Since the first broadcast of the British science-fiction television serial Doctor Who in 1963, there have been a number of exhibitions of props, costumes and sets relating to the show throughout the United Kingdom. Some have been intended to be permanent, and others seasonal; most have been staged at existing tourist locations. None are currently open to the public.
The first permanent exhibition was set up at the stately home of Longleat, Wiltshire in 1973, and ran until 2003. The site has also hosted annual Doctor Who conventions, usually in August.[1]
The twentieth anniversary convention was titled "Twenty Years of a Time Lord" and was held in April 1983. It featured appearances from Jon Pertwee (and the vintage car Bessie), Peter Davison, K9; props included the TARDIS, Daleks, and the set of The Five Doctors feature-length special.[2] About 40,000 fans turned up, many more than expected.[3]
In 2003, the annual "Doctor Who Day", to mark the 40th anniversary of the programme, featured an attempt to gather the largest number of Daleks ever assembled. Colin Baker, Sophie Aldred and John Leeson attended.[4]
The original Doctor Who Exhibition in Blackpool, Lancashire featured a range of monsters, aliens, props, costumes and models from the classic TV series, together with a TARDIS console that had previously featured in the BBC Visual Effects exhibition at the Science Museum, London. The Blackpool exhibition was located at 111 Central Promenade Blackpool. It was first opened by Jon Pertwee [Third Doctor] and Elisabeth Sladen [Sarah Jane Smith] on Tuesday 9th April 1974. The exhibition opened to the public the next day. From the outside, of the Chapel Street entrance, visitors saw only a blue Police box standing next to the building, looking as if it would only hold one or two people at the most. However, in keeping with the TARDIS from the TV series it was "bigger on the inside", an illusion created with stairs leading down from the TARDIS doors to the exhibition itself in a former cellar. The idea for the exhibition came from Terry Sampson of BBC Enterprises with his vision being realised by designer Tom Carter. It was open from April through to October each year, with new exhibits being introduced annually, mainly in keeping with the show's past or present, but occasionally previewing what was yet to come. In its first season, the Blackpool exhibition, saw a large spider from Planet of the Spiders greeting visitors at the top of the stairs, and a Tyrannosaur, from Invasion of the Dinosaurs, breaking through a wall at the bottom. A Triceratops was seen on the London Underground. Those in attendance walked around a winding corridor with exhibits to either side, which originally included, an assortment of Daleks, together with a Cyberman, Sontaran, Yeti, Sea Devil, Silurian, Draconian, and Ogron. The passageways eventually led to a reconstruction of the TARDIS console room, complete with a hexagonal console in the centre, flashing lights, sound effects and large windows looking out onto alien worlds and their monsters. All around the edges of the room were interactive computer banks, buttons and levers. Over the years, numerous other aliens were added to the displays including, an Ice Warrior, Quark, Zygon, Wirrn, a thirteen-foot high Robot, Sutekh, and The Doctor mechanical dog K9. The mainstay of the exhibition however was the Daleks, some of which were built especially by Tony Oxley and Charlie Lumm of the BBC Visual Effects department. Life size, moving Daleks were made to be as scary as possible with various Daleks interrogating and threatening the public with extermination. The Dalek Cavern as seen through the window of the console room, at various points incorporated the Gold Dalek, together with the sets and other Daleks from, Genesis of the Daleks, Destiny of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks, and Revelation of the Daleks. Arguably the most popular set featured Davros, the Daleks creator. The egress of the TARDIS featured a BBC Enterprises gift shop.[5] The exhibition closed in October 1985. Tom Baker [Fourth Doctor] had visited the exhibition in 1975 and 1977. Colin Baker [Sixth Doctor], and Nicola Bryant [Peri Brown] visited in 1985, as part of that year's Children in Need. The programme was broadcast on the 22nd November 1985, with film of Colin's visit to the exhibition being shown prior to 20 Doctor Who stars emerging from the TARDIS, live in the studio. At one point, Colin points to a Doctor Who fan in the audience, who he'd previously met at Blackpool, a man now known in Doctor Who circles as "The Man In Blue".
The "Dapol Dr Who Experience" opened in 1994 and was sited in Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales, under the auspices of the company that made Doctor Who merchandise until 2002. It featured many costumes and props, some dating back to the 1960s. It closed in 2003.[6]
The Blackpool exhibition reopened in 2004 to coincide with the relaunch of the Doctor Who television programme.[7] The Blackpool Doctor Who Museum finally closed on 8 November 2009, the large collection of props, monsters and costumes (including the Doctors' trademark car, Bessie, and classic monsters such as Tractators, Ice Warriors and Yeti) being distributed to other exhibitions around the country.[8]
The Doctor Who Exhibition Cardiff was the only semi-permanent exhibition in the UK. Situated in the Red Dragon Centre, Cardiff Bay, the museum opened December 2005,[9] in the city where the series is currently recorded and produced. It was closed on 27 March 2011, and the Doctor Who Experience opened on the other side of Cardiff bay in July 2012.
Props on display included an Ood Elder from "The End of Time", a fly-headed Tritovore and Lady Christina De Souza's costume from "Planet of the Dead", plus the 'Flood' monster and Maggie and Tarak Ital costumes from "The Waters of Mars". There was also a special display from the team behind the show's monsters, Millennium FX, showing the production process behind creating an Ood. Costumes displayed included those worn by the characters Martha Jones, Captain Jack Harkness, Donna Noble and the Doctor.[10]
The Cardiff Exhibition had a complete refurbishment in October 2008.[11]
The Doctor Who Up Close Shop was stocked with items such as giant inflatable Daleks, sonic screwdrivers and talking bottle openers.[12]
An exhibition titled Doctor Who Experience, complete with a new interactive Doctor Who episode with the Eleventh Doctor, opened at London Olympia on 20 February 2011 after a number of test days and preview visits.[13] It closed on 22 February 2012.[14]
The exhibition moved to Cardiff, opening on 20 July 2012.[15] The new exhibition was housed in an unusual 3000 square metre building in Porth Teigr designed by theme-park company Sarner Ltd.[16] Due to the temporary nature of the exhibition, with a 5-year lease on the site, the building was constructed like a large tent, with a cover stretched over curved steel beams.[17]
The exhibition began with a short film and a walk-through adventure inside the Eleventh Doctor's first TARDIS interior and in various locations. Later, after the replacement of Matt Smith, visitors were instead led through the experience by a guide and the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi).
Following the adventure portion guests were free to roam two floors of exhibitions including original costumes from ten of the twelve Doctors (the first two being replicas as the originals were lost). Alien prosthetics, Daleks and Cybermen over history, Sonic devices, and the TARDIS interiors belonging to the First Doctor, Fourth Doctor, Fifth Doctor, and the Ninth Doctor and Tenth Doctor. Many other show memorabilia and artefacts were also on display, including costumes from the companions since 2005 including: Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, Captain Jack Harkness, Amy Pond and Rory Williams.
Each year since opening, costumes and props used from new series were showcased. In 2013, props, such as Porridge's costume, the deactivated chess-playing Cyberman (from "Nightmare in Silver")[18] the costumes of the Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald, along with the giant snow globe from the Christmas episode entitled "The Snowmen", were also added to the collection.[19] In late 2014 props and costumes from "Last Christmas" were added.
Museum patrons could also take pictures in front of a green screen, with multiple backgrounds to choose from including Totter's Lane (from the Doctor's first adventure) and inside the time vortex, as well as several props such as various Sonic Screwdrivers and articles of clothing symbolic to several Doctors (e.g. Matt Smith's fez).
Cardiff Bay is home to the BBC Roath Lock production studios, as well as locations from the Torchwood series. The experience closed its doors on 9 September 2017,[20][21] due to the site's five-year lease running out. BBC Worldwide said at the time that they were "not sure yet" if it would reopen elsewhere.[17]
