Longleat closing down

The long-running Doctor Who exhibition at Longleat is to close for good - but a new exhibition is being planned elsewhere for 2004.

Last weekend, reports began to surface that Longleat's famous Doctor Who exhibition, one of the series' most visible spin-offs, would be closing permanently before the end of 2003.

To get the truth on this story, Cult spoke to Tim Bentley, Longleat's Attractions Manager. He confirmed that the reports were correct: "All good things come to an end, and we've decided to introduce some new attractions at Longleat", he told us. "But Doctor Who has been very good for us over the years", he added, having worked at the estate for almost all of the 30 years that the Exhibition has been based there.

The Longleat season ends on November 2nd, and the exhibition will be open daily until then. There are no plans for Doctor Who to feature amongst the estate's attractions in 2004, so it really is the end of an era.

Since the Llangollen Doctor Who Experience is also closing at the end of the year (on 31st December), what does this mean for the costumes, props and other exhibits that formed the two attractions?

We're happy to report some excellent news from Lorne Martin, whose company Experience Design and Management Ltd has long been involved in this area. Martin has assured us that nothing is being sold off or junked from the exhibitions, because negotiations are well in hand for a new Doctor Who exhibition to open in spring 2004. The venue for this is, we understand, to be announced in a few weeks' time.

Click on the link on the right for more details of the Longleat exhibition, while you still can.