Preview: MCM Comic Con / Memorabilia Birmingham
This weekend (November 23rd & 24th) sees the MCM Comic Con and Memorabilia show take place at the NEC in Birmingham. We’ll be there on the Saturday, checking out what’s happening at one of the UK’s biggest conventions. If you haven’t grabbed a ticket yet, what are you waiting for? Ok, ok, so some of you may still be undecided, so let me tempt you with a rundown of just some highlights of the guests attending the event this weekend…
RED DWARF REUNION – Chris Barrie (Arnold Rimmer); Hattie Hayridge (Holly); Danny John-Jules (The Cat) and Robert Llewellyn (Kryten) from much-loved British sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf. QUADROPHENIA REUNION – Stars Phil Daniels (Jimmy); Toyah Willcox (Monkey) and Daniel Peacock (Danny) celebrate the ultimate mod movie, based on The Who’s 1973 rock opera.
Richard Donat and Kate Kelton from popular sci-fi series Haven. Donat plays Vince Teagues, leader of The Guard and co-editor of Haven’s newspaper, while Kelton took on the role of influential Guard member Jordan McKee. Primeval stars Hannah Spearritt and Ben Mansfield – Following musical fame in S Club 7, Hannah joined the cast of Primeval in 2006, appearing in the role of lizard-loving zookeeper Abby Maitland. Meanwhile, Ben played special ops leader Captain Becker, joining the sci-fi show in its third season.
A TARDIS-filling DOCTOR WHO line-up awaiting you, including Katy Manning (Doctor’s companion Jo Grant); Kai Owen (Torchwood’s Rhys Williams); scriptwriter Bob Baker; Frances Barber (Madame Kovarian); Mark Strickson (Vislor Turlough); David Banks (The Cyberleader) and Nabil Shaban (reptilian alien Sil). Other guests who have appeared in Doctor Who include Roger Lloyd-Pack; Earl Cameron; Patricia Quinn; Daniel Peacock; Isla Blair; Jamie Foreman and Daphne Ashbrook.
Josef Altin – Currently starring in HBO fantasy hit Game of Thrones as Night’s Watch steward Pypar, Altin’s other movie and TV appearances include Les Misérables; Being Human; Peep Show; Dirty Pretty Things and Misfits. Patricia Quinn, best known for her role as Magenta in the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Other credits include I, Claudius; Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, Doctor Who and Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem.
STAR WARS EXTRAVAGANZA – Featuring cast members Derek Lyons; Paul Weston; Laurie Goode; Garrick Hagon; Pam Rose; Trevor Butterfield; Alan Flyng; Nick Joseph; Kit Hillier; John Simpkin; Ken Coombs; Brian Wheeler; Salo Gardner; Liza Ross; Cathy Munroe; Chris Parsons; John Chapman; Terence Mountain; Marolyn Turk; Peter Allen; Hazel Allen; Wendy Allen; Ian Liston; and Jim Dowdall.
JAMES BOND actors attending the show include Richard Kiel (Happy Gilmore, Tangled) who played steel-toothed Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker; Martine Beswick (One Million Years BC) who played Zara in From Russia With Love and Paula Caplan in Thunderball; Tania Mallet, who played Tilly Masterson in Goldfinger; Caroline Munro (The Golden Voyage of Sinbad) who played Naomi in The Spy Who Loved Me; and Earl Cameron (The Queen, The Andromeda Breakthrough) who played Bond and Felix Leiter’s assistant Pinder in Moonraker.
As well as taking on Hulk Hogan as WWF wrestler Zeus, Tom ‘Tiny’ Lister has appeared in major movies such as The Dark Knight; The Fifth Element; Jackie Brown; Universal Soldier and Austin Powers in Goldmember. American actor Daphne Ashbrook has starred in a host of popular TV shows, including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; Doctor Who; NCIS; Law & Order: LA; The O.C.; The A-Team; Murder, She Wrote and Knight Rider.
Join the stars of upcoming monster movie The Expedition at MCM Birmingham Comic Con on Saturday 23 November for a sneak peek at the film, set for a 2014 release. Deep in the Amazon jungle a research team led by respected professor John Howson (Ben Loyd Holmes) are studying vulnerable species, but when their superstitious guides suddenly abandon them the party realize that they have stumbled onto the hunting ground of an apex predator… and they’re the prey! Cast and crew from The Expedition attending Birmingham Comic Con include Ben Loyd Holmes (Skyfall, Torchwood, Band Of Brothers); Neil Newbon (Holby City, Hollyoaks); Sarah MacDonnell (Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, Montana); Ernesto Cantu (World War Z); Daniel Caren (The Girl Is Mime, The Hike, The Bill); Dolores Reynals (There Be Dragons); Ross O’Hennessy (Da Vinci’s Demons) and director Adam Spinks, whose debut feature film Survivors is currently in post-production.
But the big draw for me, and I mean BIG, are the horror-themed special guests: including Marilyn Burns, best known for her roles in Tobe Hooper’s horror cult films The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Eaten Alive; Melanie Kinnaman, best known for her role in the 1985 horror film Friday the 13th: A New Beginning; John Dugan, best known for his role in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Texas Chainsaw 3D; Oliver Robins, best known for his role as Robbie Freeling in the 1982 movie Poltergeist and in its 1986 sequel Poltergeist II: The Other Side; Hammer Horror star Caroline Munro (Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter, Dracula AD 1972); Laurence R. Harvey and Emma Lock from the cult Human Centipede films; indie horror star Eileen Daly (Razor Blade Smile, Cradle of Fear) and Emily Booth (Doghouse, Cradle of Fear).
As if all THAT isn’t enough, they’ll be the usual dealer tables, comic village, DDR tournament and – of course – cosplayers. Just check out the video below, filmed by the guys at Queensofwinn, during last months MCM London Comic Con to see a little of what to expect:
There are plenty more guests and events I haven’t mentioned – you can check them all out at the official MCM/Memorabilia Birmingham website. Hopefully we’ll see you there!
