The blockbuster exhibition Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder comes to World Museum from 27 May, charting the links between the worlds of science and the universe of the Doctor. Paul Simpson chatted with Catherine Johnson, Head of Museum Exhibitions at National Museums Liverpool.

 

Why Doctor Who – but more to the point, why now? The year before the 60th rather than next year when there’s going to be all the bells and whistles about the show?

I suppose the impetus really is a collaboration between Sarner and BBC. The Experiences they’ve created in London and in Cardiff have been really successful. They wanted to build on that but do something slightly different and perhaps try and tug at a slightly different audience. That’s where we came in because they were looking to link up with museums and science centres because so much of the exhibition is around the science behind Doctor Who.

I know the pandemic also played a part in delaying some of our plans. They wanted this out in time for the big celebration on the anniversary because the exhibition will be touring. It’s got that longevity to it but we as the first venue will have that moment as the world premiere then it will be in full swing by the time that the anniversary hits.

Is the idea that what you’ve got there is what will stay for the entire run or will you play with it so that somebody who goes to it over the Jubilee bank holiday can come back in August and see something different?

The exhibition, when it opens in our venue, will remain the same throughout the run but what we’ve got a really diverse events programme running alongside the exhibition. We’re looking to do some brilliant workshops with some of the people who’ve created the episodes, the special effects, the props. We’re also going to have talks with some of the scientists and people who’ve really helped with the detail behind those episodes.

There will be lots of really interesting events happening throughout the exhibition run that will mean if people want to come back or experience different parts of it then that’s the opportunity to do that.

One thing we do have that’s unique in our exhibition – that I’m not sure if it’ll tour beyond our venue – is the Liverpool connection. We’ve got a specific section all about the connection with the city of Liverpool because there’s actually quite a number of Merseysiders who’ve been involved either starring in the show or creating and developing it. We’ve got something within the exhibition that people can come and find out about those links. For the last series, one of the episodes was filmed at another of our venues, the Museum of Liverpool, so we’ve got some fantastic connections there that people can come and experience within our stint of the show.

Will you have monsters actually physically present or will everything be static?

Within the exhibition? Well, there is a monster vault within the exhibition that people can come and experience… I’ll just leave it at that, and people can find out when they come and see the show.

So what will a visitor see?

It’s really about exploring the science behind Doctor Who, so it’s a chance to explore Doctor Who adventures but from a scientific perspective.

So on entering the exhibition you will come through the TARDIS doors and you’ll be in the TARDIS console room. You’ll be very much immersed in the world of Doctor Who and you’ll be able to find out about some of the scientific advancements and technologies that have perhaps influenced the TV series. You’ll travel through sections looking at space science, you’ll find out about the influence of black holes and where that science ties into the storyline. You’ll be confronted by some of the weird and wonderful monsters from the series so you’ll get to see some of those up close.

You’ll be led through by narration by Mark Gatiss, so he’ll appear at certain points in the exhibition and he’ll be taking you through your experience.

Do you mean there will be a sort of hologram of him?

(laughs) You’ll be able to see a vision of him and he’ll be speaking to you. There will also be some other people: we’ve got Maggie Aderin-Pocock who’ll be talking about space, there’s Mike Tucker who’s done creatures and some of the props, so we’ve got what we call talking heads bringing their enthusiasm, so the visitor can really get a sense of what goes into the series and some of the natural sciences as well behind it.

There are eight zones you’ll be led through and there will be things to watch, things to interact with, things to listen to. There’s a section looking at the music of the show, so you’ll be able to get involved in that, and at the end there will be a grand finale pulling it all back together for you.

We’ve also linked it to the collections in our museum because obviously the scientific side of it is so well connected. Around our museum there’s a small trail so you’ll be able to understand how some items really have that connection with the science behind the show.

Have you got material across the whole 60 years?

Yes, the whole 60 years. There’s something there for every Doctor Who fan. So yes, we’ve got things from the classic series as well as up to date. There’s some from the current series that have never been seen before and we’ve got some content from a lost Tom Baker episode that’s going to be included.

Your background is the museum and that side of it; how much of this is an, and excuse the horrible pun, alien world to you?

I have been learning a lot about Doctor Who from this. I suppose that’s also the appeal of the exhibition: it uses Doctor Who as an in but it’s something that you can really get a lot from even if you’re not a massive Doctor Who fan because it’s trying to encourage people to experience science in different ways. There’s lots of content in there that’s going to be really interesting and exciting for the people who aren’t particularly mad about Doctor Who itself.

The family might get dragged along because little Sophie is the big Doctor Who fan but there’s going to be plenty there for all of them.

Yes. Because you’ve got such a broad content base: there’s the science side of it, so you’ve got people who are interested in all sorts of different strands of that science, but then you’ve got contributions from designers, from people who produced the props, from people who made the music.

For you working on it, what has surprised you most that there’s a Doctor Who connection to?

It’s probably more on the natural sciences so perhaps how some of the monsters have actually been inspired by real life creatures. When you see something on screen and you think ‘Oh gosh, that could never be real’ and then it is… I think it’s that element that really fascinates me.

And also, because it’s the whole 60 years, technology that was maybe wishful thinking 60 years ago is actually now a reality and that’s quite fascinating when you look back.

The classic example is there’s more computing power in my phone than there was in anything they had to go to the moon, and that’s happened in the lifetime of the show.

Yes, exactly, so it’s that really. How people were imagining what could become and then now the reality, I think that’s quite amazing to see because you see that evolution of scientific advancement within the show as well.

Do you extrapolate forward as to what else might be coming? Or are you very much a snapshot of where we are and this is how we got here?

It’s more the latter. It’s more looking at what has inspired those storylines but I suppose because we’re the first venue on the tour but it will tour for a number of years beyond this there’s potential to add in new content and new advancement, to keep it current and to keep it up to date.

I think one thing that Sarner and BBC and we are really keen on is inspiring those future generations of scientists. So getting people to think about what might be possible in the future is definitely a strand of it as well.

 

Thanks to Joe Goulding for their help in arranging this interview

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