It all started in the lovely sunny afternoon of Saturday, September 1st, 2018 in Central London, England where I took the train and underground tubes to Piccadilly Circus for the meeting with good friends ellsworth and Parker Productions. (I wore the blue shirt to best suit the occasion by the way!)
Later, the three of us went inside the luscious building of BAFTA. We went up to the reception floor upstairs where we met two Milkshake! presenters Kemi Majeks and Jen Pringle. Next, we all went to the second floor where other 'super fans' met us including SteamandWhistleProductions, 321Testify, Mr.MerlinFan02 and Geoffrey and his mother. It was decided that ellsworth, Parker Productions and myself took a selfie picture in front of the Thomas poster.
As we all discussed about general Thomas stuff, Ian McCue arrived with his family and was really chuffed to see all of us including SteamandWhistleProductions, ellsworth and myself whom he knew really well for many years. We all had a nice brief encounter as Ian and his family went to find some place to relax after their journey.
Later when the bell rang, it was time for everyone to enter Princess Anne Theatre, a 227-seat theatre established for cinema experience in the heart of London. The special presentation started with a Q&A session with the Fat Controller, who dons his Big World! Big Adventures! clothing style as worn before in the London cinema premiere on Saturday July 7th, 2018.
After the screening of the first two batch of four Series 22 episodes (‘Number One Engine’ and ‘Forever and Ever’), Kemi, Jen and the Fat Controller performed the Milkshake dance moves including the special one where everyone came up on stage including Parker Productions, Ian and myself all performed! It was crazy but a lot of fun. Still worth it for any Milkshakers who'd love to bop out and dance to any of their special moves mind you.
This was followed by two remaining episodes (‘What Rebecca Does’ and ‘Banjo and the Bushfire’) and the presentation was still a fun experience. At the end, everyone went to have their picture taken in front of the presentation with the Fat Controller, so we all decided to have one ourselves to bookmark an event to remember with Ian himself tagged along!
Minutes later we all had another group photo taken in front of the Thomas poster alongside Kemi, Jen and the Fat Controller. In the end, we all thanked Kemi, Jen and everyone else for the special Thomas BAFTA presentation before departing to Hamley's.
Along the way, we walked past the big yellow bus and joked about it while discussing about one of the new Steam Team members hence the yellow livery (you’d get the idea!). Once we have arrived at Hamley’s, we’ve spent a very good half hour or so looking at some Thomas merchandise including Adventures, Hornby and of course Wood, before part ways and bid our farewells. It all goes down to me, ellsworth and Parker Productions on our own as we walked out of Hamley’s, and went back to Piccadilly Circus as we finally part ways, bid our goodbyes and went home. It was one of the greatest highlights I have had for the year of 2018, especially with fun select episodes of Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!
Special thank you to everyone for the fun presentation including Ian, Kemi, Jen and the Fat Controller too! As the little blue engine would say these days “All aboard for a big adventure!”
~ SmurfyDan
Geoffery’s Mum
The new series considers and respects all aspects of diverse societies around the world without losing the traditions of the Thomas & Friends characters everyone loves. It is colourful, fast paced and very funny. It is fun for all ages and not just for preschoolers. The new theme songs are very catchy. Congratulations to everyone involved.
Parker Productions
I was lucky to be given an invitation to attend the BAFTA event (massive thanks to Jen Pringle for arranging it all) to watch these brand new episodes - and it was amazing! It was fab being with good companions (SmurfyDan and ellsworth) as well as meeting some new ones. Also, it was fantastic seeing the two veteran Milkshake! presenters briefly. I would have loved to have catched up some more, however I knew they had a job to do and didn’t have the time so it didn’t bother me that much. I’m sure there will be a next time!
After some selfie-taking with a certain tank engine and some banter, I saw a man walk up the stairs with his family and SmurfyDan and ellsworth walking towards him with enthusiasm. I was flabbergasted to see it was Ian McCue himself! I had no idea he was going to be present! After composing myself, it was finally time for the show to begin. SmurfyDan, ellsworth, SteamandWhistleProductions, 321Testify and Mr.MerlinFan02 finally entered the theatre and sat in these really comfortable seats. What was most interesting was they had these placards on the back displaying who had donated to the BAFTA. Notable celebrities included Julie Andrews, John Barry etc. with the words “Endowed by..” preceding it. I was curious to know which star donated my seat I was in... But maybe I’ll leave that till last, eh?
In front of us, a massive Thomas promo filled the theatre screen. Jen and Kemi jumped onto stage and addressed the excited audience in pure Milkshake fashion, with Kemi wearing an impressive ‘Who’s Number 1?’ top for the occasion! It wasn’t just the duo who went all out in the fashion department; after the Fat Controller was welcomed onto the stage, he bore his tropical attire as seen in the episode ‘Ryan & Daisy’. (For those curious, it’s the same Fat Controller was at The Great Discovery, Hero of the Rails and other Leicester Square premieres). Very jolly and cheerful, the Fat Controller answered a few questions from the audience about Sodor and his travels across the world, before making way for the first episode of the long-awaited Series 22 to begin.
They played two episodes before an interval where Jen and Kemi got all the children (especially the mums and dads!) to stand up and dance to a few familiar Milkshake! song routines and then perform a new set of moves to the new TV series theme tune - it was a whole lot of fun! Even the Senior Producer of the show joined in! Making us weary was perfect to sit down and watch the next couple of episodes they showed us. Before we knew it, the event had arrived at the terminus. Jen and Kemi gave thanks to Mattel for helping to make the event possible and gave them a round of applause - only us fans knew to turn round to clap Ian at the back..!
As all of us got up, I went to check at the back of my seat to see the celebrity endowment and I couldn’t believe my eyes - “Endowed by Ringo Starr”! Talk about an omen! That made me very happy, enlightened by the fact I had been watching brand new Thomas The Tank Engine episodes sitting in a seat honoured by the most famous storyteller of them all!
After leaving BAFTA, Hamleys was the last stop on our list. As fans, we talked and laughed, getting to know each other, before it was then time to go home. The whole day certainly became one of the memorable moments of 2018 for me. Everyone had a smashing time. And spending it with good friends, what could be better?
Huge thanks again to Jen, Kemi, Ian and the rest at Mattel/HiT Entertainment and BAFTA for putting on such a Thomas-tastic event for children, parents and the fans. Keep being awesome!
~ Parker Productions
SteamandWhistleProductions
Would never think I would have the opportunity to go to a Thomas Series Preview! Especially at BAFTA! Felt like our own little premiere! The BAFTA building was amazing turning up it just looked like a door! It had a lovely theatre which was brilliant to show the episodes at their best on the big screen! Was great meeting SmurfyDan, Ellsworth, Parker Productions, 321testify and the rest! Was fantastic seeing Ian McCue again who I had met at the previous event, in which he came over and spoke to us before and after the event and had a picture taken with us all, I wonder how many executive producers of any film or tv series does that for their fans! Also seeing and meeting the TFC and the presenters from milkshake was brilliant! The episodes that were previewed gave a great insight into what the series was going to be like, I really enjoyed the episodes and can’t wait to see the rest of the series! The animation, the new characters, storylines all fantastic, and it’s great that they are teaching kids all these important parts of life languages, morals, cultures which are taught at most schools. Yes it is quite a large change to what it was before, but seeing Thomas going round the world is brilliant and opens up so many opportunities. An event I will never forget, was very memorable, was brilliant seeing everyone there and I hope I can be part of more events like this in the future!
~ Jamie Ringwood (SteamandWhistleProductions)
Mr.MerlinFan02
WOW, JUST WOW! I can’t believe that I had the opportunity to go to London to see the Exclusive Preview of Thomas & Friends Season 22!!! It all started when I arrived in London and went up to get my ticket for the preview. After having some lunch, I walked up the stairs in BAFTA to find SmurfyDan, Elliot Killick-Ward, 321Testify, SteamandWhistleProductions and Parker Productions waiting in the cafe. I was so happy to meet these guys and we had a great introduction by showing off some Thomas merchandise like ERTL, Adventures and Tomy.
But the highlight of the preview was Daniel and Jamie (Parker Productions) dancing on stage with everyone and myself and the others were laughing so much!!! (Sorry Dan and Jamie XD) We finally got a picture with Ian, Sir Topham Hatt and all of us on stage in front of the screen.
After the preview, we left BAFTA and headed off to Hamleys to take a look at the Thomas merch. We found that Timothy was the last remaining Wooden Railway item on the shelves and we started to get to know each other properly, and we all laughed and chatted so much that it was fun to visit Hamleys. Then sadly, it was time for me to bid farewell to the guys as I would catch the train back home.
This was an experience I will never forget, seeing everyone and making new friends really made my day and meeting people who make the Thomas series itself! I hope we can do more in the future and Thank you to Dan, Jamie (both of them), Elliot, Luke and Ian for making my day and the start of September 2018 very memorable!
~ Callum Game (Mr.MerlinFan02)
321Testify
Where in the world do I even begin? About a week before the screening took place, I was scrolling through Twitter when I saw that SteamandWhistleProductions was visiting this event. I was intrigued, normally Thomas & Friends screenings weren’t made available to the public, as far as I could tell it’s usually by invite only. I quickly realised that an opportunity like this doesn’t pass by too often so I jumped at the first chance I got. Tickets were pretty cheap, £5 for the event. Not bad.
After our introductions the doors seemed to magically open by themselves, we walked inside, climbed up a short flight of stairs, collected our tickets and after another short flight of stairs we had finally arrived… an hour early… no biggie. We took this time to get to know each other more before the others arrived. I was then introduced to Mr.MerlinFan02, Parker Productions, SmurfyDan, ellsworth and Geoffrey. It was an absolute delight to meet them all but it was also very relieving to know that I was accepted as “one of them” in a way. As I brought out my trains, so did the others. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before, a very surreal experience. The wonderful thing about meeting “superfans” is that they retain almost the exact same information that you know, meaning that you could reference an oddity within your shared interest and they would understand exactly what you’re talking about, it’s brilliant! Perfect for in jokes. As we were getting to know each other better, who else should walk in but Ian McCue himself, I was in the presence of Thomas royalty, a real honour to meet.
At last the time had come, we were soon welcomed into the auditorium. But before we were seated we were told by Ian to “behave”, we all laughed before sitting down. Before the episodes began there was also a Q&A session with The Fat Controller; according to him, Harold had just landed on the roof after flying him in from China! After the first two episodes had been shown, it was time for a quick dance break with the Milkshake! Presenters. Some were more keen than others to participate *cough cough* Elliot *cough cough*. Probably the highlight of my day was seeing Daniel and Jamie Parker dancing on stage with Ian McCue and I have video evidence to prove it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZsdNUvvT5I
After the other two episodes had finished we had a very interesting/insightful chat with Ian before having our picture taken with The Fat Controller and the Milkshake! Presenters. At this point, Callum (Mr.MerlinFan02) suggested we went to Hamleys for a bit as it was close by. We realised we still had enough time before we were due to leave so how could we possibly resist? We laughed and joked for as long as we could before it was time to go, I was the first to leave. I was a bit conscientious of time, as I still had to walk back to Piccadilly Circus, take the Underground to King’s Cross to catch my train on time. We said our goodbyes and I headed for home.
For almost the entire journey home I couldn’t stop myself from grinning. The experience was incredibly fun and I would gladly encourage any Thomas fan to try it should the opportunity come again. I will certainly remember this trip for a very long time to come.
~ Luke (321Testify)
ellsworth
I was absolutely shocked when I was told by my good friend, SmurfyDan, that BAFTA would be hosting a special sneak preview of some of the new episodes for Series 22 and we both agreed that we and many other Thomas fans could not miss this event. Thankfully, on the day the tickets would go on public sale, I managed to get a few for me, SmurfyDan and my other good friend; Parker Productions.
Before I knew it, Saturday, September 1st finally arrived and I was on route to London Marylebone, where I met Parker Productions on the same train I was travelling. After a long journey, we both made to Marylebone and got the London Underground to Piccadilly Circus. There, we met up with SmurfyDan at the statues and walked down Piccadilly Circus to find BAFTA. After looking left and right at all times, we finally found the entrance, which was a small, narrow brown door with BAFTA on top of it, along with the famous theatre masks insignia. We were about to press the ‘CALL’ button when suddenly, the doors automatically opened up for us. We noticed a CCTV camera above us, so we assumed that, whoever was operating it, must’ve been expecting us.
Once inside, we met and got introduced to three new Thomas fans: SteamandWhistleProductions, MrMerlinFan02 and 321Testify. SmurfyDan and I were also reunited with a lad called; Geoffrey, along with his mother. Parker Productions was also reunited with two of the Milkshake! Presenters and Ian McCue himself showed up with his family. This was a big shock as we weren't expecting him to show up, but all the same, SmurfyDan and I had a lovely reunion with the man.
Before long, we were all called into BAFTA’s auditorium and I have to say, it looked so grand inside there and many A-list celebrities’ names were engraved on the back of certain seats including; Blake Edwards (Pink Panther), Judi Dench, John Barry (the original ‘Magic Railroad’ music composer) Aardman Animations, Kenneth Williams and even Thomas’s first narrator; Ringo Starr was labeled (Parker Productions was actually sitting in his seat).
After we all took our seats, the Milkshake! Presenters arrived on stage and greeted everyone, who were attending this event, and introduced us to the event, including the Fat Controller (in his Hawaiian shirt from the Big World! Big Adventures! The Movie Leicester Square Premiere) and some a special Milkshake! Dance that will be introduced officially when Series 22 aired on TV. While the audience were told to dance along for the fun of it, I secretly sat down (as I’m not really a dancer) and told the guys that “I’m calling in sick,” which they found very funny. This went on at least 4 times before we were shown the first 2 episodes which were; ‘Number One Engine’ and ‘Forever and Ever’ (the latter I really enjoyed due to it being focused on the ‘Autism Spectrum’ - a disability which I actually have).
After watching the first two episodes, the Milkshake! Presenters and the Fat Controller began to reveal something else - a sneak peak of the new ‘Big World! Big Adventures!’ Dance for the Milkshake! Channel. Many children volunteered to come up onstage to perform the dance with the presenters, even Parker Productions and SmurfyDan volunteered too. While me, Mr.MerlinFan02, 321Testify and SteamandWhistleProductions remained in our seats, we looked on in shock (in a humorous way) that Ian McCue had also volunteered to perform the dance onstage too! Next thing we knew, 321Testify had pulled out his phone and began to film the whole sequence and while they performed, we couldn’t help but have non-stop laughing fits, along with me telling 321Testify; “Keep rolling, this is priceless!”
After that was done, everyone returned to their seats when the Milkshake! Presenters enquired the Fat Controller on which other 2 episodes would be shown and to answer that question, they were: ‘What Rebecca Does’ and ‘Banjo and the Bushfire.’ After those two episodes were shown, we all met up with Ian McCue again and had a great chat with him, got our photos (including group photos) taken with him, the Fat Controller and the Milkshake! Presenters. The Fat Controller actually remembered me because I have met him at many of the Leicester Square premieres since 2008 (‘The Great Discovery’).
Then, all too soon, it was time for the event to end. But we did manage to have an hour at the famous Hamleys toy store where we went to explore both the ‘Thomas & Friends’ merchandise section and the ‘Hornby Railways’ section too. After our exploring in Hamleys was finished, it was time for all 6 of us ‘super fans’ to part ways and head back to our respective hometowns. Yes, I was sad that this “big adventure” had come to an end, but I enjoyed every moment of it and it was all worth it in the end. I’m sure they’ll be more special Thomas events in the future and when there is, I’ll be looking forward to those too.
~ Elliot Killick-Ward (ellsworth)
(Picture credits goes to SmurfyDan, Parker Productions and SteamAndWhistleProductions)
No comments:
Post a Comment