How many repeat guests should there be?

[DavidB]

I was just curious as to the general consensus regarding the amount of repeat guests there should be in a lineup.

 

Personally, I've always been a fan of meeting as many people from a show as possible, and having a large collection of individual autographs/cast shots etc, rather than a large collection from one particular guests.

 

I notice, however, that particularly with these events, many people seem to want the same guests back again and again. I saw how insistent people were about having Kai there, and Gareth etc.

 

So will it ever get to a point where people want an entire lineup of repeat guests? Now on top of Kai, Gareth, Tom, the main cast etc, people want Rik and Ben back amongst others.

 

I realise there'll always be new attendees, and therefore these guests will be 'new' to some, but many of you have attended all of them and still want the same guests.

 

We all have our different wants/needs - I still need to meet Burn and Naoko for example - so I just wondered how people would like it to play out. Have we run out of completely 'new' guests that people would actually be interested in?

[etmuse]

I think there are still a fair few 'new' guests we could see - I'd personally love to see Caroline Chikeze or Bryan Dick, as I thought they did brilliant jobs with the guest roles they had - and I'm sure other people have some guest stars they'd like to see.

 

I think I said on my Naoko thread too though that a mix of new and repeat guests seems to work the best for me - the repeat guests know what 'works' at a Hub con, and help the new people get into the spirit of things.

 

I don't think I'd want more than 50-60% of a line-up to be repeat guests... but then, as I haven't been to them all, if it was taken higher than that by repeats from Hub1, I probably wouldn't mind so much.

[torchwoodangel93]

I know some people want different guests to return, and there is people like Rik, Ben, Matt, ect. that many people would like to return.

 

But if you actually look at it properly, you'll notice, most people want guests bak, but aren't really fussed when they don't come back OTHER than Gareth and Kai. Because they have been to ALL the hubs so far, and they make everything stupidly fun, and I think most people would agree that if Kai and Gareth don't come then it doesn't feel like a hub properly.

 

On the saturday I kept saying how weird it felt without Kai... So i'm REALLY glad that he came on the sunday!!

 

I really doubt that this will happen for the whole guest line up. Maybe there will be a hub with all returning guests, but I don't think they will all get to be as wanted as Gareth and Kai.

Edited November 17, 2009 by torchwoodangel93

[Allieandra]

I think there needs to be some repeat guests as a lot of the first timers haven't attended any conventions before and do seem to be quite out of their depth.

 

Gareth & Kai are repeatedly asked for because they have the ability to liven up the talks and make it more entertaining for everyone.

 

I think this was why many people asked for Rippy back too. Not only did he make a talk with a guest who seemed to be floundering interesting but he also attended the parties.

 

Ben attended the party at Hub3 and is still interacting with fans online so is likely to be an easy guest to have at another Hub (despite his small role in CoE).

 

 

 

I'm all for new guests at conventions but there needs to be people there to fall back on if the worst comes to the worst.

[Blackbird]

Excellent post, DavidB. Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to weigh in on this.

 

There's a certain comfort factor in having some returning guests, including some that have been at every Hub (e.g., Gareth and Kai). It's like seeing old friends again, and it tends to ground the event. So, whilst I love a mix of recurring guests, popular returning guests (e.g., John Barrowman, Naoko Mori, Burn Gorman, Tom Price, Matt Rippy, Rik Makarem, Ben Loyd-Holmes, Eve Myles) and new guests, I would be very happy at some point to see a lineup of people who'd all been there before and been popular with the attendees. I'm pretty sure that a Hub featuring all the main cast (in which I very much include Kai) and some recurring actors (e.g., Paul Kasey, Tom Price and Andy Jones) would be a draw for quite a few people. It would be a bit like having a really fun party with friends.

 

To sum up, I've loved meeting almost all of the guests SM have lined up for us over the past year and would love to meet some more (Peter Capaldi, Caroline Chikezie, Cush Jumbo, James Marsters, James Moran, Chris Chibnall, Ben Foster and Euros Lyn immediately leap to mind), I really want all the main cast members back at some point, and it really, really doesn't feel like a Hub convention without Gareth and Kai.

[DavidB]

I see what people mean about having ones to fall back on, or that will carry things a bit for the newer ones etc. You always have strong characters at conventions who will move things on, and direct the talks etc, so I can imagine Gareth and Kai are like that.

 

That's not to say the new ones wouldn't be just as good, but ones that haven't been guests before can take a while to get into it.

 

It's interesting to read though. Obviously an organiser will never be able to please everyone, but it's great when you see guests being popular with the fans when maybe they weren't high on priority lists beforehand.

[etmuse]

it's great when you see guests being popular with the fans when maybe they weren't high on priority lists beforehand.

Both Hubs I've been to so far there have been guests that weren't high on my 'excited to meet' list at all, but that I came away thinking were fantastic - no matter how small their part in the show was, if they engage with the fans and the whole con 'experience' then there's a good chance they'll come out of it with a whole lot more fans than they had going in!

[owlpost1992]

It's interesting to read though. Obviously an organiser will never be able to please everyone, but it's great when you see guests being popular with the fans when maybe they weren't high on priority lists beforehand.

 

Most of the smaller cast members at Hub 1 were much more fun and memorable then the main cast, guests like Andy Jones who wasn't announced but was sponsored was a load of fun especially when he was gonna tell the other Weevils their nicknames and he started signing everything afterwards from The Hot Weevil. He was also very easy on the eyes...

Hub 2 I don't think there was anyone not on my priority list, I decided with Burn's announcement I was gonna have the time of my life no matter what.

Hub 3, Paul was really lovely I didn't have expectations of him but he rose from that to being completely adorable.

 

I do want a mix of old and new guests 50/50 would be excellent but please not too many from one series again.

[BeatrixKiddo88]

I would say after 2 hubs and various cons, I'd still be happy with 50-60% repeat guests.

 

So far we have had one guest who wasnt into it, everyone else got into the talks and had a fun time, so any of them would be welcome back.

 

Plus as I didnt attened the hub 1, guests who went to that but havnt been back would be nice.

 

But I also would love some new guests, like Marsters and Agyeman.

[ElectroxGirl]

I think probably the main cast we'll always be happy to meet and like to have them as repeats. Guests like Rik, Ben and Matt are great to get back as well as we know they're entertaining and lovely. Of course we still want new guests because we never know what they're going to be like and it's always good to meet new people.

[Doctor Who]

I'm basically going to agree with what everyone has said, it'd be great to have a mixture. I've only attended The Hub 3 so I obviously haven't met a lot of guests from the first two events who I really would love to get the chance to meet. I completely understand where everyone is coming from about Kai and Gareth, they really did make the weekend for me along with other entertaining guests such as Rik and Ben. I'd be happy to meet any of the guests from The Hub 3 again and would love to see any from the first two Hubs announced too but I think there should definitely be some new guests as well.

Edited November 17, 2009 by Doctor Who

[TerraHawk]

I think attending once in each venue is fair game, but then I'm biased in that I want certain people to go to Birmingham , Northampton has no interest to me.

 

It wasn't John or James who sold the Hub 3 to me. I don't have anything else for Kai or Gareth to sign.

[Avengers7]

Not interested in repeat guests - new guests are always better as far as I'm concerned..

 

 

However, the main Torchwood cast are always welcome back including. Naoko Mori and Burn Gorman. Have met Eve Myles so many times that she knows my name. Shes great.

[hells childe 17]

Always a joy to see the main cast again and agan. Tho the only one i've not met is Naoko !

I'm happy with repaet guests, as they've all been lovely.

But would like to meet some new ones to, like Lucy Cohu (Alice) or Brian Dick (Adam)

[cinderblock]

But if you actually look at it properly, you'll notice, most people want guests bak, but aren't really fussed when they don't come back OTHER than Gareth and Kai. Because they have been to ALL the hubs so far, and they make everything stupidly fun, and I think most people would agree that if Kai and Gareth don't come then it doesn't feel like a hub properly.

 

On the saturday I kept saying how weird it felt without Kai... So i'm REALLY glad that he came on the sunday!!

 

I really doubt that this will happen for the whole guest line up. Maybe there will be a hub with all returning guests, but I don't think they will all get to be as wanted as Gareth and Kai.

 

Word.