posted on 27 October 2012
I first noticed Nicola Walker about 10 years ago when Spooks (or [MI-5] as the series is called in France) was aired on French television. I had seen the first season which I thought was really good and then in the second season, Ruth Evershed arrived. Such a great character, the kind of woman I would love to be : strong, independent, intelligent, etc. I watched the whole of the second season and also the beginning of the third season but for reasons which I can’t remember, I stopped watching Spooks until last year when season 8 aired. In that heartbreaking first episode, Nicola was so amazing and her relationship with Harry so complicated and yet so beautiful… And finally there was this Luther episode which just left me completely shaken up. Nicola’s performance was just the best, ever! So I’ve decided to watch the whole 10 series of Spooks and that’s how I became addicted to Ruth, and of course of Nicola Walker.
Thanks to Twitter and Bonkers but Brilliant [Ed : that’s us 🙂 ], I knew that Nicola was going to be in the cast of the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time play in London. Initially, I took too long to make up my mind and tickets for the first batch of performances were sold out by the time I decided to buy tickets! But lucky me, in August, the play was extended until the end of October. So I checked the availabilities and this time, I didn’t think : I went ahead and bought two tickets for my husband and myself. I was going to go to London and be in the same room as Nicola Walker! I’m going to be the happiest woman in the world. So for me, the great adventure began on the 10th of August 2012, i.e. the day I bought tickets for the play.
I had gone to see a play in London before (A Doll’s House in 2009 with Gillian Anderson) and the stage door scene was just awful : overcrowded, nearly impossible to take pictures, so I was afraid it’d be the same for the Curious Incident. But a lot of Nicola’s fans reassured me and told me that because she wasn’t as famous as Gillian Anderson, usually her stage door appearances are great!
Between the day I bought the tickets and the day of the performance, it must have been the longest two months of my life! I started counting the days, every day! Everybody at work or in the family knew I was going to London. But nobody knew Nicola. It’s so frustrating not being able to share such a big joy with someone else but thank god for the existence of Twitter and Bonkers But Brilliant. During this time, I followed all the other fans’ experiences and I just wanted to be there as well. I knew the adventure would last for only a few hours so I was thrilled and sad at the same time. Strange feeling …
Next big question : where to stay in London? Whenever my husband and I come to London, we usually stay at beautiful hotels because we always want our journey to this wonderful city to be exceptional. And our trip this year would coincide with our 8th anniversary so it had to be special! For this trip, I remembered one episode from Spooks in season 7 when Lucas met the new CIA agent; he asked which hotel she was staying in and her answer was “Claridge’s”. So I told myself, “since you’re going to see Nicola Walker who you first saw in Spooks, you must pay tribute to this series.” And just like that, our room at the Claridge’s was booked. It was an incredible feeling.
When we go to London, we usually take a flight but this time, we decided to come with the Eurostar, again to pay tribute to Spooks because some of the episodes were shot at St Pancras station. Then the D-Day came! When we arrived in St Pancras, I immediately thought about the episode where Ros and Lucas tried to save a teenager but he ended up getting shot in the lift. I took a picture of a lift which looked exactly the same as it was in that episode.
When we were queuing to show our passports, I thought, “I wonder if MI5 and someone doing Ruth’s job is going to know we’re here?” It felt so Spooks-like, being here ! Were there any MI5 agents in the station ? Probably. Any CO19 agents ? Probably not or I think we would have seen them.
Back to Close Encounters : Main Page
click on each image above to see a larger pic
So I’ve watched again this Spooks episod with Lucas and Ros at St Pancras in season 7 (s7.6) and the lift I’ve taken into picture is really the one we can see at the end of the episod!!!
I laughed, I cried, I laughed again! Such a great review/report of your trip to London & Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time! Thank you for sharing with other fans!
I’m soooo glad you liked it! I’m really happy that you felt all these emotions reading the report : it means that I managed to describe all the emotions I felt when I was there so that other fans can feel the same! I was so thrilled when I read other fans’ reports that I wanted to share my experience with others!
What a great write-up! But too bad you don’t look happy at ALL! LOL! I’m so happy for you. And good for you for calling out her name and getting her to come back and meet you! I’m so jealous she kissed you on the cheek! She did the same to my husband but no to me 🙁 You expressed so well exactly the way I felt when I met her. I was floating on air and I was so happy even after meeting her for the third time. So you have a lot to look forward to the next time you meet her! Wow, Claridge’s, can’t top that!
I still don’t know where I found the courage to call her by her name. If I had waited 2 more seconds, she’d been away… When she turned back to me, I was so surprised and I didn’t know what to say for a few seconds! That’s why I talked about the note! To give me time to realise Nicola was there in front of me and I was talking to her! I can’t believe you’ve met her 3 times! You’re so lucky! I can’t wait for the next time. I hope I won’t have to wait too long! If there’s a next time, I’ll make a list of the things I wanna ask/say not to forget as it happened when I met her! The Claridge’s was a great experience! It’s going to be hard to do better! Perhaps a suite next time! I should start saving money right now!
Even if I have 2 pictures and an autograph, it’s still hard for me to really believe I’ve met Nicola Walker! She was sooo fantastic, nice, great,beautiful, gorgeous, etc…!!! Indeed, it’s going to be hard to do better than the Claridge’s! The Savoy? LOL
Brilliant report, Virginie. So pleased you got to meet Nicola. The Claridge’s, eh? How are the rest of us Nicola fans ever going to top that when we go to London next time?!