Attraction’s closure is a loss for Cardiff and Whovians everywhere
IT’S not often a city can claim it’s the home of such an important pop culture phenomenon.
But Cardiff has been synonymous with Doctor Who for Whovians around the world, ever since the Tardis phased back onto our screens in 2005.
With local fans – myself included – often keeping an eye out for notable Welsh locations the Beeb are trying to pass off as London, many dedicated viewers from further afield have come to the Welsh capital to walk the same streets as their favourite Doctor.
And during the past five years, fans of the popular sci-fi show have been able to simulate flying the Doctor’s blue phone box, explore the old Tardis console rooms and take in the numerous props and costumes, thanks to the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff Bay.
Today, however, is the last chance fans have of visiting the site in its current location. Which, frankly, is a tragedy.
The fact it’s sold out makes it clear the venue means a lot to people.
Despite only being around for five years, it has made a massive impact.
When it was revealed in 2012 that London would no longer play host to the Doctor Who Experience, it seemed like a natural fit for Cardiff to step up.
Prior to the Doctor Who Experience arriving in Cardiff Bay in 2012, fans could only visit a similar – albeit smaller – collection of memorabilia from all of time and space at the Red Dragon Centre’s Doctor Who Exhibition – Doctor Who Up Close Cardiff.
And despite its comparatively small venue, the crowds flocked to the Up Close Cardiff exhibition.
From 2005-11, this was the place to go for fans – and they even gave out the street maps with markers of significance to fans of the show who would wander around and take a picture in a street where David Tennant may have once run down.
Obviously, there was a market for something more permanent – and after the Doctor Who Experience in London’s Olympia announced it was closing after just a year, Cardiff welcomed it with open arms.
As someone who has been a fan of Doctor Who since I can remember – when I started high school my friend would lend me original series DVDs that he would sneak out from his dad’s collection – the idea of having such a great facility close by is something that I believe should be cherished.
Admittedly I’ve not been as many times as some fans I know, but the times I have were always enjoyable.
Interactive exhibitions, led by tour guides who know their stuff, has to be something every fan wants to get involved with – embarrassingly, walking through a room filled with moving Weeping Angels as the lights flicker on and off might just be one of the most terrifying things I’ve experienced.
Luckily it wasn’t just me – seeing parents being laughed at by their children made me feel a hell of a lot better about my own jumpiness.
And I suppose I should probably feel a bit guilty about my reaction to the time I didn’t get to “fly” the Tardis – I was in a room full of children, after all, and was resigned to stand with the parents, sulking in full swing.
But it’s not just what’s inside the attraction that makes it so special.
The location is so important for something like this to work – and because of the connections Doctor Who has to Cardiff, the city is ideal.
One of my trips to the museum also included a set tour, which was only possible because the studios where they film the show just so happen to be found down the road from the Doctor Who Experience.
You can imagine, as a massive fan of all things Time Lord, just how excited I was to be able to walk around the actual Tardis console room, where Peter Capaldi filmed many of his scenes.
And while all of these little moments are fantastic for the fanatics, there’s a lot more to the whole site than just happy viewers.
The experience offered a tourist destination to the city that fans far and wide would come to see, especially after Matt Smith’s run as the Doctor seemed to increase the US audience numbers.
It really put Cardiff – and Wales on the map – and had fans booking hotel rooms, spending money in our shops, eating in our restaurants, visiting other attractions and generally spreading the word about Cardiff being a great tourist destination.
It’s not just American fans though, the pull is global.
One Australian family even cancelled their trip to Wales because they found out the Doctor Who Experience was closing.
They had planned a five-week Christmas holiday to the UK but once they found out the attraction was closing in the summer, the self-confessed Doctor Who fans quickly struck Cardiff off their list of UK hotspots they would be visiting.
So while it might not mean much to some people who live here, it definitely had a pulling factor where tourism is concerned.
Unfortunately it was always going to be a five-year project, given the dates on the lease, but there was always a bit of quiet optimism among fans that this would be extended.
After all it seems to make commercial sense, if nothing else.
There are, of course, rumours circulating among the show’s followers about what will happen next.
One rumour is that it is moving somewhere else in Wales. Other people have talked about a UK touring exhibition.
And there are also whispers of something more permanent in Manchester – but these are purely speculation, so who knows?
The BBC’s official line at the moment is: “News of how we are planning further ways of taking Doctor Who directly to our audience, and how we are using the filming locations to continue the commercial presence of Doctor Who in Cardiff, will be communicated in due course.”
If it does end up as a touring UK exhibition, while good news for Doctor Who fans nationally, it’ll be a sad day to see such an already-iconic piece of popular culture leave the Welsh capital.