BBC Worldwide today announced the official opening date for their multi-award winning attraction the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff, the home of the BBC One show. Doors will open to the public on the 20th July with tickets going on sale at 10am on the 14th June.  Paula Al-Lach, Head of Exhibitions and Events at BBC Worldwide formally accepted the keys to the Experience’s distinctive new home in Cardiff Bay this afternoon and the first exhibits are already being moved in.

Philip Murphy, Managing Director of BBC Worldwide Live Events said:

“The Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff is going to be just minutes away from where the BBC Wales television series is made which I’m incredibly excited about. The Experience sets out to engage visitors’ imaginations from the outset immersing them in the world of Doctor Who and what better place to do this than in Cardiff the home of the show.”

The Doctor Who Experience is the first ever interactive Doctor Who exhibition that invites visitors to star in their very own Doctor Who adventure. Arriving at the venue they will step through a crack in time to become the Doctor’s companion, taking on the challenge of reuniting the Doctor with the TARDIS whilst fending off threats from some of his most fearsome foes - entering a Dalek spaceship and finding a way through a maze of Weeping Angels. Featuring a replica of the Eleventh Doctor’s TARDIS which visitors get to fly themselves the interactive walk-through culminates in a stunning 3D finale that sets the scene for fans entering the exhibition.

The exhibition presents fans with the world’s most extensive collection of original Doctor Who costumes and artefacts stretching back almost 50 years to the very first series of Doctor Who.

The content of the exhibition is updated constantly with new items from the television series to ensure it is ever changing offering fans the chance to get up close to the incredible sets, costumes and props that feature in their favourite show.  New items to be shown to the public for the first time in Cardiff include the Doctor’s cradle seen in A Good Man Goes to War; the Silence spaceship and Matt Smith’s sonic cane from Let’s Kill Hitler with many more items being kept under wraps until the doors open.

[Sources: BBC Worldwide]

Planning permission has been sought by Cardiff Council for the construction of a 3000 sq metre building in Porth Teigr that will become the long-term home of the Doctor Who Experience when it relocates from London’s Olympia to Cardiff in 2012. 

Working closely in partnership with BBC Worldwide, the Council is progressing the feasibility of a commercial agreement that could bring this international attraction to the capital city of Wales in Spring 2012. In addition to submitting a planning application the council is carrying out ground investigations to establish substructure costs as part of the feasibility.

The Doctor Who Experience allows visitors to join the Doctor on a journey through time and space, combining a walk-through immersive adventure with the largest exhibition ever assembled of sets, props and memorabilia from the series.  It has been described by reviewers as “exhilarating”, “awe-inspiring” and “the hottest ticket in the Universe”.

BBC Worldwide announced in September 2010 that it intended to relocate the attraction in Cardiff during 2012, following consolidation of its previous Doctor Who exhibitions, including the closure of the former Doctor Who Exhibition in Cardiff’s Red Dragon Centre in March 2011.

The Experience boasts an array of incredible special effects, brand new filmed footage of Matt Smith as the Doctor, a recreation of the modern TARDIS and a breathtaking 3D finale.  The exhibition element includes items never publicly displayed before including original costumes, a full scale recreation of two iconic TARDIS sets from the eras of David Tennant and Peter Davison, and numerous monsters including several generations of The Daleks, Cybermen, Silurians, Ice Warriors, Zygons and the gigantic K-I robot.  The Doctor’s latest sinister adversaries from the current season – The Silence – are also on view.

Philip Murphy, Managing Director for Live Events at BBC Worldwide commented: “The Doctor Who Experience opened to tremendous critical and customer reviews.  Having a long-term home in a purpose-built facility in Cardiff will enable us to develop the Experience even further as the premier fan destination for Doctor Who.  We’ve worked very closely with Cardiff Council to bring the Experience to Cardiff, and we believe that it will draw fans to the Welsh capital from around the world”. 

Keith Jones, Director of BBC Cymru Wales, says: “Wales is the home of Doctor Who – our original made-in-Wales drama success story – so locating this fantastic experience in Cardiff Bay is a great development.  The show will have moved into its brand new production home at Roath Lock Studios by this time next year.  It’s therefore very exciting that around the same time audiences will be able to come and enjoy such a thrilling experience, within a stone’s throw of where the magic is made”.

Councillor Rodney Berman, Leader of Cardiff Council, said: “Cardiff is proud of being the home of Doctor Who which has undoubtedly helped raise the profile of the city. The new Doctor Who Experience coming to Cardiff Bay is a very exciting proposition and one that fans of the show are greatly looking forward to. This promises to be a great new attraction for the city with the added bonus of people being able to visit the Doctor Who Experience right next door to where the series is filmed.”

The Doctor Who Experience remains open at Olympia Two in London and tickets are currently available to book there through to 20th November 2011.  Further information about the closing date of the London run and the launch of The Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff will be released after planning permission has been obtained.

[Source: BBC Worldwide]