Dr Who Experience

Being Dr Who fans pretty much since it re-started in 2005, it was a given that we would visit the experience in Cardiff if we ever came to Europe. Well, here we are, so off we went!

To get to the experience, we conveniently had to walk past Torchwood Tower and the Millennium Centre, both of which have featured in the show multiple times. It was a little surreal to stand exactly where the cast have stood on multiple occasions for Dr Who and Torchwood. As Mr said, 'David Tennant touched this railing'.

Torchwood Tower

Millennium Centre

After admiring the area for a short while, we walked along the bay to the experience itself, which is a rather impressive structure that looks a little like a tent. Outside, on a pole sticking out of the water, is a TARDIS, looking like it is flying off or just about to land. In the entrance to the building are a few models of Daleks, including one made out of Leggo. There is a cafe, are a few costumes and some information posts, and even a Dr Who themed pinball machine. We collect our tickets and join the line to enter the 'Gallifrey Museum', where we will be joined by the 'curator of the museum' who is there to guide us through and show us around. In the waiting area are some artifacts from the museum, including the famous Gallifrean costume Tennant wore back in the day.

The front of the massive building

TARDIS flying out of/into the bay

Entryway Daleks

Leggo Dalek

Entryway Angel

What I am about to write about below is what happens during the interactive part of the tour. If you are planning to visit the experience yourself and don't want this part spoilt, jump ahead to the Exhibit section :)

The Interactive Adventure

Soon enough, it is announced that the curator is ready and we can enter the museum. Unfortunately, pictures are not allowed within the museum, as we are time travellers and taking pictures in there would disrupt the space-time-continuum (or something to that effect). We are all given VIP passes to hang around our necks, and on these is a glowing crystal with powers that will protect us from being harmed by the time-something-or-other. We enter a large room full of smoke and dim lighting, and are given a few moments to admire the pieces on display - the History of the Time War book, what looks like a mini pandora box, and a few other key pieces from Who history. We then watch a short film about the Dr, and his influence on Earth (all from the perspective of him being actually real). We are then treated to a shot of the TARDIS flying through space in 'real time'. But wait... what are those things flying toward the TARDIS? Oh no! They are attacking! The shot is cut off, with the curator announcing very nervously that we will have to return to the foyer and come back in to the museum another time. Just as he finishes saying this, a crack appears in the screen, and the whole thing opens up to reveal a black room full of smoke and weird lights. The curator deems it safe enough to enter, so we go in to find glowing egg things with Gallifrean script on them, hanging from the ceiling on cords.

A screen comes on, and there is the current Dr, Peter Capaldi, demanding to know why we're in his TARDIS, and explaining in his unique, blunt way how he is being attacked and we will need to help him to save ourselves and the universe. We are lead by the curator through a door and into the control room of the TARDIS, where we all stand around the controls. There are joysticks spaced around and the children are encouraged to grab hold of one and to follow the instructions very carefully (there weren't many children there, so of course we grabbed one ourselves!). We watch the screens carefully and follow the Dr's and curators instructions to guide the TARDIS safely to the surface of a planet, yanking the joysticks in the directions necessary as the floor moves and jumps beneath us. Eventually we land safely and exit out the back door of the TARDIS, which no one knew existed until now.

We exit to find ourselves in a dusty, brown room full of old and decrepit Daleks. Thankfully for us they are all dead, as we find out we are on Skaros. We are told we need to find a crystal needed to seal the crack in time/space. We explore the creepy room, careful not to touch the dead Daleks, as we are full of time energy and one touch will wake them all. Eventually we find the crystal, and of course is it sticking out of the biggest Dalek in the room. The curator asks for a child to volunteer to remove the crystal (their hands are the smallest and least likely to touch the Dalek itself), and we successfully acquire the first of three crystals needed. Just as we are being told what to do next, the Daleks start moving. We had woken them up! It was a little creepy to have them all around you talking in their Dalek voices, moving just enough to grab your attention away from whatever you were looking at. We have to huddle around a pressure point on the floor and jump enough to trigger the door to open so we can escape just in time.

Escape. Just in time. Into a room resembling a forest. A dark, smoky, eerie forest. Full of freaking ANGELS. I can tell you right now, it was not just the children who were a little bit genuinely scared in this part. There was just enough light to see around you, but not quite enough to see everything. For example, a space you thought was empty actually has a weeping angel standing in it. Or was it even there before? I don't know! You stumble a little on the tree roots that pop out of the floor, and it is enough to make you check around you again just to make sure nothing moved while your focus was on your feet. You have to weave through and around this section for a good few minutes before we are told there is the second crystal here. So instead of keeping your focus on those creepy-as-hell weeping angle statues, you now have to look around for a glowing blue light to signify the presence of a crystal. Thankfully someone does find it, and we are out of this forest room and into a smaller room. Just for reference, these were the actual real angel props from the episode Blink. Cool, but also very not cool.

This last room is laid out like a junk yard. I'm sure it has significance, but I don't remember what it would be. We search around here and find the last crystal, which makes me a little sad because I know this means the adventure is almost over. We set the crystals in their spots to activate whatever it was that needed activating to save the universe, and suddenly the brick wall next to us turns into a screen. We don 3D glasses and watch another short film of the TARDIS hurtling through space, fending off the alien attackers. They seem to reach out of the screen with their tentacles, trying to latch on to your face, but thankfully the crack is sealed just in time and the screen turns back into an ordinary brick wall. The Dr appears again to congratulate us on successfully saving everything, and off we go, out of the adventure and back into real life.

Overall it was a really fun time. It takes about 45 minutes all up, and if you let yourself get into it, it is a truly great experience.

The Exhibition

After the adventure, we enter the two-level exhibition hall. In here are replicas and originals of props, sets, and costumes the Dr Who universe. Of course the main focus is on the reboot, but there are bits and pieces here and there from classic Who. The ground floor includes TARDIS control rooms, TARDIS boxes, classic Who props and a green-screen where you can have your picture taken in a number of scenes from the show. Many people were choosing a weeping angel filled forest (no thanks!), but we chose 10's TARDIS control room. You purchase a hard copy of the photo, and they send you a digital one as well.

We spent about an hour wandering around the exhibition. It was interesting to see the 'life size' versions of the villains, even if some of them were just as creepy face-to-face as the angels were. I Was particularly interested to see the costumes, most of which were originals. I had no idea that all the women of the show were so slim! I would be hard pressed to get into some of those costumes, and I'm slim myself. Also, the detail that goes into the costumes and props is mind-blowing. With technology today you tend to forget that everything is not CG-ed in, but instead is physically made to look and act a certain way on screen.

Below are some of the pictures we took - I haven't included them all because we took pictures of everything in the exhibition!

If you are even remotely interested in Dr Who, I would strongly recommend you visit this if you ever get or can make the chance. It is worth it!

Cardiff

Cardiff is a place on our bucket list mostly for the Dr Who experience. We decided to go for a couple of days during our half-term break as we could get there by a very cheap 3.5 hour bus trip. It technically means you could do Cardiff in a day, as some people on our bus were doing, but we wanted more time to explore, so we booked a night in a hotel.

Cardiff is a beautiful city, especially draped in the colours of autumn. The people seemed friendlier than in London, moving out of each other's way with a smile instead of barging through. The houses that lined the main streets are perfectly beautiful, with gorgeous front gardens, though I know not all of Cardiff will be like that.

It was fun to see all the signs written in English as well as Welsh - I'd have as much luck pronouncing it from the signs as I could any of the Asian languages. Having the two days meant we were able to do the Dr Who experience, explore the bay around it. It also gave us time to wander around Sophia Park, Cardiff Castle, and through the enormous city centre full of shops. We went through that centre about five times, each time turning a corner to a new section of yet more shops we hadn't seen before. I feel like we could spend the two days just familiarising ourselves with this section alone. I could easily spend days on end in Sophia Park, though I don't necessarily feel the need to go back to the castle.

Between exploring Sophia Gardens and the castle, we stopped for a lunch of Afternoon Tea at Pettigrew Tea Rooms, located in a building that is part of the Animal Wall. This was a unique afternoon tea in that we were able to choose the fillings of the sandwiches - we chose salmon and cream cheese, ham and mustard, and brie and fruit chutney. Each of them was delicious, I don't think I could pick a favourite! The second tier of our stand had our scones sitting with little pots of clotted cream and strawberry jam that was so thick it was almost like a gel. The scones were perfectly fluffy and paired with the toppings wonderfully. Following this was a slice of cake of our choice, instead of the usual selection of mini cakes. We were so full, however, that we opted to have these boxed for us to take away to have later (on the bus back to London that night actually!). To accompany all this we both chose a luxury hot chocolate (we'd both had a lot of tea at breakfast, and it was true hot chocolate weather). These were thick, rich hot chocolates topped with a full layer of mini marshmallows, further topped by a mountain of whipped cream. In hindsight, perhaps the pot of peach white tea would have been better, the hot chocolate was a meal on it's own.

Although it was a short trip, we loved every minute of it, even if we walked so much we had swollen feet and cramping legs by the end of it. We will definitely be back to visit again, in amongst our other European travels. If we decide to stay for the second year of visas, we may just do it from Cardiff instead of London!

Tower of London

We arrived at the Tower early to make sure we could avoid a large line to see the Crown Jewels. Lucky for us there was no line at all, so we were able to go straight in. Photo's aren't allowed in here, so unfortunately I can't share any with you. All I can do is say how incredibly glittery and shiny it all was!

You enter through a few windy rooms with some historical information about the Crown Jewels on the walls. It is a clever, if not subtle, way to continue the line from outside while giving them impression of being in the exhibit. Of course people barely skimmed the information while rushing past to get to to the real thing where the crowds were small. In the first few sections we saw intricately decorated and plain swords, some so large you could barely imagine having to lift them. The real draw card, of course, were the crowns and sceptres. They are all so incredible, covered in gems and pearls. Some of the gems are the largest in the world, and they way they sparkle and shine would make anyone envious. My favourite of all on display is Queen Mary's crown. It is the most delicately designed of all the crowns, a true beauty. Some of the others look a little industrial or too bulky for my personal taste, which of course is irrelevant.

http://weheartit.com/entry/group/19820193

After getting our fill of the Crown Jewels, we explore the grounds for a while. We were both struck by the sheer size of the place, easily imagining fitting thousands of people inside the walls in times of need. There are large grassy areas alongside large cobblestoned areas. Surrounding the main buildings are smaller buildings and houses, many of which are occupied today by those who work for the Tower. It was very peaceful to sit for a while and admire the surrounds, in a time before it got busy with other tourists. We enjoyed watching the ravens play in their cages, waiting for their new homes to be build (a long-awaited upgrade).

We explored the Beauchamp Tower, used as a prison for a very long time, usually for political prisoners. In here was a unique information display – rotating boards were placed on the bars of a large cage. Each board had an image on one side, and information text on the other, each one about a different prisoner of the tower. The boards worked chronologically around, leading you in a circle around the room while you learn some of its history. Upstairs is a large room that was a somewhat comfortable prison cell. Carvings in the walls made by prisoners have been preserved, a morbid form of cell-wall-graffiti made long ago. Views from the windows show the grounds, and there was a large fireplace in one wall. Not quite like the dank, damp dungeons you imagine when thinking of medieval and Victorian prisons.

Continuing the gruesome theme, we wandered over to the Bloody Tower, where we learned about the tortures and killings that have happened here. We saw a Rack, where the prisoner’s arms and legs are tied at opposite ends of a board and pulled in opposite directions. In contrast to this was another device which was arguable worse – your body is folded so that your calves are pressed up against the back of your legs, and your thighs are pressed to your stomach/chest. You are then locked in a device which squeezes you together so tightly apparently people would bleed from their nose and ears. Charming. Apparently torture was not used extensively in England, but of course there are probably many instances that went unrecorded.

From here we went inside the White Tower. The Tower itself is quite beautiful, build in a colour that I haven't seen before. It is named White for a good reason! Inside is a large exhibit, displaying historical items such as suits of armour for knights, kings, and horses; weapons from medieval times to present; gifts from international parties; a large table set up with models for war; and a gigantic dragon. We spent over an hour exploring these pieces and their history, but soon the crowds got so large it was too crowded to be in there any longer. 

Coming back outside again, we saw that the line for the Crown Jewels extended from the door all the way through the grounds almost to the entrance. We sure were glad we went in when we did! I had an appointment in the afternoon, so we left in search of lunch, and glad we did as the school holiday crowds were only getting larger. 

Note to anyone wanting to visit - buy a yearly membership, so you can come and go as you please over an entire year. It lets you see all of the castle in bits and pieces to help you avoid the crowds during school holidays and weekends, particularly if you go in early!

Green Day's American Idiot

Our first theatre experience in London was of a unique kind. This performance was created to turn Greenday's rock opera American Idiot into a stage production, really bringing the music to life.

We entered The Arts Theatre to discover a small cafe with the box office desk up the back. We still had half an hour until the show started, so we ordered a hot chocolate and piece of cake each, and stand around with some of the other audience members who got there early to wait. The hot chocolate was absolutely amazing by the way - if you ever go here, get one!

We enter the theatre through the doors downstairs, and find ourselves seated in the second row (unexpectedly - the performance we'd meant to see was cancelled so these were automatically re-booked tickets). It is a delightfully small and intimate theatre, clearly designed so that everyone feels up close and personal with the show.

An actor soon comes out and sits himself on the stairs leading to the stage. I thought perhaps he was going to do a bit of pre-show something or other, but no, he was already in character, the performance starting before you realise it. I'm no stage critic, and I won't go through the performance scene by scene. I will, however, say that each musical performance shocked me in its intensity. I don't really know what I expected from the show, but it was incredible.

It revolves around the lives of three young American men, dealing with the aftermath of 9/11. One friend finds out his girlfriend is pregnant, and stays behind as the other two go off in search of a better/more meaningful life. His scenes show how he deals with being 'left behind', and the dissolving of his family unit as he refused to play the role of future and then new father. The second friend joins the defence force, and we witness his life during and after being sent to the field. The third friend is the main character in this story, and we follow along his descent into drugs. There is of course a happy ending, in which the three friends are back together some years later, all with mental and physical scars from the time that has passed.

The actors were absolutely brilliant. You could truly buy in to their characters, and empathise with their struggles and pain. You felt sad when they felt sad, you felt happy when they felt happy. Their voices were incredibly strong, carrying the songs with power and emotion, turning the radio tunes you may have bopped along to back in the day into songs of true meaning, focused on these characters. The stage was set perfectly for every scene, the props necessary, the lights and sounds all combining to make you forget you're sitting in a theatre.

Some of the scenes involved a lot of adult content - sex scenes and many, many of drug and alcohol use. It surprised me to see children in the audience. I'm sure those parents had a few specific conversations with their children at the end of the show! This grittiness only added to the story though. One particular scene stuck with me, and probably will for a long time - the main character is in his bedroom, girlfriend asleep on the bed, and he is on the floor injecting himself with drugs. The lights are bright, there is not a single sound from the stage except those made by the actor as he acts out this powerful scene. There was not a single sound from the audience, as we were all confronted by the truth of his performance - no romanticism, no judgement, just a drug addict getting his next fix while trying not to wake his girlfriend. The whole scene went for about 5 minutes, and it was quite eerie to be seated in a perfectly silent theatre of a few hundred people, no sound being made except by the actor.

Overall it was a truly incredible performance. The standing ovation at the end was well deserved by the entire cast. Even if you knew nothing of the album it was based on, the show itself is still well worth seeing!

Using Independent Research Time to Teach Content

In order to preserve my voice and sanity, every now and then I’ll give an entire lesson over to the students to do independent research. I find it works better with older students, as the younger ones can find it a bit hard to find the correct information.

Of course this raises issues of behaviour management, again more of an issue for younger students are larger groups. I am lucky enough to have one class with 15 students, and another with 20, and it works absolutely wonderfully with them, most of the time.

The first time we did it they were a bit confused. This isn't a usual worksheet on which they need to answer questions from a specific website. Depending on the ability of the group, you can simply give them a list of the specific content topics they need to learn about and leave the rest up to them (e.g. longitudinal waves). If they need more guidance, provide very simple questions for them to answer in turn (e.g. draw a diagram of a longitudinal waves, then describe what compression and rarefaction are). The idea is they write notes for themselves based on the topic/questions into their exercise book, in a format that will help them to learn the content (for future exams etc).

My year 11 group prefer to have the more specific questions and to be able to create a poster or something a bit more creative to record their information. My year 10s, on the other hand, prefer a bit less scaffolding and to simply write notes in their exercise books.

You can also direct them to specific websites, but unless we’re on a time limit I prefer to give them the freedom to search for themselves. Students can always do with more practice researching, and there’s no better time than when you are there to help them, especially without the pressure of completing an assignment. I often find they will share their websites with each other when they find something good, or redirect each other away from ‘useless’ websites. They are also getting quite good at finding appropriate diagrams in Google Images – they will now go for the more complex ones with proper labels, whereas they originally would go for the one that looked the easiest and quickest to draw.

Sometimes, but not always, I will go through the information at the end of the lesson to clear up any confusion. More often though I will circulate throughout the lesson and read what they are writing as they go.

I find they really enjoy being able to work independently. They will of course chat and go off topic at times, but I simply (and gently) redirect them back to the work. Giving a specific time limit works well, for example they have to answer x number of questions before the end of the lesson. Consequences for those who muck around too much can be to stay back at lunch/after school to complete the work, or to do it for homework (on top of whatever you set for everyone else).

There is always the possibility that students will simply copy words from the internet without really taking it in. I find giving them flexibility to present the work in a way that they prefer helps with this, as does me circling. As you go around you can always ask them quick questions about what they just wrote to check for understanding. If students see you circling and helping others they may be more inclined to ask for help in the first place.

I encourage you to try this with your own classes, but do be aware it can take them (and you) time to get used to doing something different like this. As ever with any new way to present content, take it slow and let yourselves adjust. Or, if you feel like this won't actually work with your class, don't do it! You know your classes best!

Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace was home to the infamous King Henry VIII. For those interested, rather than me going through the history, here is a very short version. The website also has an incredible amount of easy-to-read information of the history of this time.

We arrived expecting something similar to Buckingham Palace. Beautifully decorated rooms, manicured lawns, and an air of majesty. We were not prepared for the size of the buildings and grounds, nor were we prepared for the level of history we encountered. Unfortunately, all the pictures I took on my phone were lost, so all I can share with you are those Mr took on his (we hadn't brought our proper camera with us this day).

The entry to the grounds is huge in itself - you walk for a few minutes straight from the gates before you reach the building. Stepping through the entrance, we found ourselves in a courtyard straight out of a fantasy novel, complete with a fountain in the middle and some benches around the outside. Through another archway and we found ourselves in yet another large courtyard, with perfectly uneven cobblestones lining the ground. We were absolutely delighted, both being fantasy novel readers, to have found a place that proves the images we had formed in our minds from the stories we read.

In a large room off to the side of one of the courtyards we collected audio guides and donned Victorian capes. Yes, these got us some funny looks from people who deemed them unnecessary to the experience, but it was a bit of fun, and they were free so why not!

We explored ally ways, with winding turns and more cobblestones. One of the rooms that surprised us both the most was the kitchen - the whole thing was as big as a hall, if not bigger. The hearth they used to cook on was so large multiple people could stand quite comfortably in it. There were displays of the types of food they used to eat, and how they would prepare them, which is always interesting to me given my love of food in general.

Following on from this was the wine cellar. The picture below shows half of the room, and the wine kegs would have been stacked up upon each other. These sets of room seemed like the place to be back in the day!

One of the rooms was covered in wallpaper depicting the original painting that covered the walls before they were destroyed. It was incredible to see the detail that would have gone into the painting, it surely took them years to complete!

There were hundreds of meters of rooms to explore throughout the palace, each with it's own history and story to tell. Unfortunately we don't have any pictures from within them (they were all on my phone), but I was so impressed with the decorations and furniture. It was all so opulent and fancy, and showed how rich people lived throughout the decades the palace was in use. Throughout the rooms were paper sculptures of people, each with information on them about who that person was and if they were involved in a scandal or were a person of importance throughout the palace's history. They were quite creepy, having no heads, but it was fascinating to read about them and their lives as we went along.

In one series of rooms was the story of Henry and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. They were married for 18 years before he divorced her. During their time together, the king was very close with Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who was advisor and friend as well as being the man who turned the humble beginnings of the palace to what was used in Henry's time. Their story together was depicted in a unique and intriguing way. Each room had three chairs, one for the King, one for the Queen, and one for the Cardinal. Their position within the room and in relation to each other showed their relationship at that point in time. They start out with the King in front and his Queen and advisor equally placed behind and to the side. As time goes on they change to being in line, one being ahead of the other etc. One of the saddest parts of the whole palace was a room in which the King and Cardinal are side-by-side facing one side of the room, in a position of power. The Queen is facing the other side of the room, off by herself in a corner. This was followed by a room in which the Queen was by herself, mourning the death of the son she craved and was required to give her king. These rooms signified the beginning of her downfall, and could not have painted a stronger picture than if the people were in those rooms themselves.

One room was set up as it was back in the day as a room to gather and play cards in. The windows in this room went from floor to ceiling, and had the perfect view of the gardens outside. So outside we went. Again, we were fully unprepared for the scope of the gardens. You could spend a day walking around them and not get to every corner. There were a few formal gardens perfectly arranged for courtiers to wander around, even a few hidden nooks for more private encounters.

Off to the side of the formal gardens was a great big tunnel made of vines. I can only guess at it's purpose, except perhaps just to exist because it's awesome.

Beyond that is an enclosure that contains the worlds longest grape vine. It was planted in 1769, and continues to produce grapes today. You can even buy some when they're in season (which ended a few weeks before we were there!). The base of the vine is 4m around, and the longest rod is 36.5m. It is grown inside a glasshouse which had to be built around earlier structures because the vine was so entwined with it it would be impossible to separate.

Out on the paths circling the lawns was a horse drawn train, which could take you around the outer edge if you didn't feel like walking. We chose to forgo the ride, and instead walked around a bit before discovering that there is a hedge maze on the grounds. So off we went in search of it!

The maze is the oldest hedge maze in the UK (it was built first built in the early 1700's) and retains the original shape. It was a lot of fun trying to get to the centre of it, even if it got quite claustrophobic in parts where only one person could fit through. Unlike many hedge mazes, you can't look over or under it, and can barely see through the branches. Even when you think you can see the centre just though there, the turn you think will take you there suddenly doesn't.

In the end we spent hours more here than we originally intended, purely because it was so expansive and there were so many things to see. I feel like we could return and still find new areas to explore!