Karen Gillan

[Rockstar6662]

her crew member PA-ing her was lovely.

YAY! That was me!

 

 

You were great too and now I have a face to go with the name I'll say hi next time, not that you'll have a inkling who I am. It's so nice to hear that she enjoyed it, even being so busy. She did seem a bit overwhelmed but took it all in good grace and threw herself into it. It was a pleasure just being able to say a few quick words and interact with her for a few moment while she signed and then just move on with a lovely feeling. I don't mind things being quick but it didn't feel overly rushed at all.

 

Interesting about the pens too. Explains much but I'm happy with both my 10x8 and the larger print from the talk I got signed.

 

Good job from everyone.

[tenshidarkangel]

Karen (im hoping you read this and will porb send this in letter form to your agent anyway)

 

Thank you so much!

 

My sister whos 11 beleived she wasnt going to get to meet you because of our VQ numbers and got very upset at the thought of missing out on seeing her idol however we were called in at 5pm.

When she met you she burst into tears again at being so happy to see you and you gave her the biggest hug making her day a truely special one and making her birthday complete.

 

Your kindness towards her was unmatchable and i am truely greatful for it

 

Thank you!!

[lams9999]

I had the chance to meet Karen at both the photo session and the autograph and although the whole combined experience lasted maybe 20-25 seconds, every second was worth it. Karen was brilliant, stunning, friendly, smiling, top guest given the fact she had 800 photo shoots and signed more than 1000 autographs. Very very nice guest

[gillans]

Karen was lovely - I hope she comes back soon - but I'm rather disappointed with the £100 I spent on autographs. The silver pen was far too thick for my items, meaning beyond sentimental value they aren't the best in my collection.

 

I'm sure I have a repuation on here for moaning, but I'd never felt the need to actually mention it in person at the helpdesk until yesterday. The results after queuing sooo early, were a let down.

 

Sorry you feel disappointed by that. I'm sure there would be nothing preventing you from taking your own pen in future - one that you know will work fine on your item - and ask the person to use that.

 

oddly the black pens were the opposite and a little thin, almost like they were running out. Unless she just has a very light touch when writing her name.

 

yeah, I took my own pen and asked her to use that and it worked fine. although it does look like she has a light touch, which considering how many autographs she signed that day, i don't blame her if her hand hardly touched the paper. :)

[davidbrookes]

the chap before me had some 15 photos to get signed

I thought with VTs the maximum was 5? Glad I didn't know in advance though, I got 5 signed (and to help the cash person £105 of that was in £5 notes ) and could have quite easily seen myself getting more if I hadn't realised there wasn't a limit.

[Jemzamia]

the chap before me had some 15 photos to get signed

I thought with VTs the maximum was 5? Glad I didn't know in advance though, I got 5 signed (and to help the cash person £105 of that was in £5 notes ) and could have quite easily seen myself getting more if I hadn't realised there wasn't a limit.

 

That chap was probably a dealer. Dealers get a larger limit

[alisonloub]

We decided from the moment she was going, we WASNT going to get her autograph, as we knew we would get a very high number (just our luck we always do!), but we brought my son a shoot, so we were happy and I was allowed in the shoot with him, so I could see her too, which was enough for me!!.

 

I hope that when filming DW next year we will be able to meet her then, as we did with Matt this year!

[Alx]

We decided from the moment she was going, we WASNT going to get her autograph, as we knew we would get a very high number (just our luck we always do!),

 

It really depends on how long you can wait. To explain I had handed out over 1000 VQ tickets before standard entry (Showing thwe true value of ordering the early bird tickets in advance). I worked my ass off to help everyone get a VQ ticket and try and put an estimate of when you would get to see Karen.

 

Following her talk the queue appeared, with hundreds of people that hadnt been called, nonetheless we sorted this and once we got the queue where we had wanted we were getting the numbers up quickly. Sadly for anyone that hadnt been able to stay, we had managed to get Karens Queue to an Open Queue for the final 3minutes (It dosent sound like much, but that was an extra 20 people who hadnt even picked up a VQ ticket). It is possible.

 

Karen was a real Trooper though and I wish her all the best. I would also like to Thank all of you guys who wanted to meet her. I know that it must have been difficult to stand / sit and wait, but I was determined to get you all through and if I upset anyone throughout the day, I hope you can understand the pressure (and further more I hope you managed to get to see Karen.

 

Alex

[SerbianJanet]

I would just like to add my fab experience with Karen to the growing list!! My friend and I saw her around 10am (VT 11 and 37) and I wanted to tell her about my uncle who is a steadicam operator and worked on a couple of her eps of Doctor Who. She listened to my whole story and when I described him to her (he looks quite distinctive!) she had a genuine recognition-face - not just an "Oh, right, yeah" type look that most people would give just to make you feel better about telling the story, but you could tell she genuinely remembered him, even if only vaguely! So we had a nice little chat about him and she told me "I'm a big fan of the steadicam!".

 

Then my friend told her we'd see her in San Diego in a couple of weeks and she got all giddy and excited again.

 

Awesome, awesome guest. Such a chatterbox and still getting through so many sigs is a true feat and I love her all the more for it!

[adriangill]

the chap before me had some 15 photos to get signed

I thought with VTs the maximum was 5?

That may have been Derek (10th Planets) fufilling the pre-orders that people placed.

[showmasters]

it was ether him or one of his team

 

jason

[timelord81r]

the chap before me had some 15 photos to get signed

I thought with VTs the maximum was 5? Glad I didn't know in advance though, I got 5 signed (and to help the cash person £105 of that was in £5 notes ) and could have quite easily seen myself getting more if I hadn't realised there wasn't a limit.

 

That chap was probably a dealer. Dealers get a larger limit

 

 

I dont get why dealers get to queue up before all the ppl who have been outside for hours lol, especially as they then sell what they got signed marked up as soon as the guest has gone.

 

 

regarding loads being signed, I saw a 10th planet guy drop off loads for pre sign for 10th for alex kingston to do later, he also had the ticket that marked how many had been paid for, ive also seen in the past them queueing to do this. alot of these are for ppl who have pre ordered them as they cant attend, the rest are sold on there online store after the show.

 

 

back to karen, she was just fantastic, her personality is so bubbly and wild, lovely person. hope jason can get her back soon, she was a big hit!

[adam.anouer]

Karen was absolutely Incredible I can't deny it. And during the shoot the fact I was able to make her burst into a fit of laughter...that was absolutely brilliant :-D

 

1200 Autographs

800 Photoshoots

1 Hour Q & A

 

Not a single break, Not a Single complaint and Absolutely sweet until the end. I think she deserves absolutely every ounce of respect. And that said I would also like to add a massive shame on the sun for the recent articles they slammed her with. Totally Uncalled for.

 

her crew member PA-ing her was lovely.

YAY! That was me!

 

Karen had a great time meeting everyone and it's true that she gave up her hour lunch and took a 25 minute break instead so she could meet more of the people that were waiting to see her. She was given a lot of gifts and she took them all with her, she also took the gifts that were given to me during her talk because I passed them on as promised.

 

As one of the crew looking after her on Saturday, I'd like to thank almost all of the people who came through her autograph queue for being pleasant and just generally brilliant. With the odd exception of a few really rude individuals who got very pushy about photos and other time-consuming requests, most people were amazing and very respectful of the hundreds of people still waiting to meet her. It is partly thanks to you that so many were able to get autographs and EVERYONE who waited to meet her had the chance to get an autograph

 

It's unfortunate that so many VQ ticket holders had to leave before the end of the show, but by the time she left there was nobody waiting by the booth for an autograph. Yes, it was a quick moving process but we did our best to avoid making it feel too rushed and I tried to make sure that nobody had their item signed without them standing by it.

 

As for the pens, they were all brand new but Karen kept leaving the lids off so they kept drying out. We went through a dozen silvers and a handful of blacks (you may have seen the Sharpie box on the desk, lol) and I apologise to anyone who got an 'inbetween' autograph. The thicker autographs came from the way she held the pens because the angle of the pen in relation to the desk makes a huge difference to the mark left behind. In Karen's case that angle was quite low (ie, closer to being parallel to the table) and therefore she was writing with the side of the pen rather than the tip and that makes a thicker line. Next time, feel free to bring your own pen. If the crew assisting the guest knows what they're doing, it will make little to no difference in how long it takes to get your item signed and you shouldn't feel bad about holding up the queue with a pen request

 

By the way can I just add Yvie...very, very nicely done! And your pretty cute too :-) Sorry had to be said.

[Rockstar6662]

Karen was absolutely Incredible I can't deny it. And during the shoot the fact I was able to make her burst into a fit of laughter...that was absolutely brilliant :-D

 

1200 Autographs

800 Photoshoots

1 Hour Q & A

 

Not a single break, Not a Single complaint and Absolutely sweet until the end. I think she deserves absolutely every ounce of respect. And that said I would also like to add a massive shame on the sun for the recent articles they slammed her with. Totally Uncalled for.

 

Don't read it, don't want to know. She's young and all I can say, once again she was a delight to everyone. She was totally professional when it matter but was fun and playful with it and seemed to genuinely enjoy the whole thing even though it must have been very hard work for her.

 

 

By the way can I just add Yvie...very, very nicely done! And your pretty cute too :-) Sorry had to be said.

 

Got to agree

[paddington]

Karen was fantastic!!

 

She was a little giddy in the second round of photo shoots when I had to have another done.

 

When I finally got to see her again for my autograph at 5:30 she was still as cheerfull, I was lucky enough that the guy before me had about 3 items to sign and then she signed a pic for her security lady which meant I got a tiny bit more time with her. She still had time to say hi I said hi and told her she was doing a good job abd she thanked me.

 

Awsome!!

 

Thanks SM you have done it again

 

[Buffy Lover]

She was potentially the nicest guest I've ever met, I loved her. Meeting her was brief, obviously, but she commented on my Amy cosplaying outfit, and asked if I was alright due to the fact I was shaking like mad, due to nerves. After being terrified that I wouldn't get to meet her at all, I had VT 80 and meeting her was definitely not a let down - I'd love to meet her again and hopefully say more than just 'Hi. Thank you. I'm fine.' Next time. xD

 

I honestly loved her, I didn't get to say much to her, mostly because I'm shy as heck around people I look up to, and I also forgot to give her the gift my friends and I brought her, but it didn't bother me; she was lovely to me when I went for my auto, photoshoot and when I was lucky enough to ask a question in the guest talk. She was a truly wonderful guest; my friend and her little sister went to meet her right at the end of the day and said she was still super friendly, and gave them both a hug (Yes, I was insanely jealous...); considering the amount of people she had to meet, and autographs she had to sign she seemed truly lovely throughout the whole day, and meeting her was one of the best experiences I've had, I'd LOVE for her to come back to something soon, she was a truly wonderful guest to meet.

 

I think I just basically repeated myself over and over again, but I honestly loved meeting her THAT much.

Edited July 12, 2011 by Buffy Lover

[CurlyKirsty]

I wonder if she got slightly freaked out by the Dr Who cosplayers, they were very good costumes at this event.

 

She was phenominal. So hope she comes back again soon.

[theblackrose]

She was awesome, very smiley and even though she must have been feeling seriously kanckered she had a smile and a hello for everyone.

 

My daughter gave her a packet of iced gems to which she responded really enthusiastically "Oh, I love these, thankyou so much". My daughter hasn't stopped smiling since and has shown her photo shoot to everyone we know and even some people we don't

 

Would love to see her again.

[Rockstar6662]

I wonder if any of these positive comments get back to her at all. There's just an overwhelming appreciation of everything she did that day from every single person that met her. She genuinely seemed to enjoy herself too so I hope she knows what pleasure she's given to so many people.

[ToriClarkson]

As many other people have said, I wish there was more of the Tardis in my photo.

I literally have the smallest piece of blue wood in the background, that could be any piece of wood, which is disapointing after I paid for a photo of Karen with the Tardis.

[theentsrgoingtowar]

Karen was amazing, so chirpy and funny and sweet. I loved meeting her in the autograph queue but loved it most of all in the photo session, wen i commented on her height, then she lifted up her leg to reviel her huge high heeled shoes, she then commented that she had something stuck to her shoe and started riggling her foot around, and saying eww eww eww, all the while with me standing next to her with my arm around her! she then got the security guard to come in and take off the bit of stuff stuck to her shoe, i was giggling, so she very quickly composed herself and the photo was taken!! such a fun experience

 

Tom

[jediwarrior]

Karen was one of the best guests I've met. Always with a smile, acknowledge me with a smile when given me back my photo when signed.

 

I got lucky with the photoshoot. Had it done but as I walk away I was called back to have it retaken so got to put my arm around her again for a 2nd time and got that bit longer with her

 

When I got her to sign the photo of us in the afternoon it was the first one she had signed from the photoshoot and she let out a little scream of happiness that she got to see how they had come out.

 

Awesome guest, she made it a great day and also she is so much prettier in real life than t.v. as well.

[Rockstar6662]

I got lucky with the photoshoot. Had it done but as I walk away I was called back to have it retaken so got to put my arm around her again for a 2nd time and got that bit longer with her

 

Lucky you. I did hold on to her a little longer than I probably should hoping that another one would be needed but was still a great moment.

 

When I got her to sign the photo of us in the afternoon it was the first one she had signed from the photoshoot and she let out a little scream of happiness that she got to see how they had come out.

 

Nice to know she liked it as well then. I keep looking at mine even though I don't like looking at myself as it just makes me smile every time.

 

Just like to say I love my new avatar too which I took at the talk. Caught a brilliant expression

[BACYLON]

I got lucky with the photoshoot. Had it done but as I walk away I was called back to have it retaken so got to put my arm around her again for a 2nd time and got that bit longer with her

 

This happened to me too...

 

She laughed when just before the first photo I said could she look seductive.

 

Then when i got called back for the second photo, she said she obviously wasnt seductive enough!

[Charmer]

As many other people have said, I wish there was more of the Tardis in my photo.

I literally have the smallest piece of blue wood in the background, that could be any piece of wood, which is disapointing after I paid for a photo of Karen with the Tardis.

 

You can ask to have the photo taken as a portrait rather than landscape which is better for fitting the TARDIS in. I was personally ok with how it was though.