Running Into Doctor Who in Balboa Park

This turned into a much better day than expected.

The plan was just to spend an afternoon at the San Diego Museum of Art. The sky was gray, the paths were still wet, and Balboa Park felt unusually quiet. Then, while walking past the Comic-Con Museum, I looked up and saw a row of very familiar blue boxes with Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder across them.

I had no idea this exhibition was there. It was not the reason for the trip, and I definitely had not planned around it. I just happened to walk by at the right moment.

The Doctor Who banner outside Comic-Con Museum

I walked over just to make sure it was real.

Exhibition flyer

Tickets were about $30 for adults and$20 for students. At the time, signing up on the official site also got a $15 discounted ticket.

That Blue Door#

The entrance itself was pretty plain, but the second that blue door came into view, the whole place snapped into Doctor Who mode.

Exhibition entrance

Right inside was a wall of costumes.

Modern Doctor costumes

Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen. If you have been with the show for years, seeing them lined up still does something to you. Twelve’s outfit hit especially hard. It pulled me straight back to 2014, when I first started watching.

Props#

Further in were the console and the sonic screwdrivers¹. The console was close enough to actually put a hand on, which I obviously did.

TARDIS console

sonic screwdrivers

One display case held smaller props that do not show up very often, including Twelve’s sonic shades² and the little device used to identify the Zygon Queen Elizabeth in the 50th anniversary special³.

Small props

There was also Handles⁴⁵, the old Cyberman head that stayed with Eleven through the end. Nice to see him there.

Handles

Past the outfit section was a row of three spacesuits. The one on the left is River Song’s Apollo-style suit from the S06 arc⁶. The middle one is from S04E08-S04E09⁷⁸, and seeing it immediately brought back Hey, who turned out the lights?. The orange suit on the right is the classic one that keeps showing up all over the series, including Clara’s in S08E07 Kill the Moon⁹.

Three spacesuits

The Weeping Angel on the left is from S03E10¹⁰. The fluffy Meep on the right is from the 2023 60th anniversary Special 1¹¹.

Weeping Angel and The Meep

Then came the villains¹²¹³¹⁴.

Dalek

Cybermen

Sontaran

Up close, the Dalek eyestalk is still a little unnerving.

Dalek eyestalk

It was the first time I had ever seen the text on the TARDIS door from that close.

Text on the TARDIS door

There was also the Teller from S08E05 Time Heist¹⁵, also known as Brain Soup.

The Teller

Face of Boe / Captain Jack Harkness¹⁶¹⁷. Torchwood still holds up, honestly¹⁸.

Face of Boe

Nearby was the cat nun from S02E01¹⁹.

Sisters of Plenitude

Silence will fall!²⁰

Silence

Whiteboard and screening area#

I left a quick note on the whiteboard.

Message on the whiteboard

There was a screening area next to it. When I was there, it was playing an introduction to the 2023 60th anniversary Special 1¹¹.

Screening area

This timeline wall runs from 1963 to the present. Doctor Who has been going for a long time.

Doctor timeline

Gift shop#

T-shirts, tote bags, Dalek-patterned bags, the usual danger zone.

Gift shop

Novels, comics, spin-offs, all of it.

Novels and comics

After leaving#

When I walked out, it still was not dark over Balboa Park. The ground was wet, but the light was starting to come back.

One last look on the way out

Balboa Park after the rain

After that I wandered into the Japanese garden nearby. Daleks and Cybermen first, then water and stones. It was a pretty good shift in mood.

Japanese garden

Wooden structure in the garden

By the end there was a sunset after the rain.

Light after the rain

The last sunset

My favorite kind of surprise is still the kind I never planned for.