Doctor Who Experience ( London / Cardiff ) The Doctor Who Experience was one of the largest and most ambitious " Doctor Who " exhibitions ever staged . Featuring props and costumes from throughout the franchise ' s history , it also featured one new and different element ; an interactive story in which people could take part and become part of the adventure . The interactive story originally featured Matt Smith as the then - current Eleventh Doctor , but was replaced with one with Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor . The Experience in Cardiff sat in the Cardiff Bay area , adjacent to Roath Lock , where " Doctor Who " was filmed from 2012 onwards . After a five - year run in Cardiff , the Experience closed on 9 September 2017 when its sub - lease from Cardiff Council expired . Overview . A huge exhibition with both interactive elements and exhibition elements from throughout " Doctor Who " ' s history : covering over 4000 square metres , this large exhibition covers all of " Doctor Who " history . With walk through parts of the exhibition and part where the audience becomes a part of the interactive story with Peter Capaldi as the Doctor taking part in interactive video ! On launch , Steven Moffat said , " It will also be the first time that Doctor Who artefacts from all the show ' s 47 year history - classic and new - will be on display together . " Notable elements . There were two separate portions to this exhibition , an interactive story and a free - flow exhibition . with the interactive portion taking 30 minutes to complete . Part of the interactive element included a 3D presentation . Interactive story . Eleventh Doctor era . The visitors are being shown various artefacts ( most from the Doctor ' s past ) by a Node onboard Starship UK . Suddenly , alarms ring and the Eleventh Doctor appears on a screen . He explains he has been trapped inside the Pandorica II . He ' s angry at it being the same colour , and he believes having a second Pandorica to be cheating . The Doctor uses his Sonic Screwdriver to materialise the TARDIS nearby the visitors , whom the Doctor refers to as " Shoppers " . The Shoppers pass a Smiler and enter the TARDIS . Several shoppers operate the TARDIS controls and the TARDIS lands in a Dalek flying saucer . The Supreme Dalek and two drone Daleks capture the shoppers , and a screen appears showing the Dalek s . The Doctor appears on the screen , bargaining with the Daleks to release them . A few minutes later , Daleks that survived the destruction of the Crucible appear on the screen . The Dalek Paradigm believe those Daleks to be " impure " . The Crucible Daleks counter that they are the children of Davros himself . They attack the Dalek Paradigm ship and , on the screen , a space battle rages . The Shoppers escape in a time corridor extruded by the Doctor using the TARDIS . They go through it and find themselves in a UNIT quarantine zone in Avenbury forest ( as a sign at the end of this section shows ) and find three Weeping Angel s - one screaming , one calm and another one created by an image . The Doctor tells them to keep running and they run through another newly opened time corridor to the last stop , the location of the Pandorica II . The Doctor manage to free himself , and appears on screen back in the TARDIS . As they watch him , the Pandorica II opens and they fly through the Time Vortex . Daleks , Weeping Angels and Cybermen attack them , but eventually they escape them and the Shoppers are returned to Starship UK . Twelfth Doctor era . The visitors are being shown various artefacts ( mostly from the Doctor ' s past ) by a curator at a Gallifreyan Museum . While trying to make a connection with the Twelfth Doctor ' s TARDIS , it is attacked , and the Museum and the TARDIS are physically linked . The visitors are then led through the museum wall into what appears to be the TARDIS ' Arch - Recon room and on to a TARDIS control room ( visitors then land the TARDIS on Skaro ) , through a Dalek infested corridor ( similar in style to the Dalek Asylum ) ) , a forest of Weeping Angel s , and finally to 76 Totter ' s Lane on 23 November 1963 , a date the Doctor says seems familiar . Exhibition . The exhibition covers the whole gamut of " Doctor Who " dating all the way back to 1963 , with exhibitions from every era of the programme . It contains a large number of original props that the BBC has had in storage , including some that have not featured in previous smaller exhibitions . TARDIS Studio Tour . To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who , for a limited time visitors were also given a tour of the Doctor Who studio featuring the permanent TARDIS set . The Twelfth Doctor ' s TARDIS set was available to tour after the filming of Series 8 had finished .