THREE Doctor Whos met their oldest adversary when York’s Winter Comic-Con Unleashed event was held at York Racecourse today.

Hundreds turned up for the ‘fun and friendly celebration of all things geeky,’ despite having to wait in 200-yard queue for entry in cold, wet and windy weather.

And one of the star highlights was undoubtedly a life-size Dalek, which had taken its occupant, Ben Ross, of Burton Fleming, two years to make and was, as one would expect, making routine threats to exterminate everyone.

It certainly attracted the attention of Vicky, Jamie and Jake Ford from Goole, who were taking on the Doctor Who roles played in the BBC’s hit drama by Jodie Whittaker, Tom Baker and Matt Smith respectively, armed only with sonic screwdrivers for their protection.

Perhaps aware of Dalek’s traditional difficulties in climbing stairs, one of the real former Doctors - actor Peter Davison, who was the fifth incarnation of Doctor Who - was safely upstairs meeting fans and signing books.

Meanwhile, fans of Harry Potter were able to meet three actors from the films - Josh Herdman, aka Draco’s thuggish sidekick Gregory Goyle, Guy Henry aka Pius Thicknesse and Chris Rankin, who played the role of Percy Weasley, one of the many red-headed children from one of the most prominent wizarding families, The Weasleys.

There were also Ghostbusters, Superheroes, Transformers and Stormtroopers from Star Wars, along with traders selling geeky toys, comics, collectables, art and jewellery.

Many visitors grabbed the chance to dress up as a TV, movie, game or anime character, from Predators to Expendables.

Sharon Hall, of Unleashed Events, said that if people had never been to a comic-con before, York Winter Comic-Con was a great place to start.

“It has a little bit of everything for everyone,” she said.

“It is great to see kids meeting their ‘real’ superhero as well as seeing the dads showing off as Batman for the ultimate photo pose….it is all about escaping reality and having fun!”

She said that initially, comic-cons focussed on comic books and comic book culture but nowadays comic-cons covered multi-genre entertainment such as films, TV and gaming and had made being ‘geeky’ cool.

“A comic-con is a brief escape from reality where pop culture, ie sci-fi, superheroes, zombies, fantasy, etc, can be experienced all in one room.

“You can meet guests from the world of film and TV as well as seeing attractions to admire and interact with. There are geeky traders selling everything from art to collectables, items that you simply will not be able to find on the high street.

“People of all ages can come along in costume, maybe of their favourite film or comic book character, as it is opportunity to show off your geeky side. Unleashed Events host nationwide comic-cons and we just get bigger and better every year.”