The Doctor Who Experience has been wowing visitors at London’s Olympia since it first opened its TARDIS doors in February 2011 and was due to rest in November this year before moving to a permanent home in Cardiff. However, due to the overwhelming popularity of the immersive exhibition, and a huge demand for tickets, BBC Worldwide has decided to extend its time in London for an additional three months.
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The attraction, which is regularly updated with the latest monsters and artefacts from the show, has been described as ‘the nearest thing to actually being in the TV show itself’ – allowing visitors to join the Doctor on a journey through time and space, encountering some of the best-loved and scariest monsters from the hit international television series.
Current Doctor Who star Matt Smith commented: “I am delighted that the Doctor Who Experience is extending its stay in London. It puts you at the heart of the adventure and the exhibition just gets better and better as more attractions are added.”
The immersive exhibition, designed, created and installed by Sarner, has had over 155,000 visitors through its doors since February and, with the upcoming October half term and Christmas holidays, visitor numbers are set to increase. And it’s not just the public that have been enjoying the Doctor Who Experience as Sarner’s creative thinking and hard work has been rewarded with three Industry Awards in recent weeks. Sarner received an Audio Pro Industry Award for 'Installation Innovation' and, at the AV Awards 2011, Sarner won ‘Best Consumer Installation’ and then went on to win the 'Grand Prix' award which is given to the entry that achieves the highest marks overall.
Commenting on the success of the Doctor Who Experience, Paula Al-Lach, Head of Exhibitions and Events at BBC Worldwide said, “When Sarner first proposed their exciting ideas for the exhibition we knew it would be well received by the fans but we’ve been overwhelmed with the response from visitors and are thrilled to be able to extend its London run. The Doctor Who Experience will finally settle in its permanent home in Cardiff next year but we are looking at the possibility of International venues to ensure that Doctor Who fans around the world don’t miss out on this amazing experience.” Al-Lach continues, “We’re extremely proud of this exhibition and feel that the awards Sarner has won for the Doctor Who Experience are extremely well deserved.”