selenak

Before I head off to Stratford this morning in order to meet

bimo and see some obscure play starring some obscure actors, I have to share this. My current (and not much longer) hotel is near Earl’s Court, where there just happens to be a big Doctor Who exhibition, featuring costumes, props, and the occasional special effect. So naturally I dropped by.

And who should greet me but ~~Jack Harkness~~ the Face of Boe:

Then there was Novice Hame:

And Cassandra:

They even had Donna’s dress from The Runaway Bride which looked downright eerie in green lightning:

Whereas the Empress of the Raccnoss naturally appeared in red:

Time to visit the Ood:

Incidentally, there was also the old skin prosthetic they used for both Lazarus and the Doctor. The BBC, so proud of their aging effects when no one else is. Bless. On the other hand, have a tried and true classic:

Aaaaand here’s the sort of monster from my favourite Stephen Moffat episode. The rest of you can keep Blink or Empty Child, I’m going with The Girl in the Fireplace:

On to costumes. Here are the ones made for John Smith and Martha-the-maid in Human Nature:

Then there is the one for Professor Yana worn by both Derek Jacobi and John Simm in Utopia:

Speaking of Sir Derek. At the end of the exhibition, there is, naturally, a little shop. Where there are not just DVDs but signed dvds. So, despite already possessing season 3/29, when I saw the DVD for Utopia/Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords, signed by Derek Jacobi, I just had to. And while I was at it, there was the DVD for Inferno, aka the Third Doctor adventure in which everyone goes Mirrorverse, which I didn’t have though I have watched it, signed by Nicholas Courtney, so I emptied my purse further. Wouldn’t you have?

Back to the exhibition.

See, there will be show runners who use them more often than others, but I think that they’ll always come back sooner or later because much like the Doctor, they are eternal. Why? Because children love them. Allow me to demonstrate.

One notices a certain dominance in those drawings. There were a lot of families in the exhibition, btw, underlining that DW really is what is called children’s tv abroad and a family show in Britain, and proud of it, with kids around eight watching as intently as adults around 60. Here’s the special effect all age classes loved best, though sadly my photo can’t render it adequately. At some point, they use green screen magic and you can watch yourself in the TARDIS. So here I am, looking somewhat like a Cyberman ghost, but let me assure you that when you are standing there, it really looks like you were there: