Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú

The Dr Who exhibition arrived in Glasgow with so much tailwind hype, it was hard to know what to expect.

A 150 costumes, props and figures, but only from the most recent series and one, we were told, the massive Empress of Racnoss, had been sent back since it was twice the size of the allocated space in the basement of Kelvingrove.

Ten-year-olds who've only known the David Tennant/Christoper Eccleston years would be in their element but what about those of us who guage our earth years by earlier doctors.

Ian (first doctor: William Hartnell) and Kenny (first doctor: Tom Baker) both recalled the 1993 exhibition in Paisley.

"It was good but hardly anyone was there," says Kenny.

"The programme had really fallen out of fashion and it didn't have the same sort of following as it does today."

I recall seeing the one in Blackpool in the late 70s (First Doctor: Jon Pertwee, thanks for asking.) One of the first to be staged, it revolved around the Tardis. Entering through the familiar blue police box, which even as an eight-year-old, I could see had been conveniently attached to a massive building containing the rest of the exhibition, it was brilliant and had the terrifying spectacle of Daleks rumbling along on tracks (this being in the days before Daleks learned to elevate.)

So how did this one compare? Well it does pack a lot in - everything from the Face of Boe to Cassandra to Scarecrows, a Screaming Angel from Blink, and of course Daleks and Cybermen. It has just the right element of scare factor from the moment you walk through a guard of Autons who snap into movement (worth bearing in mind if you have any small fans - several small children including mine, left in tears at this point).

There are several interactive displays, the Cybermen and the Daleks being the most impressive - although staff at Kelvingrove are going to have their work cut out over the next nine months keeping on top of maintenance and repairs due to the volume of visitors.

Even before the exhibition opened to the public, at least one of the big red buttons (tantalisingly labelled Do Not Push) had blown a fuse.

For those with an encyclopaedic knowledge of Dr Who, there's plenty of interesting background information about how the costumes and props are made and a full sized replica of the workspace of the Dr Who design team (wonderfully mundane but also fascinating to see).

Like the Kylie costume exhibition - and this one includes her little waitress number from her own cameo appearance in a Christmas Dr Who - it's interesting to see how small some of the costumes actually are. Not just Kylie but Tennant and Eccleston are clearly skinnies while David Morrissey and Catherine Tate have reassuringly normal shapes.

We're promised updates with each new Dr Who episode this year - the first special due in just a few weeks time - so it should be worth a return visit.

Nothing for me quite topped that Dalek rumbling down the track (although the elevating Dalek display is pretty cool) and fun as it is, the scariest part of the exhibition is the size of the shop full of Dr Who paraphernalia you're forced to exit through.