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This is my first time doing one of these write-ups, so sorry if it isn't exciting to read. Long post incoming. This was my 3rd year attending LFCC, and this year has to be my favourite so far. I am used to saying up for hours on end, and am more than well versed in long distance travel. I couldn't sleep at all on saturday, but managed to get an hour of sleep very early on sunday. This was all I needed to stay awake for the rest of sunday, and at 4am I left for London. I arrived at roughly 7:35, so there was already a large queue in the general entry area. The time passed quickly as I got into a conversation with the people directly in front of us. I never caught their names though. We (me, my parents and my friend) got into the building at about 9:05, and then it was the rush to get VQ tickets that I was dreading. I managed to get everyone who I wanted to see on VQ except for the 4 modern doctors, but I got the photoshoots with 3 of them, which I will go into more detail on later. Whilst waiting for my VQ numbers to be called, my friend and I went downstairs to look at the stalls. I bought 3 Funko Pops (Spider-Man from Spider-Man:Homecoming, the Joker from the Dark Knight and Hellboy). This was all that I bought as the rest of my money went on autographs. At about half 9 I went back upstairs to get my autos. The first person I met was Nick Castle. He was lovely, and I told him about how much I love Halloween, and how he was a major part of my love for the film, as his performance as Myers was absolutely brilliant. He was more than happy to personalize my auto, and I got a selfie with him. After Nick, I met Pearl Mackie. Unfortunately she had a no photos sign, but she was personalizing. We spoke about Doctor Who, and she seemed really happy when I told her how much I liked her performance. She also called me "Darling" twice . She signed by Doctor Who series 10 steelbook. I then went to Peter Davison. He was so nice, and loved the fact that he is one of my favourite Doctor's. My friend and I then both went to meet Andrew Cartmel, my friend saw him for his comic work, and I obviously saw him for his Doctor Who stuff. Turns out he was charging £5 for signatures, but in the grand scheme of these events, that isn't much, so I wasn't worried. Again, a nice experience, and he was very chatty. He signed a postcard and a Doctor Who dvd. My next guest to meet was Bonnie Langford. For some reason, her and Colin Baker were along the back wall with some of the really big name stars, so finding her queue was a bit of a struggle. Once I found it, her's and Colin's queues had merged, and the queue split into two about halfway down depending on if you were seeing Bonnie or Colin. She was also very polite and talkative. My last guest who I met for an autograph was Paul Taylor. This was genuinely one of my favourite guest interactions I've ever had. His queue was empty when I met him, so I spoke to him for a good 10 minutes. I then went with my parents to see the John Schneider solo talk. They are huge fans of the Dukes of Hazzard, and I am a casual fan, so we all went to that talk, and it was great. So funny and insightful. My parents did get autographs from the three Dukes in case anyone was wondering. After all of this, it was now a case of waiting for the photoshoots to start. I spent loads of time walking around the first floor looking at stalls, and my friend bought some more things. Then David Tennant's standard shoot began. I think his Tardis shoot over ran, as his standard shoot started way after the scheduled start. But it was worth the wait, as he was so kind and friendly. As I walked up to him he said "Nice shirt, man. And how are you?", and as I left he told me to enjoy the rest of the day, and I gave him a similar response. As soon as I finished at that shoot, I went straight to Matt Smith's shoot. Again, he was very nice, and complimented me by saying "Looking cool, mate". He asked if I had a pose in mind. I said that I hadn't, so he suggested I do a thumbs up pose while he does his thing. Personally I don't like how I look in this photo (you may notice I had kept my thumb out of the picture ), but the memory of meeting Matt makes it worthwhile. And finally, this was the biggest one for me. Christopher Eccleston. He was the first ever Doctor who I saw on tv, and has firmly remained one of my favourites. I also admire his other work such as in 28 Days Later. He was the man who introduced me to my all time favourite tv series, and I was so excited to finally meet him. I had brought myself around to thinking that I would never get the chance to meet him, but SM made my dream come true. And he did not disappoint. He was happy and smiley. A couple of places in front of me was a family, including two children. Eccleston's face lit up at the sight of them, and he knelt down to speak to them and have the photo taken. I thought that was really sweet of him to do. When it was my turn, he saw me and said "I love your shirt." Yes, they all complimented my appearance for some reason. He asked me my name after the photo was taken and told me to enjoy the rest of my day. He was the highlight of the day, and I'm so grateful to him for coming and making everyone's experience a great one. After that, it was time to head home. That was one of the best days of my life, and one that I will certainly never forget. All the guests who I met were wonderful, and all the crew members who helped me throughout the day were also very nice, and a credit to SM. My only regrets were missing my Capaldi and Duchovny shoots due to me writing down the wrong times for them, and not being able to get autographs from any of the modern Doctors. However, every cloud has a silver lining (I believe that is how the phrase goes?). I saw Capaldi and Duchovny walking around throughout the day, and I got the photos with the the Doctors which more than made up for not managing their autographs. Overall, this was an amazing day and I can't wait for LFCC next year. Thank you so much SM for providing me with the opportunity to have such a wonderful event and meet some of my heroes.

I've noticed one or two of these topics pop up, and both have been fascinating reads. So since it's my birthday today, I thought I'd take another shot at this. And I also apologise in advance for the long post coming right up! So LFCC has gone and passed, an event which lived up to, and surpassed my expectations in every way! As a massive Whovian, meeting the likes of Matt Smith and David Tennant have literally been childhood dreams, and it still feels like the events that passed were all a dream. With several photos and autographs on my agenda, I can safely say this LFCC was the most I've ever spent at any convention... and it was damn well worth it. So, here's the play-by-play of my day: After waking early at 3am, and getting the earliest train at 6:45, I arrived around 8:10, picked up my diamond passes and queued until 9:15 when they let us in. I had bought 3 diamond passes, and got some relatively decent numbers for Pearl and Peter, but I had one of the first diamond passes for Matt which made it a lot easier to get my photo and autograph later on. With that in mind, my photo schedule looked a little something like this: Guest Photoshoot Times From To Area Batch Peter Capaldi 10:05 11:00 B Diamond 15:00 15:55 Pearl Mackie 11:20 11:50 B Diamond 16:15 16:45 Matt Smith 09:30 10:25 D Diamond 15:00 15:35 Arthur Darvill 09:30 10:00 B 2 13:35 14:00 Paul McGann 11:40 12:05 C 1 Ingrid Oliver 13:35 14:00 C 1 Doctor Who Group Shoot 14:30 14:55 D 1 David Tennant 14:00 15:00 G 2 Now, I personally like meeting a guest at the autograph table before having a photo - it's mainly because sometimes, a guest recognises me in the photo op which is a gratifying feeling. And as you can see from the schedule, it seemed less likely events would play out in this order. So with that, I moved straight to Matt’s photoshoot where I would meet Matt around 9:50. I have to say, Matt is a genuinely nice guy (no bias, I promise). When it got round to my turn to meet him, he was taken aback by the cosplay I was wearing (I was potentially the only person who met him in his green jacket). We both grinned at the camera, he praised the cosplay and gave a solid pat on the chest, something I didn't see coming! That's not the last of him in this post, but I couldn't feel more acknowledged by the childhood hero I grew up with in secondary school! With that decision, I missed Arthur's morning shoot, which wasn't a major problem, I could come back later to meet him. And with a bit of time before Peter Capaldi's shoot, I went off to bug Ingrid at 10:06 and Pearl at 10:15 for some autographs. Ingrid was very engaging, talking about art styles, the shading and the overall look of my drawing. We briefly discussed how I'm an inconsistent artist because I can't seem to replicate the shading (which she seemed fascinated by). With this enjoyable conversation over, she allowed me to choose the colour of the sharpie, and after letting her know she'd see me again, we parted ways for the signing. Pearl was up next, who was in awe of my artwork (both of them!), and I couldn't have been more impressed by how genuine and welcoming she was. We briefly talked about how long each one took, decided the colours of the signatures before I went on to give her a copy (in black) of the screen print that I made. I probably spent a good 2 minutes just talking to her as she shook my hand twice during this encounter. Out of the many guests I've met, she's certainly one of the fondest encounters I've had to date, it was simply incredible. With these friendly encounters over, I headed over to Peter's shoot with something in hand at around 10:50. Basically, I wrote a letter 5 years ago, and received a response 6 months later whilst he was filming his first series. When I got to the shoot, I showed him the letter which he briefly read before realising how much time had passed. I may have distracted him from the photo by accident, but off-camera, his response was "I'm glad it made it through!" I've waited 4 years to meet the man, I couldn't resist showing that letter! With Peter's photo over, I headed to Paul McGann's photoshoot (meaning Pearl's photoshoot would have to wait till the afternoon). A quick 10 second encounter of shaking hands, talking about my cosplay and Paul teasing me that I'd be warm, and I was off. Initially I had a drawing I wanted signed, but I was so busy that getting a VQ ticket was off the list. Also, don't ask about my hair in this photo, I don't know either. When 11:30 rolled around, it was time to get Matt's signature. I briefly engaged in a 1 minute conversation where he asked "is this your handiwork?", giving him another drawing to keep (which he appreciated very much), and ending with a fist bump. It was a short encounter, and not surprising given how big of a guest he was, but to finally have a signature from him was just surreal. An utter joy to talk to, my encounters with him couldn't have been any better. After that, I went off to get my photos with Ingrid at and Arthur. Missing the morning shoot, batch 2s were further ahead in the line, so I quickly dashed out of Ingrid's line and moved into Arthur's line at 1:40 where a quick 5 second encounter passed, and a photo I was happy with. I returned to Ingrid's line for a photo at 1:55, where we spoke for about 20 seconds as she remembered me, and suggested we do a classic Doctor Who pose. All her idea, and I'm happy she suggested it. Okay, 5 photos down, 3(ish) signatures done, I headed over to David Tennant's queue, where I stayed till 2:28. However, the queue wasn't moving, and I needed to head to the Steven Moffat-era shoot in two minutes, so I quickly decided to leave Tennant's queue to go down in size, and head to the Doctor Who group shoot, where my photo was taken at 2:50, where I was greeted warmly by Matt and Peter once again, alongside David Bradley and Steven. Before and after the photo was taken, Matt and Steven were discussing "the other jacket", aka my green one that I was wearing. Matt was saying how he didn't particularly like it (although did say it looked good on me, so thanks for the compliment!). Out of all the photos I took that day, it was certainly my favourite. My two favourite Doctors, plus the previous showrunner and Bradley, how could I resist? With that great and wonderful encounter out the way, I headed back to Tennant's queue, where I was at the back of a quieter queue (shoulda done that from the start!). We were explicitly told that we would be immediately in, snap, and out, so we couldn't engage in conversation or hugging etc.. However, when I got to meeting David at 3:15, I found he didn't seem to care about those rules, engaging in conversation with everyone and giving hugs to various people. He complimented my cosplay, though noted that I must've been boiling, to which I replied "you're totally right". A big, last minute name like Tennant and yet he was so gracious with time, that's what they call a Time Lord. With the big shoot out of the way, I decided to kill more time before Pearl's photoshoot. Peter wasn't returning for a few hours, so I went and met Arthur Darvill, whose queue had gone from virtual queuing to open by 3:20, with nobody there. I showed him my drawing, he signed, and that was it. I don't know if he was simply tired, but he didn't seem to want to engage in conversation, only ever really looking up when returning the drawing. It was a little disheartening to be honest, but I know these days can be long and tiring, so I don't hold anything against him, and scouring the forums told me that I wasn't the only one with this kind of encounter. Ultimately, I'm just happy to have another drawing dedicated. Now came Pearl's PM photoshoot. Again, a quick in-and-out experience, though Pearl did recognise me from earlier, we greeted each other warmly, and departed both incredibly happy. I can't emphasise how amazing Pearl is, and how friendly and engaging she is. With that, all my photos were done at around 4:30pm. Now lastly, I needed to get my autograph from Peter Capaldi, which took longer than expected. Peter was behind on diamond passes from the day before, and was taking his time, talking to people and hugging. Eventually, pass numbers up to 100 was called and I got into the main line with one drawing in hand. 5:30 rolled around, and I got to stand face to face one again with Peter. He was incredibly gracious with my drawing, and even though he apparently stopped doing personalisations, it seems he made an exception to artwork. Because I showed him that letter from years ago, he remembered my name without need for a postick note. I then handed him a copy of the screen print in red I made for Pearl, which he graciously accepted. A fond handshake later, and a joke about how it better not take another 4 years to meet him, and I was on my way, in disbelief that any of the events that had transpired had even happened. So that's the play-by-play done, and without a doubt, the show was absolutely brilliant! Even with the massive crowds, I found the crew to be incredibly helpful, and most of the events transpired smoothly and without trouble. If I had any regrets, it was not being able to have a drawing ready for David Tennant to sign, and also not meeting Christopher Eccleston, who I've heard positive stories about post-con. Ultimately, this was one hell of an event, good job Showmasters. You've got my attention for next year!

I'm not entirely sure if I've given my two cents on this thread yet but the Smallville guests were absoloutely incredible. True stars of the highest calibre. Tom Welling - was my first shoot of the weekend. I froze a little when it got to my turn, anxiety started kicking in. Tom just went come over here my man. Fist bumped, shook my hand. I thanked him for everything. And he said appreciate that. Zachary Levi - Again, got a little starstruck. Like Smallville Chuck was part of my childhood. Snapped the photo and it turned out awesome. Told him as leaving the shoot "Chuck meant a lot to me, Thank you". He replied with "Oh, Thank you". He seemed abit shocked. I guess it was cus I was wearing a Superman tee and probably thought I was there to meet him for Shazam. I was upset I missed his talk having needed to go to another shoot. Tom Welling & John Schneider Duo - This was the greatest photo opportunity in all my time of going to cons. I was going to burst into tears with all the banter. John Schneider started to laugh as I went to shake Toms hand first even though John was closer to the queue. John grabbed me and came to shake my hand. I told John & Tom. "Smallville was a big part of my childhood, thank you". Tom replied "Mine to". All burst into laughter and that moment got caught on camera. That became my favourite Photo Op of all time. Peter Weller - His Photo Op was late. Robocop was one of the first films I had ever watched as a child. And one of my favourite films of all time. Although Peter was reserved and didn't say anything but he shook my hand ans was ready for the photo. I know not to expect much from anyone. Peter must have been tired due to age Autograph sessions: John Schneider - I wasn't going to get his autograph but decided I had to for Smallville. I took my uncle and his two children to the con. My uncle grew up watching Dukes Of Hazzard who then introduced his daughter to it. They missed the Dukes talk due to train delays. I said to them I'll get his autograph, you come with me and you can interact. I went to get his Auto. My uncle first had a chat with him took photos with them, a few. I had photos with him to. Then he signed the autograph to me. I mentioned to him "Your role as Johnathon Kent during the Seaosn 10 Era was something that made me tear up so often, each time you showed up, your Relationship with Clark was the best father and son duo ive ever seen on television". He was listening, signing autograph ans was shocked to see he wrote "Abdullah, Always Hold On To Smallville". Incredible. Wanted to cry when I noticed it on the autograph. Tom Welling - I was a diamond Pass holder for Tom. Got his Autograph later in the day. Told him how Smallville was a big part of my childhood again, probably got sick of hearing that which I joked to him. I said I met Michael last year. He said "Keep it going, My man". He signed my auto "You rock". That was the Saturday. Now lets mention the unplanned Sunday due to the Eruption David Tennants announcement caused throughout the venue. My uncle and his fam had never been to a con before. Their favourite was david. So, we bought tickets for Sunday and had managed to get his Op. I bought one to and had bought another Photo Op for Zachary Levi. Zachary Levi - I went to get his Auto first thing which I hadn't planned. Again, had an amazing chat with him. And it all led to a tearjerking moment later in during his photo op. I asked for a Chuck pose. He remembered That I mentioned it in His Auto. Then as the photo was done he goes to me "Thank you for seeing me again, Abdullah, my brother". Shook hands and left the studio. I was abit shaking a lot and could feel tears. It was amazing. David Tennant - The photo shoot was a great experience. He was so cool, shoet interaction but a great photo. I for one loved the atmosphere david caused. From the cheer for his arrival. Down to the Photo. Beautiful event, thank you Showmasters. Heres to 2019!!!

As much as I hate agreeing with the bear, in this case I do. Don't write it for other people, that's not what I do. Write it for yourself and try to make it something you want to read and with any luck, other people will want to too.

Hey brother Dalek, don't be sucked in to the 21st century vortex of doing things solely based on the perceived interest of others, you do it because you want to do it.

Thanks I always worry about how I look in photos, but yeah, in 3 years of con-going I've never had a bad experience with a guest.

I met six guests in total autographs when I came on just the Saturday, I only went for one day with some friends (Our first ever con I might add!) Four of the guests I met were top priorities, the other two were to make up for not meeting Peter Capaldi who I was desperate to meet but couldn't because his queue only ended up doing the diamond passes of which there was about three hundred which sucked :/ dunno if anyone else couldn't get to him? Anyways, here's how all my meetings went down! (I've put them in the order of when I met them). James Caan - James Caan wasn't having a good day at his table, he wasn't doing personalisations and seemed very hot and bothered, at one point his manager was helping him walk to the lift, he's obviously getting old. Everybody on this forum is saying he was very nice during photo ops. That being said, I met him relatively early in the day and he was nice enough, I said "Hello Mr. Caan very nice to meet you, I'm a big fan." He said "Thank you" and signed the photo and that was that. David Duchovny - I was so desperate to meet this guy, I am a huge X-Files fan and was gonna meet him whatever the cost. I can't stress how worth it it is to get to there early, I got a good VQ ticket for Duchovny and only spent ten minutes queueing for him. He didn't seem busy at all that day (even during his talk). When it got to my turn I said "Hello" and he said "Hi Hugh" and that fatally killed me to death. Just didn't expect it, obvs he'd seen the name the staff had written down for my personalisation! Anyway I said "I think you're great as Agent Mulder." I think he said "Thank you." can't exactly remember. I said goodbye and hope you enjoy the rest of your day and we shook hands. I was very close to tears just because I couldn't believe I'd met him. I get what people are saying about him being a bit quiet though, I think he's just not used to doing conventions. Mind you, I went to his talk later and during that he really seemed to perk up, think it just took time to get in the swing of it. He was quite funny. Anybody who was at the talk, I asked the Twin Peaks question! Overall I was very happy to meet the guy and I have a great autograph to commemorate that. Noel Clarke - Now this guy was probably the nicest guest I met, so so lovely! I was there to see him because of Kidulthood, also being a Doctor Who fan. I said "Kidulthood is one of my favourite films for me and my Brother to watch." he said "Thanks man, I appreciate it." I gave him my copy of the DVD to sign. I managed to quickly ask him about weather he always planned to do sequels to Kidulthood which he answered, he said "It wasn't the plan but that's just the way it went." Then he took a quick picture and I said "Take care" and he said "You too man". Honestly, he is a diamond! Lance Henriksen - I don't think anything is more pure than hearing Lance Henriksens deep voice up close! He had a big queue on Saturday which I managed to get into later in the day. I approached him and he just smiled so much and said "Hey buddy" upon shaking my hand. At this point I was more comfortable with having conversations with the guests so I asked, how was he enjoying comic con. And he said something which nearly made me tear up, "I love it, I'm surrounded by my fans and all my friends, Jason Momoa is here and he's a good friend, we're working but we just love it." He gave me a really nice personalisation on my photo and told me "Be careful it doesn't smudge!" as I left. Sweet sweet guy. I saw a post about some guys bumping into him at a pub afterwards and hanging out with him over drinks! Matthew Wood - Upon realising I wasn't gonna meet Capaldi realistically I decided to meet the voice behind a personal favourite Star Wars character. Matthew Wood was really friendly and he seems to really love to be recognised as a character. He did the line "What's the situation, Captain?" in the voice to me which was surreal! He asked me how I'd like my autograph and we had a small chat about the weather! Sean Young - I met Sean Young just before I left because I had money left and if I didn't I would've kicked myself. Sean Young was very warm and kind and asked what I'd like on my photo. I asked her about Blade Runner 2049 and how she felt about being in it and she said "I think they messed it up! I thought they blew it, I think it was silly what they did to my character." All I could say was fair enough. I got a quick selfie and had a very nice goodbye actually. BONUS: Julian Glover - I went up with my friend who was getting an auto from Julian Glover, he's such an old flirt! He greeted my friend as "Pretty one" and kissed her hand. Sweet guy, his niece had the same name as my friend. Rory McCann - I went to Rory's Q&A and asked him a pretty basic question in comparison to others. Anyone else who went to that talk though, wasn't it hilarious! The three of those guys (Isaac Hempstead Wright and Staz Nair who were also there) were brilliant! Somebody opened by asking Rory about the Hound vs. Brienne and he responded in character with "Yeah, that big bird bitch!" Later on somebody asked all of them if you could die anyway in Game of Thrones, how would you go and he just said "Overdose!" I asked him if there was any character who he'd love to see the hound fight, who would it be? He said Meryn Trant. Honestly that talk was one of my fav bits of con, just a laugh!

Tom Welling John Schneider Michael Rosenbaum Bring back all three, have met them at this year and last years LFCC. Would meet them again and again. Add Annette O'Toole & Erica Durance. Kristin Kreuk & Aaron Ashmore. I'd pay for every single one.

That is LFCC in a nutshell as well.

Best one I saw was a talk at DST in 2017 when Marina Sirtis asked a guy in the front to stop filming. He completely ignored her. Grinning away like an idiot holding his camera high blocking people behind from getting a decent view. She got up walked off the stage right up to him, grabbed his camera, snapped it shut and handed it back to him to much applause from the audience!

I started this last year and I thought I’d try to make it a annual thing, so here we are! I’m writing it now whilst everything is still fresh in my brain, but I apologise if I leave anything out (some bits have been on purpose!) or mis-remember things at all or even put parts in the wrong order. I’m trying my best! I had another amazing year at LFCC. With less guests on my list than previous years, I thought I would be less busy and maybe even bored. I was wrong! I had no problem finding stuff to do in the times between shoots and autos etc. and actually did some stuff I’ve never tried before! I worked on the Thursday this year, which was a mistake. My whole day was spent getting excited and going over in my head what was about to happen across the next few days. No work was done during the day at all. My boss could see it was pointless keeping me around that day so let me out an hour early and i rushed up to Olympia for my pass collection. Judging by previous years, I was full expecting a one or two hour wait to get my weekend wristband and diamond passes. Again, I was wrong! The way the pass pickups were organised was so much better this year, and i really hope Showmasters continue using this method from here on out as there were no queues when I arrived and had my passes within 10 mins! A bit shocked at how quick the collection had been, I managed to meet up with some friends in the old haunt of the Crown and Sceptre for a catch up over some food and drinks. After a couple of hours we made the move to Latymers for the Thursday meet up. On our way over we happened to bump into one Mr Lance Henriksen who was just hanging out out the front of his hotel! We stopped and chatted with him for about 15mins and not one member of the group asked for an auto or photo which just made it for a really cool chat with the guy who is just so nice. I believe a few of the group managed to spend more time with Lance across the weekend, but that’s not my story! The rest of the night was spent chatting with old friends and making new ones at the meet up (many thanks to smithy270492 for organising that this year, good job buddy!) but due to my lack of hotel it was an early leave for me to head back on the train. After a restless night of 2 hours sleep, my alarm got me up at 5am. I wasn’t feeling great. The heat had been unbearable in the night, and mix that with the excitement of the first day of LFCC and that just leads to trouble. I just about managed to get myself sorted and caught my train in time to arrive at Olympia at 7:20. By this time a queue had formed but isn’t wasn’t as long as I had expected and after a smooth bag search/wristband check as we entered the building at 7:50, I happily found myself in the first queue line, preparing for a nice 2 and a bit hour wait for the main doors to open. It was during this time that I managed a wave to Broo, and to be completely missed by both Chris1970 and teskothemad who stood near me, but I’m telling myself they didn’t do it on purpose! Opening of the doors went smoothly. No one was running or pushing that i saw and there was a general happy feeling in the air. VQ collection went without issue and I found myself with some great low numbers for the guests I needed. With that, I was off to my first shoot. As I mentioned earlier, I went for the general 3 day weekend entry pass this year, but what I didn’t mention was that this is the first time since my first LFCC in 2013 that I have had one of these as I had usually gone for the gold pass to help make things easier. Previous years have seen me meet 20-30 guests but this year I decided with only 11 guests on my list, that gold wasn’t needed. This time I was right. My first photo was with Jewel Staite. I have been a fan of Firefly for years and she is the 4th member of the main cast I have now met. She was so sweet and lovely in that shoot and I have to give a special shoutout to that dress she was wearing, because, wow! Jewel had arrived a little late to her shoot which meant I had missed the morning shoot for my only other one for the day, which was Meat Loaf, but it was fine as he had another one later in the afternoon which I would make it to. I had some spare time after that though so I decided to start on my autos. First up was Tom Vaughan-Lawlor who was a super lovely guy. I watched him explain to a kid how he wore a weird suit that a computer recognised and turned him into Ebony Maw in Infinity War and the kid was totally transfixed on every word. Such a great thing to see. He signed an 8x10 as well as my custom Avengers Villains poster that I have just started. After Tom, I made it over to Zach Levi’s auto table. The guy was already looking a bit warm (This was the hottest day by far across the weekend), but still enjoying himself with everyone meeting him. I realised after about 5mins of queuing that it was friend of mine standing in front of me in the queue which was great to have a catch up as we waited. As we got closer to Zach though, the guy in front of my friend had told him “When I heard you had been cast as Shazam I was worried”!! After he left, Zach was in fits of laughter, saying “At least he was honest!”. Zach was lovely to meet and told me a couple of quick stories about Chuck along with saying that he still hopes to make the movie one day (fingers crossed!). Next up was Matt Zimmerman. I loved Thunderbirds when I was a kid, so any chance I get to meet someone who worked on it, I jump at the chance. Matt seemed so happy to be meeting people and after calling me “another big guy” (I’m hoping that was a complement!) we had a great conversation about how both our names are shortened, but our full names is only used when we’re in trouble! Moving on from Matt, I saw that Jewel Staite’s auto queue had been cut off for her to go on a break. I went up to ask the crew member what time she would be back and was about to walk off when a lady (Jewel’s manager/agent?) shouted out to the crew member that she would sign for 5 more people as she still had some time! I handed over my VQ (which had been called) and managed to see her within a matter of minutes, even though she had had a massive queue all day. Once again Jewel was incredibly sweet and I basically melted in front of her. I asked about Season 2, I didn’t like the answer. I then spoke to her about her cameo in Alan Tudyk’s Con Man series and she was telling me about as well as how much she’d love to be on again. She happily signed with quotes my Firefly book (I hate that thing and regret starting an auto collection in it as it’s so heavy!) and an 8x10. I was doing really well for time and I thought I could fit in one more auto before having a rest. As I joined behind the few people at his table, I noticed that a blue bear was talking to Costas Mandylor and asking him to sign his wood. I gave natedammit a poke as he walked off and got the grumpy, annoyed reaction from him that I had hoped for and expected. He probably hasn’t bothered to read this far but if he does, it was nice to finally meet you Nate, even if it was just for a few seconds. I will try to annoy you for longer next time. Costas was as cool as cool can be. He had been chatting with the people in front of me about what a great guy Tobin Bell is and our conversation went from there and delved more into the Saw films and as to whether or not we will see him back as Hoffman (he wouldn’t say). Stopping for lunch is a new thing for me at LFCC, usually I don’t have time! I sat in the auto area with a group of friends sharing stories of our mornings so far and what autos we’d managed to get. Once we were done I went for a short walk around the stalls and stumbled on the Baker Street set where I had some photos taken. At the time of writing this, I haven’t received them, so apologies for not posting anything here. I did then also have a shot taken on the Stranger Things set, and although I do think it would have been better if the fairy lights were on, I do quite like the pic I got! After bumping into a few more people I know from various walks of life it was finally time for my photo with Meat Loaf. This was hands down the weirdest shoot I have done at a con! It started with everyone being given paper hand fans in the queue which were a godsend! We were then asked to turn and face a camera shouting “Meat Loaf” as they took what seemed to be an official pic of some kind. I’d like to know what this was for as I was close to the front and would love to have a copy. After that had happened, the queue started to move, slowly. Slower than any other photo queue I’ve ever seen in fact and had me worried that something was wrong. Once I got inside the booth I saw exactly what the hold up was. As we walked in, the man himself was shouting out that everyone has to introduce themselves to him as they come up for their photo and he was having short chats with most people as they did. For us attendees this was great, as I’ve never seen such interactions with a guest at a shoot before, but for the staff on the other hand… most of them were pulling their hair out! The photographer especially, who i saw crouched on the floor with his head in his hands a few times while Meat nattered away to people! The poor girl calling everyone forward was just laughing because if she didn’t she would cry as she tried to tell everyone to introduce themselves, because if she missed it, Meat would shout it out again! This was my favourite shoot I have ever done at a convention! After the shoot I went back round to try and see if I could get into Meat’s auto queue as he was the only auto I had left to collect for the day. Unfortunately, but after the photo experience not unexpectedly, it turns out that Meat hadn’t gotten thorough all of the diamond tickets yet. I walked up to find a group of low VQ ticket holders who like myself only had Meat’s auto left to get. The plan was to hang around to see if it was possible to get in the queue at any point but not to cause any trouble or get in the way and do everything asked of us. Eventually some crew members allowed us to join the queue but warned us that they would continue to add in any other diamond pass holders in front of us when they turned up. We agreed. We then spent the next hour and a half walking backwards more than we did forwards! Did we moan a bit? Yes, but we all understood the situation and were still very grateful to the crew for helping us out. Eventually, after waiting for 2 1/2 hours, we got our autos, and although Meat had been told to hurry things up, he still enjoyed a small chat with everyone who came up. Very happy to have my copy of ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ signed along with a Fight Club poster, where Meat drew Bob in as he wasn’t on it! The only thing I regret from this wait was that I did miss Jewel Staite’s talk, so I hope she comes back some day. After the long wait for Meat’s auto I was drained, but still managed to head down the pub for a couple of hours to join the usual crowd before having to slope off early again as I needed to make up for the sleep I lost the night before. I had a much later start on Saturday but still woke up before my alarm and just got on with it to get to the station quicker. After no hassle with the trains, I was hoping that the later start was going mean getting into the venue would be a breeze. Wrong again! It felt like everyone else going to the con that day had had the same idea as me. The queue went from the train station, to the main road, sealed a bit, then to a 3 lane split where two lanes were filled as one was emptied. This went back down to the gold pass queue, with more snaking, then round the whole building and in gate H. I will admit I was totally shocked by this but it actually only took about half an hour to get through as it was moving at a fast walk pace nearly the whole time. Bag check etc. was easy again but what did seem pointless to me was that we were then made to snake round the whole queue in the queue hall before just walking in. This seemed pointless to me. Once I was in it was time to get back to work. I had a heads up from some friends who got there early that loads of guests had moved auto table positions so I took a tour round the signing area to see who was where and gage some queues to grab an auto. I turned up just in time to David Duchovny’s queue to be let in straight away behind a few other diamond pass holders with him turning up about 15 mins later. As expected with a bigger guest like David, we were wanted to move through as fast as possible without being overly rushed. The man himself called me by name and thanked me for coming, which was about it. I was happy with this as I have heard and experienced worse from other guests and I was just happy to have met him, no matter how briefly. I was never expecting him to be like Meat Loaf or anything as he just doesn’t seem the type. With one of my diamond autos under my belt, and the other out for lunch and a photo shoot, I took a walk around artist’s ally and bought several prints and commissioned an ink drawing from Martin Griffiths of Peter Venkman from The Real Ghostbusters. Next on my list was to get an auto from Mike Quinn. I have met Mike before, back in 2016 where I go him to sign a Star Wars pic for me and we chatted about his work on those films. This year I wanted to move onto a different show he has worked on, The Muppets. I saw Mike performing with the Muppets in a live show just recently in London and was blown away to be able to watch him and all the other puppeteers work their craft in a live setting. Talking with Mike he told me all about how uncomfortable it can be rolling round on the floor and having to hold your hand above your head for long periods of time. He also told me that he has now been working with The Muppets for 38 years and is the only person to have worked Kermit will all three men who have performed him over the years. Now it was time for Zach Levi’s talk. This one was high energy! He is very charismatic and you could tell how much fun he was having with the Q&A from the crowd. Questions about Shazam were avoided but with an answer that satisfied without actually saying anything! It’s easy to see how the guy got to where he is. After a lunch break I went and joined the queue for Sam Neill’s auto and with my diamond pass, I didn’t have to wait for him to come back for too long and only had a few people in front of me. This was Sam’s first ever con and he was very cool and calm with the whole experience. He loved that we share our first name and was happy to see my Event Horizon poster, a movie he said really creeped him out. He was a very special meet for me and I have been a fan since I was 10 years old and he did not disappoint. After Sam I tried to grab what I assumed was going to be a quick auto from William Hope, only to find he had a massive queue and had been put on VQ tickets! I took one and thought I’d try again a bit later. Before I did, I took another walk around some of the stalls and ended up with some more art and a sticker of a Porg! (I love those stupid things, even if I’m not the biggest fan of the film they’re in). Returning to William’s table I was shocked to find the vq system had gone and only 3 people in his queue. It had been less than an hour! I took my chance and got to meet him to find he too is a very sweet and gracious man who was so happy to be meeting everyone. Meeting him is a great addition to my Aliens collection and I have heard he doesn’t appear often so well done to Showmasters for getting him. After meeting William I went straight into the Duchovny talk. I have to admit, this was not my favourite talks of the weekend. Some of his answers were interesting, but there were a lot of them that he refused to answer, but I never felt particularly bored and he was always happy to take a compliment from the crowd. After the talk I rushed for a photo with William Hope, only to find it was massively running behind, so I went and had my photo with Sam Neill before heading back. Both men were just as lovely and sweet in their shoots as they had been earlier at their tables. With all my autos and photos done for the day I headed out and joined the queue that had already started forming for the Ray Park Martial Arts Demo. This was a good fun evening. Ray said he had nothing prepared for the night but it didn’t show as he flipped across the stage and through the lightsabers around in a way that only Darth Maul could! Those that were there may or may not have recognised me as I went up on stage and showed them all exactly how not to do it! Ray doesn’t have to worry about me stealing his job any time soon. It was great to see him interacting with everyone on stage and always being positive to encourage us to do our best. If it didn’t work, we tried again until we got it. It was a proper master class! Even with some of the younger kids who came up were handled really well by all the guys instructing, whether they were shy or loud, they were helped to do their best. I’m not ashamed to admit that a couple of the kids were way better with the lightsaber than i will ever be! After the demo it was back down the pub for a bit to see the usual rabble. I managed to stay out a bit longer this time (a whopping 22:30!) but it was still an earlier finish than i really wanted! The Sunday started a little earlier than the day before to try and avoid the long queues, and it worked. I was in in no time, although I was a little bit wetter than I’d hoped thanks to the rain. I wish I’d remembered about my emergency poncho before I’d walked half way from Hammersmith! Once inside there was no time for looking around as I was straight into my Duchovny shoot. It was fist bumps around as we walked up for our pics, and I got the same level of greeting from him as I did from my signing session, so I left happy. After David’s shoot I said hi to a few people and went into Meat Loaf’s talk. After the past couple of interactions with him I had expected it to be good and he didn’t disappoint! His stories made you laugh and cry and realise what an amazing life he has had. He told us he’s been called Meat since he was 4 days old, and talked about his favourite songs and how he sees himself as an actor not a singer, in that every song he does he performs a different character. It seems unlikely but if he ever does manage to get back on tour, I have to go. After the talk I killed some time round the stalls again and met up with some friends I hadn’t seen over the weekend yet and bumped into others I didn’t even know would be there! I love how random comic con can be for stuff like that! Then it was time for my Zach Levi photo. David Tennent’s photo before us was running a bit late and there were further complications when a poor girl in David’s queue fainted. His shoot finished without her getting a pic but we heard people say that they would try to sort out a selfie with David at the auto booth as the medical staff took her away. I hope she recovered and got her pic. Zach was as energetic and friendly has he had been earlier in the weekend which is great to see from a guest on day 3 of a con. I only realised from standing next to him just how giant that guy is and he’s definitely moved on from his Chuck days to being in shape for Shazam too! With my final shoot for the weekend over, it was time to collect my final autos. I met Emily Carey and Barbara Coles, both of whom seem so pleased to be there and talk to everyone as they signed away and posed for photos at the table. My final auto was Ray Park and when I got to his table he remembered me from the night before and was telling what parts he thought I did well, and what I needed to work on more. I will follow his advice and either get a lightsaber or just practise with a stick to see if I can improve my skills. Ray is a gent and a legend and I still am amazed that I go the opportunity to get a short lesson from him! Photos and autos completed, I headed into my final activity of the weekend which was Sam Neill’s talk on the main stage. It was great to see how relaxed Sam was as he answered any questions people had. The majority were of course about Jurassic Park, but the was also a nice mix about some of his various projects, yet no one asked about Event Horizon or The Dish! I had my hand in the air to ask a question for much of the talk but as I finally got handed the mic, they wrapped it up! Oh well. Walking noticeably slower than normal and feeling both physically and mentally exhausted, there was enough time to head down the pub one last time before heading off to central London with a group of friends for a meal before saying goodbye and heading home. My mission was complete. I had everything I set out to get from the weekend, and more. I love meeting the guests, and none of them this year disappointed me at all, but as ever it’s my friends and other attendees that made the weekend for me, so thank you to everyone I hung out with or talked to no matter how long for as it’s you guys that bring me back every year. Thanks for reading! Wrong Name TL;DR - Went to LFCC, met guests for photos and autos and had fun.

I only met Sam Neill and William Hope this weekend. Both really friendly. Sam Neill - I introduced myself as I got his autograph and he replied "G'day Matt". Asked how his weekend had been so far and he looked up and smiled "adventurous", I then cracked a joke about it being 'an adventure 65 million years in the making', pointing to the tagline of the Jurassic Park poster I was getting signed. He laughed but not sure if it was an awkward laugh! The next day he shook my hand and thanked me for coming during the photo-shoot. Top gentleman! William Hope - Shook my hand and said hello. Said he liked the t-shirt I was wearing. I then said to enjoy the rest of his weekend and he said you too.

People always incredulously ask me why I spent so much time/effort/money on these conventions when I could easily just go online and buy an autographed picture of whichever guest I want for less hassle. This is exactly what I say- if I was paying for 'just the autograph' then fine, but in my mind I'm paying for the memory of meeting and speaking to the person and signing an autograph that's personalized to me. An item and a memory that I can keep forever! You're paying for the experience, not just the signature!

Yup.

Yeah dark times that you missed out on saying Hi to me...

This is a great write-up! It sounds like you had an amazing time! I always love reading about people's experiences. I'm glad you had a great time!

I would do a write up of my con weekend, but it might get a bit dark.

Just read it

Personally I always enjoy reading others' lfcc experiences @The Friendly Dalek :)

Nice write up dude. Sounds like you had an awesome time! Make sure you keep a copy of this somewhere (in a Word file or something) so you have it to look back on in future years.

Always nice to read about others experience. I have been thinking of doing the same.

It is a dream of mine to meet Jamie Bamber & I came so SO close to it in July at LFCC before he completely understandably had to cancel due to work commitments (Malaysia is a pretty long way away!). If you could get him back for the Spring Con it would mean the absolute WORLD. He’s a complete inspiration to me & a dear friend and we would love the opportunity that be able to tell him this face to face. Of course as well with March 2019 being the 10 year anniversary of BSG finishing & with so many of the cast sadly having to cancel LFCC this year it would be a perfect opportunity to try & get them back wouldn’t it?

I've never been to a Comic Con before and a dream of mine is to meet Jamie Bamber and seeing as March 2019 marks the 10 year anniversary since the finale, and he (and most of the others) had to cancel LFCC, it would be GREAT to get the Battlestar cast and Jamie back for this con.

I don’t know about the BFI one but I use 2 Cineworld IMAX theatres in Edinburgh and Glasgow. I find it’s best to sit just behind the exact middle of the theatre. So not too far forward and not too far back. Edinburgh has 8 rows and I sit in the 5th or 6th. This guarantees the best sound as the digital IMAX sound is very impressive. I’m assuming this is where their premium seating will be located. I would also recommend any movie that is released in IMAX 3D. The immersive experience is incredible. I saw the Dark Knight in IMAX on release. It is great as Chris Nolan is obsessed with the format and pioneered IMAX cameras. He also uses it properly. A lot of “IMAX” releases are normal theatre releases just in a bigger screen. IMAX is so much more than that.

True, I will always remember how friendly both David Duchovny and Sam Neill were

I totally agree! and you remember these wonderful meetings and interactions forever! :)

ha no I made it after the event. I only got the pass on the day. :)

Yeah, and if there's nobody to spend it on, you get to blow it all on slushies afterwards. Just be careful of the brain freeze.

I saw that. I saw that from pretty far in the back, because this woman was caught by the camera which was showing the talk live on the big screen behind Duchovny. EVERYONE could see this person filming, because her act of filming was itself broadcast large on the big screen. I was astonished nobody shut her down.

Chookity! Chookity! Chookity! Yes, I'm watching the first episode

I'll confess, since he had avoided cons for so long, I had my doubts. Which were dissipated instantly by the dazzling smile with which he greeted everyone at the photoshoot. So happy to have met him!

The guests that couldn’t make summer this year would be amazing, namely: Megan Fox Mark Strong Val Kilmer The BSG cast Oh and getting Eccleston, Smith and Capaldi back would be amazing.

This post was brought to you by Nate's Subliminal Messaging Co. Influencing your choices since 10.44 this morning. Buy stuff wibbly wobbly wibbly wobbly

Awesome. You deserve the hastily made 'Bear Seal of Approval'.

I'm currently reading: "A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold," by George R. R. Martin!

Any listed below in my signature pretty please SM, especially Megan Fox and Battlestar Galactica cast.

Bring FINALLY guests from: VIKINGS!!! Alex Hogh Andersen Alexander Ludwig Gustaf Skarsgard Katheryn Winnick Travis Fimmel Clive Standen George Blagden Jasper Pääkönnen Marco Ilso Ferdia Walsh-Peelo And: Skeet Ulrich Tahmoh Penikett Jamie Bamber Michael Emerson Jodi Lyn O'Keefe Robert Knepper Kim Coates Chris Heyerdahl Tom Hiddleston Nikolaj Coster Waldau Chris Hemsworth Chris Evans Charlie Hunnam Jeff Goldblum

all the people who cancelled this year should come if they can this time that is

Ellie Kendrick - She is so lovely! I went over to her table; so, she immediately shook my hand to greet me. I was so shy, but Ellie made me feel so at ease. She asked me how I was; so, I asked her the same. She was so appreciative when I asked her back! Ellie looked so happy when I said it was a pleasure to meet her! She asked what my name is; so, I said my name is Chloe. She said it was lovely to meet me! She even took the time to ask me where I'm from. We had a lovely little chat about the convention and London! She asked me if I had been to London before, and how many times I'd been to this convention. I said it was my third time and I always really enjoy it! I was so nervous; and I didn't know what to say at one point, so I talked how we had to find somewhere else to park as the car park was full. She said she was glad I got here, though! She asked which picture I would like signed, so I gave one of Meera Reed to her. She politely asked if I had any dots above any of the letters in my name. I thanked her. My mother asked her if I could have my picture taken with her. Ellie couldn't have been sweeter! She agreed! She put her arm around me, so we could have our picture taken together. I thanked her again. I told her to have a lovely day; which she was really appreciative of, and told me to have the same. Ellie is so sweet, polite and lovely! Isaac Hempstead-Wright - He is so sweet and polite! I couldn't believe how nervous I was, but Isaac was so sweet! While shaking; I approached his table, and he greeted me with a hand shake. He asked me how I was; which I was really appreciative of, and I asked him as well. He really appreciated being asked. He thanked me. I said how nice it was meeting him which he was also really appreciate of. He said it was nice to meet me as well. He asked me my name, so I said it's Chloe. Then he said my name. He took the time to ask me where I'm from as well. Since I was so shy, my mother asked Isaac if he would mind having his picture taken while he signed his autograph for me. He said sure and it was no problem. We talked about the event, and asked if I was enjoying myself. I thanked him. He told me he was enjoying himself as well; as he loves doing conventions, as they're great fun! We carried on talking about conventions for a bit. He signed a picture of Bran Stark for me, but I wasn't sure what else to say. I thanked him for the autograph. I told him to have a lovely day; which he was really appreciative of, and said the same to me. I wish I had said more to him, but I was so nervous. He was so sweet and lovely! I just wish I had bought a photoshoot with him, too... Sam Neill - I was so nervous! I had a photograph session with him on Sunday... I went over to him; and he smiled to me, and was really polite! He put his arm around me, so I told him how much I loved him in The Tudors. He was so appreciative! He couldn't thank me enough! Rose McIver - She is so sweet and polite! I had a photograph session with Rose on Sunday in the afternoon... She noticed my friend and I were wearing the same shirts. However, it was not intentional. She loved them and complimented us! When it was my turn; I went over to Rose, and I told her how amazing she was in The Lovely Bones. She was so, so, so appreciative! She even thanked me three times during the shoot. She said she really appreciated it. I asked politely if I could have a hug for our picture; and she happily agreed, and asked if this hugging pose was okay. After the picture, she continued thanking me. I thanked her in return. Rose was beyond lovely! Thank you to everyone! You were all so, so, so lovely!

David Tennant being game for signing this and having a laugh with it after I explained to him, since I never got an Auto off Matt, and I never got a photo from him, I really wanted a compromise....

For my first ever con Rose McIver was a dream when she asked if i was alright as I looked nervous XD then gave me a hug to say I was star struck is unreal sam Neill was equally as amazing even apologised about the green screen shoot and said we have excellent names XD (my names sam as well ) shook his hand and told him what an honour it was to meet him and he replied no no the honour is all mine seeing all my fans what a guy Rahul Kohli well he took pics of my gaming sleeve and put it on his Instagram and we stood there for a good 10 minutes at his autograph table having a full blown convo loved every minute of the con and met and met some lovely people famous and non famous

Some more Battlestar guests after the disappointing cancellations last weekend.

Just the BSG cast members who had to cancel please. And Sam Witwer please.

Yes Steven Moffat was a trooper staying late for us!

I’ve officially done it I’ve met Peter Capaldi and David Tennant, thank you so much Showmasters for a brilliant day I’ve had such an amazing time and I’ve got so many memories which I will treasure forever! I will be posting my autographs and photos later

So Costas. My man. My main bestie. I met him both days, multiple times. He remembered me from when I met him in 2015, amazingly. He was happy to chat and pose for photos and gave me so many hugs. I did get somewhat emotional at one point during the day yesterday when I went back to see him and he pulled me into a tight hug and told me he appreciated me. Today at several points he came out from his table to talk to me when his queue went down. I know I'm biased but my god what a lovely human being. Eugene Brave Rock deserves so much praise, honestly. What an incredible man. After we talked a bit while getting his autograph, I bumped into him while he was walking around the venue because he was getting restless being sat at his table. Long story short we ended up walking around the upstairs area together for about 20 minutes, just looking at the comic and art stalls and talking! Today I went to his photoshoot and there were only six people myself included. I went back to say hello to him after that and I hoped to say goodbye before I left but he wasn't there. Aidan Turner has the most contagious smile! I was amazed how bubbly and smiley he was considering how swamped he was and how exhausted he must have been. I got a good handshake and a very quick but sweet chat at his table. I said hello to Ellie Kendrick while passing by and she remembered me from Birmingham, which was a nice surprise! She quoted the conversation we had about my job which even I didn't remember.

All the guests I met this year were fantastic and the only one I couldn't get a photo with, was Tony Robinson. Ray Park was brilliant at the photoshoot and at the table. First image the pen was running out, so he signed another image and told me to keep the original. Tony Robinson was a good laugh. I spotted his board said "Tim Team" so I pointed it out and asked him who Tim was. He thought it was brilliant and wanted to find someone who's actually called Tim Team. Really nice guy and a lot of time for his fans, even if the crew were trying to hurry him up.

David Duchovny was a dream to meet and so were Sam Neill and Ivana Milicevic, Shane Rimmer, Daniël Naprous, Vladimir Furdik...loved them all, didn't have a single bad experience this year

I had a phot shoot with James Caan yesterday and I was walking up to him and he says “F#ck your big. Listen, if I pick a fight, you got my back right? Just not a fight with you cause you would kill me” and had a good laugh. He was awesome. Just for reference I am 6ft 5in and 330lbs so yeah I am a giant. Devon Murray called me Hagrid today.

Wes Chatham-super nice guy! Can we have him back? :)