...Spring Into Action.

Guest starring: Chalky, Tigger, Lupine & Zygon Curry

It was the quadrennial Leap Day, and not only was it London Comic Con Spring, but the gang was meeting up to celebrate Shirt’s birthday just over a fortnight late by completing a ‘Sherlock’ themed Escape Room. Having enjoyed the previous year’s event, Shirt was a definite, and Dufus who was coming down for the escape room decided to join him. There had been many cancellations in the weeks leading up to the event, but the main draw as far as the friends were concerned was Series 11 & 12 companion, Tosin Cole (Ryan Sinclair), with Dufus also wishing to meet Bernard Cribbins, booking a photo with him. Unsure how popular Tosin would be, Shirt decided that they needed to be there when the doors opened at 9am, to get virtual queuing tickets. Dufus was originally coming down on the previous evening, but decided at the last minute to come down in the early hours (having to rise at 3am and leave at 4am) due to feeling too tired to drive after a week’s work.

Arriving at Shirt’s just after 7am, Dufus had dumped his stuff, and a short while later they were leaving, catching a bus and tram to Wimbledon (to avoid a long-term diversion). After a brief detour to get some breakfast, they caught a District Line train to West Brompton, and then a Southern service for the five minutes to Kensington Olympia. Whilst Dufus got some money out of a cashpoint, Shirt checked which queue they needed to join. The rain which had been pouring down since they had left Shirt’s went off a little, as they were corralled into a waiting area. At around 9am, they were moved into another waiting area nearer the entrance, following the first people being let in. Finally, at around 9.30am, they made their way into the venue, past the bag checks, pausing briefly for Dufus to take a photo of James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5. They then made their way to the upstairs signing area in search of guests that required VQ tickets. They also found Photo Area B, where a quick look at the schedule showed a line through Bernard Cribbins’ name, seemingly indicating that he had been a last-minute cancellation.

Having gone all the way around the upstairs level, they finally find Tosin Cole’s queue, having missed it on the first circuit. Taking VQ tickets #79 and #80, they asked the steward which number Tosin was signing up to.

“You can just join the queue”, he told them, gesturing to the four people queuing.

Doing so, around five minutes later, both were getting their ‘Companions’ books signed by Tosin with minimum conversation.

“I’m back to having met a companion from each Doctor”, commented Dufus as they walked away, it being clear that their early start had not been needed.

Next, Shirt wanted to meet Ned Dennehy, whose performance he had enjoyed in ‘Good Omens’, and who also appears in the Downey Jr. ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and Jonathan Pryce-starring ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars’. Ned signed Shirt’s ‘Good Omens’ DVD, then posed for a photo taken by Dufus.

Popping back down to the lower level, Dufus went to the Information Desk, which confirmed that as at EM-Con 2018, Bernard Cribbins had been an on-the-day cancellation. He then ummed-and-ahhed about joining Shirt in having a photo studio with Tosin Cole, putting off the decision, as the session was not for several hours.

They then began browsing the stalls, which were not as plentiful as at the main Summer event, but Shirt purchased a ‘Sixth Doctor’ pin-badge from the dealer who always attends ‘Epsom Funcottage’ events (with a seemingly limitless array of photos signed ‘To Shirt,’). Both were then tempted by some of the new posters from ‘The Zero Room’, including one of all TV and LE Masters, and several featuring the Jo Martin Doctor. Zygon Curry was also allegedly at the event, but they saw no sign of him.

Having looked at most of the stalls, Dufus wanted a drink, but given that the catering at Olympia wanted £2.80 for a can of coke, they searched for the exit, and having their hands restamped for entry made their way over the road to a local supermarket, getting a whole meal deal (with a larger drink) for 20p more than the price of the can on its own.

Returning to the venue, they made their way up to the main stage, finding a place to have a sit down and eat some of their lunch, before entering for a free panel featuring Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy. Nothing ground-breaking was revealed, with fans asking the usual ‘favourite monster’ style questions. However, both enjoyed the two Doctors sparking off one another.

Exiting the panel, Shirt had another celebrity in his sights - Afshan Azad – Padma Patil in five of the ‘Harry Potter’ films (and Ron’s date to the Yule Ball in film 4) Finding a nice photo of her with Ron, he swiftly got this signed, moving off as photos were not being allowed. Walking along to the comics area, Shirt got the Senior Creative Director of Titan comics to sign ‘Adler #1’, a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen style romp featuring ‘the woman’, Irene Adler, and some of her female contemporaries, for which he was the editor. (Shirt had already got the writer and artist to sign it at Naughty Asteroid).

After another graze of the stalls, in order to waste time until Shirt’s photo with Tosin (Dufus had finally decided that he couldn’t afford it), they joined a queue for a free ‘007: No Time to Die’ experience. This queue moved very, very slowly, until finally after AN HOUR, they were entering their personal details onto an i-Pad then were ushered into a green-screen studio. Following the given instructions, they recorded a version of the opening 007 titles, before leaving the studio, being given a plastic Secret Service ID card with a scannable code to their video.

Their next port of call was the secondary stage, where a panel with the Tylers, Camille Coduri and Shaun Dingwall, was halfway through. Chalky struggled to hear what was being said, whilst Dufus caught up on a few minutes’ sleep. Having failed to speak to Chalky by phone several times, it was then time for Shirt to meet his final guest of the day, Ian McElhinney who appears as Ko Sharmus in the final two episodes of Series 12 (and is also Granda Joe in ‘Derry Girls’) [Unfortunately, Patrick O’Kane, the Lone Cyberman, was not appearing until the next day]. Ian was away from his table, but after ten minutes wait he returned, and after a further ten minutes was becoming the first signature on Shirt’s Series 12 poster, before posing for a photo taken by his steward.

It was finally time for Shirt’s photo with Tosin. After around fifteen minutes wait, during which he and Chalky finally managed to touch base, Shirt’s batch number was called, and around ten minutes later was posing with Tosin, who seemed happier than he had at his signing table.

Retrieving his coat and bag, and taking his photo, Shirt rejoined Dufus who was waiting a short distance off. It was agreed that they had done all that they wanted to, so made their way out and back to the nearby station, catching a train one stop to Shepherd’s Bush. On arrival, they made their way into Westfield London, where Shirt made for VG Jones to look for the most recent MDW Special, which unsurprisingly they did not have. They then made for a nearby restaurant for milkshakes and a sit down.

After around half-an-hour, Chalky phoned to say that he and Tigger had just arrived at Westfield, and so Dufus and Shirt went to meet them, and they then all returned to almost the same spot for Tigger to look in the Disney Store. This completed, they attempted to find a restaurant without a long waiting time. Finally settling on Wagamama’s they sat down at a table of six, soon being joined by two other diners. Having ordered, Zygon Curry suddenly appeared, meaning that a chair had to be found for him to cram onto one end of the table. Having interrogated the waiting staff about their vegetarian options, Zygon finally ordered as well. As they were finishing their meals, Lupine arrived also, managing to cram himself beside Chalky and Tigger.

Having paid the bill, they strode off with Shirt in the lead, to another nearby shopping centre where the escape room was located. They arrived with a few minutes to spare, so made use of the centre’s facilities, before ringing the bell of ‘Doyle’s Opticians’ which was the entrance to the experience. A previous group was just finishing their briefing, and so they had to wait for a few minutes before being let in. Finally inside, they struggled to cram their excess belongings into the provided lockable trunk, with Tigger needing to take charge. Having each signed the electronic waiver, an assistant (confusingly they were all named Stamford [the man who introduced Watson to Holmes]) took them into the ‘eye test’ room for the initial briefing, where it was revealed that their chosen team name, the 'Sherlock Homies', was not as unique as they had thought. Next stop was a recreation of the ‘Sherlock’ living room, where they had a group photo before the experience proper began. No spoilers here – but Shirt was distracted throughout the first room – Molly’s lab – by regular recordings of the lovely Louise Brealey. The team came perilously close to completing the task in the time given, and in the debrief received very positive feedback.

Moving through into the attached bar, ‘The Mind Palace’, Shirt handed out the free drink vouchers and pin badges that each person had got due to Shirt booking through a deal. The vouchers, however, were not valid for the bar’s signature ‘Sherlock’-themed cocktails. Presents were exchanged and photos taken, with everyone being most entertained by Dufus and Shirt’s Bond video. However, the bar service ceasing at 10pm meant that they moved on to another nearby bar. Whilst there, the group were amused by the photo e-mailed to them all being of a completely different group (presumably the other ‘Sherlock Homies’). [E-mails sent by Chalky and Lupine led to the correct photo being sent a few days later]. Finally parting company, they made their ways home, after what had been for some, a very long (but very enjoyable) day.