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.

Simon Pegg's movie costume from The World's End on display...

There's been a lot of talk about director Edgar Wright's exit from Marvel's Ant-Man movie, but before he was focusing on the diminutive hero he was finishing his Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy of comedy movies, 2004's Shaun of the Dead, 2007's Hot Fuzz and 2013's The World's End, which starred Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

Original costume worn by Simon Pegg 

as Gary King in The World's End

After apocalyptic zombie and cop buddy action movies, the third installment was a science fiction comedy in which Simon Pegg played cocky loser, 'Gary King', on a pub crawl reunion with his old school friends where they come face to face with a robot invasion in their hometown of Newton Haven.

Guy Speranza was Costume Designer on the movie and you can see more original costumes and props from The World's End on display at the ArcLight Hollywood cinema when it was released in the USA.

This costume was photographed on display at Universal Studios Hollywood on April 15, 2014 and if you like this, be sure to take a look at the other cinematic treasures on display at the film and TV archive exhibit on my most recent visit.

The World's End movie poster

Picture cars from The Mummy and Public Enemies on display...

For a change of pace here at Hollywood Movie Costumes and Props I thought I'd feature two picture cars that I spied on my most recent visit to Universal Studios Hollywood in the Upper Lot on April 15, 2014, which played a part in 1999's The Mummy and 2009's Public Enemies.

1931 Duesenberg Model J movie car from The Mummy

This yellow 1931 Duesenberg Model J car belongs to John Hannah's 'Jonathan Carnahan' character in the fantasy adventure and was featured in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns.

If you're a fan of movies, be sure to check out more original costumes, props and models from The Mummy movie franchise.

The Mummy movie poster

Secondly, this black 1935 Chevrolet Model EC-601 featured in 2009's Public Enemies, which starred Johnny Depp as the notorious bank robber 'John Dillinger' during America's Great Depression.

1935 Chevrolet Model EC-601 picture car from Public Enemies

I believe the French Police logo has been added to this car after the film to fit in with the French-themed area within the amusement park.

Be sure to also take a look at these original costumes from Public Enemies worn by Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard, alongside screen-used props featured in the movie.

Public Enemies movie poster

Plus if you're an automobile enthusiast, you can see more movie cars on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in L.A.

The Boxtrolls character concepts, costumes, faces and figures on display...

To help promote the forthcoming new 3D animated feature from Portland-based Laika Studios, The Boxtrolls, Universal Studios Hollywood had an extensive display of character concepts, costumes, faces and stop-motion figures on display at the NBC Universal Experience exhibit on April 15, 2014.

Original stop-moption character figures 

and concept designs from The Boxtrolls

The movie is based on Alan Snow's fantasy adventure novel Here Be Monsters! and follows past Laika stop-motion animation movies, Coraline and ParaNorman, but is a hybrid of stop-motion and computer-generated effects.

The Boxtrolls movie poster

The story follows a young orphaned boy named 'Eggs' in a Victorian-Era town who has been raised by a race of subterranean cavern-dwelling trash-collecting creatures, who must be saved by their human ward when they are targeted by an evil pest exterminator named 'Archibald Snatcher'.

The Boxtrolls stop-motion character figures

I'm always amazed at the sheer detail that goes into stop-motion creations, from the miniature costumes and faces, to the intricate sets these puppets inhabit, just look at the elaborate detail of the 'Lord and Lady Portley-Rind' characters.

Underground cave set from The Boxtrolls

The Boxtrolls who wear recycled cardboard boxes the way turtles wear their shells, live beneath the town of Cheesebridge and exist by dumpster-diving and collecting the junk left behind by the town's residents, although the townspeople believe they emerge from the sewers to steal their cheese and children at night.

If you like this Laika Studios exhibit, be sure to also check out these stop-motion puppets and sets from ParaNorman and from the world of Coraline.

The Boxtrolls stop-motion facial expression and components

Plus if you're a stop-motion animation fan, be sure to also check out these stop-motion maquettes and models from Frankenweenie and this Fantastic Mr. Fox movie set on display.

The Boxtrolls in cinemas September 2014