken over by deadly enemies including the deadly Daleks, chilling Cybermen and the Ood, and there were plenty of Dr Whos with sonic screwdrivers to keep the monsters at bay. Things started with a bang as the special fx team of Doctor Who carried out a spectacular demonstration of exploding Daleks, snow machines, and ferocious flames flying high in the air.

What surprised and impressed me was the excellent costumes which fans dressed up in - from K9 to Cybermen, and even Dalek & Tardis dresses. Several young ladies even dressed up as Amy Pond in her police kissogram’s outfit!

The days of when you used to go to these events and it was predominantly male are long gone, and the strength of the storywriting with empowered female figures have certainly struck a chord with the masses.

It was a real thrill to actually meet Matt Smith - the current Doctor - and sadly will be on his merry way to pastures new after his character regenerates into Peter Capaldi at Christmas. It was a real thrill to actually meet Matt Smith - the current Doctor - and he gave me a special welcome and was pleased to hear we came from ‘Bonnie Scotland’. Visitors also got the opportunity to meet Clara played by Jenna Coleman, and it was great to see the fans, who love the show and are so passionate about it, meet their idols. Some were, understandably, a bit overcome by it all, but again Matt and Jenna were superb.

I was waiting in the queue to meet Matt when one of the ‘classic series’ companions Polly (Anneke Wills) passed by and congratulated a girl in the queue for her marvellous dalek outfit,- Anneke starred in the very first regeneration story from William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton in 1966.

One of the great surprises for me was to actually get the privilege to ask a question to the original cast members of the very first episode ‘An Unearthly Child’ from 1963, Carole Anne Ford (who played the Doctor’s grand-daughter Susan) and Ian Chesterton (William Russell), who is now 89. I referred to the magnificent BBC2 drama ‘An Adventure in Time and Space’ written by Mark Gattiss based on the making of the first Doctor Who which showed schoolchildren pretending to be Daleks on the bus as producer Verity Lambert realised that they had a hit tv show on their hands. I asked both actors when it dawned on them that the sci-fi show was something out of the ordinary.

Carole replied that it was when she suddenly started to get a string of invitations to fetes and fairs, while William Russell told me that it was right from the start when he saw the conviction of the actors, and pointed out that one of the absolute keys to its longevity was believing in the impossible. It was magical to speak to the figures who helped make history happen for this show on the day of its 50th anniversary.

Another entertaining chat followed with classic companions including Katy Manning who played Jo Grant alongside Jon Pertwee in the 70s. She had to wear mini-skirts in freezing conditions in many a quarry, she laughed, while Sophie Aldred’s ‘Ace’ got the biggest kick out of destroying daleks with a baseball bat, but all agreed, that it was much easier now for modern day companions to carry out stunts thanks to special effects, as they had to physically do it themselves back in the day!

The afternoon was made up of two excellent conference events ‘Regenerations’ when Doctors 4-7, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Slyvester McCoy took to the stage, and then ‘The Eleventh Hour’ as Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman were joined by series chief writer and producer Steven Moffat.

It was a wonderful afternoon of anecdotes and laughter, with the returning Tom Baker leaving fans in stitches with some of his tall stories. Tom Baker is fondly recalled for his barmy and thoroughly eccentric portrayal of the timelord.

He boomed to the audience: “I still am the Doctor, you know!” to a standing ovation, and who would dare doubt him, as he appeared as the mysterious curator in a wonderful scene at the end of the 50th anniversary special.

It was also a great delight to listen to the current stars of the show as Jenna Coleman revealed that Matt was generally quite clumsy on set. However, Matt did reveal he carried out the impressive Tardis stunt when it arrived in Trafalgur Square in the 50th special. No special fx required!

Steven Moffat, who has been the mastermind behind the success of ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Sherlock’ also pointed out that web forums contained too many ‘spoiler’ revelations, and it was important more than ever these days to respect the magic and excitement of the show - ‘Don’t give the game away’ was his mantra.

With plenty of secrets unleashed on unsuspecting viewers in the 50th anniversary, and more set to follow in Matt Smith’s dramatic finale on Christmas Day, the cast and production team were given a huge ovation at the end of what had been a very successful day.

The day was rounded off with a visit to into the console room of the Tardis, where another round of pictures were taking place. Strangely enough, for a celebration of an alien time traveller, the day itself was a triumph for human spirit, as people’s dreams came true, and we were regaled with a wonderful variety of nostalgic memories of wobbly sets and quarries of the past to the special effects spectacular that we have now.

It was so good I was tempted to go back into the Tardis and do it all over again!