Wiffle Lever To Full!

By Bob Fischer

After discovering, quite by chance, that a Dr. Who convention is being held a few miles from his home, Bob Fischer buys himself a ticket to a few hours of childhood nostalgia. However, for Bob, the excitement builds overnight and, as the the next morning dawns, a few minutes of surfing the web opens his eyes to countless other such events around the UK, and minutes later he is rampaging through his credit card, buying tickets for conventions as disparate and varied as the Unmutual Prisoner convention in Port Meirion, Wales and the annual Hitch Hikers Vs. Blake’s 7 water pistol fight in Winspitt Quarry, Dorset.

The next 12 months sees Bob on a marathon journey around the UK’s cult TV and sci-fi conventions and this book is, in his own words, “part fun travelogue, part field report and part misty-eyed childhood memoir” but what he fails to point out is that it is also, by turns, extraordinarily funny and quite touching.

Covering the gamut from Star Wars through Robin Of Sherwood to Discworld and Red Dwarf, Wiffle Lever To Full is nicely written and well paced. The events at each convention are relayed with obvious affection, and it’s lovely that in middle age he still goes a bit gooey eyed at meeting his childhood heroes. Along the way he discovers the sheer breadth of sci-fi fandom – like gay Star Trek fan-fiction (no, really!) – and he breaks things up with some brief ‘Bluffers Guide to…..’ whatever TV show he happens to be part of this week, as well some very funny anecdotes entitled “Bloody Stupid Things I Have Done In The Name Of Fandom”. Also, each chapter is preceded by ‘The Battle To Save Earth’ a serialised version of a story written by Bob’s 8-year old self, which is both naive and charmingly funny.

There are sections of pure 70’s nostalgia, Butterscotch Angel Delight, Whizzer & Chips, Weekend World and Caroline Munro and there are places where I laughed out loud; taping Hitch Hikers off the telly because Mum & Dad didn’t have a video and then endlessly quoting it with your mates for a start. Yes, if we’d all spent half as much time revising as we did learning endless Monty Python routines………..

But I think the really nice thing about this book is hearing about the people he meets along the way. Ordinary folk like you and me who escape the dreary day-to-day at weekends to indulge their inner nerd with other like-minded souls and how some of those people become firm friends. This a fabulous, fun read, definitely worth your time and the proof of the pudding is finding yourself sneakily typing ‘Cult TV’ and ‘Convention’ into Google while no-one’s looking.

See you at the next one, Bob.

Wiffle Lever To Full is published by Hodder & Stoughton and is available from Amazon, Blackwell and all good book stores.

Bob Fischer has a blog that you can reach by clicking here.