Paul signs a who's who of superstars
As a child Paul Jones used to hide behind the sofa watching Doctor Who, wishing he could help his hero fight the Daleks and Cybermen.
As a child Paul Jones used to hide behind the sofa watching Doctor Who, wishing he could help his hero fight the Daleks and Cybermen.
But today Paul has managed to meet most of his Doctor Who heroes as well as other stars from cult TV programmes and films.
Next month the 35-year-old who grew up in Bishops Wood, near Wolverhampton, will be bringing celebrities such as Joan Collins, George Kennedy and astronaut Helen Sharman to Birmingham for the popular Autographica event.
"It all started when I watched Doctor Who as a child and I guess I never grew up," says Paul, who works at a bank in Wolverhampton.
"I started off collecting the magazines and as soon as I earned some money I joined a local Dr Who group.
"This was before Satellite TV and so we used to watch episodes and it wasn't long before I started attending Doctor Who conventions."
Paul, who now lives on Turnstone Drive in Featherstone says he was amazed when he saw the hundreds of people who attended the conventions.
"People love to meet0 the stars, get their autographs and then enjoy a party with their heroes in the evening," says Paul, who used to be a pupil at Bilbrook Middle School before attending Codsall High.
"I loved the whole escapism of Doctor Who, but my parents and younger sister Helen never really understood my obsession.
"I guess it is only the same as a football fan following their team. I have even attended the world's biggest Doctor Who Event in Los Angeles for the past four years."
In 1995 Paul got involved in running a Doctor Who convention at the Holiday Inn in Birmingham where he got to meet one of his idols – John Pertwee who was the third Dr Who and played Worzel Gummidge.
"After that I was hooked and I was asked if I could be guest liaison for an event called Cult TV," says Paul.
"I got to meet stars from programmes such as The X-Files, Dad's Army, Blake's7, Supernatural, Heroes, Stargate, Red Dwarf and Star Wars."
The events helped to raise around £30,000 for Unicef and Paul says he has heard lots of stories from the stars.
"Talking to the astronauts is an amazing experience because they give you a glimpse of a fantastic history," says Paul. "Astronaut Jim Lovell, who was played by Tom Hanks in the Apollo 13 film, is fascinating."
Paul went on to volunteer at the London Film and Comic Convention at the Wembley Arena and says that getting famous people to attend an event is all about networking. I fit my work on the shows into evenings, weekends and holidays around my full-time job. I got involved in Autographica in 2005 and it is my favourite event as it brings together such a diverse range of guests all under one roof."
The Autographica event takes place at the Hilton Metropole at Birmingham NEC from April 17 to 19 and is expected to attract 1,000 autograph hunters.
Headline guests include Ernest Borgnine from The Wild Bunch, George Kennedy from The Naked Gun, Joan Collins, who starred in Dynasty, and George Baker, who played Inspector Wexford in the Ruth Rendell Mysteries. "Most of our guests are signing for the first time at a UK event and we often have Americans fly over for the event just to meet the astronauts," says Paul.
"I have thousands of autographs but the one that I would love to have is Neil Armstrong's. As a film and TV fan it is great to volunteer and if I could have said to myself 20 years ago that I would be meeting my heroes I wouldn't have believed it for a minute.