You may have read recently that I was fortunate enough to win tickets to see The Crash Of The Elysium in Ipswich. Well this past weekend was when I got to go!
The event itself is in the form of a council-funded local exhibition, taking place in a purpose-built tent not far from the New Wosley Theatre in central Ipswich.
The Elysium was the flagship of the Mayfield Star Line, and was launched in 1888 by the Princess Helena, herself a veteran of over thirty voyages.
The ship had not long been in service when it catastrophically ran aground on rocks on the south coast of England.
The Elysium was carrying a cargo of valuable metals, including ingots of gold, as well as a quantity of industrial machine parts for the cotton trade. At the time the value of the lost gold ingots has been estimated at over one thousand pounds, now several million by today’s standards.
Also on board was a confidential cargo being transported under government warrant.
Mystery surrounds the circumstances of the wrecking, as no storm warning was issued in that sector, and weather conditions were described as calm.
Captain T. A. Solomon, the ship’s skipper, as well as the rest of the eight man crew were reported as being lost at sea to the coastguard’s office in the early hours of that fateful morning.
It wasn’t long before salvage rights were being contested by several local agencies.
Despite speculation as to the secret nature of the government cargo, Whitehall refused to comment on the nature of the artifact or artifacts. Crew records left at Mortimer House suggest the cargo may have been a statue, possibly of some value. Several eye witnesses to the disaster describe the figure of a woman emerging from the wreckage, one going so far to suggest she resembled an angel in appearance, but such reports were dismissed as wild fancy.
The exhibition on show at Ipswich goes into great detail about the history of the ship; its construction long -side its sister ship; with many recovered artifacts from the wreckage and commemorative mementos contemporary to the time.
Our tour of the exhibition was greatly aided by the curator who joined us to guide us around the many display cases and photographs on offer. He presented a short visual slideshow of pictures of the crew of the ill-fated liner, as well as showing us the Elysium being built and its launch which was witness by a crowd of thousands.
And that is really as much as I can write about my trip, as after that point things really started to take a dramatic turn about which I feel I cannot speak.
The shared experiences of myself and the others in our twenty-strong tour party will be something no doubt we will carry for many years to come. It was shocking, and at times truly disturbing.
I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!!!
SPOILERS
DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING IF YOU HAVE INTENTION OF GOING TO SEE THE EXHIBITION. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
This has actually one of the hardest reviews I have ever had to write, as the experience of going and the ‘play’ itself was so fantastic, I cannot possibly write the review without hinting at what you might see or give away the plot.
EVERYTHING I HAVE WRITTEN UNTIL NOW HAS BEEN PART OF THE FICTION OF THE PERFORMANCE.
Before you even enter, the production is wrapped up in a mist of misdirection, with zero Doctor Who branding on show.
The staging is designed to resemble those council-funded regional theatres with low budget posters and information boards telling you the history of the scuppered Elysium liner - all of which is part of the illusion.
And where this works the best is that you just do not twig this until things really start kicking off. the curator who talked us through the exhibits is an actor, and the military SWAT team that burst in from nowhere and hijack the tour party take you by such surprise that it almost feels real.
We are seconded to their team and are marched to a waiting room where we are decked out in white boiler suits and drilled ready for our impending mission.
The Mission? To recover an artifact from a crashed space ship called the Elysium. Our only clue is that from the ship’s Doctor who may or my not have survived the impact.
From here we are taken though a series of scenarios with frightening reality and nerve-biting danger. There are parts of the performance where we are called upon to recover clues and piece together the mystery surrounding the crash of BOTH Elysiums, as the significance of the Victorian incarnation is never truly lost.
At one point we are trapped in a corridor with a locked door at the end. Our military guardians are desperately trying to free the door, while the lights are flickering. Suddenly at the end of the corridor is an Angel. With split-second timing it progresses down towards us, only moving in true Angel style when the lights are lost. It is seriously real and amazing to experience.
But our escape is short lived as we are flung back in time to the 1800s and a fairground. The attack on our senses was total, with straw covered floor and the pungent smell of manure filling the air. You really felt like you weren’t anywhere near where you started and the imperative to get home felt higher than ever. . .
All in all it took an hour to play out the events, at the end of which I wanted MORE! You felt that this really was something you had never experienced before, and reading the background to the productions by PunchDunk in the past, it is a new way of looking at audience participation which raises it to a level rarely seen at the moment.
The Doctor Who Experience was pretty cool, and it plays out a you-are-there scenario too, but this was something else.
I cannot recommend it any higher!
Bet you wish you had gone now?
Further reading about
The Crash Of The Elysium can be found here
I hope you enjoyed our A Meeting Of Doctors photo-story I have been running over the past few days.
As well as having enormous fun doing it, the shoot was a logistical challenge to get everyone there at the same time; with all the props we needed; at the location we wanted; on a day we could shoot without being noticed too much.
I’m happy to say we achieved everything in my list –
except the last one ...
We did our photo-shoot at lunchtime on Thursday May 25th, and by the next day it had been reported as FACT that Matt Smith had been back at Eddie’s Diner filming new scenes for series seven!
it first appeared on Doctor Who Filming – a fan run Facebook page which documents all the filming as it happens.
Quite where the TARDIS in the back alley came from. We WISHED we had one, but didn’t.
The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, having met up at a diner on an abandoned highway in the Utah desert, spent their time syncing diaries.
In the final part of A Meeting of Doctors from my massive Cardiff photoshoot, the Doctors compare the size of their equipment . . .
INT: DINER ON ABANDONED HIGHWAY
Having mysteriously met at a diner on an abandoned highway, the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors are now locked in a sonic battle of wits, each matching the other’s moves.
How can the deadlock be broken?
It takes companion Amy Pond to come up with the solution: a round of milkshakes!
The Doctors share the milkshake with Eleven’s own straws that make it taste fizzy.
At last the Time Lords are united over a common liking for strawberry milkshakes!
“Let’s shake on it!” says Ten.
THE END
I’d like to thank everyone involved in making this photo shoot happen. To Matt, Kevin and Lisa for being patient models and Daniel Pawlik for making the diaries
Last time on A Meeting Of Doctors, the Tenth Doctor found himself invited to a lone diner on an abandoned highway in the Utah desert.
In the second part of A Meeting Of Doctors from my massive Cardiff photoshoot, the Doctors get things up to date . . .
INT: DINER ON ABANDONED HIGHWAY
The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, along with Amy Pond, have found themselves invited to a diner on an abandoned Utah highway.
Unable to resolve who sent the invitation, the Doctors set about syncing their diaries.
After half an hour of timelines and paradoxes, Amy is thoroughly fed up, wishing she had stayed in the TARDIS with Rory, who stayed behind to check his emails.
Using River Song’s diary, which he has sneakily borrowed, The Tenth Doctor starts reading about his future exploits... and seems to be finding more than he bargained for.
Meanwhile, the Eleventh Doctor is also reading of future events.
A visit to the American wild west; bumping into further past selves; a fatal encounter with weeping angels; and a space ship filled with dinosaurs particularly pique his interest.
The fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who is coming into view on the horizon, and talk is turning to the notion of the ever popular multi-Doctor episode.
As part of my massive Cardiff photoshoot last month we imagined what it could be like if two of the Doctors met face to face for the first time . . .
So today I am bringing you the first part of A Meeting Of Doctors from the main photoshoot, where I brought together Kevin Coppa, one of the best 10th Doctor cosplayers; and Matt Elliott, the most awesome 11th Doctor look-a-like.
EXT: UTAH DESERT
The Doctor’s TARDIS lands in the inhospitable landscape.
The Tenth Doctor steps out. Putting his glasses on he looks around, then heads for a lone diner on a nearby abandoned highway.
Once The Doctor is out of sight, the whirring noise of the TARDIS is heard again, but it is not his TARDIS leaving - it is a second TARDIS landing...
INT: DINER ON ABANDONED HIGHWAY
The Tenth Doctor finds a table at the diner, orders a milkshake and takes out a mysterious blue envelope. Inside is an invitation. He does not know who it is from or why he has been invited. All he knows is this is the right place - and time.
He doesn’t have to wait long before a tall, mop-headed, younger looking model of his later self boldly walks into the diner.
He too is carrying a blue enveloped invite - as is his companion Amy Pond!
They join the Tenth Doctor at the table.It isn’t long before confusion ensues: Who invited Who?
A few days ago the BBC issued an official publicity still from the first days filming with Jenna-Louise Coleman.
It was nice to see the new companion with The Doctor and preview the chemistry between them – but my eye was drawn to the first decent view of the new aubergine-coloured frock coat.
Well yesterday and today further photographs from the same shoot have been released.
They show a little bit more detail.
Last week the Doctor Who crew were filming Jenna-Louise Coleman’s first scenes as the new companion, although apparently not her debut story.
Some sneaky fan pics were posted on the net, showing that Matt was wearing a new coat! (see right)
Well today the BBC have issued a nice shinny new official publicity photograph from the filming (see below).
This is the first publicity photo of Jenna-Louise with Matt.
The photo also shows the coat in better detail, and shows the fabric matches the material I bought last week.
I’m not gonna rush into making myself a replica as the fabric is mega-bucks expensive. Once I can work out the pattern I’ll be having a go, so keep an eye on my blog in the next few months.
Not strictly a costume related thing, but something I thought I’d share with you.
I almost look forward to the trailers that herald the start of a new series as much as the episodes themselves.
Each year they have become more and more elaborate – and more and more exciting!
This is partly down to the background music that speeds up your heartbeat and adds to the anxiety of the fast cut action you are watching.
For me this was no mores in the trailer for part two of series six. I really like the bit around the point where Amy is battling the Handbots.
So I was keen to listen to it clean and unedited on the soundtrack CD when it came out – but the track was notably by its absence.
It was when I saw a trailer for Merlin, another BBC Saturday teatime series, using the same bit of music I started to wonder if this was actually library music rather than Murray Gold working his magic.
So I did some hunting around on the net – okay, I googled the question – and found out that the track concerned was actually by Two Steps From Hell, which from what I can gather compose library music for the specific intention of it being used in movie trailers!
Their list of credits is pretty awesome, from Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, SpiderMan, Green Hornet, Avatar, Superman, Tron, Star Trek, Twilight, Batman – basically every high-octane blockbuster seems to use their music on their trailers.
After doing a bit more digging I found the track is called Protectors of the Earth composed by Thomas J Bergersen from their album called Invincible.
It was easy to find on iTunes, where you can download the entire album as well as their previous works.
If you’re old fashioned, like me, you can also buy it as a in-your-hand CD from CDbaby.com or Amazon.com.
You can commission me to make parts of your Eleventh Doctor Costume. Click the item title below for more information, or e-mail me direct at tennantcoat@me.com and I can answer any questions.
I currently hold stock of the Shetland Tweed from the original suppliers that made Matt’s Season Six jacket.
Although the original fabric is sold out, I can make a jacket from a screen-matched Donegal Tweed. This is a limited supply, so catch it while you can!
Day Of the Doctor Crafted from THE original screen-used fabric, topped off with the screen-accurate buttons. Only limited fabric is available, so message me if you want one bespoke made.
The Rings Of Akaban Also available is the Scaley silk waistcoat made with the original cloth and replica hand-made silk buttons from the original source.
Costume Indexes An episode-by-episode guide to the costume combinations worn by the Eleventh Doctor.
The event itself is in the form of a council-funded local exhibition, taking place in a purpose-built tent not far from the New Wosley Theatre in central Ipswich.
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