Karen Gillan hidden away

[WHO1]

Now I know its my own fault for deciding to go to LFCC as late as last Thursday thus missing out on Karens auto and talk purchases but I thought it was a bit sad that she was hidden away from the view of us mere mortals.

I was talking/ eavesdropping to people outside and it appeared whilst a fair few were turning up for the day to have a ruddy good time there was also a lot there to have a quick gawp at Karen should they miss out on the VTs. I myself got number 854 when we arrived at 9.30 so we had a quick look round the stalls and got off. We then came back after 2pm to see the VT que was at number 454 and after a nice chat with the guy handing out the tickets we got the impression that if we came back after 5pm we MAY get a chance to get an auto. Now as wed already left the con once and returned I didnt fancy nipping out again on the 'orrible tube to do something else until 5pm just to be dissapointed so we got off and hit London. I was told earlier the talk had sold out and I assumed the area was to be boxed off too so that was another reason not to hang about. Even the photo shoot was positioned so you couldnt see Karen whereas with Camille Codouri etc you could have a sly peak as you walked past.

Normally we would have stayed but the sheer amount of people, the heat and the fact that manners had partially been chucked out the window for the day meant there was no way were hanging about which I know is our choice. Ive been to loads of cons but this was hard work. Browsing was out of the question as I like a leisurely browse.

In a roundabout way what im saying amongst all this waffle is it would have been nice to get just a quick look at Karen as this is partly the reason we came down from Manchester as did many others from elsewhere. SURE its best to not decide to go to London at the last minute to get a non advance auto off a star of Karens status but just a quick look of her ginger loveliness wouldve been nice to go home with.

 

One last whinge. The kid on the left handing out the talk tickets. What was all that about? Poor kid couldnt rise above a mumble.

Edited July 10, 2011 by WHO1

[TommyT]

In a roundabout way what im saying amongst all this waffle is it would have been nice to get just a quick look at Karen

Unfortunately that would probably be you and several thousand others wanting to have a "quick" look, which would no doubt clog up the event enormously. (I suspect older hands will be able to recall examples of occasions where popular guests were not cloistered away and the resultant gawping masses where chaotic...)

[tanusspijek]

I can understand Karen being hidden from view otherwise they'd be a big problem with crowds just clogging up the area. I've seen it with other big guests in the past, you cannot walk past or through that area as so many people hanging around. Try getting a ticket when there are 200 hundered people just hanging arounf. Its not as if people have a quick look and move on, rather they loiter in the area for ages and surely it then starts becoming a health and safety issue. I'm not blaming anyone as its human nature to want to have a look at a guest (and I'm as gulity as anyone)

 

I'm sure SM have a decent reason for shielding that area from view.

Edited July 10, 2011 by tanusspijek

[alisonloub]

Now I know its my own fault for deciding to go to LFCC as late as last Thursday thus missing out on Karens auto and talk purchases but I thought it was a bit sad that she was hidden away from the view of us mere mortals.

I was talking/ eavesdropping to people outside and it appeared whilst a fair few were turning up for the day to have a ruddy good time there was also a lot there to have a quick gawp at Karen should they miss out on the VTs. I myself got number 834 when we arrived at 9.30 so we had a quick look round the stalls and got off. We then came back after 2pm to see the VT que was at number 454 and after a nice chat with the guy handing out the tickets we got the impression that if we came back after 5pm we MAY get a chance to get an auto. Now as wed already left the con once and returned I didnt fancy nipping out again on the 'orrible tube to do something else until 5pm just to be dissapointed so we got off and hit London. I was told earlier the talk had sold out and I assumed the area was to be boxed off too so that was another reason not to hang about. Even the photo shoot was positioned so you couldnt see Karen whereas with Camille Codouri etc you could have a sly peak as you walked past.

Normally we would have stayed but the sheer amount of people, the heat and the fact that manners had partially been chucked out the window for the day meant there was no way were hanging about which I know is our choice. Ive been to loads of cons but this was hard work. Browsing was out of the question as I like a leisurely browse.

In a roundabout way what im saying amongst all this waffle is it would have been nice to get just a quick look at Karen as this is partly the reason we came down from Manchester as did many others from elsewhere. SURE its best to not decide to go to London at the last minute to get a non advance auto off a star of Karens status but just a quick look of her ginger loveliness wouldve been nice to go home with.

 

One last whinge. The kid on the left handing out the talk tickets. What was all that about? Poor kid couldnt rise above a mumble.

It would have been a saftey issue I would imagine, there would have been to many people wanting a gawp at her, clogging the walkway and it meant Jason would have to had more security and crew laid on.

This is my opinion Tho.

Edited July 10, 2011 by alisonloub

[Fry]

Hiding her a way was probably a good thing.

What I hate about these shows are the sad people who block everything up by standing and staring at the celebs or trying to take pictures. If you are that interested put your had in your pocket or move on!

With Dr Who being big business at the moment and therefore Karen as well, placing her in a sealed off area stops all these loitering neanderthals from blocking all the walk ways.

As it was Saturday reminded me of a Romero film with a lot of braindead people wondering aimlessly around.

 

On the plus side I did get to meet Karen for an autograph and the photoshoot and she was nothing like what I expected. She was lovely, chatty and intestested in meeting her fans.

[WHO1]

I get the message. I should have sorted out my trip to London weeks in advance and the Karen auto and photoshoot but this was a last minute thing due to extra cash coming my way.

 

Im not a big gawper of celebs at cons tbh. I used to have a quick look at various folk because they were off the telly or movies but yesterday I didnt bother apart from Sylvester and Sophie to see how they are looking these days. Im not big on treating folk like exhibits in a zoo either and yes the fact some of the cons attendees resembled extras from Romero's finester 127 mins is the reason we didnt hang on.

[Fry]

I get the message. I should have sorted out my trip to London weeks in advance and the Karen auto and photoshoot but this was a last minute thing due to extra cash coming my way.

 

Im not a big gawper of celebs at cons tbh. I used to have a quick look at various folk because they were off the telly or movies but yesterday I didnt bother apart from Sylvester and Sophie to see how they are looking these days. Im not big on treating folk like exhibits in a zoo either and yes the fact some of the cons attendees resembled extras from Romero's finester 127 mins is the reason we didnt hang on.

 

 

A man of my own heart!

[nickysgirl77]

As other people have said, I kind of expected her to be hidden away. It was the same as Carrie Fisher & Billy Dee Williams were at Collectormania 6.

 

However Carrie came back to LFCC a few years ago and was out on display so maybe if and when Karen comes back we will all get to see her.

 

I know SM have to do these things for Safety and they have clearly been successful so far with these events so they obviously know what they are doing

[hobbitfanatic]

I remember at Collectormania when the hobbits were there the first day had a crowd looking though the windows and banging on it all the time to try and get them to look over.

It was most upsettting when you we're meeting the guest and people stared and spoilt your meeting.

I've been many a time you can't get past for people just looking for a nosey.

I'm really glad they had Karen hidden away it made the experience better.

[amylou]

I remember at Collectormania when the hobbits were there the first day had a crowd looking though the windows and banging on it all the time to try and get them to look over.

 

Oh god, I was at that one and it was a nightmare. They were right next large glass windows and people were pushing and banging on the windows at one point so much, there was a concern that the glass was going to break under the force.

 

In the end, the safety of the guest has to come first!

[DAY TRIPPER]

if you think about it

how many doctor who fans where there that day?

and no offence but how rude can some doctor who fans get? im a fan, and ive met some pretty rude people.

so if karen was open to everyone. things could have got a bit out of hand. everyone taken photos, possible yellings of "karen karen!"

i think she was quite popular on sat. so if lots of people wanted to see her they would have hung around the area blocking the way.

 

and i think the walls were for her own safety. some fans can get a little nuts at times

[Charmer]

I agree that it was best that she was hidden away. It's not as if she's a past companion, she's currently on one of the most popular shows in we have it would have been madness to have her out with everyone. There'd constantly be screams of 'NO PHOTOS!' and no one would get through.

[fritzlang]

Now I know its my own fault for deciding to go to LFCC as late as last Thursday thus missing out on Karens auto and talk purchases but I thought it was a bit sad that she was hidden away from the view of us mere mortals.

I was talking/ eavesdropping to people outside and it appeared whilst a fair few were turning up for the day to have a ruddy good time there was also a lot there to have a quick gawp at Karen should they miss out on the VTs. I myself got number 854 when we arrived at 9.30 so we had a quick look round the stalls and got off. We then came back after 2pm to see the VT que was at number 454 and after a nice chat with the guy handing out the tickets we got the impression that if we came back after 5pm we MAY get a chance to get an auto. Now as wed already left the con once and returned I didnt fancy nipping out again on the 'orrible tube to do something else until 5pm just to be dissapointed so we got off and hit London. I was told earlier the talk had sold out and I assumed the area was to be boxed off too so that was another reason not to hang about. Even the photo shoot was positioned so you couldnt see Karen whereas with Camille Codouri etc you could have a sly peak as you walked past.

Normally we would have stayed but the sheer amount of people, the heat and the fact that manners had partially been chucked out the window for the day meant there was no way were hanging about which I know is our choice. Ive been to loads of cons but this was hard work. Browsing was out of the question as I like a leisurely browse.

In a roundabout way what im saying amongst all this waffle is it would have been nice to get just a quick look at Karen as this is partly the reason we came down from Manchester as did many others from elsewhere. SURE its best to not decide to go to London at the last minute to get a non advance auto off a star of Karens status but just a quick look of her ginger loveliness wouldve been nice to go home with.

 

One last whinge. The kid on the left handing out the talk tickets. What was all that about? Poor kid couldnt rise above a mumble.

oh yes,who was thar kid giving out the talk tickets on saturday afternoon? he could barely string a sentence together and looked half asleep.he also nearly made me miss the veronica cartwright talk by first telling me she wasnt doing one.......then telling me he hadnt heard of her..........until i pointed out he was holding her talk tickets in his hand.........

[WHO1]

 

and no offence but how rude can some doctor who fans get? im a fan, and ive met some pretty rude people.

 

 

How rude can Doctor Who fans get? These people are not Black Metal fans. They are on the whole jovial types and jolly kids. Theres the odd loon from the classic series era who knows not of soap and manners but they are well behaved on the whole in my experiance since the show came back. Ive only ever seen a fight between two Doctor fans and that was a disagreement over who was the best Doctor. It got messy, there was a lot of tutting.

 

I do think though that there was a lot of rude people at the show on Saturday. At many a con ive been to theres always plenty of "no..after you" and "excuse me" going on but that was missing from Earls Court. They was a lot of happy smiley people about but there was also a lot of expressionless folk just barging into everybody. Im not shy but along with the heat it put me off browsing. I went expecting to spend 200 quid and all i got was Reservoir Dogs for £5 on Blu Ray. I must point out apart from mumbles at the talk table the staff were great however. I do agree that there should be a cap on attendees but its a business and that line all the way to the road facing the tube indicated that business was very very good.

[Misschocobo]

Now I know its my own fault for deciding to go to LFCC as late as last Thursday thus missing out on Karens auto and talk purchases but I thought it was a bit sad that she was hidden away from the view of us mere mortals.

I was talking/ eavesdropping to people outside and it appeared whilst a fair few were turning up for the day to have a ruddy good time there was also a lot there to have a quick gawp at Karen should they miss out on the VTs. I myself got number 854 when we arrived at 9.30 so we had a quick look round the stalls and got off. We then came back after 2pm to see the VT que was at number 454 and after a nice chat with the guy handing out the tickets we got the impression that if we came back after 5pm we MAY get a chance to get an auto. Now as wed already left the con once and returned I didnt fancy nipping out again on the 'orrible tube to do something else until 5pm just to be dissapointed so we got off and hit London. I was told earlier the talk had sold out and I assumed the area was to be boxed off too so that was another reason not to hang about. Even the photo shoot was positioned so you couldnt see Karen whereas with Camille Codouri etc you could have a sly peak as you walked past.

Normally we would have stayed but the sheer amount of people, the heat and the fact that manners had partially been chucked out the window for the day meant there was no way were hanging about which I know is our choice. Ive been to loads of cons but this was hard work. Browsing was out of the question as I like a leisurely browse.

In a roundabout way what im saying amongst all this waffle is it would have been nice to get just a quick look at Karen as this is partly the reason we came down from Manchester as did many others from elsewhere. SURE its best to not decide to go to London at the last minute to get a non advance auto off a star of Karens status but just a quick look of her ginger loveliness wouldve been nice to go home with.

 

One last whinge. The kid on the left handing out the talk tickets. What was all that about? Poor kid couldnt rise above a mumble.

oh yes,who was thar kid giving out the talk tickets on saturday afternoon? he could barely string a sentence together and looked half asleep.he also nearly made me miss the veronica cartwright talk by first telling me she wasnt doing one.......then telling me he hadnt heard of her..........until i pointed out he was holding her talk tickets in his hand.........

 

I had the same problem getting tickets for the harry potter talk, which i did miss! They told me they didn't have the tickets even though the info desk had sent me over there, and then i was given a ticket for the corey fieldman talk instead of the Sylvester mcoy talk!! There were two kids when i was there and i was asking for tickets (for a second time seeing as i got a couple of wrong tickets!) and one of them was off in some daydream (probably about miley cyrus or something ¬.¬) while i was trying to ask for tickets, his friend with him had to give him a nudge so i could get my tickets.

They must have been like 12....what the hell were they even doing being given that job?

[dwarfbabe]

oh yes,who was thar kid giving out the talk tickets on saturday afternoon? he could barely string a sentence together and looked half asleep.he also nearly made me miss the veronica cartwright talk by first telling me she wasnt doing one.......then telling me he hadnt heard of her..........until i pointed out he was holding her talk tickets in his hand.........

 

I had the same problem getting tickets for the harry potter talk, which i did miss! They told me they didn't have the tickets even though the info desk had sent me over there, and then i was given a ticket for the corey fieldman talk instead of the Sylvester mcoy talk!! There were two kids when i was there and i was asking for tickets (for a second time seeing as i got a couple of wrong tickets!) and one of them was off in some daydream (probably about miley cyrus or something ¬.¬) while i was trying to ask for tickets, his friend with him had to give him a nudge so i could get my tickets.

They must have been like 12....what the hell were they even doing being given that job?

 

If you have any problems like that at the show, you need to speak to a pit boss or someone on the organisers booth at the time. That way, you've got a chance of getting things resolved but complaining on here after the event doesn't really help anyone.

[lizzy88]

I think it was really good she was screened off. The signing area was clogged up enough as it was - it would have been hell if people had been standing round gawking at her too. I think it's a fantastically effective measure of crowd control - and tbh if anyone was that determined to meet her I would assume they'd stick around the whole day.

 

I had the same problem getting tickets for the harry potter talk, which i did miss! They told me they didn't have the tickets even though the info desk had sent me over there, and then i was given a ticket for the corey fieldman talk instead of the Sylvester mcoy talk!! There were two kids when i was there and i was asking for tickets (for a second time seeing as i got a couple of wrong tickets!) and one of them was off in some daydream (probably about miley cyrus or something ¬.¬) while i was trying to ask for tickets, his friend with him had to give him a nudge so i could get my tickets.

They must have been like 12....what the hell were they even doing being given that job?

 

I had a problem with the kid giving out the talk tickets too as he didn't seem to know what was happening - so I found another crew member to talk to (a woman with long black hair) who was EXTEREMELY helpful and found out everything I wanted to know, even popping in to a talk to check with a woman supervising in there. As I've always found - if one crew member isn't helpful, ask another and they may be more willing to help or may have more knowledge.

[etmuse]

If you'd seen how hard it was trying to keep nearby queuing areas clear around Christopher Lloyd (so that people could actually queue for the guests next to him!) you'd understand why they cloistered her away. The number of people that tried to just linger around and get in the way to try to get a few snaps and a look was insane.

[Rockstar6662]

I remember at Collectormania when the hobbits were there the first day had a crowd looking though the windows and banging on it all the time to try and get them to look over.

 

Oh god, I was at that one and it was a nightmare. They were right next large glass windows and people were pushing and banging on the windows at one point so much, there was a concern that the glass was going to break under the force.

 

In the end, the safety of the guest has to come first!

 

me too, it was chaos and madness combined. I was not at all surprised to find Karen secluded at the back. I'm more surprised that one or two others weren't but as a paid-for event I'm guessing most of the people going appreciate the issue of respecting the guests. I did notice some people gawping and trying to take photos from a distance but in general it's not like the shopping centre with loads of random people just being nosey.

 

Other than some of the queues stretching back into the dealer area at times and the fact there were few barriers seperating the queues for each guest I quite liked the setup.

[Avengers7]

Hiding her a way was probably a good thing.

What I hate about these shows are the sad people who block everything up by standing and staring at the celebs or trying to take pictures. If you are that interested put your had in your pocket or move on!

With Dr Who being big business at the moment and therefore Karen as well, placing her in a sealed off area stops all these loitering neanderthals from blocking all the walk ways.

As it was Saturday reminded me of a Romero film with a lot of braindead people wondering aimlessly around.

 

On the plus side I did get to meet Karen for an autograph and the photoshoot and she was nothing like what I expected. She was lovely, chatty and intestested in meeting her fans.

 

 

Totally agree with you.

[WHO1]

and tbh if anyone was that determined to meet her I would assume they'd stick around the whole day.

 

Im a big fan of Doctor Who but I didnt fancy hanging around til 6pm. I love Karens portrayal of Amy and would have loved to have had another signed pic but the show was way too busy and too warm to hang around for four more hours. As a Mancunian in London for the first time since the 80s plus the fact Ive already met Karen once before we decided to split. Maybe I underestimated how many people would be attending. The Manchester and Birmingham shows were in no way that busy and I didnt take into account that a show in the capitol would be so packed. Silly me. Yes its a bit daft of me to expect Karen not to be hidden away in hindsight and if she ever does another show out of London ill be booking a photo shoot etc way in advance.

[Jemzamia]

Hiding Karen away was a good thing. Sorry if this sounds mean but those who have paid for an autograph deserve to get it without a ton of onlookers in the way. Her selling out 800 photoshoots was a clear indicator of how busy she would be and thus they had to organise it in a way to make sure it worked as smoothly as possible.

Edited July 11, 2011 by Jemzamia

[Grazer]

They did the same for Shatner and Tyson last year. I was at the front "pushing" both those Q's as I was Karens Saturday and from my perspective, it works brillantly for the reasons many have stated already. I can see the whole Q, know everyone in it has paid and is there to see the guest, stop photos (if necessary) and I can stop people coming in through the exit.

 

I think with the bigger guests this is going to be a regular set up.

[hobbitfanatic]

I remember at Collectormania when the hobbits were there the first day had a crowd looking though the windows and banging on it all the time to try and get them to look over.

It was most upsettting when you we're meeting the guest and people stared and spoilt your meeting.

I've been many a time you can't get past for people just looking for a nosey.

I'm really glad they had Karen hidden away it made the experience better.

The FIRST day? Sunday AND Monday, IIRC, they had folks tapping, Dracula-like on the glass next to Elijah/Dom, and screeching when they got a look up/wave.. Not forgetting those clogging the whole area to the left of John Lewis.

 

Then you have the ape-wannabes who thought the trees around Billy Boy were there to aid their peeping-tom behaviour at his shows.. and the folks at the Fisher/Billy-Dee Williams who.. on the same flank at MK as Elijah, saw the queues to get the double sigs.. thought they'd make a third to 'just shake their hands..'

 

Last year, William F Shatner was hidden away. Could have been his agent's instructions..

 

I thought they put up some umbellra the second day or am I thinking of Carrie Fisher?

[DavidB]

I hope the biggest guests are always done in this way. It's the best way to organise them.