By Lucas Heap
A Time Fracture from the future has made time go wobbly; there are Cybermen outside St Paul’s Cathedral, Daleks are roaming the streets of London and The Doctor has selected you to save the universe! It’s your job to travel the galaxy through the past, present and future, find out what’s going on, and how to fix it.
Doctor Who: Time Fracture is a completely immersive production where you, as an audience member, can interact with the actors to change the storyline creating a truly unique and magical piece of theatre.
The performance started with Dr. Sullivan introducing us to the UNIT Headquarters. We were quickly separated into different groups and the eccentric Dr. Shaw escorted our group to the Black Archive which was filled with references from the show. Amongst the shelves were the Osgood boxes, a vortex manipulator, K9 and even pictures of companions on pinboards which can be seen in the background of The Day of the Doctor and The Zygon Inversion and fans of the show will be in awe at such attention to detail.
Suddenly, alarms start going off, the time fracture is opening! A live feed from Kate Stuart – a familiar face to fans, and a message from Jodie Whittaker’s 13th Doctor, as well as another surprise incarnation, tells us that we must enter the time fracture and stop it causing chaos, but no one knows where or indeed when you will end up.
This is where the adventure really begins as you go through the time fracture cracks in the wall and are seemingly teleported to other worlds and times. Our group found ourselves in the Elizabethan era, where Queen Elizabeth I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the 10th Doctor for their marriage. But there is no sign of him. During this section, you will come face to face with all sorts of historical figures, monsters and aliens, some good, some bad… and some REALLY bad! And you’ll learn more about the time fracture, gathering clues about what it is and how it can be repaired.
Undoubtedly, the most fun moments of the performance were when we found ourselves being chased by aliens – and the fantastic 43 live cast members really put their all in to making it a thrilling unforgettable show for die-hard fans whilst still making it accessible for people who don’t know their sonic screwdriver from their psychic paper.
An hour into the show, there is a 15 minute interval where you can purchase drinks or if you book a VIP ticket, you can claim a your free one. You wait in the spaceship themed bar listening to the exceptional live music but even during this interval, the actors are still in character, working hard to explain what has happened, and what the plan is from now on.
Through the course of the performance, you will experience around 5 or 6 of the 17 different worlds meaning that, if you loved it the first time, revisiting is a must! Each time you visit, you will receive a stamp on your Returning Hero ID Card which entitles you to a list of pin badges, the more stamps, the more badges you get.
Overall, Doctor Who: Time Fracture is a thrilling experience from start to finish. It is a chance for fans to celebrate their love for the show and casual viewers will still find enjoyment from the production. Everything from the cast, to the music, to the set and character design is fantastic and it is well worth a visit if you live in or you are visiting London.
Doctor Who: Time Fracture is on at Unit HQ, Immersive | LDN. Book tickets at immersivedoctorwho.com
pics by Mark Senior and Helen Maybanks.