The Doctor Who Experience have announced a new item of merchandise, now available from their shop:

The Doctor Who Experience is to host a number of special activities in the run up to its closure in London next month:

• Saturday 11th February: Doctor Who choreographer Ailsa Berk will be running one of her semi-regular monster lessons, where visitors will be able to learn how to move like a monster, such as a Judoon Trooper or a Cyberman.
• Monday 13th February: Millennium FX demonstrate their sculpture techniques, illustrating the design of some of the show's iconic characters.
• Wednesday 15th February: the Cybermen and the Ood will be at the Experience to terrify all those who dare enter!
• Thursday 16th February: the Doctor Who make-up team will be on hand to transform visitors into a Silurian, Cyberman, Clockwork Droid or Weeping Angel.
• Friday 17th February: Millennium FX present drawing demonstrations behind some of the show's iconic characters.
• Sunday 19th February: another chance to move like a monster with Ailsa Berk.

The Experience finally comes to a close on Wednesday 22nd February, "where fans get the chance to bid a final farewell to the Doctor and some of the most recent monsters from the series," before re-opening in Cardiff Bay later in the year.

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Update: Last Minute are offering a number of two-for-one deals to the exhibition: visit their website for more details.

The Doctor Who Experience have announced the arrival of the Wooden King and Wooden Queen to the exhibition, as seen in this year's Christmas Special, The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe.


The two costumes will be in a special display at the exhibition, alongside the existing array of monsters including the Daleks, Cybermen, Silurians and the Silence.

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The Doctor Who Experience is open in London until 22nd February 2012, and will then re-open at its new home by the BBC Studios at Cardiff Bay later in the year.

Collinson PLC has been awarded the contract to build the new home for the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff Bay.

Collinson will design and construct the 3000m³ tensile membrane building to form an iconic space-age shape containing the main exhibition hall and first floor mezzanine, and will also incorporate a glazed curtain wall to lend a futuristic feel to the project. Additional two storey accomodation will hold a reception area, café and classroom, plus office facilities.

Director Dan Collinson said:
The construction is in in conjunction with the BBC and Cardiff City Council, whose leader Rodney Berman said:

(newslinks: Collinson, Garstang Courier)

The Doctor Who Experience will be running a special 'Christmas Grotto' to celebrate the festive season. The attraction aims to "showcase a magical world of Doctor Who festivity in a bespoke new grotto which will take visitors on a time travelling journey through the television series’ spectacular Christmas specials."

Santa Claus will be on hand to meet visitors who explore the yuletide treasure trove of props and costumes, which includes the waitress outfit worn by Kylie Minogue in Voyage of the Damned and the Robot Santas seen in The Christmas Invasion and The Runaway Bride.

Access to the grotto is via a £5 supplementary charge (adults accompanying children are free), with children receiving a Doctor Who gift as part of their visit. Tickets can be booked alongside a regular Experience ticket via See Tickets or at the Doctor Who Experience shop.

The grotto is open on the following dates: 2nd-4th, 9th-11th, 16th–21st December.

It has just been announced that the Doctor Who Experience is to remain open in London throughout the Christmas season and into early next year.

It is now due to close on the 22nd February 2012, whereupon it'll transfer to its new home at Port Teigr by the new BBC Studios, in Cardiff Bay.

As reported last week, the Doctor Who Experience is running a number of workshops over summer, including a Silurian prosthetics demonstration on the 24th August. The organisers have now announced that Doctor Who script editor Gary Russell will be appearing at the demonstration, where he will be transformed into a Silurian during a live makeover.
The exhibition also now features four versions of the TARDIS, with the arrival of the "junk" console which featured in this year's The Doctor's Wife, as designed by Blue Peter winner Susannah Leah.

A number of special workshops are being helps over the summer holiday at the Doctor Who Experience in London.

Last Friday the editorial team from Doctor Who Adventures magazine held a special Behind the Scenes masterclass. The magazine team ran four interactive one-hour sessions, during which they showed over 100 youngsters how to go about making a weekly magazine.

The masterclass gave an insight into all aspects of magazine publishing, from designing a magazine cover to deciding on the ideal free gift. Each session was lead by Doctor Who Adventures editor, Natalie Barnes, while there was also a special guest appearance from comic designer John Ross, who has designed a comic strip for every issue of the magazine since it launched over four years ago.

Natalie Barnes said, "We had a lot of fun at the Doctor Who Experience on Friday. The workshop was a great opportunity for us to meet with fans of Doctor Who Adventures and to show them how we put the magazine together. We were really impressed by their creativity– they’ll be after our jobs soon.”

Further events are planned over the next couple of weeks. There is no extra charge for these events,but due to high demand it is advisable to obtain tickets in advance.

A 10" model of a monster created for a Doctor Who Adventures competition has been added to the Doctor Who Experience.

Twelve year old Jessica Rickarby won the design-a-monster competition which featured in the magazine with her design, Screamer, picked from over 1,000 entries. The monster was then incorporated into a comic strip character for the Doctor to encounter in last week's issue, and a model maker has created a physical version which has been put on display to visitors to the Doctor Who Experience for the next three months; Jessica will then receive it to keep.


Natalie Barnes, editor of Doctor Who Adventures said:

The prize-winning design featured on today's edition of the news programme for children on BBC1, Newsround - this is currently available to watch in the UK via their website.

The Cartoon Museum in London is to launch a new exhibition in July; entitled Doctor Who In Comics (1964-2011), the museum will be displaying a variety of artwork from throughout the lifetime of the series that have appeared in publication like Doctor Who Magazine, IDW, annuals, yearbooks, etc.

Curator Anita O'Brien said:
It is hoped to include artwork featuring all eleven television Doctors, and also in his movie persona of Peter Cushing.


The exhibition will run from 27th July until 30th October. See the museum website for full information about their exhibits and admission details.

(with thanks to Anita O'Brien, The Comic Museum