It has been a screen sensation for almost 60 years, with a huge range of spin-off projects including books and audio dramas. Now, Doctor Who is to become an ambitious immersive theatre experience, too.
The new incarnation for the BBC’s much-loved sci-fi series comes from the team behind The Great Gatsby, an adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s jazz age novel that has become the UK’s longest-running immersive show.
Doctor Who: Time Fracture will open in February at Immersive | LDN, a former military drill hall in Mayfair, central London. The show is set, initially, in the immediate local area during the blitz. When a weapon of unknown origin destroys a small corner of Mayfair, a rift in space and time is opened up. The ensuing adventure takes place across “amazingly realised worlds” and promises Daleks, Cybermen and a character from Time Lord Victorious, BBC Studios’ multi-platform Doctor Who story. All it asks of the audience, according to the show’s publicity material, is “to step up and be the hero” – and to save an imperilled planet from menacing monsters.
Writer Daniel Dingsdale says he has drawn on the TV show’s rich legacy to create a production that he hopes will entertain fans who have “immersed themselves in the show’s universe for years” as well as those audience members who may “walk in from the street having never seen an episode”. The Immersive Everywhere production is directed by Tom Maller, who has worked on several Secret Cinema projects, and has a production design by Rebecca Brower.
After a two-week delay, the government gave the green light last week to socially distanced indoor theatre productions in England (stage four of culture secretary Oliver Dowden’s roadmap to reopening venues). Several indoor shows have already been announced for later this year including a new version of Immersive Everywhere’s production of The Great Gatsby, set to reopen in October at the same London venue as the Doctor Who experience. The new Gatsby show replaces the hedonistic throng of the original production, which featured a 250-strong group charleston, with a socially distanced masquerade ball. Actors and audiences will wear face coverings and there will be a vastly reduced capacity at the event. The Great Gatsby has a venue-wide sterilisation programme and hand sanitisation stations throughout the building. Staff and audiences are required to have a temperature check on entry. Similar measures will be in place at the Doctor Who show.
Louis Hartshorn, joint CEO of Immersive Everywhere, said: “Based on everything we know now, we are confident that Doctor Who: Time Fracture will be able to go ahead as planned in early 2021. We will be taking all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our audiences and full creative team.” Tickets for Doctor Who: Time Fracture go on sale on 20 August. Immersive Everywhere has a no-questions-asked exchange policy for customers who are no longer able to attend. There will be a free preview performance of the production as a thank you to care workers at the front line of the pandemic.
In the early days of the UK lockdown, Jodie Whittaker appeared as the Doctor in a short Doctor Who “emergency transmission” video. “Darkness never prevails,” she said, urging worried viewers to be kind and look out for each other. “Remember: you will get through this.”
