FORGET being behind the sofa, a new interactive experience opening in cities across the UK enables Doctor Who fans of all ages the chance to be in their very own live-action episode of the famous TV show.
The BBC has teamed up with Escape Hunt to launch the world’s first Doctor Who escape room game — a live-action, interactive experience called ‘Worlds Collide‘. Teams of up to six play companion to the Doctor in a battle against the Cybermen. There are only 60 minutes to work out how to defeat the fearsome foe before the universe is upgraded.
The action has been carefully worked through to fit in with the show’s mythology but it also works for the casual game-player.
The Backstory
While at first glance an escape room seems like a prison, it’s one that houses all the keys to get out — as long as you solve the clues. Think of it as a bit like several challenges from classic British game show The Crystal Maze, but all taking place in the same location. The only way to escape is for the teams to work together and solve the fiendish puzzles. Each one gets you a step closer to solving the problem.
For Escape Hunt’s Doctor Who escape room, players take a short ‘trip’ in the Tardis to land in a dystopian future where eccentric billionaire Alastair Montague’s efforts to develop commercial time travel have caused a tear in the fabric of space and time.
The teams are sent to the offices of ChronosCorp HQ where they have to figure out how to close the tear before the Cybermen break through and take over.
To do so, they have to use what remains of Montague, his prototype time engine and the extensive collection of time-related artefacts acquired over the course of his experiments. If they run out of time, the human race will become Cybermen themselves.
It’s not the first time that Doctor Who has had an interactive game, but given that the previous efforts were all Dungeons and Dragons-type kits for people to play at home this is certainly the most impressive.
So. Much. Content!
The experience has been designed by Escape Hunt’s Brad Wynne, who worked closely with BBC Studios. It manages to fuse elements from nearly 60 years of Doctor Who mythology with the escape room format.
Brad says: “There’s so much content from the brand. We build the game from the ground up – what we’ve created is great. We worked with BBC Studios very closely. You’ll really feel like you’re interacting with Doctor Who.”
When designing the Doctor Who escape rooms and the puzzles, he says, the story-led angle is important, especially as some of the people taking part won’t be hardcore Whovians who know their sonic screwdriver from their astral maps.
“The game is very robust and it has a wide appeal, you don’t need to know anything about Doctor Who,” he says. “It still stands up as a storyline and you can grasp what’s going on.”
And Brad has also had the challenge of creating a game that lives up to the children’s programme that adults adore.
“The game is suitable for all ages, family audiences and all in between,” he says.
Like all escape rooms, solving one puzzle will “take them to the next puzzle” and Brad promises the right amount of clues are in the room to make the game solvable within the 60 minutes.
Could We See a ‘Bodyguard’ Escape Room?
Mat Way from BBC Studios is excited about the team-up.
“We felt we had a really good synergy with the Doctor Who brand and the way in which players work as a team,” says Mat. “From our point of view, it’s a rich tapestry of content to find engaging storylines that would interpolate to an escape room. It’s really interactive and immersive and affordable. It’s good for a team and it’s obtainable.
“We were attracted to Escape Hunt because they have the capacity to have different locations: fans don’t have to go to Cardiff [as with the now-closed Doctor Who Experience], there are six locations.”
This could be the start of a new line of games for the BBC, although it’s unlikely that we’ll see Dragon’s Den or Question Time escape rooms any time soon: Mat is looking for the right format that ticks the boxes.
Mat says, “We like the Escape Hunt format. One of the reasons why the Doctor Who brand is here is that it has great synergy with the format. We’d love to look at other brands. Does it really fit with the format? It’s got to feel organic [with the show we’re linking it up with].”
For now, the Escape Hunt Doctor Who escape room is the perfect day out, as rather than being stuck behind the sofa passively watching the show, you’re part of it.
“It’s about treating people to a good experience,” says Mat. “Any experience, anything I do with my daughter or my mum, that’s more memorable than sitting around watching it. We love the show, and people will be going to an experience that is really special.”
“People coming out have been really enthusiastic, it’s very rewarding for us,” says Brad. “So far, 65 minutes has been the average time [to solve it]. That’s pretty good.”
Sounds Great, Where Can I Do It?
The Doctor Who escape rooms are being rolled out across Escape Hunt’s properties around the UK. Leeds is the first, going live from Friday, January 25, 2019. Next is Oxford, from Friday, February 8.
Manchester is upgraded on Friday, February 22, while Reading – in the heart of the Silicon Valley of the UK – will see the silver giants from Friday, March 8.
Last to receive a visit from the Tardis is the Birmingham Escape Hunt, which will welcome the Doctor and friends from Friday, March 22. There are no plans yet to take it to the US or beyond.
Tickets for Doctor Who: The Live Escape Game, Worlds Collide are on sale now and are bookable via Escapehunt.com/DoctorWho
