I remember, with vivid clarity, the moment my life changed forever. Tom Baker was desperately struggling to free his foot for the train line it had become trapped in as an engine driven by a shadowy figure in a gas mask bored down on him. Escape seemed impossible, and just as the train was about to hit The Doctor, the credits started to roll, and that music, that wonderful, emotive music that still sends a shiver down my spine every time I hear it, kicked in. Right there, right then, I was hooked.
It was a cold winter night in nineteen seventy six, and in the middle of ‘The Deadly Assassin’, I became a Doctor Who fan, and thirty five years and some spare change later, I’m still a fan. Since then, there have been good times, hard times and bad times, but through it all, I’ve remained steadfastly loyal, my devotion to the Whoniverse has been, and always will be resolute, but I don’t have to wait until the next life for my reward, and today, just a stones throw away from the old Torchwood base of operation, under the shadow of a crashing Tardis in Cardiff Bay, after what seems like an eternity of torment, I received my reward. The Doctor Who Experience finally opened…
Silurian
As zero hour approached, a quartet of the Doctor’s deadliest foes, The Silence accompanied by a Dalek, a Cyberman and a Silurian emerged to ensure order was maintained as the patient, but highly excited crowd waited nervously for the doors to open, and, after a “volunteer” replacement Doctor stepped forward to ensure the smooth flow of the time space continuum with a flourish of scissor blades, the Experience began.
Cyberman
As we walked through into what I at first assumed was a film introduction, we suddenly found ourselves stepping through a crack in time, emerging from the rift to find ourselves on Starship UK, at which point we were press ganged into a rescue mission by The Doctor, and… Well, at this point, I’d normally divulge what happens, but that would spoil the excitement and thrills, so let’s just say it involves the Tardis, the Daleks, an intergalactic war, the Weeping Angels and a desperate attempt to save all of time and space, all of which are wrapped up in an incredible interactive adventure that made me feel like I was ten years old fighting alongside The Doctor to save everyone and everything from certain destruction. If I may be so bold as to quote a much wiser person, it was absolutely, and without reservation, “Fantastic”!
Dalek
Following our breathtaking adventure with the Eleventh Doctor, and having nearly overdosed on adrenaline, we then found ourselves in the second, more sedate part of the experience, a brand new Doctor Who Exhibition, that charts the evolution of the series from its humble beginnings through to its modern incarnation. With a veritable Who’s Who (pardon the awful pun) of The Doctor’s enemies (from the Zygons to the Ice Warriors, the Cybermen to the Daleks – both featured in all their incarnations) to Kettlewells Robot and the Scarecrows from ‘Human Nature’ and ‘Family Of Blood’), companions, props, and information about the history of the beloved series on display, that includes a fantastic interactive exhibit that teaches kids both big and small how to walk and behave like one of the shows many monsters, it’s the best Who Exhibition that I’ve had the incredible fortune to be able to immerse myself in, and yes, it’s even better than the original Blackpool Exhibition, which until this morning, was the yardstick by which I measured all awesomeness.
Inside Tardis
Honestly, I can’t even begin to emphasise, or put into words, how much both my family and I enjoyed ‘The Doctor Who Experience’, and after three and half decades of fandom, I finally feel like Doctor Who has been rewarded as much as the shows fans have been rewarded, with a truly incredible, breathtaking experience, and the stuff that dreams are made of. I can fly the Tardis now, flying the Tardis is cool…
