Morning all. For those who aren't aware, I went to LFCC (London Film Comic Con) yesterday and met Tom, Maimie and Luke. Had pictures taken with Tom and Maimie and had an overall jolly good time. Report here - looong report - and a few pictures until the friend I went with sends me the rest. Rather than faffing about with two phones we took all pics on the one.
Here goes...
Roving reporter Carolina checking in after LFCC. Firstly let me say how totally exhausting LFCC was. I arrived at about 7.45, queued for around 1.5 hours outside and had I not got there when I did I would almost certainly have missed the 9.30 photoshoot. First snippet was that in the queue I was actually standing with and chatting to a young woman whose parents live in the same village and are friends of Tom's parents. She did say that every time her parents see Tom on TV they announce, ‘That’s our friends’ son’. Unfortunately, before I could pump her for any juicy information the crowd control guys came along and started moving people on and we got split up.
When I finally got in I went straight to Photoshoot C area and queued for my photoshoot pic with Tom. He did NOT disappoint. He looked amazing and put people at their ease as their turn came up. He shook everyone’s hand as they approached, said a few welcoming words and then put his arm around them for the photo. When it was my turn he did the same and pulled me in and put his arm around me and photo was taken. We then we had to wait like that because the photographer wasn't happy with the first pic - one of us must have shut our eyes or something as she clicked so it had to be done again. You still only get the one pic but I did effectively get double hug time so I would have been happy for her to be unhappy as much as she liked and would have been more than content to remain in that position all morning but, fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view, she was ok with picture no. 2. Photoshoot done, I went and picked up my photo and waited for my friends Hannah and Sharon who I had arranged to meet up with but who, due to having travelled a much longer distance than I had, arrived later and were some way behind me in the queues outside and subsequently behind me in the photoshoot queue.
While I was waiting for them Angie (BritAngie on twitter) came out from her photoshoot looking completely shell-shocked. I had seen her earlier in the queue and we had exchanged greetings then. We just looked at each other for a moment until we eventually had a conversation that went something like this – Carolina – ‘What’s up?’ - Angie – ‘Uhm… he’s giving me a present’ - Impatient Carolina - 'What?' – Pause - Angie - 'He said it's still in the Czech Republic but he's going to bring it back' – Ever more impatient Carolina 'WHAAAT?' – Angie - 'He's going to give me his hat from S1' – Green with Envy Carolina 'WOW – OMG.’ – Hug. Anyway, she has been at the forefront of a huge effort to collect loads of money for Op Smile and deserves to have something special so while a little envious – ok, a lot envious, bloody good luck to her.
Once I had met up with Hannah and Sharon, we loitered outside the photoshoot area for a while and then moved away to find some loos for them. I waited with Sharon’s hubby and was subsequently rewarded with more Tom after he left the photoshoot area to make his way upstairs for autograph signing. We also then made our way up to the third floor to get our autograph tickets though our progress was much slower than Tom's due to him having a minder on hand and not having to fight his way through the 10,000 odd crowd. I found out later that the event was in fact oversold as some more tickets had been made available after the initial tickets had sold out. It was taking some people, particularly those with mobility issues, up to an hour to negotiate their way up to the second floor and third floor where the signings were taking place. The lower level was hot and stifling but thankfully the third level was fully air conditioned and quite a pleasant place to be. Notwithstanding of course the eye candy that is Tom sitting at the end of a row of tables signing autographs which made it a doubly pleasant area to be in.
Having obtained our tickets for the Tom autograph line I noticed that Maimie had quite a few people in her queue but that Luke's was empty. Luke and Maimie had already been upstairs signing during Tom's photoshoot so a lot of people had been to them and were then waiting for Tom. I sneaked over to Luke as my ticket number for Tom was 147 and at that point they were still only somewhere in the forties. Luke was reading a card of some description as I approached so I joked with the crew girl sat next to him 'Look at him pretending he can read' Luke looked up and laughed and then fake pouted. He was very sweet and happily signed my book for me and then tried to flog me another autograph on one of the glossy HQ pics that were there for people to have signed should they not have bought anything with them. I didn’t voice this thought but, nice try Luke and maybe if the acting doesn’t work out after all a career in sales might be an option but at £20 an autograph I’m happy with having my book signed. Luke is devastatingly handsome in the flesh but at a year younger than my own son – let’s not go there! After exchanging a few pleasantries I then went back to see how the 'Tom' queue was progressing. Still only into the sixties by then. Tom was giving good value for money let me tell you and wasn't rushing anyone away. After about ten minutes of loitering with intent and milling about – we were no way going to tackle a trip back down to the lower level until it was our turn, and with the crew lady having established that people who had picked up numbers earlier had clearly gone off to photoshoots etc. she allowed us to join the queue at that point. Eventually it was Hannah's turn but as she was almost standing next to me we ended up chatting with Tom together for about ten minutes – effectively five minutes each should anyone from LFCC be reading and thinking of berating Tom - though we each had our own few minutes alone while he was actually signing something for us.
A few snippets from our chat. Hannah asked Tom what size shoe he wears. Don’t ask why because I don’t know and I never enquired. He grinned and said 'I wear vegan shoes', but we think he was teasing. Given how much leather he wears as Athos and his statement in the DVD extras for S1 that, ‘You scan the rail for something in leather and think, I wonder if I’m wearing that’, we couldn’t imagine that he has an aversion to wearing leather shoes. He revealed however that he takes shoe size 9.5. After Hannah had had some pics taken it was then my turn to move in a bit closer to have my book and an 8 x10 of one of the HQ pics signed but the first thing I did was to plonk down a bag of Strawberry Sours which I recall from an interview sometime ago Tom had said were his favourites. He had mentioned that he always buys them when he goes to the theatre. I told him ‘There’s something for if you’re flagging later and need a sugar rush.’ Apparently I was right and he was delighted. Once he had finished signing my book and pic and we’d had our conversation he opened the sweets and was tucking in already. I did note at a later point that day that there was only one left so I imagine he’d ended up stuffing them down himself throughout the course of the morning. Tom wrote a brief message in my book but a slightly longer one on my pic. 'Dear Di, Lovely to see you x Tom Burke x. I thanked him but before I could walk away Tom looked at me and asked, totally out of the blue, 'Do you have any idea what this potato thing is all about' Cue Carolina snorting - I then explained to him that it was the result of a random remark he'd made at a press day which made it's way in to a printed interview during the S2 promos when he had been commenting on nutrition and fitness on set. I remarked that he’d made the mistake of saying 'Of course no-one is going to say you can't have that extra potato Tom'. ‘Aaahhh’, said Tom, ‘I did wonder.’ I then remarked ‘But don’t be surprised if you find a sack of King Edwards waiting for you on the way out later’ Clearly the man had, up until then, been totally bemused as to why he had been sent merchandise with a cartoon picture of Athos holding a potato. He is now fully informed. I asked for a picture and he kindly obliged and stood there while Hannah took three in case one didn't come out. She had also taken a few while he was chatting with me. I will post whichever are the most flattering of me once I get them. Before walking away I couldn't resist asking about the ring he was wearing and which has been seen in a few pictures during filming and at the Barrandov Studio Czech promo. I pointed at it and said, 'Elvis? Taking Care of Business?' He nodded and said 'Yeah'. I went on, 'So you're an Elvis fan'. Tom grinned, 'Yeah'. Having established that, Hannah and I then moved away and made plans for finding somewhere to get a drink. For those who haven’t seen the ring close up, it has the letters T C B with a lightning bolt running up the centre. This was the logo Elvis designed for his ‘Taking Care of Business’ tour after Priscilla – his then wife – left him and which he had made into a ring he wore during that tour. Replicas are readily available online.
Having got autographs from Luke and Tom and seeing that Maimie only had a couple of peeps waiting I decided to get her auto as well. The woman was blooming, looked disgustingly healthy and was very sweet and lovely. As there was no-one behind me we had quite a chat and she has now seen pics on my phone of my beautiful grandson who she thought was adorable. We chatted about whether and when we will see her again and she said she just doesn't know at this stage and that much depends on the birth and how she's feeling but she gave the impression that, much as she is looking forward to motherhood, she is also desperately missing the show and her fellow cast members. I had noted a moment when I was in the signing queue when Tom had been shown a large poster which appeared to be cartoon caricatures of the cast though I couldn’t see it fully. Tom stood up and I heard him say ‘You should show that to Maimie’. He then stood up and assisted in unrolling it fully and pulling it closer to Maimie so she could see. There is clearly a lot of affection between them and I am sure he misses her as much as she misses him and the rest of the cast. She was a absolute delight to chat to and could not be further removed from the scheming Milady she has so successfully portrayed. Hannah does have a pic on her phone of Maimie and I which she will be sending on to me hopefully latter today.
Sharon and hubby had gone of to do other thing and Hannah and I had met up with another lovely lady – Sally – who joined us as we made our way downstairs to finalise our refreshment plans and we headed of to the pub for a well earned break.
Refreshed, we made our way back to Olympia. On way back in from pub who was on the door but Rachael who you may know as TheBendySlow on twitter. Rachael was a volunteer helper for the morning. We chatted for a while with her and turned out she hadn't even managed to so much as glimpse him at that point but was due to finish her shift a short while after. By the time she did finish her shift Tom and co had packed up for lunch so she didn't actually get to see him until later in the afternoon when she presented him with a thermos – something he had mentioned during the Czech promos - inscribed with a ‘Captain’ reference – can’t recall the exact words. Apparently he was delighted and said it was a lovely gift and would be even more useful as Santi has bought him some nice tea.
Hannah and I managed to locate Sharon and hubs on our return from the pub, Sally having gone off to find another friend, at which point the three of them decided it was time to leave and start their long journey home. We then found Sally again and I stayed on with her and Drifty. As Drifty still hadn’t got her Tom autograph and Sally had missed the first photo shoot I said I would hang around with them. More Tom watching while Drifty got her autograph then a second trip to the pub. Back to Olympia for the final round. Met more fans while queueing for Tom’s final shoot and got a little more Tom watching in but finally left Olympia just before 5.15 to catch trains. I eventually parted company with Sally and Drifty at Clapham Junction station as we all headed off to our separate platforms.
An exhausting day but worth it just for the hugs, pics and chats with three of the delightful Musketeer cast and for being able to walk round Olympia next to Darth Vader, to laugh in the face of an onslaught of Storm Troopers, to see Mr Spock selling Star Trek merchandise and watch no end of Dr Who’s trying to locate a tardis !