Doctor Who Experience (London/Cardiff)

The Doctor Who Experience was one of the largest and most ambitious Doctor Who exhibitions ever staged. Featuring props and costumes from throughout the franchise's forty-seven year history, it also featured one new and different element; an interactive story in which people could take part and become part of the adventure.

Overview

A huge exhibition with both interactive elements and exhibition elements from throughout Doctor Who's history: covering over 4000 square metres, this large exhibition covers all of Doctor Who history. With walk through parts of the exhibition and part where the audience becomes a part of the interactive story with Matt Smith as the Doctor taking part in interactive video! On launch, Steven Moffat said, "It will also be the first time that Doctor Who artefacts from all the show's 47 year history - classic and new - will be on display together."^[1]

Notable elements

There were two separate portions to this exhibition, an interactive story and a free-flow exhibition. with the interactive portion taking 30 minutes to complete. Part of the interactive element included a 3D presentation.

Interactive story

The visitors are being shown various artefacts (most from the Doctor's past) by a Node onboard Starship UK. Suddenly, alarms ring and the Eleventh Doctor appears on a screen. He explains he has been trapped inside the Pandorica II. He's angry at it being the same colour, and he believes having a second Pandorica to be cheating. The Doctor uses his Sonic Screwdriver to materialise the TARDIS nearby the visitors, whom the Doctor refers to as "Shoppers". The Shoppers pass a Smiler and enter the TARDIS. Several shoppers operate the TARDIS controls and the TARDIS lands in a Dalek flying saucer. The Supreme Dalek and two drone Daleks capture the shoppers, and a screen appears showing the Daleks. The Doctor appears on the screen, bargaining with the Daleks to release them. A few minutes later, Daleks that survived the destruction of the Crucible appear on the screen. The Dalek Paradigm believe those Daleks to be "impure". The Crucible Daleks counter that they are the children of Davros himself. They attack the Dalek Paradigm ship and, on the screen, a space battle rages. The Shoppers escape in a time corridor extruded by the Doctor using the TARDIS. They go through it and find themselves in a UNIT quarantine zone in Avenbury forest (as a sign at the end of this section shows) and find three Weeping Angels - one screaming, one calm and another one created by an image. The Doctor tells them to keep running and they run through another newly opened time corridor to the last stop, the location of the Pandorica II. The Doctor manage to free himself, and appears on screen back in the TARDIS. As they watch him, the Pandorica II opens and they fly through the Vortex. Daleks, Weeping Angels and Cybermen attack them, but eventually they escape them and the Shoppers are returned to Starship UK.

Exhibition

The exhibition covers the whole gamut of Doctor Who dating all the way back to 1963, with exhibitions from every era of the programme. It contains a large number of original props that the BBC has had in storage, including some that have not featured in previous smaller exhibitions.

Wax model of Matt Smith.

Fifth/Sixth/Seventh Doctor era TARDIS console and set.^[2]
The original RTD era TARDIS console set.
A replica of the first Eleventh Doctor TARDIS console set
An original Ice Warrior costume worn by Bernard Bresslaw in 1967.
Fourth Doctor costume with three ducks on lapel as seen in City of Death (likely a stunt double coat)^[3]
Fifth Doctor costume - this is the same one worn by Peter Davison in Time Crash and then before that from Season 21^[4]
Sixth Doctor costume (coat is a reproduction, but trousers, shirt, waistcoat and cravat original)^[5]
Seventh Doctor costume (original)
Eighth Doctor costume (replica)^[6]
Ninth Doctor costume (may be original)
Tenth Doctor costume (original made from the trouser material)^[7]
Police Box prop - Mark 1 fibreglass prop used from 1980-1989^[4]
Police Box prop as used from The Christmas Invasion through The End of Time.
Recreation of BBC Wales Art Department room.^[8]
Daleks from all eras; a The Daleks era Dalek (replica)^[9]
A The Evil of the Daleks Emperor's guard Dalek (replica)
A Genesis of the Daleks era Dalek
A Special Weapons Dalek from Remembrance of the Daleks and bronze post-2005 Dalek
The Eternal Dalek and an Ironside Dalek, both from Victory of the Daleks.
K1 Robot.
Sontarans from The Invasion of Time, The Two Doctors and The Poison Sky.
A wax model of Matt Smith.^[10]
The Silence, along with ship.^[11]
Melkur from TV: The Keeper of Traken.^[12]

Promotion

Billboard in the underground promoting the Experience.

A stunt was staged on 24 November 2010 to promote the Experience, featuring Pete's World Cybermen marching in front of St Paul's Cathedral, mimicking a scene in TV: The Invasion and travelling on the London Underground trains. ^[13]
Matt Smith opened the exhibit on 20 February 2011. ^[14]

Notes

It was designed because we did conduct some research and asked fans what they wanted from a live Doctor Who experience. The number one response was 'I want to go inside the Tardis'.Philip Murphy^[2]

BBC Worldwide relocated the Doctor Who Experience to Cardiff in 2012.^[1]
Company Brandnew manages the exhibition and merchandise shop was also responsible for recruiting, training and briefing staff.^[15]
Within the exhibition is the "first ever shop devoted to Doctor Who"^[16]
There is around 4000 square metres of exhibition space at Olympia Two.
Steven Moffat wrote all the interactive story elements.^[2]
It took 2 years and over 150,000 construction hours to construct the exhibition.^[17]
Mike Tucker was behind the restoration and assessment of which costumes and props were placed on display at the exhibition.^[17]
For the interactive story element, Matt Smith plays the Eleventh Doctor and Nicholas Briggs voices the Daleks.