Introduction
I had never really intended it to be a seven year gap between attending a Showmasters event - my last was one was in Birmingham all the way back in the distant past of 2009 and was a joint Collectormania Midlands and Autograchica in the same venue where I met guests including Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy, Ke Huy Quan, George Lazenby, Joan Collins and Sonny Landham among many others and a jolly good time.
And actually it was supposed to be earlier in the year that I was due to attend the Bolton Film and Comic Con (it weird the term comic is still getting used by Showmasters as lately it's seem to have been dropped from events as far as guests go), but like that it was cancelled with no real reason given and well - I was mostly disappointed that I lost the chance to meet Robert Englund, Amanda Wyss, Margot Kidder and Jennette Goldstein (as well as Trevor Steadman was also announced he passed away later in the same month it was due - I am not sure if ill health would have cancelled his appearance though but it certainly feels like a lost meeting) - and this in turn also lead to me embarrassingly getting myself banned from the Showmasters forums (for real, real not play, play) because I asked literally the night before jokingly whether it was cancelled or not (they had literally - which I have used twice in this paragraph - gone 50 days with no guest announcements and it was getting closer and closer to the event) and I ended up getting a (to be honest) rather rude response, so I made a joke about it the next day (something along the lines of "remember when I asked if it was cancelled and you said no, then the next day it was cancelled... good times."), so yeah don't expect to see me on there anytime soon, as much as I believe I would never have a repeat of my behaviour (I'm not really like that to be honest - I know I'm a grumpy sod at times - just read some previous stuff I've wrote - but in my 30+ years of life I'm not a trouble causer, the opposite really as I'd rather run in the opposite direction).
So it's actually took me a long time to actually get talking about Newcastle Film and Comic Con, which is what this blog entry is about and which I promise to start talking about now from now on and future Showmasters write ups won't have a long winded opening like this (since I've done it here). Newcastle was an event I found surprisingly cheaper to get to on train then many conventions that would end up being closer to me (distance and price you would believe are linked but alas it's not always the case, and is only a few quid more expensive then somewhere like Sheffield), the biggest thing though was I had set train times, so... it was going to be a really long day leaving the house very early in the morning (it was a 6.37 train) and be home well after 10 at night, This also marks the first Showmasters event where I would only be attending one day (which is a shame because there is some names I'd have got on the 2nd day such as Nicola Bryant and Neil Fingleton) but I thought it would be worth it for a fun day out. I booked the tickets (train and event) with enough names on the show to interest me including the potential to start to a couple of projects, as well as add more names to my Doctor Who poster, so I was hoping for a good day out.
So there you go I've wrote an epic before even getting to talk about the event, I guess that long winded intro can be more a write up on my relationship with Showmasters as a whole - which as been both good and bad.
But sadly for me on the run up to the event - Edge cancelled as did Mark Rolston and even the day before, Anton Lesser cancelled (as did Grado who I wasn't planning on meeting) and also Nicola Bryant changed her day to Sunday (which is as good as a cancellation to me since I'm only attending Saturday) and I'm being honest it's dampened my enthusiasm for the event in the run up because these were among the guests I most wanted to meet and any replacement names were not coming in thick and fast (it felt like distinct lack of effort of guests anyway on Showmasters part) - I tried to honestly keep a brave face through all the build up...
The Event and Such
...And to be honest despite all the cancellations, I actually had a really great day, it just clicked for me and felt really relaxed and all happy to be there and everything, the two and half hour in total going train journey going went by pretty fast - I listened to music and wrote in a notepad, which just ended me doing random stuff including working on favourite films decade by decade, though I didn't order them yet I decided Toy Story 3 was probably my favourite film of the 2010's so far - this has nothing to do with any of the write up, but 2010's was the only decade that I could come up with a definitive favourite movie (though I can narrow most other decades down to a couple). As I pulled up on the train, luckily we went past the venue and it sorted of relaxed my mind with how easy it would be to find, and it was (that it like my major worry with any out of town even).
Even entering the security guards were very friendly, making me feel checking my bags was something that had to be done rather then be on a power trip about it (honestly I have problems with certain people in such roles and I remember some people in similar roles back in Manchester in 08, seeming like they enjoyed the power) and I like that was in the venue - I like to think it was playing for me, but as I opened the door the Jurassic Park theme was just hitting it's peak. I don't know how I'm going to handle London Film and Comic Con as even an event this size I don't know where to look first etc., but I ended up having the natural thing of heading towards where (I think) the guests are just so I got a sense of perspective (which i tend to do at every event whether big or small).
What was rare for an event though for me was that I ended up buying something from a stall first before getting some autographs, somebody was selling Pop Vinyls (which I guess I sort of collect now - only limited things I'm into) and it was 2 for £10, I brought a Gizmo
So now it was time to make a trip to see the guests, I always have a hard time deciding where to start so I decided to start at the very end who was Jacqueline Pearce, best known for Blake's 7, but of interest to me because she appeared in the Doctor Who episode "The Two Doctors", she was extremely lovely and a great start to my day
next up another Game Of Thrones guest Dominic Carter, who again was very friendly and here is both their signatures since they signed near each other
I hung around for a bit before the next talk 15 minutes later which was Alice Krige, who talked about the long makeup process for First Contact and not really enjoying her Silent Hill experience (she didn't like the mind set she got into), before a lunch break for me where I just ate sandwiches and that (very exciting of me to tell you)
The next talk was Sarah Douglas, who talked about even her none Superman work such as Conan The Destroyer, V, Stargate SG-1 and Falcon Crest, was a cool talk where she mentioned working with Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Terence Stamp and others.
Next up was the Daz Crawford talk which was probably the weakest but it was still enjoyable, it's maybe because he was explaining what CGI was to a room full of geeks, probably just want to feel somebody left out, but he talked about working on the show Gladiators plus work such Blade II and been proud of being in a scene with Katherine Heigl in a comedy just because he's not called on to do that sort of thing much.
Chloe Annett was the next talk, who I didn't meet this time around simply because I met her in the past (she was nice) it seemed like she looked younger than she did 8 years ago, so whatever she is doing to age backwards keep doing it, she talked about Red Dwarf (obviously) as well as Crime Traveller, it was a fun talk.
Final talk of the day was Jacqueline Pearce, whose talk was a lot of fun, she talked about Blake's 7, her crush on Colin Baker, charity work with monkeys and still enjoying a certain recreational drug late at night, she seems like she would be really cool to know
I decided to go and get Daz Crawford on my Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. 10x8 he was a nice guy but due to the silver pens not really being brilliant this ended being my least favourite signature of the day (seems like I'm piling on the guy doesn't it) but if I add to this it will look awesome
I had previously decided to obtain an extra autograph from somebody if I had spare money towards the end of the day and I decided on getting a second Sarah Douglas autograph, I love b/w photos so this was an easy pick from her selection and while she didn't remember my name (due to seeing a bunch of people) she did remember me so that was something
It was then time to head home, got an overpriced Burger King just so I could stay in the warm and then it was time for my train home which again, the pair of trains didn't feel as long as they should, and there it was 22.30 when I arrived home (a day that began at 5.30) so that's why I'm writing this the day after.
Overall like I already said it was a cool day, the negative of the cancellations felt forgotten once I got there, all the guests I met were friendly, and I'm thinking of attending future Newcastle events if I just don't build my hopes up and just let myself enjoy a day out like today.
Notes
Favourite Guest(s) - Sarah Douglas and Christopher Fairbank. Though there wasn't a negative one among them.
Favourite Purchase - Olivia Moore iZombie Pop Vinyl.
Favourite Costume By Attendee - the Father dressed as Superman who had his kids dressed as Jor-El and General Zod (from the original movie rather than MOS).
Favourite Talk(s) - Sarah Douglas and Jacqueline Pearce where the most enjoyable.
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