Creature costumes from Matt Smith's Doctor Who incarnation on display...

As the air date for the new Doctor Who is fast approaching on August 23, 2014, I've been rewatching Matt Smith's seasons and specials as the 'Doctor' with my husband (who has never seen them before, but still prefers the David Tennant era) in preparation. Here are selection of the alien creature costumes from the Eleventh Doctor's adventures in time and space on display at the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff Bay, Wales in May and December 2013.

Original Doctor Who costumes and props on display

The great thing about Doctor Who being filmed in Wales is that after they've done filming an episode a selection of costumes and props can be easily transferred to the ever-changing exhibition space nearby, rather than simply ending up unseen and getting dusty in some archive storage somewhere.

Winder costume from Doctor Who's The Beast Below episode

This Winder costume was featured in the second episode of the fifth season, 'The Beast Below', which saw the Doctor and his new Companion 'Amy Pond' exploring Starship UK in the 33rd century. Winders were cyborgs and the police force on board the futuristic home of Britain's population and with their large keys they could operate the clockwork lights and machinery aboard the spaceship.

The two-part episode 'The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood' in season five reintroduced a new generation of Doctor Who enthusiasts to the cold-blooded reptilian bipedal species, the Silurians, who lived below the Earth and are awakened from hibernation by a human drilling operation in the year 2020.

Restac costume worn by Neve McIntosh in Doctor Who

Neve McIntosh played the Silurian military commander 'Restac', who was the twin sister of the captured 'Alaya', and had a hatred for the apes from the surface world. 

The actress later went on to play the recurring role of the Victoria Era detective 'Madam Vastra', so be sure to also check out Madam Vastra's costume from The Snowmen Doctor Who 2012 Christmas special.

Doctor Who season six USA billboard

Teselecta Antibodies from Doctor Who's Let's Kill Hitler episode

In the sixth season episode 'Let's Kill Hitler', these robotic antibodies are jellyfish-like guards aboard the humanoid starship/time machine, the Teselecta, which was a Justice Department machine from the future which had returned from the past to kill Adolf Hitler. They attack anyone not wearing a properly encoded wristband.

The Peg Dolls from Doctor Who's Night Terrors episode

These creepy Peg Dolls appear in the sixth season episode 'Night Terrors' and live in a toy doll house in a frightened boy's bedroom cupboard on Earth.

When the Doctor, Amy and her husband 'Rory' answer a distress call from 'George' they discover all is not as it seems and the married couple get transported and miniaturised inside the doll's house, resulting in Amy being turned into a living wooden doll with their sinister touch and haunting laugh.

Handbot from Doctor Who's The Girl Who Waited episode

The Handbots of the Two Streams Facility on Apalapucia were medical drones which administered medicine to their patients. They could see through their fingers and put people to sleep with a touch of their anesthetic hands.

In the sixth season episode 'The Girl Who Waited', Amy Pond is separated in time from Rory and the Doctor and must fend off these white robots, who are simply trying to do their job, for thirty-six years until they arrive in her timeline.

If you like this selection of alien and robot costumes and props, be sure to take a look at more authentic Doctor Who memorabilia on display at the Doctor Who Experience, and let's hope the forthcoming regeneration of the Time Lord played by Peter Capaldi brings with him many new monsters, aliens and fantastical creatures.