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!