DESIGN PROJECT PROFILE DR WHO EXPERIENCE
FLIGHT OF FANTASY W
atching a crack in time open up before your eyes and being invited to step through into another dimension isn’t your average Saturday after- noon. But offering something
decidedly not-average is exactly what Sarner, the creators of the new Doctor Who Experience, set out to do. For those unfamiliar with Doctor Who,
it’s a cult British tv programme following the adventures of an extra-terrestrial Time Lord as he travels through time in a police phone box, known as the Tardis. He battles aliens (his greatest enemies are robot-like Cybermen and the menacing Daleks) and brings the earth back from the brink of a crisis on a weekly basis. The programme is the UK’s longest running sci-fi series and has had children gleefully cowering behind sofas since 1963. The most recent series centered around a plot involving a crack in time, hence the dramatic opening
Taking inspiration from the theatre and cinema, Sarner has created a dramatic, interactive show which immerses visitors in a Doctor Who adventure. Kathleen Whyman fi nds out how the sci-fi tv series was brought to life
sequence to the Doctor Who Experience. After this unexpected start to the show, visitors enter a spaceship, see a full-scale Tardis magically appear, then walk through the doors into the Tardis itself and learn to fl y it. An emergency landing on a Dalek’s spaceship results in a CGI battle scene fol- lowed by a 3D fi nale. After the 25-minute show, visitors can explore the free-fl ow exhibition dedicated to all 11 series of the programme at their leisure.
THE CREATORS Having been a fan of Doctor Who since he was a child, creating an experience
about the show was a dream come true for Sarner’s creative director Michael Bennett. Although, when he and managing director Ross Magri were fi rst approached by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation, which makes and airs the programme), they had no idea what the project would be.
“The BBC approached us two years ago to say they liked our work and planned to use us in some way, so would be in touch when something came up,” recalls Magri. “Six months later they asked if we were inter- ested in an undisclosed project. We went to a meeting at the BBC offi ce in London, not knowing what it was they wanted us to do. When they told us it was the Doctor Who Experience we said ‘of course!’” Determined to win the contract, Bennett and Magri spoke to the hardcore Doctor Who fans (known as Whovians) to fi nd out what they’d like to see. Armed with this knowledge, their aim was to recreate the emotions of excitement, anticipation and slight terror that viewers of the programme experience. The result was the free-fl ow exhibition plus an immersive, timed, dark walk show that uses fi lm-making tech- niques to plunge visitors into the world of Doctor Who, so they are actively involved in the adventure rather than just observing it. The BBC acknowledged that this design
was much riskier than a traditional exhi- bition, but the Whovians voted for it and Sarner won the tender.
The Tardis’ console had to be rede- signed when it was updated following a change in actors playing The Doctor
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PHOTOS: LIAM DANIELS
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