London Expo 2009
Jun. 9th, 2009 12:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lonelybritApologies for spamming your FLs this evening. This is more for my personal reference as already my memories are pretty hazy, and there are some gorgeous photos already out there on the various Merlin coms, for example here or here.
(WARNING: the following post will contain SPOILERS for series 2.)
In terms of the Q&A, Geek Syndicate posted their audio recording of the entire session. You can listen/download on their website over here. ETA: MCM Expo also have their own YouTube channel, so far they've posted part 1 and part 2 of the Merlin panel, hopefully the third and final vid will appear before too long.
Anyway, last year at Expo the queues were insane. Had things changed this year? In a word: NO. But still, I'm very glad I went. The atmosphere had changed compared to last time. The fans had definitely arrived on the scene and everything felt bigger and busier, complete with screaming and banners and queues that started at stupid o'clock in the morning. However, despite security being stepped up, the cast and crew themselves were as charming as ever and seemed genuinely chuffed at the reaction they and the show got from us all. Colin and Bradley were as lovely as ever. Katie had a great sense of humour and is as gorgeous as her on-screen counterpart. Gwen, I'm afraid, is utterly put in the shade by Angel, who in real life is ridiculously stunning.
Johnny Capps also hadn't changed one bit. In particular the bit where he loves the sound of his own voice. We got barely one word total out of Polly Buckle; Angel and Colin were kept to one or two sentence answers; Bradley and Katie got a few decent answers out, but on the whole we only got bit answers before Johnny took over or just generally talked over his actors. Much as I appreciate his enthusiasm for the show, there were times I was tempted to unplug his mic...
As mentioned earlier I had gotten up at stupid o'clock in the morning on, literally, about an hour's sleep. Suffice to say I was a tad tired. Still, I successfully met up with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tya_rc and ephyse and we thankfully all managed to get auto tickets. Once we'd fed and watered as needed, we all decided that sitting down was preferable to the maelstrom that was the Expo main hall and so we wandered in to listen to some of the Q&As of the day. First up...
JAMES DUVAL (aka the rabbit from Donny Darko
We came in towards the end of his talk. The main thing I remember was him saying was how he's never been in a film that has polarised the audience's reaction to the extent that Donny Darko did. He remembered one of the early screenings and how some people stood up at the end and gushed about how wonderful it was, and then other people would stand up and go 'Are you nuts?!' before slamming it as making no sense whatsoever. The film was definitely a "slow starter" in that it didn't make a big splash at the cinemas and he had more-or-less accepted that that was that, only to realise that as time went on the DVD sales continued to go up and people continued to talk about it and come up to him. Which, obviously, he's pleased by.
Then off he went and next up was...
GERALD MCMARROW (Director of Franklyn)
I did feel a bit sorry for this guy. It was clear that quite a sizable portion of the audience had never seen his film and there was lot of background chatter and getting up and moving around during his talk. It didn't help that he seemed quite shy and only spoke directly to the host rather than trying to engage the audience. Which was a shame as the next talk proved that it is possible to generate interest even if you're not what the audience came to see. Anyway. Main things I remembered:
x. Ryan Phillippe is apparently talented, really nice, incredible range, really good looking... yes the director hates him.
x. There was not a single wasted shot of CGI in the film. No. Not one. There will be no extra scenes of CGI on the DVDs. The budget was incredibly tight and everything was financed to the last second and to the very last penny.
Moving on was the next panel,
DUNCAN JONES & GAVIN ROTHERY (Director and Visual Effects Supervisor of Moon)
When these two young men came out, there was delighted whispers of 'OMG they're sci-fi geeks!' You could just tell they were, in a word 'One of us, one of us...' They seemed very excited about the imminent release of their film and quite happily regaled the audience with stories and information on the film and how it came about. The result was that people genuinely listened and by the end you could tell there were several folks putting 'Moon' on their list of films to try and catch in the future.
x. The film benefited from the Writers' Strike. They were in the studio at the same time as films like Angels & Demons, but because they were a British venture they remained unaffected by the strike with the end result that they were the only film shooting at the time of the pickets. Which meant that they got the crème de la crème of help when it came to building sets and the like. They were dead chuffed at getting the guy who had worked on Alien building sets, and he wasn't the only high-calibre workman left twiddling his thumbs when other projects ground to a halt, and he wasn't the only one only too happy to help out on this weird small British sci-fi thing.
x. Yes, they were very happy to get Sam Rockwell as their lead, they seemed big fans of his work.
x. The voice of the base computer is Kevin Spacey. Apparently they were influenced by memories of computers such as Hal, and the tradition of maybe a bit morally ambiguous computers may continue in this film...
x. They were genuinely surprised by the buzz being generated by the film. They thought they were making a small indie film that would probably go more-or-less straight to DVD. Instead it's being a big hit at the festivals with praise coming from all quarters.
x. We got a virtual tour of the moon-base via the screen. It was impressive :)
The Moon panel exited to applause and then...
... well then I think Expo somehow managed to lose the Merlin cast. The host was left stalling for time, for more time... for more time. I don't know what happened but we were getting the stage of slow clapping starting. The host did manage to buy himself a few more seconds by confirming that at least one member of the panel had arrived when he vanished behind the screens and we heard over the mic:
Host: Say hello to all the boys and girls, Bradley.
Bradley: Hello to all the boys and girls.
Audience: *cheers*
Finally, as a rather rattled looking host and security guard appeared back onstage, the thumbs-up came that we were finally ready to roll.
BRADLEY JAMES, KATIE MCGRATH, POLLY BUCKLE, JOHNNY CAPPS, ANGEL COULBY, COLIN MORGAN (Cast and crew of Merlin)
Bradley came out first, firmly attached to his camcorder, filming the audience and the rest of the panel as they came out. Following after him came Katie, Polly, Johnny, and the truly beautiful Angel. Colin was the last out and in true con style the screams hit an all new pitch when he came out. They all looked remarkably like they had just walked off the set, certainly this time round there was no trace of stubble and the hair was most definitely Merlin's bowl-cut. This could have been because, as we found out later, they most likely HAD just walked off a set mere 24 hours earlier. Bradley certainly seemed happy to let the others take the lead in questions and I guess it was down to a mixture of being tired from filming, plus also he and Colin had done this before whereas this was the first public outing for the girls of Merlin.
Johnny Capps on the other hand *sigh* He did have an unfortunate tendency to steamroll over his stars' answers, either answering for them or cutting in before they'd all got a chance to speak. Still, you can't doubt his belief and enthusiasm for the show. This is definitely a man with a plan about where he wants it all to go.
As before the Q&A kicked off with a long spiel from Johnny about something I can't remember. I do blame Bradley for this. After a few seconds he picked up the camcorder, turned it round, and started filming himself. I still don't know whether he was actually saying something to the screen in hushed tones or, as it looked from the other side of the hall, whether he was gently taking the mick out of Johnny's long sentences by miming along to the words. Johnny remained oblivious as to why some of the audience were starting to laugh and in the end it was Katie who cottoned on first (she responded by doing bunny ears behind Bradley's head). At which point the ruse was busted and the camcorder was put down (to Johnny's amusement) and the questions continued.
These are paraphrasing and out of order but bits I remember are:
Did Angel ever get the boys back for the prank they pulled on her (as seen on the video diaries) and have the boy's French improved.
No, not yet, but she's working on it. So watch out.
Johnny: I can answer the second part of that question. No.
Will any of the cast be going along to support Bradley at the Charity soccer?
Bradley: I hadn't actually told them... so thanks for that.
There was a general sentiment from the other actors that, no, they didn't know about this, and somehow the focus ended on Colin. At which point Johnny innocently enquired whether or not Colin would be on hand to run out on pitch with a bucket of water and a sponge. Once Colin had stopped laughing,
Colin: Er... no.
This in turn led to a great anecdote from Bradley about how he'd been playing football sometime after series 1 had finished. He'd been tackled and sent crunching to the ground, and as he lay there in the grass the guy stood over him and said mockingly "Where's Merlin now?" (At which point Colin did suggest that perhaps he should have been there to appear and go 'KACHA' and go magic on the guy's arse.) Poor Bradley, it starts now.
The friendship between Gwen and Morgana is great in that it's totally independent from their relationships with the other cast, will this continue given the path Morgana may eventually take?
The cast and crew all agreed that it was a special friendship between Gwen and Morgana. Like all friendships, it will be tried and tested over the coming years. So far they don't know exactly how it's going to go. The nice thing about going from legend is that there are so many possibilities. For now all we know is that, yes, things will happen that will, in the long run, cement the friendship between Morgana and Gwen, and also further her confidence in and friendship with Merlin.
Bradley and Colin were given a piece of cardboard saying how much the fans loved Merlin. Do they still have it?
The audience seemed to *facepalm* at this one, and bless the boy's faces were a picture. Still, they did give it a vague go.
Bradley: ... Yes?
Colin: We cut it in two and kept half each?
If the cast could have a super-power, what would it be?
Angel - the power to fly.
Katie - she'd be Rogue from X-Men (cue cheering from audience).
Colin - actually he'd like to Gambit from X-Men. (Having just seen Wolverine, if he's talking about that version of Gambit then that would be AWESOME.)
Bradley - he knows someone who's unwell, so the ability to heal would be nice.
Describe your cast members in one word.
Bradley went first: Katie - generous. Angel - bubbly. Colin - ...
Bradley: How to describe Colin...
Colin: So many words.
Bradley: Disturbed.
Next up was Angel who put Colin and Katie as sweet and lovely, and then took a few moments to try and figure out a way to sum up Bradley. Bradley seemed to have assumed the worse, much to the audience's amusement, until Angel took pity on him and finally went for 'Witty'.
Finally came Colin who shrugged, smiled and said he'd just have to say they were all 'Great'.
Favourite episode of series 1?
Colin - the one where Merlin and Arthur got to do stuff with the unicorn in the forest.
Katie - the one with Mordred, being utterly out-acted by a child.
Angel - the one where they returned to Ealdor and the girls got to do some action with swords.
Bradley - he's very fond of eps 4 and 5, but the favourite is the one with the labyrinth.
So, series 2. What can we expect? (SPOILERS FOR SERIES 2 HERE.)
There will be familiar faces returning, namely Lancelot, Mordred, and Excalibur. There will also be a stepping up of the beginning of the Arthur/Gwen romance since, eventually, they are destined to get married.
Back to the scripts in general. What do the actors do if they get something that they think just isn't in character? Has this ever happened in the past?
Bradley pointed out that this probably wasn't the best question to ask given that the script editor and producer were sitting right next to them. Katie took the more diplomatic route by remembering how the one time she had doubts wasn't about characterisation as such, but more whether she could pull it off as an actress (the scene where Morgana runs out in her night things to stop Arthur going after the Questing Beast).
Angel and Jonny then discussed it for a bit, Angel saying that if they ever did feel the need to talk things over then they knew they could go and discuss it with Jonny and co. Johnny and co. would listen. Johnny and co would always tell them 'Of course, I'm right and you're wrong', but they would always listen ;)
And that was that! Or at least, that is what I can recall at this late hour.
After we all emptied out back into the main hall and after some false starts, finally found the queue for queue for the autographs. This time around we were definitely being rushed through, with less time for chat and certainly no photos. Which was a bit of shame but then again this was a free signing so I ain't complaining, and if you could keep your brain intact and get a question out then the cast were all very happy to try and give you a decent answer, and in all cases you got a killer smile.
My brain certainly remained blank for the first auto, who of course was Bradley. Still he was dead pleasant, and like last time we got stuck on just asking how the other was, how that question manages to get mangled I'll never know but it happens every time.
Colin was also again just lovely. Apparently filming still hasn't completely finished for The Island and he's due to head back to Scotland at some point to do some final shots. No news yet on when the film is likely to see the light of day, but hopefully sometime next year. Incidentally, yes Scotland is lovely, but it's also cold.
I had no idea what to ask Johnny so simply went with asking how this compared to last year's Expo. It seems he agrees with the majority, it's definitely a differently atmosphere now the whole first series is 'out there', there's a bigger buzz and all that. He likes it.
My brain went into semi-meltdown again when confronted with Angel so all I could do was ask whether or not she'd do an Expo again. In short, oh yes she would, she basically just has to sit there and accept all the compliments and people being just lovely to her. It's a hard life...
As for Katie, oh, charming charming lady. She thanked you for coming before you could even get a word out. Oh, and yes, we will be seeing more of sword-fighting Morgana in series 2 - huzzah!
And that really was that :) They sat and signed and smiled and chatted. There was a brief flurry when, I think, Colin and Bradley had beckoned some fans forward from where they were standing by the barrier. Except when the fans came forward they were swarmed on by security and firmly put back where they had originally been waiting. The lads did seem rather dismayed so I guess they learnt a lesson about how security at these events works. But that excitement aside it was quite calm albeit with ridiculous amounts of queuing. Which I guess means that, given the opportunity, I'd quite likely do it all again. So something must have gone right :)
(WARNING: the following post will contain SPOILERS for series 2.)
In terms of the Q&A, Geek Syndicate posted their audio recording of the entire session. You can listen/download on their website over here. ETA: MCM Expo also have their own YouTube channel, so far they've posted part 1 and part 2 of the Merlin panel, hopefully the third and final vid will appear before too long.
Anyway, last year at Expo the queues were insane. Had things changed this year? In a word: NO. But still, I'm very glad I went. The atmosphere had changed compared to last time. The fans had definitely arrived on the scene and everything felt bigger and busier, complete with screaming and banners and queues that started at stupid o'clock in the morning. However, despite security being stepped up, the cast and crew themselves were as charming as ever and seemed genuinely chuffed at the reaction they and the show got from us all. Colin and Bradley were as lovely as ever. Katie had a great sense of humour and is as gorgeous as her on-screen counterpart. Gwen, I'm afraid, is utterly put in the shade by Angel, who in real life is ridiculously stunning.
Johnny Capps also hadn't changed one bit. In particular the bit where he loves the sound of his own voice. We got barely one word total out of Polly Buckle; Angel and Colin were kept to one or two sentence answers; Bradley and Katie got a few decent answers out, but on the whole we only got bit answers before Johnny took over or just generally talked over his actors. Much as I appreciate his enthusiasm for the show, there were times I was tempted to unplug his mic...
As mentioned earlier I had gotten up at stupid o'clock in the morning on, literally, about an hour's sleep. Suffice to say I was a tad tired. Still, I successfully met up with
tya_rc and ephyse and we thankfully all managed to get auto tickets. Once we'd fed and watered as needed, we all decided that sitting down was preferable to the maelstrom that was the Expo main hall and so we wandered in to listen to some of the Q&As of the day. First up...JAMES DUVAL (aka the rabbit from Donny Darko
We came in towards the end of his talk. The main thing I remember was him saying was how he's never been in a film that has polarised the audience's reaction to the extent that Donny Darko did. He remembered one of the early screenings and how some people stood up at the end and gushed about how wonderful it was, and then other people would stand up and go 'Are you nuts?!' before slamming it as making no sense whatsoever. The film was definitely a "slow starter" in that it didn't make a big splash at the cinemas and he had more-or-less accepted that that was that, only to realise that as time went on the DVD sales continued to go up and people continued to talk about it and come up to him. Which, obviously, he's pleased by.
Then off he went and next up was...
GERALD MCMARROW (Director of Franklyn)
I did feel a bit sorry for this guy. It was clear that quite a sizable portion of the audience had never seen his film and there was lot of background chatter and getting up and moving around during his talk. It didn't help that he seemed quite shy and only spoke directly to the host rather than trying to engage the audience. Which was a shame as the next talk proved that it is possible to generate interest even if you're not what the audience came to see. Anyway. Main things I remembered:
x. Ryan Phillippe is apparently talented, really nice, incredible range, really good looking... yes the director hates him.
x. There was not a single wasted shot of CGI in the film. No. Not one. There will be no extra scenes of CGI on the DVDs. The budget was incredibly tight and everything was financed to the last second and to the very last penny.
Moving on was the next panel,
DUNCAN JONES & GAVIN ROTHERY (Director and Visual Effects Supervisor of Moon)
When these two young men came out, there was delighted whispers of 'OMG they're sci-fi geeks!' You could just tell they were, in a word 'One of us, one of us...' They seemed very excited about the imminent release of their film and quite happily regaled the audience with stories and information on the film and how it came about. The result was that people genuinely listened and by the end you could tell there were several folks putting 'Moon' on their list of films to try and catch in the future.
x. The film benefited from the Writers' Strike. They were in the studio at the same time as films like Angels & Demons, but because they were a British venture they remained unaffected by the strike with the end result that they were the only film shooting at the time of the pickets. Which meant that they got the crème de la crème of help when it came to building sets and the like. They were dead chuffed at getting the guy who had worked on Alien building sets, and he wasn't the only high-calibre workman left twiddling his thumbs when other projects ground to a halt, and he wasn't the only one only too happy to help out on this weird small British sci-fi thing.
x. Yes, they were very happy to get Sam Rockwell as their lead, they seemed big fans of his work.
x. The voice of the base computer is Kevin Spacey. Apparently they were influenced by memories of computers such as Hal, and the tradition of maybe a bit morally ambiguous computers may continue in this film...
x. They were genuinely surprised by the buzz being generated by the film. They thought they were making a small indie film that would probably go more-or-less straight to DVD. Instead it's being a big hit at the festivals with praise coming from all quarters.
x. We got a virtual tour of the moon-base via the screen. It was impressive :)
The Moon panel exited to applause and then...
... well then I think Expo somehow managed to lose the Merlin cast. The host was left stalling for time, for more time... for more time. I don't know what happened but we were getting the stage of slow clapping starting. The host did manage to buy himself a few more seconds by confirming that at least one member of the panel had arrived when he vanished behind the screens and we heard over the mic:
Host: Say hello to all the boys and girls, Bradley.
Bradley: Hello to all the boys and girls.
Audience: *cheers*
Finally, as a rather rattled looking host and security guard appeared back onstage, the thumbs-up came that we were finally ready to roll.
BRADLEY JAMES, KATIE MCGRATH, POLLY BUCKLE, JOHNNY CAPPS, ANGEL COULBY, COLIN MORGAN (Cast and crew of Merlin)
Bradley came out first, firmly attached to his camcorder, filming the audience and the rest of the panel as they came out. Following after him came Katie, Polly, Johnny, and the truly beautiful Angel. Colin was the last out and in true con style the screams hit an all new pitch when he came out. They all looked remarkably like they had just walked off the set, certainly this time round there was no trace of stubble and the hair was most definitely Merlin's bowl-cut. This could have been because, as we found out later, they most likely HAD just walked off a set mere 24 hours earlier. Bradley certainly seemed happy to let the others take the lead in questions and I guess it was down to a mixture of being tired from filming, plus also he and Colin had done this before whereas this was the first public outing for the girls of Merlin.
Johnny Capps on the other hand *sigh* He did have an unfortunate tendency to steamroll over his stars' answers, either answering for them or cutting in before they'd all got a chance to speak. Still, you can't doubt his belief and enthusiasm for the show. This is definitely a man with a plan about where he wants it all to go.
As before the Q&A kicked off with a long spiel from Johnny about something I can't remember. I do blame Bradley for this. After a few seconds he picked up the camcorder, turned it round, and started filming himself. I still don't know whether he was actually saying something to the screen in hushed tones or, as it looked from the other side of the hall, whether he was gently taking the mick out of Johnny's long sentences by miming along to the words. Johnny remained oblivious as to why some of the audience were starting to laugh and in the end it was Katie who cottoned on first (she responded by doing bunny ears behind Bradley's head). At which point the ruse was busted and the camcorder was put down (to Johnny's amusement) and the questions continued.
These are paraphrasing and out of order but bits I remember are:
Did Angel ever get the boys back for the prank they pulled on her (as seen on the video diaries) and have the boy's French improved.
No, not yet, but she's working on it. So watch out.
Johnny: I can answer the second part of that question. No.
Will any of the cast be going along to support Bradley at the Charity soccer?
Bradley: I hadn't actually told them... so thanks for that.
There was a general sentiment from the other actors that, no, they didn't know about this, and somehow the focus ended on Colin. At which point Johnny innocently enquired whether or not Colin would be on hand to run out on pitch with a bucket of water and a sponge. Once Colin had stopped laughing,
Colin: Er... no.
This in turn led to a great anecdote from Bradley about how he'd been playing football sometime after series 1 had finished. He'd been tackled and sent crunching to the ground, and as he lay there in the grass the guy stood over him and said mockingly "Where's Merlin now?" (At which point Colin did suggest that perhaps he should have been there to appear and go 'KACHA' and go magic on the guy's arse.) Poor Bradley, it starts now.
The friendship between Gwen and Morgana is great in that it's totally independent from their relationships with the other cast, will this continue given the path Morgana may eventually take?
The cast and crew all agreed that it was a special friendship between Gwen and Morgana. Like all friendships, it will be tried and tested over the coming years. So far they don't know exactly how it's going to go. The nice thing about going from legend is that there are so many possibilities. For now all we know is that, yes, things will happen that will, in the long run, cement the friendship between Morgana and Gwen, and also further her confidence in and friendship with Merlin.
Bradley and Colin were given a piece of cardboard saying how much the fans loved Merlin. Do they still have it?
The audience seemed to *facepalm* at this one, and bless the boy's faces were a picture. Still, they did give it a vague go.
Bradley: ... Yes?
Colin: We cut it in two and kept half each?
If the cast could have a super-power, what would it be?
Angel - the power to fly.
Katie - she'd be Rogue from X-Men (cue cheering from audience).
Colin - actually he'd like to Gambit from X-Men. (Having just seen Wolverine, if he's talking about that version of Gambit then that would be AWESOME.)
Bradley - he knows someone who's unwell, so the ability to heal would be nice.
Describe your cast members in one word.
Bradley went first: Katie - generous. Angel - bubbly. Colin - ...
Bradley: How to describe Colin...
Colin: So many words.
Bradley: Disturbed.
Next up was Angel who put Colin and Katie as sweet and lovely, and then took a few moments to try and figure out a way to sum up Bradley. Bradley seemed to have assumed the worse, much to the audience's amusement, until Angel took pity on him and finally went for 'Witty'.
Finally came Colin who shrugged, smiled and said he'd just have to say they were all 'Great'.
Favourite episode of series 1?
Colin - the one where Merlin and Arthur got to do stuff with the unicorn in the forest.
Katie - the one with Mordred, being utterly out-acted by a child.
Angel - the one where they returned to Ealdor and the girls got to do some action with swords.
Bradley - he's very fond of eps 4 and 5, but the favourite is the one with the labyrinth.
So, series 2. What can we expect? (SPOILERS FOR SERIES 2 HERE.)
There will be familiar faces returning, namely Lancelot, Mordred, and Excalibur. There will also be a stepping up of the beginning of the Arthur/Gwen romance since, eventually, they are destined to get married.
Back to the scripts in general. What do the actors do if they get something that they think just isn't in character? Has this ever happened in the past?
Bradley pointed out that this probably wasn't the best question to ask given that the script editor and producer were sitting right next to them. Katie took the more diplomatic route by remembering how the one time she had doubts wasn't about characterisation as such, but more whether she could pull it off as an actress (the scene where Morgana runs out in her night things to stop Arthur going after the Questing Beast).
Angel and Jonny then discussed it for a bit, Angel saying that if they ever did feel the need to talk things over then they knew they could go and discuss it with Jonny and co. Johnny and co. would listen. Johnny and co would always tell them 'Of course, I'm right and you're wrong', but they would always listen ;)
And that was that! Or at least, that is what I can recall at this late hour.
After we all emptied out back into the main hall and after some false starts, finally found the queue for queue for the autographs. This time around we were definitely being rushed through, with less time for chat and certainly no photos. Which was a bit of shame but then again this was a free signing so I ain't complaining, and if you could keep your brain intact and get a question out then the cast were all very happy to try and give you a decent answer, and in all cases you got a killer smile.
My brain certainly remained blank for the first auto, who of course was Bradley. Still he was dead pleasant, and like last time we got stuck on just asking how the other was, how that question manages to get mangled I'll never know but it happens every time.
Colin was also again just lovely. Apparently filming still hasn't completely finished for The Island and he's due to head back to Scotland at some point to do some final shots. No news yet on when the film is likely to see the light of day, but hopefully sometime next year. Incidentally, yes Scotland is lovely, but it's also cold.
I had no idea what to ask Johnny so simply went with asking how this compared to last year's Expo. It seems he agrees with the majority, it's definitely a differently atmosphere now the whole first series is 'out there', there's a bigger buzz and all that. He likes it.
My brain went into semi-meltdown again when confronted with Angel so all I could do was ask whether or not she'd do an Expo again. In short, oh yes she would, she basically just has to sit there and accept all the compliments and people being just lovely to her. It's a hard life...
As for Katie, oh, charming charming lady. She thanked you for coming before you could even get a word out. Oh, and yes, we will be seeing more of sword-fighting Morgana in series 2 - huzzah!
And that really was that :) They sat and signed and smiled and chatted. There was a brief flurry when, I think, Colin and Bradley had beckoned some fans forward from where they were standing by the barrier. Except when the fans came forward they were swarmed on by security and firmly put back where they had originally been waiting. The lads did seem rather dismayed so I guess they learnt a lesson about how security at these events works. But that excitement aside it was quite calm albeit with ridiculous amounts of queuing. Which I guess means that, given the opportunity, I'd quite likely do it all again. So something must have gone right :)
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| Introducing Ms McGrath Katie's entrance to London Expo 2009 is conscientiously filmed by Mssr James. |
Merlin and Gwen meet the fangirls Yes, Colin, they're all here for you. Well, for you and Angel and Katie and Bradley, but primarily all for you... |
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| This is a tale, dearest beloved... Whilst the rest of the panel hang attentively on Johnny Capp's words of wisdom, Bradley is engaged in covert videoing of the event along with a no doubt Attenborough-esque commentary delivered in hushed tones... |
Spotted At some point the rest of the panel awoke to the realisation that they were on camera. |
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| We are amused These two are so very very pretty. |
More of the same All hail Morgana, all hail Arthur. |
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| Smiles all round I have come to the decision that none of these photos do Angel justice. Take my word for it that in the flesh she is just *stunning*. |
Queue of d00m Katie, bless her, became aware of the cameras as people joined the 1hr+ queue for autographs, she made several photographers' day by sparing us all lovely smiles. |
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| And the signing continues |
Lovely lovely boys Need I say more? These two were ridiculously lovely and full of smiles. |
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| The ladies of Camelot Utterly charming and gorgeous, Camelot is in safe hands. |
The lads again Just because they're pretty and I can't look away just yet... |
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| Final photo call... |
Strike the pose All hail the queen of England! |
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| Merlin The cast of Merlin |
