Celebrated and award-winning fantasy author Graham Joyce will be visiting the The Birmingham Science Fiction Group in June.

Graham has won the British Fantasy Society Best Novel award for Dark Sister (1993), Requiem (1996), The Tooth Fairy (1997) and Indigo (2000).

He has also authored 15 other novels and three collections of short stories.

Born in a mining village near Coventry and educated in Bedworth, Graham went on to graduate with a Masters in modern English and American literature from Leicester.

He has lived and worked on the Greek Islands of Lesbos and Crete, and has travelled the Middle East.

He now teaches writing at Nottingham Trent University, as well as continuing to write.

Graham will be giving an insight into his work on June 8 at the Briar Rose Hotel on Bennett's Hill, Birmingham;.

It's only five minutes' walk from New Street Station and handy for all bus routes. The meeting opens its doors at 7:30pm.

The group itself has many members of all ages, and between them the membership has an enormous wealth of knowledge of literary SF, as well as films, television, etc.

If you're a newbie, just let them know when you turn up and they'll be happy to introduce you to the group and make you feel welcome.

If you'd like a copy of the monthly newsletter e-mail bhamsfgroup@yahoo.co.uk

And have a look at their website here.

You've watched the show, you've read the books.

Now you get to BE your heroes (and villains).

Yes, Game Of Thrones is coming to an xbox 360, PS3 or PC near you.

A new RPG out in June features two NEW stories from the Song Of Ice And Fire universe created by fantasy writer George R R Martin.

We're promised spectacular and tactical battles, loads of secondary quests and many of the locations and characters from the books.

That's right, the fate of the Seven Kingdoms and the Iron Throne will be in your hands.

Coming up Sunday, two of our favourite shows in a Sky 1 mash-up.

NCIS: Los Angeles federal agents Callen and Sam join forces with the Five-0 to track down a suspect threatening to release a deadly virus in a two-parter showing back to back.

But Chris O'Donnell and Scott Caan have admitted that the crossover felt "strange" to film.

The double-header starts with NCIS characters Callen (O'Donnell) and Sam (LL Cool J) heading to Hawaii to stop a bioterrorism attack.

Hawaii Five-O action men Danny (Caan) and Chin Ho (Daniel Dae Kim) then work with the team in LA over the following episode.

"Daniel and Scott fit right in here," O'Donnell told TV Guide. "But it was funny for me seeing unfamiliar faces in our room.

"And for us, it was strange to go to Hawaii and be playing the same characters, but the crew was completely different. It's kind of Bizarro world."

Caan, meanwhile, says that he was initially uncertain about how the NCIS writers would cope with his character.

"There are parts of doing this that are weird," he confessed. "There are writers on our show who have written 40-something episodes, so they know my thing or Daniel's thing.

"And then we' told the NCIS: LA writers: 'Here, you give it a shot'.

"You can be sceptical about that. But I think it worked out really well.

"And when you're working with the same people over and over again, it is fun to work with new people - and having them be LL Cool J and Chris just makes it better."

Good news is that both shows have been renewed for another season.

The crossover action starts at 9pm on Sunday with Hawaii Five-0 then continues at 10pm with NCIS: Los Angeles. Click next page to see the US trailer.

Coming up soon, The Last Resort, a new show from ABC.

Andre Braugher ("Men of a Certain Age") stars as the captain of a nuclear submarine who receives sketchy orders to launch a strike on Pakistan.

When he refuses and another US warship fires on the sub, he and his executive officer (Scott Speedman, "Felicity" and "Underworld") decide to go rogue and set up camp on a sparsely populated tropical island, which suddenly becomes the world's newest nuclear-armed nation.

Go on, Lost fans, you know you want to ...

Construction of a multi-million pound Doctor Who attraction has begun in Cardiff, where the series is filmed.

Cardiff council is spending £2 million to construct a permanent home for the Doctor Who Experience, which is due to relocate from London's Olympia.

The attraction, which will be run by BBC Worldwide, will rise up alongside the new BBC drama village in Cardiff Bay.The head of a Cyberman - one of the Doctor's deadliest enemies - was excavated at a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday at Porth Teigr.

The Experience will invite visitors on a journey through time and space, combining a walk- through adventure with the largest exhibition ever assembled of sets, props and memorabilia from the series.

This includes special effects, new footage of Matt Smith, a recreation of today's Tardis and a 3D finale, as well as original costumes, a full-scale recreation of two Tardis sets from previous eras, and numerous monsters, including several generations of the Daleks.

Council leader Rodney Berman said: "I'm delighted that the council has managed to bring the Doctor Who Experience to Cardiff and in digging the first piece of earth we will be marking the start of the work on this fantastic new attraction.

"It is set to bring millions of pounds into the city's economy, and the benefits to Cardiff will be immense in tourism terms."

As Spooks draws to a close, original cast member Lisa Faulkner has been remembering her exit from the drama (writes Roz Laws).

She was the first character to die, but the shocking way in which it happened means that her death is still the most memorable, almost a decade on.

Lisa lasted only two episodes as Junior Case Office Helen Flynn.

As a form of torture to make a colleague talk, her head was deep-fried in boiling fat by a baddie played by Brummie actor Kevin McNally. Then she was shot as she lay injured.

It was voted the most shocking Spooks death by fans and also attracted more than 100 complaints to the BBC, despite a warning and the fact that viewers didn't actually see the gruesome details.

In reality, the burning oil was cold water covered in dry ice to make it look smoking hot.

The 38-year-old told Anorak City: "It was an horrific scene, but fantastic to be part of it.

"I actually auditioned for another Spooks part which I didn't get. Then they phoned me to ask me if I'd like to play Helen, so I knew from the start what the part involved and how I wouldn't be in it for long.

"I was really excited, I said 'Oh my God, that's brilliant'.

"Spooks is a great drama and I'm pleased to have played such a memorable part in it. I will try to watch the last-ever episode."

What manner of weird creatures lurk unseen in the forgotten corners of the world?

Well, if anyone knows, Sanctuary's Agam Darshi (above) and Jonathan Young should - and the stars of the hit Canadian sci-fi show will be spilling the beans at MCM Expo London Comic Con on 28-30 October.

Sanctuary centres on a mysterious group of the same name dedicated to studying and protecting the strange and often terrifying creatures that secretly live amongst us.

The Sanctuary's work often pits it against The Cabal, a powerful shadow organisation that experiments on these so-called 'monsters'.

Agam Darshi plays main cast member Kate Freelander, a street smart thief who reluctantly switches sides to the Sanctuary. Agam has also appeared in Stargate Atlantis, Kyle XY, Supernatural and Watchmen.

Jonathan Young plays fan favourite Nikola Tesla, a member of The Five - a group of brilliant experimental scientists - with the power to control electricity. Other shows he has appeared in include Eureka and Stargate Atlantis.

For more on Comic Con click here.

With the murder of our pal Tariq Masood - who never stood a chance after his speech about how hard he'd worked to be accepted - we thought we'd better update the Spooks death toll.

The big question now is how many of the cast will make it through to the final episode. Our money's on Harry Pearce being strangled by impatient Ruth Evershed.

(Or not, actually ...)

For the full death toll click to the next page.

Pick up a FREE Transformers car when you buy your Sunday Mercury at selected supermarkets this Sunday.

On September 18 we'll be giving away diecast replicas of everybody's favourite Autobot Bumblebee in his Chevvy Camaro guise.

But hurry. The offer runs while stocks last and we're guessing they'll be going fast!

Bag Bumblebee when you buy a Mercury at these stores:

Tesco, Coventry Road, Sheldon, Birmingham

Here are the sizzling new Twilight Breaking Dawn Posters.

Take your pick from Kristen Stewart's clinch with vampire Robert Pattinson or a moody shot of werewolf Taylor Lautner.

Here's the Pattinson poster. Click to the next page for the Lautner version!

Here's the official prequel to the controversial Let's Kill Hitler episode, specially put together by Steven Moffat himself!

The mini-episode bridges the gap between A Good Man Goes To War and Let's Kill Hitler, revealing how Amy feels in the aftermath of events at Demon's Run.

But Nic Cage is revving up the motorbike again for the 2012 sequel.

This time, Blaze is hiding out in Eastern Europe when he's called upon by shaven-headed monk Christopher Lambert (yes, the Highlander himself!) to stop the devil, who is trying to take human form.

According to the studio "Johnny, still struggling with his curse as the devil's bounty hunter, is hiding out in a remote part of Eastern Europe when he is recruited by a secret sect of the church to save a young boy (Fergus Riordan) from the devil (Ciaran Hinds).

"At first, Johnny is reluctant to embrace the power of the Ghost Rider, but it is the only way to protect the boy -- and possibly rid himself of his curse forever."

Here's the trailer ...