Blackpool Dr Who Museum
Unfortunately the Dr Who Attraction is currently closed
A Brief History of Doctor Who
Dr Who first aired on the BBC on 23rd November 1963 following from discussions and plans from the then head of Drama Sydney Newman. He was even responsible for assisting the Script Department in writing the scripts. The Dr Who series ran from 1963 to 1989, a great 36 years run, but declining numbers saw the program cut. In 1996 a full length film was mad in a collaboration with Fox, Universal Pictures and the BBC, the film was a great success in the United Kingdom but didn't do so well in the US, so unfortunately it did not lead to a new series.
In 2003 the BBC decided to resurrect the Dr, the new series saw the ninth Dr Who (Christopher Eccleston) take to the screen with his sidekick Rose (Billie Piper) in 2005.
The series was a monster hit, this has lead to more series being commissioned but the Doctor has changed again. This time the Doctor is played by David Tennant with Billie Piper as Rose and then Martha Jones playing Freema Agyeman.
The Doctors:
The character Dr Who has been played by a total of ten different actors during the years:
- The First Dr - William Hartnell (1963-1966)
- The Second Dr - Patrick Troughton (1966-1969)
- The Third Dr - Jon Pertwee (1970-1974)
- The Forth Dr - Tom Baker (1974-1981)
- The Fifth Dr - Peter Davison (1982-1984)
- The Sixth Dr - Colin Baker (1984-1986)
- The Seventh Dr - Sylvester McCoy (1987-1989)
- The Eighth Dr - Paul McGann (1996) - Movie
- The Ninth Dr - Christopher Eccleston (2005)
- The Tenth Dr - David Tennant (2005-2010)
- The Eleventh Dr - Matt Smith (2010-2013)
- The Twelth Dr - Peter Capaldi (2013-2017)
- The Thirteenth Dr - Jodie Whittaker (2018 - present)
During the years since 1963 over 35 actors and robots (K-9) have played the Doctors companions.
The Dr Who Museum
The exhibition is located on the promenade between the Central Pier and the Blackpool Tower just next to the Sea Life Centre.
It is broken into 10 themed areas: Scene by Scene, The Daleks, The New Series, Costume Gallery, Bessie, Robot Zone, Monster Alley, Cybermen, the Tardis and Behind the Sofa.
Behind the Sofa
This is the first area after the entrance to the exhibition, it is a historic introduction to the first series's of Dr Who to show the younger views what the parents watched when they were little! Remember hiding behind the sofa scared that the monsters would 'get you' only to have Dr Who save the day yet again.
The Tardis
Have you ever wanted to actually be in the TARDIS? Well the TARDIS is actually an acronym for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. The TARDIS is Dr Who's transport through time and space. It has immortalized the 1950's Police phone box from a static non descript box to a mythically large transport vehicle.
Scene by Scene
In this area you will see many of the famous monsters and creatures from the series in their environments. From Morbius in his lab, the cheetah people, Sil and Kiv, Haemavores in the graveyard to a Sea Devil in its watery home.
The Daleks
Maybe the most famous of Dr Who's adversaries the Daleks. The exhibition holds what is believed to be the largest collection of original Daleks in the world. It includes Davros, the Emperor Dalek and the Special Weapons Dalek, you can even see a cross section cutaway Dalek.
The New Series
Blackpool now has both monsters and costumes from the new series including a Sitheen, an Auton and some of the character from Platform One and many more props from the latest series.
Costume Gallery
The costume collection is almost priceless costumes from the Doctor, his assistant together with other Timelords and the Master.
Bessie
See the Doctors trusty yellow car face to face as it where.
Robot Zone
From the Dr's faithful companion K9, the classic giant metal robot, Drathro, the Li, the Pool Cleaner and more.
Monster Alley
Dare you walk through the darkness? Watch for monsters lurking! You might have to battle Tetraps, Husk or Tractators or even the unknown.
Cybermen
Maybe the most famous if not the second most famous of the Doctors enemies. See them face to face on mass, including the most powerful of the Cybermen.
Dr Who Illuminations
In 2007 not only did David Tennant (Dr Who) actually switch on Blackpool Illuminations but a new section of Illuminations was created for the Doctor, Freema and their enemies. This can be sen on the Promenade outside the Dr Who Exhibition.
