It's not a well-known fact that there is a Doctor Who Shop and Museum in east London. The shop sells Doctor Who merchandise and the museum has props and costumes.

The Who Shop is in the former West Ham Football Club supporters shop and is run by husband and wife team Alexandra and Kevan who are always willing to chat to customers and Doctor Who fans about the series.

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a British sci-fi TV series produced by the BBC.

The show was first shown in 1963 and is therefore loved by many generations in Britain and across the world.

The Doctor Who Museum

You can only reach the museum from inside The Who Shop but good luck spotting an entrance door or a museum sign to show you where it is as there are no clues. Go to the cash till and ask to buy a museum ticket and all will be revealed. You will given a key and led over to a TARDIS and yes, that's how you enter the museum!

As you would hope and expect it is bigger on the inside. The one room museum is the width of the shop and has over 120 props and costumes on display and more are added regularly. Most are from the Doctor Who TV series but there are also artifacts from Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and K9 dating back to 1964. There are also some items from other TV shows such as Buffy and Red Dwarf.

Visitors are always accompanied by a guide - either one of the owners or a member of their expert team.

One of the larger items on display is the Console from the 1989 Doctor Who Stage Play "The Ultimate Adventure" but there are also original scripts and other production paperwork on display.

Some costumes and props are in glass cabinets but others are not. Photography is absolutely fine so take as many photos as you like. Staff are happy to help if you want to be in some of the pics.

A lot of the collection is from the older series of Doctor Who so it's great for those of us who have been following the show for a long time.

The Who shop has a lot of collectibles and I met customers from across the world. My favorite items on sale were the sonic screwdriver toothbrush, sonic toothbrush TV remote plus the Mr Potato Head Eleventh Doctor. I'll have to go back for those another time but I came away with a fabulous TARDIS notebook which is admired regularly.

Doctor Who Shop and Museum Contact Details

Address: 39-41 Barking Road, Upton Park, London E6 1PY

Tel: 020 8471 2356

Nearest Tube Station: Upton Park

Directions from Upton Park Tube Station:
Cross the road and turn right. Continue along Green Street past West Ham Football Stadium and at the pub on the corner turn left. This is Barking Road and the shop is by the bus stop.

Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday: 10am-5pm

Museum Tickets (2013 rates)
Adults: £3 / Children (Under 16): £2. All children must be accompanied by an adult.
All entry fees to the museum have part proceeds to charity.

Official Website:thewhoshop.com

I've also been to the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff too and wrote about it for anglotopia.net.

You can also book a 3 hour Doctor Who tour through Viator.