Doctor Who Does Caerphilly Castle

 After me and my partner had arrived in Cardiff ahead of the Doctor Who Experience back in July, we headed to Caerphilly to have a wonder around the castle and to spot some DW locations. We took a train from Cardiff Central which only cost a couple of pounds for a return as we both have student railcards.

 Once arriving in Caerphilly, if you are interested in heading to the castle, you take a right turn out of the train station and head straight down the High Street. The road bears right slightly, and to your left you will have a great sight of the castle.

 As it is officially the second biggest castle in Britain (after Windsor) there is a lot to explore both in and around the site. The heritage centre on arrival charge just a small fee to enter. An adult can expect to pay £4.00, but as a Student and a holder of a NUS card I paid a slightly discounted price of £3.60, and this is the same for children. A family ticket is priced around £11.60 altogether. More details on ticket prices, opening times and facilities, here: http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/caerphilly-castle/?lang=en the centre is also home to a small sovenior shop – so it’s worth having a nose!

We entered the site and had a look around. You can explore virtually everywhere, and there are information boards located within some of the rooms displaying a lot of the castles history. I will warn you that even at 21 years of age I did find it difficult to go up and down some of the tower stairs as they were very slippery and there is only a small rail to help you on your way, so those less-confident on their feet may need extra assistance.

IMAGE: Doctor Who Confidential, BBC Three

 One of my favourite rooms was the Great Hall. Decorated with a long table and chairs along with medieval shields, the room really does look spectacular. The stained glass windows allow light to seep in elegantly and allow for some great pictures. I recognised whilst in the room that this was shown in Doctor Who Confidential as the cast and crews base when filming at the site.

  Whilst steering ourselves round the castle we spotted both the place where the Tardis lands and spots from the opening scenes in ‘The Rebel Flesh’/’The Almost People’, the long corridor from ‘Vampires of Venice’ (which I coincidentally ran down myself and into a big puddle, splashing muddy water up myself) and more spots used in Confidential. I have included some of the pictures below.

IMAGE: BBC - 'Vampires in Venice' and 'The Almost People'

IMAGE: BBC - 'The Rebel Flesh'

IMAGE: BBC - 'The Rebel Flesh'

 Many Thanks to the former BBC Three programme Doctor Who Confidential and the Doctor Who Locations website (http://www.doctorwholocations.net/) for a lot of information on the site and for providing images/footage of the castle itself.

All in all it was a brilliant way to start our Doctor Who break, the castle and its surroundings are stunning and I’m so glad the area has been left untouched to preserve its beauty. If you have any queries/questions at all about anything in this post, drop me a comment or contact me via email – pluckykelly@gmail.com

I hope you’re enjoying Series 7 as much as I am – seriously can’t wait until Saturday for Episode 2! The crew were spotted filming at Caerphilly a few months ago so I'm sure we will see the castle interior or exterior popping up again sometime this series! *spoilers*

If you missed my posts on the Doctor Who Experience Opening Day or Leadworth Hospital from the Eleventh Hour find them here: http://pluckykelly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/doctor-who-experience-opening-day.html and here: http://pluckykelly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/leadworth-hospital-eleventh-hour.html 

Thanks for Reading 

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Return of Doctor Who - Eggs, Cupcakes and the Asylum

 Us Doctor Who fans who watched Saturdays episode ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ will know that to make a soufflé you need... eggs.

 So what else can you make with eggs? Well, when you’re an avid fan like me and my partner... you make Doctor Who themed cupcakes- I mean seriously… what else?!

We chose Saturday to bake our cakes as we thought it appropriate to enjoy and indulge in them whilst watching the new episode… and they were delicious! We paid tribute to 'new who', from the 9th to the 11th doctors. 

Ingredients:

(Sainsburys, £1.89 each)

6oz - Self Raising Flour

6oz - Soft Margarine

6oz - Caster Sugar

3eggs

Icing sugar

3 tubes of decorative icing in Red, Blue and Black 

Method:

·         Oven on 200/6, put cupcake cases in tin

·         Put all ingredients into mixing bowl and beat well with a wooden spoon.

·         Divide the mixture between 12-18 cake cases.

·         Bake for around 20 minutes.

·         Put icing sugar into mixing bowl; gradually adding cold water to make the icing.

·         Once cakes are cool, add icing and decorate.

 The final result:

I know they're not perfect, but I was impressed with our efforts! Mine are the cakes in the first image :-) 

Luke and myself posing with our favourite cakes and Doctor Who tees ;) -

The Asylum - *SPOILERS*

So what did you think of the Series 7 opener? Well, wow, what an explosive start to the series! In my opinion, it was probably one of the best Matt Smith episodes I’ve ever watched, and that’s saying something! From start to finish through every detail, every image and every inch of narrative I was completely hooked.

I also thought Jenna’s early appearance was a brilliant addition. Her performance was outstanding as she captured and projected a range of different emotions to the viewers throughout and during the final twist. Definitely a companion to look forward to and *remember*! Karen and Arthur were on top form playing Amy and Rory - It was refreshing to see their relationship in a completely different circumstance to what we are used to. And Matt Smith was as quick witted and charismatic as always - I really can't wait to see Jenna and Matt bounce off each others sentences when playing alongside later on in the series - I think it will be very interesting to watch. 

Credit to the writers for a fantastic storyline, I can’t wait for the series to continue!

Jenna Louise Coleman - Credit: BBC

Next up: “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” - BBC One, 7.35pm Saturday 8^th September 2012.

Out of this world:-

I celebrated with new Tardis/Universe inspired nails...

Barry M - Base-coat and Topcoat.
Barry M - Cobalt Blue
Barry M - Silver Multi-Glitter

...and Alfie celebrated with his Sonic Screwdriver...

You can watch Asylum of the Daleks now on BBC iplayer - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/

Thanks for Reading

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Leadworth Hospital Filming Location – The Eleventh Hour

 Hi everyone, following my post reviewing the Doctor Who Experience I thought I’d share a stop-off point I had along the way.

 As my route takes me through Newport on the way to Cardiff, I had a quick check on the Doctor Who Locations website (http://www.doctorwholocations.net/) before leaving to see if there were any spots to stop off at on my journey.

 Luckily, I found out that the Hospital used in Matt Smith’s first DW episode ‘The Eleventh Hour’ was just a short detour from my intended route, located on the outskirts of Newport. It has also been used for the new series 7, due to air on our screens later this year, marking the end for the Ponds’.

 Once I drove into the grounds it took quite a while to find the hospital itself as it is hidden at the end of the winding road amongst all the other buildings. I even asked my partner when we arrived outside the hospital whether it was the correct building as it seemed to look much smaller in reality than what we see on screen.

 Unfortunately for us there was construction work going on at the front of the building which meant a lot of the view is hindered on the photos below by vans. I was also a bit apprehensive to go too close as it is a hospital so I wanted to respect the staff and their patients.

 Parking was simple though – lots of spaces outside as the place was very quiet. I made the mistake when trying to get back onto the motorway of following the sat-nav, which took me down country roads which were difficult to drive through. Next time I will stick to the way I came to avoid any nasty surprises! 

  More info on this location can be found HERE. My next post will be on Caerphilly Castle, also used in Doctor Who :-)

Thanks for Reading, write to you soon!

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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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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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