Hey guys.
Martyn here. On Friday the 1st of April Gerrod and I, along with our friends Mark and Paul, attended The Doctor Who Experience and a great time was had by all.
I’ve been to a few Doctor Who exhibits in the past and The Doctor Who Experience is far more than your average exhibit. As great as it was to have my picture taken next to Eccleson’s leather jacket, Tennant’s converse and Colin Baker’s technicoloured dream coat, what I really wanted and what all fans really wanted was to fly the tardis. I wanted to step inside that little blue box that’s bigger on the inside. I wanted to feel the awe, fear and excitement of taking on some live-action Daleks. In short, I wanted to be a kid again. That’s what the experience does, it makes you feel like a kid.
The greatest part about the experience is seeing the kid’s reactions to it, they are, after all the target audience.
Now, let’s talk about the actual experience. You start off, by watching selected clips of series 5. Which remind you just how good Matt Smith is.
After a while, a crack begins to appear on the screen, the crack from Amy’s wall.
Shortly after passing through the crack in time those famous blue doors, appear. The way they make the TARDIS appear is nothing short of genius, you take a place around the console and…. I’m not going to say anymore as I don’t want to spoil anything…
Now, on to the actual exhibit. It is, understandably aimed at the post-2005 audience, focusing mainly on the friends and enemies the Doctor has acquired since then. But, that doesn’t mean fan’s of the original series will feel left out, the 4th-7th Doctor’s console room is beautiful.
There are original costumes and there are brilliant recreations, such as the 8th Doctor’s costume. You’ll get to see aliens from Ice Warriors to Zygon’s.
Look out for the Face of Boe, he’s hidden away in the screening room.
The greatest part of the exhibit is the interactive parts, you can remix your own version of the theme tune, change your voice to sound like a cyberman or Dalek, learn to walk like a scarecrow or cyberman in the little dance studio
My only critique about the whole event is the photo opportunities. There’s a green screen and for £12- £15, you can have your picture taken in front of various backgrounds, now, in my opinion, the end result doesn’t justify the price, it’s nothing somebody with ten minutes and photoshop, couldn’t knock up. I feel it would have been better, to have another replica eleventh Doctor’s TARDIS and charged people £15 to have their picture taken in that.
But, that’s just my opinion.
After the exhibit, you exit, via the gift shop. Now, I will warn you everything is marked up at the recommended retail price, the 2005 series, will set you back £55.
Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I walked away with a song in my heart and a warm feeling inside
Martyn and Geeksyndicate’s David Monteith interview Doctor Who fans and guests for the DWPA at Fantom Films’ Valiant 2 event. In order of appearance:
