Doctor Who Exhibition (Longleat)

Doctor Who Exhibition
Features:	Police Box-like entrance, Changing array of props
Location:	Longleat House
Opened:	[[[[12 (releases)|12 April
Closed:	[[[[2003 (releases)|2003 2003 (releases)|(releases)|2003]]]]

The Doctor Who Exhibition was held at Longleat House, and became the longest Doctor Who exhibition running for almost 30 years.

Longleat House was the stately home near Warminster in Wiltshire, and home to the Marquess of Bath. It also included Britain's first safari park and garden maze. It was open to the public, along with other attractions held on the grounds. The exhibition, along with the site, also came to be the home of many a Doctor Who convention.

Overview

A winding passage lead patrons through a series of wall mounted mounted on each side culminating in a Console room which again was ringed by further display units.

Notable elements

• A TARDIS console
• Dalek
• K9
• Cybermen

Promotion

• It was promoted in continuity announcements at the time, following the programme broadcasts.
• A promotional item on Blue Peter in 1980 saw presenter Tina Heath encounter the Virus Nucleus and John Nathan-Turner previewing the forthcoming Season 18.

Notes

• Based within an old stable block at Longleat House this was a somewhat smaller exhibition space than the Doctor Who Exhibition Blackpool.
• This exhibition featured the TARDIS console which was first exhibited in the BBC tv Special Effects Exhibition.
• Like the Blackpool exhibition this had a seasonal opening.
• The was also, like the Blackpool exhibition opened in 1974, however, while the Blackpool exhibition closed in 1985, this exhibition ran far longer; until 2003!
• Like Blackpool during the winter months the exhibitions would be updated with props from stories that had recently been on TV at the time.

Fire in 1996

On 25 September 1996 a fire broke out at the exhibition, attributed to the K9 prop's electrics it destroyed many of the original props that were on display there.

Site for conventions

As the Longleat Estate had a large amount of space on site this the estate and the exhibition were the site of several Doctor Who conventions throughout the years.

Gallery

• 

  Exhibition layout 1990

External links

• Tim's Doctor Who Pages - The Longleat Exhibition
• Doctor Who Exhibitions - Site of photos from multiple exhibitions, including Longleat from multiple years.