Interviews Fans of Project: Torchwood Interviews - Kirsty Price

As part of our Fans of Project: Torchwood Interviews, we caught up with PT reviewer Kirsty Price. A big fan of Torchwood, Kirsty has already presented us with her large collection of Torchwood memorabilia, in The Coffee Shop Collections. Has Interviewed Blue Gillespie, the band where Gareth David-Lloyd was lead singer and has given her perspective on the Buffy Boys in an earlier article. So, it seemed only fitting that we Interviewed Kirsty, to find out just where and when her fandom began. Enjoy!

Hey Kirsty, have you always been a fan of Doctor Who or was it only the NuWho that piqued your interest?

Kirsty: I watched TW first, then I saw John Barrowman was in Doctor Who and it spiralled from there. Started with series 2, Tennant, because I refused to watch the first.

What was wrong with the First series?

Kirsty: I saw the zombie movie with Christopher Eccleston, and he scares me. He was in the film 28 Days Later.

But you've watched it since though? When you were going through your boxsets on the tellybox during Lockdown?

Kirsty: Yeah, I did. I liked the Unquiet Dead. The movie that made me more comfortable with Christopher Eccleston, was 'The Others'.

Before social media became a thing, there were fan groups online, did you join many of them to get a further fix on your favourite cast from Who and Torchwood?

Kirsty: No not really. The first I joined was PT. I saw some, but they were always arguing about how great this person was, how bad this other person was, and didn’t listen to other people’s opinions. I was like, I don’t have time for your drama.

I liked Ianto, with his sarcastic quips, but every time I tried to explain my reasons and opinions, I would get shut down and they all start arguing again. 🙄 Here we go again!

It's fair to say that we've known each other for about 10 years now, I think, or is it a bit more than that. I came onto social media in 2007, so there was a lot of Tennant to watch prior to the Book of Face being a thing.

When I Facebook, there were a lot of role playing accounts and groups to get involved with - would you say that this has been a great way of engaging with likeminded people, and you've made probably a lot more friends that have become lifelong friends.

Kirsty: 12 years, I think. I met my 2 best friends from this, one we don’t do any RP anymore, she’s stopped completely. The other person, we RP on and off. RP is a great way to meet people, and improve your writing. Such as my spelling. One of my friends is from Spain, and I met her through RP

What portions of our magazine do you enjoy reading?

Kirsty: I like the Interviews best and the Locations bit. My favourite interview has to be Dillon Casey.

Who would you like to see us Interview in the future?

‏Kirsty: Wishful thinking here, one of the mains (Eve, John, Kai, Gareth etc)

  

What would you like to see in the magazine that we don't as yet do?

Kirsty: Maybe a joke area?

Jokes are a hard one to do - without offending someone these days. But it's an idea and we'll take that onboard. Thanks! What other programme starring the mains do you like and did that get you into Torchwood?

Kirsty: I actually started TW in series 2, because I heard James Marsters was gonna be in it, and I’m a huge fan. Had to watch series 1 then. Hahaha!

Do you think it matters with television series such as TW, whether you watch it in order, such as you came into it in Series 2, then Series 1 - so if you were say, coming into TW during COE - would it help to know the background of the cast first?

Kirsty: I think it does help to know backgrounds. Example I missed one week of DW once and there were new people. I didn’t know who they were or why they were there. Colour me confused.

Yet you can jump in and out of Eastenders and discover that Phil Mitchell who is always at death's door, makes some miraculous recovery every bloody time.

How many cast members of TW have you met over the years?

Kirsty: My main one is Gareth, being a Newport girl and a Gillespian I often saw him around town. I have met John once or twice, and Eve once during filming in Newport. Walked into her once. I also met Charles Abomeli on holiday.  I would love to meet James Marsters for various reasons.

What are your favourite episodes of Torchwood?

Kirsty: I have three. Something Borrowed. To the Last Man and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, in that order.

Thank you, Kirsty for a great catch up!

Stay safe.

Photo of Kirsty and her dog, Charlie, courtesy of K. Price.

Reviews The Sins of Captain John by Tony J Fyler

Tony goes toe to toe with Captain John.

This may not end well…

Imagine you had a sports car. Top of the line, tricked out and pimped out exactly to your liking.

Would you let Captain John Hart borrow the keys?

Ah well. It was a nice cosmos while it lasted. Buckle up, pilgrims, we’re about to go for a spin.

Bottom line, from the moment he first gun-danced his way into Torchwood and kicked the ever-living crap (a phrase which has more meaning here than in most places) out of Captain Jack Harkness, Captain John Hart, late of the time agency, late to most places where there isn’t a bar, has been the bad boy of the Torchwood world. Technically responsible for the deaths of about a third of the team, he added that frisson of real danger that Jack, bless him, had lost a little in his quest to be more like the Doctor with the bleeding hearts.

John Hart is exactly the drunk-ass, punk-ass, wildly sexy, madly irresponsible, shoot-it-and-see kind of maniac you think he is, and that, whether secretly or blatantly, is what you always want him to be.

Setting that maniac loose in time and space sounds like a very bad idea, but nevertheless, here we are in The Restored, with John initially back in Restoration England, technically looking for the Resurrection Gauntlets. You’ll remember those if you saw Season 1 of TV Torchwood. They’re…really not where they should be, and they’re quickly getting John involved in some trouble with Oliver Cromwell’s spiked but nevertheless altogether rather chatty head. In between his ordinary adventures, which sound like the slightly more X-rated version of every historical Carry On film ever made (Carry On Charlie II?), he has to hunt down the person or persons responsible for bringing a shedload of bodies to life, retrieve the gauntlets and get out of there with both his life and his unmentionables intact.

Otherwise…y’know…Restoration Zombie Apocalypse.

So…no pressure there then.

The big difference you notice immediately about this set as opposed to any other Torchwood you care to name is that it’s utterly irreverent to not only the historical period, but also to the conventions of narrative storytelling and even to some extent to the listener. It’s the John Hart school of doing things, baby, and that’s got its own fourth wall-breaking, pop culture-referencing spacepunk vibe to it. Early on, you’ll know if it’s for you or not, because early on it’s spread quite thickly (Oh, make up your own jokes, who’s to stop you?), and you’ll know whether you love it or whether it’s like nails down an eyeball to you.

The Restored starts making more sense the further in you go (seriously, go nuts (ahem), there’s really no-one to stop you), and the more the story of the gauntlets is revealed. The joy about it is that everything’s only revealed in between sex romps, panting aristocratic hussies, closeted lesbians with telescope fetishes and oh yeah, did I mention? The endless armies of the undead who seriously won’t shut up.

When you find out what’s really going on, it’ll still take you aback, and even as people die horribly, John Hart has difficulty locating his empathy. But then you almost don’t want him to discover his softer side. That’s more or less what Jack’s for.

If The Restored is a historical sex romp with zombies, his next stop in Escape From Nebazz is solid space adventure with a loony twist and quite a lot of drinking and farting. Imagine, if you will, a wooden space prison. Imagine one of the prisoners, the gloriously named Dr Magpie (more glorious still if you’ve followed New Who with a magnifying glass). She made the Resurrection Gauntlets. Annnd she’s conducting experiments on mental enhancements.

Because what could ever go wrong with that?

Imagine Jack Hart posing as a prison guard, fairly desperately trying to get Dr Magpie to fix the wretched gauntless of zombification, and subsequently getting involved in your significantly-above-average (it’s David Llewellyn, after all) zombie fungus life cycle prison break drama, with added giant wooden space shark. Sound fun? Is fun. Is surprisingly fun, actually, because when the episode starts, it doesn’t promise anything like the kind of mayhem you’ve just escaped from in The Restored. Leave it to David Llewellyn is clearly the lesson to take from this. Something bizarre and what-the-flying-fin-is-that will be along shortly.

Escape From Nebazz has an almost Red Dwarf feel about it, crossed with 80s episodes of Prisoner Cell Block H and with maybe just a dash of Shark-freakin’-nado – lots of people trapped in a human garbage pod, nothing but the crushing monotony of institutionalized life to look forward to. Then along comes Magpie and her brain-altering experiments, and along comes John and his gloves of seriously-these-freaking-things, and before you know it, you’re hurtling to oblivion, being eaten alive by wooden space-sharks, or absorbed into entirely other life forms on what feels like it must be a Tuesday.

As if all that’s not bad enough, John bumps into Captain Perfect-Teeth Harkness towards the end of this story, and the two of them ride the absolute bejesus out of the next episode together.

In Peach Blossom Heights, they find themselves trapped in a kind of Peyton Place for child-humans. People who’ve never heard of sex (wow, that’s a busy afternoon on audio). People who have no concept of childbirth. People who, quite frankly, live in blissful ignorance of everything but their own existence minute to minute.

You know there’s gonna be something hideous going on there, right?

Sinister mascots roaming the suburban streets by night hideous enough for you? No? How about people who just ‘move away’ or ‘win competitions to go somewhere else’ and are never seen again, and actually are disturbingly quickly forgotten? Getting a vibe of the what-the-hellness yet?

This is a story that starts weird, gets weirder, turns more than a little bit creepy, and yet, for all its ghastly potential, ends up being at least a little sweet. In among the horror. It’s not at any point quite what you think it is, which given the premise is really rather saying something. Smiley suburban neighbours from hell has already been done in Torchwood audio, with Jack and Ianto foiling an alien invasion by attending weekly barbecues and being terribly nice to people. This is something different to that, and while you might get close to what’s really going on, it will still surprise you when you finally understand it.

Plus, there really is lots and lots of grandly experimental sex before the end.

So…that’s nice.

To be fair though, you need something nice before you head into Darker Purposes. Darker Purposes is what happens if you smash Kind Hearts And Coronets with the Space-Borgias, repeatedly, till something bleeds, and gurgles, and dies.

The Resurrection Gauntlets (Yep, still them, still here, still dragging John through time and space) are needed to sort out the last will and testament of one of the galaxy’s richest, nastiest, deadest men. But of course, one of the richest, nastiest men in the galaxy will have children. Children who’ve inherited at least his nastiness, and who intend to inherit his riches too. Game on for Last Sibling Standing, with John in the middle like a sacrificial chew toy thrown to the wolves. When you play the Game of Gauntlets, you win or you die. Annnnd if you die, you probably get brought back to life until you say what your killer wants to hear in any case.

It would be spoiling the final episode, and to some extent the arc of the set, to explain how – and indeed, if – John gets out of Darker Purposes, but it certainly adds a grimmer note than anything we’ve dealt with so far in the set. Which given that we dealt with a Restoration Zombie Apocalypse in Episode 1 is really going somewhat.

We’re not as yet sure whether the Sins of Captain John is intended to become an occasional series, like the Lives of Captain Jack, or whether it will forever be just what it is, a mad handful of hours with James Marsters giving of his dandy time pirate. What’s certainly true after this first set though is that David Llewellyn’s given it a tone and a pace unlike anything else even at Big Finish, and that there’s certainly plenty of scope for further sets. Unless you have the energy of Captain John though…you’re probably gonna need a nice lie down before you run with him again.

Reviews Torchwood: The Death of Captain Jack by Tony J Fyler

Tony turns left.

Imagine a Torchwood world in which Captain Jack never took over Torchwood Cardiff. Where his ability to resurrect was stolen by James Marsters’ legendary Captain John Hart. Imagine what John Hart would do with a power like that? And then imagine Jack Harkness was dying.

Actually, stop imagining – you don’t imagine things for a living, probably. Settle back and let David Llewellyn imagine it for you. He does it spectacularly well.

That’s the premise of this story - Captain Jack is dying, finally. Captain John Hart is actually King John, having robbed Jack of his resurrective powers and gone on to well and truly beggar about with Torchwood history as we know it. The journey from our world to that world, and maybe – jusssst maybe – back again – is the arc of this story.

We are of course more than delighted to welcome James Marsters back to Torchwood; if you don’t delight in listening to him being bad for the run-time of the story, you might need to check yourself for a pulse, but underneath it all, there’s a moral for our age. Just because someone’s in charge, you shouldn’t automatically assume they’re either a) competent to be there, or b) in any way on your side, and you absolutely, positively shouldn’t simply follow orders from a figure of authority without running them past your internal ethical filters first.

The Death of Captain Jack is enormous fun – John Hart is a force of joyful deadly chaos, and that’s always going to be fun to listen to, especially with Marsters on top form. David Llewellyn’s on great writing form too and gives Hart a perfect knife-edge of adorable psychopathy to walk, as we delve into The World According To King John. More than ever before, the original equality of badassery between Harkness and Hart is shown in full flight – in the first handful of heartbeats, they take in Alexander the Great’s court, Catherine the Great’s court, and the about-to-sink-and-not-a-Celine-Dion-song-to-be-had Titanic as the bad boys try to keep up with one another and even outdo each other in mischief and inter-temporal thievery. It’s in their differences, once Jack has met the Doctor and Rose Tyler, that the rift between the bad boys really becomes irreparable and sour. In fact, the world of King John is the temporal equivalent of the motto ‘It’s all fun until somebody loses an eye’ – an opportunity presents itself that even Jack Harkness, especially post-Doctor Jack Harkness, can’t go along with, and Hart, being Hart, does his absolute level best to murder him. And then leaves him on a familiar island to rot, while he goes off to…well, basically, rule the world. Aggressive domestic policy is followed by aggressive foreign policy, and his rule over Torchwood, first at Canary Wharf and later at Cardiff, is absolutely the chaotic whirl of jackanapery you’d expect from his character – we hear what becomes of Yvonne Hartman, of Ianto, of Tosh and of Gwen, as the Torchwood history we know unfolds with a John Hart twist - Hephaestus, the 456, even the Blessing of Miracle Day, it’s all crammed in here leading up to the death of Captain Jack and the consequences it has.

In tone, this is a delicious dark comic romp, a prancing celebration of the non-serious, the anti-worthy and the ‘Frankly who gives a damn about the little people, I’m doing fine,’ all of which is fantastic to listen to and rather less fun to be governed by. Of course, if there’s ever to be Torchwood as we know it again, there has to be a Turn Left moment, a moment where the dystopian world of King John has to be set right from our point of view, and you won’t be disappointed by it when it comes, even though you know it has to, and that the fun has to end. There’s an important idea in The Death of Captain Jack – that the people we know, both the ordinary and the heroes – are just a different status quo away from people we don’t like that much, and that so, probably, are we. It all depends on the normalization of initially outrageous behaviour in order to maintain our own stability within a world gone pear-shaped. Would lovely Sergeant Andy Davidson bazooka a nightclub full of hostages, for instance? Maybe he would if the king gave the order.

And if Andy Davidson would kill innocent people if the right authority gave the order…what would we do?

The shudder those thoughts induce is why we look forward to the righting of the world, the resurrection of Captain Jack and the defeat of King John, however much fun it’s been to ride along on the dark side of the history mirror. And when the end comes, it brings more than a touch of Sapphire and Steel with it, which can never be a bad thing.

The Death of Captain Jack is a romp into anti-history, into a world that was never supposed to have existed. Our excursion down that rabbit hole is by turns enormously good fun, and then, as time goes on, increasingly cold and harsh and terrifying in the mundanity of its evil. Its promise that such dreadful divergences can in some way always be put right is a hopeful message for our age, though, and one that makes The Death of Captain Jack a must-listen.

Profiles Captain John "Vera" Hart by DJ Forrest

Species: Doppleganger - of Captain Jack Harkness' dark side

Episodes appeared in: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Fragments, Exit Wounds.

Time zone: 51^st century!

Height: 5’ 9”

Ally or Enemy: Good question!

Played by: James Marsters

Captain John Hart is probably not the right person to put all of your trust in especially when you’re dealing with the location of Arcadian diamonds.  However, towards the end of Season 2 ‘Exit Wounds’, John does show some level of promise when after heading to the present day Cardiff, tips off Gwen and explains about Gray, Jack’s brother.  But how much trust could you place in a time agent renowned for visiting rehab more than once in any category, Sex Drugs and Murder?

During their first proper meeting, as Gwen delegated who travelled where in search of the cluster bombs dotted across Cardiff, Captain John Hart had told her that she could call him Vera, as he was captivated by her eyes.

From head to foot Captain Hart is an interesting figure, wearing a Napoleonic military jacket which probably didn’t belong to him, sporting a snakeskin samurai sword which he acquired in Korea after killing someone for it. He wears a dirty white t-shirt that’s really seen better days.  Sports boots from Italy circa 1640 and wears gun holsters that came from the American West.  It’s clear to see that this Captain has really travelled.

His weaponry aside from the Samurai sword also includes a Remington 188 Type 4 which is nickel plated and has pearl grips.  He also carries what appears to be the standard Torchwood firearm the Tokyo Marui Hi-Capa 4.3.  The Torchwood model has an under barrel accessory which contains the gas canister that creates the muzzle flash on firing.

Later in the episode Exit Wounds, John carries and uses a pair of H&K MP5K-PDW’s.  Different to the standard, these folding stocks have been removed but the back plate is still present.

Another interesting weapon in his arsenal which is less noticeable is the Paralysing lip gloss.  It’s a cosmetic poison.  It’s a great way of slowing down the other person.  There is an antidote but you have to be quick.  Not only does it slow your heart and paralyse your limbs, it can also poison your organs and kill you.  Not nice! Not nice at all!  Captain Hart admitted that he had learnt this trick from Captain Jack Harkness.

Captain John Hart worked as a time agent around the time Jack Harkness was also employed by the organisation.  John proved himself to be a bit of a liability but he was also a good agent.  But he needed to calm down, and the agency thought it might help to put him under the care of Captain Jack Harkness.  They worked well together, although being stuck in a time loop for 5 years might not have cemented their relationship which in real terms had only seen them locked together for 2 weeks. 

When Captain John met up with Captain Jack on top of a high business block, he’d hoped Jack would have been swayed by his old talk of the past, but Jack preferred Cardiff and his team to the romp through the galaxies and their empires.  It would be difficult I would imagine leaving behind the people he cared for to travel once more with a man he no longer trusted. 

Later when he discovered that Jack was immortal John suggested they travel to the Vegas Galaxies where Jack could make a fortune as ‘the man who couldn’t die.’

So what would Captain Hart be doing now, considering his VM (smaller than Jack’s), burnt out when he returned to present day from the time when Jack was buried below what would later become Cardiff.  Would he still be on Earth?  Assuming he wasn’t able to escape the planet, what area of the world would suit a man who loved shiny objects and had penchants for poodles?  Perhaps he’s held up a bank or two? It’s hard to say where he might be, but I’m sure he’ll reappear on our radar sooner or later.

http://www.scifihero.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=4547   

(1-08 RadioTimes interview) 2008

©BBC Torchwood 2006

Expo & Cons James Marsters at Slayer ItaCon by Marco Donati

From August 2 to 4, fans from all over Italy and Europe gathered at Demidoff County Resort Hotel, just outside of Florence, for the first Italian convention of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Slayer ItaCon. Among the guests, there was the ex-vampire James Marsters, who portrayed the unforgettable Captain John Hart in Torchwood. I've been a fan of the Buffyverse since childhood, and the venue was close enough to where I live that I didn't need to book a room at the hotel, so it was already a great opportunity for me. When James Marsters' attendance at Slayer ItaCon was announced as his only public appearance in Europe for this year, I knew I couldn't miss such a chance to meet for the first time one of my favourite Torchwood actors. So I ordered my pass, autographs, and photo-ops, and prepared for three exciting days of fun!

Opening Ceremony

On Friday afternoon, I took the shuttle bus from Florence train station to the hotel, I collected my pass and extras when I reached the venue, and I bought two pictures I wanted to get signed the following day at the merchandising desk. The only activities in my schedule for the day were the opening ceremony and the Q&A panel with all the guests, so I started queuing to get inside the Conference Room. Since the front rows were reserved to holders of the more expensive passes and I had the cheapest pass, I was basically at the bottom of the line, but I still managed to get a place in the fourth row of seats.

First, a compilation of videos from various TV shows the guests had appeared on were shown to the audience. For James Marsters, they showed a couple of clips from Buffy and the Supernatural episode he guest starred on. Then, the guests were formally introduced and appeared on stage through a side door. James was the last guest to enter the room. He greeted the staff of the con, thanked his fans for coming, and particularly addressed attendees who had had a long journey to get to the con, like fans from Russia and America. He joked about how good-looking Italians are, and he said that he was slightly frustrated not to be the pretties in the room as he usually is. Then the guests took their sits and the Q&A panel started.

All Guests Q&A Panel

On the second day of the convention, individual panels for each guest were planned. However, on Friday evening the guests (Nicholas Brendon, J. August Richards, Mark Lutz, and James Marsters) sat together after the Opening Ceremony for the first Q&A session of the weekend. The four actors kept joking with each other and laughing for the entire time, and it was a really funny and interesting panel. First thing James said, "I accept all kind of questions, please try to embarrass me, no one ever has succeeded in embarrassing me yet". Apparently, this is what he always says at the beginning of his panels. Although he added that he might not answer extremely weird questions, he still encourages them because it's fun to hear what fans' crazy minds are capable of.

The first question James was asked was about drinking on screen. A fan from Denmark asked what was the blood-like liquid he had to drink on Buffy, and he said it was a kind of strawberry juice so rich in sugar that a doctor had to be on set during his scenes in order to avoid anaphylactic shock and passing out, as experienced by the stunt guy who tried to drink several glasses of the juice. Still, that wasn't the hardest time he had with liquids on TV shows.

James recalled the scene in Torchwood series 2 premiere "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", when he as John Hart was supposed to drink a whole bottle of vodka in order to allow John Barrowman's gag about rehab to work. After the first 14 bottles of water he drank for the scene, he went to the bathroom and threw up, only to return on set to drink more water immediately after. He laughed that his wife, who was visiting him on set at the time, considers his job the most disgusting in the world. But James explained that he prefers to risk and be sick than just pretending drinking, especially when the character is supposed to be extremely thirsty or hungry for blood, because it wouldn't look believable on screen if the actor faked. Nicholas Brendon joked that real actors drink real vodka when filming, though.

On a more serious note, James commented on the spreading of reality shows on television. He said that reality television's popularity is fictional shows' laziness' fault. "Fiction should be more entertaining than reality", he said, and if people prefer to watch reality shows it's because fictional shows are not making their job, due to poor writing and repetitiveness. However, he appeared convinced that in the end fictional shows will overcome reality television, if networks start to give more credit to original ideas and inspired writers.

Photo-Ops

Saturday was a busy day, since I had on my schedule two photo-ops, an autograph session and two panels to attend. So, I took the shuttle bus in the morning and reached the hotel early. The photo with James was the first of my photo-ops. Attendees had been divided into different groups depending on the type of pass, but the queue outside the Photo-Op Room was still very long, so I joined it as soon as possible, and I had the chance to chat with other fans while waiting. Anyway, everything run smoothly, and when it was my turn I had a few seconds to ask James if he was enjoying the convention and to thank him for coming to Florence, before he picked a nice pose and the photo was taken.

About a quarter of hour later, I joined the much shorter queue for the group photo with all the guests. In a few minutes, I entered the room, greeted them and shook their hands, and posed for my last photo.

James Marsters Solo Q&A Panel

After lunch, there was the individual panel with James Marsters. Again, VIP pass holders had early access to the Conference Room and I had to queue with the last group of people. This time I wasn't very lucky though, and I got a seat pretty far from the stage, but still the panel was incredibly entertaining and inspirational. Lots of topics were covered, from anecdotes from the set of Buffy to James' songs.

He was asked what he considers his biggest achievement in life apart from his family, and he answered that the theatre company he founded in Chicago and Seattle is one of the things he's most proud of, mainly because his company was the first to gain permission from Dr. Seuss' wife to perform the Lorax after the author's death. Also, he said that "everybody is beautiful enough to be stared at": since it's not normally polite to stare at people, basically people pay to stare at actors on stage, and James said that one of the risks of his job is the impulse to impress the staring people, overdoing, instead of be yourself and true to what you're doing. He added that everyone is beautiful as they are, but he works in a business that try to force others to feel imperfect and incomplete (especially through ads), even if the perfection it promotes is unreal and unreachable, and James said he has seen many good-looking actresses going insane over their appearances and many actors leading a dreadful life only to look glamorous.

When he was asked about his relationship with his fans, he explained that he's a fan too: he has always loved Star Trek, he even attended the first Star Trek convention ever wearing pointed ears, the typical blue uniform, and hand-made wood phaser, and he adores Leonard Nimoy to the point he can't properly talk to him even if they've met and know each other. So he said he understands the fans, and he thinks conventions are great, because they are a great way for like-minded people to get together offline and share amazing experiences, on a level that's only comparable to church. Finally, a fan asked him if he would change something about his life, and he said he wouldn't even consider it, since he tries to live without regrets, just always going for it, and the ups and downs he experienced made his life interesting.

At the end of the panel, James was asked by the hosts to sign the banner of the convention, and then he posed in front of the audience for a picture.

Signing

Immediately after the end of the panel, I rushed to get to James' signing. I got signed and personalised the two pictures I bought the day before, and I had a few minutes to chat with James. I had the chance to tell him how much I love Torchwood and Buffy and his performance in both tv shows. Also, I asked him a question I didn't have the time to ask at the panel, about his British accent. I asked him if he got some proper training with a dialect coach in order to learn how to fake a British accent for Spike and Captain John Hart, and he told me that his British accent was already good without training. He only had minor problems with the pronunciation of certain words like "bullets", and his colleague Anthony Stewart Head (Giles in Buffy) offered his help. However, he thinks that in the early Buffy episodes his accent wasn't perfect, though over time he mastered it to the point many English fans thought he really was British!

Unfortunately, James couldn't attend on Sunday, but overall Slayer ItaCon was a fantastic event, with a very warm and intimate atmosphere that larger events like Comic Con lacks. The guests interacted with all attendees, every fan was able to spend quality time with the actors and get to know them better, and I met some brilliant Buffy and Torchwood fans from all over the world. I will remember this convention fondly for a very long time! James was always extremely nice and open with his fans, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him at future events soon!

The Coffee Shop Collections by Kirsty Price

When did the collection start and which was the first that set the ball rolling as it were?

Kirsty: I first got into the collection when I was nosing in the old Dr who Experience in the Red Dragon Centre (before it moved to the big one) and spotted a signed James Marsters one (there is a pic of it on its own) and being a huge Spike fan I HAD to have it and it just spiralled from there.

So this would have started during the Second Series then? Is this the full set?

Kirsty: Unfortunately not. I have the whole set, but for some reason certain episodes or series are missing, which I found really annoying. For instance, there is none for To the Last Man, which was one of my favourite episodes. And there is also none for the latest series, Miracle Day, probably because after COE, they stopped producing them.

I take it these kinds of things you can't buy any more?

Kirsty: I haven’t heard of them being available, they did have Dr who ones (which I have one of GDL when he was in Stolen Earth) but they are not even available in the Experience in Cardiff but you can still buy them online at http://shop.scificollectorshop.co.uk/Torchwood/Torchwood-Signed-Commemorative-Stamp-Covers-Sheets

Do you have any of the magazines?

Kirsty: Yes I do. I have all the magazines, I have kept them all, and occasionally read through them, or if there is something in there I want to keep to frame, I will buy two copies.

Which is your ultimate favourite item that you have, that you wouldn't part for love nor money?

Kirsty: Can i choose two? I think mine would have to be the first stamp cover I had, which is the James Marsters one, and the one which is signed by Richard Briers.

Did you actually see Richard Briers, or were these already pre signed

Kirsty: Yes they were all already signed, but all came with a certificate to show they were the real deal. I have all of the main cast signature ones, but for some reason Burn and Naoko never did one so I haven’t got them.

Bit of a bummer that. It's like with the figures, every figure but Owen

Kirsty: Yeah it sucks. I spent hours looking to be told they’d never done one anyway

What item are you still looking for that you haven't found yet, or one that is still out of your price range?

Kirsty: To be honest I have all the ones for Torchwood, but I really hope that they bring out ones for the episodes/Series they missed, for example To the last man, or Miracle Day.

If anyone who reads this goes to the Dr who Experience, please tell them we need more Torchwood items in the shop and in the experience. I figure the more people who ask the more they will sit up and take notice

How long have you been a fan of Torchwood and which character is your favourite, and had you watched Doctor Who first?

Kirsty: I have been a fan since series two, mainly because I didn’t even know it was on. I only watched it because I read about James Marsters being in series two, and after watching the series, I immediately went out and bought the box set. My favourite character has to be Ianto. Not only is he Welsh, but the stuff he comes out with never fails to make me laugh. I watched one episode of Dr who when it came back, but once I realised who the Dr was, I turned off, mostly because CE scares me. But then when DT came on I started watching it more.

How many of the cast have you met personally and who was the first?

Kirsty: Three. I’ve met Eve once when she was filming COE, and another time when I literally bumped into her in Cardiff, I tripped over a wire and smacked into her. She was with her daughter so I didn’t stay to talk. The others I met are John, and Gareth, Gareth through his band Blue Gillespie, and John at various Book Signings. He was my first meeting at the book signing for his first Autobiography. My Last meeting with him was last year in my home town of Newport where he was filming with Myleene Klass for Antiques Road Show.

Highlight of my year is an understatement.  He was lovely, and really nice to talk to, he was interested in my Cochlear Implant so we had a nice chat about that.

Cool. It kind of makes it all that bit more special when you get to meet them and then see them on tv after.

 

Kirsty: Yeah it was nice to be watching the Antiques Road Show and think to myself I was there.