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
Tuesday 24 March 2015 00:00 GMT
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Tom Felton Meets the Superfans
Tom Felton Meets the Superfans

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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.

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