Behind the Event: A look at the Behind the Sofa Signing.

Last night Gollancz was overjoyed to host, at Forbidden Planet London, a signing for our collection of celebrity memories of Doctor Who, Behind The Sofa. We’ve already shared a few extracts over the last couple of weeks, and if you have any interest in Doctor Who, urge you to pick it up. It’s all for a good cause, as all royalties go to Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Joining us at Forbidden Planet were Katy Manning and Sophie Aldred, both companions in the classic series, and modern Who was represented by Madame De Pompadour herself, Sophia Myles. Ben Aaronovitch waved the flag for writers, while Richard Herring, Al Murray and Rufus Hound provided the comedy star power. Add in Steve Berry, the book’s editor, and it was a pretty big table!

Your humble Gollancz editor is the one in the Peter Davison T-shirt. Couldn’t resist it…

After fun at Forbidden Planet we decamped to the Phoenix Artists Club, where we were joined by around 25 other contributors to the book. A representative of Alzheimer’s Research UK gave a brief talk, and Steve Berry spoke movingly of his Mother and how proud she would have been.

And then we all drank beer. It was a lovely evening, and we’re very grateful for everyone who came along. Please do check out the book if you can!