Cast & Crew Premiere Screening of 'Making Friends As The World Ends - Part 2' @ IMAX Cinema - Millennium Point ...

Most of the cast of 'MAKING FRIENDS AS THE WORLD ENDS - PART 2' - from left to right - Front row: Loiuse Osbourne, Jenny Stokes, Director/Writer Jon Pegg, Sean Connolly, Kia Pegg, Tamsin Hunt & Keir Pountney - Back row: Jack Woodhall, Jake Woodhall, Milton Rowe, Richie Woodhall, Paul 'Soggy' Counihan & Steve Gee at the IMAX Cinema, Millennium Point, Birmingham ...

Mid-June saw the cast and crew Premiere Screening of writer and director JON PEGG'S dystopian epic 'MAKING FRIENDS AS THE WORLD ENDS - PART 2' at the enormous IMAX Cinema at Birmingham's Millennium Point. This second installment takes up directly where 'MFATWE - Part 1' finishes. Part 1 has found tremendous success on the festival circuit, let's hope Part 2 does as well??!! Judging by the audience reaction on the night it stands a good chance!

SEAN CONNOLLY (Little Tim) and MILTON ROWE (Big Tim) and their gang in a scene from 'MAKING FRIENDS AS THE WORLD ENDS - PART 2' ... 

'MAKING FRIENDS AS THE WORLD ENDS', set in a post-apocalyptic Birmingham follows a group of survivors as they navigate the uncertainty of 'OUTSIDE' ... When forced to leave their safe-haven in Part 2, they are caught by well ... ME and MY LOT!! More than that I cannot divulge, apart from the fact that I might, 'possibly' do nasty things to British former WBC Super-Middleweight Boxing Champion - RICHIE WOODHALL, 'possibly'??!!

The Q&A after the screening of both Part 1 & 2 of 'MAKING FRIENDS AS THE WORLD ENDS' with SEAN CONNOLLY and MILTON ROWE on the BIG SCREEN ...

What a thrill to be asked to take part in the Q&A after the screening. As you can see from the above picture, the screen is HUGE, apparently it's as tall as a five storey building and as wide as four buses nose to tail!!! Talking of huge ... queue MILTON ROWE who plays my side-kick BIG TIM who stands at 6 FEET 9 INCHES, nearly a FOOT AND A HALF taller than me .. Thank goodness we were sitting down!!

It's a wrap! The incredibly talented cast of 'MAKING FRIENDS AS THE WORLD ENDS - PART 2' complete filming during Twixmas 2018 ...

Here's to 'MAKING FRIENDS AS THE WORLD ENDS - PART 3'!!!!

OUT IN JULY - Re-uniting with the SIXTH DOCTOR in a new BIG FINISH ADVENTURE - 'Memories Of A Tyrant' ...

The cover for the new SIXTH DOCTOR ADVENTURE from BIG FINISH - 'Memories Of A Tyrant' ...

I'm more than a little delighted to announce that I recently had the opportunity to reacquaint myself with the SIXTH DOCTOR - COLIN BAKER and his companion PERI played as ever by the wonderful NICOLA BRYANT. 

The occasion was of course to record a BRAND NEW ADVENTURE from the fine folk at BIG FINISH called 'MEMORIES OF A TYRANT', part of the regular DOCTOR WHO MONTHLY RANGE - written by ROLAND MOORE and directed by JOHN AINSWORTH.

So what's it all about and hear you cry ..?

Without giving too much away, here is the official blurb from the BIG FINISH website.

"What if you’d committed a truly dreadful crime but couldn’t remember?

The Doctor takes Peri to the Memory Farm – a state of the art space station where hidden memories can be harvested and analysed. To their surprise, they find the station in lock-down and all its resources dedicated to probing the memories of an elderly man. Garius Moro may, or may not, have been responsible for the deaths of billions of people many years ago, but he simply can’t remember.

The assembled representatives of two opposing factions, each with their own agenda, anxiously wait for the truth to be unlocked from Moro’s mind. But when a memory does eventually surface, everyone is surprised to learn that it is of Peri..."

John assembled a great cast for this FOUR-PART ADVENTURE which is RELEASED THIS JULY, including Diane Keen (Varish), Caleb Frederick (Offram), John Green (Otwoe), Joseph Mydell (Garius Moro), Charlotte Strevens (Naras) and Steven Wickham (Grisk / Venorg). Oh I nearly forgot ... I play KENNEDY - Head of Security on the Memory Farm! and that's ALL you're getting out of me at this point!!

It's always a pleasure to work alongside Colin and Nicola but it was a particular thrill to meet and work with DIANE KEEN (below) having been a big fan of her classic television comedy series' 'THE CUCKOO WALTZ' and 'RINGS ON THEIR FINGERS' and of course latterly spending NINE YEARS on the daytime television series 'DOCTORS' (I'm surprised we hadn't met before!) ...

Actor and Voice Artist SEAN CONNOLLY with DIANE KEEN during a break from recording 'Memories Of A Tyrant' for BIG FINISH ...

More details to follow, nearer the time of release. It's sure to be a good one, a great time was had over the two days in the studio ... Check back soon!

A SHEEPTASTIC Christmas Eve Morning with an AARDMAN Double Header AGAIN!!

Once again, this CHRISTMAS EVE BOTH the Oscar, Golden Globe and TWICE BAFTA nominated classic 'SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE' AND the INTERNATIONAL EMMY AWARD-WINNING - 'SHAUN THE SHEEP - THE FARMER'S LLAMAS' will be shown on BBC ONE at 10.10am and 11.30am respectively. Still incredibly proud to be a part of the MOVIE and the HALF HOUR SPECIAL.

If you count up all the characters I voiced, there are about ten, with two or three of them (including the Maître D above), whilst not being principle characters are featured throughout the film. Two more fun characters I play in the film are both Hair Stylists who work in the aptly named salon 'Barber Black Sheep'. Other roles I play include a Golfer, an Angry Panto Horse and a host of Hospital Characters ... fantastic fun!!

Those of you who follow my News Blog will know that I play HECTOR THE LLAMA (above) in 'SHAUN THE SHEEP - THE FARMER'S LLAMAS'...

WONDERFUL MEMORIES!!! ENJOY!!!

Rose Bruford College actors chase dream BBC Radio Drama prize!

The latest batch of young radio actors from ROSE BRUFORD COLLEGE representing the college at the BBC CARLETON HOBBS RADIO COMPETITION 2019 ...

Once again I am more than delighted to reveal the students I will be coaching from ROSE BRUFORD COLLEGE for next years BBC CARLETON HOBBS RADIO COMPETITION.

LAURA DUNNION (top left) - KHAI SHAW-McGEE (top right)

HARRIETT O'GRADY (bottom left) - MATT WAKEFORD (bottom right)

The prize as ever for the eventual winner(s) is an amazing FIVE MONTH CONTRACT with the BBC RADIO DRAMA REPERTORY COMPANY ... 

The standard at the auditions this year was top notch which made it extra challenging to make the final decision - but here they are and a rather splendid foursome they are too! Lots of work and fun ahead - I'm very much looking forward to working with them next year. 

Infographic showing another EXCELLENT YEAR for Actor & Voice Artist SEAN CONNOLLY's News Blog ...

An NEW infographic displaying the world wide reach of Actor & Voice Artist SEAN CONNOLLY's News Blog ...

I am heartened to see that my NEWS BLOG is still performing well since the high of January this year - when it experienced the 'SHAUN THE SHEEP EFFECT!', when both 'SHAUN THE SHEEP - THE MOVIE' received its UK TV Premiere and 'SHAUN THE SHEEP - THE FARMER'S LLAMAS' got yet another festive repeat. From January's high of a 1000 VIEWS PER MONTH through to today my NEWS BLOG has sustained it's very healthy 600 VIEWS PER MONTH on average. 

As you'd probably expect the UK is still streaks ahead of the rest of the world! Interestingly from January to today Russia has just edged in front of the USA with the other top nations maintaining their positions. The REST OF THE WORLD still surprises with views across Japan, India, Netherlands, Belarus and a very mysterious zone known (according to the Blogger analytics) as the UNKNOWN REGION!!

Again I don't really know how to interpret these figures, I suppose what is does show is that peeps from literally all around the world are still clicking through to my News Blog and have hopefully read something of interest (or not!)?! Now how to crack China??!!

Acting website at www.seanconnolly.co.uk

Voice website at www.seanconnollyvoices.com

Again a massive thank you to everyone who has clicked through since I started my News Blog ... See you soon ;o)

BBC Radio Drama family REUNITED as the extraordinary WW1 Drama Serial 'HOME FRONT' comes to an end ...

SEAN CONNOLLY, LUCY HUTCHINSON and BELLA HAMBLIN aka The Moore family in the BBC Radio Drama serial 'HOME FRONT' are reunited ...

It was a very special evening for myself and my actress wife BELLA HAMBLIN last night as the BBC's First World War radio drama serials 'HOME FRONT' and 'TOMMIES' came to an end ... It was of course an entirely appropriate time to celebrate the achievements of both dramas as it fell on the eve of Remembrance Sunday and the centenary of the Armistice.

It was lovely to celebrate our part in the FOUR YEAR SPANNING drama 'HOME FRONT' playing Folkestone Bakers, husband and wife ERNIE & HILDA MOORE (played by my REAL WIFE - BELLA HAMBLIN) with our lovely daughter JESSIE played by LUCY HUTCHINSON and catch up with the many people we had worked with in that time. Lucy will probably hate me for sharing this but have a look below for a picture of us all in the first year of the show back in 2014!

BELLA HAMBLIN, LUCY HUTCHINSON and SEAN CONNOLLY - The Moore Family during recording on the first season of the BBC Radio serial 'HOME FRONT' ...

The setting for the celebration was the BBC's BROADCASTING HOUSE in a VERY WET London ... Moving speeches of thanks and appreciation about both 'HOME FRONT' and 'TOMMIES' mixed in with a smattering of poetry and song, made for a rather splendid evening! Re-acquainting ourselves with friends and colleagues was a real treat, including meeting up with one of my 'ARCHERS' sisters, actress and voice artist SUSIE RIDDELL (see below), who also appeared in 'HOME FRONT' ... So I had the pleasure of being with my 'HOME FRONT' radio wife and daughter but also my 'ARCHERS' sister, confused yet??!!

SUSIE RIDDELL, SEAN CONNOLLY and BELLA HAMBLIN, radio family at the BBC ...

Recorded at BBC BIRMINGHAM since 2014, the last ever episode of 'HOME FRONT' was aired yesterday, SATURDAY 10th NOVEMBER. The sprawling, 561 episode drama, transmitted on BBC RADIO 4, was mostly set in three locations in the UK; Folkestone, Tyneside and South Devon. The entire series, overseen by JESSICA DROMGOOLE, will be available to listen to for the next TEN YEARS via the BBC iPlayer here - also check out the new BBC APP - SOUNDS ... It's been special!

To quote Harold Pinter's 'The Caretaker' "What are they doing at Sidcup?" Well at Rose Bruford College there's all sorts!!

Actor and Voice Artist SEAN CONNOLLY with some of the Year 3 BA (Hons) Acting students from ROSE BRUFORD COLLEGE after completing their intensive introduction to radio drama.

I've once again just finished working with 45 talented students from top drama school ROSE BRUFORD COLLEGE exploring the delights and disciplines of working in Radio Drama. 

Over a number of weeks, I listened to a 135 solo pieces spanning writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and Harold Pinter (more on him later!) and worked on 14 separate scenes from playwrights such as Neil Simon, Tom Wells and Simon Stevens.

The students brought a great energy into the recording studio which certainly translated into some very fine performances. It was a great joy directing them in their sessions, they always worked hard, they were attentive, enthusiastic and more than happy to have a play! I was impressed  by how many of them achieved those golden moments in studio, performances that make you say ... "Aha, that's what the scene is all about and that's the essence of their character's story!" I look forward to working with them again later in the year to continue our search for more 'golden' moments!

Oh yes .. what was that about Harold Pinter?! This flagstone quote from Harold Pinter's 'The Caretaker' lies just in front of the main entrance to the college. It's a direct quote from Act One of the play by the character Aston and poses the ultimate question about Sidcup. Rose Bruford College provides one of the possible answers ...