Yes so I went to the “motherland” for a visit. I might be born,raised and live in Sweden but the heart, the heart is in Britain and most certainly a big chunk has landed itself in the north part of London. I fell in love with Britain so long ago I can’t remember when but I have always had a love for the British way. I know it’s silly most of the time and they have done some very horrid things in the past and present but if people still can love American then I can love Britain. Love is without logic and reasons so I suppose I won’t find any, all I know is that I feel at home on the other side of the North sea.
This will be part 1 of my visit which will not run with time as time is a tricky thing as my hero might say. I decided to make it different parts of the experience instead. So number one is more or less self writing isn’t it, of course it’s Doctor Who.
In Sweden Doctor Who is a subcultural phenomenon since no big channel has taken the series on, SVT(Swedish public service channel)showed the first series (2005) on Fridays at eight(horrible time in my mind) and then the second series was never aired to my knowledge. Torchwood on the other hand aired on another big channel and Sarah Jane adventures aired on the childrens channel at odd times but no more Doctor Who. For me SJA is okay but I didn’t like Torchwood and I really love the Doctor before all other spinoffs so I actually had no choice as not even BBC entertainment (which I pay a lot extra to have) aired the doctor until far later I had to go on the webb.
Doctor Who is a big thing in British television history but also at present inspiring people all over the globe except where I live (a lot of fans here though but no national thing like in the UK and US). I confess I have downloaded all of the Doctor Who episodes I had no choice if I wanted to see them in reasonable time. There’s no legal way to watch it through BBC outside the UK, though my conscious is clear I have almost all the DVD boxes ( I haven’t bought the second series yet but I do have several of the classical series as well), and lots and lots of merchandise. In conclusion I go a bit Doctor Who crazy when I go to London. This is the result of that.
First of for any of you Doctor Who fans there’s a Tardis or a police box (for those boring none childish people) standing outside the Earl’s court underground station. Unfortunately it was raining when I was there but here’s a pic anyways.
Secondly for a Doctor Who fan is to visit some of the many seller of Doctor who merchandise. I shall start with the biggest which is the Forbidden planet megaste. They’re big so they have most things for reasonable prices and some real expensive exclusives and awesome collectable items. I can just browse that shop for hours to look at all the cool figures(on display that I can’t afford) and fun stuff they have a lot more than Doctor Who stuff but I mainly buy Doctor Who items since a lot of the classical collection can’t even be shipped outside the UK.
I love Shaftesbury avenue not just because it houses Forbidden planet but because it’s full of fun shops and it’s off the big shopping streets but still smash in the middle of the city. A lot of silly things is hidden away in this back street well worth while to visit. When we visited late June they had a lot of steampunk on display if that ticks your boat and you’re in the area or thinking of visiting London it might be worth your while. This two storey shop always gets a donation from me.
To spice up my Doctor Who shopping I thought it was about time I went and visited the Doctor Who shop which is located in Barking road 39-41 Upton Park near “Boleyn Ground” for those of you who know your English football. Well it’s not exactly just a shop it’s also a museum filled with costumes and things from the series. For those hardcore fans out there this is most certainly worth 3 £ to see. The shop is full of wonderful things both old and new and of course it’s decorated accordingly. It has to be seen not described it was overwhelming to actually walk in a store dedicated to something as fun as the Doctor Who series. Costumes and merchandise I though was long gone was in fact in a shop in Upton park.
Needless to say I have shopped some Doctor Who stuff and I was delighted to find another Sarah Jane Adventure action figure and I had to buy it in memory of Elisabeth Sladen who passed away earlier this year. I though I’d never find them again but that’s the beauty of a place like The Doctor Who shop that it has a lot of things both newer and older(not always second hand). It’s more expensive than Forbidden planet but they are a megastore chain this is as far as I know a single shop so that is to be expected. Still worth a look who knows you might just find some of your favourite and unusal things here.
The third Doctor who thing to do would be to visit some of the shooting sites in London but I actually didn’t get around to that and anyway I had to drop of all of my shopping at the fabulous hotel we stayed at. Also the persistent heat wave and my cold stopped me going about Greater London. Perhaps that was a good thing, I think it might have been to much of Who things to dedicate my whole trip to this TV series. Next time perhaps, I have to visit Canary Wharf for one thing. Not to mention Cardiff, can’t be a true Doctor Who fan without going to the capital that brought us so many hours of Television entertainment and quarry planets.
That was it for part 1 and until next time.
” I wear a bow tie now, bow ties are cool”.
“Jellybaby?”
P.S
The loot will be getting it’s own post later.
Skunkpiratens Journal 