Galway Who fans queue up to see the Doctor!

 Even The Doctor is getting into the spirit of The Gathering in Galway – next week more than 400 fans will meet up in fancy dress to watch a feature length 3D episode of the cult BBC series Doctor Who on the big screen.

 ‘Whovians’ based in Galway were keen to meet up with other fans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the series, and successfully lobbied management at the Eye Cinema to hold a special screening.

One screen (which holds 280 people) in the Eye sold out so quickly for the event on November 23, that the special 3D episode will also be shown in a second screen.

One of the organisers, David Keane, told the Galway City Tribune: “It started out with me and a few friends, we’d get together at the weekends and make a night of watching the show since it returned in 2005.

“Then there were around 15 guys and girls watching it, and with the 50th anniversary episode coming out, we said we’d love to watch it in the cinema,” he said.

Along with fellow Whovians Pat Burnes and Brendan Dowd, he contacted Neasa Glynn, manager of the Eye Cinema, asking if it would be possible to get screening rights.

“She said there were no plans to show it, but if we got a petition or Facebook page together, and there was enough interest, it might be possible. We did both – there were 250 signatures on the petition and the Facebook group ‘Galway Whovians and Proud’ has 220 members.

“Before we knew it, the Eye got it, and the first screen sold out, so they added a second screen.

“We were very surprised by the level of interest in it – if you go into a toy shop, you never see any Dr Who toys, so we weren’t sure how much interest there was,” said David.

The 3D ‘Day of the Doctor’ episode will be screened at 7.50pm on November 23 – the same time as the BBC One screening – in the Eye Cinema, and tickets can be booked at the ticket office.

As well as Galway, Dublin, Belfast and around the UK, cinemas in the US, Canada, Germany and Russia will be screening the episode.

Read more in today’s Galway City Tribune