Grace Maalouf Village East Cinema manager Steve Albistur sets up the theater’s marquee for Monday night’s premiere screening of Doctor Who, for which fans (below) have been camped out nearly 24 hours.

Saturday night, Jessica Whitton and several of her friends heard about a screening for the BBC cult favorite “Doctor Who.” Showing at the Village East Cinema tonight, the screening of the sci-fi series opener will bring together cast members and producers, and allow several hundred fans an exclusive first glimpse at the season premiere. So Ms. Whitton and several friends drove six hours from Youngstown, New York, to Yonkers, then took a 90-minute train ride into Grand Central.

They got to Village East last night around 9 p.m., and have been camped out in front ever since. The screening will begin at 7 p.m.

“I haven’t eaten today,” says Ms. Whitton, 19. Through last night’s mist, she and her friends slept on the sidewalk. “But it was worth it.”

At 10 this morning, actors from the show surprised waiting fans with some breakfast and took pictures.

“I woke up to Karen Gillan offering me a donut,” said Marjory Collado, referring to one cast member. Ms. Collado, 24, has been waiting near the beginning of the line with the first fans, who arrived at 4 p.m. yesterday. They’ve come from Maine, Connecticut, Tennessee. Others have flown in from Florida and Texas. One of them, Tristan Shippen, 19, has been blogging the campout since it began.
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