On Saturday 5th
of March 2016, one of my lifelong dreams came true.
We had planned a
trip to Wales because my brother was going to be playing in the south
of England basketball tournament, and my parents knew that we'd be
going past Cardiff City Centre. This is where the popular BBC 1
television show Doctor Who if filmed, along with a museum of props
and costumes from the TV show, with an interactive role-play
adventure around the set, named The Doctor Who Experience.
Now, if you know me,
you'll know that I am utterly obsessed with Doctor Who. I have
watched the TV show since it came back, and by June 2007 I was a
full-on fan. Well, not even a fan, but a complete fanatic. Through
the years I have watched the show season by season, and I have also
become of The Classic Series, the original series of Doctor Who. I
actually prefer most of the classic series to the modern series that
started in 2005. I know most facts about the show, and I have watched
every episode of the modern series to this day (I still have a long
way to go until I have watched every episode of the classic series).
I had known well for
a long time the fact that Cardiff was a long way away, and that The
Experience was probably a lot of money to get in. But, that did not
stop my parents, as the opportunity was there, and they took it.
I was finally going
to Cardiff, the place I had seen in Doctor Who and Torchwood
episodes, and many other documentaries. I was finally going there.
I make Doctor Who
fan films in my spare time, and I have a specific costume for my own
Doctor. This consists of a long black trench coat, a red and white
striped teeshirt, black faded jeans, and old beaten-up boots. I was
originally going to go in the costume of Jon Pertwee, The Third
Doctor, but it was not ready in time. It felt great to step onto the
set and walk around monsters in my Doctor's costume, as if it was my
Doctor's turn to take on the monsters properly.
After parking the
car, we walked through Cardiff to find a big blue building. It was as
long as an aircraft hanger and in the windows I could see life size
Daleks. We walked through to meet the museum staff, who were quite
clearly fans of the show, not just teenagers that wanted some dosh. I
had great conversations as I walked through the Reception Room, and I
then came across a replica of the first ever Tardis Exterior, a big
blue police box with battered windows and a lamp. The windows seemed
to have a glow about them, as if it was warm inside. I certainly felt
a warmth when I walked through to the Museum Of Gallifrey. A lady
dressed in a dark red robe greeted me and my family, and gave us a
card with a translucent crystal connected to it. We watched a video
about Gallifrey, The Doctor's home planet, which was narrated by
Lalla Ward. I had previously met Lalla at a convention. It was
brilliant to hear someone that I had met in a BBC video.
We walked through to
The TARDIS Console Room itself, and lots of us got to fly it, after
being spoked to by a recorded message from Peter Capaldi. We flew the
TARDIS as it shuddered and sparked, and soon we 'landed' on Skaro,
the planet of the Daleks. The Daleks came to life, we mamaged to
escape, and then we found ourselves in a rather scary graveyard
filled with Weeping Angels. We escaped them, and finally found
ourselves in an old junk-yard in London, 1963 (look this up if you
don't understand the reference!). We said goodbye to The Doctor, and
I felt just as excited as I did when I first watched Christopher
Eccleston take down The Daleks in 2005. I felt like young fan again.
Next was the museum
of props, sets, and costumes all the way back from '63. I got to step
through the original TARDIS console. It was beautiful and I was so
happy to have stepped through the doors that actors like David
Bradley and Mark Gatiss had stepped through. I was also excited to
see the console from the 1980s. Actors including Peter Davison (whom
I've met), Colin Baker (whom I've also met) and Sylvester McCoy (whom
I'm yet to meet) had performed in from 1983. It was just amazing. I
next saw one of the latest Tardises. This was the 2005 console room,
the first TARDIS set that I had ever watched on TV. Standing where
David Tennant and Christopher Eccleston had stood and given dramatic
monologues was fascinating. I also got to see the 1980s Tardis
Exterior and K9, one of my favourite companions.
When I got to the
next floor it was full of Monsters. Not living breathing monsters,
but the costumes and models that were used to make the terrifying and
the not-so-terrifying monsters that I had watched in the show. I got
to see aliens like The Sontarans, The Abzorbaloff, The Silence, and
many many more. Next were the costumes that had been worn by
companions, including the late Lis Sladen, one of my all time heroes.
She had been in the kids spin off The Sarah Jane Adventures, which I
had also watched religiously.
Long coats belonging
to Jack Harkness and petticoats belonging to Romana were fantastic to
see. And then, one of the highlights of The Experience, were each and
every costume worn by each Doctor, from Hartnell to Capaldi. It was
beautiful, especially to see Tom Baker's long scarf that looked as
cuddly and warm as before. Whether it was Colin Baker's technicolour
dreamcoat, or Paul McGann's Wild Bill Hickhock costume, I was
astounded.
We walked through
the props and costumes used in the latest series, and saw the creator
of the Daleks, Davros. The next part was rather funny, as one of the
staff recognised me from my YouTube channel. That was hilarious, and
I never get recognised.
We walked through to
the end of the museum, but it wasn't over, not yet.
A few of us were
lead out of the museum, into the BBC Wales/Cymru centre, where they
film Doctor Who. We were lead around the set for about half an hour,
and then, finally, we were lead up the stairs to a very large set. It
was the TARDIS. Not an old one, but the current one that they had
used to this day. I opened the doors to see what I have watched on TV
on Saturday nights. A warm, welcoming, and atmospheric room that I
just marvelled at. To see so many buttons on the console, to see the
work that had gone into it. I got to stand where Peter Capaldi
himself had stood, giving dramatic monologues, fighting monsters, and
teaching his companions a new way to live life.
Because that's what
The Doctor had done for me. I would frequently be bullied at school,
and I would go home to watch Doctor Who in my bedroom, and it gave me
a chance to escape into a world of aliens and spaceships and good and
bad. It had helped to to realise how big the universe is and how
exciting life is, even if it is on Earth.
My dream had finally
come true. I had walked where countless stars and icons had walked,
seen costumes that TV legends had worn, stared at props that my
heroes had handled. It was, as The Ninth Doctor would say, fantastic.
And d'you know what? So was I!
(Pictures coming soon!)
