Doctor on Display: The Museum of Classic Sci-Fi

In the early 1970s, the BBC decided to launch a series of exhibitions featuring monsters and props from Doctor Who. Over the next three decades, untold thousands of children (and adults too!) were thrilled by a mix of innovative, exciting and stunning extravaganzas! For many fans, these exhibitions were their first and only real chance to get close-up to their favourite TV programme … and the memories they share in this innovative documentary series are bound together by interviews with experts and people who actually worked at them! The museum re-opened in 2021 after extensive restoration work and we tell the story of that opening … and the incredible journey that led to that memorable day!

In the early 70s, the Marquis of Bath, on the lookout for anything that would encourage more visitors to his estate at Longleat, decided that DOCTOR WHO would be just the ticket! In this production, we go behind the scenes in Wiltshire to reveal the story of DOCTOR WHO’s longest running exhibition, meeting the people who made it all happen, and those who visited … often many times a year! There’s drama, celebrations, days out and fire! It’s all here!

This time we’re off to North Wales and the historic mill town of Llangollen – home to a Doctor Who exhibition with that little bit more to offer. Llangollen sits alongside the River Dee in Denbighshire and is a popular tourist attraction, not least for its steam railway and awe-inspiring aqueduct. In this film we’ll be travelling back in time to visit the exhibition, enjoy the scenery, see the props and monsters, visit the DAPOL factory and hear the stories of those who worked there … and those who have happy memories of visiting one of the biggest Doctor Who exhibitions ever mounted!

In the early 1970s, the BBC decided to launch a series of exhibitions featuring monsters and props from Doctor Who. Over the next three decades, untold thousands of children (and adults too!) were thrilled by a mix of innovative, exciting and stunning extravaganzas! For many fans, these exhibitions were their first and only real chance to get close-up to their favourite TV programme

In 1995, David Boyle founded the Doctor Who Experience in Llangollen, Wales. When it closed in 2003, he didn’t give up and moved north to Blackpool to open another exhibition there! This time it was his venture, organized and run by him and it was the biggest DOCTOR WHO exhibition ever – with both old and new series exhibits from the programme! In this film we pay tribute to both the exhibition and DAVID BOYLE… one of DOCTOR WHO’s greatest advocates!

Right from the early days of DOCTOR WHO exhibitions began to appear, the first being in 1965 when Daleks and props from DOCTOR WHO AND THE DALEKS appeared at major department stores across the UK. Since then, countless exhibitions, official and unofficial, temporary and permanent, big and small, have come and gone... all part of the amazing life that DOCTOR WHO has away from the television screen. These truly were, and in some cases still are, the GREATEST SHOWS IN THE GALAXY!

In 1986, BBC Enterprises organized the Doctor Who USA Tour, a two-year travelling exhibition of props and memorabilia from the program, showcased in a 48-foot trailer decorated with alien landscapes from the show, police box entrances, and a mock-up of the TARDIS interior. This documentary features footage from the events as well as interviews with participants and more.