Doctor Who: John Barrowman’s Adventures in Calgary
By Leah Tedesco
In true John Barrowman fashion, his trip to the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo 2016 was painstakingly documented online by himself and others.
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On April 28th, 2016 — donning a cowboy hat given to him by Naheed Nenshi, Mayor of Calgary — John Barrowman boarded a plane on his way to Calgary, Alberta for the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo on April 29th. You see, on April 27th, 2013 at the POW! Parade of Wonders during CCEE’s opening ceremonies, Nenshi presented Barrowman with the hat in a White Hat Ceremony, which is a tradition in the city. Others receiving hats that day included Barrowman’s Torchwood co-stars Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd.
As one can witness from the above video, the Mayor is a huge fan.
Barrowman and Nenshi have since kept in touch.
What happened on the flight remains a mystery, so we skip to… Calgary!
Barrowman appeared on CTV Morning Live, where he picked up some mugs which he signed and raffled off at the Expo. Proceeds went to the Calgary Humane Society.
Later, at the Expo: And the winner is…
At this year’s POW! Parade, of which you can see some fantastic photos and a video here, Barrowman had quite the luxurious ride.
Naturally, he needed cowboy boots to go with the hat. But which pair?
It was later revealed that, of course, he got both.
Onward to the Expo!
Here is a manic Snapchat (weholondon) digest of the first day. Unfortunately, the sound does not sync up with the video:
So, here is day two of John Barrowman at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo and OH MY GLOB, it’s Billie Piper!
Barrowman’s Doctor Who character, Captain Jack Harkness, and Piper’s character, Rose Tyler, both appeared in the episodes ‘The Empty Child,’ ‘The Doctor Dances,’ ‘Boom Town,’ ‘Bad Wolf,’ ‘The Parting of the Ways,’ ‘The Stolen Earth,’ ‘Journey’s End,’ and ‘The End of Time.’
Here is a bit of her panel:
And here is Barrowman’s:
On one hand, it would have been nice to see them together on a panel. On the other hand, Piper is much more soft-spoken than Barrowman, so he would probably have dominated the situation.
Here we have a selfie with Barrowman and Robin Lord Taylor, Oswald Cobblepot aka the Penguin on Gotham:
Here is one with Barrowman and Keegan Connor Tracy, the Blue Fairy on Once Upon a Time.
And here he is with Piper and synthpop musician Ty Vanden Dool:
The digest montage for day two (the sound/video sync goes wonky partway through), featuring a baby named Gallifrey:
From Palm Springs, Florida, Barrowman gives a heartfelt “thank you” to everyone at the Expo:
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