Well Tolkien fans, The Hobbit hit your cinema screens yesterday and there's plenty of buzz about it on Facebook and the Twitter machine already. Our Caroline jetted off to London earlier this week to catch up with some of the stars of the film, as you do!
We're pretty sure she got chatting to half the Shire while she was over there but she did come back with some pretty cool EXCLUSIVE interviews with the cast. In fact there are so many of them that, in true Lord of the Rings fashion, we've had to split them into two separate chunks for your viewing pleasure.
First up, for all of you who haven't a clue what The Hobbit is about, he's the lowdown. This film is essentially the prequel to The Lord of The Rings, set 60 years before the Fellowship was formed. It's based on Tolkien's children's book which he wrote long before his most famous trilogy. The story follows Bilbo Baggins, an unassuming Hobbit (Martin Freeman) as he sets out with Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to help Thorin (Richard Armitage) and the dwarves to reclaim their home from the dragon, Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch).
The book has been split into three movies and this first offering takes us through the start of the aptly named, 'Unexpected Journey'. You'll see plenty of familiar faces along the way including Gollum (Andy Serkis), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and Frodo himself (Elijah Wood); Some of them aren't actually in the book but Peter Jackson said he couldn't go back to Middle Earth without 'em. Aw shucks.
Our Caroline sat down with The Hobbit himsef, Martin Freeman, to find out what it was like to be Peter Jackson's number 1 choice for the role, talk troll snot and discuss life at the center of such a huge and beloved franchise.
Ms Foran kept her precious gold rings well out of sight when she caught up with Gollum (Andy Serkis). We hear these two hit it off somethin' rotten and almost ended up in an accidental lip lock. Oh those European customs. Anyway, Caroline and Andy had a great oul chinwag and he filled her in on the real life inspiration for Gollum's dulcet tones. See how they got on right here.
And of course, she sat down with Peter Jackson to chat about making that long awaited return to Middle Earth and you can watch that here. It's only precious so it is.
