Symbolic and cued immersion: Paratextual framing strategies on theDoctor WhoExperience Walking Tour

Abstract

Citation for final published version:Garner, Ross P. 2016. Symbolic and cued immersion: paratextual framing strategies on the Doctor Abstract:This article employs autoethnographic reflections to contribute towards debates concerning film-induced tourism (Beeton, 2005) by analysing the officially-endorsed Doctor Who Experience Walking Tour around filming locations from the BBC series in Cardiff Bay, Wales. Approaching this tour as an example of paratextuality (Gray, 2010), the article pursues two arguments. Firstly, it reflects upon the attempts used within the tour for encouraging connection between participants and the locations visited from the perspective of immersion. However, noting preceding positions (Brooker, 2005), it is recognized that the tour constructs forms of imaginative immersion. The terms symbolic and cued immersion are subsequently introduced to consider the strategies that the tour employs to position fans and engage them with its frequently quotidian spaces. Secondly, the article explores the links between the tour's immersive strategies and its institutional context arguing that these assist in reinforcing core brand values regarding BBC Worldwide.The Doctor Who Experience Walking Tour (DWEWT hereafter) is an hour-and-a-half organized excursion around places in, or in close proximity to, the Mermaid Quay area of Cardiff Bay which have been used for filming the globally-successful (Chapman, 2013, p. 270) BBC series Doctor Who. The tour is a paid-for attraction, costing an extra £3 on top of the entry fee for the Doctor Who Experience, and is offered infrequently to paying Experience visitors throughout the year (typically on weekends, school and/or public holidays). The tour is promoted as offering the opportunity to "[s]ee over 30 filming locations from Doctor Who in this one-and-a-half mile walk" ("Walking Tours", n.d., para. 2). TheTour's marketing thus discursively distinguishes itself by employing "authenticities of place" (Hills, 2006, p. 71), which translates as a geographical ""closeness" to the text" (Hills, 2006, p. 69), arising from both Cardiff's status as Doctor Who's contemporary production base and the Experience and Tour's proximity to BBC Wales' Roath Lock studios where the programme is shot (the studios are visible from the Experience building and at points throughout the tour). These appeals to distinction are further reinforced by the DWEWT's status as a product affiliated with BBC Worldwide -the BBC's commercial operations wing -which is required to "build the BBC's brands, audiences, commercial returns and reputation across the world …through investing in, commercializing and showcasing content from the BBC" (BBC Worldwide, n.d., para. 1). Writing in relation to the Doctor Who Experience proper, Melissa Beattie (2013, p. 179) summarizes the institutional context(s) surrounding the attraction: "The "Doctor Who Experience" itself is a large, purpose-built facility that houses a number of props from both classic and new Doctor Who. It is owned by Cardiff County Council b...

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