Home > We've Met Phil! > Ruth's Report: Greatest Show in the Galaxy, Peterborough (May 2012)
Ruth's Report: Greatest Show in the Galaxy (May 2012)
In May 2012, the cast of Ashes to Ashes appeared at the 'Greatest Show in the Galaxy' convention in Peterborough. Many fans attended this event with included opportunities to meet the cast and get autographs as well as an Ashes to Ashes cast talk. We'vre very grateful to Ruth, who attended the event for the following report of her day.
Well, where to start really! lol. I had a fantastic day - well worth the money/drive/petrol!
I hadn't actually intended to go to this event; as I'm a student and, as such, have no money. But then, in early April, the organisers posted a competition on their Facebook page. They said they were going to make big guest announcement the following day and the first person to guess correctly who it was would win a Fast Track Pass to the event. It was wishful thinking on my part when I guessed at Philip Glenister, but it paid off - I WON!! So that was it then; I couldn't not go.
Having managed to persuade my friend Harri, that she also needed to attend the event, we stayed in a Travelodge just outside Peterborough the night before and we treated ourselves to a bottle of wine and two episodes of Ashes on the DVD player. I was awake at 6am on the Sunday through excitement and then we left the hotel at 7 getting to the showground for about 7.45, meeting our other friend Megan in the queue outside. There was a bit of confusion about my pass, but thankfully it was found in the end! Once I was inside I collected my photoshoot tickets and then bought Harri’s to make sure she got them; I also got her a talk ticket and went to pick up my free gift. When Harri finally got in we went for a sneaky look at people having their Ashes group shots (with the Quattro) and saw Megan coming out of hers absolutely starstruck!
After a quick stop to meet Hugh Simon (Malcolm from Spooks), it was off to Philip Glenister to get his autograph for my American friend Amy. He looked gorgeous. I was first in the queue thanks to my fast track pass, so that was the first autograph he signed all day! He came out and said “hello” in quite a sexy way and as he was sitting down went, “Jesus!” - I don’t quite remember why, it might have been the queues. Also, he had a four fingered kitkat and came out to find there was already a 2 finger kitkat, some nuts and drinks on his signing desk. He was like, “oh look, they’ve already got me a kitkat” to which his ‘minder’ (the woman looking after him) was like, “erm..actually they’re mine!” so we had a bit of a giggle about that.
After attending a talk about my other big obsession, Spooks, it was time for a photo with Mr Glenister. Again I was front of the queue but I was so nervous I couldn’t stop shaking. It was a bit of a conveyor belt so not much time to speak to him, but he was nice and he smelled divine! I stood on one side of him and he put his arm around me and then we got asked to swap around so I got to have his arm around both my shoulders. Eeee! :D
Next up, after a quick lunch, was the Ashes to Ashes talk. (Admin's comments: You can view a video of the talk on our Misc. Videos page)
Dean, Montse and Keeley had been out drinking last night, so Keeley was feeling a little delicate; she freely admitted being hungover. They had such great camaraderie; teasing each other etc but I had to feel a little sorry for Montse, Marshall and Dean, because it was basically the Keeley and Phil show! Phil told us that about six months into filming Mars, the BBC sent an e-mail saying “there’s something very chewy about the show.” Keeley had a really confused look on her face and turned and mouthed to Montse, “chewy? Did he say chewy? What the hell does chewy mean?” Nobody really knew.
Phil said his favourite Gene Genie line was “You’d better have an arsehole the size of Gwent my friend for where you’re going!” and that it was the word Gwent that made the line, which got a reaction from someone in the audience who was actually from there! There was lots of discussion about the will they/won’t they aspect of Alex and Gene’s relationship and how it was necessary for the show, but both Phil and Keeley agreed that had Gene and Alex got together, they would have stayed together and grown old gracefully... well, disgracefully. Then there was a humorous discussion that began with, “can you imagine if they’d had kids?” (can’t remember who said that, whether it was was Phil or Keeley) and a suggestion was made of a spin off series, called The Children of Ashes.
Dean admitted to never having seen an episode of Doctor Who and Phil has only seen a couple, but Keeley has seen loads because of her 11 year old son. Keeley didn't know who Engelbert Humperdinck was when Phil started talking about him. She was so hungover, she was just confused bless her. Leaning over to Dean she was like, “What’s he saying?” Phil just said to the audience, “mention anyone famous to Keeley and she just goes, ‘who?’ " When asked about being in other cult shows, Keeley said Star Trek and Phil said, “I want to remake the Persuaders”.
They were asked what their idea of heaven would be. Dean (I think) said a pub was pretty close, Keeley said Peterborough Arena (lol), Montse was the Blitz Club with lots of drink and Phil said “a golf course with a pub; a halfway house. Probably Augusta.”
Other highlights from this were the stories of hysterics from the snooker hall scene in Series 1 where one of the naked anarchist got an erection while filming and the gay club scene where they were trying to convince Ray to chat up that bloke. Phil called Keeley and Dean the "King and Queen of giggling.” Phil told a story then about Keeley and Dean being so bad they were chucked off set so he had to play a scene to two empty chairs - so they got cushions, drew Keeley and Dean’s faces on them and then stuck them to the chairs! Marshall joked that he’d never really recovered from the make up in the Blitz Club or the stripping scene!
The interviewer asked Phil what it was like to be described as an unlikely sex symbol, to which he indignantly responded with, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, UNLIKELY?!” They were then asked to describe themselves in 3 words to which Phil said, “charming, generous and….” (he decided on sexy after prompts from the audience!) And Keeley said “the same as him” cos it was a difficult question cos if you start reeling off your good qualities, you come off “sounding like a complete twat!”
They talked about the fishing trip (for River Cottage) too; the shark that Phil caught was called Nigel and he screamed when he caught it!
At one point Phil and Dean were jokingly arguing about something - I forget what now, so Keeley moved to sit between them and told them “No fighting!”. So glad she did, because then she was sat next to Phill.
Someone asked about John Simm and Phil said that on LOM, “he moaned more than me.” To which Keeley replied sarcastically, “I don’t believe it!” (hinting that he moans a lot!) Phil said it was understandable because John had been in every scene and was working 5 days a week, to which Keeley piped up, “I did six!” and Phil just told her to “change your agent!”
Oh and Phil called New Labour bastards, which made me chuckle!
After meeting Peter Firth from Spooks, we ran down to Keeley Hawes for a photo. She was so funny. I asked her was it a late night last night and she nodded and cringed at the memories! She said, “I’m just clinging on” and she put her hands up as if hanging off a cliff before realising where she was and quickly putting them down saying, “we don’t want a photo like that” . After the photo she gave me a big hug and kiss - what a wonderful woman!
Back to Phil, this time for him to sign the photo I'd had taken with him earlier in the day; but again wasn’t much time to have a chat with him, cos there were other people waiting. But I was cheeky and asked if I could have a hug, and he complied - there was a sneaky peck on the cheek too! While waiting for Keeley Hawes’ signing she appeared at a window above us, spotted us and waved, and then came down early to start her signing session! When I got my signature she was lovely. She remembered my letter that I’d written and asked how I was getting on with my course, and we had a little chat about teachers and she said she was ‘very grateful for people like you [teachers]” and she did a bit more swearing (including fuck and shit). Phil finished his signing session before her and when he was leaving he tapped her on the shoulder to tell her he’d see her later and she didn’t hear him, so I commented, “she’s not listening to a word you’re saying” and Phil just went, “she hasn’t done for three years!”
All in all, AN ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC DAY!
Well, where to start really! lol. I had a fantastic day - well worth the money/drive/petrol!
I hadn't actually intended to go to this event; as I'm a student and, as such, have no money. But then, in early April, the organisers posted a competition on their Facebook page. They said they were going to make big guest announcement the following day and the first person to guess correctly who it was would win a Fast Track Pass to the event. It was wishful thinking on my part when I guessed at Philip Glenister, but it paid off - I WON!! So that was it then; I couldn't not go.
Having managed to persuade my friend Harri, that she also needed to attend the event, we stayed in a Travelodge just outside Peterborough the night before and we treated ourselves to a bottle of wine and two episodes of Ashes on the DVD player. I was awake at 6am on the Sunday through excitement and then we left the hotel at 7 getting to the showground for about 7.45, meeting our other friend Megan in the queue outside. There was a bit of confusion about my pass, but thankfully it was found in the end! Once I was inside I collected my photoshoot tickets and then bought Harri’s to make sure she got them; I also got her a talk ticket and went to pick up my free gift. When Harri finally got in we went for a sneaky look at people having their Ashes group shots (with the Quattro) and saw Megan coming out of hers absolutely starstruck!
After a quick stop to meet Hugh Simon (Malcolm from Spooks), it was off to Philip Glenister to get his autograph for my American friend Amy. He looked gorgeous. I was first in the queue thanks to my fast track pass, so that was the first autograph he signed all day! He came out and said “hello” in quite a sexy way and as he was sitting down went, “Jesus!” - I don’t quite remember why, it might have been the queues. Also, he had a four fingered kitkat and came out to find there was already a 2 finger kitkat, some nuts and drinks on his signing desk. He was like, “oh look, they’ve already got me a kitkat” to which his ‘minder’ (the woman looking after him) was like, “erm..actually they’re mine!” so we had a bit of a giggle about that.
After attending a talk about my other big obsession, Spooks, it was time for a photo with Mr Glenister. Again I was front of the queue but I was so nervous I couldn’t stop shaking. It was a bit of a conveyor belt so not much time to speak to him, but he was nice and he smelled divine! I stood on one side of him and he put his arm around me and then we got asked to swap around so I got to have his arm around both my shoulders. Eeee! :D
Next up, after a quick lunch, was the Ashes to Ashes talk. (Admin's comments: You can view a video of the talk on our Misc. Videos page)
Dean, Montse and Keeley had been out drinking last night, so Keeley was feeling a little delicate; she freely admitted being hungover. They had such great camaraderie; teasing each other etc but I had to feel a little sorry for Montse, Marshall and Dean, because it was basically the Keeley and Phil show! Phil told us that about six months into filming Mars, the BBC sent an e-mail saying “there’s something very chewy about the show.” Keeley had a really confused look on her face and turned and mouthed to Montse, “chewy? Did he say chewy? What the hell does chewy mean?” Nobody really knew.
Phil said his favourite Gene Genie line was “You’d better have an arsehole the size of Gwent my friend for where you’re going!” and that it was the word Gwent that made the line, which got a reaction from someone in the audience who was actually from there! There was lots of discussion about the will they/won’t they aspect of Alex and Gene’s relationship and how it was necessary for the show, but both Phil and Keeley agreed that had Gene and Alex got together, they would have stayed together and grown old gracefully... well, disgracefully. Then there was a humorous discussion that began with, “can you imagine if they’d had kids?” (can’t remember who said that, whether it was was Phil or Keeley) and a suggestion was made of a spin off series, called The Children of Ashes.
Dean admitted to never having seen an episode of Doctor Who and Phil has only seen a couple, but Keeley has seen loads because of her 11 year old son. Keeley didn't know who Engelbert Humperdinck was when Phil started talking about him. She was so hungover, she was just confused bless her. Leaning over to Dean she was like, “What’s he saying?” Phil just said to the audience, “mention anyone famous to Keeley and she just goes, ‘who?’ " When asked about being in other cult shows, Keeley said Star Trek and Phil said, “I want to remake the Persuaders”.
They were asked what their idea of heaven would be. Dean (I think) said a pub was pretty close, Keeley said Peterborough Arena (lol), Montse was the Blitz Club with lots of drink and Phil said “a golf course with a pub; a halfway house. Probably Augusta.”
Other highlights from this were the stories of hysterics from the snooker hall scene in Series 1 where one of the naked anarchist got an erection while filming and the gay club scene where they were trying to convince Ray to chat up that bloke. Phil called Keeley and Dean the "King and Queen of giggling.” Phil told a story then about Keeley and Dean being so bad they were chucked off set so he had to play a scene to two empty chairs - so they got cushions, drew Keeley and Dean’s faces on them and then stuck them to the chairs! Marshall joked that he’d never really recovered from the make up in the Blitz Club or the stripping scene!
The interviewer asked Phil what it was like to be described as an unlikely sex symbol, to which he indignantly responded with, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, UNLIKELY?!” They were then asked to describe themselves in 3 words to which Phil said, “charming, generous and….” (he decided on sexy after prompts from the audience!) And Keeley said “the same as him” cos it was a difficult question cos if you start reeling off your good qualities, you come off “sounding like a complete twat!”
They talked about the fishing trip (for River Cottage) too; the shark that Phil caught was called Nigel and he screamed when he caught it!
At one point Phil and Dean were jokingly arguing about something - I forget what now, so Keeley moved to sit between them and told them “No fighting!”. So glad she did, because then she was sat next to Phill.
Someone asked about John Simm and Phil said that on LOM, “he moaned more than me.” To which Keeley replied sarcastically, “I don’t believe it!” (hinting that he moans a lot!) Phil said it was understandable because John had been in every scene and was working 5 days a week, to which Keeley piped up, “I did six!” and Phil just told her to “change your agent!”
Oh and Phil called New Labour bastards, which made me chuckle!
After meeting Peter Firth from Spooks, we ran down to Keeley Hawes for a photo. She was so funny. I asked her was it a late night last night and she nodded and cringed at the memories! She said, “I’m just clinging on” and she put her hands up as if hanging off a cliff before realising where she was and quickly putting them down saying, “we don’t want a photo like that” . After the photo she gave me a big hug and kiss - what a wonderful woman!
Back to Phil, this time for him to sign the photo I'd had taken with him earlier in the day; but again wasn’t much time to have a chat with him, cos there were other people waiting. But I was cheeky and asked if I could have a hug, and he complied - there was a sneaky peck on the cheek too! While waiting for Keeley Hawes’ signing she appeared at a window above us, spotted us and waved, and then came down early to start her signing session! When I got my signature she was lovely. She remembered my letter that I’d written and asked how I was getting on with my course, and we had a little chat about teachers and she said she was ‘very grateful for people like you [teachers]” and she did a bit more swearing (including fuck and shit). Phil finished his signing session before her and when he was leaving he tapped her on the shoulder to tell her he’d see her later and she didn’t hear him, so I commented, “she’s not listening to a word you’re saying” and Phil just went, “she hasn’t done for three years!”
All in all, AN ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC DAY!
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