[ Greatest Show in the Galaxy - May 2012 ]
Well, where to start really! lol. Had a fantastic day - well
worth the money/drive/petrol!
I hadn't actually intended to go to this event; as I'm a student and, as such, have no money. But then, in early April, the organisers posted a competition on their Facebook page. They said they were going to make big guest announcement the following day and the first person to guess correctly who it was would win a Fast Track Pass to the event. It was wishful thinking on my part when I guessed at Philip Glenister, but it paid off - I WON!! So that was it then; I couldn't not go.
Having managed to persuade my friend Harri, that she also needed to attend the event, we stayed in a Travelodge with my friend Harri the night before and we treated ourselves to a bottle of wine and two episodes of Ashes to Ashes on the DVD player. I was awake at 6 on the Sunday through excitement and then we left the hotel at 7 o'clock getting there for about 7.45, meeting Megan in the queue outside. There was a bit of confusion about my pass, but it was found in the end! Once in I bought collected my photo tickets and then bought Harri’s to make sure she got them; I also got her a talk ticket and went to pick up my free gift. When Harri finally got in we went for a sneaky look at people having their Ashes to Ashes group shots and saw Megan coming out of hers absolutely starstruck!
Mine and Harri’s first stop was Hugh Simon (Malcolm from Spooks) - he was lovely! So cute, but not really very chatty! He signed a pic for me and one for Harri. This was an impulse buy - knew I’d end up spending more than I’d planned.
I hadn't actually intended to go to this event; as I'm a student and, as such, have no money. But then, in early April, the organisers posted a competition on their Facebook page. They said they were going to make big guest announcement the following day and the first person to guess correctly who it was would win a Fast Track Pass to the event. It was wishful thinking on my part when I guessed at Philip Glenister, but it paid off - I WON!! So that was it then; I couldn't not go.
Having managed to persuade my friend Harri, that she also needed to attend the event, we stayed in a Travelodge with my friend Harri the night before and we treated ourselves to a bottle of wine and two episodes of Ashes to Ashes on the DVD player. I was awake at 6 on the Sunday through excitement and then we left the hotel at 7 o'clock getting there for about 7.45, meeting Megan in the queue outside. There was a bit of confusion about my pass, but it was found in the end! Once in I bought collected my photo tickets and then bought Harri’s to make sure she got them; I also got her a talk ticket and went to pick up my free gift. When Harri finally got in we went for a sneaky look at people having their Ashes to Ashes group shots and saw Megan coming out of hers absolutely starstruck!
Mine and Harri’s first stop was Hugh Simon (Malcolm from Spooks) - he was lovely! So cute, but not really very chatty! He signed a pic for me and one for Harri. This was an impulse buy - knew I’d end up spending more than I’d planned.
Then it was off to Philip Glenister to get his autograph for an American friend of mine. He looked gorgeous. I was first in the queue thanks to my fast track pass, so that was the first autograph he signed all day!
Then it was time for the Spooks talk, with Peter, Hugh, Sophia, Miranda and the surprise addition of Alice Krige (Elena Gavrik).
Hugh was a comedian right from the off. Changing seats and jokingly objecting to having to sit with the others who he referred to as "you lot". Nice to see him out of his “Malcolm shell” though; very funny. He passed a comment too about how Malcolm’s sexuality seemed to differ depending on who was writing. Sometimes he was written as "quite camp" and others he had to be "boringly heterosexual". He also confessed to being crap with computers and that the hands we see typing away at the keys on screen aren’t his; they’re the tech bloke’s!
How they would like to have seen Spooks end: Peter said, “Well wedding bells would have been nice, wouldn’t they? But that’s not spooks. We don’t do happy endings on Spooks.”
Did Peter cry when he read the script for the ending?’ He said not while reading it but he did the day they shot it! Awww!! He said it was really emotional filming the final scenes and then he talked about how wonderfully Nicola Walker had acted them.
They were asked if they had a favourite line from their character and no-one could remember any! But Miranda said there was a line cut from 3x06 when Harry asks Jo how her training was. There was supposed to be a line to show how silly/inexperienced Jo was that went something like, "Yeh it was good; I had to follow my flatmate around London for 3 days without her seeing me!" It was Peter’s suggestion to cut it (and I have to say I think he was right).
Favourite characters apart from their own: Hugh, "I hate to say it cos he’s in the room, but it has to be Harry", Miranda agreed. Sophia said Ruth, Alice said Harry and Ruth, and Peter of course, after a cheeky pause said "Ruth".
Favourite scenes/stories: Peter, Alice and Sophia - the ending, Miranda - Jo’s rape storyline and Hugh - telling Nico the story of the dog. They also talked a bit about what is known in the trade as ‘guerilla filming’, where you film in a crowd and they don’t know it’s happening. That was done quite a bit throughout the series including the scene in 10x04 in Trafalgar Square when the suicide bomber is shot (Peter said he thought that was a bit risky and close to the knuckle to have a guy all rigged up like that in a public place - and not even the police knew about it!).
Favourite Series: Miranda had a blonde moment and misunderstood completely and started talking about her favourite show that she watches herself, which caused some amusement because she didn’t realise for ages and Hugh and Peter were giving each other some really funny looks!
Think that’s about it…oh no, also…Peter is terrible for making people laugh on set (he denied it, but everyone else concurred that he was). And, Hugh Simon is in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Peter said he was taking some time off - which he’s not cos he’s filming MayDay - unless he means after that.
Then it was time for the Spooks talk, with Peter, Hugh, Sophia, Miranda and the surprise addition of Alice Krige (Elena Gavrik).
Hugh was a comedian right from the off. Changing seats and jokingly objecting to having to sit with the others who he referred to as "you lot". Nice to see him out of his “Malcolm shell” though; very funny. He passed a comment too about how Malcolm’s sexuality seemed to differ depending on who was writing. Sometimes he was written as "quite camp" and others he had to be "boringly heterosexual". He also confessed to being crap with computers and that the hands we see typing away at the keys on screen aren’t his; they’re the tech bloke’s!
How they would like to have seen Spooks end: Peter said, “Well wedding bells would have been nice, wouldn’t they? But that’s not spooks. We don’t do happy endings on Spooks.”
Did Peter cry when he read the script for the ending?’ He said not while reading it but he did the day they shot it! Awww!! He said it was really emotional filming the final scenes and then he talked about how wonderfully Nicola Walker had acted them.
They were asked if they had a favourite line from their character and no-one could remember any! But Miranda said there was a line cut from 3x06 when Harry asks Jo how her training was. There was supposed to be a line to show how silly/inexperienced Jo was that went something like, "Yeh it was good; I had to follow my flatmate around London for 3 days without her seeing me!" It was Peter’s suggestion to cut it (and I have to say I think he was right).
Favourite characters apart from their own: Hugh, "I hate to say it cos he’s in the room, but it has to be Harry", Miranda agreed. Sophia said Ruth, Alice said Harry and Ruth, and Peter of course, after a cheeky pause said "Ruth".
Favourite scenes/stories: Peter, Alice and Sophia - the ending, Miranda - Jo’s rape storyline and Hugh - telling Nico the story of the dog. They also talked a bit about what is known in the trade as ‘guerilla filming’, where you film in a crowd and they don’t know it’s happening. That was done quite a bit throughout the series including the scene in 10x04 in Trafalgar Square when the suicide bomber is shot (Peter said he thought that was a bit risky and close to the knuckle to have a guy all rigged up like that in a public place - and not even the police knew about it!).
Favourite Series: Miranda had a blonde moment and misunderstood completely and started talking about her favourite show that she watches herself, which caused some amusement because she didn’t realise for ages and Hugh and Peter were giving each other some really funny looks!
Think that’s about it…oh no, also…Peter is terrible for making people laugh on set (he denied it, but everyone else concurred that he was). And, Hugh Simon is in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Peter said he was taking some time off - which he’s not cos he’s filming MayDay - unless he means after that.
Then it was time for a photo with Mr Glenister. Again I was front of the queue but I was so nervous I couldn’t stop shaking. It was a bit of a conveyor belt so not much time to speak to him, but he was nice and he smelled divine! I stood on one side of him and he put his arm around me and then we got asked to swap around so I got to have his arm around both my shoulders. Eeee! :D
Next up, after a quick lunch was the Ashes to Ashes talk, with Keeley Hawes! From this it came out that Keeley doesn’t know who Engelbert Humperdinck was (Phil was talking about him for some reason) but she was so hungover she was just confused bless her, leaning over to Dean she was like, "What’s he saying?" Phil just said to the audience, "mention anyone famous to Keeley and she just goes, ‘who?’ When asked about what other cult shows they’d like to be in, Keeley said Star Trek. They were asked what their idea of heaven would be and Keeley said Peterborough Arena (lol)!
They were asked to describe themselves in 3 words to which Keeley said "the same as Phil". She said it was a difficult question because if you start reeling off your good qualities, you come off "sounding like a complete twat!"
Next up, after a quick lunch was the Ashes to Ashes talk, with Keeley Hawes! From this it came out that Keeley doesn’t know who Engelbert Humperdinck was (Phil was talking about him for some reason) but she was so hungover she was just confused bless her, leaning over to Dean she was like, "What’s he saying?" Phil just said to the audience, "mention anyone famous to Keeley and she just goes, ‘who?’ When asked about what other cult shows they’d like to be in, Keeley said Star Trek. They were asked what their idea of heaven would be and Keeley said Peterborough Arena (lol)!
They were asked to describe themselves in 3 words to which Keeley said "the same as Phil". She said it was a difficult question because if you start reeling off your good qualities, you come off "sounding like a complete twat!"
I then had my photo taken with Peter Firth who was just adorable! I walked in and he gave me a big smile and asked me what my name was. When I told him it was Ruth, he was really chuffed! He smiled and said, “of course it is!” Then we stood for the photo and he started telling the photographer, "it’s Ruth!" Then when I was leaving he gave me a big hug and a kiss!
Ran down to Keeley Hawes for a photo then, who was so funny. I asked her was it a late night last night and she nodded and cringed at the memories! She said, "I’m just clinging on" and she put her hands up as if hanging off a cliff before realising where she was and quickly putting them down saying, "we don’t want a photo like that" After the photo she gave me a big hug and kiss - wonderful woman!
Back to Peter Firth - this time for him to sign my photo (which I got for free as I didn’t have the right money and his ‘minder’ had no change! Got a second one too. Peter was like, "We’re giving out Freebies now - it’s the end of the day!) He asked who I wanted it dedicated to and I reminded him of my name and he said, "ah yes, of course" with a smile. I told him I was hearing rumours of a Spooks film, and he said, “yes I’m hearing those rumours too” which a chuckle before confirming that it is "in the works" and when asked about possibly finding a way for Ruth to return said, "anything can happen in Spooks" before posing for a couple of pictures with me and Harri. So chatty and lovely! And VERY flirty - has us both blushing like school girls, and neither of us are exactly innocent, so it can take a lot to do that (sorry Harri, but it’s true!)
While waiting for Keeley Hawes' signing she appeared at a window above us, spotted us and waved, and then came down early to start her signing session! When I got my signature she was lovely. She remembered my letter that I'd written and asked how I was getting on with my course, and we had a little chat about teachers and she said she was “very grateful for people like [teachers]” and she did a bit more swearing (including fuck and shit lol). She told me that the pen was very wet so not to close my photo (they came in folders) until it had dried. (Unfortunately it hadn't dried by the time I had to put it away and get in the car, so it did smudge slightly. But I have managed to edit out the smudges on the scan!) Philip Glenister who was sat next to her was leaving so tapped her on the shoulder to tell her he'd see her later and she didn't hear him, so I commented, “she's not listening to a word you're saying” and he said, "she hasn’t done for three years!"
AN ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC DAY - favourite person was Peter - he was just so chatty and flexible and he made time for you! I would definitely recommend an event like this to fans. The only downside was that Miranda and Sophia were there too but I didn't have enough money to get photos/autographs.