The Girl Who Waited… for Matt Smith

I have sat here for a while now trying to come up with a more imaginative title to this post than the one I have chosen but my heads still spinning from the last few days, not to mention the long day I’ve had trying to get my dissertation proposal completed! I’d like to apologize for my absence from blogger, and more importantly, from my blog - I’ve been super busy as I head into my final year of University, boo :-(

So yes, I’ve had a very exciting few days! I turn 22 years old (AAH!) on Wednesday, so me and mum decided to head to Cardiff Thursday and Friday for some shopping, sightseeing and in hope of seeing some Doctor Who filming.

Once I’d survived the drive in the most torrential rain I have ever driven through, I noticed sadly that it was pretty clear from online sources that there was going to be no filming happening that night… (Just my luck- the day I decide to drive down there was nothing going on:-( ). So me and mum decided to make a night of it anyway, I took her sightseeing around the Bay and we had a lovely meal and a few cocktails in Eddies Diner. But when I logged onto Twitter that night I started to see a few mysterious tweets from a few different sources about something Doctor Who related happening the next day…

Friday morning arrived and both me and mum woke up early, had a quick walk around the Bay in the sun and headed off into the city centre on the train to visit the castle (I’ve always wanted to go in there!)

Here, the long corridors surrounding the castle grounds were used as the location for scenes in Doctor Who Series 6 ‘The Almost People’ and ‘The Rebel Flesh’.

Apart from this, Cardiff Castle was also a great addition to our day out and the views were stunning. Me and mum both paid for an Essential Ticket which cost a student like myself £9.50 and for an adult like mum £11.00. Included in the price was a chance to watch a film about the history of the castle (which we never had the chance to view because of our own time restraints) and we also received an audio pack which explained various parts of the castle as you walked around. You can find out more about Cardiff Castle, here: http://www.cardiffcastle.com/

  Luckily, whilst I was at the castle, I happened to check Twitter and saw that Matt Smith was currently down at the Doctor Who Experience in the Bay, making an appearance to unveil some of the new exhibits from Series 7. From here, mum gave me an ultimatum – Stay in the city to shop for my birthday or risk it all by jumping in a taxi to see if there was a chance of meeting the main man himself…. inevitably I chose the latter.

 Within 10 minutes of waiting outside the Experience, my luck was in as out of the front main doors walked writer and producer Steven Moffat and Executive Producer Caroline Skinner. I asked for a picture and they both agreed straight away, even after my mum had a bit of trouble with the camera, telling Moffat that he had blinked! (Embarrassing – but very ironic!) They were both very lovely- a pleasure to meet! 

From here, the weather took a turn for the worst as me and mum battled to stay warm in the cold and windy conditions for the next half hour. Matt Smiths Chauffeur turned up at 2pm and headed around the side of the building, behind huge gates – I didn’t think I had a chance of seeing him let alone meeting him, but I kept hold of my picture and sharpie pen just in case. 

But then luck struck again as a security van pulled up, blocking the gates and all Matt’s chauffeur could do was whip his car around the front of the building, right next to me! A scuffle from a few security men later and mum whispered ‘I think I can see Matt through the glass’ - sure enough, there he was, heading straight for me out of the front doors. 

Seeing as I was the only one there, I shouted him a few times to get his attention as he headed for his car and he turned and walked straight over. All I could think at this point was that I had just demolished a egg and cress sandwich, both mine and Matt Smiths favourite... bad move Kelly, bad move. From here, I can’t really remember much else, it was a complete blur, but he signed my picture, apologized for covering my face with his signature and posed for a few photos – yes, mum had to take a few *again* exclaiming ‘I hope to god they turn out’ – how embarrassing! With that I thanked matt tremendously for stopping and I wondered off as he retrieved his Doctor Who script out of the boot of his car and was driven away. What a dream come true, I'm a very lucky lady!!

Mum rounded off our day with an evening meal at Eddies, and I treated myself to a 50’s style cola bottle! We sat in the booth used from Series 6 (which is now decorated with pictures from the episode on the wall).

What a fantastic two days! I never would have expected to bump into Matt Smith, but what an amazing treat for my upcoming birthday! I don’t think anything will ever be able to top that as a present :-) You can read my review of my Doctor Who Experience visit HERE and my first encounter with Matt smith HERE. To find out more on what Matt Smith was up to at the Experience, visit the BBC news page HERE

Thanks for reading

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Doctor Who Experience Opening Day: Cardiff - Review and Pics!

Hello everyone, hope you’ve had a brilliant weekend. The weather has been on and off here, but I hope the weather is good wherever you are! Where is that so-called summer?!

So on Friday (20^th July) I attended the opening of The Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff. I had been looking forward to it since my brother managed to secure me and the boyfriend tickets whilst we were on holiday in June. We booked the 12 o’clock slot, which in actual fact was the time the Experience opened to the public anyway!

We headed from our hotel at 11am and reached the experience building about 5-10minutes later. It has a prime spot overlooking the Bay, you can’t miss it!

 As we got nearer, we noticed that the outside was already busy and full of fans, and not long after we arrived a Silent and Silurian were let out of the building to greet (and scare) the fans. I have to admit the Silent was particularly scary; it’s probably one of my most feared DW monsters! I kept trying to act confident, telling myself it was just a man in a suit, but the actor was really in character – the head, leg and arm movements were all choreographed to perfection! Below I’ve included some of my pictures of the Silent and Silurian, so you can see for yourself just how brilliant they were. There’s also a video I recorded whilst waiting in the queue, which I have uploaded to Youtube.

Joining them just before the Experience opened its doors was a Dalek and a Cyberman. Everyone had their cameras at the ready – I thought it was a brilliant way to get the crowd excited with what was to come.

The Experience

 Myself and my partner were part of the first group to head into the Experience. I must admit, I was slightly apprehensive with what was to come as I had no idea what I would be faced with, after never visiting the attraction when it was in London.

 From here, I was going to produce an in-depth review of the Experience itself within the blog post, but I don’t want it to contain any *spoilers* for those of you who are planning to head to the site in the future.

 So without giving too much away, I will preview some of my favourite moments-

• The first montage of the Experience gave me goosebumps.
• The special effects used within are extraordinary; in parts I really did feel like I was a million miles from home.
• The Doctor is as quick-witted as always.
• When the Doctor told me to run, I ran for my life. When he told me not to look back, I did just the opposite.
• Whatever you do, don’t blink.

 In my opinion, the Experience itself is perfect for any age. It captures your imagination, allows an escape from everyday life and plummets you into a journey where you feel as if you are running alongside the Doctor.

Exhibition

 After the Experience, we were walked into a large exhibition room which contained costumes, props and artefacts from the show, dating all the way back to when the show started in 1963.
Being the first group to enter, the room was empty, and we were lucky enough to explore each exhibit and take photos without waiting for others to do so.

Some of my favourite exhibits included the 9th and 10th doctors TARDIS (which had a clip of 10th's regeneration scene on the screen at the side), the looking glass from ‘The Girl Who Waited’, The Pandorica, River Song’s Diaries and the Silent ship, with an ACTUAL silent walking around, I just had to get a picture ;) The only downside (which was one of my own making) was that many of the exhibits were in the Prop Room at the Doctor Who Convention which I went to in March, so I had seen many of them before. However, it wasn’t at all a disappointment because I still want to go to the Experience for a second time and see them all again!! You can see my post from the Convention HERE.

I’ve included a few of my favourite pictures below to give you a little insight into the huge prop/exhibit room -

 

 In my opinion, the Exhibition part of the attraction is brilliant for any Doctor Who fan. It gives everyone a chance to stand next to their favourite props and take photos, engage with the exhibits and learn more about the programme through animated screens and displays. 

Overall

 All in all, I had a fantastic day at the Experience and would recommend it to anyone of any age. I am very grateful to have been given the chance to attend on the opening day. The atmosphere was all a buzz of excitement and curiosity which added to the day and being in the company of so many big fans of the show was just amazing. 

 To follow this post, I will blog about the day before I attended the convention, where me and my partner ventured to Caerphilly to visit the sites captured in many of the 'New Who' episodes. Along with our trip to 'Leadworth Hospital' from the Eleventh Hour. More to come ;-)

Thanks for Reading!

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Doctor Who Experience Opening Day - Cardiff 2012

So its officially 1 week until Cardiff opens the doors to the Doctor Who Experience once again after being based in London through 2011 to early 2012. I've never been to the Experience so I'm very VERY excited to walk through the doors next Friday (20th July). I did have a taster of some of the props used in the series at the Doctor Who Convention back in March, but it was only a small selection, find out more from my earlier post, here. 

As I am signed up to BBC Worldwide's mailing list for all things Doctor Who, I received an email this afternoon detailing all the information I need to know for the opening day. And wow, it looks like its going to be amazing. 

Here's a segment from the email, for those who would like to find out what's to come on the opening day:

OPENING DAY 20th JULY– MONSTERS, MONSTERS, MONSTERS!

To mark the opening of the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff, some of the most well known monsters from the history of the show will be giving guests a welcome to remember on the 20th July. The Silence, Daleks and Cybermen will all be in attendance for what promises to be a memorable spectacle on opening day. But fear not, there are plenty of monsters left inside the Experience for you to enjoy at a safer distance.

 A welcome from some of the monsters, awesome! Although not too sure how I feel about the Silence... they freak me out, very scary indeed! I'll be sure to review the Experience on here for you all to see, and hopefully take lots of photographs if possible :-)

To find out more about the Doctor Who Experience follow this link: http://www.doctorwhoexperience.com/  where you can find all the latest news, purchase your tickets online and take a sneak peek at what's to come. 

 I can't wait to go back to Cardiff again, I'm staying in Cardiff Bay so me and the boyfriend are looking forward to having a few drinks the night before in this rather cool pub with a rather cool door... 

Let me know if you're off to the Experience too and you never know, I may see you there! 

Thanks for reading x

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Who's going to the Doctor Who Experience?

Its been too long. Sorry for not posting, I've had no time and I've been away for a few weeks on holiday. (Rubbish excuse).


Just a little post to update you on my whereabouts. A few weeks ago now, me and the boyfriend randomly decided to catch the train to Cardiff for a day of holiday shopping and Doctor Who spotting. Unfortunately, the Who crew were filming in the studio the day we were down. I was devastated as it was Karen and Arthur's last few days filming! 


So on the 20th July once again I'm heading to Cardiff for the Grand Re-Opening of the Doctor Who Experience! I'm very excited, I saw a glimpse of what is to come within the props section of the DW Convention, but this looks like its on a brand new scale! Of course I'm dragging the bf to some location stops on the way down Wales, can't wait :) Find out more about the Doctor Who Experience HERE 


Here's a few pics of my visit to Cardiff, the sun came out once again over the bay :) -

This is the toy part of the department store House of Fraser, where the episode with James Corden, Closing Time was filmed for Series 6.

Eddies Diner for din dins again

The Bay in the sun :)

So, what else has happened in my life? Well, I now have Alfie, the newest member of the family, my little kitten. He's a bit of a handful but I love him all the same! I wanted to call him something Doctor Who related but the family wouldn't agree. (Although Alfie IS the name of James Cordens characters son in Closing Time) hehehe

I've also been away on holiday with my boyfriend for 2 weeks to Rhodes, it was the best holiday I've ever had, I never wanted to come home. Of course, I loaded my Ipod up with Doctor Who episodes for the flight, and I'm so glad I did because there was no in-flight entertainment. DW ensured the 4 hours fly by (literally)!!

I also bought these little beauties, which mixed with alcohol makes for an interesting game, which could go on for a loooooong time :) Generally the best cards are The Doctor, Amy, Rory and the Tardis, and you can kind of see it gets repetitive after a while of playing. 

Before I forget, what a pleasant surprise when my boyfriend realised that our hotel included a Doctor Who pinball machine! Yes, you heard correct! A DOCTOR-WHO-PINBALL-MACHINE! It was amazing, and for 1 Euro a game, you can't go wrong! Needless to say, I beat the boyfriend ;)

Here's a few snaps of my holiday, if you're interested take a peek :) -

 Thanks for reading

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