What is time when you’re talking about Doctor Who? It’s all twisty and turny, whimey and rhymey. So when we say that Long Island Doctor Who con has been keeping the flame alive for this uniquely British sci-fi adventure for decades we mean it. Fans have been making the annual pilgrimage to the Isle of Long for a chance to hobnob with their favorite stars and creators while mingling with other die-hard Whovians.
Featuring actors from both the modern and classic era along with writers, artists, vendors, and of course cosplayers, this year’s con is already bright with Doctor Who stars – from the people who brought your favorite characters to life to the ones who make the magic from behind the scenes.
Below are many of the celebrities you will be able to meet at Long Island Doctor Who 2026 running from Friday, August 14th through Sunday, August 16th at the Holiday Inn in Holtsville. Get your tickets here.
Katy Manning – Few classic-era companions are as instantly recognizable to fans as Manning, whose playful convention appearances and decades-long connection to the fandom have made her a fixture of the Doctor Who community. Best known as Jo Grant, she traveled with Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor during one of the series’ most colorful eras. Manning has remained closely tied to the franchise through spin-offs, anniversary specials, audio dramas, and regular appearances at fan conventions around the world.
Peter Davison – Davison helped redefine the Doctor in the early 1980s with a younger, more vulnerable take on the Time Lord. As the Fifth Doctor, he brought a quieter, more human energy to stories like Earthshock, The Five Doctors, and The Caves of Androzani. Decades later, he remains one of the franchise’s most enduring figures, continuing to appear in anniversary specials, documentaries, and Big Finish audio dramas.
Matthew Waterhouse – Waterhouse played Adric, the mathematically gifted companion who traveled with both Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor and Peter Davison’s Fifth Doctor during the early 1980s. Though sometimes divisive among fans at the time, Adric became permanently woven into Doctor Who history through his shocking death in Earthshock, one of the franchise’s most emotional and influential companion exits. Decades later, the character still echoes throughout the Whoniverse, with Adric’s loss continuing to haunt the Doctor.
Paul Jericho – Classic Doctor Who fans will recognize Jericho from The Five Doctors, the franchise’s ambitious 20th anniversary special. Jericho played the Castellan of Gallifrey during a story that united multiple Doctors, companions, Time Lords, and villains in one massive crossover event that still stands as one of the biggest celebrations in the show’s history.
Frazer Hines – Hines is practically Doctor Who royalty. As Highlander Jamie McCrimmon, he became one of the Second Doctor’s closest companions and appeared in more episodes than almost any companion in the franchise’s history. Jamie’s chemistry with Patrick Troughton helped shape the blueprint for future Doctor-companion relationships, balancing action, humor, and loyalty in the black-and-white era of the series.
Sarah Louise Madison – Madison appeared during Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor era in the chilling Weeping Angel story The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone. Her character became caught up in one of the revived series’ creepiest monster stories, helping cement the Weeping Angels as one of modern Doctor Who’s most iconic threats.
Philip Segal – Long before the 2005 revival brought Doctor Who back to television, Segal spent years trying to resurrect the franchise for a new generation. He ultimately helped bring the 1996 Doctor Who television movie to life, introducing Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor and helping keep the Whoniverse alive during its so-called wilderness years.
Samir Arrian – Arrian gives L.I. Who a direct link to the newest era of Doctor Who, appearing as Hassan Chowdry in the 2025 episode Lux. The episode leans hard into meta Whovian territory, with Hassan appearing as one of the in-universe fans pulled into the Doctor and Belinda’s strange battle with Lux. For conventiongoers, that makes Arrian a fun current-era guest: he didn’t just appear in Doctor Who — he played someone who loves Doctor Who inside Doctor Who.
Eric Luskin – Luskin has a unique place in American Doctor Who fandom history through a series of documentaries and television specials produced during the 1980s, including Doctor Who’s Who’s Who, Doctor Who Then & Now, and The Making of Doctor Who. At a time when the franchise was exploding in popularity on PBS stations across the United States, Luskin helped bring behind-the-scenes stories, cast interviews, and convention coverage to American Whovians.
Mark Ayres – Few behind-the-scenes figures have done more to preserve classic Doctor Who than Ayres. A composer during the show’s final classic-era seasons, he later became deeply involved with the Doctor Who Restoration Team, helping remaster soundtracks and recover audio tied to missing episodes for BBC releases. His work has helped preserve some of the most important sounds and music in Doctor Who history.
Rebecca Nation – Nation is the daughter of legendary television writer Terry Nation, the creator of the Daleks, making her closely tied to one of the most important legacies in Doctor Who history. She is also connected to Rebecca’s World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, the imaginative children’s story inspired by bedtime tales her father created for her, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. For longtime Whovians, Nation offers a rare personal connection to the family behind the franchise’s most iconic villains.
Rob Shearman – Few writers had a bigger impact on the early revival of Doctor Who than Shearman, whose 2005 episode Dalek helped reintroduce the franchise’s most iconic villains to a new generation. Adapted from his acclaimed Big Finish audio drama Jubilee, the episode transformed the Daleks from nostalgic sci-fi relics into terrifying, emotional threats again and became one of the defining stories of Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor era. Beyond television, Shearman has written some of Big Finish’s most celebrated audio dramas, including The Chimes of Midnight, Scherzo, and The Holy Terror.
Jane Goddard – Goddard is known to many modern Whovians as the voice of Alpha Centauri in Big Finish audio productions, helping revive one of classic Doctor Who’s most memorable alien characters for a new generation of listeners. Through Big Finish, she’s become part of the ever-expanding audio side of the Whoniverse that continues classic-era adventures beyond television.
Jason Haigh-Ellery – As chairman and executive producer of Big Finish Productions, Haigh-Ellery has helped massively expand the Whoniverse beyond television. Under his leadership, Big Finish produced hundreds of licensed Doctor Who audio dramas featuring classic Doctors, companions, monsters, and entirely new adventures.
Brian Sloman – Sloman brings a fascinating piece of American Doctor Who history to L.I. Who. As former Head of Publicity for BBC North America, he helped oversee the landmark Doctor Who USA Tour, the traveling exhibition that brought Daleks, props, costumes, and other artifacts across the country during the franchise’s PBS-era boom in the late 1980s. For many longtime Whovians, the tour remains one of the most memorable symbols of Doctor Who’s popularity explosion on public television stations across the United States.
Keith Barnfather – Barnfather has spent decades documenting and expanding the world of Doctor Who through documentaries, spin-offs, and fan productions. As founder of Reeltime Pictures, he became best known for the long-running Myth Makers interview series, which captured behind-the-scenes stories from actors, writers, producers, and creators across the Whoniverse. His work also includes productions like Downtime, Wartime, and documentaries centered on fandom, conventions, and classic-era Doctor Who history.
John Peel – Author Peel became a familiar name to many fans through his Doctor Who novels and tie-in books. During the franchise’s wilderness years, writers like Peel helped keep the Whoniverse alive through expanded-universe storytelling that introduced new adventures, lore, and monsters for readers hungry for more Doctor Who. Peel will also take part in L.I. Who’s celebration of the life and work of Dalek creator Terry Nation, drawing from his longtime friendship with the Nation family while discussing both Nation’s legacy and his own wide-ranging writing career.
