INTERVIEW: Battlestar Galactica's Richard Hatch

With his Hollywood-white teeth on constant display, Richard Hatch, star of Battlestar Galactica, gave me some of his time amid the hustle and bustle of the visitors to this years London Film and Comic Con. With appearances in 70s shows such as Hawaii 5-0 and The Waltons, it was a science fiction series that was to launch his career to an all new cosmic orbit. Richard played Apollo on the good star-ship Battlestar Galactica from 1978-79. Set light-years in the future, fine and upstanding Captain Apollo, the ever-spirited space fighter pilot, ventures through space with the rest of the post-apocalyptic human survivors from decades of warring with the Cylons (a cybernetic race hell-bent on the destruction of the human population), in search of a new, fabled homeland called Earth.

Over twenty years later, after attempts to bring about another breath of life into the premise of Glenn Larson's original, Richard then reprised his involvement with the franchise becoming the terrorist-turned-politician Tom Zarek in the fantastic 2004 reimagined adaptation. 

INTERVIEW: Doctor Who's Carole Ann Ford

The year is 1963 and a young girl of just 23 years of age embarks on a journey of a life time. In a little blue box, accompanied by authoritative actor William Hartnell, both sign up to what is pitched as a children's series so influential, over 40 years later, is still going strong around the globe. Of course I am referring to Doctor Who; that cult British television staple. 

On 16th July 2011, I interviewed actress Carole Ann Ford after she paid her Doctor Who DNA dues, carrying out a signing session for Doctor devotees of all ages, celebrating the release of four new Doctor Who classic novelisations. Despite the soggy London air, the queue of fandom well surpassed the alloted one hour, concluding that said 'childrens series' had definitely shed it's blue stabilisers. I discovered that Carole will be joining the rest of us as new episodes are aired, with a fervid layer of reverence, even a sonic screwdriver couldn't penetrate...

INTERVIEW: Mark Waring at Empire Big Screen

I’m turning this introduction upside down a little, by opening with a brief background to the iconic screen animator and inventor of animation technique Dynamation; Ray Harryhausen. I attended Empire’s Big Screen (the magazine’s virgin three-day event celebrating all things filmic) with a leap in my heart when I spotted that there was to be a panel dedicated to the celebration of this man. I grew up with white knuckles watching Jason ward off the sword wielding Skeleton’s and followed every silent fatalistic footstep Harry Hamlin took evading Medusa’s stony gaze in Clash of the Titans (1981). Even now watching the films again, I chuckle with delight when I discover Doctor Who’s Tom Baker moonlighting as an evil sorcerer in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973).

This nonagenarian was responsible for no less than 16 feature films, and like one of his monsters, his influence spiders off into a web of notoriety inspiring the likes of Steven Spielberg to James Cameron, with some of the most magical creature creations ever seen on screen. All with personality and character; the magic that truly brought these stop-frame models to life, made the viewer believe what they were seeing could actually be real, in some far flung corner of the world that many of the characters ventured to.

It was at this panel where I met marvellous model-manipulator Mark Waring. Mark was a guest speaker on stage, citing Harryhausen as an inspiration in his very successful career as an animator. Here is my interview with him post-panel...

INTERVIEW: Author, Alwyn W Turner

As part of my reporter/ contributor role as Geek Girl on the radio show The Geekend, I was really chuffed to get Alwyn W Turner as my first on-air interview. I'd like to thank him for being a wonderful guest and for writing his latest book; 'The Man Who Invented the Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation', which I devoured and also reviewed on the live broadcast. I think I can now remove my supportive third wheel, as my journalistic vehicle steps up a gear. After reading my interview with him, I would also highly recommend popping over to his personal website, which is a really good read in itself.