Home > We've Met Phil! > Lyn's Report: From There to Here BAFTA Screening (7th May 2014)
Lyn's Report: From There to Here BAFTA Screening (7th May 2014)
Lyn attended the BAFTA Preview Screening of the first episode of From There to Here in London on 7th May. This was followed by a Q&A with some of the cast and crew, including Phil. Read on to find out more...
I arrived at the BAFTA theatre at about ten to six and went to find the toilets. To get to them I had to walk through the bar and guess who was propping it up with a glass of wine… Yup, Phil! He was looking really gorgeous and wearing his trademark brown suede boots. I nearly died on the spot... I went into the ladies and when I came out of the cubicle to wash my hands, Beth was at the sink .
“Excuse me,” I said, “Are you Beth Goddard?”
She said she was and I explained that I’d come to see From There to Here and was really looking forward to it. She said she was as well, on the big screen , and asked where I’d come from & I said Suffolk.
Beth said, “Oh, that’s quite far.”
I said, “Not really. I’m meeting someone from Belgium and when Phil was in This House my friend came from Australia to see him in it.”
Beth seemed quite stunned by this! I said I’d seen Phil in the bar with highlights in his hair (presumably for Big School).
“Yes. But they’re not his choice,” she said. In retrospect I think I should have told her how much I enjoyed her role in Endeavour, she's probably fed up with people talking to her about Phil!
As I wasn't meeting my friends until 6.15 pm, I then sat on a sofa in a quiet corner of the bar, from where I could see Phil being very animated! LOL! Then Beth rejoined him & I think they looked over to where I was sitting, so I thought I'd better go and meet my friends in case Beth was telling Phil she'd been accosted by a strange fan of his in the Ladies!
The drama was really good – I won’t say much to avoid spoilers but basically the drama is about how the bomb made all the characters think about their lives up until that point & how doing that affected what they did afterwards, both physically & psychologically. By the end we were all sitting with our mouths wide open, (but that was partly because we'd been looking at Phil!) There is also very dramatic ending to the first episode.
Once we'd seen a 'Coming Up...' trailer for the next episode, the Q&A panel made their way onto the stage.
I arrived at the BAFTA theatre at about ten to six and went to find the toilets. To get to them I had to walk through the bar and guess who was propping it up with a glass of wine… Yup, Phil! He was looking really gorgeous and wearing his trademark brown suede boots. I nearly died on the spot... I went into the ladies and when I came out of the cubicle to wash my hands, Beth was at the sink .
“Excuse me,” I said, “Are you Beth Goddard?”
She said she was and I explained that I’d come to see From There to Here and was really looking forward to it. She said she was as well, on the big screen , and asked where I’d come from & I said Suffolk.
Beth said, “Oh, that’s quite far.”
I said, “Not really. I’m meeting someone from Belgium and when Phil was in This House my friend came from Australia to see him in it.”
Beth seemed quite stunned by this! I said I’d seen Phil in the bar with highlights in his hair (presumably for Big School).
“Yes. But they’re not his choice,” she said. In retrospect I think I should have told her how much I enjoyed her role in Endeavour, she's probably fed up with people talking to her about Phil!
As I wasn't meeting my friends until 6.15 pm, I then sat on a sofa in a quiet corner of the bar, from where I could see Phil being very animated! LOL! Then Beth rejoined him & I think they looked over to where I was sitting, so I thought I'd better go and meet my friends in case Beth was telling Phil she'd been accosted by a strange fan of his in the Ladies!
The drama was really good – I won’t say much to avoid spoilers but basically the drama is about how the bomb made all the characters think about their lives up until that point & how doing that affected what they did afterwards, both physically & psychologically. By the end we were all sitting with our mouths wide open, (but that was partly because we'd been looking at Phil!) There is also very dramatic ending to the first episode.
Once we'd seen a 'Coming Up...' trailer for the next episode, the Q&A panel made their way onto the stage.
There were a lot of ‘arty’ questions about the show asked by the interviewer on the stage. The writer gave a very long & detailed answer about how he'd come to think about writing the play. Some of it was completely above my head. But here’s the bits fo the Q&A (Mostly Phil-related) that I can remember/understood:
Q: Phil – what appealed to you when you first read Pete’s script?
Phil: “The script. For me it’s always in the writing. We all come from a perspective where we have something to work with. The writer comes with a blank page and we all work off that, whether directing, acting, set design, producing, whatever. Obviously I’ve known Pete for quite a few years. We’re neighbours, you see. So I just used to annoy him and knock on his door – play Knock Down Ginger until he gave me a part.”
Peter: “I used to hide behind the settee.”
Phil: Yeah. I used to peer through the window going ‘Pete, Pete, can I have a job?’ I think what I love about Peter’s writing is his characterisation. For an actor it’s an absolute gift; you don’t have to change pretty much anything. We had a week’s read-through where we just sat round and chatted and had quite a long lunch! It was a great part and a chance for me to go back to Manchester as well, which was a great appeal. Because obviously Manchester has been incredibly important for me as a city and for my career. It’s sort of like my second home in many respects. I felt I’ve done some of my best work, without a doubt, there. Hopefully this adds to the gig. It was a good gig. And to get the chance to work with Saskia and Liz. Obviously Liz and I worked together on Life On Mars and so it was a really fantastic, enjoyable shoot. It was seven weeks and it flew by. All the elements just seemed to come together. It was just a really, really happy, enjoyable… hard working. We did work hard. But it was great. Real fun.
Q: Saskia – what drew you to the project?
Saskia: The same as Phil. The writing was so strong and I loved the humour . For me, I really loved the way she ended up in the story... which you’ll find out if you watch two and three. I loved the lovely family set pieces which we did at the beginning of the shoot. It was great to have that as a feeling to carry through all the other scenes. They were great fun to do. The breadth of emotion as well.”
Philip: It’s about families. The bottom line. It’s about family and the complexities and the heartache and the humour and the extraordinary thing that is family, which we can all relate to because we’re all from them. Well, most of us! And it’s that depth and complexity that is so extraordinary and amazing.”
The crew were asked about the reception that they’d gotten at the Manchester screening the previous evening (see our report from that event here) and they said it had been quite positive. Liz also mentioned that someone had even thanked them for writing something for Manchester that didn’t involve a murder!
Then they opened up the questions to the audience. The first one was, fittingly (given LOM and Ashes and his current car show) about cars.
Q: Phil, how was this Audi to drive compared to the Quattro in Ashes To Ashes?
Phil: Well it wasn’t as old, for a start; it didn’t break down as much. I don’t think it broke down at all, actually. The fact that it happened to be an Audi was purely co-incidental. It wasn’t planned. It was all right.
Then I got the chance to ask my question.
Q: I wanted to ask Phil and Liz if they found it strange working in Manchester together again (after Life On Mars). Did they recognise many of the locations?
Liz: “Yeah, we did. The street that Joanne lives on we used in Life On Mars. We’d often point out locations to each other and anyone else who wanted to listen.”
Phil: I remember I bored Daniel Rigby and whoever else was in the van on the way to our house, which was in Cheshire… Knutsford… it was about 40 minutes. We used to go past all these places and go, ‘That was series one, episode two…’ And I’d go into detail to Daniel and I’d just see him zone out…the earphones would go on.”
Someone then threw Phil a bit of a curveball, but I think he handled it brilliantly.
Q: If Gene Hunt were around today, do you think he could be persuaded to stand for UKIP?
Phil: “Are you from the Daily Mail?’ (laughter)
Q: “No.”
Phil: “You should be….I don’t think I can answer that one, sir. God knows. No. In a word.”
Phil also said the cast were “all marvelous actors Darling,” (in a bit of a luvvy voice) and when asked where Steven Mackintosh was, Phil said "He's out in New Zealand being a Hobbit or something!”
After the cast left the stage, we couldn’t see where they went, so we made our way of the theatre and then my friend said, “We’ve just walked passed Phil.” When we turned round, he was talking to some other fans and then he disappeared. So we walked into the bar again (guessing he'd be there) and hung around like lemons at a discreet distance as he was talking to Paul Mendleson & someone else. When the conversation seemingly came to a natural end, I tapped Phil on the arm and said, “Excuse me, could I please have your autograph?”
He said, “Of course." He asked my name and was really lovely. He then seemed to struggle a bit as he was trying to hold a wine glass at the same time. I asked if he wanted me to hold it for him, but he said he was okay.
I told him I had really enjoyed the first episode and he said, "Oh great I'm glad you enjoyed it." I also mentioned that my husband and I were watching the car show and finding that really good and he said he was glad. Once my other friends had spoken to him, I spoke to Liz White and got her autograph, She's a really lovely person I asked her if she enjoyed being Phil’s “equal” in this new show and she replied. “Yes, it’s nice not to be shouted at wearing a uniform" (or something along those lines).
By then, Beth was waiting for Phil to join her in another part of the bar, (she'd had to pass his drink to him whilst he was chatting to Paul Mendleson, because they’d been chatting for a while) so we thought we'd better beat a hasty retreat before we outstayed our welcome.
It really was a brilliant evening, and so good to see Phil again. The last time any of us had seen or spoken to him was when he was in 'This House' at the National Theatre.
Q: Phil – what appealed to you when you first read Pete’s script?
Phil: “The script. For me it’s always in the writing. We all come from a perspective where we have something to work with. The writer comes with a blank page and we all work off that, whether directing, acting, set design, producing, whatever. Obviously I’ve known Pete for quite a few years. We’re neighbours, you see. So I just used to annoy him and knock on his door – play Knock Down Ginger until he gave me a part.”
Peter: “I used to hide behind the settee.”
Phil: Yeah. I used to peer through the window going ‘Pete, Pete, can I have a job?’ I think what I love about Peter’s writing is his characterisation. For an actor it’s an absolute gift; you don’t have to change pretty much anything. We had a week’s read-through where we just sat round and chatted and had quite a long lunch! It was a great part and a chance for me to go back to Manchester as well, which was a great appeal. Because obviously Manchester has been incredibly important for me as a city and for my career. It’s sort of like my second home in many respects. I felt I’ve done some of my best work, without a doubt, there. Hopefully this adds to the gig. It was a good gig. And to get the chance to work with Saskia and Liz. Obviously Liz and I worked together on Life On Mars and so it was a really fantastic, enjoyable shoot. It was seven weeks and it flew by. All the elements just seemed to come together. It was just a really, really happy, enjoyable… hard working. We did work hard. But it was great. Real fun.
Q: Saskia – what drew you to the project?
Saskia: The same as Phil. The writing was so strong and I loved the humour . For me, I really loved the way she ended up in the story... which you’ll find out if you watch two and three. I loved the lovely family set pieces which we did at the beginning of the shoot. It was great to have that as a feeling to carry through all the other scenes. They were great fun to do. The breadth of emotion as well.”
Philip: It’s about families. The bottom line. It’s about family and the complexities and the heartache and the humour and the extraordinary thing that is family, which we can all relate to because we’re all from them. Well, most of us! And it’s that depth and complexity that is so extraordinary and amazing.”
The crew were asked about the reception that they’d gotten at the Manchester screening the previous evening (see our report from that event here) and they said it had been quite positive. Liz also mentioned that someone had even thanked them for writing something for Manchester that didn’t involve a murder!
Then they opened up the questions to the audience. The first one was, fittingly (given LOM and Ashes and his current car show) about cars.
Q: Phil, how was this Audi to drive compared to the Quattro in Ashes To Ashes?
Phil: Well it wasn’t as old, for a start; it didn’t break down as much. I don’t think it broke down at all, actually. The fact that it happened to be an Audi was purely co-incidental. It wasn’t planned. It was all right.
Then I got the chance to ask my question.
Q: I wanted to ask Phil and Liz if they found it strange working in Manchester together again (after Life On Mars). Did they recognise many of the locations?
Liz: “Yeah, we did. The street that Joanne lives on we used in Life On Mars. We’d often point out locations to each other and anyone else who wanted to listen.”
Phil: I remember I bored Daniel Rigby and whoever else was in the van on the way to our house, which was in Cheshire… Knutsford… it was about 40 minutes. We used to go past all these places and go, ‘That was series one, episode two…’ And I’d go into detail to Daniel and I’d just see him zone out…the earphones would go on.”
Someone then threw Phil a bit of a curveball, but I think he handled it brilliantly.
Q: If Gene Hunt were around today, do you think he could be persuaded to stand for UKIP?
Phil: “Are you from the Daily Mail?’ (laughter)
Q: “No.”
Phil: “You should be….I don’t think I can answer that one, sir. God knows. No. In a word.”
Phil also said the cast were “all marvelous actors Darling,” (in a bit of a luvvy voice) and when asked where Steven Mackintosh was, Phil said "He's out in New Zealand being a Hobbit or something!”
After the cast left the stage, we couldn’t see where they went, so we made our way of the theatre and then my friend said, “We’ve just walked passed Phil.” When we turned round, he was talking to some other fans and then he disappeared. So we walked into the bar again (guessing he'd be there) and hung around like lemons at a discreet distance as he was talking to Paul Mendleson & someone else. When the conversation seemingly came to a natural end, I tapped Phil on the arm and said, “Excuse me, could I please have your autograph?”
He said, “Of course." He asked my name and was really lovely. He then seemed to struggle a bit as he was trying to hold a wine glass at the same time. I asked if he wanted me to hold it for him, but he said he was okay.
I told him I had really enjoyed the first episode and he said, "Oh great I'm glad you enjoyed it." I also mentioned that my husband and I were watching the car show and finding that really good and he said he was glad. Once my other friends had spoken to him, I spoke to Liz White and got her autograph, She's a really lovely person I asked her if she enjoyed being Phil’s “equal” in this new show and she replied. “Yes, it’s nice not to be shouted at wearing a uniform" (or something along those lines).
By then, Beth was waiting for Phil to join her in another part of the bar, (she'd had to pass his drink to him whilst he was chatting to Paul Mendleson, because they’d been chatting for a while) so we thought we'd better beat a hasty retreat before we outstayed our welcome.
It really was a brilliant evening, and so good to see Phil again. The last time any of us had seen or spoken to him was when he was in 'This House' at the National Theatre.
From There to Here will air on Thursday 22nd May at 9pm on BBC One. For more pictures from this event, please visit the event album.
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