The Adventures Of Sherlocked...

[Sassy1988]

Decided since I didn't see any topics that we could post our weekend or day adventures here feel free to post yours if you want as for me I bought a Platinum ticket and ended up being part of Group B so I was there the whole weekend yay!

 

Anyway I have just this minute arrived back from London feeling rather tired and my feet are aching and feel like they are on fire from all the walking and queuing lol

 

(Sorry if this seems like a long message but if you didn't already know I love to write long messages xD)

 

 

Saturday:

 

Arrived at the Excel feeling nervous I hadn't gone to any cons since early last year (and that was only Milton Keynes) and I think it showed as all the people and stuff just made me cave in lol was a nervous wreck lol

My first photoshoot of the day and in fact ever was with the awesome Benedict Cumberbatch it went okay apart from the fact I managed not to say a damn thing to him here is the man right in front of me the guy I have been wanting to meet for ages now and he is saying hi to me and asking how I was and that it was nice to meet me it was awesome that he was talking to me but I never even looked at him or spoke 1 word to him, talk about nerves when you just completely ignore the guy you idolize I do like the picture though

 

I ended up skipping some of my photos after that just because they where in 1 episode and I'm a main cast sort of gal plus Sherlock is the only thing I know them for and it gave us chance to do other things

 

We managed to get Mark Gatiss autograph man Mark Gatiss writer of Doctor Who and co-creator of Sherlock and a guy I had always wanted to meet and seriously cant believe I have met wow lol ahem anyway

 

I then went to the Benedict talk which was my first talk I had ever been to I found it to be a good talk and if I could stop telling myself that it was Benedict talking on stage and stop making a big puddle of drool on the floor it was also interesting

I was kind of put off by the fact he swore and was talking dirty despite trying to hide it in a ways I guess but there are kids in this hall or those younger imagine what their parents think hm.. anyway just my small rant lol

 

I then stayed for the Andrew talk which was nice and I was so glad that us Plats didn't have to move out the hall just to re-queue again I liked the seat I was at and before the event I was really worried I'd see nothing due to some huge gorilla sitting in front of me blocking my view

 

When Andrew appeared on stage well that was it for me I literally cheered as much as my voice would let me Andrew is definitely the best Moriarty and his acting is incredible he is so evil and well he is also nice to look at too

I liked it when he said something along the lines of 'Why be nervous? we are all going to die eventually' that sentence though a tad funny really is true and it made me think especially since I often feel like I'm the most nervous person in the world so I'm going to try and remember that in the future and hopefully it will help me when I'm feeling like a wreck lol

 

Its a pity that the pictures I took of both Benedict and Andrew during the talk (mainly those of Benedict) are a shaky mess but oh well lol

 

After that I urm.. cant remember what I did lol might of got a few more autos since being Group B I only had 1 real photoshoot that day the 2 talks made time fly though so we didn't get to do much until it was time for the signing with Benedict

 

I was kind of hoping that most folk would of got their autos earlier in the morning but it seemed to not be the case and thus I was stood in the queue for ages although I think for most of that time Benedict wasn't at his table

Finally we got to his signing table and great it was a conveyor belt. Although I kind of expected the answer to be a no I thought I'd ask anyway so I asked for a hug (which I don't usually do but its Benedict) to which Benedict probably didn't hear and just continued to sign as if he was a machine programmed to do so as he to my knowledge didn't even look at anyone or even say hi so I repeated myself and finally a crew member answered and yup to my expectations it was a no hug session aww kind of gutted by this so ended up walking away mumbling hopefully no one heard me lol, but it was understandable as there was a lot of people in queue

 

After that I ended up going to my queue for the on set shoot with Benedict this is where I met a friend and we started talking and she was telling me that she had asked for a hug with him at the photoshoot earlier and was told no hugs allowed too so it made me feel a bit better knowing it wasn't just me being rather unlucky here >.> anyway my friend had some issue and couldn't stand for long periods of time so we ended up by Arwel's table and it ended up feeling like we had a private meet and greet going on with him lol he was kind enough to give up his seat for my friend at least I think it was his seat he was using might of been mistaken as I wasn't with my friend at that time she just dragged me along after she claimed it it was by his table though lol

I ended up buying one of those £30 walpaper pictures from Arwel which he was nice enough to sign for me (I'll be honest the £30 picture was the only wallpaper I recognized =X) whilst we where waiting for Benedict to come from his auto session. It was also surprising to find out that Arwel also worked on Doctor Who (which I had no idea about) and mainly the episodes featuring the 10th Doctor so that was good to know

 

Then suddenly a bold guy walked past me from behind followed by someone else I was like who the crap are these guys? just as well I didn't walk backwards as they where right behind me literally lol it kind of surprised me lol then I saw Benedict and I was like oh yea Benedict is meant to be doing photos here I had totally forgotten as I was just enjoying what seemed like a private meet and greet with Arwel lol literally totally slipped my mind and Arwel is such a top guy so friendly to talk to although to be fair it was my newly acquaintance friend that done most of the talking xD I was just memorised by how out going she was I really wish I could be like her but unfortunately I'm more of a recluse and anti-social mess probably due to having Autism though lol

 

In the end although we both had forgotten our place in the queue we did manage to get our photos done and I okay didn't manage to get my hug from Benedict I did however get to shake hands with him and I swear I'll never wash this hand again really though by this time I was really tired being up so early which wasn't something I was used to and not having eaten since yesterday and the time was almost 6/7pm cant remember but close to that anyway I think lol that the last few events like shaking hands with Benedict and sitting on that chair which unlike some felt okay for me feels like a blur and if it wasn't for my picture feels like it didn't happen lol

I bet Benedict was probably happy to have Sunday off especially with how tired he must have been at the end of the day from constantly signing/talks doing photos and the fact I'm sure iirc he mentioned he was suffering with a head cold whether or not that was true I'm not sure he did or at least to me seem kind of out of it by the end of the day.. still I miss him and well to be a prat and make myself look really stupid I didn't sleep that night and ended up dare I say it crying over the fact he wasn't going to be there on Sunday and well I couldn't bothered with the event after that lol.. yea I know... >.>

 

SUNDAY:

 

I did go to the event though despite what my last words where for Saturday lol I was glad though too as I was feeling much more relaxed and confident unlike Saturday where I was literally a mess and thus ended up making a few decent photos imo

 

Got my photo with the Production Team and tried to do a small pose but god I couldn't help but shake anyone who was watching probably thought I was stupid lol

 

After that I think it was my photo with Andrew and for the first time during that photo I ended up trying to put my arm around him every photo with any guest I have ever done I have never done any type of pose or had my arms/hands anywhere near them lol but this actually made for a rather good photo

 

After that I think we had some time to spare and managed to get some more autos unlike my photos and the fact I had brought a rather large poster to get signed I decided to try and get everyone on it even if they where only in 1 episode and I had no idea who they where bar from being in Sherlock. So we managed to get Lars and Elizabeth both friendly especially Lars, Elizabeth seemed rather quiet

 

Decided to get an additional autograph from Rupert who was really friendly and ended up having a nice hug photo with him, very nice guy love him for being in Sherlock and being able to work alongside Matt Smith (still my favourite Doctor lol)

 

Managed to get a photo with Mark still cant believe I met him Gatiss and he remembered me from the previous times we met which was nice

 

It was also nice to get straight to the front of the queue for Louise for her photoshoot although it was mainly for Group C and Batches but we had a clash with our Louise shoot and another which I forget lol

 

Got an additional autograph from Andrew who I do remember shaking hands with and had a nice chat to he seems really friendly and I was really happy to meet him, hope he didn't mind the puddle of drool I left on the table its his fault for being an awesome actor and damn good looking lol

 

Managed to get autos from young Moffat who I take was Stevens son? wow lucky kid lol and Clive all in all I ended up with everyone's auto even Arwel who I'm not sure was meant to be signing like everyone else but was happy enough to sign my poster. My poster is literally covered in nice fancy squiggles now and barely has space left I'm going to hope and pray that I eventually get Martin to sign it whether or not this is possible who knows but there is only 1 spot left for another auto and it makes sense for it to be him I mean Watson is a huge character in the Sherlock world cant leave him out now can we?

 

It was fun talking to Louise in her auto queue who I think accidentally hit my poster with the black pen nib and now the picture of Sherlock on my poster looks like he has a small wart lol ah thats what you get for being nasty to Molly Sherlock

it was also nice to know that she knows some people who has Asberger/Autism (which is what I have) and that she will be in Ripper Street and another programme cant remember what it was though trying to pull off Northern and Geordie accents (I'm a Northerner and though I'm not from Newcastle I'm not far from there lol) will definitely try to watch her in those programmes though

 

I also thought Steven was an awesome guy too I told him that meeting Andrew was a highlight of the day for me and he began making fun of that fact lol Steven is a top guy really!

 

I'm surprised by how many guests picked up on my accent too and how they liked my poster and found it different from anything else they had signed

 

 

All the crew where friendly and knew what they where doing, the guests where amazing (if I had to pick a favourite guest it for me would be Rupert, Andrew and Steven) but all where fantastic!

 

Have to say too that the badge system was really well done SM! queues where very organized the crew where really top notch there was nothing at fault here imo SM still remains the most organized and puts a lot of other companies to shame, really glad I found out about you guys!! Keep up the good work! my friend also told me before we had to say goodbye to each other that rumour has it that there may be another Sherlock event in the UK at some point I really hope its true and SM honestly youd be idiots not to put another on as I think this done really well and I'd be willing to wait if it took a while to get the cast back as I know it will happen eventually even if we have to wait a long time for it and I think imo this event did really well both days where packed with people from all over the world even Australia

 

Anyway this long essay was what my weekend was like and despite fretting about clamming up like I usually do (being Autistic) I think it all went well and I got what I wanted despite having to do a lot of it on my own and stuff I had never done before like photoshoots, now I have done so many of them I think I'll be dreaming of it lol

[PrehistoricCat]

Great post Sassy!

It was a fantastic weekend all in all. I was most looking forward to finally seeing Benedict in the flesh and anything else would be bonus. In the end, I think my personal highlights were meeting Andrew Scott (autograph on Saturday and photo on Sunday) and the talk that Andrew & Mark did Sunday morning. Everything for BC seemed very hurried because of the sheer number of people who wanted to meet him but I have a lovely photo as a memory of the day and the autograph that came with my gold package - and I can say that I have met him. I really don't know how else it could have been done for him, other than limiting the numbers right down but that would leave a lot of very disappointed people. I also understand he wasn't feeling well, so we were lucky to get him at all.

Andrew was just wonderful, a real sweetheart. He chatted to us whilst signing - I couldn't believe it was the first time he's done anything like this and he said it was great to chat to fans - I said I hoped he'd consider doing more and I'm pretty sure he will because he seemed to be having a blast. Again, in the photoshoot he was charming, I just said Good morning to him and he wanted to chat :)

The talk with him and Gatiss Sunday morning was great fun.... if you were there you'll know what I mean when I say "Are you beach body ready?" Those two should have their own show!

 

All the guests were lovely though..... Rupert Graves was hysterical, and if you have twitter or tumblr you should take a look at some of the photoshoot photos, he was having great fun doing them.

 

Only one gripe... the queues for photos weren't being consistently managed. In some, they were telling people who had already been called (mostly platinum) to join the back of the existing queue which is what I think was the official line... but in others they were being allowed to cut in the front of others that had already queued. I don't have issue with either, but it should have been done consistently. I was very impressed with the speed everyone was done, and getting the print instantly is fantastic, allowing the opportunity for retakes (which I had to do once because my eyes were closed) I would have been devastated if I'd had to wait to collect it and then not been able to get it redone because the guest wasn't doing photos.

[BigBlue]

Just a short comment on the line-cutting: I think they mainly did it when there was a clash for platinums or any other reason to hurry them. I always felt sorry when it happened (I did a last minute upgrade to plat) but especially today it sometimes couldn'd be helped I think. My timetable was completely off from the first minute today when the crew shot started late and did take longer than most others because of the number of people in it. There where two other photoshoots with big crowds on at the same time for my group and a talk starting around that time as well. In the end I only got one shot out of the three at my original time and had to squeeze the other ones somewhere inbetween. Had to reshuffle my whole schedule for the day from the start. I think there where quite a few more who had that experience. When there was a bit more time between things the crew usually put me at the end of the line behind gold or weekenders.

[GoldenGreen]

Great weekend.

 

Tiring but a lot of fun.

 

Highlights for me:

 

- Meeting Benedict of course

- Andrew and Mark's Talk on the Sunday

- Louise Brealey - took time to speak to everyone and was very entertaining in the group talk on Saturday

- The Photo with UNA on the the 221B set

- Production Shoot photo on Sunday

- Meeting so many awesome people from all over the world

[PrehistoricCat]

Oh, forgot to add.... the best souvenir of the weekend? A piece of cork from Danny's SFX show on Saturday that he threw into the audience

 

I understand Danny and his team won the BAFTA for their work on Doctor Who - thoroughly deserved!

[Raylenth]

Glad everyone had a good time, re Ben he did have a head cold and must have been feeling rough. I'd never expect a hug from him in the auto queue for 2 reasons, 1, it simply takes too long (if you do it for 1, everyone will ask!) and it can be difficult constantly getting up, especcially if you aren't feeling well on top of it and 2 simply because it would take too long :)

 

He seemed reserved to me but that was probably a combination of not feeling well and maybe he was a bit apprehensive as there are a few mad fans out there who I think go a bit far and he may have been a bit wary of anything happening. I'm very happy that he came though and appreciate that he and the rest of the cast are willing to do events like these. Ben especially as he really doesn't have to and could easily say he's too busy.

 

I've been showing my photo shoot pictures to the people I work with and I can't stop grinning at them!

[Sassy1988]

Glad everyone had a good time, re Ben he did have a head cold and must have been feeling rough. I'd never expect a hug from him in the auto queue for 2 reasons, 1, it simply takes too long (if you do it for 1, everyone will ask!) and it can be difficult constantly getting up, especcially if you aren't feeling well on top of it and 2 simply because it would take too long :)

 

He seemed reserved to me but that was probably a combination of not feeling well and maybe he was a bit apprehensive as there are a few mad fans out there who I think go a bit far and he may have been a bit wary of anything happening. I'm very happy that he came though and appreciate that he and the rest of the cast are willing to do events like these. Ben especially as he really doesn't have to and could easily say he's too busy.

 

I've been showing my photo shoot pictures to the people I work with and I can't stop grinning at them!

 

Yea I wasn't expecting a yes would of been surprised really I guess I just remembered getting a hug from Norman Reedus back at LFCC during his auto session cant remember how big that queue was though but I know he was popular and thought I'd try my luck lol no big deal and really understandable and yea I know what you mean by mad fans lol there was a few apparently whilst I was queuing just standing waiting for him to enter the photo area and when they saw him I think they got a little too excited lol

Also a few of the stories I had heard of how mad fans can be whilst me and my friend where talking with the assistant? I'm not really sure who he was but he was behind Arwel's table at the time where rather well simply put crazy

I guess some fans just have no idea I for one am not like that I would rather leave them be and just meet them at events give them their privacy no matter who they are it to me is rather stupid and not funny they are people that deserve respect so yea I totally understand

 

Yea it was awesome to meet him too as like you say he so easily could of said no and not turn up so glad I met him and the money and travel was well worth it!

Edited April 27, 2015 by Sassy1988

[TheDoctor6]

I really enjoyed the convention which was extremely busy so was shattered by the end of it! I was in Platinum B group and did have to miss the majority of the talks especially on Sunday which was a shame especially when you consider the cost of the ticket it would have been nice to get the full value of it.

 

I have been to lots of conventions as I am a massive Doctor Who fan so know what to expect and thought this one was well organised and the crew did a great job.

 

The draw for this convention for me was Andrew Scott as I had met him last year at stage door when I went to see him in the play Birdland. I knew then he was such a nice person after he stayed at the stage door for 45 mins to ensure that everyone there got a photo with him and an autograph. I have been to quite a few stage doors and never seen anyone do that before.

 

As I expected Andrew was a fab guest both his talks were great and I had a nice chat with him about Birdland when I went to get a couple of autos from him. He said he would definitely be looking to do more theatre next year.

 

I also thought Rupert Graves, Louise Brealey and Clive Mantle came across really well.

 

Rupert was really funny and friendly, Louise made sure she chatted to everyone at her auto sessions and when I got to see her on Sunday she had come round to the other side of the desk so she could have more interaction with the fans and gave everyone a hug too! Clive Mantle was also really friendly and I had a nice chat with him about his recent audio drama Six Degrees of Assassination which he had recorded with Andrew Scott. I listen to a lot of audio dramas and thought it was one of the best I had heard. He told me him and Andrew kept getting told off for laughing too much and he was really interested to hear my thoughts on it.

 

Funnily enough the one person I thought that didn't come across that well was Benedict himself. He didn't seem comfortable at the photo shoots and the in person autograph which as Platinum holders we had paid for was a bit of a waste of time really as he didn't even look at anyone let alone acknowledge them and he was quite rude to the lady in front of me when he refused to sign the book she had given him. I felt really sorry for her.

 

Thought Ben came across much better in his talk so that seems to be the way he prefers to interact with his fans. I had seen before at the BFI and he had done a Q&A session afterwards and came across well there too.

 

It didn't spoil my enjoyment of the convention though as I wasn't there for him but I did feel for others who had come solely for him, I did hear a few people say he had gone down in their estimations which was a shame.

 

That is the trouble when you go to meet the people you admire as you have put them on a bit of pedestal and they don't always meet that expectation.

 

I have been really lucky that all the actors I have met who have played The Doctor have all been great and I haven't been disappointed.

 

Not sure there will be another Sherlock convention as it will be really difficult to get everyone together again but I would definitely go again to any convention that had Andrew Scott there!

[clappyhands]

I'm going to mostly write blog posts to try and process what just happened to me (in a super good way) but every time I thanked the crew they said 'please write lovely things on the forum' so I got the sense it was important to say stuff here too or it wouldn't be read.

I've never been to a con like this before. I've never had a photo shoot with anyone, and got maybe one autograph from someone I've adored on screen. I'm high functioning autistic, my joints 'spontaneously dislocate' as my GP beautifully put it, I have low blood pressure issues and some anxiety issues though they're mostly under control. I don't want sympathy, I want you guys to know I just ran the equivalent of a marathon for me, physically, mentally and emotionally. I had a blast.

My experience with Benedict was odd. 'he wont talk to you, they never do' everyone said when I did my usual 'but I need to know exactly what's going to happen next' thing. He did talk back. I muttered something utterly incomprehensible and ran away. And then spent the rest of the weekend quietly laughing at myself. He came across as a humble, thoughtful gentleman in the talk and I respected his refusal to be lured down paths he didn't want to walk down.

Andrew Scott was delightful. Sparkly, gentle, took time to talk to my friend. Louise Brealey was adorable and inspiring, gave her time and energy freely, despite I think at times finding the photos especially quite difficult. Loved her and indeed all the Ladies fo Sherlock. That was one awesome talk.

Meeting the Vertues was amazing. Both listened to me burble, heard me, talked to me, and understood. I have a book signed by them, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat that will be treasured til the day I die and I'm not one for getting attached to random objects, believe me.

I got to greet Mark Gatiss with 'hello Mr Government' which made my Sunday. He grinned, it was lovely, the photo as a result is of course lovely. Ditto Lara Pulver - our photo has laughter written all over it.

I didn't expect the guests to be so...lovely. Not that I expected horridness but I think I expected everyone to be like Mark was by 4:30pm Sunday - aloof. He was clearly exhausted, I didn't take it personally, it was fine. But that everyone was so...free with their time, energy, kindness and answered my sometimes random questions without thought, and in some cases genuine joy and interest was just...

I can't say thank you to the crew, volunteers and guests (and my friends and helpers/PA's who were superheroes) enough. This show has meant the world to me for various reasons I wont go into. The con was a beautiful extension of that.

[Raylenth]

Well said Clappy and I'm glad you had such a good time.

[CosmicAvatar]

I'm worried that if I start describing my weekend it'll turn into a gigantic essay, but I'll try to describe the highlights as briefly as I can (not a guarantee):

 

I wasn't expecting much from Benedict, to be honest, as "big" stars can be a little reserved and aloof, and no wonder, given the attention they receive, but he came across really well IMHO (and even more so if he wasn't feeling 100%). The OP's comment about him swearing and talking dirty (albeit trying to hide it) may come across as a little misleading as it could be interpreted as a constant blight on the talk when I really don't think it was; he said a Naughty Word, yes, but then immediately apologized and said something like, "Oh, I hope my mum doesn't see this," and then even softer, "Sorry, Mum!" which was rather adorable. There was one slightly innuendo-flavoured answer to a question if I recall, delivered very drily and mock-innocently (and got a big laugh as several minds had also gone there); at another point, he neatly deflected what could have been a very embarrassing topic, so on the whole, it was well done. Very articulate, too - I liked that. And on the 221B set, he warned me as I was about to sit down that the chair was very low. He might have said it to everyone in the shoot for all I know, but it was a kind thing to say, and he could just as easily have stuck to "Hello", so that stuck in my mind as well. I'm not a Cumberbitch by any stretch of the imagination, but he definitely made a very favourable impression on me.

 

I've already thanked the crew elsewhere, but they really are such a delightful bunch, and a credit to SM/ME. As is usual at these events, they were on their feet for hours and hours and HOURS and must have answered the same questions a thousand times (and more than once from the same person in certain situations!) but the replies were invariably polite and cheerful. And often they would ask me if I was OK without me approaching them first, especially when I was wandering around with a clueless look on my face trying to work out whether my window for an autograph was open. Had a good laugh in the photoshoot areas as well, particularly 2 and 4. They are good people and went a long way to making my weekend pleasurable.

 

I only attended a few talks because most of my time was spent trying to get photos or autos, but they were all well worth the time. Benedict's was very entertaining, of course, as was the group talk on Saturday afternoon (mostly because of Louise Brealey, who was a bit punch-drunk by then and coming out with some fantastically random stuff) and Mark and Andrew's talk on Sunday was hilarious. Also enjoyed the visual effects talk with Danny Hargreaves and was glad I got an opportunity to see the last one while waiting for some of the huge auto queues to clear! In addition, I was mightily impressed by the on-stage set and big screens. By all the sets, in fact; the 221B set was amazing, and Mycroft's office was a work of twisted genius - possibly my favourite photo of the lot and may even surpass my GoT Throne photo for world-dominating self-aggrandizement... *cough*

 

All the guests I met were lovely, natch, although special mentions have to go to Louise Breckon-Richards, who was really warm and friendly (and remembered me in the photoshoot several hours later!), Lars Mikkelsen, who had very twinkly eyes and was kind enough to crouch in the photoshoot to get closer to the more petite among us (also displayed some fine deadpan humour), Clive Mantle, who was happy to answer my off-topic questions, and Louise Brealey, who has to win the TJ Thyne Award for sweetest guest for hugging everyone the way she did on Sunday despite doing her back in from earlier huggings (she also had a reassuring hand on my arm in the Saturday group shoot).

 

In short (!), another excellent weekend, courtesy of SM/ME, the crew and our fabulous guests. I feel so lucky to be able to attend things like this.

Edited April 27, 2015 by CosmicAvatar

[Sassy1988]

I'm worried that if I start describing my weekend it'll turn into a gigantic essay, but I'll try to describe the highlights as briefly as I can (not a guarantee):

 

I wasn't expecting much from Benedict, to be honest, as "big" stars can be a little distant and aloof, and no wonder, given the attention they receive, but he came across really well IMHO (and even more so if he wasn't feeling 100%). The OP's comment about him swearing and talking dirty (albeit trying to hide it) may come across as a little misleading as it could be interpreted as a constant blight on the talk when I really don't think it was; he said a Naughty Word, yes, but then immediately apologized and said something like, "Oh, I hope my mum doesn't see this," and then even softer, "Sorry, Mum!" which was rather adorable. There was one slightly innuendo-flavoured answer to a question if I recall, delivered very drily and mock-innocently (and got a big laugh as several minds had also gone there); at another point, he neatly deflected what could have been a very embarrassing topic, so on the whole, it was well done. Very articulate, too - I liked that. And on the 221B set, he warned me as I was about to sit down that the chair was very low. He might have said it to everyone in the shoot for all I know, but it was a kind thing to say, and he could just as easily have stuck to "Hello", so that stuck in my mind as well. I'm not a Cumberbitch by any stretch of the imagination, but he definitely made a very favourable impression on me.

 

I've already thanked the crew elsewhere, but they really are such a delightful bunch, and a credit to SM/ME. As is usual at these events, they were on their feet for hours and hours and HOURS and must have answered the same questions a thousand times (and more than once from the same person in certain situations!) but the replies were invariably polite and cheerful. And often they would ask me if I was OK without me approaching them first, especially when I was wandering around with a clueless look on my face trying to work out whether my window for an autograph was open. Had a good laugh in the photoshoot areas as well, particularly 2 and 4. They are good people and went a long way to making my weekend pleasurable.

 

I only attended a few talks because most of my time was spent trying to get photos or autos, but they were all well worth the time. Benedict's was very entertaining, of course, as was the group talk on Saturday afternoon (mostly because of Louise Brealey, who was a bit punch-drunk by then and coming out with some fantastically random stuff) and Mark and Andrew's talk on Sunday was hilarious. Also enjoyed the visual effects talk with Danny Hargreaves and was glad I got an opportunity to see the last one while waiting for some of the huge auto queues to clear! In addition, I was mightily impressed by the on-stage set and big screens. By all the sets, in fact; the 221B set was fabulous, and Mycroft's office was a work of twisted genius - possibly my favourite photo of the lot and may even surpass my GoT Throne photo for world-dominating self-aggrandizement... *cough*

 

All the guests I met were lovely, natch, although special mentions have to go to Louise Breckon-Richards, who was really warm and friendly (and remembered me in the photoshoot several hours later!), Lars Mikkelsen, who had very twinkly eyes and was kind enough to crouch in the photoshoot to get closer to the more petite among us, Clive Mantle, who was happy to answer my off-topic questions, and Louise Brealey, who has to win the TJ Thyne Award for sweetest guest for hugging everyone the way she did on Sunday despite doing her back in from earlier huggings (she also had a reassuring hand on my arm in the Saturday group shoot).

 

In short (!), another excellent weekend, courtesy of SM/ME, the crew and our fabulous guests. I feel so lucky to be able to attend things like this.

 

lol cant beat my essay of the weekend lol

Glad you had a good time

[Francesca]

I just came back home in France, and I already missed my Sherlock bubble!

I had an awesome week end, highlighted by my meeting with Benedict. I didn't know he was sick, but he seems not very well so I understand now. But he was very nice, took the time to say a "nice meeting you" and thank you during the photo shoot and the autograph in spite of the rush. After my photo with 221b set with him, I told him to have a quiet and relaxing night as he deserved it after a so exhausting day. :)

Louise B and Mark were very funny, Louise asked me questions during the photo shoot. Andrew was a sweetheart and Lara is very beautiful.

The crew was very helpful and nice, as a Platinum pass holder, I really appreciated the priority for the photo shoots, the autographs and the talks even if I felt sometimes shameful to be directed in front of some people who were queuing for a long time. I've managed to have all my photos and my autographs and went to all the talks except few ones, mostly because of Ben's delayed schedule in Sunday afternoon.

I was very happy to be able to discuss with other fans in the queues, ladies from England, the U.S. and France, it was a delight to share our experiences.

 

My complaints go to the parties which were not what I expected. We've queued one hour on Friday night because of the only one elevator, and the rooms were not decorating according to the announced themes. There were not animations or decorations so we've left very quickly. I didn't go to the parties on Saturday night but apparently, it was not better.

The beginning of the screening was terrible too. I understand there could be a technical problem with the sound, but I think the staff had reacted too slowly, in spite of complaints and so many people leaving. I felt sorry for a lady and her daughter who have paid for the screening and left after 10 minutes.

The queue for the BBC shop was so long on Friday night, I don't understand why there were only two cashiers with so,many people.

 

I really hope there will be another Sherlock convention in London in the future, maybe with Martin and his wife :) It was exhausting, I didn't have the time to eat or to go to the bathroom, but it was a very memorable event for me. Thank you so much for organizing this event!

Edited April 27, 2015 by Francesca

[Raylenth]

Lol Cosmic, reading your post is a bit like my thoughts. BC also warned me about the chair which I too thought was sweet of him, and as I've heard the crew say before was quite uncomfortable! and Loo put her hand on my arm in the group shot as well which I only realised after as I was so concerned with concentrating on not stepping on any of their feet the whole thing passed in kind of a blur!

[Count Fooku]

Just watching The Empty Hearse at the moment, bit surreal to have been in the company of so many of the cast this weekend!

 

I thought this was a fantastic event, I will be honest and say that I had some doubts on Friday evening and first thing Saturday morning that the whole thing had been a bit over extended and that there would be too much for people to do and not enough time to do it in. But once I got into the flow of things on Saturday it all ran really smoothly. A lot of that is down to the crew who kept communicating with people with good advice on when to wait around for a queue and when to prioritise other things to make sure we got the most from the event that we could.

 

The guests were all great as well, I think it was clear that the weekend took a lot out of them but it seemed to me that is because they worked so hard to make sure we all had a good time. One of the big highlights of the weekend for me was the Mark Gatiss/Andrew Scott talk on Sunday morning. The bit where Mark pretended to take offence at a question being just asked of Andrew and got up and started looking at the book shelf really made me laugh, I understand the reason for not recording these things but I'd love to be able to see that again!

 

Seemed a good atmosphere about the place as well, despite most of us having periods where we had to dash about for various things, I think it bought a bit of a shared experience for everyone.

 

All in all a superb weekend, I don't know if there will be another one in the UK at some point but I will definitely buy a ticket if there is one!

[BigBlue]

Ok, time for my thoughts as well. :)

For me it was my first convention ever and I was a bit nervous about everything. I did a last minute upgrade to platinum on friday and I have to say, despite the price of the package, it made a lot of things easier.

 

What really stood out for me was the loveliness and utter amazingness of the guests. Not so much Benedict I have to say quite honestly. Of all of them I had the least interaction with him. But that's mainly due to the fact that his sessions were very rushed because of the sheer number of people who wanted to see him, so I understand and am not disappointed. Nevertheless he was very friendly to everyone and gave his best, even if he was a bit unwell.

Andrew was a real sweetheart. His sessions were a bit rushed too but he found the time to have a few words with everyone. So did Mark (though in his last photosession you could tell he was exhausted by then; did poses with anyone who asked anyway), and especially Steven in his autograph sessions. I think his queue was usually the longest and he really made a point of taking time and talking to everyone. Didn't expect that, to be honest and it was a nice surprise. I had a few moments with Lars as well. Had a nice chat with him in German (his skills have mothertongue-quality!) when he discovered where I came from. And I was reeeeally lucky I managed to get his photo because by sunday evening I had at one point completely forgotten I had a session with him and I only discovered when I got in the queue for Una. He was still around then and I was the last one getting a picture with him. Phew.

Lara was so gorgeous on Sunday and really lovely as well. I think it's a tie between her and Loo who gave the most hugs in photosessions that day.

 

 

The talks were fantastic as well. Sadly I missed the group talk as well as the one with Rupert and Jonathan because of clashes. The ones that stood out to me were Mark and Andrew as well as Rupert and Lars. Both were hilarious and I REALLY would love it if we could get an official recording of at least some of them one day.

 

And I have to especially mention Loo. I'm not sure where she took the energy from but she was a blast all the time. Whenever she noticed someone upset or a bit down she made sure to spend extra time with them and cheer them up. She would even organise her own queues if necessary and met everyone on eyelevel, devoting as much time and energy on everyone as possible.

 

There are many more great moments from the weekend but I think you get the general gist. :) It was great to immerse myself in the fandom for a weekend and being surrounded by likeminded people. I came alone but quickly made some wonderful new friends and I hope I can get a repeat really soon.

[MissShell]

The Good:

The registration process was very easy. We had to pick up a gold and regular weekend pass, but a bloke was very helpful and we managed to pick up both passes without having to queue twice.

 

I managed to get to my photo ops in very good time, and the crew manning the queues were in very good spirits, and hats off to them. It must be exhausting to repeat yourself constantly and still have people ignore you.

 

All the guests were amazing!

 

The Bad:

For some reason, a red shirt told me that I could NOT line up with my OH who was in his regular weekend queue when waiting to go inside on the Saturday. Whilst I understand why he couldn't queue with me in the gold line, I don't understand why I couldn't join him, it made it unessecarily difficult and we lost each other once inside.

 

The gold package pick up point was easy to find, however like a previous poster the 'exclusive badge' was absolutely misleading. I also asked what time the pre-signed autographs would be available just so I wouldn't miss them, and a red shirt told me to "stop coming back, they'll be ready when they're ready" I only went to the desk once?!

 

Also, I never managed to get Louise Brealeys autograph; I was constantly told the line was closed, and to come back later. When I did come back later the line was closed again and was told by a crew member that it didn't matter if I had VQ ticket or not, and it didn't matter if I had a gold pass, and that I shouldn't come back because there's no point. Maybe it was my bad timing, and the girl I spoke to on Sunday was very nice, however the red shirt I encountered on Saturday was very rude, and told me that the allocated time for gold passed had been scrapped?

 

Also, last thing (promise) and not generally a whinge, but what happened to the allocated photo shoots on our lanyard things? A lot of them were misprinted. For example my 'crew' photo should have been on Sunday but was printed for Saturday etc

[Count Fooku]

I've just had a really weird moment, during the talk that Steven and Mark did on Sunday afternoon, I thought about asking them if they had considered doing a series about Jack The Ripper, not sure why but just seemed like something they might be interested in and that they might do well. Just been looking through my photos that I took at the weekend and noticed that when Mark sat down at the start of the talk, he picked up a book that was on the sofa, I just zoomed in on it and noticed it was a book about Jack The Ripper!

[J.P.]

Count, probably this book lying around was the inspiration for your idea. You probably have seen it several times walking by (it lied under the sofa all the time) but didn't noticed. Funny thing - a human brain.

[Count Fooku]

I was never really close enough to the stage to be able to see anything in that detail, combination of distance and my rubbish eyesight Definately rules that one out!

[Raylenth]

The MC David did wander over to the bookshelves at one point on Sunday morning I think during one of the fisrt talks to look at the books and pulled out the Jack the Ripper one and after a while he put it on the arm of the sofa. It was then still there when Mark next came on stage and it was then he picked it up and was reading it.

[kacule186]

Hi, guys! After seeing some bad comments about the con being overpriced and also reading that horrible Daily Mail article (really, do yourself a favour and DON'T read it!) I've decided to write a short review/some thoughts from a Saturday standard ticket holder point of view.

 

Yes, being on a budget means that you miss some things, that you don't get autographs from everyone, photos with everyone and visit everyone's talk. BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU CAN'T ENJOY THE CONVENTION! It's all about making decisions and thinking about what your priorities are. I've managed to get 4 autographs (Una, Andrew, Louise and Rupert), 3 photos (Benedict, Rupert and Andrew) and visit Ben's talk (which was propably the highlight on this con for me). Those were my priorities and I did them all without any problem. I'd been a bit afraid of the numbers of VQ tickets for autographs being high - especially in Andrew's case - but my numbers for everyone were under 20. During the convention I didn't really feel any disadvantage of being only a standard ticket holder (we actually got those brilliant Black Lotus stamps for re-entering!). You need to make peace with the fact that you're on a budget BEFORE the con and simply enjoy what you can.

 

For me, conventions aren't only about the things you have to pay for. It's also about meeting awesome people from all around the world, about the atmosphere and in Sherlocked case the props and costume exhibition (which I didn't expect to be that big). All those things are for free. I simply don't understand people who were/are complaining about the price and not going to the con at all. Personally I don't think that the event was overpriced. And it drives me crazy that some people's opinion is that doing conventions/signings/photos is a part of an actor's job. It's not. They don't have to do it. And when you want to meet someone like Benedict during a convention and get the "full package" (photo, autograph and talk) you need to be prepared to pay. And let me just write that I find the fact that someone like Ben (wonderful actor, always busy, a father-to-be) is willing to do convention and spend some time with his fans quite rare.

 

To sum up, Sherlocked was my fifth convention and it was the best one. I had a wonderful time and, what's also important, I found the guests having a wonderful time, too. I'd like to thank everyone who made this event possible for doing so. And please, please try to ignore people who are backlashing the event for no particular reason (I don't mean you should ignore the constructive criticism if there's some). Unfortunatelly, I feel like those people are heard more that the people who had a blast.

[ericsdonor]

Well said!! Now if you can post the same on Facebook and Twitter some barmy people may actually finally see sense!!!

[kacule186]

Well said!! Now if you can post the same on Facebook and Twitter some barmy people may actually finally see sense!!!

Thank you! I've already posted it on Twitter here https://twitter.com/KatkaHlouskova/status/592996623145373697

Now I'm going to do same on FB

[kacule186]

 

Well said!! Now if you can post the same on Facebook and Twitter some barmy people may actually finally see sense!!!

Thank you! I've already posted it on Twitter here https://twitter.com/KatkaHlouskova/status/592996623145373697

Now I'm going to do same on FB

 

Sorry, wrong link This one should work https://twitter.com/KatkaHlouskova/status/592996623145373697

Edited April 28, 2015 by kacule186