Monday 4 November 2013

Dalek Invasion!

Dalek Winston: "Would You Like A Cup Of TEA?"
Did you hear about the Dalek Invasion of Yeovilton this summer?  Back in August--yes, this is long overdue--we went to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton, Somerset, to help The Doctor repel his greatest foes and save the world.

When we got to Yeovilton, the situation was worse than we had feared.  The Daleks were consorting with The Silence and Cybermen.  There was even a Winder!  Yikes!

Lucas meets The Silence, Daleks conspire with a Cyberman, a Dalek terrifies the crowd
Luckily UNIT were on-site, in the form of Sgt. Benton aka John Levene.

Sgt. Benton of UNIT

I've loved Sgt. Benton for years; he was always my favourite during the UNIT years and it was an absolute honour to meet John Levene.  He was utterly charming and full of lovely little anecdotes about his time on Doctor Who.  He charmed the pants off Lucas who was in shy-mode, coaxing him out and teaching him how to salute and stand to attention.  Lucas was chattering away about all the UNIT stories he'd watched in no time!  He's now planning to dress up as a modern UNIT soldier for the Doctor Who Celebration at the end of November!

John Levene at Dalek Invasion 2013
Lucas clowning around with John Levene, aka Sgt. Benton
After I'd finished embarrassing everyone with my enthusiastic fangirling over poor John, we explored the rest of the Fleet Air Arm Museum.  I'd never been there before, but Lucas and Dave were old hands, so they happily dragged me around.

(L) A Winder (R) The TARDIS, it really was bigger on the inside!
We made our way into the largest hall and my breath was taken away by the sight of one of the first Concordes dominating the hall.

This is one of the earliest Concordes, used for testing
We poked around the hall and met several other Daleks before making our way underneath Concorde for the Audience with the Daleks show.  It was a magnificent location!

The Audience with the Daleks, including the Special Weapons Dalek! (far right)
We were all really looking forward to the Audience with the Daleks panel.  It was moderated by a rather perfect "Ten" cosplayer who had the whole manic running around down.  Lucas was thrilled when Ten dashed over after a lot of arm-waving and asked what his question was for the Daleks.

Lucas asked, "What happens if you go under water?  Do your circuits get fried?"

Dalek Winston said that he liked to go swimming because his pouched were like arm bands.  Dalek Goldie said that she liked to wear a bikini, and Dalek Helmann, the Special Weapons Dalek, said that he didn't go swimming.  "Look At Me. I Am A TANK.  I SinnnK."

You'd think that Daleks would be more direct when answering a question!  (For the curious, Dakek armour is watertight, as established early on in the First Doctor's tenure when we saw a Dalek trundling out of the River Thames and ambushing The Doctor and Ian.)


Rather than go to the Extermination Factor--once you've heard a Dalek sing once, you never need to hear it again--we decided to visit some of the planes in the museum.  The highlight for me was fulfilling one of my dreams of going on Concorde!  Okay, so it was just a walk through the cabin, but for five minutes I was on Concorde!  It's super-cramped, and not quite my idea of luxury or comfort.  However, the speed and cachet probably made up for that...

We did have a little listen to the Extermination Factor from the gantry above after clambering out of Concorde.  There was a pretty pink Dalek who was celebrating her first birthday.  Listening to the other Daleks drone sing 'Happy Birthday' to her was hilarious.

Oldest surviving Dalek prop from the 1960s
We wandered around upstairs in the museum, and Lucas spotted some tables covered in crayons and coloured pencils.  I couldn't resist doing some colouring in with him... I once won a prize at Sunday School for the Best Colouring In, there was a rosette and everything.
You can't beat a bit of colouring in!
We wandered downstairs and bumped into K-9.  I may have squeaked with excitement at this point.
A boy and his dog (he wishes!)
The day ended with a parade of the Daleks and monsters, followed by the various regenerations of The Doctor and his Companions.

I love how Ten and Seven are deep in conversation! And mini-Ace in the Seventh Doctor's fez!
We had a brilliant day out, and I am pleased to report that the Daleks left peacefully, thus saving Yeovilton (and the world) for another year.  Hooray!

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6 comments

  1. Oh this is just amazing! I sent the link to my husband. We're both quite envious right now. Oh, how I'd love to be there!!

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    1. You'd have loved it! The Invasion has happened for the last three years, so I'm pretty sure it'll happen again and again as it's so popular. You'll just have to visit :)

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  2. Lucas is the cutest! You look like you had such a wonderful day. Love the pink dalek!

    Jenny | sunny sweet pea xx

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    1. It was a fantastic day! We're definitely going back next year, and since one of Lucas's friends is getting into Doctor Who we might drag his family along too :)

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  3. I spy a dalek with a balloon duck on! That's my sort of dalek :-) xx

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    1. That's Bob. He was a bit grumpy about the duck, to be honest, and I completely forgot to include the awesome balloon Dalek that I saw!!

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