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 Series 7 Trailer and Promo Pic

 Excited for Series 7 yet?...If you haven't seen them already, the new trailer and promo picture posted by the BBC for Doctor Who series 7 are bound to get you on the edge of your seat! Guess what?... the Daleks are back!

 In my personal opinion, the thought of Amy and Rory leaving the Doctor is upsetting because I have always felt their presence in the series would last for a longer period of time. However, I understand completely that Doctor Who relies on change to re-capture the imagination of others by constantly re-inventing and reviving itself. Back in March at the Doctor Who Convention when I met Karen Gillan whilst she signed autographs, I made sure I told her how much I was going to miss her character, and she agreed. I'm sure a lot of you feel the same, whilst many others would disagree and are looking forward to the change.

I've watched the trailer about a million times already, it never gets old...whilst monitoring it closely frame by frame... I need to get out more! 

By 1.22mins my eyes are ready to burst in to tears. 'Who killed all the daleks?' 

See the trailer for yourself, here:

let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading

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Timey Wimey Spacey Wacey - Doctor Who Video Favourites

Hi Everyone,

Bit of a different post now, as I share some of my favourite Youtube videos, montages and clips!

Credit to Doctor Who and the Tardis by Craig Hurle facebook page of whom I check regularly, and who post the best youtube videos out there, I'm always 'liking', sharing and commenting on their posts! 

For those of you that don't like Doctor Who, here's a few reasons why you should! 

Doctor Who : The Eleventh Doctor Ultimate Trailer

Uploaded by SeanMozzy

This video highlights the Eleventh Doctors journey so far, compelling and brilliant. I love the clips the creator of the video has chosen to include to tell the doctors story perfectly. 

Doctor Who: "50th Anniversary" - Ultimate Cinema Trailer

Uploaded by LastWhovian

This montage highlights all of the eleven doctors brilliantly, with the best quotations from all of the series used as a voice-over. Fans can re-live their favourite moments or non-fans can see what they are missing out on.

The Doctor and Rose Goodbye Scene

Uploaded by alysinwonderland92 

My favourite scene from the Tennant years. This clip is from Doomsday and shows the Doctor saying goodbye to Rose. This makes me teary-eyed every time, and I have been to the bay where they filmed this scene, it is beautiful.

Do you have any favourite Doctor Who moments or videos? 

In my opinion, the music by Murray Gold in the series is amazing and has such an impact over scenes in which the tracks are played. I have the Series 5 soundtrack album and will be reviewing and talking about it very soon. 

But for now, hope you all have a fantastic weekend, I'm really enjoying this blogging, but I must make some time this weekend for my University assignments! I've still got a lot more posts in the pipeline so I look forward to you all reading them :-) 

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The Curse of the Black Spot Filming Location, Cornwall

So it’s early September 2011, and my parents decide to whisk the family and my partner off to Cornwall for a week in the caravan. It had been YEARS since I'd stayed in a caravan and years since I'd gone on holiday with the family, so we all agreed and what a fantastic week we ended up having!  

The weather was stunning, we picked the best week of the year by far! But being the avid Doctor Who fan I am, my favourite part was finding out they shot the majority of the 2011 Series 6 episode ‘The Curse of the Black Spot’ 10 minutes down the road in Charlestown, near St Austell.

So the second day we headed to the shipyard. It was a big place, and there was only the one ship in the dock when we went, but they sail in and out on a weekly rota.

Unfortunately for us, the ship used in the episode was out of the dock for the week we were there, but we made do with the Kaskelot, one of the three fleet, and I have to admit it was rather exciting running above and below board.

 

Then mum called me below board, intrigued for me to look at all the photos and information on past and present film and tv that had been shot on board the fleet of ships. And there it was - a huge chunk of the wall, full of images and information on the night Doctor Who set up and filmed on board the Phoenix in Charlestown. How exciting!   

Exploring the ships costs a couple of pounds each, or you can buy a cheaper family ticket (I think this was around £8.00 altogether) I definitely recommend it, Charlestown is beautiful with elegant restaurants and bars, and the scenery from the dock on looking the sea is breathtaking. I would love to go back again this year, it’s a shame it’s so far away! You can find information on the ships HERE

To be honest, the episode itself wasn't my favourite, as it came straight after the massive two-part opener to series 6. But looking back, after visiting the location, it has given me a new-found respect for the episode and the story-line.

Here’s the trailer from the episode to refresh your minds, courtesy of the BBC:

On the way back from Cornwall, we took what turned out to be a 3 hour (!!!) detour to Stonehenge. I had never been there before, and by coincidence Doctor Who filmed here in the series 5 two-parter ‘The Pandorica Opens/Big Bang’. We didn’t pay extra to go nearer to the stones themselves, but viewed them from afar for free in the sunshine.   

My Tip: Take a packed lunch if you plan on spending the day here, the food and drink are sooo expensive to buy, and the location itself is not near any shops. Also, make sure you check out the prices before visiting, it may be worth buying a family ticket if it works out cheaper than paying individually. Also, watch out for the tanks if you venture through the Salisbury Plains!

  

I’m currently watching ‘Vincent and the Doctor’ episode from Series 5…  I love it! And I love seeing the locations I’ve visited in episodes (sad I know!!) But yes, I love the concept of the episode… educational as well as entertaining :-) 

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