This topic is for sharing Molony memories from the past year.
Do you have a favourite Molony moment of 2013? Maybe a particular performance of Damien's on TV or perhaps you were lucky enough to see him on stage or meet him at a stage door, or you had something signed by Damien!
2013 has been filled to brimming with amazing Molony moments for both Damien and his fans. We have been gifted with another year of stunning performances from our favourite actor, with Damien appearing on TV, in theatre and on the radio, as well as a host of exciting events, promos and interviews and casting announcements for this and next year.
The Damien Molony Forum had it’sfirst birthday, ran an excitingcompetitionand began our second year supporting Damien, bringing Molonians across the world the latestnewson his work.
Below are the major Damien Molony highlights of the year.
January The year began with Damien making his radio debut in‘Student Stories’on BBC Radio 4 on 4th January.
Feb – March From 3 February – 10th March, starring alongside Michael Socha, Kate Bracken and Phil Davis, Damien blew fans and critics away with his portrayal of over 500 year old vampireHal and his ultimate descent into his dark side in the apocalypticfinal series of BBC 'Being Human'.
April April 8th saw the UK release of theBeing Human Series 5 DVD, which included the much anticipated exclusive additional scene that changed the ending of the show forever and left the future of our three favourite supernaturals in the imaginations of the fans.
May In May a photo on the internet sparked rumours of Damien being cast in BBC Victorian drama Ripper Street, with our first glimpse of him in costume on set. Damien’s casting was officially confirmedto the Forum on 23rd May.
June After the BBC announced in June that Matt Smith was leaving the show,Damien emerged as a top favourite to play the next 'Doctor Who'amongst fans, the media and the public, with consistent support in the interwebs, WHO related press and in betting odds. Since Peter Capaldi’s casting has been known,rumourshave persisted of Damien appearing in the show, as either The Master or as ‘the new Rory’.
Damien’s voice was back on the radio on 3rd June when he starred alongside Fionnula Flannigan, in BBC NI Radio Drama production‘The Hill Bachelors’, airing on BBC Radio 4.
October On 1st October in another WordTheatre performance for the2013 Forward Prizes for poetry Damien read Dan O’Brien’s ‘The War Reporter’ and ‘The Coal Jetty’ by Sinéad Morrissey.
November After months of eager anticipation Damien was back on our telly boxes again for 'Ripper Street' 2starring alongside Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg and MyAnna Buring in episodes 2 – 8. For seven episodes we followed the suspenseful and intriguing journey of Detective Albert Flight, brought superbly to our screens by Damien from 4th November – 16th December.
The same night as his Ripper Street debut on 4th November Damien attended the‘Cool Gothic and the New Vampire’ panel event at the BFIwith Toby Whithouse (and other actors, writers and directors) to talk about all things Being Human, Hal, horror and the modern gothic on TV. The Damien Molony Forum had the privilege of doing thecomplete transcriptof the whole event for the BFI.
On 5th November, Ripper Street HQ held alive Q & A on Twitterwhere Damien answered questions from fans, (including 3 from the forum!)
The following week on 11th November Damien was announced as themale lead in upcoming Original Channel 5 drama ‘Suspects’. He will be appearing in ten 1 hour episodes as Detective Sergeant Jack Weston in the fly on the wall / documentary style, semi-improvised cop drama early in 2014.
December On December 15th Damien was back on BBC Radio 4 for the third time this year in the radio adaptation of Roddy Doyle’s‘The Commitments’.
An early Christmas present arrived on 20th December when Damien was announced as being cast in Dan O’Brien’s‘The Body of an American’Which will run at both the Gate Theatre London and the Royal & Derngate Northampton early 2014.
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We are honoured to have been able to not only witness a year of incredible performances from Damien and the growing recognition of his talent, but also to have been able to bring all the latest news and exclusives to our fellow fans across the world.
We could not have done this without the input and support from some very lovely people who have shown us kindness and generosity in allowing us to share these with you all, most notably BBC NI Radio Drama, Tiger Aspect Productions and the BFI.
Our biggest gratitudes go to Damien for continuing to share his talent with the world and to his fans, who continue to appreciate it.
Huge thanks to all who have continued to read and support the Forum in 2013, here is to another year!
Wow!!! He has quite a whirlwind year! Good for hm! I didn't realize he did all of those readings in one year. Besides all of the yummy twitter pics that Damien has posted, I know my fave damo memory was joining this forum. You guys who run it are awesome and amazing! Fantastic article domino! :)
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My all time fave Hal line (just love the way he says it)
"We've been played! My God! We've been played!"
"Annie's getting hysterical downstairs and I'm not enjoying it"
"kill me. Kill me now. You can tell Annie that I attacked you or something"
"“Were you guys talking about me? I heard ‘clearly gorgeous’”
Very, very fab summary of 2013 in Damoland! Lovely. and so Exciting to see it all in one list, bringing back memories of the excitement that built up to each event, the reveals, and finally getting to see/hear him in each production. I wonder which was his favourite.
I have too many, but my number one has to be Stage door March 2nd video showing him HOLDING the quilt I made him!!!
I'm not gonna lie, I SQUEEEEEEEEEEED like a crazy fan girl thinking "He's touching something I touched!" hahaha Silly, I know. That quilt was a labour of love and it was exciting not just to know I had given it to him but to see his reaction. A very emotional moment for me. And to know how much he appreciated it when a few days later I got this tweet from Laura Cotton, script editor of Being Human:
I had hoped against hope of getting to see him with the quilt and YAY! Plus to know that he brought it down so that a whole bunch of the Being Human crew and cast saw it and "admired my craftmanship". I just about passed out with giddy fangirl emotion. (which btw I sent her a tweet back saying so!)
AHHHHHHHH, now I'm lost in happy memories. Humongous grin and teary eyed. I need a silky brown hankie. *sniffles*
papillon... pamplemousse... bibliothèque... un baiser A lilt in his voice. Every sentence like music... #kisskisskiss A terrible beauty is born. Love me some #Jacksass
A very busy year for Mr M glofigs....and we have been so incredibly lucky to have had so many amazing Molony moments this past year! The man works really hard, dedicated as well as talented.
I'm touched that joining the Forum is your fave Damo memory, thank you for joining in and supporting us!
Whimsy, your amazing Show No Mercy quilt was a major joy of 2013 in so many ways, a precious memory for you, and well deserved.
I am still thinking about this one, when you look at all of Damien performances this year for example...so many favourite Hal moments from Being Human, and as many fave Albert Flight moments in Ripper Street!
and then there are more personal memories like the forum receiving a happy first birthday tweet from Damien
or even more personal, my own birthday, when Laura had this amazing card made and all you lovely forumers signed it.. and DaMo too!
Wow 2013 really has been a molony filled year hasn't it!! Really enjoyed catching up with everything that has happened this year and remembering all the epicness!!
incredible moments for you both there domino and whimsy, brings tears to my eyes reading them! Can't wait to hear other peoples also
One of the best parts of this year for me was seeing series 5 of bring human. After spending so much time at filming, seeing the scenes come to life on screen was absolutely amazing!
Another favorite memory of mine from this year was plucking up the courage to write to damien myself and receiving damo mail!! Absolutely thrilled that he took the time to reply, he's a true gent
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Sooner or later, we all go back to being the monsters we truly are!
I think the high point Molony memory for me was Su asking Damien whether he'd be willing to talk to Domino on the phone and him doing so. I still think it's the kindest thing anyone has done for anyone within fandom.
How lovely of you Lisa Funnily enough... that is my toppiest of the top Molony Memory too ! still cannot believe how fate conspired on that day, it was total spontaneity and good and utterly generous heartedness all round!
Su, you have had some epic Molony Moments this year, those photos totally blew me away when you first shared them with us, I had actual tears from the emotion of it, so amazing! and you were actually there!!
Yes domino I am very lucky and have lots of molony memories this year :) I'll post some more when others have shared, I don't want to overpower the topic with my rattling lol ;) xxx
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Sooner or later, we all go back to being the monsters we truly are!
I have spent way too much time thinking about this! That really is a fantastic summery , domino - Damien has, indeed, had a busy year.....and I don't know where to start - or, more to the point, I might not know when to stop!! It's wonderful that everyone has so many lovely memories....
I think top of my list has to be the totally surreal evening of 2 March. It was simply fantastic to see Damien live on stage, bringing life to 3 totally different characters....it really was a dream come true!
But everything about that evening was amazing. Meeting up with the bloggers for the first time...walking into the bar when we first arrived at the Royal Court and seeing Damien there (I nearly fell down the steps...) He was so lovely to everyone at the stage door....and I still grin like a loon at what he wrote when Laura asked him to sign my programme - "Hi....Come on over.."!!
The most surreal part, though (although it could just be the alcohol!), was in the bar at the end of the evening when he came over for a chat - completely unexpectedly - and thanked us!! HE actually thanked US!!!!!
A huge thank you to domino, su and laura....it was a really special, memorable evening - and it never would've happened if it hadn't been for you.....
Funny thing. I have been involved in another actor calling another fan once. It is a most awesome experience, that!
But back to DaMo: my favorite DaMo memory of 2013 is much like most of my favorite fandom memories - associated with the actor in question, but mostly due to my fellow fans being awesome.
Those of you who chat with me on Twitter know this, but I did my first triathlon in October, strictly due to Damien's doing his. I figured it he could do it, I could do it. And I did. Mine was just a sprint tri, meaning a shorter distance one, but it was still my first one and a challenge for me. I raised money for charity, too.
Because of this event, I found out about another charity group and due to a perfect storm of both fortunate and unfortunate circumstances, that has led directly to my next charity and personal challenge, a half marathon in March. I've never run that far in my life, and I'm not a runner by nature, so this is a big deal for me. I'm raising money this time to fight the disease that just killed my friend, but I wouldn't know about any of this if I hadn't done that tri, which I wouldn't have done without DaMo's inspiration (amongst other things).
So, that's my favorite DaMo memory this year. However, I can't have that one without the forum coming to mind, so finally coming to play here (I'd been lurking for a while, thanks to Lisa and our many Being Human Twitter conversations for the past few years) is pretty much tied for best DaMo memory of 2013. When I entered the Homage to Hal contest, I did it on a whim and I had a blast making my little red shield. But that led to me chatting, both here and on Twitter, with many of you, and that has been a smile for many of my days. I enjoyed writing some of you little Being Human stories, too, in thanks for donating to my cause - you all rock!
Which reminds me...perhaps I should post the link to those little ficcies here some day! :)
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You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.
Looking back there have been some amazing Molony moments this year.
The whole day in early March when we went to see If You Don't Let Us Dream... was pretty awesome, not least the stage door & wonderful array of gifts we were able to give Damien. He definitely saw the funny side of the one's he was supposed to and didn't mind at all that I had managed to have half of them wrapped in 1-Direction gift wrap
The Word Theatre performance at the Arts Club was also a treat to witness in September. I had never been to such an intimate performance as this & it really was a privilege to see.
It was also a privilege to see our boy graduate to BBC 1 prime time drama in Ripper Street this year. The show may have been (unfairly) cancelled but I think reviews show that this wont be the last time we see Damien in the prime time spotlight!
My favourite Molony moments from 2013 however came via twitter. Damien's tweets often used to need subtitles for many of his followers & one particular acronym theatre review had many people confused. This RT made me laugh a lot...
I was also incredibly grateful when Damien RT'd the link to my Race for Life sponsorship page. I know he RT's blood donations but really didn't expect him to RT this. I guess it was just good timing as I found out a couple of days later that he had pressed the RT button just after completing his triathlon. He is such a star!
Looking forward to many more Molony moments in 2014!
thank you for adding your best Molony memories fifi, wabbit and Becca! it gives me the warm fuzzies reading about how much Mr M AND his fandom have directly and brought happiness AND inspiration to lots of people this year!
fifi, your special memory is one of mine too, I loved hearing about that evening and let's not forget your wonderful review you did for the forum too. (here)
wabbit, Damien's triathlon this year was such an epic event and brought so many people together united in one case! but your is the most direct example of a fan being inspired and well done you. I believe Damien was also inspired by the passing of a friend when he began his blood donation campaign, and my heart goes to you both for those losses, and my admiration for the positive action you decided to take as a result.
Becca that was a great twitter moment last year! lol! and I remember Damien RTing your race for life tweet, amazing...but also all the blood donations you and other fans did this year! admire you all for doing so and thoroughly deserved all the RTs.
Sorry - I've just got to do this because.......well, because Hal!!!
My 5 memorable Hal moments from the final series of Being Human....
1) The first time I saw the '1918' ep1 preview - such unbridled joy and excitement.
2) That moment just before he killed Larry......when he turns back, eyes black...with that little tilt of the head - perfect...it still gives me shivers!
3) The cellar scene with Crumb from ep5 - however I feel about how this fits into BH canon.......it was fantastic to watch.
4) The first time I saw Puttin on the Ritz - just.....!!!
5) Hal and Tom's fight - I waited 2 whole series for that and it didn't disappoint.......I virtually danced around the room with glee!
These are just in chronological order, and I didn't call this my top 5 on purpose (I'd probably choose different ones tomorrow!)....but I restricted myself to just 5 or the list would've just gone on...and on....and on....
I'm going to cheat and add an extra scene moment - it's allowed 'cos it's not the series proper (my list.....!)
Reach for the Stars - memorable because I choked on my tea and literally nearly died laughing......
-- Edited by fifi on Sunday 29th of December 2013 11:16:20 PM
All the polls were really tough to vote for. I just want to vote for everything! But in this case, there really was only one choice for me, the return of Hal in Being Human. I remember how, I was around this time last year, when the first BBC3 trailer finally premiered, the excitement of the one and only TV appearance, the buildup till finally that Lady Catherine clip and our first episode!!!! My twitter name even was "positively giddy". The best feeling ever. It became "smoke on the breeze" just after that first episode, when they announced it was the final series. Stupid BBC. That knowledge hung like a dark cloud over me for the rest of the episodes and I don't think I've ever truly recovered from the shock and grief. So while I of course got excited to learn about Ripper Street, and loved Student Stories and The Hill Bachelors, and REALLY can't wait for Suspects, it just will never compare to that giddiness just before Series 5 started.
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papillon... pamplemousse... bibliothèque... un baiser A lilt in his voice. Every sentence like music... #kisskisskiss A terrible beauty is born. Love me some #Jacksass
wabbit, Damien's triathlon this year was such an epic event and brought so many people together united in one case! but your is the most direct example of a fan being inspired and well done you. I believe Damien was also inspired by the passing of a friend when he began his blood donation campaign, and my heart goes to you both for those losses, and my admiration for the positive action you decided to take as a result.
I do what I can. That's all we can do.
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You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.
My own personal Molony Memory? (i've had time to think about this and can't believe i'd forgotten!) was receiving a happy birthday tweet from him. The day before i'd been unwell with a tummy bug so on my actual birthday i was still recovering and sitting on my bed with my laptop and a bar of chocolate so when I read his tweet to me, i almost choked on said chocolate and said a really naughty word which made my daughter chuckle.
Career wise: The return of Hal in Being Human even if it was for just one more series and then the speculation that he was going to be in series two of Ripper Street which made me really happy because i adored series one and my sister and I had previously speculated, in a joky way "wouldn't it be cool if..." and it actually happened.
-- Edited by rubyrosettared on Tuesday 31st of December 2013 02:38:41 PM
2013 has been all about Damien, partly because I didn't realise he properly existed until BH Series 5 started (God knows what I was doing during Series 4 - I definitely watched them all, lol!)...
My fave bits are (in no particular order) - Being welcomed into the fandom, despite protesting about being called a BH Blogger (sorry...)
- Getting to meet lots of said mental people at WordTheatre and the BFI - and some normal ones as well, lol.
- Being able to fill 14 weeks of my year knowing that Damien will be on the TV at some point during it!
- Swooning at general toplessness in BH and looks in RS and that Interrogation Room picture, and the wetsuit picture and...and...and...
- Being at WordTheatre and seeing the gent in action, which was amazing. Such a small venue and a lovely experience
- the whole BFI panel evening which was interesting anyway, then quite brilliant...apologies all, but I'm going to post it again...because I got this!