A Pop Culture Extravaganza!
- ann-evans
- 13 hours ago
- 4 min read
If you went along to the MCM Comic Con show at the Birmingham NEC last weekend (28 – 30 November) I think you will agree that it was an outstanding event. This year was the biggest MCM Birmingham ever, with the show’s footprint at the NEC almost doubling and 55,000 attendees coming through the doors over the three days!
The show was a real celebration of the worlds of film, TV, games, collectables, books, comics, anime, cosplay and much more. There certainly seemed like more people than ever had made the effort to dress up as their favourite characters with some truly spectacular costumes to see. Most were hand made by the person themselves with some people creating their own hero, villain or monster, including some much larger than life figures.
The unmistakable King Kong made an impressive appearance standing at 2.4 metres. And you had to smile as he trundled past and you spotted a little extractor fan in the rear of his huge costume! Another frightening-looking character standing around 8ft tall, told us he was a fallen angel named Strider - a character he'd created himself.
What was also great about the Birmingham show was all the ‘sideshows’ and things to do and get involved in. Perhaps not to everyone’s cup of tea was to try your skills at some Sumo Wrestling. We stopped to watch the action as a young female cosplay witch decided to take on a very large Sumo wrestler. Despite being half his size, she managed to ‘floor’ him – without any magic tricks, although I think he probably let her win, just in case!
The Ministry of Steampunk (MOS) had a fabulous display of costumes, gadgets and figurines including a full-sized Steampunk Dalek. The MOS, are Steampunk enthusiasts who try to put on the very best steampunk events that they can, by listening to the steampunk community and creating events that people will want to attend. And if it’s possible to raise some money for charity at the same time, that’s another bonus.Checkout their website to see what they have coming up.
Also, a large area given over to Project Dalek who had lots of characters from Dr Who on display with members on hand to chat to people who were mad about Daleks. No matter whether you're into scale models or full-sized Daleks, or if they are real or computer graphic renders. Project Dalek has downloadable plans for you to build your own Dalek and they have a wealth of Dalek information to share with their members. So, if you’re a big Dalek fan, then checkout Project Dalek and learn more.
For those into gaming there were entire areas where you could try out new computer games. One area was PC Lan Freeplay Zone where visitors could play a selection of video games.
Masses of merchandise stalls filled the hall, bringing you incredible hand-made items such as figurines, artwork, books, clothing, posters, jewellery, candles, cakes, accessories – you name it! Each stall had its own unique style or brand. Lots of boxed and unboxed TV and film collectables, toys and replica weapons from swords to lightsabres. You could even find Japanese tapestries and Christmas sweaters. You could also bump into authors selling their fantasy books along with some figurines to go with the stories.
Especially appreciated at the Birmingham show which the London show could learn from, was lots of places where you could buy food and drink – and places to sit and relax while you ate or had a beverage. This all made for a much more relaxing and enjoyable day.
Importantly were the line-up of stars from TV, film and gaming, many of whom gave talks in the main theatres. Amongst some of the stars was Jamie Campbell Bower who plays Henry Creel / Vecna in the Netflix series of Stranger Things. Talking to the Live Stage audience he chatted about his career, his time on Stranger Things, his music career and his debut role in Sweeney Todd.
The star of Wallace and Gromit, Ben Whitehead, took to the Live Stage, where he shared that he “never auditioned for Wallace, never ever. I said to [Aardman's] Steve Box, oh by the way, I can do Wallace if you ever need an understudy and that was that.”
Ben also discussed the importance of Gromit as a character and revealed that the iconic character was originally a cat. He was also asked about his favourite cheese, to which he replied: “Is it going to disappoint people if I don’t say Wensleydale? Wensleydale isn’t my favourite cheese! This is probably because of the West Country setting of Aardman, but my favourite cheese is cheddar.”
It was something of a Dr Who reunion with Dr Who stars Davison, McGann, Baker and McCoy all on stage to talk about their time as the Doctor. Colin Baker who played the sixth doctor paid tribute to the second Doctor Patrick Troughton when asked about his personal favourite story from his time on the show. “I liked The Two Doctors because I liked doing a story with Patrick Troughton. I think we all agree he was the Doctor who made it all possible for us. To make that first regeneration so different, so funny - to do a story with him was fantastic.”
So, three excellent days packed full of memorable moments and fun. The next MCM Birmingham takes place from 7 – 9 August 2026 get it in your diaries now. Find out more here: https://www.mcmcomiccon.com/birmingham/en-us.html
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