This was my 3rd visit to the Doctor Who
Experience and probably my last as it is closing at some point in September
this year. It was very different from my last visit which was on a cold Monday
afternoon in March 2013. That time, Matt Smith was the Doctor and there was only
one other person on the Tour with me. It was almost like having a private tour
that time.
This time it was definitely a lot busier and it seems like
most of the tour time slots were full. There were plenty of Cybermen walking
around for photo opportunities. Thankfully none of them were looking to upgrade
people visiting tho)ugh there were opportunities to be voluntarily upgraded but
tickets for that sold out pretty quickly.
The tour is partly interactive and partly exhibition. The
interactive part involves the finding of crystals whilst coming up against some
of the Doctors greatest enemies. I remember how one little boys face was in awe
when we were in the TARDIS and it started moving. The exhibits are the largest part and the
area for photos. There were various
TARDIS sets from different Doctors, Costumes worn by the Doctors and some of
the companions, the Doctors enemies, obviously, as well as some of the iconic
props from series 10.
There is also an
opportunity to have your photo taken on a green scene and choose from 8
different backgrounds. I did not partake this time as I still love the one I
had done last time and also the queue was much too long and the others did not
have the patience to wait.
You can spend as long as you want in the exhibition centre
but the average length of time is a couple of hours which is plenty of time to
look at everything and get the photos you want. It’s a shame it is closing as
the props and costumes are fascinating and even now I cannot get over how tiny
Jenna Coleman must be looking at her outfits. Hopefully it will re-open in a
few years with a whole bunch of new props from the new Doctor as well as more
props from the classic series.
Whilst in Cardiff you can also undertake a walking tour of
the outdoor locations used in Doctor Who but you don’t need to wander very far
to see some of them, Cardiff Bay has been used in relation to episodes which
featured Captain Jack and Torchwood with David Tennant . The Millennium Centre
was the Hospital on New Earth, again with David Tennant and Billie Piper. If
you walk over a little further to Mermaid Quay, you will find Eddie’s Diner which is the Diner in which the 11th
Doctor met River, Rory and Amy when he knew he was going to die. It was also
the Spaceship that Clara went off to travel with Me. Booth 11 is the booth that
the Doctor, River, Rory and Amy sat at and it is marked with a couple of photos
from the time they were filming. You can also still see the doors to the Tardis
if you look right at the back.
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