With the new series of Doctor Who starting this week, we thought it would be a good time to look at the best spots around London that fans of the Time Lord need to visit.
So we called upon the expertise of Caitlin Hand who runs Whovian Tours which take fans on guided walks around the capital.
She has handpicked this top 10 list of Doctor Who’s London locations, containing a mix of famous filming sites and shops where you can get all those essential collectibles.
With a bit of planning you could make it around to all these places in a day, even without the use of a Tardis.
Police call box outside Earls Court station
This is the last police call box left in London. It was built in 1996 and looks almost exactly like the Tardis. It is free to visit, you can touch it and take your picture next to it!
Forbidden Planet, Shaftesbury Avenue
Located near Covent Garden, this shop is two levels of geekery. You can get the 11th Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, the 4th Doctor’s multi-coloured scarf or Captain Jack’s Vortex Manipulator watch. They also a sell a wide range of comic books and a variety of collectibles from Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Batman and many others.
It is also one of Peter Capaldi’s favourite shops and he used to frequent it quite regularly before becoming The Doctor.
The Who Shop
This is a museum and shop all in one, located in east London. The museum has props and costumes from new Who, classic Who, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and K9.
The shop has a huge selection of costumes, toys, props, etc. If you have a few hundred pounds to spare you can even get a BBC licensed Captain Jack sonic blaster.
The nearest station is Upton Park, on the District and Hammersmith and City lines.
Westminster Bridge
This bridge has been featured several times in Doctor Who.
Most recently we’ve seen it in Peter Capaldi’s first episode, with The Doctor standing on top of it giving a heartfelt monologue after the dinosaur dies in the Thames.
You also see it in Bells of St John with The Doctor and Clara riding the motorbike across it, in Rose with The Doctor and Rose running across it to get to the underground lair of the Nestene consciousness, and in the classic episode The Dalek Invasion of Earth with Barbara, Tyler and Dortmun escaping across the bridge.
The Stamp Centre, The Strand
Another shop that has a wide selection of Doctor Who merchandise. It is located along The Strand, only a short walk from Trafalgar Square. The walls are jam-packed with classic and new Doctor Who products. They also have many signed items exclusive to their shop.
St Paul’s Cathedral
Just in front of St Paul’s is where Missy finally revealed to the Doctor who she really is. They filmed along the steps of St Paul’s and just across the road from it for the Series 8 finale, with the Cybermen marching out from the cathedral. These scenes were a throwback to a classic episode called The Invasion which had similar shots of the Cybermen marching down from St Paul’s.
Brandon Estate, Kennington
This is the home of Rose and her mum. It was featured in The Christmas Invasion episode with the Tardis crash-landing onto the estate. It is also featured in the End of Time episode where the 10th Doctor goes back in time to January 1,2005 to see Rose one last time before he regenerates.
This location probably has the most sentimental value to fans of Doctor Who because it’s where the 10th Doctor first meets Rose and where he sees her for the last time.
The nearest Tube station is Oval, located on the Northern line.
Tower of London
This is a very important part of Doctor Who because it’s the location of Unit headquarters. They only filmed here for two episodes from the new series though.
First for The Christmas Invasion they had the Prime Minister driving up to the headquarters, there was also a couple of panoramic shots of the castle walls with people standing on top of them ready to jump if the Sycorax told them to.
They also filmed the opening shot of the 50th anniversary episode at the Tower of London. They had Kate Stewart sitting on a bench outside the Tower while she was on the phone with the Doctor and she was apologising profusely for the helicopter picking up the Tardis while the Doctor was still inside of it.
Clink Street
This is a classic Doctor Who filming location from the episode The Talons of Weng-Chiang with the 4th Doctor. Quite a few scenes for this episode were filmed in this area, including a fight scene just outside The Clink Prison Museum where the Doctor and Leela are attacked by a Chinese gang while they are investigating the area.
Clink Street is located in south-east London, a short walk away from London Bridge station.
Theed Street/ Windmill Walk/ Wotton Street
Another classic Doctor Who filming location, from the Remembrance of the Daleks episodes.
In these episodes we see the 7th Doctor and Ace having to escape from the Daleks and a big battle between the Daleks with lots of explosions!
The closest station is Waterloo.
Caitlin’s Whovian Tours visit filming locations from the new (post-2005) series. They take place every Tuesday and Sunday at 7pm, Thursdays and Fridays at 3pm and Saturdays at 11am. Tickets are £12 for adults and £10 for kids 12 and under. Book via the website www.whoviantours.com
The ninth series of Doctor Who, with Peter Capaldi in the Time Lord role, begins on BBC One this Saturday.
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