Tom Felton Meets The Superfans, BBC3 - TV review

It was his brave visits to the homes of the fans themselves that yielded the most insights

Ellen E. Jones
Monday 23 March 2015 20:00 EDT
Comments
Tom Felton Meets the Superfans
Tom Felton Meets the Superfans

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The most compelling documentary of the evening was presented by a man best known as Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.

In Tom Felton Meets the Superfans, the now 27-year-old actor set out to understand what motivates people to declare their never-ending love to a complete stranger. There are plenty of people around the world who feel that way about Harry Potter, but Felton was inspired by his own superfan, Tina, a middle-aged woman who's been following him around the world since he was 12. Bit creepy, no?

We might assume that in the "relationship" between famous person and fan, it's the famous person who has the power, but the reality is both more complicated and more uncomfortable. Felton had useful chats on the subject with his on-screen nemesis Daniel Radcliffe and author JK Rowling, but it was his brave visits to the homes of the fans themselves that yielded the most insights.

When Felton eventually worked up the courage to drop in on Tina, he found there was an unexpectedly touching backstory behind her obsession. "And there it is. I completely understand," said Tom as the two of them sat admiring a framed Draco Malfoy poster.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in