For those who don’t know, I will give a relatively quick
rundown, so this blog isn’t a total “what the heck” moment for you…
Doctor Who is one of my absolute favorite television shows. It is made by the BBC and has been on the air since the early 1960s (with the exception of when it went off air in the 90s, only airing one movie). The plot follows around a time-traveling alien, who goes by “The Doctor”. The show’s title comes from the fact that exchanges like,
Doctor Who is one of my absolute favorite television shows. It is made by the BBC and has been on the air since the early 1960s (with the exception of when it went off air in the 90s, only airing one movie). The plot follows around a time-traveling alien, who goes by “The Doctor”. The show’s title comes from the fact that exchanges like,
“Who are you?”
“I am the Doctor."
“Doctor who?”
“Doctor who?”
happen all the time.
He just goes by “the Doctor”. He
is an alien, but he looks like a human, and he travels around time and space,
using his space ship, which is a 60s style Police Call Box. It is called a TARDIS. One episode he could be helping cave people
sort out an alien encounter, and the next he could be in present day, foiling
some alien plot to rule the world. He
can also travel to the millions of different alien planets that inhabit the
show’s universe, and help out the people of those worlds. He basically polices the universe, making
sure everyone is playing by the rules, and no one, alien or otherwise, is trying
to change history or dominate those who shouldn’t be dominated.
He does this all with an incredible wit, and the stories,
acting, and dialogue keep me coming back for more. I have never known a character as
charismatically clever as the Doctor.
Another thing to know is that his race of aliens don’t die,
they regenerate. If he gets mortally
wounded, his body renews itself, he turns into a different man. This means that if an actor wants or needs to
leave the show, the Doctor has an event happen to him that causes him to
regenerate, which then allows a new actor to play the roll. The Doctor has all of his memories from his
previous bodies, but his mannerisms, likes and dislikes, and even attitude, are
different. This is how the show has kept
going for decades.
Right now they are on the 11th Doctor, so 11
actors total have played the role.
Before you go out and watch an episode, let me warn you: The
special effects are awful. Even at their
best, they would never, ever hold up to a Hollywood film. Us Doctor Who fans look past this however, as
everything else about the show is brilliant.
So that brings us back to the Exhibition. I learned shortly before coming here that
they had installed this in a giant convention center in London. It is basically a museum showcasing props and
costumes from the show.
What makes this stand out, however, is that for the first 30 minutes of
your visit, you are involved in an interactive journey with the Doctor. After this is over, you are free to walk
around and see the various items on display.
Sadly, I don’t have any Doctor Who fans with me here in
London, and I was worried about having to experience this myself. I pictured myself all alone during that 30
minute interactive part, running around with random families and helping fly
the TARDIS with their children (as the adults looked on and judged me).
Thankfully, Ryan stepped up and offered to come with
me. A couple of his friends watch the
show, so he thought it would be neat to check it out and take some pictures
(that he could maybe rub in their faces later).
We bought our tickets online and headed down to the
convention center.
Once inside, we were put in a holding room
which contained a
few props and costumes to entertain us as we waited.
Daleks are my absolute favorite “alien/monster” of the show.
I took this time to answer a few of Ryan’s questions about
the show.
This next part probably won’t be too interesting, unless you
watch the show and we couldn’t take pictures here, so if you skip ahead a bit,
I won’t hold it against you.
We were put in a small room with a large crack on the
wall. We were shown a video of some of
Eleven’s greatest moments, and when it was over, the crack opened (which was a
really, really cool effect) and we were told to step through it.
It led to this large room, filled with props from various
episodes of the shows. A woman robot proceeded to welcome us to a futuristic
museum of London, before the Doctor interrupted her feed and asked for our
help. He teased us about being nothing
but “shoppers” but needed us to get him out of his latest predicament (he was stuck in a Pandorica box once again, and he seemed more agitated by the fact that it was the same color as the old one, than being unable to get out). He made the TARDIS appear (which was one of
the coolest things ever) and we got on board (another super cool thing to be
able to do).
We were in the TARDIS and the doctor popped up on the
screens littered throughout. He
explained to us how to fly it, and we were on our way. Suddenly we got intercepted by something. The Doctor freaked out, in typical Doctor
fashion, and the feed cut. We were
ushered out of the TARDIS and into a Dalek ship!
We were surrounded by Daleks, they rolled around and
threatened us. They had finally decided
to exterminate us (after all, they knew we were associates of The Doctor).
Right as they were all screaming “EXTERMINATE!” in their lovely Dalek voices,
the Doctor appeared on their screen and distracted them long enough to get them
to start fighting with a different breed of Daleks (to those who watch, it was
the colorful Daleks of Matt Smith vs the metallic ones yesteryear). We ran out of there.
As we were leaving, Ryan told me I had the biggest smile on
my face. What can I say, getting
captured by the Daleks was AWESOME.
Next thing we know, we are wandering through a forest with
weeping angels. I got a little jumpy at
this point, which confused Ryan, but he doesn’t know what weeping angels
are. I won’t describe them, because
there isn’t a way to that will do them justice.
If you don’t know what they are, they are one of, if not the, creepiest
villains that the Doctor faces.
We were handed “brainy specs” which were actually 3D
glasses, and watched a cool video time vortex with all kinds of enemies coming
at our faces. 3D weeping angels? Not
cool. I almost squeaked in fear at one
point.
We managed to get the Doctor out of the box, and he
thanked us heartily as we were ushered into the exhibition room.
There was a TARDIS and a creepy Eleven mannequin.
I took pictures of every single costume of the Doctors
throughout the years (which I'll put on facebook). Here is 5.
And of course I needed to pose between “my” two doctors.
The Silence were just hanging out, waiting to say “hi”
And I made friends with a Cyberman
I almost fainted when I turned the corner and there was a
wall full of Daleks. Best thing ever!
No kid, I am not your mummy….ok please get away from me.
I don’t know why they put the Ood behind glass…oh, maybe
because he is rabid.
Greetings from inside the TARDIS!
The Face of Boe wanted to speak to me. He told me many things
The companions costumes were all in fine form.
I was especially excited to see Captain Jack’s costume.
And K9, the Doctor’s most faithful companion. Such a good dog.
I visited the inside of a retro TARDIS
And "Meatball" posed in front of a legit show TARDIS!
And of course when my two Doctor’s asked me to take a
picture with them, I couldn’t refuse.
Somehow I thought they’d be taller in real life though..
Overall I was really impressed with the whole
experience. I can’t believe how much
time, effort, and money they put into it, especially the 30 minute “experience”
before the exhibition. Most moments, it
really did feel like I was in that world.
I felt like I was really walking into the TARDIS, and then once in, I was in the TARDIS. The Daleks were just
what I hoped they would be. Ryan even
enjoyed his time there, learned some things, and left wanting to see the show
for himself (he especially liked the humor).
The experience is supposed to be ending its run here soon,
and I am wondering if it is touring. If
so, I hope it comes to LA at some point, as I would love to do the whole thing
again with my Doctor Who pals at home (shout out to you guys! I thought of you
all every second I was there!)
I spent a whole bunch of money in their giftstore, then
bounced my way back home, with Ryan in tow.
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