Doctor Who Mania Hits New York

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Fans started queuing early this morning in order to guarantee themselves a seat at the Village East movie theatre. The line started as early as 6.30am, with Jody Harkaby from Queens first in the queue clutching her sonic screwdriver and raggedy Doctor action figure. She was soon joined by another eager fan, Dan Ennis. He'd travelled some 400 miles from upstate in Buffalo in order to make the premiere.

The new series launches with The Eleventh Hour and an exclusive screening for a limited number of New Yorkers was held in an 'old' time movie theater - the East Village. Now a historic landmark, the cinema started life in 1921 as a "Yiddish" live performance venue explained manager Edward Joyner. Rather fittingly today the actors who play the Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) showed up to meet everyone in person and watch the episode with them. And the fans didn't disappoint either as there was a standing ovation as the stars of the show - Matt and Karen along with Head Writer and Executive Producer, Steven Moffat entered the auditorium.

Tonight's host was Whitney Matheson aka Pop Candy, the pop culture columnist for USA Today. Whitney chaired a most eclectic post screening celebration. The tone was set earlier during the screening as fans cheered when the Doctor exclaimed "I'm definitely a mad man with a box". Karen was delighted with audience reaction. "It's incredible,' she told the audience. 'We didn't know what to expect, it's really overwhelming."

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