By ANNA MITCHELL
anna@readthereporter.com
“Doctor who?”
Many people asked this question in 1963 when the British Broadcasting Corporation aired the first season of Doctor Who. The answer was usually, “Just the Doctor.”
Fans in the USA had no access to Doctor Who products until 1998 when one clever Whovian launched a website selling all things Doctor Who. The show then saw a resurgence in 2005 when the show returned with Christopher Eccleston as the ninth Doctor, helping that website grow into Who North America, the only remaining permanent Doctor Who museum on the planet. It’s located on State Road 67 between Mooresville and Camby.
No, this is not the sign indicating a local branch of the World Health Organization, but rather Who North America, the last Doctor Who museum on the planet, located in Camby, Ind. (Reporter photo by Anna Mitchell)
Who North America Owner Keith Bradbury had grown up watching Doctor Who on the Public Broadcasting Service in the 1980s. He saw the problem and developed a solution, starting with a fan-based website in 1998 to connect with other Doctor Who fans.
“One thing with growing up with Doctor Who is you couldn’t get any Doctor products,” Bradbury said. “You couldn’t get any of that stuff because it was all British. So with the internet, it was kind of our first time to really communicate back and forth with people overseas, other than just writing letters and trying to hope they reply to you.”
Bradbury reached out to Dapol, the British company that owned the Doctor Who action figures, and asked if he could buy a few to distribute in the U.S. They agreed, and he quickly sold out.
It’s a full-size TARDIS. If you don’t know what that means, this article wasn’t written for you anyway. (Reporter photo by Anna Mitchell)
Around 2005, when the show came back, Bradbury and his wife Jany realized they were outgrowing their storage facility. They moved to a bigger space, planning to show items from the show as well as purchasable souvenirs.
“When the show began, they actually started putting out products, probably right around 1965, two years after the show first aired,” Bradbury said. “And we’ve got products dating all the way from 1965 to current [day] on display in our museum.”
Bradbury’s favorite Doctor is Tom Baker, the fourth Doctor, and his favorite piece in the museum is “The TARDIS Tuner.” The colorful packaging is right out of the 1970s.
Classic Doctor Who plays constantly at the front counter. (Reporter photo by Anna Mitchell)
Another of his favorite pieces is the Doctor Who pinball machine. The ball whizzes around as the sounds and music from the show blast over the player’s head.
A fan-favorite museum piece comes from the episode “Blink” with David Tennant, the 10th Doctor.
Unlike most episodes, the Doctor and his companion are not the central characters. Instead, Steven Moffat, the writer of the episode, followed a young woman who was being chased by “Weeping Angels.”
Torn wallpaper from the episode “Blink.” (Reporter photo by Anna Mitchell)
The Weeping Angels are statues – but only while you are looking at them. The second you look away, the moment you blink … they’re another step closer.
So, don’t blink.
In that episode, the woman tears away some wallpaper. That very piece of wallpaper hangs in the museum, near a cutout of Tom Baker.
Museum patrons can also enjoy a showing room where Doctor Who episodes play non-stop. At the desk, a TV runs classic Doctor Who while the showing room plays newer Who.
Other fan favorites include the Dalek that threatens customers when they walk into the museum – “buy something or you will be exterminated –” and the life-sized TARDIS that people enjoy taking pictures in front of.
Besides all the displays, fans can buy their own figures, sonic screwdrivers, costumes, DVDs, books, mugs, and much, much more. Readers can learn more at whona.com.
Located at 8901 S. State Road 67, Camby, Ind., “Who North America” is the only museum in the U.S. where Doctor Who products and memorabilia are displayed. Whovians drive from miles around to see and interact with their favorite show: Doctor Who.
“We don’t charge people to come and look at stuff,” Bradbury said. “If you’re a fan of Doctor Who, if you’re casually associated with it, or you just want to know what it’s about, we welcome you to come on by and see our place. And if you are a fan of the show, we wanted to make it a place where, when you walk in, you’re like, ‘this is your happy place.’”
Reporter photos by Anna Mitchell