Dimension Jump 2015 | jentatecosplay

I didn’t even know these existed until I met Chris Barrie in 2013 and he happened to mention it when I spoke to him. I’ve been missing out for so many years!!!!! As soon as they announced this event I instantly booked it and put my name down for the hotel, there was no way I was going to miss this. I was so excited but gutted I had to wait a whole year, luckily it flew by and the day of the event soon came round.

We travelled down early to get there as soon as registration opened and as soon as we got in the hotel we were greeted by so many Red Dwarf posters and TV screens with Red Dwarf themed things on them. The little details like this were amazing, I loved all the effort the guys put in to this event. It was quiet when we got there (I was number 48) we said hello to a few smeg heads we had met online and signed in and booked our photo sessions for the Saturday and Sunday.

Friday

Before the main event started I went to my hotel room to make myself look a bit more presentable and put on my least smegiest tshirt then it was off to the bar to meet up with everyone. After a few drinks I soon realised I had not eating all day and the alcohol hit my system a little quicker than I would have liked so it was off to McDonalds to line my stomach ready for night :-)

Before we went down ready for the event to start me (Kochanski) and Miss Lola got ready for the night ahead. We must have been the last ones in the room as we had to split up and find a table, once seated we counted down the minutes until the event officially began. The organisers got on stage and introduced themselves and told us about what was happening over the weekend with the help of Holly of course.

Our quiz master was then brought on stage which was the awesome Mac Mcdonald who wasted no time and asked if anyone would like him to sit on their lap. I dont think anyone thought he would but we were wrong. It was then on with the quiz. I thought I would be really bad at this and I was right, even though I’ve watch the show a thousand times and trained on Beat The Geek I was still terrible. Luckily we had a Red Dwarf genius on our team and even though we didn’t win we still came 4th with our team Smeg and the Heads.

Then they anouced our DJ for the night which was Dave Benson Phillps, the room went wild. Like the crew said "we didnt know we needed Dave Benson Phillips at Dimension Jump until we had him at Dimension Jump". I hope he becomes the regular DJ for the event.

Then I met Lister and Lister (a scary combination) and even though I had never met these two guys until tonight they soon became my drinking buddies for the night and after much deliberation (and many alcoholic beverages) we decided to get up on the karaoke. It turns out every Red Dwarf fan seems to have an amazing voice, then we got on stage :-) We went with Delilah by Tom Jones and we killed it and not in a good way (Dave had to come and save us at one point with the tune).

Luckily we had fun with it and changed the Lyrics to Kochanski instead of Delilah and most people were pretty drunk by this point. The fun continued until the early hours of the morning then we eneded the night with us all on the dance floor doing high kicks while an awesome guy sung 'New York, New York'. Probaly one of the greatest nights ever! I then went back to my hotel from and had the most expensive sandwich from room service.

Saturday Morning

“Damage control report. Oh! Dehydration level, 45%. Recall of previous evening, 2%. Embarrassment factor, 91%! Advised repair schedule; reboot startup disc, offline for 36 hours and replace head. Boy! What a night!”

I dont know how but I managed to crawl out of bed at 7am (is it just me, or is that cockroach shuffling too loudly?) and freshen up ready for the photo shoot. Luckily the photo shoot was running a bit late because Chris was stuck in traffic so we all just hung around and had a chat with everyone. As soon as Chris walked round the corner everyone started chanting “Rimmer...Rimmer” then we got in line ready for the photos. I have to say the star of the shoot was The Shend as he seemed to be in a different position and pose for each photo.

It was then time to get back into my Kochanski uniform then I head downstairs to get ready for the first Q&A which was with The Shend and Mac McDonald. At first I was right at the back but then I soon worked my way to one of the front rows :-) I had no idea what to expect from these guys and it turned out to be awesome and slightly crazy. Mac wasn’t happy with his first introduction so decided to leave and come back in to get a better response. He also decided to go Incredible Hulk on us and removed his shirt. I told him later that I didn’t think he would actually take his top of and he replied “neither did I”

Straight after this there was a buzz in the room about Doug Naylor on his way with something he wanted to tell us. Now we knew there was a new series in the pipe line so we were all hoping for this to finally be confirmed. He waited outside until exactly 12 as he wasn’t allowed to say anything until then and then he walked on stage. He then very calmly said “I know a lot of you heard there was going to be announcement today and there is” he then went on to say “i know you think it is about a new series but its not” then...... “its about 2 new series of Red Dwarf” at this point the room went insane! To be a part of this amazing announcement with so many amazing people was beyond awesome.

Saturday Afternnon

Once the room had settled they then brought on Chris for another Q&A. As soon as he got on stage he pretended to answer his phone and said “a movie? When? November to March ermm...yeah I can do it” He then went on to ask if we were happy with the news and im pretty sure he was releaved that it was finally official and that people could now ask Doug all those questions he had been asked for months but couldn’t say anything. After the Q&A me, Lister, Rimmer and Kryten got to feel like celebrities for 10 minutes as we posed for some pictures.

Then it was off to the coffee morning which was limited to 30 places I think. There were 3 large tables so we all sat down and grabbed a coffee and some biscuits and waited for the cast to arrive. Me and my friend were hoping Chris would sit at our table first and he did (fan girl moment). I had a lot of questions to ask but I didnt want to hog all the time so I just waited for the silence than I jumped in. We got to talk to Chris about others things such as The Brittas Empire and Tomb Raider was was really interesting. We then switched around and got to talk to Hattie and Mac McDonald, the obvious question was would they like to be invovled in the new series which the answer was obviously YES! Then we got to talk with The Shend and Doug Naylor, I think everyone was in awe at Doug and we went very quiet at first but soon got chatting about the new series and possible episode ideas :-)

Next up was the signings. I had bought an amazing print from and artist who was in the merchandise room so I could get all the main cast to sign it. Now I only need to get Norman and Craig to sign. The guests where awesome to talk to as always with Hattie having the longest que as she likes to have a natter with everyone. I also bought a signed print from The Shend and Mac for my collection. After this it was time to chill before the night.

Saturday Evening

So it was time for the costume competition, im a huge fan of cosplay so I couldnt wait to see what people had came up with. All the entrants waited together away from everyone else and there where already 3 stand out costumes which where holidaying Rimmer, The Inquisitor and an adorable young girl as the Despair Squid (the clear winner from the start) then just before we went downstairs someone dressed as super human Lister came round the corner which was another amazing costume. I had made my Nirvana Crane cosplay and I had spoke to another guy going as Holoship Rimmer so we decided to team up and have fun with it. I guessed the top 3 winners who were awesome but all of the costumes where amazing, the standard is just getting better each year. I need to step up my game for the next one.

Since I had glued my Nirvana wig and H to my head I decided it would be best to leave it on and put on my new red dress I bought for the night. It wasnt long before Hattie and Chris came down to get ready for the first auction and I grabbed a quick picture with them. I have to say they had the strangest things up for auction and I wanted them all but mostly the script from Sirens and a Kryten tissue dispenser. I only had a £150 budget and both of these went slight over. Chris then held up a very strange looking nose cast from Back to Earth which was signed by Doug and it seemed like no one really wanted it so I saw my opportunity to win something. I ended up in a bidding war with another guy and won it for £120. I now have it framed with a nose world card and it looks smegging awesome.

Then it was time for more drinks and the cast hung around to chat to everyone which was awesome. One minute I saw Chris and Hattie standing by the door and next they were on the dance floor strutting their funky stuff. I have video evidence to prove it :-) Obviously I had to get up and dance as its not everyday this kind of thing happens. I then went on a selfie rampage with all the people still in costume.

We were then joined by The Shend, Gordon Kennedy and then much later by Danny. I remember walking up to The Shend and telling him he had a nice bum then chatting with him for a bit and capturing a great photo with him holding my friends bag.

Then at 2pm the last song came on 'we'll meet again' and Chris took to the dance floor once again, definitely the surrealist night of my life. Then it was off to my hotel room to enjoy another expensive sandwich and I turned on the TV only to find Red Dwarf on Dave. Its like they knew.

Sunday Morning

First thing this morning was another photo shoot this time with Danny, Robert and Gordon. I had time to get into a costume this time so today I wore my gingham dress which was the first cosplay I made and I still love it. Mr Flibble also joined me for the day :-) While we were waiting one of my friends brought down his collection of Red Dwarf Hamma Beads which were smegging awesome and even Chris looked thrilled at his mini me.

Then it was straight to another Q&A with Hattie and Gordon, I’ve never been to a Q&A with Hattie so I found it very interesting. Me and the Despair Squid had an awesome time. After this it was another coffee morning with the remaining cast which I couldn’t attend because I was now very poor.

Sunday Afternoon

Then it was time for another auction hosted by Danny and Bobby, some items went for crazy prices but it all went to a good cause. They did get a little side tracked at times but it made it much more entertaining. Then it was straight on to a Q&A with them which involved call to Craig Charles who couldn’t make it this weekend, unfortunately he didn’t answer but we left him a message.

Next up was the raffle which not many people showed up for so most prizes were won by people who werent there. One lucky guy won 2 things, I didn’t win anything as I am cursed when it comes to raffles. We still had a good laugh and grabbed some pictures while we still could. After this it was the big quiz Goitless which I unfortunately missed but I heard it was fun.

Now it was a sad time of the day when the last event was happening which was the signings with Danny, Robert and Gordon. By this point everyone was knackered especially Danny who had came straight from a convention the night before and stayed up to watch the big fight. I got to see Danny and Gordon pretty quick but Bobby’s queue snaked around the room as he likes to chat, obviously no one was bothered as we knew we would get to have a good natter when we got to him. I have to say Kryten would not be happy with his money system which was all over the floor next to him :-)

I got my little Kryten bobble head signed and my Red Dwarf print then it was off to say our goodbyes :-(

I have to say this was the best event I have ever been to and I never thought I would make so many amazing friends who I already miss. I don’t know how I'm going to wait till 2017 for the next one. A big thank you to all the organisers who gave up their spare time to put this awesome event together.