The Doctor Who Experience…

Last updated on 2 May 2021

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So you all know what a big Harry Potter fan I am, but my geekiness goes further still. I.Love.Doctor.Who. Like…a lot. My friend is over from NZ at the moment, and she too, is a big fan, so we decided that we absolutely must go to the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff together. So yesterday, we did.

We got up at stupid-o-clock and caught the train to Cardiff. We made our way through the streets to Cardiff Bay and to the most exciting thing ever. The ticket that we bought included a tour of the TARDIS Set (the real live one that they totally actually use for filming and that exciting people have actually been in! Ohmygosh), which was in the BBC Studios just around the corner. We had to go through lots of security gates and not touch anything and we weren’t allowed to take pictures on the way there. But once we got into the set room, we could! So brilliant!

Even though the lighting was ridiculous for photos, I managed to get some average ones. It turns out that my iPod is actually better at taking low light pictures than my Canon 400D SLR camera, so props to you, Apple.

After spending about an hour there, or just under, we went back to the main Experience building (which looks like a giant slug), and went through the interactive experience bit. It was really neat! We were in a group of about 40 that went through together, and it started off with a little introduction movie thing, which ended with the crack in the wall (if you’re familiar at all with DW you’ll know the one I mean), which actually opened a hole in the wall and we all went through. I won’t go into too much detail, as not to spoil it for your inevitable future visit, but it was amazing. We went through a series of rooms, each with a video from Matt Smith as the Doctor, and it was like we were in an episode. It had lights and dramatic sounds and Daleks trying to kill us, the TARDIS crashing with us inside, angels in the forest (yes, I closed my eyes through that bit…ohmyword), an awesome 3D clip that made us feel were going through the opening credits but with monsters coming out to get us…

And then the last bit was the museum. This was awesome. It had a whole bunch of stuff, including all the main outfits that each of the Doctors wore (going back to the very first one, back in black and white days), some of the companions’ clothes, there was the old TARDIS centre console part from the 60s, models of a whole lot of monsters and daleks…Then there was an angel or two, the evil snowman from that Christmas episode, and so much more! Apologies for really bad photos…I’m blaming the light…

The Doctors. Don’t know how I managed not to get a photo of 1 and 2 though.

Sonic Screwdrivers, the 1960s TARDIS console, and Idris’s outfit.

Possibly my favourite…but I hate them at the same time…

Some of the companions, and also Jack and River, and their outfits

It was really awesome, especially to know that those are the real clothes and things they used in the series over the years. After that we browsed the shop and bought too much. I also scored myself a box set of Torchwood for cheaper than I had seen it anywhere else, which you would have seen if you follow me on Instagram. Love that show too.

So that’s it! We had an amazing time, and would highly recommend it, even if you are just getting into Doctor Who. It’s well worth it, and not too badly priced either. I’ve managed to get series 1-7 of Doctor Who from my friend, so I am going to be re-watching all the episodes in time for the 50th Anniversary episode at Christmas time!