This is all out of order now, but since David Tennant was the most exciting part of Comic-Con for me, I have to share this.

Saturday night was the “Doctor Who” and “Torchwood” screening. I missed out on the “Dr. Horrible” sing-along the night before and I didn’t want to get shut out of this, so I went really early and sat through a panel on the Fables comic books (which I’d never heard of) and then Adult Swim/Venture Bros panel.

The Venture Bros panel

I’d never heard of the Venture Bros either, but I’m going to make a point of looking them up now because they were hysterical. When Doc Hammer first came out I thought he was kind of skeezy looking – I don’t really dig guys covered in tattoos – but by the end, I thought he was super hot. It’s all about attitude. And maybe the fact that he kept asking people, “Do you want to sleep with me? Or arm wrestle me?”

Finally, the Swimmers left and the Whovians came in. By this time I’d moved up to the fourth row, center (the first two rows were reserved for VIPs who never showed up) and had a great view of the stage. This wasn’t in the massive ballroom, it was a much smaller room, so nobody was too far away.

First, Russel T. Davies came out, and he introduced John Barrowman, which wasn’t a huge surprise since he’d been on the exhibition floor signing autographs that afternoon. John Barrowman looks like one of the most incredibly fun people you could ever know. He smiled constantly and looked as thrilled to be there as we were to see him.

Then, I think most people just expected Russell to introduce the episodes, but he continued with the introductions and you could seriously feel the room getting hotter and more excited.

He wasn’t supposed to be there, and I don’t think a lot of people expected him to show up, but in walked David Tennant.

(Insert screaming, hopping up and down and swooning here.)

The crowd was thrilled to see David, and by the grin on his face I think he was just as thrilled to finally be in front of an American audience. This was his first Comic-Con, and I believe his first big American public appearance.

John Barrowman was also happy to see David Tennant.

To be honest, I don’t really remember what anyone said after that. I was too excited for my memory to record speech. I know David thanked everyone profusely for their support over the last few years and talked a little about his final episodes.

Update: I just found this whole thing on YouTube.

Then he left just as quick as he appeared and we got to see Day 5 of “Torchwood: Children of Earth” and “Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead”.

I left the convention center buzzing with adrenaline and even more excited about the “Doctor Who” panel the next morning. Just to be sure I would get a decent seat, I woke up at 5:00 in the frakking morning (the panel started at 10) and was in line by 5:45. There were a couple of hundred people ahead of me, but when we got into the ballroom around 9:30, I was still able to get pretty close to the stage.

The wait for the panel was also pretty entertaining. Check out these photos:

You’re thinking, “Wow! David Tennant got into costume and hung out with people in line!” Um, no.

I don’t know who this guy is, but I wish I could rent him by the hour. (Just for a chat and a cup of coffee, of course.) Imagine being him, an ordinary, skinny white guy with great hair, and then one day he realizes that he looks exactly like one of the sexiest men in the world. That’s got to feel pretty good.

When I went up to get a photo with him I said, “I’ll bet you got very lucky this weekend,” and he cracked up and turned a little red. I didn’t notice his girlfriend was standing nearby. Oops!

After sitting in line for hours – and having spent the last four days in other lines and crowds – I was exhausted, but when David came on stage for the “Doctor Who” panel I felt completely awake and alert. I’m pretty sure you can find this panel on YouTube, so you can watch David being charming and goofy on your own, but I’ll add that he really seems like an incredibly gracious, kind and joyful man.

Best audience question and answer:

Audience member: “I read that John Barrowman stole some things from the set when he was there. Have you taken anything?”

Julie Gardner (Producer): “If John stole things it was because he was hoping we’d strip-search him on the way out.”

That gave everyone a good laugh:

We also learned that David is a fan of “Firefly”, but that’s not why he wears a long, brown coat in the show. He just wanted a long coat. He’s also not playing the Hobbit, which apparently is a rumor that was floating around.

All this was more than enough to make my weekend fan-TAS-tic (I really wish Christopher Eccleston had been around too), but there was more in store for me on Sunday. That post is coming up next.