The Doctor and Mal

In attendance: Executive Producers Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy, Merlin stars Colin Morgan, Katie McGrath and Angel Coulby.

Panel moderated by Jenna Busch

It sounds like Season 5 will pick up three years later. They had various iconic Arthurian moments that they knew they had to get to in Series 4 and 5. They’re writing the center of Season 5 right now. Sounds like a stressful process. They deliver the show one day before it airs. One time there was an issue with the tape. They had to fix it and get it back to BBC Saturday morning before it aired that night.

Katie McGrath calls her character Morgana a “misunderstood hero.” That got a laugh, but it’s sweet to see her loyalty toward her character. As for what Morgana will be up to in Series 5, For Morgana, the most important part is in the time that’s gone by. She’s spent quite a large part of the 3 years that have passed imprisoned. She’s been persecuted for her magic. It’s not just about getting the throne. It’s about revenge for her. “I think she thinks Arthur is behind a lot of that,” McGrath says “So you thought she was bad before… she’s better.”

When asked about Morgana and Gwen and what might happen between those two, McGrath said, “You’re gonna get the legend, but not how you expect it.” Coulby added, “That’s definitely a very juicy story line to look out for.”

And we’ll get to see Morgana more in Camelot (and interacting with the other characters) but “not like you’d expect.”

Morgan says Merling gives as good as he gets this season.

Liam Cunningham is joining the show and the executive producers announced that Anthony Head is returning to his role as Uther Pendragon in Series 5.

There’s a new Merlin Facebook game coming up.

Bradley James (Arthur) did a video apologizing for not being here for the panel. He’s in Wales where it’s raining. They also showed us a video featuring’ bloopers, among which were numerous sword issues, messing up lines, and lots of trips and falls, including James tripping through a thick set of vines. One funny snippet had Merlin and Arthur looking off at something in the distance, then Arthur raises a small digital camera to take a photo. It was unexpected (even for bloopers) and funny.

There was another video, which had Bradley James interviewing Rupert Young about Sir Leon, and also showed footage of Young on set, obsessing over his hair, his costume and every other aspect of his role. It was funny seeing him act like he thought he was the star of this show.

Johnny admitted to having lots of cake cravings when he’s stressed. He eats biscuits and cake a lot when working. Merlin is apparently built on cake.

They showed the trailer for Series 5. Again, as I don’t watch the show, it was hard for me to know what I was seeing in context of the series, but here are the notes I took while watching (and hopefully they’ll have the video online soon enough). It begins by flashing to each of the main characters one-by-one looking serious. A shot of the round table. Someone says something about sewing the seeds of distruction. People in red capes in the snow running. A scary wolf. Shirtless man with a sword. A knight in battle. A chandelier drops on the table. Merlin and Arthur get caught in a net-trap. A creepy person chanting or saying some kind of spell. Talk of a prophecy- sounds like a threat to Arthur. Lots of action scenes. Fire. Merlin tells Arthur he will protect him or die at his side. A voice (off screen) says, “Camelot’s great trial has begun.”

Answering a question about Gwen being enchanted to cheat on Arthur (and whether she will ever learn the truth about what happened), Angel says the most important thing for Gwen is having Arthur’s trust. She doesn’t know she was enchanted. She would never do it again. She’s moved passed it. In the three years between series their relationship has moved on. It’s made them stronger in the end.

The enchanted bracelet isn’t going to come back. It’s been banished. “Honest.”

They’d love to bring Warwick Davis back but they’d need to find a good story for his character to fit in.

In attendance: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill are all going to appear along with exec producers Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner.

Chris Hardwick is moderating and has arrived on stage wearing a TARDIS shirt.

Everyone’s on stage now, and the screams as they take their seats are deafening! “I feel like Jon Bon Jovi,” Arthur jokes.

A fan shouts that they want to have children with Matt! “We’re here for an hour – I’m sure we can squeeze something in,” he replies.

The moderator Chris Hardwick asks how Steven keeps the show fresh and keeps the details straight. “I try not to have a life, which as a Doctor Who fan is easy,” he jokes.

Matt says his time on Doctor Who has transformed his life. “Working with these guys, who have become my firm, firm friends…” he says, before praising Caroline, too, who’s joined the show. “I think if the world was a bit more like Comic-Con it would be a better place,” he adds, raising a huge cheer! “Who fans shout the loudest,” he says. That’s just an invitation…

Matt’s still waxing lyrical about Comic-Con. “It’s just 100mph the whole time,” he says, revealing he got to meet Peter Jackson. “You get to meet your heroes.” And he admits to nerding out when he met Bryan Cranston!

Karen says she came down the hotel elevator with a Dalek girl today. Awesome!

Karen’s pleased a lot of people have worn ginger wigs when they’ve dressed up as her. “Power to the gingers!” she grins.

Arthur reveals that he’s spent the whole time at Comic-Con hearing people screaming and jokes that he likes sharing the lift with, say, Batman. “It’s been very cool.”

The audience cheers when the moderator talks about the brilliance of the Doctor-Amy-Rory trio. “We’ve loved the way the dynamic between the three of us has developed,” Arthur agrees.

Chris Hardwick says “I’ve become a Doctor Who therapist” for all the fans sad about the departing Ponds.

Karen adds: “I couldn’t stop crying for two weeks” after filming the final scenes, even tender-stem broccoli set her off! “I didn’t hold it together” she says. Arthur agrees that it’s been a “huge part” of his life but it was exciting to film the final moments. “And film them with the Weeping Angels as well,” Matt says. “It’s a climactic, fitting and I think brilliant end to what I think are my two favorite companions.” But he jokes he’s glad to see the back of them really!

Moderator Chris reveals that in the elevator, Matt turned to Karen and Arthur and joked: “Didn’t you guys use to be in Doctor Who?”

Heartbreaking scene of old Amy Pond saying goodbye (from “The Girl Who Waited”) playing now.

Chris Hardwick says Karen is “still really hot as an old lady.

What’s the season been like for Caroline? “Incredible!” She speaks about Daleks, Weeping Angels, shooting in New York and Spain… but adds: “Saying goodbye to these guys was the big one.”

Steven on on writing Amy/Rory’s final episode: “It was genuinely, properly sad.”

Steven unsurprisingly refuses to reveal any details about how Amy and Rory will exit? The moderator suggests there’s no way to write out Amy and Rory completely in the world of Doctor Who. “You reckon?” Steven says. “Enjoy the episode…”

Chris Hardwick: “We say goodbye to people that we love, but we form new relationships with people too.”

What kind of story lines does Caroline like? “I love them all!” she says, though she likes the historical ones because there’s something “magical” about traveling. As for this season, all the episodes are “so different”. “They’re huge, these episodes, and I love them all for different reasons.”

Matt Smith on Doctor Who ‬: “The show is the star, and will continue without the current cast and crew.” “It is about regeneration and it is about welcoming in Jenna and a new era and a new time and that’s what’s exciting,” he says. He reveals that he likes how Doctor Who can be anything – it’s not “bound by genre”.

Karen says she likes episodes which teach us about something we’re familiar with, like with Idris.

Karen: “I’m gonna miss running down corridors from imaginary monsters.”

She continues: “I’ve made my best friends on this show.” ‪

Arthur says it’s great playing characters you know well, and still getting scripts that surprise you. Matt praises the quality of the writing – “It makes our job infinitely easier.”

Matt Smith: “The heartbeat of the show is in the quality of the writing.” ‪

Chris Hardwick says he wrote a fan fiction about Matt Smith/Billie Piper’s scene in Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

What’s next for Karen and Arthur? Arthur puts on a Scottish accent to imitate Karen and talk about her new projects, Not Another Happy Ending and Oculus. Karen’s got the giggles: “That was weird!” Karen worries she can’t do an impression of Arthur, before doing an adorable: “I’m bumbling, that’s just me.” She reveals Arthur’s going to do a play and a new series called Broadchurch with David Tennant and Olivia Colman, written by Chris Chibnall. Huge cheers!

Steven states: “Maybe British actors are better at being American.’

Fan Q&A:

First up? An adorable young girl wants to know what Matt’s favorite gadget, button or screen in the TARDIS is. “In the TARDIS, each area has a particular job so when you get there, no word of a lie, you get a handbook of what it all does,” he says. “My favorite bit is the gear and the lever that flies it because of the rhythm of it.”

A dalek has come to ask a question! Will there be a multiple Doctor episode? “I’m not going to tell you, not even for the Daleks,” Steven says, as the crowd sighs as one.

Steven says the question of who the Doctor is is “tremendously important”, adding: “And only I know why!” Steven says he’s found out the truth about the Doctor’s name but he can’t pass it on. Matt says this is their life – Steven knowing things, withholding it and smiling at them. “He won’t tell me!” Matt complains.

Arthur says he loves working with so many “great people” in the show, while Matt says Diana Rigg is “totally wonderful” in her upcoming scenes.

Are there going to be any more alliances between the evil guys, like in The Pandorica Opens? Steven says he thinks putting that alliance together must have taken so long… and then they accidentally blew up the universe. So, maybe not?

What are the characters’ favourite costumes… and Matt’s favourite bow tie? Arthur says his favourite is the Roman Centurion (getting so many cheers), and Karen admits her favourite is the Kissogram. Karen asks Matt if his favourite is the tweed and bow tie. “Maybe tweed, bow tie and fez,” Matt replies. He jokes that he asked Steven for a hat… and ended up with a fez!

What have been the cast’s craziest fan encounters? Matt says they were shooting in Wales once, and when they got in the car there was a lady there who told him he was “an exact replica of her pet hedgehog”. Then she kissed him! Karen reveals the same woman grabbed her and asked if she was Matt’s girlfriend! Arthur says the woman has pictures of Matt and hedgehogs on her wall. “Like that’s going to flatter me!” Matt jokes. “A hedgehog!”

Have there been any scenes Caroline and Steven haven’t been able to do? Steven says they mostly get the “really amazing” ones on screen. “If it’s really extraordinary we’ll find a way to do it,” he says. He jokes that the writers – unlike him – know the limits and how to keep it restrained.

The next fan asks what plots the cast would love to have in the show. Matt says it isn’t affordable, but he’s “really intrigued” by Atlantis. Steven says there have been at least three versions of Atlantis already… “But we could do it again. To hell with continuity!”

Have the cast and crew got any weird or interesting habits? Matt reveals that when Karen’s nervous she picks her lips. “It’s my thinking face!” Karen protests. But Matt’s not getting off easy – he brrs his lips like a horse. Matt didn’t even know he did that!

“More Daleks than you’ve ever seen in one place,” Steven promises for the new season. “It’s ‘wow’. It’s lots and lots and lots of Daleks. It’s what we all see when we close our eyes in our TARDIS-wallpapered bedrooms.” He says there’s “absolutely everything” and stuff he’s just not going to reveal. “I don’t think we’ve had a bigger variety of episodes than the ones we’re about to show you,” he says. “It’s truly exciting.”

Matt has a piece of advice – if you ever see him in an airport, don’t say: “You didn’t bring your TARDIS, then.” He adds: “No I didn’t. Because if I did, why the hell would I be queuing up?”

In Attendance: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Jim Beaver, Mark A Sheppard, exec producer Jeremy Carver and consulting producer Ben Edlund

Jeremy says it’s “wonderful” coming back to Supernatural after working on Being Human.

Dean’s got out of hell before, so will he find his way out of purgatory? “I don’t know,” Jensen jokes. “Are you kidding me?” He does say that Dean can’t stay down there forever – “He gets out. How he gets out, that’s too much of a teaser – I can’t tell you!”

Ben says Dean will return from purgatory quite quickly, but the story of what happened there will continue for some time. “The story of how he’s brought to the limits in that place will be something we explore,” he says.

Jared’s asked about the rumours of Sam getting some love this season! “Sam is totally getting some action this season,” Jared admits. And he jokes that Jeremy once told him he loves it when he gets Jared to take his shirt off. Oh, and this is sweet – he stops to thank everyone for queuing up and waiting to come in.

The cast and crew want to know how many people are actually in the room… and Jared’s so excited when the lights come up that he stands up to take a picture!

Will Dean get some romance? “I think the only real romance in Dean’s life is the car,” Jensen jokes, to huge cheers. “So in that regard, absolutely.”

Jeremy says the strength of the show is the “bond” between Sam and Dean, so what about the new characters joining the show – how will that affect them? “They are just as open to new relationships and beginnings and endings as anyone else in the world,” he says. We’ll see that their separation last season will have a “profound effect” on them – each of them has gone a separate way and they’ll carry a lot from their time apart. “They’re going to have to come to terms, like any partnership, with dealing with the new relationship in each others life,” he says. Ben says they’re trying to get into more real human relationships.

When will we see Castiel again? “He went out for beer and will be back shortly,” Misha jokes. But he admits he’s not allowed to talk about it! “I guess we’re going to explore what happened in purgatory in flashbacks,” he says.

That’s not good enough for the moderator, who presses him to say when Cas is coming back! “I plead the fifth,” Misha grins.

Can we read anything into the presence of Jim Beaver on the panel? “You can read anything you want into it,” he says slowly. “The pat answer is it’s Supernatural, anything’s possible. I have said anything’s possible maybe 7,000 times this weekend!”

Crowley took Kevin hostage at the end of season seven – so what’s his plan? What’s next? “Crowley’s essentially what happens when people aren’t paying attention,” Mark says, before speaking about Crowley’s relationship with Sam and Dean: “I think we might be in a situation this year, I think I’m right to say, where we’re kind of chasing after the same thing so it could be a bit of a problem.”

Ben says Crowley is the character who thinks the furthest ahead. “He is going to be an issue,” he says. “Probably quite a titanic one.”

Jensen shushes the audience when they started screaming for him, then encouraging them, then shaking his head. “It’s like Jerry Springer.”

What is this thing he’s talking about? Jeremy refuses to say too much. “We know it has to do with…” he says, then stops! Ben says there’s a chase for a “power source” and says the season will introduce a “gamechanging element”.

One of the themes for this season is apparently Raiders of the Lost Ark – what does that mean? Jeremy can’t go into it too much, but he says in the past the brothers have been reacting to things. This time, they’re starting the season on offence. “They really want something,” he says. “It ties into the overarching mythology of the show itself, and something near and dear to their hearts.” He explains the brothers are “very much united” in going after this thing.

Fan Q&A

Will the show address the fact that as brothers, Sam and Dean look nothing alike! “If I were to grow my hair this long, you couldn’t tell us apart,” Jensen jokes, amongst quips he came to the audition with long hair. “This is what you’re left with, I apologize,” he says. And then there are screams for a good few minutes. Just when you think they’re stopping… they start again!

Who would die first in the event of an apocalypse! Jared says this is like “marry, kill”… To be honest, a lot of time is spent wondering what the plural of “apocalypse” is. “One of the three humans would die first,” Jensen says. They joke Jim would die first and be resurrected quickly… and now we’re back to the plural of apocalypse. Mark points out you can’t have a plural, as it’s an apocalypse and there can be only one. Even the next fan is asked for her opinion!

What would their characters’ superhero or villain names be? “Apocalypticii” and “Captain Thunderpants” are both thrown out there… Ben says “Chisel Chest” is a good one for Jared. Misha says “Assbutt Butt”!

What did Jensen learn from directing his first episode, and going into his future directing. Jensen warns his answer will be “boring”! He admits he watched Mark as an audience member because he was “so enthralled” with his performance. But as he continues, some of the panel members pretend to snore! When Jared drops onto the table, Jensen jokes: “I’m trying to cut as much of his stuff as I can.”

Jensen says the episode he’s directing is one where the brothers go after a bad guy and save a family. “It’s pretty bloody,” he reveals.

Are any qualities the stars would like to see in their characters. “I think there have been too many aspects of Sam,” Jared jokes. “I don’t think there’s been a lot that’s not been explored in Sam.” He says they’ve seen the characters grow, change and evolve, but now we get to see who the characters “want to be”.

Misha says the characters have been through so many journeys, they’re all “damaged and worldly”. “There’s actually a ton to mine just there, just responding to an ordinary circumstance now,” he says. Meanwhile, Mark jokes they need to explore his “loveliness”!

Would the stars would alter their characters’ story lines in any way? Jensen says he was always “envious” of Sam drinking the demon blood – “It was a really cool arc.” But he adds: “I didn’t envy the bleeding from the nose thing!”

Will we meet old enemies or angels in the purgatory storyline: Jensen says it will be revealed in flashbacks so he doesn’t know a lot yet, but he adds: “I’m looking forward to seeing what is revealed in that.” Misha agrees that he has no idea what the storyline is!

Ben says there’s a “whole body of events” that take place in purgatory – a whole other subterranean storyline that happens in the past but affects the future. “They’re going to meet some badasses down there,” he says. “There are going to be some problems.” And Jeremy adds: “We can safely say purgatory makes strange bedfellows.”

Jim says he saw Jeffrey Dean Morgan yesterday and he told him that if he didn’t have to get a plane today, he was going to sneak in to ask the panel a question!

A fan asks about Destiel! Jensen’s never even heard about it. “It’s sort of extreme bromance,” he’s told! And Ben says there are a lot of pictures, too…

A fan asks if the stars ever get tired of being strangled. “Yes!” everyone shouts. Mark complains that he gets picked up and shaken at will. “And that’s just off camera,” someone jokes. And Jared says he doesn’t like being up against walls. “Luckily, we’ve been mostly tied up lately,” he says, prompting a lot of squeals.

Regarding fake blood:  “When your wardrobe shows up and it has plumbing, it’s not going to be a good day.” Good tip!

Will season eight focus heavily on mythology? Will we be introduced to God? Ben and Jeremy swap the question between each other! “This season will actually… I think we’re going to…” Jeremy jokes. “We’re going to pull back from the heavy, heavy mythology… We’re going to give a chance for our brothers to come out a little bit.” But there will be overarching mythology which he hopes will continue for many years!

Jensen thanks the fans – Supernatural is moving from Fridays to Wednesdays because of the fans! “Most shows go to Fridays to die,” he says. That’s a wrap on the panel… except for a fun gag reel to round things off!

Video Montage: Shirtless Ackles; lots of Padalecki ruining other people’s takes; dancing; fake humping; a “Wayne’s World” spoof; the usual.

In attendance: Anna Silk, Kris Holden-Ried and Ksenia Solo join executive producers Jay Firestone and Emily Andras

- Due to the fact that the US is in the middle of Season 2, there will be no spoilers for season 3 –

Anna Silk’s first reaction to the script: “what frat boy wrote this?” ‪

“She’s good, she’s bad, she’s bi.” first Lost Girl pitch.

Anna stated that there would be more dark-side Bo to come.

When creator saw Anna read he knew she was the one. Said Ksenia was great but didn’t expect to get such a comedic role.

They all love Vex. He was supposed to be killed off but creator loved him so they kept him. May see more of him in s3.

Kris and Anna broke the plaster on the wall during Kris’s audition and their make out scene.

Ksenia gets jealous sometimes of not having powers and being human.

Sometimes Anna gets mustache hair on her lipgloss from Kris during their sex scenes.

They are most proud of the episodes that delve into LGBT issues.

Bluray and DVD out October 23 and it is UNCUT!