The sound of giant engines tearing
apart the barriers of space and time filled the air. A wooden door
opened and then slammed shut. The high pitched wine of a sonic
screwdriver briefly followed before silence descended. The Doctor had
landed.
Or rather a small rag tag band of
people had arrived at the docks area in Cardiff Bay.
As part of my son's birthday present
this year my sister had paid for him, my Dad and myself to go to the
Doctor Who Experience at Porth Teigr. I suspect that my Dad and I
were included as part of our Christmas and birthday presents.
Deep in the heart of the docks area of
Cardiff Bay, and just around the corner from the Welsh National
Assembly offices is a building that looks suspiciously like a
warehouse. A big, blue warehouse. Across the front of the building
are the words Doctor Who Experience and a familiar DW logo.
We'd arrived a bit early and after
negotiating some rather interesting traffic bollards which lowered
and raised themselves automatically we found a parking space. The
Doctor Who site itself doesn't have visitors parking but there is
sufficient parking in the area.
With about half an hour to wait we
looked at a large board containing pictures showing the history of
the site from its orgins as part of the docks all the way through to
its opening. I also took a couple of snaps of my son and Dad in
front of Bessie, the car used by Jon Pertwee's Doctor and also in
Sylvester McCoy's Doctor in the story Battlefield. These were then
followed up with some of my son standing in front of a large Dalek
figure made out of Lego bricks.
 |
| Bessie |
At 11 o' clock we joined the queue
waiting to go into the main part of the building.
As our guide explained about the half
hour interactive tour we were about to embark on my son and I looked
at each other. Strobe lighting, no problem. Smoke effects, again no
problem. Moving floors, OK that might be an issue as my Dad uses a
walking stick to get around so hopefully he'd be able to manage those
or at least get around those sections without missing any of the
tour.
Finally it was time to enter the world
of Doctor Who. Cameras and phones were put away as there is not
photography during the initial part of the visit.
The 30 minute interactive tour was
great and involved helping Matt Smith's Doctor who had been captured
by Daleks. Lots of lights, some smoke and even a moving floor, which
Dad was able to cope with as all we had to do was stand still while
the floor juddered beneath our feet.
Everything around us was superb. There
were lots of things that you could recognize from the series. Finally
we finished the tour and found ourselves in the main exhibition and
what an exhibition.
There is so much to see, each exhibit
has its own plaque telling you about it.
There are the costumes worn by each of
the Doctors and a number of companions. Not so much the older ones,
although there is a costume worn by Sarah Jane in the Sarah Jane
Adventures. The rest of the costumes are those worn by Rose, Martha,
Donna, Amy, Rory and River Song.
There are the consoles from 3 different
Doctors, two from Classic Doctor Who and the one used by David
Tennant's Doctor.
 |
| Waiting for the Doctor to whisk me away |
Four different TARDIS can be found
around the exhibition space. One on the ground floor and 3 side by
side on the upper floor. Although I'm sure that having that many
versions of the same TARDIS in close proximity must put a strain on
the time and space everything did seem to be quite normal, well as
normal as you can get when you have a building full of children,
teenagers and Doctor Who fans together.
 |
| Time And Relative Dimensions In Space (times 3) |
The rest of the exhibition contained
costumes and models of chaaracers both old and new. Cybermen, Zygons,
Giant Robot, The Silence, Handbots, Ood and Ice Warriors abounded.
 | |
| Mum used to have a hairdryer with a hood that made you look like one of these |
Then there were the Doctor's arch
enemy. The Daleks. Davros, their creator was there along with 6
incarnations of the creatures that he developed. There was even my
all time favorite, the Special Weapons Dalek.
 |
| Don't Mess with Me |
Rounding off the exhibition were some
displays where you could watch videos about the development of the
theme tune and also the costumes that have been used.
After nearly an hour and a half, during
which we'd not stopped to read every plaque or look closely at every
exhibit, we made our way out via the obligatory shop with my son
buying a couple of things. Including a rather nice 3D picture and a
model of the 11th Doctor's sonic screwdriver.
We all enjoyed our visit. It was great
being able to come that close to so many things that are part of a
show that reached its 50th anniversary last year and is
watched by millions of people around the world.
Its a lovely way to spend a couple of
hours, especially if you have children. I'll probably go again in a
couple of years, but next time on my own so I can take my time
wandering around and actually stop to read the plaques and watch the
videos.
