Wandering & filming

As promised this week has been rather interesting and unusual, if I say so myself.



Spot the dummies

Monday marked my first full day back in Cardiff. Part of my reasoning for being back early was because they have been filming the Doctor Who spin-off 'Class', as well as 'Sherlock' for the last few weeks and I was eager to see what was going on. I spent Monday wandering, somewhat pointlessly around the Cardiff Bay area, in the hope that sooner or later, I'd bump into someone to. You'll never believe it, but I did! As I was just within sight of the bay, I saw Patrick Ness (creator and writer of the new spin-off). He kindly stopped for an autograph and quick chat, as well as a picture. We had a brief, but lovely chat; he really is one of the nicest people I've met and was more than happy to stop, despite obviously heading somewhere. I then continued onto the Doctor Who experience (they do very good tea and 'rainbow nations’). On my way back from the experience I bumped into Mr Ness again (twice in one day!). Eventually (5.00ish) I headed back to the flat. Whilst it may sound like a rather tedious way to spend the day, I always enjoy wandering around the bay and the surrounding area, and it was nice to just enjoy a quieter day.

Tuesday was spent doing all the jobs that I'd put off for the last two weeks, before I discovered that they were filming 'Sherlock' (guess where dear reader) at the bay. I convinced George to come for a wander and we ended up at the bay (again) for a few hours, but just caught them packing up, so nothing to report.

Wednesday was more faffing around, until that evening. I'd known where and when 'Class' would be filming that night for a few days, so I was out for the evening, watching filming (at last!). I got there early and saw various people arrive, it was fascinating to watch. Whilst we (the fans watching) were welcome to stand and watch, we were asked not to say too much about what we saw. I'm pretty sure that I can say they'd built a bus stop and put up some signs (major spoiler!). Filming began with a camera on a drone, before they started more ordinary filming at the other end if the street. During the course of the night shoot (I thought it was 7-11pm, but it was actually until 5am) I saw all sorts and spoke to a few of the crew and cast, but just generally enjoyed being amongst it and able to watch what was going on. Amongst all this, the cast who were filming came over to us and talked a lot and were happy to pose for photos and autographs. I met three of the regular cast: Greg Austin, Fady Elsayed and Sophie Hopkins. All of whom are, much like Mr Ness, the nicest people imaginable, and so easy to talk to. As I mention Mr Ness, I should say that he was also there for part of the filming and stopped once again for a chat (see what I mean, he's great). It got to about 3.30am and I headed off, as I was freezing and tired, but it was definitely worth it!

Thursday and Friday were far less interesting, as I started at college, on this term's show 'One Man Two Governors'.

Saturday came, and I was off home (via London). I met up with Mum and we went to the National (I love it there) to see 'Les Blancs'. Neither of us knew what it was about when we went in, but it was utterly fantastic, possibly one of the best plays that I've seen. We entered the auditorium to be greeted by haze and the smells of Africa. The play follows Tshembe Matoseh (Danny Sapani) as he returns home to Africa, under British occupation, having himself become a European. He faces the dilemma of which side to support in the struggle. What I particularly loved about the show was that I changed which side I supported frequently, as the play progressed, and wasn't sure what Matoseh should do. It really was brilliant, go and see it!

Alongside the excitement of the National the new Doctor Who companion was announced. Capaldi is soon to be joined by Bill, played by Pearl Mackie. It was announced (bizarrely) during Match of the Day, at half time. Whilst the majority of Pearl's background it theatre, I'm sure she'll be great, as she has done a fair bit on stage and I have faith in the casting directors at the BBC; she definitely has the look and energy of a companion about her. I'm excited to see what she'll bring to the show next year!

I expect you are going to ask me dear reader who we stage doored (yes, still a verb). Well the answer is no one as it was a matinee. However as we were leaving I spotted a lady called Bridget Forsyth and stopped her, much to her amazement. It turns out she had been sat not that far away from us in the Olivier. Not only that, but whilst Mum wandered off (she does that) I spotted an actress from the other show at the National ('The Suicide'), Pooky Quesnel and had a quick chat with her. Following the unexpected excitement Mum and I had a pizza on the southbank (it was rather good) and headed home.

Did I catch up on my sleep on Sunday, I hear you ask dear reader, no, of course not. Dad and I set off early to Wrexham (I know, I visit only the most exciting places) for Wales Con. After quite a bit of queuing (I think that's my special skill, does that count?) we met James Masters of Buffy, but more importantly Torchwood fame. He was very talkative and had clearly enjoyed working on the show. As well as James, we met Kiran Shah, Ian Gelder (who seems to have been friends with all the ‘Children of Earth’ cast before working on it) and Amy Manson (I think she was a little surprised to be talking about ‘Torchwood’, but again very talkative none the less). As we had taken a little longer than planned, we got to the Doctor Who panel (Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy and Dan Starkey), who as ever (especially Sylvester) was hilarious. Following on from that, we headed home to give us both chance to catch-up on our busy day. After a short while at home, I found myself heading to the station, to head back to Cardiff.

As ever I find myself on a train as I write this (I should really become a train spotter with the amount of trains I see, but perhaps not). It’s been a very busy week, having met some fantastic people and see some incredible theatre and television being filmed (it will take a lot to top this week).