Saturday, October 26, 2013

Paul McGann

My next celebrity autograph blog is Paul McGann.


Born near Liverpool (UK) in the late 50's, Paul is probably best known for his extensive portrayal as the 8th Doctor, but he has also popped up in other well-known films.

Starting out on TV, Paul quickly moved into feature films, with 1987's Withnail & I alongside Richard E Grant as a particular cult favourite.  Then in 1992, he starred alongside Sigourney Weaver, Charles Dance and Lance Henrikson in Alien 3. Scarey stuff.

Then, in 1996, he starred as the 8th Doctor in the Doctor Who made for TV movie, otherwise known as The Enemy Within.  Used as a vehicle to relaunch the series which had ended in 1989, the movie also starred Sylvester McCoy's 7th Doctor and was a joint US-UK production which, although had a lot of things going for it, such as the fantastic TARDIS interior, failed to bring in the number of viewers required for a new series to be green-lit.


Paul then went onto star in many other productions, such as 2002's Queen of the Damned, however he continued to play the role of the 8th Doctor in countless audio productions (well I'm sure someone knows how many there have been...) and has even showed off the Doctor's new costume.  Great stuff.


In 2009, Paul starred as The Vicar in the comedy, Lesbian Vampire Killers.  If you're getting a bit sick and tired of the "serious" vampire movies (such as Underworld, and Twilight) then I suggest you pick up this DVD and experience a great vampire flick, which is also a great comedy too.


Now onto the autograph!  Paul visited Melbourne in 2010 alongside Dominic Keating as part of a cross Doctor Who/Star Trek convention, in which not only did I get the following (awesome) autographed photo, I was also allowed to conduct an interview with Paul for the club magazine of the Doctor Who Club of Victoria.  He discussed his role as the Doctor, his thoughts on the new series, including current Doctor Matt Smith, and his career to date.


Score!

Monday, October 14, 2013

Jo Hicks - (former) Page 3 Girl

My next celebrity autograph blog is the wonderful Jo Hicks.


Jo rose to fame as a Page 3 Girl during the late 90's early 2000's.  For those of you who are unfamiliar, in their week-day editions The Sun newspaper in the UK prints a nude photo on page 3, and they have a rotating roster of British lasses to choose from.  As a teenager / young adult during this time, and with the internet still finding it feet, stumbling on the Page 3 website was like finding gold!

Anyway, with her wonderful looks, Jo Hicks became one of my favourite Page 3 Girls.  During this time the website would also run a 'Lodge' edition on Saturday's, which was a multi-pic spread featuring the same roster of girls in various settings.

Apparently in the UK, Jo was also a fan favourite, and as such she went on to shoot for magazines, sometimes with her Page 3 counterparts (such as the pic below with Jakki Degg).

Anyway, during the mid 2000's I wrote to Jo care of her modelling firm in the UK, and a few weeks later I received this totally awesome reply!

Until next time.