New York Comic-Con: Anglophenia Meets Torchwood’s Eve Myles and Euros Lyn

Anglophenia was at New York Comic-Con this past Saturday, taking in all of the sights, sounds, costumes, and assorted weirdness. Here’s some of the things we saw while winding our way through the maze that is NYC’s Javits Center:

An R2D2 robot walking hand-in-hand with an adorable little boy.

A pervy photographer forcing two young ladies in costume into overtly sexual poses.

A Star Trek-improv group.

A Ghostbusters-improv group.

Former Doctor Who Colin Baker hawking CDs.

Two women, one dressed as The Doctor, one dressed as Captain Jack.

Various Jokers and Darth Vaders.

Muscle Marys and naughty nurses.

And a cardboard cutout of David Tennant I couldn’t resist taking a picture with:

Bootsy Collins meets the Timelord via the Mothership Connection

But it wasn’t all sightseeing: we were there for Torchwood: Children of Earth, and star Eve Myles and director Euros Lyn sat on a question-and-answer panel led by USA Today columnist Whitney Matheson. When Eve and Euros arrived at Comic-Con, their first event ever in the States, they didn’t know what they were getting into. Eve admitted that she wanted to crawl under the table when she saw the large crowd that had amassed to hear them speak. I’m sure the UK crowds they’ve faced have been a bit more muted.

But Torchwood‘s U.S. devotees did not disappoint, and it was my distinct pleasure to chat with some of them as they waited to get into the panel. To say the fans were enthusiastic would be a great understatement – the anticipation for Children of Earth was electric. More than one fan admitted Torchwood had changed their lives – not in some sentimental way – but that it had connected them with lots of other people who shared their passion for the show. Many people came in groups, some even showed up with their mothers. In the coming weeks, you’ll be able to watch some of those interviews. Let me just say – they are quite entertaining.

The fans had tons of questions at the panel: How would the show snap back after the tragic deaths of Owen and Toshiko? How would the Gwen/Rhys and Jack/Ianto relationships evolve? Who would Captain Jack snog next? When the hell will it air? But the answers to these questions wouldn’t be forthcoming, as everyone involved with the show has been sworn to secrecy. (And you don’t mess with Russell T. Davies. It’s just not done.) Multichannel News describes the scene well:

Torchwood star Eve Myles charmed the pants off a Comic Con crowd Saturday…. Myles – described by the creator of Torchwood and the related, revived Doctor Who, Russell T. Davies, as ‘one of Wales’s best-kept secrets’ – used her wit and Welsh wiles to do something difficult. She pleased a room filled with 500-plus fans of the show while not really revealing anything important about the upcoming season. Now that’s cheeky.

This was very true. And Eve didn’t have to be so awesome. The fans would have loved her even if she sat on stage and snacked on a bag of Doritos the whole time. But Eve is quite simply endearing, beautiful, and sweet, and her smile and slightly dirty sense of humor – c’mon, the lady works with John Barrowman – were infectious. Whether Eve was discussing Barrowman’s farting or the awkwardness of kissing a woman, the audience was behind her 100 percent.

Eve Myles and Euros Lyn after the panel

Not to be shallow, but Euros. Sweet sweet Euros. Not only is he disarming, quick-witted, intelligent, extraordinarily talented, unassuming, and not all at Michael Bay-ish, more than a few fans mentioned that Euros is a nice-looking fellow. Isn’t it sad that his golden-curled handsomeness is hidden behind-the-scenes?

Is the word “Euros” Welsh for “hot”?

They were both great. One fan summed up everyone’s feeling in the room when he asked if he could take them out on the town and “get them f***ed up.” These are people you want to have a beer with. Working on Torchwood must be a blast.

In other news:

• Mickey Rourke put the moves on the very married Thandie Newton at the BAFTAs, according to The Sun‘s Gordon Smart: “Just before Thandie presented Mickey with the best actor award, he groped her from behind saying: ‘You’re fit.’ He told me later: ‘I’d not kick her out of bed if she had gas.’”
• Prince Harry is facing another race row after allegedly telling a black comedian that he didn’t speak like a black man: Stephen K. Amos told a UK talk show, “Prince Harry comes up to me and goes ‘Oh, tell me, amusing, but you don’t sound like a black chap’.” Londoner Amos continued: “I wanted to say (in a West Indian accent) ‘How am I supposed to sound?’”(PA)
• Eddie Izzard, Dougray Scott, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, and Jason Priestley (ahem) will star in a BBC remake of The Day of the Triffids(Daily Record)
• Thom Yorke is professional enough to contribute to the Terminator: Salvation soundtrack.(NME)
• Estelle wrote in her Grammy diary that she wanted to meet Adele and Duffy, whom she criticized as being two soulless white chicks. “I said what I said, but I’ve never actually met them. I’m sure we’ll bump into each other and catch up. There’s no drama there, people.”(Guardian)
• Matt Smith will make a relatively modest £200,000 a year as The Doctor.(Telegraph)
• 23-year-old Keira Knightley is the youngest actress on Forbes’ “Most Bankable Star” list at No. 42.(Telegraph)
• The Daily Telegraph‘s Charles Spencer writes a scathing review of the London production of Richard Greenberg‘s Three Days of Rain, starring James McAvoy. “It gives me no pleasure to report that last night’s opening only avoided disaster by a whisker. ” As for Avoy, he’s “pretty dodgy throughout. In the first half he seems to be delivering his lines through a megaphone, in the second he grossly overplays his character’s stutter. Only when he finally discovers love and creative fulfilment with his best friend’s girl does the performance blossom but it’s too little, too late.”
• Woody Allen is returning to the scene of his cinematic crimes in London.(Guardian)