Sir Ian McKellen faced quite the dilemma after an injured leg prevented him from performing in King Lear on Saturday. His solution? Treating theatregoers to an impromptu Q&A and Gandalf reprise.

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The Lord of The Rings star announced on Twitter that he had to bow out of the matinee Shakespeare show after “he galloped up 45 steps to catch the train” and his “leg gave way”. That meant McKellen couldn’t carry out the most strenuous parts of the play, such as hoisting a corpse across stage.

However, as audience members awaited their ticket refunds McKellen nevertheless appeared on stage for 90 minutes as he “tried out a few new routines and some old ones – a bit of Gandalf and a couple of Shakespeare speeches”.

So, although audiences missed out on McKellen’s critically-acclaimed Lear, they instead were served a one-off “experience of a lifetime".

And McKellen even handed out Lord of the Rings trivia about the franchise’s most famous line…

…anecdotes about Maggie Smith…

…some solid acting advice…

...and all without a microphone.

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We doff our wizard’s hats in your direction, Sir Ian.

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Authors

Thomas LingDigital editor, BBC Science Focus

Thomas is Digital editor at BBC Science Focus. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology, health and neuroscience discoveries. Thomas has a Masters degree (distinction) in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has written for Men’s Health, Vice and Radio Times. He has been shortlisted as the New Digital Talent of the Year at the national magazine Professional Publishers Association (PPA) awards. Also working in academia, Thomas has lectured on the topic of journalism to undergraduate and postgraduate students at The University of Sheffield.

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