Longleat (1973–2003) The first permanent exhibition was set up at the
stately home of
Longleat, Wiltshire in 1973, and ran until 2003. The site has also hosted annual
Doctor Who conventions, usually in August. About 40,000 fans turned up, many more than expected. In 2003, the annual "
Doctor Who Day", to mark the 40th anniversary of the programme, featured an attempt to gather the largest number of Daleks ever assembled.
Colin Baker,
Sophie Aldred and
John Leeson attended.
The Doctor Who Exhibition, Blackpool (1974–1985) The original
Doctor Who Exhibition in
Blackpool, Lancashire featured a range of monsters, aliens, props, costumes and models from the classic TV series, together with a
TARDIS console that had previously featured in the
BBC Visual Effects exhibition at the
Science Museum, London. The Blackpool exhibition was located at 111 Central Promenade Blackpool. It was first opened by
Jon Pertwee Third Doctor] and
Elisabeth Sladen [Sarah Jane Smith] on Tuesday 9 April 1974. The exhibition opened to the public the next day. From the outside, of the Chapel Street entrance, visitors saw only a blue
Police box standing next to the building, looking as if it would only hold one or two people at the most. However, in keeping with the TARDIS from the TV series it was "bigger on the inside", an illusion created with stairs leading down from the TARDIS doors to the exhibition itself in a former cellar. The idea for the exhibition came from Terry Sampson of
BBC Enterprises with his vision being realised by designer Tom Carter. It was open from April through to October each year, with new exhibits being introduced annually, mainly in keeping with the show's past or present, but occasionally previewing what was yet to come. In its first season, the Blackpool exhibition, saw a large spider from
Planet of the Spiders greeting visitors at the top of the stairs, and a Tyrannosaur, from
Invasion of the Dinosaurs, breaking through a wall at the bottom. A Triceratops was seen on the London Underground. Those in attendance walked around a winding corridor with exhibits to either side, which originally included, an assortment of
Daleks, together with a
Cyberman,
Sontaran,
Yeti,
Sea Devil,
Silurian,
Draconian, and
Ogron. The passageways eventually led to a reconstruction of the TARDIS console room, complete with a hexagonal console in the centre, flashing lights, sound effects and large windows looking out onto alien worlds and their monsters. All around the edges of the room were interactive computer banks, buttons and levers. Over the years, numerous other aliens were added to the displays including, an
Ice Warrior,
Quark,
Zygon,
Wirrn, a thirteen-foot high
Robot,
Sutekh, and
The Doctor mechanical dog
K9. The mainstay of the exhibition however was the Daleks, some of which were built especially by Tony Oxley and Charlie Lumm of the BBC Visual Effects department. Life size, moving Daleks were made to be as scary as possible with various Daleks interrogating and threatening the public with extermination. The Dalek Cavern as seen through the window of the console room, at various points incorporated the
Gold Dalek, together with the sets and other Daleks from,
Genesis of the Daleks,
Destiny of the Daleks,
Resurrection of the Daleks, and
Revelation of the Daleks. Arguably the most popular set featured
Davros, the Daleks creator. The egress of the TARDIS featured a BBC Enterprises gift shop. The exhibition closed in October 1985.
Tom Baker [Fourth Doctor] had visited the exhibition in 1975 and 1977.
Colin Baker [Sixth Doctor], and
Nicola Bryant [Peri Brown] visited in 1985, as part of that year's
Children in Need. The programme was broadcast on 22 November 1985, with film of Colin's visit to the exhibition being shown prior to 20 Doctor Who stars emerging from the TARDIS, live in the studio. At one point, Colin points to a Doctor Who fan in the audience, who he'd previously met at Blackpool, a man now known in Doctor Who circles as "The Man In Blue".
The Dr Who Experience, Llangollen (1994–2003) pointing to the Dr Who Experience The "
Dapol Dr Who Experience" opened in 1994 and was sited in
Llangollen,
Denbighshire, Wales, under the auspices of the company that made
Doctor Who merchandise until 2002. It featured many costumes and props, some dating back to the 1960s. It closed in 2003.
The Doctor Who Exhibition, Blackpool (2004–2009) The Blackpool exhibition reopened in 2004 to coincide with the
relaunch of the
Doctor Who television programme. The Blackpool
Doctor Who Museum finally closed on 8 November 2009, the large collection of props, monsters and costumes (including the Doctors' trademark car, Bessie, and classic monsters such as Tractators, Ice Warriors and Yeti) being distributed to other exhibitions around the country.
The Doctor Who Exhibition, Cardiff (2005–2011) The
Doctor Who Exhibition Cardiff was the only semi-permanent exhibition in the UK. Situated in the
Red Dragon Centre,
Cardiff Bay, the museum opened December 2005, The Cardiff Exhibition had a complete refurbishment in October 2008. The
Doctor Who Up Close Shop was stocked with items such as giant inflatable
Daleks,
sonic screwdrivers and talking bottle openers.
The Doctor Who Experience (2012–2017) An exhibition titled
Doctor Who Experience, complete with a new interactive
Doctor Who episode with the
Eleventh Doctor, opened at London Olympia on 20 February 2011 after a number of test days and preview visits. It closed on 22 February 2012. The exhibition moved to Cardiff, opening on 20 July 2012. The new exhibition was housed in an unusual 3000 square metre building in
Porth Teigr designed by theme-park company Sarner Ltd. Due to the temporary nature of the exhibition, with a 5-year lease on the site, the building was constructed like a large tent, with a cover stretched over curved steel beams. The exhibition began with a short film and a walk-through adventure inside the
Eleventh Doctor's first
TARDIS interior and in various locations. Later, after the replacement of
Matt Smith, visitors were instead led through the experience by a guide and the
Twelfth Doctor (
Peter Capaldi). Following the adventure portion guests were free to roam two floors of exhibitions including original costumes from ten of the twelve Doctors (the first two being replicas as the originals were lost). Alien prosthetics, Daleks and Cybermen over history,
Sonic devices, and the TARDIS interiors belonging to the
First Doctor,
Fourth Doctor,
Fifth Doctor, and the
Ninth Doctor and
Tenth Doctor. Many other show memorabilia and artefacts were also on display, including costumes from the companions since 2005 including:
Rose Tyler,
Martha Jones,
Donna Noble,
Captain Jack Harkness,
Amy Pond and
Rory Williams. Each year since opening, costumes and props used from new series were showcased. In 2013, props, such as Porridge's costume, the deactivated chess-playing
Cyberman (from "
Nightmare in Silver") the costumes of the Eleventh Doctor and
Clara Oswald, along with the giant snow globe from the Christmas episode entitled "
The Snowmen", were also added to the collection. In late 2014 props and costumes from "
Last Christmas" were added. Museum patrons could also take pictures in front of a green screen, with multiple backgrounds to choose from including Totter's Lane (from the Doctor's first adventure) and inside the time vortex, as well as several props such as various
Sonic Screwdrivers and articles of clothing symbolic to several Doctors (e.g. Matt Smith's fez).
Cardiff Bay is home to the
BBC Roath Lock production studios, as well as locations from the
Torchwood series. The experience closed on 9 September 2017, due to the site's five-year lease running out.
BBC Worldwide said at the time that they were "not sure yet" if it would reopen elsewhere. ==Former temporary and touring exhibitions==