It’s rare outside of a huge American convention or Star Wars Celebration to have 35 signing Star Wars guests, but attendees of Smugglers Surrey Star Wars Weekend on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th November were treated to just that, bringing together an incredible array of guests from across the Star Wars firmament, with the Saturday focusing primarily on guests from the two seasons of Andor: A Star Wars Story and the second day a broader array of stars from the trilogies and standalone films. Fantha Tracks were there (myself, Paul Naylor and on the adjoining table Richard Mitchell), set up opposite the signing area handing out badges, chatting with guests and visitors and grabbing as much audio as we possibly could, with interviews coming to Making Tracks across the coming weeks and months (yes, we got that much audio).
With the focus being primarily audio gathering we took hardly any photographs on Saturday, but we can happily report that the guests in attendance (*deep breath*) Tomi May (Sergeant Bloy), Joplin Sibtain (Brasso), Ben Bailey Smith (ISB Supervisor Blevin), Jonjo O’Neill (Captain Kaido), Alistair Mackenzie (Perrin Fertha), Pierro Niel-Mee (Erskin Semaj), Michael Jenn (Supervisor Lagret), Anton Lesser (Major Partagaz), Louis Martin (Sergeant Benz), Jacob James Beswick (ISB Agent Heert), Eugene Lin (Imperial security trooper), Callan Taverner (stormtrooper), Jonathan Cass (ISB Supervisor), Nick Owenford (ISB Supervisor), Robert Emms (Lonni Yung) and Jonathan Rhodes (Reporter #1) were all on great form, chatting with the crowds, signing and posing for photoshoots and generally having a good time.
The evening saw a drive back to our very comfortable room where myself and Paul chilled out, freshened up and were joined by our roving social media guru Matt Booker, and soon a dozen of us (including Julian from Alliance Agents, artist Jay Manchand and Luke from Star Wars Sessions) were enjoying a mighty fine Nando’s and then a couple of beers afterwards in a Western-style bar, the perfect way to top off a very productive first day.
Day two, and after a frankly majestic full English breakfast we were back to the show annd another incredible list of guests to meet, greet and chat with. (*Another deep breath*) Koo Stark (Camie Marstrap), Eileen Roberts (Mosep Bineed), Laurie Goode (Saurin), David Stone (various Original Trilogy characters), John Simpkin (Klaatu), Trevor Butterfield (Lieutenant Blount), Marti Matulis (Vane), Lucy Feng (Lega Fossang), Michael Carter (Bib Fortuna), Paul Warren (Varmik), Chris Bunn (Stormtrooper), Dermot Crowley (General Madine), Mike Edmonds (Logray), Brian Herring (BB-8), Matt B-Jones (Stormtrooper), Alistair Petrie (General Draven) and Hugh Spight (Prune Face) were Sundays guests, and again you’ll hear many of them on future episodes of Making Tracks across the winter and into 2026.
The hall itself was jam-packed, with plenty of artists and dealers tables offering all manner of items, and outside a foodtruck which saw plenty of action (lovely burgers). As with any busy show, the event could have done with a bit more room, which it appears it will have the next time out when a new, larger hall is opened on the campus, allowing for more space and more guests at next years show.
While Saturday’s focus was more broadly on Andor, Sunday’s guest list was headed by a name known to Star Wars fans for almost 50 years, but who wasn’t actually in the movie. In only her second ever convention appearance, Koo Stark was signing, and while certain topics were every much off-bounds (and another topic dominated her talk with the Star Wars Sessions team) it was fantastic to meet her and hear some of her stories, tales of a lost section of the film that while it’s been seen by millions ever since Behind The Magic in 1998 still holds a special kind of charm and a window into the Tatooine life of Luke Skywalker before destiny called. You can hear our chat with Koo on episode #240 of Making Tracks.
All in all a top weekend with friendly staff (thanks to Richard and his team), a lot of familiar faces, all the usual chitter chatter and some good memories made. Shoutout to Matt and Luke from Star Wars Sessions who did a great job with their charity panels; being on the road most weekends throughout the convention year, Star Wars is as much about the friends you make along the way as anything else, and weekends like this make the miles and the hours very worthwhile. Hats off all round, and here’s to the next one.
