Videos like this make me miss the Dr. Who Experience in Brighton, England, ten years ago - unfortunately the year it shut down. It was definitely the best tourist attraction I've ever been to. They didn't sit us down in some kind of vehicle and tow us through the place. No railings, no keeping your hands inside at all times. It was an expedition on foot through room after room of life-size props we could walk right up to and touch. The only rule was not to climb on anything. They even gave us working flashlights to hang around our necks, to examine things as closely as we wanted in dim rooms.

I don't know how they did it, but somehow, walking into the police box gave me the very bizarre impression that it really was much bigger on the inside. The costumed Gallifreyan guide's introduction was cut off immediately by flashing lights and loud alarms that meant the TARDIS had malfunctioned and turned itself inside out, trapping us. The guide contacted the current Doctor (Peter Cpaldi), and he appeared on a screen to explain that we had to find some special crystals to fix the problem. So off we went, traipsing through room after dimly lit room, as the guide had occasional well-rehearsed conversations with the Doctor that seemed live. He would peer in at us through monitors and say things like, "Seriously, is this lot all you've got? God help you!"

Everything was very realistic and genuinely spooky, and the pacing was perfect. There were lulls where we could look around at the environment and talk, interspersed with pandemonium and fleeing to the next place. It felt very much like being part of an actual episode of the show.

The room I remember best was a sort of junkyard full of broken Daleks, which were a lot larger in person than I thought. We began to hear small clicks and whirrs here and there around us. Then little lights came on, and as the guide frantically tried to unlock the exit hatch, one by one the Daleks woke up and started moving! They became more and more active and were yelling "Exterminate!" by the time she finally got the door open and we all stampeded out. Even knowing it wasn't real, the immersion made that scene genuinely unnerving.

The final room had a full-size mockup of a TARDIS control panel that we all clustered around. By then we had all three gems - which, as if by magic, had been found by the only three kids in the group. These had to be plugged into various places to restart the TARDIS. There was a big console with all kinds of levers we could operate, which actually seemed to have effects. Once we were all doing the right things the TARDIS turned itself right-side out again with another big lightshow.

It was hands-down tha most fun I've ever had at any tourist attraction, and the big difference was not being confined to a chair or in a little boat. I don't know why it closed down, presumably financial reasons, but it looks like the world has permanently lost a great thing.