Well it happened.

The 25th anniversary back to back screening of the Lord of the Rings extended editions took place at my local cinema last night.

I got to the cinema about an hour early to have a coffee and catch up with staff.

There were about 33 like minded souls joining me for this ultimate Tolkien endurance fan experience.

Once Gavin arrived I handed over my old copy of Parks first edition, plus expansions and play mat. I was happy to have found a good home for it.

Then it was to my luxury double seat at the back of the cinema to get settled in and ready for the night ahead.

After a brief introduction by the cinema owner we were straight into the night’s entertainment.

Each part of the trilogy was preceded by a “short” introduction by Peter Jackson himself. Which was a nice little extra to make this night feel a little bit more special.

So how did I do sleep wise? Did I stay awake for the whole thing?

The short answer is no.

During the Fellowship of the Ring I drifted off once. For the Two Towers that went up to twice. Then finally for the Return of the King I drifted off two three times in the first hour.

I definitely think during the last film I snored a couple of times.

However I was not the only one that had to rest their eyes during the night.

Was there the odd leaky eye during the “you bow to no one” and Frodo leaving Middle Earth? Yes for more than one of us that may have happened.

To help the hard working staff everyone took their own rubbish out.

As we left we were handed a reward for our remarkable act of endurance, a rebranded can of Taters.

It really was an epic night. I’m glad I did it. I had a great time.