Gateway to Sanctuary Innit!

Yeah, it's been too long yet again, especially since I promised an entry about my shenanigans in Londontown a few weeks ago....bad me.

The hardest thing I find about these Convention reports is the darned first line, sometimes there's so much to convey one doesn't really know where to start.  This year I wasn't even sure I'd be able to make it to a con, money is always an issue and illness has also been a factor over the last 12 months.  Still I kept an eye on my favourite organisers of the intimate, friendly an ultimately most value for money...Wolf.  Fortunately soon an event was announced and with three fellas as guests who made the trip 100% worth while.

But enough of my prattle...on with the event......Wolf's Gateway to Sanctuary

Due to some unforeseen circumstances Robin was on his own for the first half of the con...poor fella may have been a little 'deer in the headlights' in a room containing over 40 slightly excited and sugar filled women (plus a couple of token blokes) but the incredibly laid back atmosphere of the con made for a very fun filled opening night and weekend.  Due to Robin being on his tod he took his time going round all the tables on the meet and greet and while my little group waited ever so patiently (hehe, yeah right) we munched on a little too much sugary food stuffs and amused ourselves with a project of recreating scenes for the Stargate verse...all inspired by a lone mini mars bar...by the time we had finished we had jelly baby versions of half the cast a Goa'uld mothership, Stargate with DHD and Robin's name spelt out in the the toffee sweets off of Quality street no one ever eats.  To his credit Robin gave us kudos for being the most creative table he'd been to that evening.

The was much chat about the latest series of Sanctuary and also much mickey taking of Robin's Bollywood dancing and when questioned as to the possibility of a musical episode one lass at the table made us all chuckle with her inability to keep a poker face as Robin talked singing, she also followed this with a blunt 'I never seen Sanctuary' when Robin asked the table about their favourite or least favourite episodes...prompting a mocked 'spit the dummy and storm off' from Robin.

Robin sat with us for much longer than at a usual con and when organiser Brian did try to move the chap on we growled at him to leave as we were having quite a deep conversation about SGU and it's failures at the time...Brian backed away from the rabid fangirls.  Soon though it was time for the party so Robin's release was negotiated and we instead rocked the night away.

Robin Dunne Guest talk

Due to the more intimate nature of the con, this was a lot less a guest talk and much more a amusing and fun filled conversation amongst a group of mates who've been separated a little too long.  To convey to tone of the entire weekend I refer you to exhibit A of when Robin was asked about what it's like working on Sanctuary



Apparently Robin is quite the prankster on set and it's probably not a good idea to ever give the fella a jar of peanut butter when in the vicinity of toilets...just saying.  As for what he did to poor Damian Kindler, well if Robin wasn't using his excess energy in acting I'm thinking a career in 'evil genius' awaits.



As mentioned the tone of the convention was established very early on and my con buddies and I did nothing to draw things back to a more PG level of entertainment turning the most innocuous of words into full blown innuendo bingo (Frankie Howerd had nothin' on the 7 of us) and Robin had no problem picking us lot out as the gutter row, which lead to much banter.

'Not in that way'

Robin describes his interview technique & life on set



There was even, on occasion, some actual questions to Robin about Sanctuary and what's coming up.  In traditional actor keeping it schtum style he would only mention that there's an episode called 'Normandy' which was great to make (and quite self explanatory in story) and one episode which is seen from Will's point of view...yes they actually let Robin loose with a camera on set...wondering if any of the outtakes will make it on the DVD extras.

Robin maintains a high sense of professionalism when representing team Sanctuary abroad and in no way becomes a 7 year old by making fart noises in a lift filled with Japanese business types.

How Japanese people stand in a lift followed by Robin making fart noises

Okay maybe his does, but he most definitely does not become so bored in meetings that he moves all the furniture of an office into different positions thus thoroughly confusing the rep sent in to retrieve him to said meeting.  Oh dear, Oh dear, Robin...you little scamp you.

Unbeknownst to me at the last convention I was at with Robin, he is actually quite the multi talented type...not in that way, sheesh...gutter! and a few years back he was involved in writing a series of family movies, the Roxy Hunter series.  I'd managed to acquire them to watchfangirl.

As with any convention conversation between attendees veers between several different shows and actors and while Tina and I were mid conversation about one of our other favs, Murdoch Mysteries, Brain mentioned that Robin had in fact turned down the title role.  Obviously this needed further investigation so I immediately questioned Robin on it.  He was indeed offered the role of Murdoch and it was at a time when Sanctuary was just an experiment.  I guessing it was one of those times as an actor that the final decision could have gone terribly wrong.  I think I'd now struggle to see Robin as Murdoch, only because I'm a.) so used to Robin as Will and b.) so captivated by the chocolately goodness of Yannick Bisson's eyes.  If you've never seen it...away with you now, and seek out the CSI Toronto off of the olden days.

Robin had us in stitches as he likened acting with life as a small child 'There's your socks, they go on your feet, there's tape on the floor to show you where to walk, eat now, you haven't learned your lines...don't worry here they are on a little piece of paper for the scene,' and my personal favourite was his ultra heighten glee, complete with little squeal and patronising clap, from a director as Robin gets a line right....tough job my arse! ;-)

Robin commented of the supporting cast of Sanctuary and how those characters and actors really help to make the show what it is.  Personally part of the reason I love this series is the use of original material and established or well known characters from fiction/history and then the new mythology which is created.  It really works well and is a refreshing series in amongst the hash of reality shows and crime dramas.  It was when Robin was talking about Jonathon Young and his portrayal of Tesla, the banter and relationship with Magnus in the series, that friend Angie's bottle of coke decided to take the crown of the gutter filled weekender.  With an almighty 'pop' the lid flew off prompting a quick 'I never get that kind of reaction when I'm talking about Will' from Robin.  Naturally us lot in the front row were in bits for the next several minutes.  Poor Angie turned a rather attractive shade of ruby red with a hint of magenta...not sure if she ever actually managed to complete the drinking process.

Now, one thing which is usually a big 'no,no' at conventions is the mention of fan fiction to the guests directly.  Fan Fiction, by definition, is considered just for the fans and when some rather more excitable fans do bring up this side of the fandom it always leads to a rather awkward few moments...especially when the slash variety has to be explained. (anyone not in the knowledge of fan fiction or slash can find out more here but be warned once in the know brain bleach may be needed).  So imagine our surprise when young Robin did just that, he seem truly fascinated be the concept, so much so that a Sanctuary story was found for him to read and ....well....led to this following situation.....

Just in case you missed it ;-)

And to make matters rather embarrassing for me, I was asked to read through the story to just check is wasn't too OTT or at least legible before it got to Robin.  He read several little snippets, causing a mixture of guffawing and cringing amongst the audience, and I whispered to Angie something along the lines of 'wait till he gets to page six', of course I thought I'd whispered but hawk eared Robin picked up on our little conversation and asked us what we were giggling about.  He started to flick onward to page 6 but then stopped, looked puzzled and asked me to be honest, that we were among friends and that had I written the story.  I conveyed my most serious 'no' to which Robin merely pointed out that he had seen Lie To Me! cheeky bugger.

Jackanory Robin Dunne style

So here I shall leave proceedings for now...mainly just because...well...how does one follow Robin in his kegs reading and acting out fan fiction!

"Don't Move! You're Surrounded by Armed Bastards!"

Actually quite giddy, as I just met one of the best talents on British TV.  He attended a talk at a local University and, as non students were allowed to go, I grabbed up a couple of tickets.

Charming, hilarious and with a potty mouth his alter ego would be proud of, Philip Glenister, aka Gene Hunt, talked about his acting career thus far and some of the hijinx behind the scenes of  Life on Mars & Ashes to Ashes (Anyone who hasn't seen either series should go and purchase the boxsets forthwith....Josh) one story of a scene involving the cast, a bunch of naked blokes and, shall we say, one rather over excited extra and a bucket of awkward had the crowd in fits of giggles.

A Touch of Doctor Who Vampire Slayer?

Okay, so Matt Smith, aka the new Doctor, put in an appearance on Jonathan Ross Friday night.  He talked about the new series, without really talking about the new series....as they do, tight lipped kill joys that they are.  But they did show a clip from episode 6..looks like a certain trend is catching on:

Things That Make You Go...Grrrr Arg!

Do you know, I'm all for a bit of change, evolution and progression can be a good thing for example; taking excessively large shoulder pads out of jumpers...good thing, Shell suits relegated to the fashion trends of the Chav...good thing, the return of Doctor Who....genius thing, but also there's the enevitable bad stuff; shrinking chocolate bars...bad thing, the 'Y' generation (see Kim's Post for explanation)...definitely bad thing, text speak...annoying thing and the continuing trend for self destructing television....ludicrous thing

Now, I've been patient, I've put up with (begrudingly) the Big Brother's, Wife Swap's, I'm a Celebrity's, X-Factor's and all the other 'loosely based on' reality series, hoping the fad would soon run it's course and once again quailty drama and entertainment shows, which actually entertain, would reign.  Alas it seems this detestable fad has bred a reality grabbing, celebrity (and I used that word in it's loosest possible form) infatuated, mind numbed, 'Ooo look shiny' generation of viewers who, I fear, wouldn't know decent drama o quaility writing if it showed up on their doorstep, slapped them upside the head and said 'hello, I'm Being Human'. 

It seems nothing remains safe from the current culling of drama on one of the British flagship channels, ITV, unless of course it's associated with that ego iflated man, with the highest waistline on television. Who I've also learned is to get an award for services to the music and television industry over the last decade.  If it were possible for me to spit fire right now...I mean really? cheap, talentless, vomit inducing, power trip shows which use the public fasination with car crash telly to wring out every last quid from their wallets, whilst occasionally setting off fireworks to give to appearence of expense....* walks away shaking head and making disgruntled muttley like noises of contempt*...yet another nail in the coffin of British Television!

Spring Clean

I spent the entire day washing, cleaning, dusting and generally having a proper spruce up session, long overdue I might add, of my bedroom....I even hoovered my bed and all of my pillows and can once again see that fabled thing called 'the floor'. Then in the evening I tripped over the one item I'd left on my floor and twisted my ankle, yes the same ankle...I know I suck.

On another note guess what's returning too the Beeb very soon indeed....quite excited

Springtime Quiz

Crikey time does fly, it's nearly spring..yay, at least that's what the weathermen keep telling me.  Looking out of my window proves otherwise...and what does springtime bring? who knows, but I hoping for either something positive career wise, a rather healthy lottery win or Jensen Ackles stopping by for a cuppa.

I will get round to the Wolf SG Worlds convention report, I've had other things on my mind recently, until then, how about a little quiz to keep people amused....If you're like me and watch lashings of TV, this should be a breeze and, due to my less than fruitful money tree, it's purely for fun....answers in the comment section please....

TV Intro Quiz

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Geronimo!

Happy New Year...It's not a holiday I tend to take much pleasure in celebrating...all a bit of a hoopla if you ask me..I did however ocme across this today and thought I'd share.



So, what do ya think? A more actiony Doctor? Daleks, Weeping Angels and River Song back for another bout? and was that a glimpse at the new T.A.R.D.I.S at 20 seconds?

How About a Touch of Festive Who

This has been showing regularly on the beeb and I think it's great, so I'm sharing the Tennant love:

I Certify This Post PG

So, I was just reading an article about Tim Burton in which he talks about the trouble he's had when producing some of his films, as TPTB are worried about parents reactions to the dark content. Now, when I was a kid lots of things scared me, no more so than the dark and thunderstorms, and I probably watched things which were inappropriate for my age...sneaking into a neighbour house to see the Thriller video when I was only 4 probably left me scarred for life....lines of zombies dancing in formation with a man who's face was falling apart before the application of make-up....shudder, but you live and learn.

My favourite film, to this day, is The Goonies...well, that's not at all scary I hear you say, ah but what of Chester Copperpot, his remains squashed under a boulder....his skull rolling off as Mikey pulls on the key from around his neck....or what about the finale, a ship full of skeletons with various fatal wounds, one poor fellow with a pair of daggers protruding from his eye sockets....or perhaps, my personal favourite nightmare inducing scene, Chunk, happily tucking into a freezer full of ice cream (flavours of which I'd never even heard of before at aged 7.....rocky road?) when he bumps a bag revealing the horrendous figure of a grey complexioned man, mouth agape, eyes wide with a perfect bullet hole through his forehead 'it's a stiff'....oh yeah, good 'ol family fun.

And yet that's exactly what it was...I'll admit, I viewed the above scenes through the cracks in my fingers in the past...the imagery indeed scary for my young brain to process, but then that's kinda the point....and having the chance to process such scenes within the safety of the movie is a right of passage which is fast becoming edited out by worrying adults. These days children have no problem viewing The Goonies....as all 'scary' scenes have been removed....as has any bad language...today's generation are just too precious to be exposed to anything which may give the poor darlings nightmares.....Apparently what was good enough for pre-teens 20 odd years ago is no longer acceptable for the same age group today.

Case in point..Gremlins a dark comedy released as a PG in 1984 is a 15 today for the DVD release....the granny on the stenna stairlift flying out the roof of her house now apparently not so much with the funny and more with the mentally scarring according to TPTB?.....I can only imagine what the content will entail when the remake finally gets off the ground....much of the original appeal thrown out of the window (unlike the grannies) as filmmakers/studios opt for the corny jokes, dumbed down visuals and story for mass merchandise approach of the easily influenced High School Musical generation.

The thing is, Tim Burton has his head screwed on right, kids like to be scared...not wanting to sound to cheesy here, but the world isn't all cotton wool and happy endings and being prepared for the unexpected is a good thing, even if it is just in a movie.

I grew up on a mixture of influences, but one thing I'm happy about is that certain aspects weren't omitted from my viewing just in case I got scared....

Doctor Who...those Daleks, those Cybermen and, even worse, the questionable acting ability of Slyvester McCoy

Chocky....A series about a boy with an alien in his brain, the opening sequence started with the most blood curdling scream, ingrained into my psyche ever since.

Knightmare....a children's role playing game show in which the life force animation peeled away the layers of helmet and skin to reveal muscle and skull until finally the eyeballs rolled toward the screen like a pair of demented marbles.

Moomins....stop motion animation of the ultimately bizarre and kinda creepy persuasion from Finland

Grange Hill....Always controversial and in no way an accurate depiction of any actual school anywhere in the UK, once had silent credits roll over the image of a teenage Zammo, eyes wide and spaced out on drugs whilst holding an empty slip of foil...the sole reason I have never dabbled in such things
The Play Safe Adverts....airing in between CBBC and neighbours it was impossible to avoid these happy little gems which showed hapless kids getting into strife whilst playing on railway lines, with kites or Frisbees near overhead power lines or football next to disused ponds or quarries...needless to say those kids didn't fare well in their innocent playtime....it's a wonder I ventured outside to play...and yet I did

Terrahawks....what can go wrong with action adventure Gerry 'Thunderbirds are go' Anderson puppets?....Zelda, the corpse-like looking foe of the good guys and her son Yung-star who sounded like he was stuck in perpetual gargle mode


The Box of Delights....oh yeah sounds all Christmassy and fun, but then there's men folk turning into wolves all kidnapping vicars all over the shop...and yet another kids show with a slightly disturbing opening sequence

The Children of Greene Knowe...A house haunted by children killed by the plague, a dotty elderly relative oh and there's a tree which is alive in the back garden and it wants to eat you...the kids even had a creepy song about it #Green Noah Demon Tree, Evil fingers can't catch me#

Century Falls...Russell T. Davies' work from early in his career involved a cursed village, an ancient mask, psychic twins and a church going up in flames all before neighbours at tea time


Wizbit....a talking magic hat, an 8ft rabbit and all hosted by Paul Daniels who also sung the theme tune the whole concept is terrifying especially in this clip....

Okay, so there may be a tad of exaggeration on the last one, but you get the idea....my childhood offerings on TV were scary as, and the same could be said for the movies.....the Goonies and Gremlins weren't the only mild nightmare inducing fare on offer....

Willow....all action, adventure and comical little people, until the double headed beast rips a soldier in half
Neverending Story...it's not enough that an evil wolf is chasing down the main character or that Artex drowns in the Swamps of Sadness, but a couple of statues with laser eyes char boil a knight in armour too



Watcher in the Woods....Disney goes creepy with Bette Davis, a couple of American kids and a portal in time

Citty Chitty Bang Bang...two words: CHILD CATCHER


Watership Down....let's watch a film about cute bunnies....which attack each other, get hit by cars and die
Return to Oz....where to start...the mental hospital, the wheelers, the Deadly Desert, the Nome King and the corridor of screaming heads courtesy of Mombi

Ghostbusters....kinda self explanatory though I could handle Slimer, the Stay Puft Marshmallow man, Gozer and even the evil dogs from hell, but it was a long time before I set foot in my library again
All of the Indiana Jones films (except crystal skulls...because dude, what were you thinkin')....people on spikes, eaten by crocodiles, hearts being ripped out, the variety of odd cuisine (monkey brains, snake surprise and the sheep eyeball soup) but most of all the ghosts and face melty Nazi's of Raiders just about had me poopin' my pants as a small child......


But it was fantastic entertainment of which I have revisited many, many times throughout childhood and even as recent as last week....for all the bits which were mildly frightening there were enthralling, action packed and fantastical stories, which weren't watered down just in case the parents of some small moppet were worried about the long term effect the 'scary bits' would have on their offspring....suck it up people.

At least some are still engaging youngsters with tales of daring do and aren't afraid to push the boundaries of what scares a kid can cope with.....Doctor Who (although largely fluff) continues to entertain, thanks mainly to Steven Moffat who brought us the highly creepy 'are you my mummy' child in a gas mask, the 'don't blink' angel statues and the more recent 'count the shadows' in the library....Joss Whedon produced some seriously excellent fantasy television hit the nail on the head with 'the gentlemen' of Hush and of course and honorary mention should go to JK Rowling who's mind for the slightly off kilter and down right disturbing has been a breath of fresh air amongst the decline of children's entertainment and complete cop outs which generally seem to be the fare on offer...even from previously daring folk such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas exhibit a.) A.I. all going well until he added a completely unnecessary ending, exhibit b.) War of the Worlds where everybody lives eventhough they run into a barrage of fire and of course exhibit c.) Jar Jar Binks.....nuff said

I feel sorry for this 'cotton wool' generation, TPTB should give them more credit as to how much of 'the scary' and unexpected they can deal with.....and I won't even go into the lunacy behind goggles and gloves for playing conkers in schools playground.